Birmingham making National News Today with Beating (Guntersville: how much, live)

[Guntersville Boomer]

I hated to see on this morning's national news Birmingham getting such bad press over the motorist's beating by 5 police officers. I could understand them being angry as the guy almost ran one of them over but he was unconcious when they got to him......and it was amazing to me that not one of the guys tried to stop the others, they all went at him, I wonder how much this lawsuit is going to cost the City of Birmingham.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Guntersville Boomer

I hated to see on this morning's national news Birmingham getting such bad press over the motorist's beating by 5 police officers. I could understand them being angry as the guy almost ran one of them over but he was unconcious when they got to him......and it was amazing to me that not one of the guys tried to stop the others, they all went at him, I wonder how much this lawsuit is going to cost the City of Birmingham.

Ultimately? It will be the legal bills and not much more. I certainly don't excuse the actions of the officers and feel they should have been fired. That being said, after watching the full 20-minute chase, I can understand how enraged they got. I mean, it is an absolute miracle that no one was killed that day.

So, ultimately, it will be legal bills, and a token settlement from the jury. In fact, I hope that I get summoned for jury duty on this one so that I get ensure that real justice gets served: In the form of a $1 award to the plaintiff.

[aktanner]

The police officers should have been reprimanded, but clearly this suspect was a threat. The police should not have been fired.

[Guntersville Boomer]

I think I heard the suspect is in prison for 20 years so he is going to be there a while.

[Back Again]

Originally Posted by aktanner

The police officers should have been reprimanded, but clearly this suspect was a threat. The police should not have been fired.

Although I can not say I agree with what the police did, I will say, they are people who just went through an ordeal and you can not just turn it off like a switch.

I too agree they should have not been fired, but rather have gone through do process and let a third party decide what should have been done.

As far as the creep that got the beating, let him sue, then the family of the cop that got run over should sue him for twice the amount.

I will never understand, when did the laws start changing to protect the crooks?!?!

[pvjd]

I don't think he actually hit the other cop, I could be wrong though. Even though he was in pursuit, the fact that he had been thrown from the car and THEN beaten could have caused paralysis, brain damage, or death. Even though he broke the law and made a really stupid decision, he is still a human being and is not inherently evil. The police go through extensive training on what to do during crisis situations such as this, so they are 100% accountable and should be fired for potentially killing the man AFTER he was already seriously injured and unconcious. I just can't help but wonder what happens behind closed doors that doesn't get videotaped.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by pvjd

I don't think he actually hit the other cop, I could be wrong though. Even though he was in pursuit, the fact that he had been thrown from the car and THEN beaten could have caused paralysis, brain damage, or death. Even though he broke the law and made a really stupid decision, he is still a human being and is not inherently evil. The police go through extensive training on what to do during crisis situations such as this, so they are 100% accountable and should be fired for potentially killing the man AFTER he was already seriously injured and unconcious. I just can't help but wonder what happens behind closed doors that doesn't get videotaped.

He wasn't inherently evil? This is a man who has gone to prison five times, and thought nothing about endangering the lives of hundreds of people.

Okay, even if he wasn't evil, he certainly was dangerous. He should be locked away for the rest of his life. See how much of that settlement money he can spend behind bars.

[pvjd]

I still don't believe that it gives the police the right to beat an unconcious man in need of medical attention. At that point he was unarmed and incapacitated. They knew better and did it anyway, without regard to the fact that they could have killed him. Many people go to jail, it doesn't make them bad people, or any less deserving of basic human rights and protection. I am a big supporter of law enforcement, but this is outrageous. They are trained better than that.

[Maudine]

QuoteThe police officers should have been reprimanded, but clearly this suspect was a threat. The police should not have been fired.)

After seeing the tape and hearing what happened I agree with the above statement.

[pvjd]

So many people forget that even lawbreakers are deserving of humane treatment. What he did was absolutely idiotic and malicious, but he did not deserve what happened to him. It is one thing to say that you might have done the same in that situation, but these are police officers who are trained for these sort of scenarios, carry weapons, and are capable of causing more physical harm than the average person. What I saw were a bunch of out of control bullies who didn't care if the person lived or died, or was already dead for that matter, and whether he was a criminal or not, that is not acceptable.