ny's finest beating the shit out of someone

Anti police brutality advocates are determined to keep this incident in the public's mind, while the police are in the position of telling the public that substansial force is often required to subdue subjects who refuse orders.

Or, to paraphase: "Yes, we used more force than the subject was using. If we used the same amount of force as him, the subject would not be in custody. We aren't there to fight. We are there to win"

DNAinfo wrote: CROWN HEIGHTS — Members of Crown Heights Jewish community say they're taking to the streets Friday to demand justice for Ehud Halevy, the young man whose videotaped beating at the hands of police sparked a firestorm of controversy across Brooklyn after it went viral earlier this week.

Marchers say they will rally at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue at 2 p.m. Friday to protest the incident, which took place inside the ALIYA community center and synagogue on East New York Avenue on Oct. 8.

"I know a lot of people are upset over what happened at ALIYA a couple of weeks ago," Deputy Inspector John Lewis of the 71st Precinct told a packed house at Middle School 61 on Empire Boulevard Thursday night. "I spoke to (ALIYA director) Rabbi Feiglin and we’re trying to work through this and come to some resolution."

The altercation began just after 4 a.m. on Oct, 8, after a volunteer security guard allegedly found Halevy, 21, sleeping naked in the women's section of the synagogue and called police. Officer Luis Vega, identified by a source close to the precinct as a 20-year veteran of the NYPD and a longtime presence in Crown Heights, can be seen on the surveillance tape repeatedly pummeling the youth after he refused to leave the building.

Halevy was arrested and charged with assault, trespass, resisting arrest, and harassment in connection with the incident. Vega has been put on modified duty pending further investigation.

"There are real sanctions against the officers in this," Lewis said. "If these allegations are substantiated, it’s not going to be retraining."

Outraged residents came clamoring to the precinct's top brass at Thursday's precinct community council meeting, where police spent nearly two hours fielding questions and concerns.

"There's some serious allegations and some serious issues brought up by this video," Lewis said. "We understand there are really serious allegations, but if you’re trying to tell me there’s a culture of police just bashing people, then I'll have to disagree with you."

In fact, Professor Eugene O’Donnell of John Jay College said most civilians simply aren't trained to see the difference between appropriate use of force and brutality.

"I’m surprised it’s creating this much furor," O'Donnell said of the clip. "We need to gain maturity on what police do — they use force on people when they don’t acquiesce and there’s not an alternative."

Whether the incident is ultimately ruled a justifiable use of force, Halevy could still face serious penalties for the handful of felony charges he racked up during the seven-minute tussle.

"When we’re conducting our business and you’re trying to prevent us from conducting our business and there’s an injury involved, that makes it assault in the second degree," Lewis said. "Sometimes we can throw the first punch — absolutely."

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121019/crown-heights/friday-afternoon-march-planned-for-man-beaten-by-police-crown-heights

Facebook page of organizers:

https://www.facebook.com/events/289294357839310/

By the way, the bolded info seems new:

The altercation began just after 4 a.m. on Oct, 8, after a volunteer security guard allegedly found Halevy, 21, sleeping naked in the women's section of the synagogue and called police.

This would indicate to me the volunteer had a big reason to confront Mr Halevy. Even if he Mr Halevy had permission from the Rabbi to be at the center, it seems very unlikely that he was allowed in the women's section at 4 AM.

This volunteer seems to have been doing his job.

If this is the way cops are taught to do their jobs, someone else should be doing the teaching.

Cops should not have the right to beat up on non-violent civilians.

"while we don't know all the details, the video speaks for itself."

and as all the details start coming out we learn that the video only tells part of the story and you cannot depend on seeing something out of context.

Actually upon seeing the video I felt the officer had every right to beat the snot out of the guy. Even after he started punching, the guy was still resisting and wouldn't let himself be handcuffed. I dont think a nicer request to "please stop resisting" would have worked.

Of course everything could have been avoided if the perp had known how to handle himself, but he didnt and then got what was coming to him.

Even with a larger contingent of officers this jerk was not going to give up easily. Its easy to say that police should not use violence, youre not in there doing the work. Perhaps they should have just tazerd the guy, but again some people would find fault with that.

Quick and efficient, the guy got what was coming to him and then the police can get on with the business.

booklaw said:

If this is the way cops are taught to do their jobs, someone else should be doing the teaching.

Cops should not have the right to beat up on non-violent civilians.

If cops played nice, this city would be overrun by actual criminals

Dude resisted arrest, that warrants a physical response

I do agree the cops should get something for making false statements. They did try to lie and cover-up the incident.

Mr. Halevy has given his account of the incident to the press:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/nyregion/ehud-halevy-beaten-by-officers-at-jewish-youth-center-recounts-episode.html?_r=0

The Daily News gives you only part of the story.

Behind the scenes are hard fought victories by the Coalition for the Homeless and other advocates that designed to reduce both the frequency and intensity of such situations, as well as help ensure the safety and cleanliness of facilities providing shelter.

Shelters such as this one have long been subject to the regulations, but enforcement by government agencies has been difficult (and not a priority) because the shelters do not utilize government funding, and often are small enough that they operate under government's radar.

Here are the regulations: http://coalhome.3cdn.net/3112843aa22f007555_wtm6b6bat.pdf

Registration with NYS OTDA and oversight by entities such as the Department of Buildings, and the Fire Department is but a few of the requirements.

....reducing the number of situations in which a lone, overnight volunteer is reliant upon the police for back up in a somewhat routine situation is but one of the goals.

I hope that the lesson of this incident to Officer Vega and the Director of the shelter is as follows: Do your job well or don't do it all.

As one might expect, Mr. Halevy is going to file suit against NYC. The Daily News announced it today, Jan 31, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-man-pummeled-video-nypd-officers-files-suit-article-1.1251540