As a police officer you are responsible for the care of your prisoner. If the health of your prisoner is at risk you are responsible. There would be variables to consider, location, manpower, size but in short you have to take all reasonable actions to keep everyone safe, including your prisoner.
As a police officer you are responsible for the care of your prisoner. If the health of your prisoner is at risk you are responsible. There would be variables to consider, location, manpower, size but in short you have to take all reasonable actions to keep everyone safe, including your prisoner.
George Floyd had complained about being”unable to breathe” even before he was taken out of the police car. It’s reasonable to conclude that Officer Chauvin expected further complaints about being “unable to breathe” regardless of how Floyd was positioned and assumed they could be related to his intoxication.
This may be negligent and incompetent, but I don’t think he was deliberately or maliciously reckless. I think he was so focused on the overdose and other issues going on (he had good reason to be worried that Floyd would become violent if put back in the police car and that he could become violent or a danger to himself if not subdued) that he didn’t catch on to the fact that Floyd’s breathing could be impaired by his position.
I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge that sadistic policemen can be cruel, but none of them would do so in front of cell phone cameras. It makes no sense.
100%, however, if the perp complies and does the right thing, this all gets avoided! It's not like George Floyd was with Wally Cleaver on a lunch break from work, minding his own business, and when the officers approached him, he said gee golly wiz officer, you guys are swell! No, we, the people, didn't get to see all the video footage of what happened. Still, I can tell what I did see in the Summer of 2020: an actual insurrection with buildings being burnt down and innocent people getting murdered in the name of a phony social justice excuse.
As a police officer you are responsible for the care of your prisoner. If the health of your prisoner is at risk you are responsible. There would be variables to consider, location, manpower, size but in short you have to take all reasonable actions to keep everyone safe, including your prisoner.
George Floyd had complained about being”unable to breathe” even before he was taken out of the police car. It’s reasonable to conclude that Officer Chauvin expected further complaints about being “unable to breathe” regardless of how Floyd was positioned and assumed they could be related to his intoxication.
This may be negligent and incompetent, but I don’t think he was deliberately or maliciously reckless. I think he was so focused on the overdose and other issues going on (he had good reason to be worried that Floyd would become violent if put back in the police car and that he could become violent or a danger to himself if not subdued) that he didn’t catch on to the fact that Floyd’s breathing could be impaired by his position.
I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge that sadistic policemen can be cruel, but none of them would do so in front of cell phone cameras. It makes no sense.
100%, however, if the perp complies and does the right thing, this all gets avoided! It's not like George Floyd was with Wally Cleaver on a lunch break from work, minding his own business, and when the officers approached him, he said gee golly wiz officer, you guys are swell! No, we, the people, didn't get to see all the video footage of what happened. Still, I can tell what I did see in the Summer of 2020: an actual insurrection with buildings being burnt down and innocent people getting murdered in the name of a phony social justice excuse.
A lot of police bodycam video is available, e.g. this half-hour chunk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkEGGLu_fNU