What is this all about ?

For the past couple of days, a clip showing a biker on the shoulder of some
street or highway, in Garland, I think.. Damn.. everytime the thing comes on
TV, I am distracted .. What I have seen so far is, a police officer is
flying through the air and taking down a biker sitting on his motorcycle..
violently.. What the hell is going on ? Why is this biker being attacked in
such a violent manner ? What is behind the reason for the "stop".. What
justification could be the explanation for this behavior of the police ?
Hopefully someone more alert than me can explain this news clip..Has anyone
else been able to see more of the item..??

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

Seems there was a little chase involved, and the cop got that adrenaline
rush & jumped the biker... The cop was fired. Here's teh story off the
NBC5i website:

Rex S.
---------------------
Ex-Police Officer Pleads Guilty To Assault
Cruiser Videotape Shows Officer Lunge At Suspect

POSTED: 11:42 PM CST February 6, 2004

GARLAND, Texas -- A former Garland police officer has pleaded guilty to a
misdemeanor assault charge in a violent confrontation with a motorcyclist.

Glen Shaw was sentenced to two years probation, fined $600 and ordered to
undergo anger-management counseling. He also permanently relinquished his
Texas peace officer's license.

A squad car videotape released Friday shows Shaw lunge at Randall James
Ling, who's sitting on his motorcycle. Both men fall to the ground off-
camera, and the sounds of a scuffle are audible.

Ling allegedly led Shaw and other officers on a high-speed chase in
September. He was later indicted for felony fleeing.

Garland police Chief Mitch Bates fired Shaw and two other officers last
month after an investigation by the Dallas office of the Texas Rangers.
Dallas County prosecutors say the other officers were fired for lying in
their reports on the incident.

"We cannot and will not have that," Bates said. "We must have our integrity
as police officers."

 

Hopefully the conviction and sentence for that cop will prevent him from
ever working as a LEO again.. Regardless of the guy speeding or whatever
his offense .. it was a traffic infraction and did not warrant the attack,
so violently has that officer perpetrated.. The other officers should have
been charged also, assault by an officer and the complicity to cover it up
by lying is one and the same.. Those other two officers, although fired,
will only surface with another dept. in another city.. The issue of "bad
cops" doesn't help anyone, especially the good and professional LEO's that
we respect and admire.. Thanks for the post..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

In Texas, at least.
You know cops are supposed to be trained to be aware and compensate for that
adrenaline rush they naturally get during a chase. If this guy didn't get
that training, then the problem still exists and there should be more
actions taken higher up in the LEO leadership in Garland.

 

There seems to have been an existing problem in that dept. for a number of
years.. Maybe it is time for an independent agency to commence to look into
the real solutions instead of replacing the chief.. You are so right about
the training ..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

The news clip that I first saw was very brief and quick.. The response on
this newsgroup was prompt and other more alert people were knowledgeable
about the incident.. Late news reports were more intelligible.. The entire
episode was not filmed, of course, only the tackle.. The biker appeared to
be just sitting, and from what I could see, there was no way to tell if the
sidestand was up or down.. Also there was no way to determine if the engine
was still running.. The attack by the officer appeared to be unprovoked and
adrenaline rush induced behavior.. With the presence of the other police
vehicles and officers, it was entirely unnecessary.. The charge against the
officer was a misdeaminor.. He plead guilty and was sentenced to something
like 2 years on probation.. The other officers were fired.. In my own
opinion, those officers are not fit to be in law enforcement in any
capacity.. That calibre of LEO's make the jobs of the professional officer
more difficult as well as damage the image of them..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

There is an issue with a felony crime. Don't know what degree it is, but a
speeding violation is one of those things an officer can make a decision to
chase or not to chase. But when a violation gets to a felony degree,
officers have no choice, they are required by law to pursue.
I remember this on a issue in one of the local Dallas communities. Some
people were fed up with teenagers speeding and wanted the state to upgrade
the fleeing to a felony. The people backed down once they realized that an
officer can no longer make a choice in the pursuit of a criminal once it
goes to a felony charge. So those kids trying to get away would wind up
doing high speed getta ways in residential areas. Whereas an officer would
normally back away in some cases, in a felony case an officer has no choice
but to pursue at whatever speed to try and capture. Which includes 90mph in
school zones during school hours.

 

Thanks, I'd figured if I was wrong you would correct me..