LA Officer legally justified in kicking suspect, union attorney says

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-kick16-2009may16,0,7668707.story

El Monte officer was delivering a 'distraction blow' to man lying on the ground after a high-speed chase, lawyer says.
By Richard Winton
May 16, 2009
An El Monte police officer was legally justified in kicking a car chase suspect in the head as he was lying on the ground at the end of a televised high-speed pursuit because it was a "distraction blow," a police union attorney said Friday.

Dieter Dammier, attorney for the El Monte Police Officers Assn., said the officer acted within his training and department policy when he delivered the kick.


Richard Rodriguez


"Unfortunately these things never look good on video. Sometimes officers have to use force when dealing with bad guys," Dammier said. "The officer initially came upon the suspect alone. The suspect hadn't been searched and was a parolee and a gang member."

"The individual officer saw some movement. He feared the parolee might have a weapon or be about to get up. So the officer did what is known as a distraction blow. It wasn't designed to hurt the man, just distract him."

El Monte officers, he said, "are trained to deliver a distraction blow to stop a doing what they are planning on doing."

The decision by the officer to kick the head of a suspect who was surrendering has been criticized by use-of-force experts.

FULL story at link.

[msongs]

1. big bad cop with a big bad gun has to kick a prostrate man - video game-ism run amok nt

[Hepburn]

2. Oh, what total BULLSHIT....

...kicking someone in the head is a legit part of police practice?

How fucking stupid does that atty think all of us are? :eyes:

[habitual]

3. i believe the 'distraction blow' defense is a 'distraction blow'

nice try.

[Recursion]

4. If that's a sanctioned technique, the problem is the rules, not the cop

Though in either case the largest problem is the war on minorities^H^H^H^H^H drugs.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Sometime I tend to give the police a bit more leeway than some but that shot was well beyond

what is acceptable. He had surrendered and was of no threat.