Policeman who punched cyclist in face found guilty of assault

Critchio wrote:

I chose not to make comments in the original article because I was on the fence with the assault and now he's been convicted i still am on the fence but have to go with the decision i guess.

The police can do what is called a distraction technique when they perceive or believe that someone is going to resist arrest or become violent or both.

Despite any differences with UK use of force and Canadian use of force rules I am fairly confident of one thing; if that cop had, at the moment the guy on the bike had pulled his arm away when being handcuffed, shouted, "Stop resisting!" then offered a knee strike to the guys thigh to effect a mental stunning (an approved technique) so he could regain control and quickly handcuff him then we would perhaps not be seeing this video and there would not be a court case.

It's because the cop punched the guy in the face and people got emotive about it. Did the cop have more options? Sure, I've already covered one, but every cop faced with split second decisions will deal with that incident in different ways. The cops don't know if the guy was armed or whether he was gonna get violent.

And that was one of the weakest punches I've ever seen. It wasn't a haymaker punch and probably left no visible injury. The knee strike I described would have probably caused more trauma yet would have had a totally different outcome. The cop stays calm, doesn't get angry or 'lose it' and does not yell at the guy filming to stop or scream at the guy he's just cuffed. He's in control and calm. That's not the actions of a thug cop with a bad reputation.

The mistake he made was choosing to distract the guy they were trying to handcuff with a strike to the face because when the public see such a thing they instantly think police brutality and thuggery. Police officers can do that legitimately but it looks horrible.

Had the cop 'lost it' and punched out of anger then I'd be holding a pitchfork too but I'm just uncomfortable with this one.

Of course perhaps the cops should never have pulled him over in the first place and turned a blind eye to the red light running and we would not be where we're at now.

The problem with that is cops are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Someone would have seen the cops turn a blind eye and then complained. They just can't win.

I realise I'll probably get abused for the stance I'm taking but i still don't think that cop should have been convicted on what I've seen and know of the incident.

Every cop that's done handcuff training may be able to elaborate here on what an officers response options are when someone they are in the middle of trying to handcuff and never met before suddenly yanks one arm out, because that is what happened here.

You'll have to elaborate more...

All very interesting, but why the hell would they handcuff someone for a) running a red light on a bicycle and b) offering an opinion about the apropriate use of police resources?

kraut wrote:

All very interesting, but why the hell would they handcuff someone for a) running a red light on a bicycle and b) offering an opinion about the apropriate use of police resources?

We handcuff for officer safety, simple as that. You just dont know how someone will react.

stumps wrote:

kraut wrote:

All very interesting, but why the hell would they handcuff someone for a) running a red light on a bicycle and b) offering an opinion about the apropriate use of police resources?

We handcuff for officer safety, simple as that. You just dont know how someone will react.

And what was the safety issue exactly?

These cops are out of control and it reflects badly on Vancouver that idiots like this passed any kind of selection. If they can't deal with a couple of questions from someone miffed to get a ticket (as most people are) then they don't have the skills to be police officers in the first place.

Critchio wrote:

I chose not to make comments in the original article because I was on the fence with the assault and now he's been convicted i still am on the fence but have to go with the decision i guess.

The police can do what is called a distraction technique when they perceive or believe that someone is going to resist arrest or become violent or both.

Despite any differences with UK use of force and Canadian use of force rules I am fairly confident of one thing; if that cop had, at the moment the guy on the bike had pulled his arm away when being handcuffed, shouted, "Stop resisting!" then offered a knee strike to the guys thigh to effect a mental stunning (an approved technique) so he could regain control and quickly handcuff him then we would perhaps not be seeing this video and there would not be a court case.

It's because the cop punched the guy in the face and people got emotive about it. Did the cop have more options? Sure, I've already covered one, but every cop faced with split second decisions will deal with that incident in different ways. The cops don't know if the guy was armed or whether he was gonna get violent.

And that was one of the weakest punches I've ever seen. It wasn't a haymaker punch and probably left no visible injury. The knee strike I described would have probably caused more trauma yet would have had a totally different outcome. The cop stays calm, doesn't get angry or 'lose it' and does not yell at the guy filming to stop or scream at the guy he's just cuffed. He's in control and calm. That's not the actions of a thug cop with a bad reputation.

The mistake he made was choosing to distract the guy they were trying to handcuff with a strike to the face because when the public see such a thing they instantly think police brutality and thuggery. Police officers can do that legitimately but it looks horrible.

Had the cop 'lost it' and punched out of anger then I'd be holding a pitchfork too but I'm just uncomfortable with this one.

Of course perhaps the cops should never have pulled him over in the first place and turned a blind eye to the red light running and we would not be where we're at now.

The problem with that is cops are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Someone would have seen the cops turn a blind eye and then complained. They just can't win.

I realise I'll probably get abused for the stance I'm taking but i still don't think that cop should have been convicted on what I've seen and know of the incident.

Every cop that's done handcuff training may be able to elaborate here on what an officers response options are when someone they are in the middle of trying to handcuff and never met before suddenly yanks one arm out, because that is what happened here.

Never read so much nonsense in my life. Two officers. one cyclist standing still talking asking questions and they get the handcuffs out?? Jesus H Christ. He wasn't running. He didn't offer violence, didn't resist arrest even though arrest itself was unnecessary. Just a guy asking whether a ticket for a traffic offence was entirely necessary.

Christ alive if the cops in the UK reacted like that everytime someone asked to be let off for speeding or thought their offence didn't warrant a ticket we'd be up to our ears in ex cops.

Giving him a ticket - Fine. Ignore his questions or just tell him that he's getting it whatever he says and the place to argue is in court - Fine. Arresting him - ridiculous. Cuffing him - utterly over the top. Cop back on the street pending sentence for an assault conviction. Un-fucking-believable. And I am the one usually sticking up for the cops.

Critchio wrote:

I chose not to make comments in the original article...

Catch-up time!

multifrag wrote:

Never expected that from Canada. Well, assholes are everywhere. Just write a fine or lecture the person and let him go. Why physically disgrace the person and abuse your power... That is why I have a helmet camera. You can never trust anyone, even police

Yep even the police. If it wasn't for camera footage the Met Police would have not have been prosecuted for the killing of Ian Tomlinson. They are only happy when they are abusing their powers, bullying and harassing people. And then there was Hillsborough, the racist cover up of Stephen Lawrence's death and now what's emerging is the massive cover up by police and officials of the misdemeanours of famous and prominent figures right at the top of politics and Government decades ago. So two cops acting as judge and jury beating up a cyclist for RLJing is small fry.

this is how I look at it

you are right there are assholes everywhere including the cyclist. the cyclist broke the law and he insulted the police.

"just write a fine or lecture the person and let him go." this would have been the case if he only shut his mouth and accepted his fine for being a knob cyclist then everything would have been fine.

"Why physically disgrace the person and abuse your power..." why insult the police for doing their job?

cyclist are not exempt from traffic rules. if you brake it and you get caught you should accept the fine end of! no ifs and buts.