US cop who paralyzed Indian granddad arrested, fired

[webfact]

Ala. officer arrested, accused of injuring Indian granddad

MADISON, Ala. (AP) — Authorities have arrested an Alabama police officer accused of badly injuring an Indian man who was visiting relatives in the state.

Police in Madison, a north Alabama city, say officer Eric Parker was charged with assault.

Chief Larry Muncey says Parker will be fired.

The announcement came hours after Sureshbhai Patel filed a federal lawsuit. The 57-year-old man says he was visiting his son's family when he was stopped by police Feb. 6 while walking in a neighborhood.

A video released by police shows an officer throwing the man to the ground. The lawsuit says Patel suffered injuries including partial paralysis.

Patel's attorney says he speaks little English and was accosted because of his brown skin.

The police chief says Patel committed no crime, and that the FBI is investigating.

No attorney was immediately listed for Parker.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-02-13

[NoBrainer]

There should be independent testing of every police officer accross the US every 3 months, for Steroids, and other illegal Drugs.

You would be surprised at the results.

Any officer found failing the test should be immediately dismissed from the force, and relegated to working as a security officer at Walmart for the rest of their careers.

[csabo]

There are bad apples in every profession in every county. I fear a world with no police. I hope our protectors in blue all go home safe tonight.

[newatthis]

There are bad apples in every profession in every county. I fear a world with no police. I hope our protectors in blue all go home safe tonight.

This is true, csabo. We need a police force and we should respect the badge, the uniform and what they represent. However, there are men / women who wear the badge / uniform but do not deserve our respect.

[Fore Man]

A pundit once remarked..."when you give a man a gun, you'd better watch him".

[Marknreston]

Lots of posts about bad cops not backed with anything besides opinions. Yes there are bad cops. Always have been and always will be. But compared to the corrupt, inefficient, and often invisible Thai police, I will take US police practices any day. When was the last time you saw Thai police issue citations for traffic violations or render assistance at a serious road accident? It is unfortunate the world is jumping on the "unarmed black teenager killed by a white police officer" story with no more regards to the truth in the case than what the liberal press offers. For every bad cop in the US I am confident there are thousAnds who would and do give their lives on a daily basis to protect their citizens

[hanno]

I wonder why so many countries do just fine without a police force in armored vehicles and with assault rifles? It is a joke that the Army dumped all this gear on every country sheriff when they came back from Iraq/Afghanistan.

Nobody says no coppers would be a better world, but I sure would feel very unsafe in the US if I were black, brown, green or whatever else did not fit into a coppers stereotypes.

[Mhee Kway Ee]

There are bad apples in every profession in every county. I fear a world with no police. I hope our protectors in blue all go home safe tonight.

Except that they don't protect us, or even claim to. They are under no obligation to do so (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html?_r=0) and realistically have no opportunity to do so. It's their job to investigate crimes and arrest criminals. Preventing crime is not even theoretically within the scope of the job, nor is it physically possible for them.

[ggold]

Lucky he wasn't shot!

[humqdpf]

Being someone from the Indian sub-continent, he would not be aware of the by now mandatory response for anyone who is not white and clean-cut and speaking good English with good communication skills when stopped while walking on a public street by police in the USA: drop to the ground with your hands in the air and shout as loud and you can: "My hands are up - please don't shoot! I am surrendering."

The only surprise about this story is that the cop was fired. Cops have not been arrested or fired even though they have shot and killed unarmed individuals who, for various reasons were not able to respond appropriately (due to mental illness, being high, not understanding what the cops are saying). And if you fit the profile (plenty of other people have documented racial profiling as well as other issues - for instance, looking different, calmly walking around a neighbourhood (as opposed to jogging or driving like a "normal" person) etc.

[manarak]

The problem with many cops is that they already try to punish someone for behaving differently from what they wanted/ordered the subject to do.

In this case, the elderly Indian man didn't understand English and pulled back when officers wanted to pat him down, thus I think they tackled him to the ground probably to teach him a lesson and are now hiding behind the "threat" excuse.

I wonder how an unarmed 57 year old man could be a threat to 2 police officers?

And I read the officers were called in after someone reported a "suspicious person" - <deleted>? who reports an elderly man walking on the street as suspicious?

Are most people there cowards or psychos?

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.

[ggt]

I really like the idea of "mandatory" random drug testing of cops...

I like that the cop in Alabama will lose his job...would be good to see him do time...there is such a double standard that cops feel immune to prosecution...

As for the person who called in to report a suspicious person in the neighborhood...what if this suspicious person was up to no good...carrying automatic weapons or homemade bombs...I prefer to error on the side of caution...without committing a crime while investigating the suspect...

[SEEDGER]

The Police in America are out of control, It is one of the primary reason for leaving the US an coming here. For the gentleman who said there are good cops I would ask hime where are they? They never speak up, never step forward and point out the bad police. They instead stay silent; why Fear! Speaking up would put their lives and jobs in danger. But then that's what good guys do! So in my mind they are as bad as the police who continue to do wrong. I have 3 computers full of bad cops stories; killing innocent Americans from Las vegas my favorite story to the neighbor who was watering his neighbors lawn at their request while they were out of town. Someone called the police and killed the neighbor because the garden hose he was holding looked like a gun! Go figure hmm lets see what garden hose looks like a Gun Water Gun maybe but then again "US police only have to believe there life is endnger to kill!" Think about that the next time you go to The FREEST PLACE ON EARTH NOT!!!

[Maestro]

Removed an off-topic post and the replies to it.

[connda]

Seems to be the norm in the US nowadays. Union will press for Grand Jury. GJ will aquit. Cop reinstated. Rinse and repeat. They'll probably deport the victim too.

Edited February 13, 2015 by connda

[NeverSure]

I can't believe some of the comments on here. I've been all over the US and I've never had a problem with police. I've always found them to be courteous.

This cop was a bad apple and he has been charged with a crime and fired from his job. He'll also be sued for money as will his department.

This cop will do jail time for the crime because the American public doesn't tolerate this behavior. If anything the judge and jury will go harder on him as an example. He may not be finished getting criminal charges adding to what he already has.

This is the way things are supposed to work and they are working. In other cases juries of ordinary citizens decided what the outcome should be but nothing is swept under the rug or hidden from the public.

[NeverSure]

There should be independent testing of every police officer accross the US every 3 months, for Steroids, and other illegal Drugs.

You would be surprised at the results.

Any officer found failing the test should be immediately dismissed from the force, and relegated to working as a security officer at Walmart for the rest of their careers.

There is in fact periodic random (times) drug testing for these people as there are for many employees of most companies. They are legal and enforceable.

Someone caught with drugs in his system isn't going to go get a job at Walmart. They do background checks and drug testing themselves.

[gk10002000]

The problem is the US cops start yelling and expect everybody to react quickly and lay down on the ground! A lot of people don't want to lay in the dirt. A lot of people don't react quickly like trained soldiers or snap to attention when yelled at. A lot of people in the USA do not understand or speak any English.

[gk10002000]

The problem with many cops is that they already try to punish someone for behaving differently from what they wanted/ordered the subject to do.

In this case, the elderly Indian man didn't understand English and pulled back when officers wanted to pat him down, thus I think they tackled him to the ground probably to teach him a lesson and are now hiding behind the "threat" excuse.

I wonder how an unarmed 57 year old man could be a threat to 2 police officers?

And I read the officers were called in after someone reported a "suspicious person" - <deleted>? who reports an elderly man walking on the street as suspicious?

Are most people there cowards or psychos?

A few years ago I was visiting the little town I grew up in and was staying with my sister. One early morning, the sun was just rising, I took a walk to the video store about one mile away to return a video. A cop car drove by with his siren on, I didn't care much. About two minutes later another cop car came up behind me and ordered me to stop, he frisked me after I of course objected and asked what for and why. The cop said somebody reported somebody "suspicious"! I said what is suspicsous about walking in the early morning? He said nobody does that! Gee whiz. Two joggers and a senior couple were around during my walk. That's how bad parts of the USA have gotten.

[NeverSure]

The problem with many cops is that they already try to punish someone for behaving differently from what they wanted/ordered the subject to do.

In this case, the elderly Indian man didn't understand English and pulled back when officers wanted to pat him down, thus I think they tackled him to the ground probably to teach him a lesson and are now hiding behind the "threat" excuse.

I wonder how an unarmed 57 year old man could be a threat to 2 police officers?

And I read the officers were called in after someone reported a "suspicious person" - <deleted>? who reports an elderly man walking on the street as suspicious?

Are most people there cowards or psychos?

A few years ago I was visiting the little town I grew up in and was staying with my sister. One early morning, the sun was just rising, I took a walk to the video store about one mile away to return a video. A cop car drove by with his siren on, I didn't care much. About two minutes later another cop car came up behind me and ordered me to stop, he frisked me after I of course objected and asked what for and why. The cop said somebody reported somebody "suspicious"! I said what is suspicsous about walking in the early morning? He said nobody does that! Gee whiz. Two joggers and a senior couple were around during my walk. That's how bad parts of the USA have gotten.

You don't know the whole story. You said that another cop car had gone by with lights and siren. Perhaps there was a report of a crime and the first car was responding and other cars in the neighborhood were looking for a suspect. They aren't going to tell you everything they know, hoping that if you're the suspect you'll blurt out something you wouldn't know if you weren't the perp.

My attitude is to try to help the police and I think they sense that.

[Friendly Stranger]

I know it's tough being a cop as they're here to "serve and protect" However, they should stop acting as if they're "storming the beaches' on the simplest of calls as not everyone has an agenda.

[spidermike007]

I wonder why so many countries do just fine without a police force in armored vehicles and with assault rifles? It is a joke that the Army dumped all this gear on every country sheriff when they came back from Iraq/Afghanistan.

Nobody says no coppers would be a better world, but I sure would feel very unsafe in the US if I were black, brown, green or whatever else did not fit into a coppers stereotypes.

Absolutely correct. I am very thankful I am a white man when I am in the US. Being ethnic is not easy there. The cops absolutely single out people of color. More so on certain areas than others, I am sure. But not easy being of color in the US. Some things have not changed much. The militarization of these police forces was NOT a good idea. Very few police department need armored vehicles, and military equipment. Very few.

[CMNightRider]

The problem is the US cops start yelling and expect everybody to react quickly and lay down on the ground! A lot of people don't want to lay in the dirt. A lot of people don't react quickly like trained soldiers or snap to attention when yelled at. A lot of people in the USA do not understand or speak any English.

You sound like you did time in prison. When people are stopped for traffic violations, they are not required to lay down on the ground unless they are involved in a high risk traffic stop. To be involved in a high risk traffic stop, you would have to have just robbed a bank, 7/11 store, shot someone or were involved in some other sort of criminal behavior which would identify you as a danger to yourself or others.

I'm surprised at reading so many negative posts against law enforcement in America. If the truth were known, the majority of Thai poster police haters wouldn't be able to pass the psychological testing it takes to be considered to be a police officer in America. I doubt if any of you people have had any negative experiences with police in America, unless you were involved in some sort of criminal behavior.

[Bangkok Herps]

The problem is the US cops start yelling and expect everybody to react quickly and lay down on the ground! A lot of people don't want to lay in the dirt. A lot of people don't react quickly like trained soldiers or snap to attention when yelled at. A lot of people in the USA do not understand or speak any English.

You sound like you did time in prison. When people are stopped for traffic violations, they are not required to lay down on the ground unless they are involved in a high risk traffic stop. To be involved in a high risk traffic stop, you would have to have just robbed a bank, 7/11 store, shot someone or were involved in some other sort of criminal behavior which would identify you as a danger to yourself or others.

I'm surprised at reading so many negative posts against law enforcement in America. If the truth were known, the majority of Thai poster police haters wouldn't be able to pass the psychological testing it takes to be considered to be a police officer in America. I doubt if any of you people have had any negative experiences with police in America, unless you were involved in some sort of criminal behavior.

Either you're lying or you're speaking out of ignorance. I used to live on Slauson and Vermont in Los Angeles. Once one of my housemates was walking out of the house when a police car pulled over and the police started yelling at him to drop. They put him face-first, prone position on the ground and started searching him. They claimed that they had seen him "throw some drugs on the ground", but of course there were no drugs on the ground, his body, or anywhere else. They eventually had to let him go since he had done nothing wrong and they could pin absolutely nothing on him.

In Inglewood, my Black friends would OFTEN get put on the ground by police, no matter what they were pulled over for. I remember when I first moved to Inglewood, the cops got filmed punching a mentally disabled Black teenager in the face and slamming him against the hood of a car AFTER they had already handcuffed his hands behind his back. What was the "high risk" stop? They were pulled into a gas station, the car had an expired registration, and the kid didn't get out of the back seat fast enough (why was he even being asked to get out of the car?) because he wasn't processing the police officer's instructions. Look up the Donovan Jackson case if you don't believe me. If a tourist hadn't gotten the whole thing on camera, the police definitely would have made up a convenient story.

Personally, I've been pulled over by cops 4 times for being a White guy in a Black neighborhood. Once I had multiple cops pull guns on me before I was even close enough to make out their faces. But I've never gotten slammed to the ground or hit (the worst I got was drug out of my own car by the arm), not the least because I'm a White guy with a graduate degree who knows how to manipulate them appropriately when they bother me.

Edited February 14, 2015 by Bangkok Herps

[Bangkok Herps]

I really like the idea of "mandatory" random drug testing of cops...

I like that the cop in Alabama will lose his job...would be good to see him do time...there is such a double standard that cops feel immune to prosecution...

As for the person who called in to report a suspicious person in the neighborhood...what if this suspicious person was up to no good...carrying automatic weapons or homemade bombs...I prefer to error on the side of caution...without committing a crime while investigating the suspect...

Yes, the brown senior walking around the neighborhood (certainly without a backpack) had an automatic weapon under his armpit and homemade bombs hidden in his rectum.

You serious or just trolling? No one should EVER call the police on a brown or black person who isn't doing anything wrong. You simply have no idea what will happen once a punch of high-testosterone guys with guns get called onto the scene. The police have their role, but they should only be brought in when a scene is already dangerous...in other situations, they're just as likely to escalate the situation as they are to deter some threat.

I should say that this doesn't apply for most developed countries, or even for most American police forces. I'm referring to the particular strand of heavily armed, highly aggressive, militarized policing that has become popular in some American cities.

[Bangkok Herps]

And seriously, who calls the cops "afraid to leave his wife and kids alone" because some 57-year-old Indian dude is strolling around his middle-class neighborhood?

"Erring on the side of caution" in this case would be NOT calling the cops on the elderly man. Calling the cops got an innocent old guy permanently disabled.

Edited February 14, 2015 by Bangkok Herps

[csabo]

The Police in America are out of control, It is one of the primary reason for leaving the US an coming here. For the gentleman who said there are good cops I would ask hime where are they? They never speak up, never step forward and point out the bad police. They instead stay silent; why Fear! Speaking up would put their lives and jobs in danger. But then that's what good guys do! So in my mind they are as bad as the police who continue to do wrong. I have 3 computers full of bad cops stories; killing innocent Americans from Las vegas my favorite story to the neighbor who was watering his neighbors lawn at their request while they were out of town. Someone called the police and killed the neighbor because the garden hose he was holding looked like a gun! Go figure hmm lets see what garden hose looks like a Gun Water Gun maybe but then again "US police only have to believe there life is endnger to kill!" Think about that the next time you go to The FREEST PLACE ON EARTH NOT!!!

Here is a link to a list of the men and women who died protecting the American public you requested. Is that enough for you? Probably not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers_killed_in_the_line_of_duty

[NeverSure]

It's easy to see why some people attitudes on here would have problems with anyone.

Strange, isn't it, that in all of my years traveling all over the US I've never had a problem with a single policeman? I've approached them and asked for directions and gotten only courtesy. I've been stopped for a couple of traffic violations and gotten only courtesy (and a ticket, LOL.)

Very strange indeed.

[Bangkok Herps]

It's easy to see why some people attitudes on here would have problems with anyone.

Strange, isn't it, that in all of my years traveling all over the US I've never had a problem with a single policeman? I've approached them and asked for directions and gotten only courtesy. I've been stopped for a couple of traffic violations and gotten only courtesy (and a ticket, LOL.)

Very strange indeed.

I hope you're not implying that his Indian grandpa deserved to be harassed and handcuffed by the police, or that he was knocked down and paralyzed because he had an "attitude". Or that you think the same of the various unarmed Black men and children who have been killed by police in recent months and years.

I hope you're not so naive as to think that the places where cops are treating citizens like this are the same places where you go "traveling all over" the US.

The United States is quite residentially segregated, and city planners and real estate manipulators have done their best to ensure that travelers don't have to enter the "less desirable" neighborhoods that citizens of a darker hue are funneled towards. Policing is fundamentally different in those neighborhoods than it is in other parts of the country.

In those neighborhoods, residents can expect to be stopped whether they've committed a traffic violation or not, and often can be pulled out of their car, searched, and otherwise harassed whether there was any evidence or not. Just looking dark is enough reason to get pulled over (though in some neighborhoods where the sight of a White person is rare enough, that will get you pulled over too).

If you lived in a place where the police harassed you on a regular basis whether you did anything wrong or not, and where you were often specifically targeted by them just because of the color of your skin, what would your community's relationship with them be like?

Here are a couple of examples - these only made the news because the person mistreated was a wealthy black man who was mistaken for a poor black man, but you can imagine how much more often it happens to poor people:

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/walking-while-black-beverly-hills-arrests

http://articles.latimes.com/1991-02-28/local/me-2792_1_los-angeles-urban-league-president

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/rapper-questions-rough-handling-police

http://www.techyville.com/2013/08/news/police-videotaped-planting-crack-cocaine-in-a-mans-store-so-they-could-arrest-him/

Edited February 15, 2015 by Bangkok Herps