California police to investigate officer shown punching 14-year-old boy on video

Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by hildebrand_rarity
image for California police to investigate officer shown punching 14-year-old boy on video

A northern California police officer is under investigation after a video went viral that captured him punching a 14-year-old black boy that he had pinned to the ground.

The video, which was posted to Twitter by the boy’s family and friends, shows an officer from Rancho Cordova, a city east of Sacramento, holding the boy in the dirt, at one point with his hand on his neck, and striking him several times in the chest.

nana mf bangah💋 (@0hnana__) My baby brother who is 14 years old. All of this over a swisher😤 there’s more footage but I wasn’t able to upload it all. Please repost, we just want justice for my baby!😭💯 #JUSTICE4JAH pic.twitter.com/reftDDyHha

The boy was cited for possession of a tobacco product, according to the police, and released to his parents. A person who identified themselves on Twitter as the boy’s sister said it was a Swisher Sweet, a type of cigar.

“He was 10 times the size of the boy,” Tanya Faison, the founder of Black Lives Matter Sacramento, told the Guardian. “He was armed, he was huge. The boy was tiny and he was clearly trying to protect his face. There is nothing an unarmed 14-year-old can do to validate the actions that this officer took.”

Faison added: “This officer not only needs to be fired, but he needs to be charged and convicted and that is the only way these things will stop happening.”

The officer was a “problem oriented policing” officer with the Rancho Cordova police department who was patrolling the area due to complaints about hand-to-hand sales of alcohol, tobacco and drugs to minors, Sacramento county sheriff’s Sergeant Tess Deterding said in a statement.

“It’s important to put video footage into context, especially in relation to a use of force incident,” Deterding said. “In this case, the deputy saw what he believed to be a hand-to-hand exchange between an adult and juvenile. As the deputy turned around, he lost sight of the adult, who left the area. When the deputy approached the juvenile, the juvenile was uncooperative and refused to give the deputy basic identifying information.”

The boy told the officer he was 18. He “became physically resistive”, which caused the officer to lose his handcuffs, according to the department. “The deputy attempted to maintain control of the juvenile without his handcuffs and while alone waiting for his partners to arrive and assist him,” Deterding said.

The video has drawn outrage nationwide. Senator Kamala Harris of California called the beating “a horrible abuse of power”, while Julián Castro, her cohort in the Democratic presidential race, declared it “sickening”, and demanded immediate action.

Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) This is a horrific abuse of power. This officer must be held accountable. pic.twitter.com/jcAABFzWvj

Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) WARNING: This video of a @RanchoCordovaPD officer beating a 14-year-old is sickening, and demands immediate action.

How many of these videos must we see before we do something about police violence in this country? pic.twitter.com/C7oIrz0v1c

“This type of situation is hard on everyone – the young man, who resisted arrest, and the officer, who would much rather have him cooperate,” Deterding said. She added that the Sacramento county sheriff’s office and the Rancho Cordova police department started an investigation into the use of force. “Maintaining the public trust and remaining transparent are of paramount importance to the sheriff’s office and Rancho Cordova police department,” she said.

Black people in California are stopped far more often by police, major study proves Read more

Faison, with Black Lives Matter, noted that this was the third encounter in the past year in the Sacramento area that involved police officers over-policing children of color. In June, Sacramento police officers put a spit hood on a 12-year-old boy, and in July, three 13-year-old boys were held at gunpoint by a Sacramento police officer, Faison said.

The 14-year-old in the most recent video suffers from a heart condition that could have been exacerbated by the encounter, Faison said. On Twitter, the person who identified themselves as his sister said he experienced chest pains after the incident.

“How can you look at a child’s face and let that be the target for your fist?” Faison said. “I don’t understand that.”

Topher8903 on April 29th, 2020 at 22:29 UTC »

Oh thank God they are handling the matter internally. That always leads to a satisfactory conclusion for everyone.

ilikemoneytooyouknow on April 29th, 2020 at 21:09 UTC »

Law firms are required by law to carry errors & omissions (“malpractice”) insurance for their attorneys. Any attorney that fucks up too many times will raise the firm’s premiums and will get kicked out of the law firm.

There needs to be a similar system in place for police officers. Bad cops will get priced out. They also won’t be able to move to a different town and get a new job because their insurance premiums will follow them. Getting rid of bad cops will make the population more trusting of peace officers and make their jobs easier.

It would be a win-win for everyone involved.

There could be a default budget for the premiums that would be paid by the city. This would pay for itself because the city would no longer be required to pay out of pocket for the lawsuits it loses because of bad cops.

drkgodess on April 29th, 2020 at 20:09 UTC »

A couple of things don't add up here:

The boy was cited for possession of a tobacco product.

“This type of situation is hard on everyone – the young man, who resisted arrest, and the officer, who would much rather have him cooperate,"

How can you resist arrest over an offense that only warrants a citation? Why was the police officer trying to take the boy into custody over a citation?

It seems that "resisting arrest" is the blanket justification for beating the shit out of someone when you're having a rough day as a cop.