Cops Arrest Priest For Filming Them

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CBS News/AP

A Roman Catholic priest who monitors law enforcement treatment of minorities with a video camera released footage that appears to contradict the police account of his own arrest.

A police report says the Rev. James Manship was confronted and arrested Feb. 19 because he was holding an "unknown shiny silver object" and struggled with an officer who was trying to take it from him. But a 15-second video released this week by Manship's attorneys shows East Haven police Officer David Cari asking Manship, "Is there a reason you have a camera on me?"

"I'm taking a video of what's going on here," Manship replies.

"Well, I'll tell you what, what I'm going to do with that camera," Cari says as he approaches the priest. The tape then goes blank.

The arrest has reignited the debate about racial profiling and ethnic discrimination in East Haven, a working-class community of about 28,000 that borders New Haven. The shooting death of an unarmed black man by an East Haven officer in 1997 sparked harsh criticism by minority groups that has lingered. Manship and his parishioners say officers have been unfairly targeting Hispanics in recent months.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/13/national/main4865072.shtml?tag=topHome;topStories

[midnight]

1. How does one find justice in a system where there is constant

contradiction in the police verstion of what is going on?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. and further, how does one evaluate historical

police versions in light of this reality?

[ejpoeta]

3. i thought that a person on a public street could be video taped? last time i knew

there was no expectation of privacy on a public street or sidewalk or anywhere. that's why there are cameras at every intersection. I don't believe the police are excluded from that, are they?? They should be more able to be videoed because they are public servants and a tape can help them or hurt them depending on how they treat people. I am glad to see that the priest is trying to protect minorities from bad treatment from the cops. and he should have every right to do it too.

[dcindian]

4. It is time for a merit pay system for cops.

The justice system is truly broken and there are just so many bad cops that merit pay is the only way to assure that citizens get the best out of our justice system.

[Uben]

5. Nah, these are rogue cops

When you have video proof like that, you put these cops in prison for the rest of their lives. No exceptions! They were entrusted to enforce the law and they decided to make the law. They must be taught a lesson. I come from a long line of law enforcement. Local patrolmen, state troopers and federal deputy marshals. Rogue cops make honest cops look bad and should be dealt with extremely harsh. Their lives in prison would not be worth much, but they knew that when they decided to cheat. Time to pay the piper!

[droidamus2]

7. Agree sort of

I agree that when caught these guys should be punished. Where I somewhat disagree is that even if I were to accept the 'rogue' cop idea if the good cops don't keep these guys in line then they are part of the problem too. I think in many police departments there is a sort of look the other way attitude until one of these guys gets caught and then they fall back on the 'he is only one guy/rogue' idea. I find it hard to believe that his fellow officers don't know what kind of cop he is.

[stlsaxman]

8. yet these "rogues" maybe get a public reprimand at best or a month unpaid leave at worst.

that's what i call "extremely harsh" :eyes:

[JTFrog]

10. Life in prison? No exceptions?

In what fantasy world does that happen?

:eyes:

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Delusional !

What really happens, and you know it, video or no, is that the rest of the cops make a protective circle around the abusive officer. You know as well as the rest of us that such cops NEVER go to jail for long, if at all. They usually get a reprimand or time off with pay.
Most cops are like this guy. The rest are like you, pretending 'rouge cops' get harsh punishment. So some do bad things, the rest just bear false witness to support them.

[MadHound]

16. Rogue cops, sure sure

Sorry, could have bought that twenty-thirty years ago. But it seems as though the behavior of these "rogue cops" has been mainstreamed throughout the profession, and what was once considered "rogue" is now becoming the norm.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Then you of course know that your post is delusional.

Your 'rogue cops' are routinely protected by they fellow 'non-rogue cops'. Legal actions against police officers are extremely rare and almost never occur as a result of actions such as the OP's incident.

[tanngrisnir3]

25. No, there's nothing involved here that involved prison, let alone for life

WTF are you babbling about?

Maximum discipline in a case like this would be termination, if that.

[bvar22]

28. The Rumsfeld Defense: Just a few bad apples !

Put Lyndsie England in jail....
Torture Problem solved!

I would like to see FEDERAL legislation specifically protecting the RIGHT of Private Citizens to video police, and specifying harsh penalties for ANYONE intefering with a citizen performing this duty.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. If you didn't read the whole article,

this event happened February 19, but read to the bottom to see what's happened since:


Chacon, a 36-year-old immigrant from Ecuador who moved to the U.S. 15 years ago and a parishioner of Manship's church, said she had called the priest to her store that day because the two officers were confiscating license plates displayed on the store's wall, saying they were illegal. She and her husband, Rodrigo Matute, were given a $372 ticket.

She said the seizure and ticket were part of a pattern of racial profiling against Hispanics by town police over the past eight months. "I don't know why it happened," Chacon said of the priest's arrest and the seizure of the license plates. "We work very hard and ... everything we do is legal."

<snip>

Last weekend, anti-immigrant fliers apparently printed by a white supremacy group were left in front of Chacon's store, she said. And on Monday, someone broke the window of her home's basement door, she said. "I'm very scared," Chacon said.

[fasttense]

9. Rush, Sean, Hannity, Beck, O'Reilly are you guys at it again?

"Anti-immigrant fliers apparently printed by a white supremacy group were left in front of Chacon's store, she said. And on Monday, someone broke the window of her home's basement door."

Sounds like cowardly acts of intimidation that Oxycotin Rush and the rest of the hate radio/TV crowd would just love.

[backscatter712]

22. I'll bet you some of those cops are part of the Klan.

There's a history of Klansmen cops in this country. Some white-sheeted thugs burn a cross on your lawn, then when you call the cops, the first-responders are the exact same assholes...

[B Whale]

11. It is now illegal to take photographs of police under anti-terror laws in

Britain. Full stop.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/uk-terror-law-to-make-photographing-police-illegal.html

Aah Western democracy

[DailyGrind51]

13. What were they afraid of? Whom were they beating at the time?

[Tesha]

14. You *KNOW* how this will play out.

In about six months, the police will quietly drop the
charges and hope that the priest doesn't sue for
false arrest. But in the meantime, the police will
have achieved their goal of intimidating a few more
people.

Tesha

[DailyGrind51]

15. The cops will find some kid who claims to have been sexually abused by that same priest,

but will drop any claims or charges, if the priest is quietly sent to some remote parish in Montana.

[Leftist Agitator]

18. Cue the apologists for these fucking pigs.

:mad:

Scumbag piece of shit motherfuckers.

[backscatter712]

19. self delete.

Not fucking worth it anymore.

Maybe there are some good cops, but you know that when you walk past a cop and hear Rush Limbaugh on their radio, that's not one of them.

Yeah. Double-standards in the force. They get civil-liberties, the rest of us don't.

[HelenWheels]

21. I used to like the police

until I got involved in peace protests. Some of the cops were the real deal and protected us but I would say the majority would harass us. One of them even said outright he would not give us protection. We went to the Chief of Police, who at that time was a good guy, and he told the entire force they WOULD give us protection. Things got better after that. Then he retired and a hard ass took the Chief's job. I was pretty worried but when we went to him with a complaint he listened and did back me up. This all took place over a five year span.

[havocmom]

23. "the whole world is watching" Now we have the technology to make sure!

Everyone, I mean EVERYONE at any protest or rally needs to be packing camera! They can't possibly get them all; we outnumber them.

Like you, I have been in places where some cops really did protect and serve when there was a march. Grew up watching horses, dogs, fire hoses and ax handles on TV, so I knew early that all cops weren't good cops.

[panzerfaust]

20. "if you are doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear"

Is what cops say when filming people at demonstrations - or simply entering and leaving some establishments (such as a peace-party office).

Why then, does not the same apply to them?

Oh. Right. Most cops are conservatives, and thus believe in one law for themselves, and another for the rest of us.

[ShortnFiery]

24. I despise the Catholic hierarchal organization, but the Priests & Nuns who "walk the walk" of Jesus

to commit themselves for the benefit of the poor and disenfranchised are "living in Christ" and truly awesome. :loveya: :-)

[conscious evolution]

26. Same here

I have a friend who is one of the nuns who is always going to prison for crossing the line at the SOA protests.
She walks the walk.For that she is the only nun I have ever met that I have respect for.

[unapatriciated]

27. here is the video from Manship's camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySYxlp9fa_k