When a cop says STOP!!

Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
I'd suggest you stop.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A deputy used pepper spray on a 12-year-old girl and wrestled her to the ground when she ignored repeated orders to stop jaywalking, the sheriff's office said Friday.
Broward County sheriff's deputy Michael Roberto was issuing jaywalking tickets to students crossing a busy highway Thursday when he asked the girl to stand next to his motorcycle so he could give her a citation, the deputy's report said.

But the girl, who was not immediately identified, became upset and began to curse, Roberto said in the report. The girl also walked away and ignored four more orders to stop and put her hands behind her back, he said.

The girl, who is 5 feet 1 inch and 134 pounds, threatened to hit Roberto and rolled her hand in a fist, the report said. The deputy repeatedly warned her that he would use pepper spray if she didn't listen.

"After the last warning and order, it became apparent that I had to choose between a physical fight and using the pepper spray," Roberto wrote. "I sprayed her in the face."

The girl then knocked the spray can out of Roberto's hand, so the deputy wrestled the girl to the ground and handcuffed her, the report said. The girl, who was not injured, was charged with failure to use a crosswalk and resisting arrest without violence, both misdemeanors. She was released to her mother.

The girl likely won't face any jail time on the charges, sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedahl said.

Leljedahl said there is no age policy for the use of pepper spray. The police report and witness accounts suggest Roberto acted within the sheriff's office's rules, Leljedahl said.

"Pepper spray is an appropriate response when we meet with defensive resistance," Leljedahl said Friday. "In this case, she was belligerent and aggressive, even."

The sheriff's office was reviewing the arrest, though most pepper spray incidents are not investigated, Leljedahl said. A formal investigation would be launched if the girl's family files a complaint, he said.

Deputies seeking to stop accidents along busy Federal Highway have been ticketing Olsen Middle School students for the past several weeks.

Roberto, a 22-year veteran of the force, was at work Friday, Leljedahl said.
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Man, he'll probably get in a lot of trouble, but he shouldn't. I'm telling you, public flogging for this shit, and a lot of it would stop.
 
If she wasn't already in jail, I'd have bet money it was my stepdaughter.
 
The girl, who is 5 feet 1 inch and 134 pounds, threatened to hit Roberto and rolled her hand in a fist, the report said. The deputy repeatedly warned her that he would use pepper spray if she didn't listen.
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Yup, he was in danger for his life, he was.

"After the last warning and order, it became apparent that I had to choose between a physical fight and using the pepper spray," Roberto wrote. "I sprayed her in the face."
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Or, of course, simply grabbing her wrist. Naw, much too dangerous. Maybe just let her walk away? No, no. Jaywalkings a serious offence. And at 12 she's obviously a hardened criminal.

The girl then knocked the spray can out of Roberto's hand, so the deputy wrestled the girl to the ground and handcuffed her, the report said.
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Good thing he didn't draw a gun, eh?

The girl, who was not injured, was charged with failure to use a crosswalk and resisting arrest without violence, both misdemeanors. She was released to her mother.
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Not injured? Anyone ever get sprayed with pepperspray and not consider themselves injured? I consider it injured.

The girl likely won't face any jail time on the charges, sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedahl said.
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But she resisted arrest.

Leljedahl said there is no age policy for the use of pepper spray. The police report and witness accounts suggest Roberto acted within the sheriff's office's rules, Leljedahl said.
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Maybe there should be an IQ policy for it's use.

"Pepper spray is an appropriate response when we meet with defensive resistance," Leljedahl said Friday. "In this case, she was belligerent and aggressive, even."
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A 12 year old girl belligerant and aggressive? My God, someone call Guiness.

The sheriff's office was reviewing the arrest, though most pepper spray incidents are not investigated, Leljedahl said. A formal investigation would be launched if the girl's family files a complaint, he said.
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Most incidents not investigated? Maybe a few should be.

Deputies seeking to stop accidents along busy Federal Highway have been ticketing Olsen Middle School students for the past several weeks.
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Yup, a central for future criminal masterminds.

Roberto, a 22-year veteran of the force, was at work Friday, Leljedahl said
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Well, that excuses stupidity, doesn't it.
 
Policy is policy. They've got a rulebook and a checklist that they follow to the letter for the most part when alone. If they have backup on the scene, they probably have more lattitude. When alone, they are most likely required to maintain control and a dominant position at all costs with no exceptions or wiggle room for personal judgement when confronted with belligerence.
 
Hardly. Jaywalking gets you a citation for probably a 30$ fine. Raising clenched fists to an officer gets you the spray.
 
Professur said:
Obviously his 22 years of training are immaterial too.
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Could it be 22 years has taught him to put nothing past anyone? I think it's excessive. I also think that girl will learn to follow the orders of a cop. What is a 12 year old doing cussing at a cop & walking away from him?

Don't ever jaywalk in LA...they are sticklers for that & you're a free target for cars.
 
Gonz said:
Could it be 22 years has taught him to put nothing past anyone? I think it's excessive. I also think that girl will learn to follow the orders of a cop. What is a 12 year old doing cussing at a cop & walking away from him?
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Twelve year olds carry guns to school. Twelve year olds shoot people (cops included). I didn't think it was excessive. If he had beaten her up or shot her, that would have been excessive. I have several friends who are cops in various places and its incredible the shit they're expected to take. I understand that it was a little girl, she needs to spend a few nights in juvy. Her parents need to be hauled in and given a good talking to as well. The police are the authority, right or wrong, you treat them as such or risk reprisals. If they were wrong, you take it up at another time and place, you don't cuss them out and walk away, I don't care who you think you are.
 
Professur said:
The raised clenched fists of a 12 year old girl, against a 22 year vetran cop?
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I agree with you on one hand, but I know from personal experience that you let something like this go at her age, she only learns that she has the upper hand with cops. Not a good thing to be learning at 12 years old. What happens when she's 19 and get pulled over for speeding? Will she think she can just outrun the cop or ram him with her car?
 
I think the thing that some people fail to realize is that, by 12 years old, some of these kids are on their way or already are criminals. And there is a kid network among these "bad" ones. Word gets passed around pretty quick what they can and can't do as far as the law goes. Lack of respect for law enforcement is encouraged among them and they know there are very strict limits as to what can be done to them.
I don't bame the cop one bit. I also doubt he'll get any shit from his fellow officers either. They know the score. That "little" 12 y/o girl could have assaulted the guy and been sent home to mom and dad...maybe a little probation.
If a kid has no respect for law enforcement at 12, he has none for himself either and it likely won't get better on it's own.
 
Gonz said:
I think it's excessive.
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chcr said:
I didn't think it was excessive.
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Let me clarify...I don't blame the cop. Since I don't know the whole story, It seems excessive. Theoretically, he could have grabbed her by the scrufff of the neck, cuffed her & thrown her in the back seat of a squad car. He took it one step further...there is most likely a good reason. :shrug:
 
The girl got precisely what she deserved. I hope her parents wore her out later as well. I can't believe you're calling the cop supid, prof. He did exactly what procedure dictates.
 
outside looking in said:
The girl got precisely what she deserved. I hope her parents wore her out later as well. I can't believe you're calling the cop supid, prof. He did exactly what procedure dictates.
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you dont think he went too far? i mean its not like she complied but she was 12 and she was apparently not very weighty only 134 lbs.dont get me wrong we need to stop crime before it happens and deter future criminals but for jaywalking??!!!!
 
Actually freako, 134 lbs is fairly stout for a 12 year old. You just can't let these kids even start thinking that the police has no control over them. You let a 12 year old think that, you are creating a criminal for life.
 
And who's fault would it have been if she *was* jaywalking, the cop let her, and she got hit by a car? I'm sure the lawsuit would be pretty steep.
 
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