As far as I know, a right hook to the face isn’t a form of restraint. YMMV
Speaking as the owner of a fine pair of nuts, if someone grabbed me by them, I wouldn’t have the presence of mind to administer a head punch - my hands would automatically go down to my nads to attack the offending hands.
Perhaps it’s police training.
c_goat, I watched the video, and the sequence of events is this:
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Head slam to the hood of the car.
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Cuffing and restraint by at least four cops.
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THEN a punch to the face.
I’m failing to see where the punch to the face was necessary.
A right hook to the face is a damned good way to get someone to let go of Mr. Happy Sack.
I’d like to watch the video again, myself (is CNN.com still charging for video feeds), because IIRC, and that’s a big IIRC, the kid’s hands werer facing away from the cop who punched him. Isn’t he angled a little to the right? And the cop that punched him was on the left. So, maybe the guy grabbed someone else’s balls?
This is, of course, assuming that he grabbed anyone’s balls at all. And yes, I will concede that I have NO idea how much it would hurt to have your balls grabbed, punched, or messed with, so perhaps I was a little rash in my initial broad statement.
I also can’t believe Fenris called me a Doperbabe! 
Gelding’s axiom on police:
A cop will lie if he thinks he can get away with it; a cop will kill you if you give him an excuse.
Follw up hypothsis:
Don’t give a cop an excuse.
Look people, this has been going on for years and years. It has been tolerated, even condoned, because uncontrolled police behavior is mostly directed toward people that polite society would just as soon fall off the face of the earth. It will continue to happen as long as police officers can see themselves as Horace At The Bridge and as long as police officers are answerable only to them selves.
According to the L.A. Examiner, Crooks’ outstanding warrants weren’t even in Los Angeles; they were in Placer County, some several hundred miles north of L.A. Sounds to me like, as soon as L.A. authorities got the name of the videotaper, they ran a check to see if the guy had any priors or outstandings so they’d have an excuse to intimidate him.
Spavined: On behalf of my best friend Chris, a police officer in Twinsburg, OH, a hearty, “Eat a great big dog turd.”
I think a more appropriate OP is “If you’re trying to become a media whore while you have outstanding warrants, use a pseudonym”.
Here is a news story that mentions the testicle grabbing, after he was handcuffed. (At the bottom). If he was close enough, even in handcuffs it could have happened.
I’m only saying that IF the grab happend, the punch is justified from a man’s point of view. It’s a possibility. If not, then it wasn’t.
Anyone have a good link to the video? I only found some still images on CNN site.
According to the police report the cop filed before the videotape was made public, he wrote that the perp grabbed his nuts and he punched him in the face to make him let go. This is according to the lawyer representing the cop.
Interesting BBC News video (Real Player required)[ul][]It shows that the suspect had slightly wounded the officer prior to being handcuffed.[]It is impossible to tell whether the suspect grabbed the officer by the balls.The same offices was involved in an incident in which a suspect was beaten unconcious - two weeks ago.[/ul]Make of it what you will, but to me, the kid doesn’t look totally innocent, and the cop looks like he has a bit of a history of losing it.
If the cop’s nuts had been grabbed, methinks you would have seen him cringe in agony. I don’t remember seeing anything like that on the tape.
That may be a cover story, even if it’s in the police report. The cops spotted Crooks filming them, so they knew they had a problem. (Didn’t they go door-to-door at his building looking for him?)
When the cop punched the guy in the face, it was in response to the suspect starting to get up and turning his head off the hood of the car. On MSNBC the police officer’s lawyer stated that the suspect refused to follow police instructions. In the video, you can see that the suspects legs were bent and that police had to lift him off the ground and place him on the hood of the car. Hence the slam and the punch.
Jarbaby: No proof outside of newsreports of the cop’s statements. I tend to give cops the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
Fenris
Even though, as Coldfire noted, this cop has a history of violence and flying off the handle?
Yeah, given that the criminal had resisted arrest, and that the cop filed the “squeezing” report before the media frenzy, I’m still inclined to believe the cop over the criminal.
Fenris
This is interesting. You think this low of the police in general, most police? I am a fan of the police and I am glad they are around.
Coldfire didn’t really provide any evidence that this guy has a history of violence and flying off the handle. All he noted was that this officer was involved in an incident two weeks prior where a suspect was unconcious.
Marc
The head slam was to hold him down while he was being cuffed.
Cuffing and restraint is SOP - the more, the merrier. I used to teach martial arts, and it is very difficult to restrain a person who wants to hurt you without hurting them. Therefore you need lots of back up.
And the punch to the head to get him to let go of your nuts.
Shodan’s axiom on criminals:
A criminal will lie if he thinks he can get away with it; a criminal will kill you if you give him a chance.
Follow up hypothesis:
Don’t give a criminal a chance.
Coldfire - Maybe the cop in question has a history of over-reacting. Or maybe he just isn’t afraid to make the tough arrests. Has it been determined under what circumstances the previous arrest took place? Or is he to be presumed guilty there as here?
Consider what the cops of the area have to deal with. Even the most casual passer-by, who happens to have a video camera, has outstanding warrants. Even after you cuff the perp, he grabs you by the nuts.
And both of them scream “Police brutality!” Especially the ones who resist arrest.
This is very like the Rodney King arrest in some ways - those involved have criminal histories, and do not cooperate when you say “Pretty please”.
And no matter what you do, you’re wrong.
Regards,
Shodan
I think the police often take advantage of their law enforcement position. Usually in small, but irritating ways. Especially when it comes to things like driving violations and other minor offences, laws tend to not apply to them quite as strictly. One officer I knew (parent of friend) used to always have fireworks on July 4th, because he would confiscate them from people (they are illegal in NY) and take them home. Don’t even talk to me about the “Blue Wall of Silence”, a practice I find infuriating.
They do an important job, and I will support them fully in doing that job, but I don’t feel the need to put them on a big pedestal.