Two Incidents - Two Very Different Outcomes

[Luddly Neddite]

Hammond family claims police overstepped their authority during - FOX 32 News Chicago

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
It started as a simple traffic stop and ended with a taser, tears and arrest -- and it was all caught on camera.

A family from Hammond said the video is dramatic evidence of police out of control. But Hammond police said they were left with no choice when one of the passengers refused a simple request.

The moment captured on cellphone video is now at the center of a lawsuit against Hammond police.

"The whole situation was just crazy," said Lisa Mahone.

Mahone, her boyfriend Jamal Jones, and Mahone's two children – 14-year-old Joseph and 7-year-old Janiya -- were driving in Hammond in late September. They were headed to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, where Mahone said doctors had called and said her mother was near death.

"I said 'oh my God, he's pulling me over like I robbed a bank,'" Mahone said.

Hammond police officers, Patrick Vicari and Charles Turner, pulled Mahone over because she wasn't wearing a seat belt. She said she gave them her license and insurance card, but then things escalated when they asked for her boyfriend's ID.

With her son recording on his cellphone in the backseat, Mahone dialed 911.

"I gave him my license and insurance. I also let him know at the beginning to please hurry up because my mom is about to die," Mahone told 911.

Jones said he didn't have an ID to give to police because he recently got a ticket. When he reached into his book bag in the back seat to get the ticket, police drew their guns.

"I don't know you and I don't know what you're going to do," an officer told Jones. He responded, "That's why I have my windows up. I'm not no harm to you right now. I got my kids in the car and you're drawing your weapon."

Jones told FOX 32 News, "So once the kids were scared, I wasn't gonna get out of the car and leave my kids in the car. He was being so aggressive."

Jones then tried to give the ticket with his ID to police, but they refused to take it. He then asked the officers if they have a supervisor on the scene.

"You all got a white shirt?" Jones said. The officer responded, "Look at my shoulder dumb***. I got bars."

Police then continued to order Jones out of the car.

"You're going to come out of the car one way or another. You want your kids to see you come out through the window?" the officer said.

Mahone then again called 911 for a supervisor to come to the scene.

"I am scared. And the man--pulled a gun out. A gun! Why do my kids have to see that," Mahone told 911.

Three minutes after that call, police took action.

"Ma'am are you going to open the vehicle?" the officer said.

Mahone responded, "Why do you say somebody's not gonna hurt you? People are getting shot by the police--"

Suddenly, police broke open the window and tased Jones. Mahone's daughter began crying in the backseat after being sprayed with glass.

"I was just so sad. It was horrible," said daughter Janiya.

Police charged Jones with resisting law enforcement and refusal to aid an officer. The couple filed a federal lawsuit against Hammond police on Monday, with their attorney Dana Kurtz alleging the video shows officers clearly overstepped their authority.

"They had no probable cause, one, to even ask Jamal to get out of the car, or two, to engage in excessive force in tasering and arresting him," Kurtz said.

Watch the video. Its HORRENDOUS.

Then there's this incident -

Cop buys a car seat for child instead of ticketing mom 8216 I 8217 d do it all over again 8217 he says Q13 FOX News

EMMETT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX17 News) — Emmett Township Public Safety Officer Ben Hall has gained a lot of attention after a traffic stop last Friday. While responding to a call of a child riding in a vehicle unsecured in a car seat, he met young mom Alexis DeLorenzo and her 5-year-old daughter.

“When I spoke to [DeLorenzo] she was very forthcoming and knew that the child should be in a booster seat,” Officer Hall told FOX 17 News. “She admitted that she was wrong and that she had recently fallen on hard times.”

Instead of ticketing DeLorenzo, Officer Hall told the mom to meet him at a nearby Walmart so he could buy a booster seat for her daughter.

“It was the easiest 50 bucks I ever spent,” said Officer Hall. “It’s something that anybody in the same position, in our position would do…I in no way, shape or form expect to be paid back. It is a ‘pay it forward’ situation completely.”

The difference?

The first one is a black family.
The second is a white family.

 

[The Irish Ram]

Either that or the attitudes of the cops in one of the incidents needs an adjustment. The man that bought the car seat would have bought it for whoever needed it.

 

[whitehall]

Why would an adult keep his I.D. in a briefcase with a traffic ticket in the back of the car? Police agencies in other less tolerant freedom orientated countries might have shot him on the spot when he reached into the back seat but he gets a chance to sue US government agencies because he was inconvenienced and embarrassed. The system works....don't it?

 

[Mad Scientist]

The difference?

The first one is a black family.
The second is a white family.

Wrong!

The first one is a Chicago Cop.
The second is an Emmett Township Cop.

THAT'S the difference!

 

[Mr. H.]

Race threads are such fun.

 

[bodecea]

Why would an adult keep his I.D. in a briefcase with a traffic ticket in the back of the car? Police agencies in other less tolerant freedom orientated countries might have shot him on the spot when he reached into the back seat but he gets a chance to sue US government agencies because he was inconvenienced and embarrassed. The system works....don't it?

If I'm not driving, and we are going somewhere, my wallet and ID might be in a backpack in the back of the car. So...I guess I get taz'd too?