re: Buckeye, AZ Cop Fights 14-Year Old Autistic Kid He Thought Was Doing Drugs In A Park

LINK

This link has some interesting information about the rise in autism diagnosis.

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Cop is a power hungry piece of shite.

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In this case I disagree. I know a little about autism and could recognize patterns of behavior and voice inflections but I think it was handled reasonably.

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but you can't judge them cause you never served. You're a coward, how dare you judge the brave men of the police force.

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Let me judge then. I've contributed in support of local law enforcement for decades. Until I had TWO, personal incidents in the past 5 years. The second one was a mistake in identity, I am a retired, productive, responsible, fairly high achieving tax payer... I've consistently contributed to the betterment of this community in significant ways, I'm conservative in appearance, well dressed, and NEVER, not even once.. have I ever had any type of run-in, act of disobedience, nor have I flaunted the law in any way whatsoever... neither would there be the slightest reason to be considered a criminal.

The second incident was precipitated by a really bad "tip". While riding as a passenger and stopped at a traffic light at a fairly major intersection, a group of 7-8 officers converged upon the car I was in, slammed a pistol against my window pointed in my face, screaming, "don't move, keep your hands...," etc... I was pulled from the car shoved down in the gravel, searched, cuffed, and questioned for 10-15 minutes while sitting in 95 degree mid-day sun, while passerby's gawked. After I explained what I believed was, and ultimately turned out to be a HUGE mistake, I even offered a quick, extremely reliable way to back check to confirm and clear me, I was taken to a station, processed, then transferred to a holding cell at parish prison at Metro Airport. Even after offering a calm, logical explanation, a simple way to confirm with a known, professional source, I was verbally abused, taunted, mocked, told I was "so f#cking high I didn't know where I was", the mocking and the first verbal of the abuse was continued for over an hour... because I had a nice car (they asked), I had a little cash on me, and even though I'm 6'3", 220 lbs. w/33" waist (no homo), extremely fit for a 30 year old much less at 62 years of age... and not a fat slob... I was taunted and accused as being wasted away from drug addiction. The were able to arrest and hold me, not because of what they thought they would find, but because I had a prescription bottle in my coat, (non-opiate /non street drug) and the label was partially obscured or torn. Timing had it that my attorney was out of town and unreachable, Murphy's Law of course had my regular contacts also away (it was Friday), once again, a simple phone call or check with my personal doctor and surgeon = would have cleared it up immediately, yet they chose not to...so....I was eventually placed in general population at EBR Parish Prison, where I remained until Monday. ..and orange is not my color.

This is where I'll "dare" to be a first hand judge of, "the brave men of the police force". Most of the 20-25 officers/deputies I encountered over the course were pathetic, insecure, disrespectful, condescending, panty-waste, excuses for "men". Any of my three daughters has more guts and integrity of character than 90% of those I encountered. I still maintained the high road, addressed each one as "sir", gave each and every one the same respect I would give any decent human being (or indecent for that matter, which in my life has proven the only way to live in order to maintain excellence, peace of mind, and self-respect. I never once stooped to their level, no sarcasm, and did exactly what I was told at all times.

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You don't know shite about anything, cops do what they do because they need to get home to their families.

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I do know what punks act like. Granted, they do have to take a hard stance, it takes a lot to handle some of the lip they endure. As a law abiding citizen, I would have no problem if it were made law that verbal disrespect, especially cursing an officer and name calling was a felony offense. Intentionally disobeying a law officer is unacceptable IMO, and I would not be irate if my own son ended up hurt or even shot if he behaved like the thugs I see defended in the media. BUT, taking the opportunity to push and shove, aggressively attack and mock one's character, bully and humiliate a prisoner who is orderly, compliant, clearly attempting to submit, even regardless of the fact he has NO previous record in 60+ years... and the ONLY reason to do so is because that prisoner is at a severe disadvantage and unfortunate enough to enter their work space... THIS IS NOT: "cops do what they do because they need to get home to their families". These "men" were incompetent, ignorant, weak, cowards who would likely be in similar circumstances with the thugs they incarcerate... if not for a badge. I can guarantee my skin is as thick as it comes, no one is going to even slightly rattle me with name calling or bullying, but it was an eye opener to the realities of what prisoners...even innocent, compliant prisoners are subjected to.

Sorry man, there may be some good ones. I've had close personal friends on both city and parish force at all levels... but this idea that "they only act this way because they want to get home..." is total bullsh#t. Respect to the men who maintain some level of character but many are just common punks.

I was released on bond Monday, all charges dropped, the error was discovered but no apologies... didn't expect it and don't care... but I don't think I could let something like that pass if I was responsible and aware.

The first experience was even worse, I won't even start but my eyes have been opened to many realities concerning the lack of quality law enforcement.

98% of these cop-citizen "encounters gone wrong" poof and disappear as soon as we as a society stop allowing politicians to tell us what we can and cannot put in our bodies. Why havent people learned anything from Alcohol Prohibition?

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Unfortunate misunderstanding, but a pretty good outcome.

The cop didn't shoot anyone.

Conner, the autistic kid, handled the situation better than any BLM hero we have seen.

The friend/relative of Conner who rolled up on the scene remained calm and didn't escalate the situation with hysterics.

Probably a little scary for all involved but they all made it home for dinner unharmed, and the cop learned something about special needs kids.

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Unfortunate misunderstanding? Pretty good outcome?


Lets see...

The officer accosted a juvenile without reasonable suspicion that a crime had been committed, was being committed or was about to be committed. The juvenile posed no threat to public. The officer failed to notify the juvenile that he was being detained. The officer failed to recognize the juvenile was mentally challenged. The officer attempted to place the juvenile under arrest without charge and without any evidence with which to conduct an investigation and without actually posing questions relevant to an investigation. The officer failed to recognize the authority of the juveniles care taker and with all of that officer failed to apologize and accept responsibility for the egregious error of common sense and human decency.

...but no. It was a "pretty good outcome".

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Yes, but the cop sees a kid he thinks could possibly be using drugs

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So what.

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He approaches the kid, who is resisting and seems to not be acting "normal".

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Again, so what. Its not illegal to be weird.

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Its not like the police will assume, without being educated "maybe he is autistic".

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Maybe if they interface with the public all day long, carry a dangerous weapon, be granted the power of arrest and a litany of legal protections to do so they SHOULD be educated.

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We all make mistakes at our job, but the difference for police is...

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...that when they do they almost never apologize and admit fault like just about EVERYONE else on the fricking planet. If I spill a whole a beer on the guy in front of me at the football game I apologize profusely and offer to buy him drinks all night. And thats just for spilling a beer, not manhandling an AUTISTIC JUVENILE in front of his caretaker WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE.

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The policeman should have let the kid go when he learned he was autistic,

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Ya dont say?!

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An officer has to have reasonable suspicion to detain.

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Very true, And approaching this kid was entirely reasonable. If this kid had went into some kinda seizure and died and the cop hadn't even tried to talk to him to see what was wrong before he had a seizure and died, you would be on here bitching about that. Mostly because you're an ignorant frick who obviously knows nothing about police work.

Cop got lucky the kid was verbal and kept calmish. You can tell though he knew towards the end he fricked up. Just a shame all around.

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Very true, And approaching this kid was entirely reasonable. If this kid had went into some kinda seizure and died and the cop hadn't even tried to talk to him to see what was wrong before he had a seizure and died, you would be on here bitching about that. Mostly because you're an ignorant frick who obviously knows nothing about police work.

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Personally I think we should let the qualified medical personnel handle medical situations, and let the police handle police situations.

But if you think that police should continue their tax collection and fundraising activities from their successful war on drugs, dont let some random know nothings on the internet stop you. The drug war won't win itself.

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Youre right in that regard. I do however question the need for LEOs to be involved in medical calls. There should be special units for indigents, mentally ill, etc.

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Again , this isn't reasonable. The kid was there, the cop was there. You don't ignore a person who looks like they are in stress because you "may not have training for that"

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You sound like a mature reasonable person. Im not going to stoop to your level. I hope youre not in law enforcement because your conduct here is unbecoming and while you think youre defending the "boys in blue" the way you talk to people does more to hurt the image of police than it does to help them.

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Actually I'm a retired Army Colonel , CID agent most of my career . Are we supposed to be mature in the OT though? Because if that's the case, shut down the OT.