by Deb Cupples | According to an NBC piece entitled "Cop Punts Suspect's Head; High Five Ensues," a Los Angeles police officer kicked the head of a suspect who had already laid on the ground after a car chase had ended. And it's on video (after the jump).
Three officers and a dog ended up on the suspect, and the video clip ends with the head-kicking cop high-fiving one of his colleagues.
Police say that the suspect is a known gang member -- which doesn't seem relevant, given most police departments' policies against excessive force. Admittedly, the U.S. Constitution doesn't expressly prohibit head kicking, but I suspect that such brutality against a surrendered suspect might violate due process rights in some way or another.
This story reminds me of a similar but unrelated story I read some weeks back, about which the Justice Department reported:
"At his guilty plea hearing on Jan. 30, 2009, [Former Mendenhall, Mississippi Police Chief Jimmy] Sullivan admitted that he used excessive force on July 22, 2005, after joining other law enforcement officials in the apprehension of a man who led police on a car chase.
"At the end of the chase, Sullivan pulled the man from his car and repeatedly stomped on his head as the man lay face-down in the street. A local hospital treated the man for injuries sustained during the assault." (DoJ)
I'm no medical expert, but it seems to me that a person could sustain serious, long-term damage from a heavy boot to the head.
It's clear that the kid surrendered, got down on the ground, was no longer a threat. That was totally unnecessary and uncalled for by the police officer. Incredible!
Posted by: Ajlouny | August 13, 2009 at 10:57 PM