Oakland to pay $175,000 to manhandled TV cameraman

[Liberal_in_LA]

Oakland to pay $175,000 to manhandled TV cameraman

The city of Oakland agreed Tuesday to pay $175,000 to a former KGO-TV cameraman who filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing several police officers of attacking him and breaking his camera as he tried to film outside a hospital on the day four officers were killed in 2009.

Douglas Laughlin said several officers accosted him March 21, 2009, outside Highland Hospital in Oakland as he tried to film the arrival of an ambulance carrying one of the mortally wounded officers.

The video shows off-duty Officer Fred Shavies running toward Laughlin and yelling, "Hey! Get the f- out of here!" Shavies then knocked Laughlin against a parked car, breaking the camera's viewfinder, according to Laughlin's suit.

A group of officers then forced Laughlin away from the hospital and onto East 31st Street. Police proceeded to rope off a section of the street and declare the hospital's emergency-room area a crime scene, which Laughlin's suit said was "manufactured to rationalize" the officers' actions.

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Police officials have said the incident should be viewed in the context of what happened on what was the department's single deadliest day.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/07/BA5J1JR2SU.DTL#ixzz1Ohnxubir

[rfranklin]

1. Yes, they failed to act in a professional manner...

It's at stressful moments that we need LEOs to respond in a better fashion than civilians.

[MrModerate]

4. It's all fine and well to point out that cops are human, too . . .

But since we give them guns and the right to shoot civilians dead if in their judgment it's necessary, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to behave a bit better than your crazy neighbor down the street.

[MrScorpio]

2. You would think that the cops would use the media to advocate sympathy on a day like that

But instead of being open, they closed ranks. Very dysfunctional indeed

[ret5hd]

3. ...in context of what happened...

are they willing to give that same grace to us peasants when something bad happens to us?

i refer to an earlier story of cops arresting a man for speeding...on his way to the emergency room with his wife in the seat delivering a child

i refer to an earlier story of a cop arresting an ambulance driver with a patient in the back...because the driver didn't pull over fast enough for the cop.

etc etc etc

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. good examples n/t