7 more cops pulled from Philly streets over taped beating

No. To protect and serve.

One of their brethren was murdered last Saturday, which is not a justification for this apparent rampage, but does explain the cops' being on edge. Each officer featured in the video has been put on a modified assignment and the investigation is ongoing.

One of their brethren was murdered last Saturday, which is not a justification for this apparent rampage, but does explain the cops' being on edge. Each officer featured in the video has been put on a modified assignment and the investigation is ongoing.

There are no excuses for this behavior. Too bad one of their "brothers" died. So sad. Now maybe one of them will get what's coming to them. No pity for crooked cops. They are worse than criminals, because they hide behind the badge.

Carobear,

Let's play a little game.

-13 men, all relatives, are on edge because someone killed a dear friend. A couple of cops come down the street and one of the officers looks a bit like someone who is a suspect in the death of their friend.

So the 13 men swarm the cops and beat and kick the hell out of them. But it's not so bad, they're justifiably upset about something else.-

Sounds kind of weak doesn't it?

The biggest difference, of course, is that the cops rigged up a shotgun load of charges against these men in order to cover their asses. I'm surprised resisting arrest didn't make the list of charges. That would be typical, along with assault on a officer.

Maybe the suspects lost a loved one. If that was the case, they should have legally killed those cops.

"No pity for crooked cops. They are worse than criminals"

Hey dude, there is good and bad everywhere.
(my personal experience of Life)

Hey dude, there is good and bad everywhere.

no doubt. But we could exterminate the bad in our tax-funded law enforcement agencies.

Well, what can I say.. one little step at a time.

You have to take into consideration that the police go in to arrest not knowing all of the circumstances. It's easy to look on the outside saying that it was unnecessary because they were unarmed, but the police don't alway know that. The police only knew that they were involved in a shooting, the suspects engaged a pursuit, and that there is a good possibility of them being armed. The suspects were probably not being as cooperative as they could, either, and were probably resisting.

The police only knew that they were involved in a shooting,

No, the police did not know that.

Ken,

So if i assume all cops are crooked, and I know they are armed, then it is ok for me to shoot at them on sight? I mean, how am I supposed to know, right?

I thought you were presumed innocent until "proved guilty in a court of Law"? Seems to me the these cops were "Judge, Jury, and Executioner's"on the scene.

All of you would not understand the circumstances since you were not put into the shoes of the policemen. You cannot see every detail let alone you cannot hear anything being said on the ground from this video. Like I said, its so much easier to criticize and be an "expert" from the outside. If you were to ask a policeman from the other side of the country (someone who is put in these guys' shoes everyday) I'd bet you he'd have a completely different opinion on this. I never once stated that I thought that the actions the police performed were justified, I am simply stating that nobody but the men directly involved knows exactly what went down. I think it's ridiculous that people can take about a short video and analyze it to the point where they state that "every one of those policemen are corrupt".

every one of those policemen are corrupt"

No one said they were corrupt, that's a straw man. We said they were out of control and rioting.

No one said they were corrupt, that's a straw man. We said they were out of control and rioting.

Read some of the comments again.

All of you would not understand the circumstances since you were not put into the shoes of the policemen. You cannot see every detail let alone you cannot hear anything being said on the ground from this video.

This is the same tired bull@!$%# that we always hear when cops cross the line and become the criminals. Put yourself in the victims shoes. Put yourself in the shoes of the outraged tax-payers. We pay these pigs to enforce the laws. If they can break them, so can we, right? Where does it end after that?

We pay these pigs to enforce the laws. If they can break them, so can we, right?

Sorry, I don't think anyone can take your opinion seriously when you refer to this nation's Law Enforcement as pigs.

What are we in 9th grade again?

Sorry, I don't think anyone can take your opinion seriously when you refer to this nation's Law Enforcement as pigs.

What are we in 9th grade again?

Maybe you can't. Not everyone shares the same blind allegiance and idol-worship you have.

Crooked cops who break laws are criminals. When you show for respect for drug dealers and pimps, I'll follow suit and join you in bowing before your Police overlords.

Your statement and idea are both ridiculous, simplistic, and ignorant.

Your statement and idea are both ridiculous, simplistic, and ignorant.

Says the guy who refers to all policeman as "pigs". Your hypocritical logic actually made me laugh to myself that time.

Says the guy who refers to all policeman as "pigs".

And since when is slang anything other than slang? "pigs" isn't an idea or belief, it's a slang term. Your ideas about the "Nation's Law Enforcement" and the absolute respect it supposedly demands are simplistic (since it does not allow room for the disrespect of cops who use extreme acts of excessive force when not needed), rediculous (because a badge does not grant absolute authority, it denotes a public servant), and ignorant (because you do not seem to comprehend the Police/Citizen relationship).

I simply used a term that is equivocal to "Cops", "5-0", "The Fuzz", and "Boys in Blue". If you find that funny or offensive, then you must still be in the 9th grade.

don't forget 'Mr. PoPo'

Oh @!$%#, I did forget Da PoPo!!!!

Don't play that game. You meant it in a derogatory way.

People like you whine and whine about the police but at the first signs of your own intentions/rights being fringed upon another individual its the first people you will run to.

Oh and I don't believe I ever stated I thought all cops were good. You just make it out to seem as if the majority are crooked which is totally false. There are good and bad in every industry. You are stretching this one incident too far.

I'm done debating with you now because, quite frankly, this argument has no value anymore.

I'm done debating with you now because, quite frankly, this argument has no value anymore.

Well, that's your fault. You had to inject some bumper-sticker rhetoric, and tried to display some pseudo-self-righteousness. A "debate" requires an argument, which you obviously lack.

It seems to me lots of cops get into that position of authority and power because they are unable to obtain that status otherwise... They were picked on, not popular, not respected in school,... then suddenly they get a badge and they start demanding respect from people, and making people fearful of them to get what they want.
No offense to anyone who is a cop, this is just a generalization on my part. I have gathered this from my encounters with lots of police officers.... Others i find really friendly, noble, responsible. Other than being a teacher, i think being a cop is one of the best services someone could provide to society. Its a rough job, but very honorable and important. Having said that, its easy to abuse the power granted to cops.

But their slogan really shouldn't be 'to protect and serve' because that's not what they do. their slogan should be 'to enforce the law' plain and simple.

I used to work with a moonlighting cop and told him that I had considered becoming a cop. He dropped the rough, intimidating edge he had and really warmed up to me. Then I told him that I'd be by the book and would have no problem reporting dirty cops. He immediately told me to flush any notions of being a cop out of my head, then went back to his gruff self. If most cops are good guys who are doing what they're supposed to be doing, why the blanket code of silence?

Dear Enigma, Does not matter what country I am from, percentage of people tend to act this way in all societies not only America.

"... Then I told him that I'd be by the book and would have no problem reporting dirty cops. He immediately told me to flush any notions of being a cop out of my head, then went back to his gruff self. If most cops are good guys who are doing what they're supposed to be doing, why the blanket code of silence?"

Because we're living in a world of duality?

Pietro, I understand duality. Are you saying that the nature of duality should make dirty cops and codes of silence more palatable?

Palatable? Absolutely not.
I find it disgusting, but you must understand that in this world people use a different scale of value...

I understand that there are different scales of value, but all of them most certainly aren't of equal merit. Some of them are dangerous and serve nobody's best interest, as the video of these cops demonstrates.

"..the video of these cops demonstrates."

Hello? Adrenaline rush anyone?
I'm not trying to excuse them but we must consider the fear factor.
They was in the survival mode, they had chased those guys into the streets and they feared for their life.

They was in the survival mode, they had chased those guys into the streets and they feared for their life.

Yeah, the cops were clearly terrified.

"I'm not trying to excuse them but we must consider the fear factor.
They was in the survival mode, they had chased those guys into the streets and they feared for their life."

Fifteen trained and armed cops against three guys who were on the ground and over whom the cops clearly had control. Come on, man! If they truly feared for their lives, they would have had their guns drawn from behind their cars while ordering the guys into prone positions.

You're not trying to excuse them? First you tried duality, then scales of value, and now the fear factor. That's known as throwing excrement against the wall to see what sticks.

How do you think you would react if you were in their shoes? If you don't know, wait 'til you're faced with a comparable situation ...

I don't know if it was directed at me or the poster above your comment, but I'll just say that I wouldn't ever put myself in their shoes -- that's the whole point of what I'm saying: there are some people who don't mind, or even enjoy, the prospect that they get to control, use force and kill people; then there are others for which those ideals and actions are reprehensible and I would never put myself in a situation in which I had to kill someone. It's not in my nature, with probably very rare, and extreme, exceptions to that. These are supposed to be trained professionals; fear isn't part of that vocabulary or shouldn't be. It's the line of work that they have chosen and that line of work is less and less about the enforcement of laws and more about the unrestricted use of force by those in power against those with no power, and based on a subjective scale of what's acceptable and what isn't. The only semi-valid defense is pointing the finger up the chain -- if the government can openly admit to torturing people to death, surely that trickles down and it's not too hard to believe cops think the official policy is shoot first, don't bother with questions later.

Enigma, nicely stated.

Pietro, it doesn't stand to reason that one must have been in the same situation before criticizing others who committed a crime in that situation. If a gang mugged a jogger in the park, would you reserve judgment because you weren't in the muggers' shoes?

If an unarmed civilian fends off an attacker, gets him to the ground, then starts kicking him in the face to his frightened heart's content, is there any chance that the defender wouldn't be charged with a host crimes for his excessive force? We're talking about one unarmed civilian. But we're supposed to accept that it's excusable for fifteen armed and trained cops to abandon their training in a situation that they should easily be able to control through proper procedure and do what we saw in that video?

The very reason we have a criminal justice system is so that we don't have people bringing their personal sense of justice to bear on grievances willy nilly. We have a legislature that enacts laws concerning these things, a jury of peers to weigh guilt, and a judge to sentence offenders within the limits of the law. Granted, it isn't always perfect. But when cops decide to take their pound of flesh for themselves, they run against the very purpose of the system they serve, the oath they took, and become a danger to the public.

I respect your point of view LC-269346.
I agree that we most respect our criminal justice system ..but (I don't want to push my opinions on anyone here) allow me to say that I also respect the *good* cops because they worked hard to maintain our society in order.

I am sure they will. And if the suspects were black, they'll get a raise and promotion

Probably they won't get off scott free like they did in the Sean Bell case. One of them will have to take a fall of some sort, probably the one in charge on the scene will get a token sentence in a white collar prison. The rest will get a reprimand and a reassignment. The city will pay a whopping lawsuit and the cops will run loose to assault some more people.

Good call, Wheel. I think you are right.

Yeah the thing is, this incident isn't nearly enough to justify the statement that all cops are bad. This isn't the way cops are supposed to act, although I can understand their anger, if this was one of the suspects in the shooting of one of their fellow officers.

"Officers are not allowed to operate outside of the law."

Is this a new rule? I never heard of this before. :)

It's been the rule for quite some time, even if you did not hear it.. since officers of the law are still people and still have to abide by the law. this is an occurrence in which that did not happen..just like when criminals break the law and shoot cops

Hmm, I was being sarcastic... perhaps you were too? I hope so. :)

You bet ;)

Good job catching the news as it happens!

I bet the reporter and his editor had to change their underwear and have a cigarette after that scene! :)

Big LOL! I bet you're right!

It's a @!$%#ty situation all around, I think. People kill other people, people kill cops, cops beat the hell out of people.. it's not something easily fixed

So have the people. Does that mean we can beat and kill cops when no cameras are around?

Cops should know better than to get caught? From what country are you writing?

I've had jobs in which I had had enough of some customers' nonsense. That didn't entitle me to scam the customers or do anything that was illegal or unethical.

Hetep and Respect Angryindian, what is amazing, is that the African American and Latino American community continues to remain calm and work within the law.

When bush and the forty thieves do not go to jail and criminal copes do not go to jail then calm will not last forever and hope does not mean the people are stupid. It is time for America to step up to the plate and make a change, so that justice can run down on her like a might river.

I clipped to my column.