Police face 'excessive force' suit

Videotapes from surveillance cameras at the Danbury Police Department are expected to be used in a civil suit against the city that alleges the department used "excessive force" against a 21-year-old Bethel man ...

[boredwithbs]

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN DANBURY???

FIRST THE OVER-AGGRESSIVE COPS AT THE MALL AND NOW THIS?

WHERE IS DANBURY'S LEADERSHIP?

ARE THERE NO CONTROLS AT THE COMMAND LEVEL TO PREVENT ABUSE?

BOUGHTON IS AN ACCESSORY TO THIS BEHAVIOR BY HIS INACTION.

COSTLY LAWSUITS ARE NOT NECESSARY IF THERE IS ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNMENT.

THIS REGIME IS A "BLAME THE OTHER GUY" BUNCH AND THEY WILL NEVER ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR FAULTS.

VOTE 'EM OUT.

[mml619]

That video tape makes me friggin sick! the kid was standing up in a cell. BIG DEAL!!!! He wasnt resisting! Those cops should be ashamed of themselves and suspended WITH OUT PAY!!! th ekid was driving with out a license. they couldnt find anyone else to go beat on!! WHAT JERKS! they make good danbury cops look bad!

[NAF]

you wimps call that police brutality

[jose morales]

this problem is only the begning of lot more to come,since the mayor start with the imigration issues,this city is not the same this is like a snow ball,now is afecting eveyone except the white people with no acent,but the black people,hispanic,brazillian and others already have something to talk about this administration.stop hate others .stop hate others

[Nick]

This kid resisted the order of the cops. He was told several times to sit down and he refused to listen to them. I am guessing that there is a reason why he had to sit on that bench. Probably so that it would be harder for him to start a fight with that other guy handcuffed to the bench. Why cannot people just listen to what they are told to do??? The police had to have him sit on the bench and he refused to so they took the necessary steps to get him to sit. I am sure that the parents did a great job of raising this kid (ya right)!!!! So he gets pushed into the wall and all of a sudden he has all of these problems. This has money hungry written all over it. Suck it up and just do what you are told next time you big baby!

[oprts]

That is NOT brutality. The officer did not hit, taser or pepper spray the guy, which means the officer did not use excessive force. The guy was being a punk to begin with, then he refused to sit down to be cuffed to the bench. The officer then sat the guy down. Remember, the guy is under arrest. Do you expect an arrested individual to enter a police department and just start doing what they want? One of the reasons why the guy is being asked to sit down is so he can be cuffed to the bench. For those of you who know nothing about law enforcement, the arrestees are cuffed to each end of the bench to keep them from fighting with each other. Yes, this is for their safety. But, people either don't realize that or refuse to see it. It's much more fun for certain people to see this as a reason to lay blame on officers or to file expensive law suits to try to get some money out of it.
If the kid wasn't driving like a lunatic and smoking marijuana, he wouldn't have been asked to sit in the cell to begin with. But hey, you guys are right, prisoners should be able to disregard officers and do whatever they want after being arrested for a crime....

[momoftwo]

This is outrageous!! And the sad thing is that there are dedicated Cops out there who know and respect their Job and the public. This puts a Bad reputation on all of them!!....they should make tighter Guide lines on what kind of people enroll into Police academy....a higher intellect!!
These guys should scrub Toilets for a while...maybe Bootcamp! They like to (mis)use their Jobs to boost their Egos by being BULLIES!!!
NAF, it sounds to me that you are one of the accused!

[Cartman]

You must respect their authoritah

[captain obvious]

Typical young thug gets caught doing wrong then cries when he gets the slapdown he so richly deserves.Of course, now the sharks are circling at the scent of money!

[John Q Public]

This is an example of an over-the-top overzealous danbury cop who lost his cool. There was no need for this behavior at all. Was there a real need to have the guy sit down? If so, why not handcuff him to the bench when they put him in there? This was a classic example of a cop who over reacted to an otherwise innocuous behavior on the part of the suspect. The cop felt he needed to exert his authority and control over this individual, who may indeed have been mouthy, but being mouthy is not a crime. It may be disrespectful, but it is not a crime. The cop lost his cool, as so many danbury cops tend to do when dealing with people, and he over reacted. It is fortunate that the suspect was not seriously injured or killed and this should be a wake up call to all danbury cops...keep cool and don't take things personal. You are public servants, not gestapo storm troopers. Act professional, even in the face of adversity. You guys have a reputation for being rude and unprofessional towards the public, and the Chief & the brass need to step up and change this attitude before you lose public support. The good work that many do all year can be washed away by one single awe-shitt incident like this.

[momoftwo]

To avoid a Fight between the two inmates?....Funny, they got into a fight with the Kid...not only one against one...a whole bunch of big Guys against a 21 Year old!!
Last time I checked, everyone still had rights -it is called Human rights...they should have verbalized why they want him to sit down and not beat in on him!!
It is their Job to take wreckless people off the Roads and to protect us, not to detain them and beat in on him in a Group...he had nowhere to go...!Outrageous!!

[Jose]

Jose Morales - Have you ever considered a career in public speaking?

[econ101]

oprts...if that's the case, why didn't they cuff him to the bench to start out with?

[yikes67]

It's october why is he now filing the law suit if this happened in may? wouldn't he have filed it right away after he was released? He's just mad that he got caught. No jury of his peers is going to find the police guilty. This kid is a brat. Smoking pot squealing tires and driving recklessly, I'd say that deserves a beating. He could've killed someone that night. Whether it be himself, a person in another car, or his passenger.

[oth6249]

oprts: I totally agree with you. there was no excessive force used. there was force used, but it was not excessive. they had to get that guy to sit somehow. this guy was under arrest and therefore has to follow the rules of the police department. this kid posted this on the internet and I am sure that someone told him that he could make a few bucks or get lots of attention by sueing. why is it that people cannot just respect authority (not just cops but teachers and anyone else who has authority)? He totally brought this on himself and had lots of chances to just sit on the bench. I think that Mommy and Daddy should have tought him respect when they were raising him. He sounds like such a cry baby on TV.

[Jose]

Let's face it...the cops were looking for an incident. Like the other poster said; they should've cuffed him when they first put him in the cell. The cops were just looking for any excuse to beat this kid.

I hope he wins his suit aginst the city. Maybe Boughton might take time from his kitchen cabinet business to take note of what's going on in Danbury.

[Jess]

THAT'S IT?!?!?!

You have got to be kidding me, right???

Let me just say this...he gets put in the cell, next to another detainee, right? He sees the guy sitting there on the bench handcuffed. So he starts pacing around the cell like he's up to no good. JUST SIT DOWN. But no! So then he gets told to sit down and he asks like a 12 year old...NO WAIT, I think children around 8 say that..."You're not my boss!" HAHA Well lemme tell you something...after you've been arrested for no license and drugs, YEAH HE IS YOUR BOSS. And they just wanted to scare him a little to show him who's boss. Do as you're told, try to act sorry for what you did, and try to be a little humble after being arrested. GEESSHH. "You want 50,000 volts going through your spine?" HAHAHA I absolutely LOVE it! The little punk!

Remember folks, these are the punk kids you want OFF the streets and maybe being a little rough with the kid will show him WHO his boss really is.

*just my opinion*

[yikes67]

I left my first comment before watching the video. After watching the video I cannot see where any brutality is. He kept talking back and instigating the situation. He was being a prick. If the cops told him to sit down he shouldve sat down. He wouldn't so they had to take action. Anyone who thinks this is police brutality is insane. The cops were trying to get this kid to do what they were telling him to do. He wouldn't so they had to use force.

momoftwo, what difference would it make if hes 21 and they are older? Are you then saying cops shouldn't use force on people that are younger than them? It wasnt a whole bunch of big guys there were three and if hes resisting the police officer the other officers are trained to go in and help. Everyone is always so quick to blame law enforcement or political officials of doing something horrible wrong. Well maybe if the kid just sat down the first time things would've been a lot better.

[HairNation]

The fact that the cops did not cuff him to the bench means nothing. This punk was told to sit and he did not do so. Why don't we just let people do what ever they want to do when they are arrested? I bet if this kid ran over someone crossing the street when he was driving crazy the general public would blame the cops for not being there to stop him. The cops took this spoiled rotten brat off the street and prevented him from hurting anyone. He started the fight with the cops and they ended it like they are taught to do. He says he got hurt, but what do you expect is going to happen when you encourage the police to fight with you. I think that the cops should have given him a hug and pat on the back and asked him nicely to please sit on the bench. That probably would have worked right?

[voice23]

Fire the little pigs