Freedom Hating Brit Beaten up by US Cops for Crossing Road

[Hosakawa Tito]

Cheeky monkeys would be wise to comply with a police officer's reasonable request. It's generally accepted that to get respect, one must give some respect.
Ignoring/dismissing a person in a police uniform, refusing to show some ID and talking/acting belligerently might impress his colleagues, but is not a very smart way to handle a simple misunderstanding.

I guess the "Ugly American" overbroad stereotype isn't mutually exclusive to Americans is it.

Nice headline btw.

[Goofball]

Cheeky monkeys would be wise to comply with a police officer's reasonable request. It's generally accepted that to get respect, one must give some respect.
Ignoring/dismissing a person in a police uniform, refusing to show some ID and talking/acting belligerently might impress his colleagues, but is not a very smart way to handle a simple misunderstanding.

The wording in the article leads me to believe that the officer that asked him for ID wasn't in uniform.

If some stranger ever came up to me wearing civilian clothes and demanded to see my ID, my response would be considerably less polite than simply asking to see his first.

And as far as I understand the law (which admittedly is not a great deal), if he refused identify himself then tried to physically restrain me, I would not be held responsible for the bloody nose and sore genital region he would most surely receive.

[Big_John]

he should have known better than to be british.

[Xiahou]

The wording in the article leads me to believe that the officer that asked him for ID wasn't in uniform.

If some stranger ever came up to me wearing civilian clothes and demanded to see my ID, my response would be considerably less polite than simply asking to see his first.

And as far as I understand the law (which admittedly is not a great deal), if he refused identify himself then tried to physically restrain me, I would not be held responsible for the bloody nose and sore genital region he would most surely receive.

So, Atlanta PD is using plainclothes detectives to enforce jaywalking laws now? I think it's just as likely that the good professor figured he was too important to have to listen to an "intrusive young man" and ignored him after making his "thanks for the advice" smart ass remark.

They overreacted, as police often do, but I don't think it was brutality.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Plainclothes policemen identify themselves as such when effecting an arrest, it's department procedure and the law. This incident occured on a busy street during the day, plenty of witnesses about. It's not like he was challenged on a dark lonely street where one might reasonably be suspicious of foul play. So using that logic doesn't pass muster.
Simply showing his ID, and respectfully explaining he was a vistor from another country and was unaware of his misdemeanor, the cop would have most likely let him go. Plainclothes cops aren't usually in the habit of writing tickets for minor violations of traffic law. The paperwork involved in writing tickets is considered beneath the duties of these undercover investigators , they handle much more serious crimes than that.
My advice, even if the cop is totally wrong, don't resist. Nobody gets hurt and you'll still win. Unless you enjoy the pain that is, hell, I know a few inmates who consider fighting with staff to be their recreation.

He's lucky he wasn't shot 57 times and sodomized with a plunger

That's by special request,only.

[Goofball]

*sigh*

This is a response to:

Plainclothes policemen identify themselves as such when effecting an arrest, it's department procedure and the law. This incident occured on a busy street during the day, plenty of witnesses about. It's not like he was challenged on a dark lonely street where one might reasonably be suspicious of foul play. So using that logic doesn't pass muster.
Simply showing his ID, and respectfully explaining he was a vistor from another country and was unaware of his misdemeanor, the cop would have most likely let him go. Plainclothes cops aren't usually in the habit of writing tickets for minor violations of traffic law. The paperwork involved in writing tickets is considered beneath the duties of these undercover investigators , they handle much more serious crimes than that.
My advice, even if the cop is totally wrong, don't resist. Nobody gets hurt and you'll still win. Unless you enjoy the pain that is, hell, I know a few inmates who consider fighting with staff to be their recreation.

and

So, Atlanta PD is using plainclothes detectives to enforce jaywalking laws now? I think it's just as likely that the good professor figured he was too important to have to listen to an "intrusive young man" and ignored him after making his "thanks for the advice" smart ass remark.

They overreacted, as police often do, but I don't think it was brutality.

and

Well, perhaps you'd explain to me why if if it was a plain clothes policeman, or one off duty, the professor didn't actually say he was in street clothes?

Also, I notice you sidestepped my question on the impartiality of the article. Do you really think the professor is giving us a 100% impartial, unbiased view? Because the BBC appears to...

Again boys, I am assuming that the cop in question wasn't in uniform. I make this assumption because:

1) The prof said he didn't know he was a cop, and police uniforms are pretty much universally identifiable by anybody who has lived in a western democracy and reached the age of 3 years old
2) In the photo, there is an individual that appears to be a police officer (because he is standing with the police, inside the police tape, and at this point in time appears to have some sort of badge hanging from the breast pocket of his suit)
3) The judge immediately threw out the case and the prof was released without charges.

But whatever. I can see how my logic is full of gaping holes...

Yes, the prof may be lieing, the BBC may be part of the International Conspiracy to Make American Cops Look Dumb, and the prof's breath mints may in fact have been condensed anthrax tablets.

But it is impossible to determine any of that from the article.

How about this:

I concede that if my assumption is wrong, and the cop was in fact in uniform, then the prof deserved to be arrested for being a smartass and failing to comply with lawful civil authority.

In return, you three concede that if my assumption is correct, and the cop neither identified himself nor was wearing a uniform, then the cop's actions were out of line and the whole incident could have been prevented if he had simply produced his badge.

Oh yeah, and STOP BEING SO WORRIED THAT I AM TRYING TO SHOW WHAT IDIOTS YOU AMERICANS ARE!

I'm not.

Assuming he was not in uniform, the actions taked by the cop were IMO over the top, no matter which flag he happens to pledge allegiance to.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Assuming he was not in uniform, the actions taked by the cop were IMO over the top, no matter which flag he happens to pledge allegiance to.

Which is why I stated:

My advice, even if the cop is totally wrong, don't resist. Nobody gets hurt and you'll still win.

Cops are subject to the same human frailties as the rest of us. They're good ones and bad, the same as any group of people. If one feels they are being unjustly detained, arrested, wronged in some way; the best and safest course of action is not to resist. You'll get your day in court.

Whether one is unjustly arrested or not, resisting arrest IS illegal.

[Goofball]

Assuming he was not in uniform, the actions taked by the cop were IMO over the top, no matter which flag he happens to pledge allegiance to.

Which is why I stated:

My advice, even if the cop is totally wrong, don't resist. Nobody gets hurt and you'll still win.

Cops are subject to the same human frailties as the rest of us. They're good ones and bad, the same as any group of people. If one feels they are being unjustly detained, arrested, wronged in some way; the best and safest course of action is not to resist. You'll get your day in court.

Whether one is unjustly arrested or not, resisting arrest IS illegal.

If a cop is not in uniform, how are we to know he is a cop and that we might "get hurt?"

Are you honestly telling me that if some guy in a bomber jacket yells at you, then asks you for ID, you would just hand it over without question? Without so much as asking "Oh, are you a policeman?"

Resisting arrest is only illegal if the person making the rest is identifiable or identifies himself as a lawful authority.

I'm sure you've seen T.J. Hooker. Why do you think he always yelled "Freeze! Police!" before busting a cap in some lowlife drugdealer's a$$?

[Redleg]

I'm sure you've seen T.J. Hooker. Why do you think he always yelled "Freeze! Police!" before busting a cap in some lowlife drugdealer's a$$?

You watch to much TV if your quoting T.J. Hooker, that and when one is quoting cop shows one must quote Police Academy above all others.

[BigTex]

This guy is an elitist idiot. His nose must have been stuck to high in the air to notice the big POLICE sign on their bomber jackets. If yall will notice the wonderful picture that accompanies the article of the moment of arrest, all but one of the cops is fully uniformed. The one that isnt has a pistol to his side and his badge in full view on his chest. This genius was trying to start something, and he obviously got what he wanted. Next time I would advise him to listen to the uniformed police officer and not continue walking along your way. They generally wont swipe your legs out from under you if you stop walking.....

I do wish to note the following: Many of you hold the BBC up as a highly respectable, objective newspaper (bullocks, I say) . Yet, they didn't even make an effort to contact the Atlanta police department regarding the story. Biased, much?

The BBC has already admitted to being biased, anti-American, bible burning, koran loving lefties. So it's no suprise at all they didn't even ask the Atlanta PD or even attempt to look at the other side of this arrest. Instead they went for what would sell, sensationalized a simple arrest screaming police brutality.

[Slyspy]

I'm not sure where the "BBC didn't bother to contact...." comes from. But then this story is of no real importance - just amusing website filler.

"confiscated his box of peppermints."

LOL.

In many European countries I would request the ID and note the number of a uniformed police officer if challenged, let alone a plainclothes man. On the spot fines equal scammers on the prowl.

[Don Corleone]

Of course I'll admit that if the cop was in plain-clothes and didn't bother to identify himself, he was acting well beyond his authority.

I didn't say the BBC was the founders of an international conspriacy (to which you belong) to make American police look stupid. I'm merely suggesting that the story might be a little more complicated than the Beeb, and you, are portraying it. Why wouldn't the BBC talk to the Atlanta police department about it? Isn't it common practice in journalism to question all parties involved in a dispute?

[yesdachi]

Isn't it common practice in journalism to question all parties involved in a dispute?

That is so 1901, get with the times.