Police Explain St. Patrick's Day Arrest

Recently, Police officers in Savannah, Georgia made a controversial arrest on St. Patrick's day. The video recorded by a civilian witness seems to show the police officers using unnecessary force against the criminals they arrested for being intoxicated in public, dancing in the street, and vandalizing a parked SUV. Cpl. Mckie tried to make the arrest without using force, but the man, whose name is Benjamin Mahaffey, wouldn't cooperate, causing Mckie to resort to using pepper spray against him. When Mahaffey still wouldn't listen to the officer telling him to get down with his hands behind his back, Mckie had to take out his baton and injured Mahaffey when he striked his body with it, making it easy to force the him down so that he was able to make the arrest. Keep in mind that the police officers used legal blows with the baton, and tried to make the arrest without any violence at first.

The man's girlfriend became enraged at Mckie after the necessary attack on her boyfriend, and showed signs of getting aggressive while also shouting and cursing at him. Mckie says he was forced to hit the woman, Patricia Shields, with the baton for his safety. When she got back up, Mckie was forced to pepper spray her. After she was subdued, he made an attempt to handcuff and arrest her. He was able to get her on the ground by using his strength to throw her down, but she also smacked her face on the pavement. This is another controversial point in the video.

While the video may seem like it shows Mckie using unnecessary force, you have to remember that she showed intent to harm the officer, and you never know if someone has a weapon on them. Many people who just saw the video really were bothered by what they saw. Its hard to tell what is being said and what is really going on. After Cpl. Mckie explains his side, I feel like I am completely on his side. Officer safety is one of the most important objectives, and in my opinion its better to injure a criminal to save my own life. When you watch the part of the video where Mckie throws Shields to the ground, it does look like hes trying to injure her.

When I think about this, however, it seems very unlikely that the officer wanted to harm either Mahaffey or Shields. The officer didn't have any kind of personal issue with either person, and nothing too extreme happened that would make the officer want to harm either one of them. I think he just wanted to get her on the ground so he could be sure he was safe, and just wanted to do it as quick as possible. her smacking her head on the pavement was just a bad coincidence. I don't believe she deserved this for only defending her boyfriend, but you have to realize that if you are a threat to an officer who is armed, don't expect him to not use the tools he has to end what your doing. Police officers care very much about their own safety, and the safety of fellow officers, and will not and should not have to hesitate to use their pepper spray, baton, handcuffs, or anything else to ensure the safety of everyone.


What are your opinions on this? Do you think it was possible for the officer to use less force and still achieve the two arrests without being injured? Do you think that viewers would feel differently if it was a man that Cpl. Mckie had slammed into the ground?


You can read the article and see the controversial video here: http://www2.wsav.com/news/2011/mar/24/7/police-explain-controversial-st-pats-arrest-ar-1618800/

Bronx Officers Busted For Taking Bribes

Sources say that 24 police officers in the Bronx made tickets vanish in exchange for gifts. They were caught when they were investigating a union delegate suspected of working with a drug dealer. That's when they heard a cop ask the delegate to fix a ticket for him.

There are also 10 other officers who are suspected of lesser offenses, including obstructing governmental administration. The department installed a system allowing each summons to be tracked electronically back in 2009. Since then, it's next to impossible to make a ticket vanish.