How the hell does this make sense?

[draco664]

Link

A Boston cop (6'3, 240 pounds) was fired for using an unreasonable amount of force during an arrest (arrestee - 5'9, 160 pounds) and lied about it afterwards. - Read: He beat the living shit out of someone half his size who couldn't fight back.

It turns out the same cop was fired in 1995 for unlawfully beating someone who turned out to be an undercover cop. (oopsy)

This is the surreal bit.

Williams (the cop doing the beating) was found to be unlawfully dismissed for the beating. He was reinstated and paid $500K back pay.

Cox (the undercover cop who got beat up) sued the city for civil rights violation and got nearly $900K. Plus an undisclosed sum from another action against Williams.

So, one cop beats up another cop. Cop 1 gets fired, but later gets (taxpayer) money and his job back. Cop 2 gets (taxpayer) money for getting beaten.

Can we put the judges and arbitrators in prison for buggering the poor taxpayer twice for the same event?

[crashhelmet]

There are so many possible ways to look at this and lay blame.

Here in the Las Vegas area, cops are train in Brasilian Jiu Jitsu with actual UFC trainers. A lot of them have become cockier than they already were and are even more inclined to show off their dominance with a quick take down. I'm sure similar training is happening elsewhere.

What's bad about this is how they single out Williams for the beating of Cox, the undercover cop. He was beat by a handful of officers while chasing him and other gang members, pursuing who they thought was a "cop killer" thanks to a false report about the chase. I'm not trying to justify what he did, but Boston is one of the few cities where you're better off committing suicide than letting the cops catch you if you kill one of them. That whole incident was a major blunder on all sides, fueled by misinformation and dragged out police chase. Williams and several other officers accused in that beating were reinstated after it was found that they had some sort of justifiable cause, along with a drug dealer misidentifying one of the other cops. if I remember right, the FBI didn't care about that though and continued to investigate and prosecute the wrong guy.

Read the book. It's quite compelling.

[crashhelmet]

As far as this making sense or not, all I can say is "Welcome to the US Legal and Political Systems."

He and others were fired the first time in a PR move. They fought and won their jobs back. If they had been simply "suspended pending investigation," they wouldn't have been sued for their jobs and back pay back. His second termination is again a PR move. From what i understand, his lawyer is once again trying to build a case to sue for either back pay and full benefits, or his job again.

[DrFaroohk]

As an aside to this, I'm sick of people making a big deal out of size. I'm about 6'2, 300 pounds, I can throw a decent punch and there are guys who are 5'9, 160 pounds who could kick my ass.

I've even been assaulted before and told there's no way that happened simply because of my size. No one would dare mess with me, right!? WRONG.

Size has nothing to do with it. It doesn't give anyone an advantage, make anything unfair, or whatever. You deserve the same beating at 4'9 and 90 pounds as 7'6 and 600 pounds of muscle if you going to go around starting shit.

[crashhelmet]

You make a great point. I'm 5'11" and fight at 165. With my training, I can take guys that are much bigger than me. The victim in this case is a corrections officer, so chances are he has quite a bit of self defense training himself.

[Andara Bledin]

Saying that size and weight don't give an advantage is absolutely fallacious.

However, to say that they are the only determining factors or even the most important would be just as inaccurate.

Fitness level and training are far more important; however, neither of those are readily apparent from physical descriptions and public records.

^-.-^

[Ginger Tea]

Depending on what you are doing, being smaller is a bonus, I overheard some women talking about self defence a decade ago waiting for the metro back into Manchester from my old job.
Throwing someone over your shoulder is better for them being shorter than I am and they were probably average height for women or a smidge under (I don't know what is normal anymore as I have worked with women as tall as me and some who are elbow height if that).

[DrFaroohk]

Honestly I'd rather fight a guy twice my size than a guy half my size. they're quick, and they're angry at being so small, and they have something to prove. and their muscles can be just as big as anyone else's.

[Mytical]

Honestly I'd rather fight a guy twice my size than a guy half my size. they're quick, and they're angry at being so small, and they have something to prove. and their muscles can be just as big as anyone else's.

Absolutely. Plus, even if I lose against an as big/bigger person chances are I would have at least done SOME damage to them. The smaller/quicker people may find it like chopping down a tree to take me down, but there is a good chance I might not be able to lay a finger on them. True..if I can..I can do serious damage, but even at equal health/skill..a quicker adversary has a better chance of avoiding blows then a stronger adversary.

[Silverharp]

There are so many possible ways to look at this and lay blame.

Here in the Las Vegas area, cops are train in Brasilian Jiu Jitsu with actual UFC trainers. A lot of them have become cockier than they already were and are even more inclined to show off their dominance with a quick take down. I'm sure similar training is happening elsewhere.

Bloody fuck on a stick.
Vegas Metro was already a bunch of corrupt, arrogant asshats when I lived there in the early 90's, but add THAT to the mix!?

[crashhelmet]

Bloody fuck on a stick.
Vegas Metro was already a bunch of corrupt, arrogant asshats when I lived there in the early 90's, but add THAT to the mix!?

Don't worry Silverharp. They're more prone to shoot you before they tackle you. They've been exceeding or coming damn close to matching the previous year's "Officer related shootings" statistics every year. A few years ago, they exceeded it in March.