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The events from the video happened back in October. For those of you who did not watch it this is what happened...Two police officers are in a small bus trying to talk a teenager into getting off of the bus. From the video you can't tell exactly what the situation is, but you see the teen doesn't respond at all. After pleading with the teen multiple times to leave the bus with them, and warning they will have to use force if he doesn't, the officers pull the boy out of the seat. He struggles, and the one cop (The one who looks like Hank from Breaking Bad) puts his arm behind his back, which then results in the kids arm being snapped. He yells in pain, and the cops then take him off the bus.
After some research I did find out a little more about the story. The teen in the video, who is 16 years old, had apparently threatened the bus driver. The driver then said he couldn't transport the teen safely because of it, and the police we called after the kid refused to leave the bus. The kid apparently has "Tourette syndrome, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and pervasive developmental disorder" from what one of the articles I read said. Another article that was clearly favoring the side of the teen simply called him a "mentally disabled child" which I think is a slight exaggeration.
Considering I plan to go into a career in Law Enforcement it is difficult to pick a side. On one hand you have two large police officers who went to an extreme when they used that much force to get the obviously troubled kid off the bus. They could have done a variety of different things such as waiting for the parents. Although from what I read they think the mother was outside of the bus too, so I have no idea why she wasn't able to control her child and force him off the bus herself. Or if the kid is as troubled as they claim why does he not have an aid with him? There was apparently a special needs aid on the bus, along with the teen's brother. Could the brother not talk him down as well?
Yet on the other hand it isn't an easy situation for the officers either. They are in a very cramped space being on that tiny bus. The kids on the bus are already late for school, and they simply are trying to defuse the situation and get the bus going again. They talk to the kid a good bit in hopes he'll leave on his own, and even warn him several times that they don't want to use force. The teen isn't some skinny little boy either he is a rather big kid, and the cops don't know if he's going to start swinging fists at him or not. In fact from what they saw they almost expect him too.
Now when the arm breaks it's when the cops decide this boy is not going to leave on his own two feet and that they're going to have to use some sort of force. It appears they're trying to handcuff him when his arm twists the wrong way, and it breaks. I definitely don't think the officer did it intentionally, because when it happened it almost looked like he was taken aback. One of them even said "...broke his f*cking arm" as if he was basically saying oh crap.
The Chief of their department said the officers did no wrong, but did they? Like I said it's hard to say. I definitely don't think they went about it the right way, but at the same time you can't give them hell for what happened. They were obviously trying to avoid something like that, and the boy brought it on himself after ignoring several warnings and pleas from the cops. As far as him being mentally disabled like I said I think that may be a slight exaggeration. He obviously has some emotional problems, but in this day and age there are a lot of kids who do. It's not like he was full blown ******ed, he knew what he was doing and what situation he was in. I do not think the officer broke his arm intentionally, but then again for that kind of snap he did have to be using a lot of force. Still the boy was struggling, it was a small space, and for me I can't fault the officers too much. Was it handled the perfect way? No obviously not, but do the officers and the department deserved to be sued? Definitely not as well.
The events from the video happened back in October. For those of you who did not watch it this is what happened...Two police officers are in a small bus trying to talk a teenager into getting off of the bus. From the video you can't tell exactly what the situation is, but you see the teen doesn't respond at all. After pleading with the teen multiple times to leave the bus with them, and warning they will have to use force if he doesn't, the officers pull the boy out of the seat. He struggles, and the one cop (The one who looks like Hank from Breaking Bad) puts his arm behind his back, which then results in the kids arm being snapped. He yells in pain, and the cops then take him off the bus.
After some research I did find out a little more about the story. The teen in the video, who is 16 years old, had apparently threatened the bus driver. The driver then said he couldn't transport the teen safely because of it, and the police we called after the kid refused to leave the bus. The kid apparently has "Tourette syndrome, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and pervasive developmental disorder" from what one of the articles I read said. Another article that was clearly favoring the side of the teen simply called him a "mentally disabled child" which I think is a slight exaggeration.
Considering I plan to go into a career in Law Enforcement it is difficult to pick a side. On one hand you have two large police officers who went to an extreme when they used that much force to get the obviously troubled kid off the bus. They could have done a variety of different things such as waiting for the parents. Although from what I read they think the mother was outside of the bus too, so I have no idea why she wasn't able to control her child and force him off the bus herself. Or if the kid is as troubled as they claim why does he not have an aid with him? There was apparently a special needs aid on the bus, along with the teen's brother. Could the brother not talk him down as well?
Yet on the other hand it isn't an easy situation for the officers either. They are in a very cramped space being on that tiny bus. The kids on the bus are already late for school, and they simply are trying to defuse the situation and get the bus going again. They talk to the kid a good bit in hopes he'll leave on his own, and even warn him several times that they don't want to use force. The teen isn't some skinny little boy either he is a rather big kid, and the cops don't know if he's going to start swinging fists at him or not. In fact from what they saw they almost expect him too.
Now when the arm breaks it's when the cops decide this boy is not going to leave on his own two feet and that they're going to have to use some sort of force. It appears they're trying to handcuff him when his arm twists the wrong way, and it breaks. I definitely don't think the officer did it intentionally, because when it happened it almost looked like he was taken aback. One of them even said "...broke his f*cking arm" as if he was basically saying oh crap.
The Chief of their department said the officers did no wrong, but did they? Like I said it's hard to say. I definitely don't think they went about it the right way, but at the same time you can't give them hell for what happened. They were obviously trying to avoid something like that, and the boy brought it on himself after ignoring several warnings and pleas from the cops. As far as him being mentally disabled like I said I think that may be a slight exaggeration. He obviously has some emotional problems, but in this day and age there are a lot of kids who do. It's not like he was full blown ******ed, he knew what he was doing and what situation he was in. I do not think the officer broke his arm intentionally, but then again for that kind of snap he did have to be using a lot of force. Still the boy was struggling, it was a small space, and for me I can't fault the officers too much. Was it handled the perfect way? No obviously not, but do the officers and the department deserved to be sued? Definitely not as well.
