Dropping your daughter off at school while Black and pregnant

[zebonaut]

[daleanime]

2. So when was the first woman required to provide personal information?

No crime, but let me track your name.

[Buzz Clik]

3. That's an excellent point. Both should have been required.

[valerief]

4. Are you serious? Why should she have to? Why did the cops provoke her? nt

[Buzz Clik]

5. and here we go...

Not playing the "legal outline of what you must do and are not compelled to do when being approached by the police."

Have it your way. I don't give a shit.

[Dustlawyer]

7. No sympathy! You ARE required to identify yourself when requested by police.

The lady who called police had to give her name to dispatch. She identified herself as the one who called and the officer had her name. This pregnant woman was trying to use the pregnancy as a shield. There was no reason not to identify herself and had she done so, my guess is that nothing would have happened since there was no damage or injury.
The pregnant woman was lying as the parking spaces show it to be one way, and we are not at the beginning of the school year.
I think the officer showed patience to a point where it was clear that the woman was trying to dictate the situation and refusing to cooperate on even a minimal basis. If she cared about her unborn child she would have cooperated even if she thought she was in the right.
Cop body cameras can help the cops as well as their victims when the cops are in the wrong. Glad to see he was using his. This type of behavior is what turns some good cops bad. They get sick and tired of it and start assuming everyone they deal with is a "Scrot" (local cops call bad citizens this here).
Gotta call it like I see it. Not every police interaction is unjustified and/or illegal.

[drray23]

8. that is incorrect.

Only 24 states have stop and identify laws. In Virginia, where I live I am not required to identify myself if asked by an officer unless they have reasonable suspicion that a crime was commited. Hence you have to if they catch you speeding for example, not if they just come up to you in the street.

[Jefferson23]

9. No, by law she did not have to give her name nor show her ID. How in the world are you justifying

the cop?? The woman is now suing, and the judge threw out the charge the cop brought
AFTER he saw the video.


Cooks was charged with resisting arrest, but a judge later dismissed those charges, the ACLU said. San Bernardino County Public Defender Phyllis Morris said Cooks was charged with resisting arrest on January 26, but a judge dismissed that charge on April 23 after a defense motion asserting an insufficiency of evidence.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/28/us/barstow-california-police-video-pregnant-woman-arrest/index.html

This idea of yours is something you should think about: *This type of behavior is what turns some good cops bad. They get sick and tired of it and start assuming everyone they deal with is a "Scrot" (local cops call bad citizens this here).
Gotta call it like I see it. Not every police interaction is unjustified and/or illegal.*

Seriously, think.

[butterfly77]

22. Citizens are getting tired of cops bullshit..

Cops think because they have a gun and a badge they can talk to people any type of way and then claim they are disrespected we are all grown people. First of all,their was no crime committed and because blondie said so doesn't make her interpetation true. Yes,it was racism. Mfkers! you can twisted it and use any law you want.

[Jefferson23]

24. The racism is so blatant in that video, there is no way to clean that mess up.

He should be fired.

[butterfly77]

23. Its the law,Its the law...

Laws made by hypocrities and liars who really do commit crimes and break laws. People are getting tired of this shit and it has been going on for decades.

[Taitertots]

10. WRONG! She didn't have to identify herself and the police know or should know that

The arrest was unlawful and the resisting arrest charges were dropped because it is LEGAL to resist an unlawful arrest.

She will sue and Barstow will settle. Just like they did last time their cops got caught being criminals.

[avebury]

18. In the state where this occurred, while a cop can ask you

for your identification, your are not required to fork it over. In addition, failure to fork over your ID is not grounds for arrest. I have been watching the legal analysis of the case.

Two woman with the same complaint.

Woman No 1 was white. The cop treated her deferentially and made not effort to obtain her ID. He didn't even verify that she worked at the school. So what if she was the one that called 911, that does not automatically mean that she gave truthful information to the 911 operator. The cop also told her that NO CRIME HAD BEEN COMMITTED.

Woman No 2 was black. It doesn't take long for the cop to ask her for her identification. Now there is not secret how black people are treated by cops in this country. She was totally right to fear for herself because even I (a white woman) could tell in watching the video could tell the situation was going to go south very quickly for the black woman. What I saw, in watching the video was a cop that got pissed off that the black woman didn't immediately comply and began acting very aggressively toward her. After telling her that he would give her 2 minutes he waited about 20 seconds before going down on her. She did not do anything wrong. The cop was out of control.

The only thing different between the 2 women was one was white and one was black. This absolutely was a racially motivated arrest.

You say you saw a cop that was being patient with her and I respectfully disagree. The woman was not legally required to fork over her ID and he was totally in the wrong to escalate the situation. You say that there was no reason for her not to show her ID. Again I respectfully disagree. If you look at what is going on within this country there is no doubt that cops treat black people different then they do white people and this case is a textbook example, all caught on video. You say that she should have cared about her unborn child. Just how easy do you think that would be when you realize immediately that the cop is not there to hear your side of what happened but more interested in treating you like a criminal (and remember, the cop had already told the white woman that no crime had been committed). I saw a woman that didn't want to be railroaded. Her reaction was wait minute. While she did not say the exact words, you could tell that she really wanted to talk to a lawyer at that point. And the cop didn't even read her her rights.

I think that this woman has a great case for a federal case and probably even a civil case. If I were on a jury for a civil case, after viewing the video the only question I would need to answer would be -How bid a judgment should we make them pay her? And belie me, the starting point would be 7 figure.

The police and prosecutor tried to use the body cam video to prove that the black woman committed a crime. The judge took one look at the video and immediately tossed the case out.

[Warpy]

11. I see an entitled woman who got yelled at and annoyed the cops

because her widdle feewings were hurted.

The cops should have ascertained that no damage was done to the car and that an assault was not being reported and simply left.

They're at fault for escalating the situation, which was over before they showed up. It's a shame. Throwing a pregnant woman to the ground because they felt sassed is not part of their job description.

[truth2power]

14. Yes. Essentially what I said, below. n/t

[suzanner]

12. Any reasonable cop would have just dismissed the incident and gone on their way.

Personally, I've encountered quite a few (usually blonde) huffy bossy-boots that think they have entitlement to the road, sidewalk, or anything else, no matter how petty and especially if no witnesses to their rudeness. This was unreasonable and traumatic for Michelle. The lady who called the police should be ashamed.

[truth2power]

13. suzanner...you come closest, so far, to a reasonable assessment of the situation, IMO...

I agree with your comment that "any reasonable cop would have just dismissed the incident and gone on their way".

I think that officer was doing the best he could with the situation after he had allowed it to escalate beyond anyone's control. At about the 10:20 mark in the video he says, "She (Michelle) came in apparently flying out of inside here..." He says "apparently" but he doesn't know that for a fact. That's what the other lady said.

This was a "she said, she said', situation. Sometimes even police officers, just like everyone else in this world, need to pick their battles. This officer got hooked into letting the altercation escalate until there was no way to go but "to the mat" with it.

It's beyond my understanding why in Holy Hell LEO's aren't trained in de-escalation techniques. I am of the firm belief that sometimes police officers should act as social workers. In the final analysis it would save the taxpayers and the courts a lot of money and time.

And, yes, the lady who called the police should be ashamed.

[Unknown Beatle]

15. That cop is in a power trip.

He places the woman in handcuffs and arrests her all because she didn't give him her name. And then a shitload of cops show up why? Backup? Because they don't have better things to do?

He says "I gave her about a minute I tried convince her 'you need to give up your name' and because she didn't I placed her under arrest and she resisted arrest so, that's all there is to it." Paraphrasing.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. Imagine if the races were flipped....

The black woman calling the cops on the white woman.

Face it.

The charge was "getting uppity".

[zebonaut]

17. CNN discussion on the matter:

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/05/29/cnn-puts-fox-news-coverage-of-police-brutality/203818

[1monster]

19. I don't, as a usual thing, scream obscenities at my computer screen...

This was an exception.

There was no excuse, whatsoever, for that arrest or the manhandling of Michelle. I hope she wins big.

[Cheese Sandwich]

20. This will be a lawsuit.

The taxpayers of this town will have to pay for their idiot cops violating the Constitution.

[butterfly77]

21. Mfkers!!!

Keep it up and people will start resisting and shooting back. Arrested for what? So whatever the blond said was the truth and because she gave her interpertation of a non incident this woman should be arrested,Bullshit!