PureX
Well-known member
"This is a very violent attack on someone who is in handcuffs, who is partially restrained, is tiny, and there's just no need for it," Acker's criminal attorney Cindy Hyatt told the paper.
"You can't have something like this, whether it happens 100 times, 10 times or one time. It's unacceptable. It cannot be tolerated. As a patrol officer in particular, that's part of the job, dealing with that without planting someone's face in the floor," she added.
The video shows Colorado Springs officer Tyler Walker, 29 at the time, clearly shoving the handcuffed woman into a chair by hitting her in the stomach. He then grabs Acker out of her seat and slams her on to the hospital floor. Aside from having two teeth knocked out, she suffered "trauma to the face, head, teeth and jaw; migraine headaches, concussion, closed head injuries, memory and cognitive function problems, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder."
Meanwhile, conflicting police reports state that Walker either "escorted her to the floor" or that he "rolled her ... to the floor."
The incident took place after officers received calls of a disturbance involving a gun and were sent to check out Acker's apartment. They reportedly found no probable cause. But, according to police, the woman was "intoxicated and verbally uncooperative with police," while her boyfriend, Tyrin Tanks, was wanted on an outstanding warrant, according to Walker's report.
There is nothing this woman could have said or done to warrant this kind of violent attack.
And I am seeing these kinds of videos almost every day, now, on Facebook, Youtube, and elsewhere. Clearly, this sort of thing has been going on for a long time, but is now being captured by the recent proliferation of video cameras. And the thing I find most disturbing, is that these violent officer's overseers defend them in almost every instance, against the citizens they were sworn to serve and protect.
It's extremely important that we do not allow our police forces to become populated by paid thugs, such as these. Once the police become the criminals, our society will collapse into violence and chaos.
Nearly every one of these videos I've seen involve the officer over-reacting to a perceived lack of IMMEDIATE AND TOTAL compliance. In this case, the officer just slammed the woman into the chair, presumably because she would not sit voluntarily. This is in itself an unnecessary escalation of violent force. Then when the woman reacts to this aggression with her foot (because she is hand-cuffed), the officer over-reacts, again, and slams her to the floor, knocking out her teeth.
I understand that she was drunk, and uncooperative, but drunks are very often slow to understand, and deliberately uncooperative. This officer was NEVER in any danger. And had no legitimate reason to respond so violently to her insolence. Any officer that cannot keep his cool in such a situation should be sent back for more training and testing, or should be put off the job.
And as a social emergency, we need to address this insane police practice of demanding immediate and total compliance. It's irrational, and dangerously unrealistic, and it is clearly the cause many unnecessary deaths and beatings of civilians.
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