Police violence - again

Police in Hammond, Indiana stopped a woman in a car for not wearing a seatbelt and gave her a ticket. For some reason they then insisted that the man in the passenger seat provide ID. The man said he did not have any with him, but he did have an unrelated ticket with his personal information on it.

Quote:

Mahone and Jones allege in their complaint that Officers Patrick Vicari and Charles Turner were "highly aggressive" during the traffic stop. They said the officers requested Mahone's identification but also Jones'. Because he did not have a driver's license, according to the complaint, Jones offered a piece of paper that included his information but the officers declined. According to the complaint, when Jones refused to leave the vehicle because he and Mahone felt they were in "imminent danger," officers smashed the passenger-side window and used a stun gun on him. Jones was arrested and later charged with resisting law enforcement. Mahone received a citation for not wearing her seatbelt and was let go. Kurtz, their lawyer, said the officers had no right to ask Jones to exit the car unless they had probable cause. "These officers engaged in excessive force and were completely unreasonable," Kurtz said today. "There was absolutely no basis to engage in the conduct that they did or to arrest [Jones.]"

The city's official statement is that the police were afraid for their lives. At the article, there is a cell phone video that the driver's son took of the incident from the back seat of the car. Observe the behavior of the officers and decide for yourself if they're acting as if they were immediately concerned for their own safety.



ETA: on the video the driver can be heard talking to a 911 operator on her phone. She called them when the police outside the car drew their guns on the passenger, a short time before the video starts.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1uYzuIG