The Observation Deck

Getting to be a habit?


http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ss ... aga_1.html

We just watched the video on Channel 3 this morning, it is quite disturbing. Why are we only now hearing about something that happened in November?

Wow! Wow! Wow!

The officer remains on the force, according to the article.

He broke a child's jaw and an internal investigation finds he used excessive force, yet he is still employed?

This city has problems - as evidenced by the numerous lawsuits.

Hiring issues, civil rights, public records, and that doesn't include the hospital lawsuit.

But hey, there's a new restaurant on Madison!

I did not see an actual punch to the jaw. It also appears that the officer approached the two more than once. What were they doing that was inappropriate for the library?

It appeared to me like two persons who were not doing what they were asked to do and the policeman asked them to leave. I believe it was then that they decided to get everything on the cell phone while the one was resisting arrest and refusing to leave.

Should the officer not get his day in court to tell his side of the story?

I am not saying that the policeman was 100% correct, but he must have had his reasons.

Right now in this country there is a war on cops and many are getting assassinated just because they are cops. How about some respect for the law?

The persons out there today that hate cops so much, would call them in a second if they needed help.

When it comes to law enforcement, this country has lost it's moral compass.

I will wait to pass judgement until I know the full story. I suggest others do the same.

I will stand by now and wait for the arrows. That's Ok, I can take it!

Read the article, Lori.

An internal investigation was conducted and ruled he used excessive force. No dispute.

I'm trying to be measured in my response to this. The police's internal investigation apparently found that officer Jones used "excessive force" and violated department policy. Okay.

But, unless the Robinsons' attorney is being very reckless, I have to presume the lawsuit is correct in reporting that Jones remains employed by the LPD. Probably the LPD also continues to employ multiple other officers who, after their colleague broke a 17-year-old girl's jaw in confirmed violation of department policy, simply "joked about clocking out early" rather than intervening.

This story was posted last night, so it seems fair to allow LPD and Lakewood's government opportunity to respond. Except that this happened more than six months ago. The response should have been ready for a call from the media. It should have been made before that; it should have been a response to a Lakewood police officer breaking a 17-year-old's jaw, rather than a response to getting caught.

It should have included a vocal, public apology to Sabrina Robinson and her family, as well as our public library. And to the community of Lakewood which has just suffered yet another injury, in no way comparable to Ms. Robinson's, but real and also inflicted by people who should be public servants.

This is not time to call the crisis communication firm, or try to manage the story. This is time to admit fault, apologize for it and fix it promptly.

Hmm. It is such a scary time. Teens are being taught, by the media and society, to disrespect the police. It just can't work that way. I'm not saying the police are always right, I'm just saying, when a police officer tells you to leave, you get up off the seat and leave. When a police officer tells you to sit down, you sit down. Nothing good comes of sparring/jarring/disobeying an officer of the law unless you are practicing non-violent civil disobedience, which she sure as hell wasn't.

Nothing good comes of sparring/jarring/disobeying an officer of the law unless you are practicing non-violent civil disobedience, which she sure as hell wasn't.

Perhaps she WAS.

She was in a library, not on a bball court or in a protest crowd, or rioting. As far as I could see in the video, she did not appear threatening or out of control. She has every right to question the guard as to why she was asked to leave. This is still America.

The fact remains that an internal investigation by the police department - his peers and superiors- determined that he used excessive force. They had access to more information than we do so I'll trust that they looked at all aspects of this case.

Therefore, I'm not going to accuse the victim, as frequently happens in this type of case. I will let the courts handle this. And judging by her lawyers' reputation, I think she will win.

todd vainisi wrote:Hmm. It is such a scary time. Teens are being taught, by the media and society, to disrespect the police.

Excuse me? Two children have been taught that a police officer can inflict physical violence on you without consequences, even if he is simply "moonlighting in uniform" at the time rather than on-duty.

todd vainisi wrote:It just can't work that way. I'm not saying the police are always right, I'm just saying, when a police officer tells you to leave, you get up off the seat and leave. When a police officer tells you to sit down, you sit down.

He was "moonlighting in uniform." The popularity of this notion that free citizens are obliged to give total and immediate obedience, to any command from a police officer, is scary. The notion that an off-duty cop moonlighting as a security guard has the right to go directly to physical intervention, if someone fails to provide instant obedience, is just wrong.

todd vainisi wrote:Nothing good comes of sparring/jarring/disobeying an officer of the law unless you are practicing non-violent civil disobedience, which she sure as hell wasn't.

How about this: A 17-year-old disobeys an officer of the law who, while off-duty, tells her to leave a public library. As a result, she remains in the library, which seems like exactly the place where people concerned about juvenile delinquency should want a 17-year-old to be. That seems like something good coming of "disobeying an officer of the law."

Aside from the fact that the officer in question prevented that result, by egregiously escalating a situation which any responsible adult would have cooled off instead.

From the internal investigation:

An internal investigation into the incident found that Jones used excessive force, and that he should have de-escalated the situation and called for back-up before touching the girl, and that he violated the department's use-of-force policy, according to the lawsuit. The report recommended internal charges.

todd vainisi wrote:Hmm. It is such a scary time. Teens are being taught, by the media and society, to disrespect the police. It just can't work that way. I'm not saying the police are always right, I'm just saying, when a police officer tells you to leave, you get up off the seat and leave. When a police officer tells you to sit down, you sit down. Nothing good comes of sparring/jarring/disobeying an officer of the law unless you are practicing non-violent civil disobedience, which she sure as hell wasn't.

Todd,

Spot on and perfectly said. Thank you.

Yes, let's teach our children to be sheep. To not stand up for themselves and to let an overgrown adolescent with a badge intimidate them.

Then they will fit right into Lakewood.

I should add that I think respect for our police is an excellent goal.

I'm in agreement with others who would like to see that promoted. But who is impeding it?

Officer Jones, while off-duty but wearing his uniform, decided that physical intervention was required to deal with the problem of a 17-year-old whose music was too loud and whose annoyance with Jones apparently matched his with her. (Reminder: he was theoretically the grown-up in this situation.) LPD has decided that Jones's judgment was wrong—but apparently has kept him on the force.

Does this promote respect for our police?

Let's imagine, meanwhile, the my conclusion and that of the LPD is wrong, and Jones was right that he needed to physically remove Ms. Robinson from the library. He then had to judge whether or not he could carry out that action effectively. One presumes that he judged that he could do so. But, presuming that Robinson's jaw was indeed broken when Jones fell on her (which is the most innocent possible explanation, since it didn't break itself), it seems that his judgment was incorrect here as well.

Officer Jones, though off-duty, was and is an officer of the LPD and was in uniform representing the department. Jones decided that he needed to physically remove a 17-year-old from the library, and that he could do so effectively—then apparently fell on her in such a way as to break her jaw. What does this say about his judgment, his coordination, or the judgment of those who employ him as an armed law-enforcement officer?

Does this promote respect for our police?

After breaking Ms. Robinson's jaw, Officer Jones apparently decided to crack a joke, but not to call an ambulance for the child who he injured. Neither, apparently, did his colleagues.

Does this promote respect for our police?

No institution is perfect. All people make mistakes; sometimes people simply unfit for their responsibility are brought onboard; it happens. It's still possible for institutions and the people who serve them to enjoy respect, when they acknowledge failings and implement plausible correctives.

Based on what we know, right now, that is not the story of this episode.

This was provided to WKYC. Note that it is not signed, nor is there an indication of who or what department responded.