Woman wins $82K, after asking cop for ID and getting arrested

[Fumesucker]

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Woman-wins-82K-after-asking-cop-for-ID-and-1339384.php

A Portland jury has awarded a woman $82,000, after she was arrested when asking a police officer for a business card.

The woman, Shei'Meka Newmann, had sued the Portland police department, after she had watched the arrest of a man in 2009, questioned the arrest, asked an officer for a business card, and was arrested herself, The Oregonian reported.

"I think that police need to be reminded that it's part of their job to de-escalate and defuse situations," juror Chris Bolles told the paper after the trial Thursday. Jurors also said it would have taken just a few seconds for the officer to give Newmann his card.

Newmann had thought the arrest of the man, at a Portland light-rail station, was rough, and had sought the identities of the officers involved. But when she asked for a business card and tried to read an officer's name on his uniform, she was arrested, the paper reported.

[tblue37]

1. SOP in police-state America these days. nt

[LiberalFighter]

2. I would hammer it in court to the jurors and press...

if police don't want to identify themselves then they just proved themselves guilty.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[backwoodsbob]

4. so basically

you want to in effect give this officer a death sentence for violating someones rights.

Gee,that can't be over the top :puke:

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Fumesucker]

6. So going to prison is the same thing as a death sentence in your mind?

Hmmm..

[SkyDaddy7]

7. The cop should be fired probably not jailed...

However, I do see the other posters point this cop should have done to him what he has done to countless others! One literally puts their life at risk approaching a cop regardless if one is polite & well within their Constitutional rights. Cops can & do jail thousands for no other reason than the fact they can. Sure, you may not be convicted of anything but it will cost several hundred dollars just to get out of jail then several thousand to get a lawyer & cops know this & that is how they seek their revenge on anyone who dares question their authority! And that is wrong & SAD!

Cops should be fired or harshly admonished but that almost never happens! That is why cops do what they do they know there is very little chance they can get in trouble...Even when they kill people or leave them in comas, use racist slurs, fracture the face of people in wheelchairs when they slam them to the ground, use tazzers on old bedridden women, etc., Usually the worse thing that happens is they "resign" which simply means they go to work with another law enforcement agency a county or city away.

[meow mix]

10. so basically

your saying the rules dont apply to cops, which they choose to disregard anyways.

[Renew Deal]

22. Which "rule" says the cop should get the death penalty

for this?

[mwb970]

8. What kind of person becomes a police officer anyway?

I realize we never hear about the good cops who do their job right, but there have been an awful lot of bad-cop stories like this one of late. It has made me wonder if the bad-cop types, of which there seem to be quite a few, share some kind of emotional issue that has driven them to become policemen.

Or am I off base here?

[gop_equals_taliban]

9. Mostly

former military, it is an easy transition, some, many, do it for the power trip, some actually joined to help people, some joined to commit crimes or protect those that do, it is the power trippers that are the problem IMHO.

Some people are just naturally tools and being a cop is a good place to be a total tool 24/7 and still be accepted by society or peer group.

[olegramps]

13. The major problem is the "Blue Wall."

Even if you believe that the vast majority of cops are up right citizens, they will not condemn one of their fellow officers even when they are clearly guilty. This is analogous to what took place in regard to the pedophilia scandal in the Catholic Church. Their cover-up makes them just as guilty as those who committed the crime.

A recent case in Denver reveals to what extent they will go in their protection of those who are clearly guilty. Two of their fellow officers were videoed beating an innocent person who had done nothing. They nearly got away with it but the father of the young man that was assaulted was a sheriff's deputy and demanded justice. When the investigation was reopened following the normal cover-up the entire police department responded by refusing to take any proactive measure even if they saw a crime being committed. They would, on the pretext that they would risk being unfairly accused, only would respond to situations in which they were commanded to respond. The entire police force should have been reprimanded for refusing "serve and protect" as they are swore to do. The two officers who were eventually fired had been guilty of beating up innocent citizens several times that the department had covered up.

The fact of the matter is many forces are corrupt since they protect their fellow officers even when they are clearly guilty. It is little wonder that they have lost the public's respect.

[backscatter712]

16. That's exactly it, and why there's very few genuinely good cops.

The "good" cops cover for the bad ones, and man their places in the Blue Wall, so as far as I'm concerned, I respect the "good" cops as little as I do the openly vicious and bad cops.

The genuinely good cops suffer the fate of Frank Serpico, and get harassed, drummed out of the force, or worse - by the bad cops and the "good" cops.

Until the cops start policing their own, they won't get respect from me.

[progressoid]

21. A friend of mine from high school is county sheriff.

He's a good cop. A gentle giant.

You can't judge an entire profession by the stories (usually bad) that make headlines. Just as all Republicans aren't Sarah Palin or all Democrats aren't Dennis Kucinich, all Police officers aren't represented by the only ones that are reported on.

[GoneOffShore]

11. Someone said: "The police are criminals with uniforms and better weapons."

[gop_equals_taliban]

12. Well I did know a cop

back in the day who sold weed and used his cop pals to get rid of any and all competition.

[sofa king]

14. Oh, that's not fair at all!

Just as some small percentage of the population as a whole behaves antisocially and accounts for a disproportionate amount of crimes, only a small proportion of police officers can behave criminally and wind up tainting the entire profession with their behavior.

Yes, it's also true that (as another poster above observed) the cover-ups which follow in the wake of this behavior is a crime in itself which drags in entire departments and even the profession as a whole.

But individually and as a group, I have found that police officers are generally interested in doing their jobs safely and well. They are very special people who are willing to take personal risks that I am not willing to take in order to serve a greater good.

For that alone, they are deserving of our thanks and admiration.

[Dawson Leery]

15. Considering the blue wall of silence, yes they are.

[Rex]

17. So, the idiotic actions of the officer was a reward for his victim.

What a total dick, I hope he pays out the ass for such stupid behavior.

[Randypiper]

19. He won't pay a cent.

The city (taxpayers) will pay the award. My guess is the cop will only get admonished.

[Rex]

20. True, probably not even a slap on the wrist and his bros will be

"she deserved it and worse that fucking **********".

[Initech]

18. Respect my authoritah!!!

:eyes:

[A Simple Game]

23. Perhaps badge numbers and or names large enough to

be read should be on the front and backs of their uniforms.

This would solve the problem of having to ask, and get rid of the sense of anonymity the cops now have.

We need civilian review boards for these types of infractions.