Police position bodycam P.O.V to make suspect look like he was resisting

http://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/mens-rea

The thing is, there hasn't been any uptick in police abuses, we just are now able to check out collective cognitive bias with video evidence.

Imagine what was going on in the 90s, or the 80s can your mind even take it to contemplate the 1970s?

... but that's more than 80 characters.

I have some direct, personal experience with this. Short story is the police came to my home over an erroneous domestic violence report. The truth is my wife and daughter were having one of those moments and did a lot of yelling, and it sounded bad. Nothing criminal, just a really smart and pissed off 14 year old saying vile things.

I come home, see the mess, send everyone off to their corners in order to start the cool down so I can help sort it out. Decide maybe I'll take a step outside and drink my coffee, and there they are. Three very annoyed officers who very clearly believe I did something.

We had a chat, they wanted in the home, I denied that, and they were not going to deal with that AT ALL. My reason was adopted foster kids and how that can play out when cops end up in the home. They worry, as they should. But, I could not get this explanation in, due to the fact that the police were more interested in "running their script" than they were policing.

They ended up touching me, saying, "you are under arrest" and at that point, I completely relaxed. Not to the point where they would have to carry me, just very obviously non-confrontational. I had no issue with getting cuffed, questioned, etc... part of a crappy process.

They, however, wanted more. So I got a knee in my back and slammed into the driveway hard. Really hard, like "jesus, this is happening to me, an ordinary, geeky, non threatening white guy?" hard. (and I'm not a racist, my son is black, and I think in these terms having had a lot of experiences with said son, just saying...)

I remained limp, and they started working me over, clearly intending to teach me a lesson; namely, they get to do what they want to do, rights or not, due process or not. There was a witness, which was a good thing, and that witness is important for this next bit too:

So, there I am, not doing anything. Notably, the moment they assaulted me, they started shouting, "stop resisting", which was puzzling to me. There never was any resisting. When I didn't deliver, they grabbed my arms, yanking me back and forth. To an observer, who didn't know me, this looks a whole lot like somebody fighting arrest!

Of course, nobody in the family had any idea prior to this mess.

They did the yanking around, then when it was time to cuff me, they tried pain holds on my hands. Why? Punitive is my guess, because I did nothing, until those. And the only thing I did was maintain my body position to avoid pain and damage. (My wife worked as an outreach worker and I had been the training dummy for these holds and knew them cold, able to avoid them without doing anything hostile.)

This cycle happened a couple times, and during it, I responded to most of the "stop resisting" directives with something snarky like, "are you gentlemen done?", or "make sure you get all the anger out so we can talk like adults", etc...

Yes, I know. This did not do me any favors, but to be frank, I was so angry, hurting, and shocked at this game playing out that the snark was coping. I really didn't want to do anything to lash out, nor anything dangerous, so snark it was.

Eventually, they wrapped it up. The whole "rag doll" act was maybe a minute? Two tops?

My brother in law was observing, and they wanted him gone. Thankfully, he simply observed and did not "take a walk over here to talk", quietly affirming his intent to comply with their request once the action was over. He made it clear he was watching, and only watching.

Once it was done, I was in the car, hurt, bleeding from a head slam or two in response to the snark, looking around in wonder over how what should have been a rational conversation ended up such a mess!

Well, maybe this isn't so short. Sorry.

Anyway, my wife comes out, they get all their questions answered, but they had done what they did to me. So, they really couldn't just drop it. I had to go downtown, and they more or less were obligated to justify doing what they did, leaving me with a trip to the intake wing of the jail and a quick, very late night release. (that was not fun either)

Interestingly, she called them on it, basically saying they could drop it, let me go, and we can just all go our own way, or they will be in court explaining the whole thing...

So, it's a set piece when they want it to be. And in my case, it was punitive. I simply didn't comply with an order they gave me, which was to allow entry into my home. And they wanted me to understand doing that was expensive. No joke.

When we got the police report copies, it was like bizarro world! When I could, after walking home late that night, I typed up the whole thing. 11 pages, no sugar coating, just memory dump to capture all that had happened.

Their report didn't compare at all. It was hard to see it was the same event! Claims I had a gun. Claims I was using profanity and disparaging them. (the latter was true, but not even laced with disrespect, more like, "really? you should be ashamed" at worst, and only while I was being assaulted), and it went on and on...

Here's the thing: I had a witness and was in good standing with my community. Coaching kid sports, model adoptive parent, employed, no record, the works. They had the three of them present, and could write anything they wanted.

And they fabricated all of it, fabricated what onlookers may see, fabricated their testimony in court, the works. (and that still galls me having to watch them lie in my trial with impunity)

My attorney explained it this way:

Most people won't fight it. They won't have the money for an attorney, they will feel deep shame over having to go to work looking like a prize fighter who lost big, and it's just a hassle all around.

On their end, they work out a quick and dirty process they can use every time. It's quick, and most importantly, is structured to maximize the pain of others involved, and minimize their liability. Most of the time, it works great. One person's word against three fine officers? Who wins?

Exactly.

So I did the trial, and the entire time they were trying to get it moved to Federal Court (WTF is it with that?), delaying proceedings, making me appear say 20 times at least, offering bench probation, offering community court, and raising the ante to be sure I took the max risk with a trial.

95 percent of people fold on all of that. I didn't, and was found not-guilty, had to file a tort to get my expenses back, and after about 8 months, it was over. Painful financially, painful physically, and annoying as hell having to structure work around so many legal entanglements they came up with.

The other thing my attorney explained was the difference between well trained professionals and thugs.

Pros will use deescalation techniques to manage the scenario down and have that rational conversation. Most likely result is paperwork and everybody moves on. The thugs are all about compliance and thuggery.

The thugs are cheap and effective. All they need to do is teach them liability managed means and methods and set 'em loose as bruisers to keep the peace.

My incident was in the early '00's Today, cell phone cameras, social media, etc... have changed the game and we are seeing so many more incidents play out. These incidents have been going on (attorney told me that too), but we just didn't hear about all that many. Now we do.

The body cams are a direct threat to the thugs. The liability management goes out the window, and those set piece tricks they use do too. Expect them to resist this to the maximum degree.

But also expect to have to understand how they got to be thugs! It's the training and the overall culture and directives they get from their superiors. It's not OK to just blame the street cops. What they are doing, if they are doing thuggery, is wrong. Make no mistake. But, they are being TOLD to do that, and it's that we need to face head on.

In my town, thuggery got started when a new police chief took over. That person is gone, lots of damage done, and the current chief is doing good, but a damaged department is a really tough problem. It will take a decade to clean it up and get the people to trust them to do policing again.

Those costs are huge! And that's what cheap thuggery costs us, IMHO.

I'm fine. So many other people are not. They have records, were damaged physically, or worse.

Just know there are good policing efforts out there too. They use deescalation, they train professionals, they pay them, and they have the trust of the community they protect and serve. They are no longer the norm.

If you ask me, all this recording of events is necessary. There will be a lot of pain resulting from doing it too, but we need to feel that pain, if we are to muster the political will to return our police to the "protect and serve" doctrine, not the "escalation of force to compliance" doctrine doing so much harm today.

On that last note, "escalation of force to compliance" is the majority standard in policing today. It means do what you are told, or you will be punished. It also means not doing what you are told can result in death[1], and that's BY DESIGN too. Remember that.

Now, perhaps you may see these events in a new light. Why those cops are corrupting the monitoring tech is driven by more than just their own character issues. A lot more.

[1]...if that seems over the top, I agree. However, what I put here comes from my case and a few good, frank and open conversations with an experienced criminal attorney.

In my case, they presented that doctrine, and it contained levels of force, up through deadly force, constrained only by compliance. If they don't get their way, they continue to use more force, until they do, or it's moot. No joke.