Cop accused of pushing Wal-Mart greeter suspended

[sasquatch]

Source: Associated Press

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – A Chattanooga detective accused of assaulting an elderly Wal-Mart greeter who asked to see his sales receipt at the store has been suspended from duty.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/ap_on_fe_st/odd_greeter_officer_suspended;_ylt=AmIDixwMLnK8u8zzyUWTh6LtiBIF

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:eyes:
By all means though don't charge him with assault though.

[MineralMan]

1. Well, that's a start.

If they actually charge him with something, that'll be a lot better.

[pleah]

2. He should have been fired.

:mad:

[Dappleganger]

3. You have to be a real prick to shove a 71 yr. old WM greeter.

Yeah, that cop is REAL tough.


x(

[sasquatch]

4. I guess that's why they didn't fire him, only pricks these days seem to work as cops

[superconnected]

5. Not all cops are bad cops. Sheesh. Are you sure you're on the right site?

Narrow minded mental inflexibility usually belongs in freeperville.

[bloomington-lib]

6. F U and your right site

There are a lot of shitty cops out there. Ones we hear about on the news and ones we deal with in our daily lives. Don't get high and mighty when someone vents about being tired of this shit.

[superconnected]

15. Reported.

[superconnected]

16. Actually your intellect just landed you on my people-not-worth-reading list.

Happy ignore!

[kenfrequed]

7. Uhm

We are overpoliced as it is.

And many of the people that choose the field of police work do so for entirely the wrong reasons.

If you don't believe me watch a few videos of the RNC protests in Minnesota. Granted the more brutal sorts were not St Paul cops, but there is a seige minded state in law enforcement as a whole when it comes to the public, in any form, investigating or putting pressure on the Law Enforcement.

There comes a certain point in time where we have to stop making excuses or babbling about 'a few bad apples' and actually stop and consider there may be something socially, psychologically, or structually wrong with the way we do things.

[olegramps]

10. Cops are the dregs of society.

The only people who want to be cops are losers that what to be in an authority position. Just read the papers. Day after day there are stories about police brutality. Unfortunately the only cases that are made public are those that are caught on video or cell cameras and these are becoming more prevalent and these are the tip of the ice berg. It is a case of a few good cops and the vast majority of them being scum bags. Do they prevent crime? Do they solve any crimes? Hell no! The only crimes that the "solve" are ones in which citizens come forward with the evidence. These incompetents couldn't catch their own shadow.

[wolfgangmo]

12. I was an officer...

I an not a loser and I did not get off on the authority of the job. In fact the authority of it made me a little uncomfortable at time. There were lots of good officers who worked with me and some real pricks. But not all of us were bad. In fact most of us were staunch union member democrats and active in the local party.

Please avoid broad generalizations. Perhaps YOUR experience is not mine but that also means the YOUR experience is not everyones.

[superconnected]

14. How utterly ignorant.

I've worked at 3 police depts and a whole lot of corporations in the computer industry. There are good people and bad people in every profession. From the comments here I can only guess you guys are 17 and actually don't know better or are ex-cons.

[barbtries]

8. the elderly greeter

should have an attorney by now. make him pay. brutal cops must be made accountable.

[chelsea0011]

9. Man.I shudder to think what could have happened to her if she tried to put

a yellow smiley face on him.

[Shardik]

11. If the elderly greeter had shoved a cop she would have been charged with assault.

After being tasered.

*sigh*

[wolfgangmo]

13. 2 things.

From the article it seems clear that the cop in question assaulted that greeter and should be held accountable.

Secondly no store has any right to ask for anything at the door. The product has been purchased and becomes your property at the time of purchase. A contract has been executed and as such they have no right to demand a receipt unless they are prepared to call the cops, detain you, and then charge you. If they do that and are wrong you can sue then for wrongful imprisonment and battery if they touch you.

Me, I would refuse and if they touched me I would hit the floor and scream for a cop and an ambulance.

[predfan]

17. I'm probably incorrect, but I'd bet that as long as you were on store property

they had every right to check for a receipt; that makes the cop's action even worse.

[Flirtus]

18. story update

The greeter, 71-year old Walker, has hired Attorney Flores and will sue Officer Freeman (who is on 28-day suspension without pay) in Federal Court (needless to say it is pro-bono, who can imagine a WalMart employee paying a retainer?):

"This is a small and meek man, 5'4" and about 165 pounds, with a hearing deficit that requires him to wear an aid. He is currently so traumatized that he can no longer greet people at the door."

Attorney Flores added, "Part of his duties at Wal-Mart is to check persons as they leave to see if they have a receipt for items. He is so fearful now to do that because he relives what Freeman did to him. He is now re-assigned to non-greeter duties."

...the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations is investigating the incident at the request of District Attorney Bill Cox.

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_143767.asp

***

Although I encourage you to shop anywhere else, it would be my expectation for WalMart & Sam's to check my receipt when leaving the store, and, you're not shoplifting until you pass through the door of the building with unbought goods - which is why those detectors are by the door, not by the register.

Shoving the greeter was uncalled for, shoving the customer who came to the old guy's aid is clearly out of line.

[Flirtus]

19. $21 million federal lawsuit filed

A $21 million federal lawsuit has been filed against the city of Chattanooga and two city police officers in connection with a Christmas Eve incident in which a 71-year-old greeter was shoved to the floor at the Collegedale Wal-Mart.

Attorney Robin Flores asked $1 million compensatory damages in behalf of William Walker and $20 million in punitive damages against officers Kenneth Freeman and Edwin McPherson.

The suit charges that Detective Freeman used excessive force against the greeter and a customer who came to his aid. It says Lt. McPherson stood by and did not stop Det. Freeman.

It says Mr. Walker, who is 5'4" and wears a hearing aid, was required to check receipts of customers leaving the store if the security device sounded an alarm. It says the two officers were leaving with bags in their hands.

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_143864.asp