Reply #25: Here's the full story

[Apollo11]

It fills me with hope to see these cases where a cameraphone and YouTube are used to bring situations to light that in the past would have been hushed up, because everyone would have believed the cop's version of events.

From ABC2News.com - February 13th

YouTube Video Gets Baltimore Cop Suspended

City officials are speaking out about a controversial YouTube video that shows a Baltimore Police Officer manhandling a teen. That officer has been suspended pending an internal investigation.

The confrontation at the Inner Harbor was caught on tape last summer. Officer Salvatore Rivieri, a 17 year veteran with the Baltimore Police Department, is shown yelling at a teenage skateboarder. On the video he says to the teen, "You hear me, I'm not your father. You give that attitude to your father. You give it to me, I'll smack you upside your head... Shut your mouth I'm talking."

The video then shows the officer approaching the teen, putting him in a headlock, and pushing him to the ground. The officer walks away with the teen's skateboard, but comes back accusing the teen of disrespecting him for calling him dude. "First of all you disrespected me, this badge, and my department. You understand, when I'm talking to you, you shut your mouth."

Officer Rivieri has been suspended with pay while police conduct an internal investigation. Both the police commissioner and Mayor have watched the video. Mayor Dixon says, "I’m really disturbed about the police officer's action and I think it could've been handled differently." Sterling Clifford, spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department says, "Obviously it raises red flags for us. There's a level of courtesy for us that we hope all officers will use that wasn't there."

Signs are posted around the Inner Harbor stating skateboarding is not allowed. But not everyone knows about the rule. We found some kids skateboarding at the pavilion.

www.abc2news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=66fc0900-6624-4ac2-8c1b-792b0472b952