ny's finest beating the shit out of someone

Ah, video. When combined with the internet, it provides a witness that must be listened to, and makes allegations that must be investigated.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7bxmXMTkwo

As a result of video, this guy may end up with a payday from the city and this cop may face discipline.

However, I will take away that I should comply with orders from a cop, because it is not unusual for them to inflict lots of pain on people who do not adhere to their verbal commands.

Several of those blows look like they hurt.

The NYT is reporting:

The call was made by Trappler Zalman, a center volunteer, who performs security checks in the building. Mr. Zalman told the officers that he found Mr. Halevy “sleeping naked” on a couch inside the lounge. Mr. Zalman ordered him to get dressed and leave, telling him he did not have permission to be there. Mr. Halevy refused and argued that he had a right to be there, the complaint states.

In fact, Rabbi Feiglin said in a telephone interview on Monday, Mr. Halevy had permission to stay overnight at the center. He needed “a place to crash for a short period,” the rabbi said. Rabbi Feiglin added that it was unclear what had prompted Mr. Zalman to call the police, since Mr. Halevy had been sleeping in the lounge for about a month.

source: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/2-officers-being-investigated-after-video-shows-them-beating-man/

Which leads me to believe that the following scenario could have happened:

1. Upon discovering Mr. Halevy sleeping, the volunteer may not have been aware that Mr. Halevy was allowed in the building or allowed to stay. [Questions: How often does the volunteer work? How much communication does he have with the Rabbi? How do volunteers learn who is supposed to be in the building?]

2. The volunteer told Mr Halvey to leave. ...at which point Mr. Halevy refused because he had authority to stay from a higher ranking person.

3. The volunteer didn't believe Mr Halevy, and called police.

4. Upon the arrival of the police, Mr. Halevy continued to assert his belief that he could stay.

5. The police reacted as shown in video.

Which leads me to provide the following advice:

When to police arrive and tell you to leave, you have to leave ...even if you were given permission to stay from the Rabbi.

...Even if you are a wayward, intoxicated youth.

[Hopefully, you can then contact the Rabbi and get back in]

Sadly, Mr. Halvey did not receive (or did not follow) such advice.

Leading me to state the following:

It seems Mr. Halvey decided that his right to stay trumped that of the police's right to tell him to leave. This decision seems to have angered the police officer, who decided that he could use a lot of force against Mr. Halvey ...force that seems unrelated to accomplishing an arrest for tresspassing and/or securing suspect for removal.

ah, video. It has a way of showing situations that are somewhat routine to a relatively small group of people, to the eyes of many.

BP, I expect this case to show that is the wrong response when being recorded.

It is less clear to me whether this case will impact situations in which cameras are believed to not be present.

Yup. Hence, we should balance what we believe to be the officer's best response with what actually happened.

As one might expect, several politicians are now asking how often such incidents occur off camera:

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/10/new_york_pols_w.php

The female officer in the video was present for the whole incident. The male officer seems to have had confidence that she would not be offended by his actions (I.E. Describe the force used as "excessive" to their superiors).

Indeed, no such concerns were raised before the video became public.

P.S. I think the police officer helmet cams would mysteriously malfunction, or be obstructed by black tape when they were about to record (or recently recorded) something an officer believes to not be in their favor. ...at least that is what I would do.

Yes.

I also can't imagine that the recordings would cause much change unless they were reviewed by someone outside of the police department.

In addition to the problem of them being defeated (and therefore impractical), I can't imagine the PBA would agree to cameras, much less their review by an outside entity.

...this problem will reoccur.

It think the the civil suits stemming alleged police misconduct will have a far greater effect incidents of misconduct and excessive force than the CCRB ever will.

While juries in NYC seem to be really generous with the city's money and police work will always be a field which costs the city million in settlements, if a given officer's actions repeatedly cost the city money, said actions may cost them their job.

I remain interested in the female cop's thought process.

When you have a guy who is resisting, and there is only two of you, it would seem to me that calling for backup is the way to go, and she seems to do that early on.

However, it isn't clear why she continues to be in a mostly observer role.

Surely they are taught a two person take down technique.

If find it hard to believe that one officer is to wrestle and punch the perp, while the other is to call for back up and lets the struggle go on. I would have hated for the young man to be able access the cop's gun during the struggle....

20 counts of assault by the cop.

30 counts of resisting arrest by the kid.

Edit: brain typo

Having the shit beat out of you is not always merely an expression.

The young man's charges are here: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/2012/HALEVY-complaint.pdf

I suspect all the charges will be dropped.

I also suspect that Vega will remain on modified duty until he is fired; There are just too many eyes on this case for the PBA to prevail.

I also like how this case is relatively clean from a racial point of view. While racism certainly exists, cases like this show that people put themselves in danger of getting pummeled for not obeying cops, mouthing off to them and/or resisting arrest ....regardless of their race, or whether they were "in the right".

If I was a cop, I would want people to fear me. I would want them to simply comply with my orders, and not have to investigate whether they had permission to be there.

Smokin' Joe-

Well stated.

In my view, Officer Vega, seems to have concluded that the young man did not know his place vis a vis authority:

-He did not obey the volunteer's demand that he leave.

-He did not obey the officer's demand.

Officer Vega then seems to have concluded that he had the right to teach Mr. Halevy a lesson about respecting those in authority:

-Beat the crap out of him (perhaps literally)

-Allege lots of charges

Had Mr. Halevy left when instructed by the volunteer, the police would have never been called.

Had Mr. Halevy left when instructed by the police, he may have not been arrested, and may have been able to have the Rabbi inform the volunteer he can stay.

By not realizing he can not win this battle even thogh he is right, Mr Halevy is guilty of making a bad situation worse.

By acting in a manner that demonstrates that he alone has the right and obligation to teach Mr Halevy respect for authority, Officer Vega placed his job at risk perhaps only because was caught on camera.

Whynot, Jews say that they are a race. Vega is clearly Spanish; maybe he likes beating up people of lighter hues (to quote).

I know where you were going with this but you can't rule out some sort of racism entirely.

Also the community Jews generally dont respect people not from their community - especially those of darker hues.

Well in my experience, even white cops don't take any shit from me

whynot_31 said:

Given NYC's demographics and how specific we could make our identities, I suspect we could make most incidents be based on some difference in hue, race, religion, age etc.

It would be difficult to have only 19 year old, male jewish police officers respond to incidents involving Mr. Halevy

When you're being arrested it's not an opportunity to negotiate or refuse. The "no sock law" states that it is unlawful to resist arrest even if you believe the arrest to be unjust or unlawful. Put your hands behind your back and cut the crap. There is recourse for those who are wrongfully arrested and that does not include swinging your hands at a police officer.

These officers gave the perp every opportunity to comply with their orders and he refused. When the perp swings his arms at the officer, the perp has now elevated the encounter and put the officers personal safety at risk. The officer uses neccesary to force to gain compliance and effect the arrest. At any time the perp could simply place his hands behind his back and the force against him would be halted.

CCRB will likely substantiate any allegations should the perp cooperate with their "investigation" and they will likely recommend some sort of discipline. There are many factors involved in whether action is then actually taken against the officer.

The website that posted the video, has now posted an editorial:

A homeless man sleeping at a Jewish youth center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was roused from his sleep, wrongly accused of trespassing, then repeatedly and violently pummeled by the police after he jerked his hands and held them behind his back in an effort to non-violently avoid being handcuffed.

The homeless man was then falsely accused of causing the officer to suffer a “sprained wrist, bruises, swelling and scrapes” all resulting in the fabricated charges of “felony count of assault on police officers and three misdemeanors: resisting arrest, obstruction and criminal trespass.”

The following video shows police officer Luis A. Vega flying into an uncontrolled animalistic rage against the homeless Ehud Halevy while Officer Vega’s partner Yelena Bruzzese batters the non-threatening man with a truncheon. Any “sprained wrist, bruises, swelling and scrapes” on the officers were caused by their own violence and overreaction not Mr. Halevy’s conduct.

The lapse of judgment, fit of rage, on the part of the police is inexcusable, but what is even more shocking is what follows the vicious beating: a cold-hearted, fabricated police complaint accusing Mr. Halevy of crimes he never committed. Had a video not revealed the truth, Mr. Halevy could very easily be languishing in prison for crimes he never committed.

The complaint portrays a scenario that completely contradicts the video of the incident. The complaint boldly asserts that Mr. Halev was “swinging … [his] … fists and flailing … [his] … arms … striking …[the police] … about the body.” The video shows Mr. Halevy passively attempting to avoid being handcuffed after he jerks his hands in the air. The police then beat him while he’s curled up in a limp fetal position.

In terms of the charge of resisting arrest, New York Penal Law 205.30 requires that an arrest be authorized and lawful for one to be charged with the crime of resisting arrest. In other words, “[i]f the police made an unlawful arrest and you refuse to be handcuffed during that unauthorized arrest, then the charge of Resisting Arrest, pursuant to New York Penal Law 205.30, is not sustainable.” Since it was determined that Mr. Halevy was not trespassing, he cannot be charged with resisting a trespassing-related arrest because the underlying arrest was determined to be unlawful.

The charges against Mr. Halevy need to be summarily dismissed and the police officers involved need to be charged with lying under oath and falsely accusing someone of a crime. If not for the video camera replaying the truth, the officers’ lies could have led to the imprisonment of an innocent man and the cover-up of a brutal beating.

Let’s hope the NYPD seeks to restore their tattered relationship with the citizens of Crown Heights and hold their own rotten apples accountable.

http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=47638