Last month I blogged about a police officer who had been charged with assault after using pepper spray to "induce compliance" in a party-goer who talked back. He's just been convicted of assault and fined. It seems the law applies to the police after all. And hopefully, the rest of them will get the message and be more cautious about their use of pepper spray in the future.
Giving the cop the benefit of the doubt for a moment (for arguments sake), the shame of the whole thing seems to me that a man could be allowed to get his badge without being told just how limited his use of the polices toys are by law.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure he was told repeatedly. Cops are meant to learn about the law.
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether a fine makes his dismissal mandatory.
I'm not one to clog the jails, but given his position of responsibility (akin to a bank clerk raiding the till) I'd say there were enough aggravating circumstances to justify a lot of community service/home detention.
What would a civilian get who pepper sprayed a copper?