Recording of Fullerton cop is key in Kelly Thomas beating case

[n2doc]

By Joel Rubin and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times

September 23, 2011

Before reaching the decision this week to charge a Fullerton police officer with murder, Orange County prosecutors re-created his fatal encounter with a homeless man from dozens of witness statements, footage from security cameras and cellphone videos.

The piece of evidence that sealed the decision, however, came from an unexpected source: the officer himself.

An audio recorder carried by Officer Manuel Ramos captured a chilling exchange between him and Kelly Thomas, in which Ramos told the mentally ill man that he was going to beat him. Those irrefutable words, said Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, proved Ramos was intent on hurting the defenseless Thomas and led Rackauckas to file the second-degree murder charge.

Fullerton is one of a growing number of police agencies around the country that require officers to use audio or video devices to document their interactions with people. Although the technology most frequently helps exonerate officers accused of misconduct or provides evidence during a trial, police observers say, the Fullerton case is a somewhat rare and dramatic illustration of how officers' self-surveillance can serve as a powerful check on police.


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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0923-kelly-thomas-audio-20110922,0,4325329.story

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

1. Wow!

I lived in Fullerton for 18 years. It was a nice place. Hope this is not the usual behavior of the police. I think this also argues for police walking a beat again. If the same police officers are in the same area, on foot, on a daily basis, they get to know who's who. Maybe then the homeless guy would still be alive and Officer Ramos wouldn't be in trouble.................. :shrug:

[bemildred]

2. Police violence is a ubiquitious problem.

And it's not just a few "rogue cops" either, it's the way cops are trained.