Video: Baltimore cop suspended over altercation with teen
February 12, 2008
Sometimes you’re looking in vain for a blog post to kick off the day, and sometimes one just falls into your lap.
The latter was the case this morning, after this story came down the wire, about a veteran Baltimore cop who was suspended after a YouTube video of his encounter with a 14 year-old skateboarder at the Inner Harbor made the rounds.
In the video, it appears that the officer is ordering a group of teens to stop skateboarding (which is banned at the Inner Harbor). When the 14 year-old resists, the officer puts him in a headlock and berates him for being disrespectful.
At one point, the officer asks the teen: “Are you from the County or something?” He then proceeds with this zinger: “Obviously, your parents don’t put a foot in your butt quite enough, because you don’t understand the meaning of respect.”
WJZ-TV even got an interview with the teen.
Watch the video below and let us know if you think the cop was out of line or not.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
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107 Responses to “Video: Baltimore cop suspended over altercation with teen”
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Cops have aVERY tough job and teens certainly can be difficult. I have to believe that something else was affecting this officers day, his actions were very un-called for, providing that the video tells the entire story. Editing can be very misleading.
Hell yes he was out of line. This is a fine example of a cop that is way off on a power trip. Its crap. Its one thing to be pissed about some smart mouth kid, but you need to maintain a professional attitude regardless.
Sorry, even if he had had a rough day and bad things happen earlier, thats not related to this. The fact that he was acting like this at all shows he shouldn’t have a badge anymore.
This is yet another case of a stressed out police officer abusing his authority. Kids use” dude” or “man” in their speech as a habit not to disrespect anyone.This particular officer needs to be set straight, and I don’t mean send him home and pay him for it. Doesn’t it worry anybody that this guy is an abusive man and what he is capable of doing in a real serious situation? I feel sorry for his family.
He was way out of line. If I were the kid, I would have continued calling him ‘dude’. Granted, after about ten ‘dudes’ I would be in the video getting shot, but still; victory on that day!
Have fun with your suspensions and redicule, dude.
That cop was an absolute maniac. Why do you think he is working the Inner Harbor? Because he’d shoot someone anywhere else less public. Hey fat DUDE cop, choke on your salami.
this cop got served right you don’t scare the hell out of a 14 year old for calling someone dude.
Whatever “anonymous”
This dude needs to be taken off the street. How unprofessional, fire him.
yes,,,that cop is classic,that happened to me and my friends about one thousand times when we younger and skateboarding,,,only in the 1980’s we didnt have hand held videos,that cop/dude was about as out of line as you can get,he should be fired. nice job getting it on video boys!!!!!!!!
Very unprofessional. His actions were out of line. A 14 year old kid skateboarding is the last thing the police should be worried about.
worst dude ever
Wow, I understand that kids can be difficult but the officer’s reaction was way out of line. The officer is suppose to set the example not over react to what obviously was a couple of kids playing where they weren’t suppose to. Now every interaction that these children have with police officers will be tainted by this experiance.
it is a good thing that wasn’t me or that would have escalated to assaulting an officer and i would be in jail right now.
Wow is all that I can say. That boy is going to grow up fearing all authority because of a power-tripping jerk cop. There is absolutely NO excuse for this. Besides, were the kids doing anything wrong in the first place? If they aren’t allowed to skateboard, then the only left is to become meth addicts, go to jail and eat up our tax money!
How does he expect kids to respect him when this is what he gives back? There is absolutely no reason why he couldn’t calmly move them on in a civilised fashion. Cops have a hard job, granted, but he’s dealing with the most basic and harmless of situations. Whats his reaction gonna be when its something more demanding? I’m from London but lived in the US as a young skateboarder for three years, this kind of thing was common. In the UK the cops would never be so aggressive for no reason, and we always respected them and moved on in the same way.
no suspension. can him. no other option.
Ahahaha, sounds he like he is about to say “If I find myself on youtube!” at the end.
That cop is totally out of line for touching the kid who obviously wasn’t resisting anything the cop was doing. The last thing I would do is respect cops after that happened to me.
haha pigs piss me off we’re havin fun while theres drug dealers and murderers and terrorists out there and they have to freak out on ppl riding skateboards
Those who would criticize the officer as being out of control fail, I believe, to notice these points:
1. While the term Dude may not have been warmly received, the fact is that he told the kid he was violating the law, and that advice was clearly and absolutely rejected: “I did nothing wrong, Dude”. He had done something wrong and apparently intended to continue. The officer could have arrested him, but instead chose the less stringent action of forcing the kid to give attention. Again, it is noteworthy that the officer was not “out of control” with anger or intent to do harm, for after he physically placed the child in an inferior position (on the ground, as opposed to his standing and superior position), he again spoke to him in a calm and modulated voice. Clearly, he acted to impress the child. If we are to have a culture in which Police are disregarded, then that was wrong. I believe the young man was lacking in the responsibility that good citizenship requires. And I believe a policeman whose clear statement of the law is rejected must act, or else hang up his spurs. Maybe the officer made some impression on him. I note that he obviously failed to do so with many who commented on his action. But they have not been asked whether they would have preferred to see the officer arrest the child, with all that entails.
Perfect example of the cop mentality in america… the kid who was picked on in school is now the authority
WAY OUT OF LINE….. the cop or the “DUDE” shouldent have yelled as he did or put his hands on the kid… he could have gotten all the klids info etc with out makeing a scene and without makeing himself look a fool…. the officer claims that being called “dude” is an insult to him and the badge he wears etc…..then just exactley what is the officer doing by saying the kids parents dont put their foot up his butt enough he is insulting the parents and how they raised their kids… uncalled for
Dude was power tripping!
This is ridiculous. An “officer” of the law shouldn’t be flinging around a 14 year old kid. And as a matter of fact, he shouldn’t be flinging around a grown adult. This is completely out of line and I’m sure his superiors were shocked to see this type of rogue behavior. This cop should worry about city violence and drug use over skateboarding at a local site.
This is a disgrace. Police men are expected to maintain a professional attitude at all times. It is their responsibility to maintain the correct temprament and treat everybody with a basic level of respect, regardless of their culture or class. Skateboarding is a positive outlet for kids and adults. Granted, it can be damaging to public property on occasion and there will always be a minority in any group that give the police an excuse to jump to conclusions but this policemans behaviour is nothing more than a vulgar and severely misdirected display of power. Disgusting!
how could anyone respect that police officer?
seriously.
James Perry:
I am not going to use numbers or bullet points to make my point. You only used one number in a supposed sequence of points anyway. The officer was completely out of line. Instead of warning the “criminal” (the child) before resorting to physical restraint like he was supposed to do according to procedure, he pounced first like an aggressive dog does when they come upon a puppy to show dominance. He pounced on the child without warning. The better alternative was to isolate that kid first in civil disobedience by making sure the other kids were heeding his warnings. Then if the disobedient kid was mouthing off something worse than”dude” (more like pig), then the officer may have had a right to approach the kid to escort him by the arm to the more private area next to the car to talk to him about his attitude. The officer was there to enforce the city’s policies regarding skateboarding in that area, not control the child’s attitude. In my humble opinion, citizens are allowed to say whatever they would like to an officer, as long as they are not continuing the action which the cop came to initially enforce and/or threatening the safety officer. The word “dude” or even “pig” do not in any way threaten the safety of the officer or break the law. So, James, when you defend the actions of this officer, you are demonstrating the oppressive justification of a police state and the loss of our right of freedom of speech. In other words, you’re the oppressor and a moron.
anybody else see the irony of the cop DEMANDING respect while giving none? cops are funny like that.
“dammit, punk!!! your worthless butt will show me some respect!!!!”
no, officer, i won’t. because you gotta give to get. and while you’re sitting through a disciplinary review, as a result of your gestapo tactics, we’ll be laughing.
this cop is the definition of a ‘meathead’. It obvious that this cop wanted an altercation to happen and his aggressive attitude will not earn respect from anyone. Im sure those kids laughed this off after he was gone, and I can’t believe when he implied that if you go around giving attitude to cops someone will kill you. Send this guy back to the Stone Age.
i also enjoy his little quip at the very end where he begins to threaten the filmer. someone apparently isn’t familiar with media rights.
agreed, tharon. so what if he was skating! what’s the worse that could happen, scratch the ground? its not like the kid pulled a gun or went berserk. if the cop had a bad day and exploded right there is no excuse; mood should not interefere with profession and that cop looks like a fat dude on steroids. respect? you earn respect, which is completely diferent to authority.
(Explitave deleated)That dude would be well advised to start a search for a new job. Apperently, he never learned that valuable lesson taught when Roddney King got beaten by the Fuzz.I hope, though don’t believe he will read this. People have cameras in public everywhere these days, so assulting childeren can no longer be covered up by the boys club administration(local law enforcement). And I send this out directly to the officer in question:
You diserve no respect at all from any person! I hope you loose your job you(explitave deleated) burden to the taxpayer!
what that fat waste has to remember is that all skateboarders have video cameras! i mean, how stupid can you get? oh yea, also chokeholding adolescents for skateboarding is not okay, no matter how fat and stupid you may be.
James Perry has zero idea of what he is talking about. that fat cop has no need to touch a 14 year old kid who is no threat to him. Open your eyes… dude… !
Make him head of Home Land Security.
Keeping us all safe from little kidz.
Respect Joey bag o’ Donuts…or your goin’ down!
YEA THATS RIGHT FIGHT THE POWER!!!!
DON’T LET THAT COP DO THAT TO YOU!!!
SUE HIM!!!!
Anonymous how is the editing of this video could effect or alter the officers actions?
300 pound “officer” of the law vs. 90 pound - 14 year old teen. I am shocked. Another case of overzealous authority suspended with pay. If I went around assaulting pedestrians I wonder what my consequence be?
Fire the officer, a DUDE like that should never be respected.
Officer dude must be feeling a bit fragile and insecure when he feels like he needs to abuse some kids like the high school bully he really is.
When you,re job is representing the law, there some responsibilities that come with it. You need some good quality to be a police officer. Most important is probably patience, we can see its not the case here. And getting physical with someone whose only 14 is kind of weird. He probably want to teach a lesson to the kid. But perhaps the lesson he try to teach is nothing more than get violence if you want some respect… he should be an example for the society, like teacher should be and every professional out there. Yeah the kid was skateboarding and having fun doing something illegal. And yeah he will be back on is board at the same spot the next week end. At least the kid is not doing drug and he,s doing some sort of sport and it,s awesome! people should be more aware of what kid like and what they do instead of trying to control every step they made
Yes, he was completely out of line, and needs to have his badge and gun removed.
Did Officer Rivieri actually tell the kid he was going to be killed if he says “dude” again?
I feel bad for all of the other electric cart-driving, shorts-wearing cops who do the job right under difficult circumstances. It can’t be easy to have this be the face of the force.
that cop should lose his job.that kid did not talk back at all or do anything.
this guy needs to be fired, that is horribly out of line, that is misconduct on any level. the one thing that stuck out to me was that he said they would die is they kept skateboarding, i don;t know if this officer was having a bad day, but that is inexcussable
Wow! It would suck to be that cop’s son. Abusive idiots like that do not deserve to wear a badge. Cops have a difficult, sometimes dangerous and stressful job. It takes a dude of exceptional quality to be a police officer. That loser is no where near the caliber. James Perry’s comments are as misguided as the cop’s. It was an easy situation to handle yet it was the officer who disrespected himself, his badge, and every police department in this nation.
“I better not find myself on youtube!”
loserrrr
police departments are repositories of jockface fascist tools that would otherwise be doing menial labor or be in jail. it’s true. there’s no intelligence requiremtn, but there is a physical fitness test. we have to employ the very same kinds of people that cause the problems to protect us from the problems.
hahaha what a jackoff cop.
sure they should be respected, but i didn’t see them do anything disrespectful. even when the kid was in a headlock and thrown to the ground for no reason.
lmao@”is that camera on? cause if i find myself on…”
Dude that just isn’t right. The cop should’ve just shut up and let the kid go or give him the citation and be on his merry way. So it’s legal for kids to skate at that spot and the cop stil gave the kid heat? Amn, I know cops have a tough job but they need to be stopping crime not innocent kids who express themselves through skating.
That guy never got invited to any parties in school.
Absoloutly ridiculous. This guy is on a complete power trip. Its a small child being told off for simply skateboarding and he throws him to the ground for saying ‘dude’- a term that every kid his age uses. The ‘cop’ should be fired.
Growing up as a skateboarder this experience is not uncommon. In fact watching this video brings back a few memories.
Just the same with an ordinary civilian, you get some good and you get some that are completely insane.
I just wish i had a camera to document some of these things, oh the wonders of youtube.
Wow, I really have hate to see children of that age man handled like that i am only nineteen years of age myself but i can clearly see that the officers aggresion and physicality are very high towards the much smaller child. i hate it for the child and the officer because his harsh action and inability think before acting got him into some hot water. My father was a law enforcement winston salem NC , so i have had acces to the BLET, Basic Law Enforcement Training manuel and clearly states the uniform doesnt demand respect the officer is supposed to gain respectof the citizens through his actions, this fellow clearly did no such thing. And for this officer Riveria i am from a county, your ingorent comments have probably upset some of us good ole county folk my friend i hope you are assigned to a nice desk in your precinct for the duration of your service!!!!!!!1
that cop was way out of line. he has a flattop. enough said.
i feel that this police officer took things WAY out of hand. yes, the kid was skating where it was illegal, but the police officer was enraged by the fact the kid didn’t hear him. thats because he had an ipod on! and after the kid realized he was being talked to, he took the headphones out. i dont feel the kid was disrespectful using the term, “dude,” as it isn’t meant as a put-down, just a way to refer to a person. it was also probably hard to not use dude, as it can become a commonly used word and is hard to suddenly stop using. now about confiscating the kids board, i feel that was too far. most all skaters leave if a police officer tells them they need to leave, including myself and all of my friends. the officer could have told them to leave with professionalism instead of becoming angry in the first 20 seconds of the encounter. i do feel this officer should be suspended and take anger management courses and retake use of police force courses. hopefully the kid got his board back.
That officer clearly entered the situation with preconceived notions about the attitude and behavior of a skateboarder. He expected the kid to have an attitude, so he treated the kid accordingly. But the kid didn’t have an attitude… he was just being an average 14-year-old. “Dude” is not a title of disrespect, it’s just common teenage vernacular. The cop did not use his head, overreacted, needlessly assaulted a child, and I hope he loses his job for it.
People do have bad days, although Police officers are held to a higher standard. Not only is it a police officers job to uphold the law, But it is also there job to abide by it. Neither was done in this case. Police brutality is a crime, and a much more serious one than skateboarding. The kid should have been issued a citation and been let go. The Police officer said in the beginning: “I am not your father”, why did the child receive a lecture from him then? Cop is completely and utterly wrong in this situation, End of story.
And towards “James Perry” the officer should have verbally warned the adolescent minor to sit down and that he was being detained Before he, the 250 pound officer, physically assaulted the 90 pound child.
fire him, sue the city, and loiter as you please. this is a perfect example of authority gone wrong. always know your rights, and recognize when someone is abusing their power. take down his badge #, ask to speak to his supervisor, and report him to your local police watchdog group. instilling fear and hatred has never been part of their sworn oath, so remind them of that oath and don’t accept this police state that is being shoveled down our throats!
He straight up told the kid that someone would kill him. As an officer of the law you shouldn’t go about talking to a kid like that. And as far as the officer touching the kid, he should press charges, because that was completely uncalled for, and unprofessional. The officer should be fired from his position. Not only was it wrong, but one of those kids could have had a firearm on them, and when he touched their friend they could have fired, which could have ended up hurting someone not involved in the incident. Therefore, it could be considered inducing panic in public, on the officer.
This was shown to me by a police officer who is the head of a SWAT team, a training officer and also works as a school resource officer. That officer in the video should be arrested and prosecuted. Nothing the children did deserved that type of treatment, and there isn’t a police force in the country that would train their officers to handle a situation like that.
I’m sorry that the officer feels the need to compensate for having to dress like a bumblebee. I am sorry the department makes him drive a little clown car.
People like him give all the good hard working police officers a bad name and reputation. He is a disgrace to any police department.
i dont know how anyone could defend this officer. And as for the first comment, this tape has obviously not been edited. There are no gaps or cuts anywhere.
also take a look at this video. These kids may not of acted as they should, but it is still a clear case of officers abusing their authority. http://youtube.com/watch?v=aFUpa0OwlyU
I guess that cop will be known for “DUDE” to the rest of his life!
If that was my son this Office would be sued. If he makes his way out of this jam he got himself in. No one will ever going to repect him as an Office or anything. Beat up on kids because you think you can get away with it is bull. I’m glad you got caught. “Good ridins to bad rubbish.”
this is classic… any skateboarder will tell you this happens all the time
The sad thing is, this happens every day. But it’s only in the 1% of situations where there happens to be a running camera that we hear about it. This guy and those like him, though a minority, ruin it for all cops and prevent the good ones from getting the respect they deserve. Contrary to what this jackass says, respect has to be earned.
Wake up people. The rule is “No skate boarding”. The first thing you’d do if the kid was grinding off of your car bumper or the fence outside of your house or business is call a cop, who you’d want to kick the kids ass before he fell, got hurt, and his family sued you for not making your property safe to fall off of after the kid trashed it. Nobody wants to suffer a consequence. Hopefully this kids parents are going to ask him why he got on national tv by breaking a city law and forcing a cop , overly aggressive or not, to talk to him in the first place. You are the same people who get pissed about a speeding ticket, but want the speeder who wrecks your car to go to jail.
“You go around doing this stuff, and somebody’s gonna kill you.” That is clearly out of line, bordering on a criminal threat. The rest of it is typical cop BS. “I’m not your father!” What a classic cop — his own father probably beat him so now he has to abuse kids in his job. I say throw him in central booking, see how he likes it.
One there is no editing what so ever in this clip for the first poster. Two, the kid was beyond nervous so his use of dude was just a nervous reaction, kids are kids and he was not resisting as this story states. I’m tired of newspapers always trying to make a cop look like he had some reason to act like the complete power stricken monster that he did on that day. He should be fired for this. He assulted a 14 year old boy just standing there doing nothing. Last time I check cops took courses on how to deal with stressful situations, this defiantly not being a stressful situation, I would hate to see how he reacts in a real stressful situation such as a fight or hostage situation, shoot first think later is my guess. Get this crook of a cop out of the force.
Oh, and Mr. Wake up, you must be a cop eh. Nice try. No defense can justify this unfit for duty cops actions.
Re: Wake Up, so you are defending what that over aggressive cop, who assaulted a fourteen year old. Your drastic oversimplification comparing this to getting a speeding ticket exemplifies your idiocy. Do cops writing speeding tickets yell and scream like drill sergeants? Do they put people in headlocks? Do they condone child abuse? No, of course not. This officer should be terminated, if this is how he deals with a 14 year old kid with a little bit of attitude, what will we do when faced with a situation of actual importance?
Not only is skateboarding here to stay but it is an activity that can keep kids occupied and away from drugs and other more malicious activities. Sure it is illegal in some spots. Cops can be cool about explaining and enforcing the law (like community servants) or thay can be creeps about it. Police are here to “protect and to serve” not to hassle and be-little. After parents, and tecahers law enforcement officers are on the front line about helping kids take the right path in life. Sure you can keep can kids from taking out their teenage aggresion on a skateboard, maybe they will take it out on a meth pipe instead. Cops have a tough job for sure but that guy was way outta line
i think everyone is pretty on point with the exception of “Wake up” and “James Perry”. Good job people.
I can’t believe some people are defending this cop. Wake Up, if you were speeding and called the officer “Dude”, you’re telling me you’d be ok with him ripping you out of your car and throwing you to the ground? To understand how out of line this guy was just watch the TV show Cops. Officers are constantly being berated by people but continue to address them as “sir” and “ma’am” while talking in a controlled manner. That’s how you act professional. Just being a cop means you’re going to be dealing with disrespectful people all day long. You have to control yourself and apply the law. You can’t legally assault someone for calling you names, even if you’re a cop. Of course, cops can basically do whatever they want, as this video shows, but that doesn’t make it legal or right.
Editing? this is one shot. Also, notice how you cant hear the kid but you can hear the cop. That first of all is uncalled for, I am a skateboarder and have encountered many cops like this one. The minute they realize this is a kid they can push around, they take everything too seriously and yell and scream about their job. It is sad they can’t do this to real criminals and not kids just trying to have fun, even though it is unconventional.
oh and how many 14 year olds do you know routinely calling men and women sir and ma’am? I am a 19 year old full-time college student and I call everyone dude. How often do you call someone sir or ma’am? Open your eyes people, treat those the way you would like to be treated.
John Miller:
Thank you for saving me the time to respond to James Miller. I think that any rational person can recognize that being pro-law enforcement doesn’t equal [edit].
Officers like Rivieri reduces the likelihood of garnering public support for law enforcement. Moreover, supporting officers like Rivieri has the effect of hindering the rapport building process between law enforment and the public they serve… since it places the blame for the lack of professionalism of bad cops on the public and ignores the fact that police are just people, and as such are subject to human frailties, such as anger, and have no place in law enforcement.
Amazing how many people support this BIGGEST LOOSER Candidate Cop.
First, what do you prefer have these kids skateboard or go to a corner and do drugs.
The kid did not saying anything beside “I did not hear you” “Dude” “Man”.
Rivieri asks a question and when the kid tries to answer he tells him to shut up and stop yapping.
He is the one who did not stop yelling the whole time.
How come when you watch the show COPS, all the cops behave in a professional manner.
Check the end of the tape when Rivieri asks the kid if it was being taped and “Better not show up….”.
I am amazed that he was suspended with pay. Why don’t we Just Send Him to the BAHAMAS for a week while waiting for the investigation.
Check Baltimore Police website. They only have a commendation feed back if you want to thank the good deeds of an officer.
Nowhere there is a link to a complaint area.
dude needs to be fired. how come any time this happens just like the go skateboarding day incident the cop always gets suspension with pay? what is that about. plus it didnt look or sound like the kids were being out of line or anything. they’re 14, you dont just freak out on a little kid for skateboarding and calling you dude. especially since dude is one of those words you cant help but say when you skateboard
For starters these kids are only 14. I’m 47 but can remember so many places I skateboarded where eventually we were told to leave. But that’s not the point of my posting. If the cop had an IQ higher than the kids he might have taken control of the situation in a manner that would have actually gained some respect and cooperation. Unfortunately another example of a jerk in uniform. A fat one besides. Next some “dude” will be arresting me for farting in church!
Let me tell you something, morons, i am a cop and let me be the first to tell you [edit] that it’s easy to sit there and quarterback and talk [edit] like you know something, but why not try to do a cops job and put up with the [edit] we do. Not everyone responds well to “Good day gentleman, we have recieved some complaints about property damage as a result of your skateboarding. Could you please take it else where? Thank you and have a nice day!” You people just sit back and think cops are supposed to bend over backwards and just take it from the turds in the world. GROW UP AND GET A CLUE!
They seemed to both play apart of problem. The boy should have listened, did the “yes sir, no sir” thing and let the officer go on his way. But he did provoke the Officer to enter into an altercation. On the other hand, I do agree the Officer did cross the line by continually degrading the kid. He is not the the kids parent, it’s not his place to try to impress upon him values. Certainly throwing him around and into a headlock would be understood if he was being threated, again he crossed the line.
Some whith thier head on straight should file assault charges against ANGRY man and then fire him before he costs the city millions for doing something far more foolish
This officer is a nut job. Fire him. There are plenty of sane folks in Baltimore who need a job.
I’m 32 years old and I still skate 2-3 times a week. Growing up in a midwest town near a midwest city, I was subject to HUNDREDS of confrontations not unlike this one. I’ve never personally had an officer lay a hand on me, but I know people who have, AND I’ve seen it happen. This is not an isolated incident.
The root of the problem is that skateboarding bans and ordinances exist. While I understand that the reason these laws exist is that skateboarders damage ‘property’, I have two issues:
1. Sometimes, admittedly, skateboarders DO damage property that is intended to beautify an area like a park or city square. I understand people’s frustration with this and sympathize with their plight - however; many times skateboarders aren’t hurting anything at all. Damage to ‘property’ occurs when the trucks of the board are ‘grinded’ on the edge of something, and defacement of property can occur from the placement of wax on the edge of a bench to facilitate the grinding. This is probably why skateboarding isn’t allowed in Inner Harbor, but I’ve never been there, so I don’t know for sure. There’s no damage that can be inflicted on concrete from simply riding your skateboard on it, and yet no one differentiates between just riding and actually grinding.
2. BMX bikes are often the culprits of ‘property’ damage, emulating skateboard tricks by grinding their pegs on benches, ledges and handrails the way skaters do, yet rarely do you see cyclists being banned altogether from city streets. In fact, motorists are encouraged to ’share the road’ with cyclists. Skateboards are more often than not banned from sidewalks, streets, parking lots, and anywhere within city limits. Why? While some will deny this altogether, I KNOW that the main reason is the people in charge come from a time period (about 15-20 years ago) when skateboarders were considered ‘outcasts’ and ‘undesirables’. Some of you know what I’m talking about. So instead of trying to regulate the kind of skateboarding that results in property damage, they want to take the quick way out and just outlaw it altogether. Now:
Police officers are left enforcing these poorly written ordinances which are often unrealistic and practically unenforcible.
Many of these overzealous police officers have control issues, and fail to discriminate between these minor violations like skateboarding, and other serious offenses. They enforce skateboarding laws as they would enforce laws that prevent motorcycles from driving on the sidewalks. They also often forget that the violators they are dealing with are teenagers who have very little life experience, and don’t have very good people skills yet. Plus, many times officers approach these situations with a lack of self control to begin with. No matter how many kids you have kicked out of where ever, you can’t show up and start yelling at them. What kind of response do you expect to get? I can’t count how many times that happened to me, and many times just for skating in an EMPTY PARKING LOT. I know it may seem ridiculous, but it happened - 0ver and over again. 9 times out of 10, these situations can be avoided by the acting officer’s initial behavior. He/She doesn’t have to be placating to the skaters, but simply show them the respect that you want to be given. Realize that they aren’t trying to hurt anyone or anything, they’re just having fun and being young. If you give the kids your respect, I guarantee that 99% of the time they’ll respect you back. I’ve certainly experienced this kind of situation as well as the bad ones. In retrospect, Fat Sal has no place behind a badge, or at least on any sort of beat. He will no doubt end up shooting someone or getting shot himself. Fat Sal needs a desk job, and nothing more ever again. If you can’t keep yourself from beating up on 14 year olds, then there’s seriously something wrong.
I think all you people are young adults or bad parents. There is nothing wrong with what this cop did and I commend him!!! You are all only looking at the surface. The sign says no skateboarding, the kid is consistenly disrespectful to an authority figure throughout the video, he isnt scared. If he were scared he would have straightened up like he should have. Obviously his mother NEEDS to put her foot in his rear a little more. This is the typical “kid” that is killing our society. These kids dont respect their parents, the police or themselves. They are all disrespectful and need to be straightened out. Why is our crime rate among teens so high??? Because of these disrespectful teens who decide to do what they want, when they want. You people really do need to get a clue about life. I think this officer should be awarded a medal for trying to do what society has been asking “parents” to do for the past 15 years!!! This mother should be ashamed of her sons actions. She would have sued the business if her son would have broke his ankle while skateboarding in a CLEARLY POSTED no skate boarding zone!!! What is this country coming to???
@an actual cop
I truly hope you are not a real police officer. If you were, then you need to be put in the same category as this guy, an {edited} with a badge. And you are exactly the type of person that will cause the next embarrassment to all of the other upstanding police officers out there.
What this cop did was wrong. If it was done by the property owner against the kids, he would have been arrested. There is no grey area here.
Police officers have a tough job. On that we all agree. But by accepting the job, they have taken a sacred trust to stand against exactly the behavior this cop showed. Serve and Protect.
@Stephanie
Really? You _have_ to be trolling. Or married to this guy.
Were the kids wrong? Sure. (They are kids, almost guaranteed to be wrong at every moment).
But that cop was out of line form the moment he rolled up.Who peed in his coffee? Had he taken a different approach, he could have garnered obedience, or even grudging respect. But he was completely out of control, a laughing stock. These were kids skateboarding. How is he going to handle a domestic dispute, or a truly abusive citizen? Shoot them?
Geez.
The kid is a spoiled brat who thinks the laws don’t apply to him. He deserved to be “scared straight”. If this were a minority kid riding a dirtbike down Pratt Street, everyone would say he had it coming. Why should white kids get all the breaks?
as if kids these days think that “dude”i s somebody that works at a ranch, and at first the kid says “YEAH” in an irritated voice and the cop says he’ll spend time in juvenile hall, c’mon, hes rediculous, and by the way i think it has nothing to do with being caucasion race is irrelevant thats rediculous
Just a quick thought about being ’scared’, as Stephanie and Alissa put it;
Should we really be ’scared’ of police officers? What kind of relationship between citizens and police will that foster? And should intimidation be an acceptable tool for creating order? And let’s not EVER let violent acts by police against non-violent citizens EVER become acceptable. This kid, even if he did have an attitude problem, posed absolutely NO physical threat to ‘Ol Tacklin’ Sal, who must outweigh him by at least 150 lbs.
The ends DO NOT always justify the means. Think before you act.
Point of fact:
Average prison sentence for assault = 37.7 months
Average “grounding” for kids mouthing off = 2 weeks.
people should not be suprised by this, i am more suprised when i meet a cop who doesn’t act like this.
This man should not be allowed to carry a weapon.
That cop was seriously overreacting anybody else with a heart and common sense would ask them to leave and then maybe a small threat =o. LOL and i also wanna know what happened to the camera man ^_^
I skate and i can tell you this officer was not justified in his actions. just because we ride a piece of wood down the street we are targeted as malicious and disruptive. sure there are a few skaters out there that act stupid, but who doesn’t. also you can’t use the minority to define the whole. sorry for getting off subject, the plain and simple fact is this kid was just trying to have some fun on a sunny afternoon and ended up getting assaulted by someone who is meant to protect. I don’t hate cops, just the ones like this.
oh and rob, i live in edmond, oklahoma, i know what your talking about.
I am 51 years old. If this officer did this to my child for skateboarding, we would have a real problem.
That clip was one of the most unbelievable things I have ever witnessed in my whole life. I skateboard as well and have actually had to deal with many oficers who are a lot like that guy. They can’t stand someone who is smaller and weaker than them actually standing up to them. Don’t get me wrong I have also dealt with a lot of officers who ar eextremely cordial and polite and let me tell you, I usally respect them much more than the “military style” cops. It is really too bad and sad that kids actually doing athletic activities outside are scrutinzed when they could be doing alot worse stuff like drugs and alcohol. Why do we keep banning things like skateboarding while it is in almost every aspect of popular culture like the X-games and Mountain Dew commercials? We are telling these kids how cool and fun something is and then going and making it an illegal activity. it just doesn’t make sense.
For anyone who believes this cop did the “right” thing…
Why should our children respect people who are
no better than criminals themselves… wife-beaters if you will?
We need to start hiring INTELLIGENT PEOPLE to protect our streets. Our cities give GUNS to people who have the same amount of education as the guy who puts oil in your car.
We need SMART cops–
–People that know how to deal with people. If this Cop had just said, “Hey man, theres a sign right over there. It says don’t skateboard!”, and then written him a ticket and been done with it, nothing would have happened!!!
That’s so EASY!
But no… Mr. “I never made the football team in high school” Rivieri felt it was his duty to lecture a kid who doesn’t give a damn what he’s saying anyway.
Let me break it down.
Police are NOT smart people. They are the same people that made sub-standard grades in high school, didn’t get into a college, and on their list of potential careers which included, “Janitor, McDonald’s drive-thru attendant, security guard, and cop”, they chose cop because then they knew they MIGHT get respected at some point in their miserable lives.
Guess what.
I respect smart people. People who DESERVE to be in control.
This cop wasn’t lecturing becase he felt like he may actually be making a difference in this kids life, he did it to establish dominance over a 14 year old.
Guess who else does things like that?
14 year olds.
The problem with police is that they seem to believe that they should automatically get respect… Let me ask (if I dare)
Why????
Why should I respect a bumbling moron with no people skills, who lacks the intelligence to properly asses the situation????
I’m 46 and I don’t see myself ever respecting someone dumber than me. A badge and a brain are not the same thing.
Wow, he was suspended with pay. What a punishment or were you scared that he would attack you if he received leave without pay. Or maybe you just didn’t care, I mean it wasn’t the police departments kid!
that “dude” shouldn’t be suspended..he shouldn’t get his badge back. our tax dollars are his salary and to be a public official he shouldn’t be treating the youth with that much disrespect. He stated he isn’t the boy’s father..so he shouldn’t be raising his voice like he is scoulding him (which by the way is the boys father’s job). I’m sure the boy doesn’t speak to his teachers like that because they don’t scream in his face and over react. That’s what happens when you give someone a gun..they act tough.
Whoever the anonymous person is below me that posted a comment is retarded. Who cares if there might have been something else that happened to this cop during the day that made him act like this, it’s no excuse for what he did to that kid. His actions were totally uncalled for, the kid was very quiet and polite towards the cop EVEN after the cop manhandled him and threw him to the ground. This cop needs to be fired for the embarrassment of the “department” he works for, and needs to consult an anger-management counselor before he kills somebody next time. It makes me sick and want to give this cop what he deserves whenever i watch this video, it’s sickening
Don’t see any editing here. The cop here is just a real knob.
I really don’t know why kids or anyone else doesn’t respect him. Especially since he’s tubby, wears those cool shorts, neon shirt, and super sweet golf cart.
Lastly, that cop is going to get himself killed talking to people like that. He should be more careful.
KC
ps, I love his line, “A dude is somebody who works on a ranch!” LOL! Pure comedy!
Okay first of all… why does he get all worked up when he gets called dude? I mean… that guy’s really gotta take a chill pill… I hate cops and this really made me mad… HELL YEA he went outta line!
DUDE!
This is horrible children are beautiful creatures and should never be yelled at or hurt in any way he should be allowed to skate wherever he wants and get what ever he wants its sad to know this sort of thing is still happening
I taught middle and high school in some seriously out of control schools for several years and I took a hundred times worse abuse than this cop. He was waaaaaay out of line. If he thinks the kids did something illegal he could’ve checked their ID’s and issued summonses. Instead, he’s forcing himself to get angry.
Yelling “you disrespected me, this badge, and my department, so your parents didn’t put their foot in your but enough” is no good. He’s threatening them, and that’s child abuse.
I feel that I speak with some authority, being that I’ve been kicked, punched, stabbed, slashed, spat on, hit with a baseball bat, hit over the head with a bottle, and even set on fire by students. There were times when I had to use force on a violent kid, but you won’t see me bullying kids the way this cop does in the video.
The kid was wrong! He either was not taught to respect others especially those in authority or he has rebelled against it. The cop was wrong also, he escalated the problem by losing his cool. I have 2 teen and that type of disrespect is difficult to respond to correctly.
I’m 17 and would know better now not to talk to that guy, I would have just listened. I’m more of a person who likes to talk things out rather than fight. But man oh man, if I saw that cop touch my brother who is 14 I would yell at him like there was no tomorrow. I’m not sure how people like this are hired to protect us, it’s humiliating knowing that people like this are supposedly hired to protect us. I’m a Black belt in martial arts and know for a fact that people like this are not intelligent enough to have a job like this, protecting people is for calm, intelligent humans, unlike this so called COP. And just cause the kid starts talking and calls him Dude doesn’t mean hes a bad kid, hes just a teen. And I think its wrong that they ban skateboarders in so many places. DUDE, THIS DUDE IS TOTALLY UN-RADICAL!