Last May, the MBTA released a video showing a Transit Police detective rescuing a man from jumping in front of a train at Park Street. WCVB reports the man now has a lawyer - who had to sue to get the complete video, which shows the two struggled on the platform and the detective punching the man to subdue him.
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Nice catch
By erik g
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 1:34pm
Disregarding the part where the officer punched him (maybe) to subdue him: that was one hell of a catch he made. Dude was 80% of the way onto the tracks, and in free fall, and the detective caught him and hauled him up by the arm.
no need to "disregard" the
By axyz
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 1:51pm
no need to "disregard" the police brutality part, BPD already did that when they released the shortened video. ACAB
Not BPD
By adamg
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 2:11pm
Transit Police. Different department, different chief, etc.
AC..
By axyz
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 2:16pm
AB..
Two Versions
By Hyde_Parker
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 4:50pm
The shortened version makes it look like the officer made a good catch, but the longer version make it look like the kid was jumping into the track bed to escape the officer.
Something's going on here, or otherwise the T wouldn't have released the edited version of the video.
I too
By Jess
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 9:34pm
Feel like something happened earlier between the two .... It seemed like the officer was reacting to something that had happened before.
"There's no question the
By Steeve
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 2:05pm
"There's no question the detective saved a life"
Is there no question? The original video made it seem like there was an imminent train barreling toward the kid. In the full video, no train shows up. Did it stop out of frame?
Granted, what the kid attempted to do was completely idiotic, but it seems like he was drunk and thought it would be a great idea to jump down onto the tracks. I've unfortunately seen that happen before, on more than a few occasions, by drunk morons who think it's a hilarious idea. Perhaps with a death wish, but certainly not attempting to commit suicide.
Though a great snag by the detective.
ZAP!
By BostonDog
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 3:33pm
I agree the kid didn't look like your normal jumper but if he was drunk it would only take a minor trip to land across the 3rd rail and he would have turned crispy real quick.
You also don't know if a train driver saw the kid from a distance and slowed and stopped outside the frame.
So I'd say the officer acted correctly if the kid was honestly struggling and trying to harm the cop or get back in the hole. You can't tell much from the video.
Maybe the guy should look at photos
By Sally
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 4:20pm
of the guy who had a face transplant after falling on the third rail after a drunken/high tumble off the platform. Maybe he'll feel a little more relief and less anger towards the cops.
Good
By PeyoteEatingWat...
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 2:15pm
Sounds like the detective saved the drunk idiot's life, Dirty Harry style. He should just say "You're welcome." to the drunk idiot and call it a day. What's the problem here?
He was resisting the officer
By anon
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 2:35pm
He was resisting the officer ...
well....
By johnmcboston
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 4:00pm
Yes, the perp does look like he is struggling with and trying to take a swing at the officer. Hard to tell, but it does look like a plain clothes officer - so the drunk may have not yet caught on this was a cop and not a mugging.
However, cops are trained, and he should know how to take control of a drunk subject without several blows to the face. He couldn't flip him over and pin his arms, or some other fancy police move?? Punching in the the face is just a cop in a bad mood.
And why wouldn't the officer....
By Michael Kerpan
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 4:03pm
... be in a (justifiable) really bad mood at this point.
Yes, but
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 4:24pm
I think the central question being asked here is whether punching people in the face is effective for professionally restraining them, or a potentially dangerous move regardless of officer mood.
A question of competence
By lbb
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 4:28pm
I don't think most police officers are ever really extensively trained in restraining someone without doing them an injury, and very few practice these techniques on an ongoing basis. Restraining someone without hurting them, if they're noncompliant and don't particularly care if they hurt you, is definitely an advanced skill. Whether police should have these skills is another question, but I think in practice, they don't.
Police don't restrain, they handcuff, and then transport.
By Pete Nice
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 6:24pm
And pain compliance techniques is actually part of the training to avoid serious injury.
The problem is...
By lbb
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 10:12pm
...pain compliance techniques don't work reliably.
But, again, most cops don't have the training and skills to know that.
Citation?
By Lmo
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 10:45pm
Citation?
Every cop has that training.
By Pete Nice
Fri, 03/20/2015 - 7:53am
It just sometimes very hard to do when someone is resisting or fighting you back.
And you know this how? When
By anon
Fri, 03/20/2015 - 9:23am
And you know this how? When did you go through the academy?
In the 1990s
By Pete Nice
Fri, 03/20/2015 - 10:32am
And I am required to attend inservice training on it every year over the past 25 years and take a test on it. I'm also certified to teach Defensive tactics, although I haven't in a while. And I know the standards of defensive tactics per guidelines of the MCJTC (Massacusetts criminal justice training counsel.)
Woops
By anon
Fri, 03/20/2015 - 11:51am
That was supposed to be a reply to the other guy, whose comment said:
ah no problem
By Pete Nice
Fri, 03/20/2015 - 1:57pm
saw it was anon right above my remark but didn't notice the indent which usually means the same reply thread..
Danger Will Robinson
By johnmcboston
Fri, 03/20/2015 - 7:36am
Well, let's back out a bit. The cop pulled him back form the platform. Why restrain him at all? After the pull back, why did he have the suspect on the ground? After pulling him back, was he a threat to himself, others or the officer? Or was the cop gung-ho on just going for the arrest rather than just pulling him back and calmly asking "WTF?"?
He was a threat to himself.
By Pete Nice
Fri, 03/20/2015 - 7:55am
By already showing that he wanted to jump in front of a train (or do another arrestable offense by jumping on the tracks). So the officer has a duty to cuff him at that point. If the officer does nothing and the guy runs and jumps again, the city would be liable for not protecting the man from hurting himself.
Makes the first comment on
By certaindamage
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 3:22pm
Makes the first comment on the original post all the more prescient: "There must be something we can blame this cop for?"
My impression was that drunk bro thinks it'd be cool to hop down on the tracks, has his mellow totally harshed by The Man, and in addition to resisting physically, possibly starts making verbal threats serious enough to cause the detective to fear for his own and/or others' safety. Detective's got no backup, maybe no radio to call for help, maybe no service weapon, and this guy who's already established himself as a failure at good decision-making and acting rationally, has just made himself a threat to everyone around him. The detective, who hasn't had a chance to do a pat-down (does he have a gun, a knife?), makes a split-second (and IMO, necessary) decision: now that drunk bro's own life is no longer in jeopardy, next order of business is to incapacitate him so that he can get him cuffed, so that he's no longer a danger to himself and other law-abiding passengers. Protecting, serving. Thank you, detective.
Detective is a Hero but !
By anon
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 4:08pm
I agree the detective is a hero but the MBTA recently fired two minority bus drivers for defending themselves. I believe all three had a right to defend themselves.
Minority?
By BostonDog
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 4:41pm
What does the race have to do with it?
If you are talking about the female driver who followed the guy off the bus and throw a wooden block at him after being spat on it hardly was self defense irrespective of her minority status. You can sympathize with someone but still find they acted the wrong way and for loosing their cool they justifiably lost their jobs.
We need the whole story
By Anon
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 6:53pm
A friend of mine is a BPD officer and recently saved the life of a woman attempting to jump off of a parking garage. She tried to bite him as he struggled to save her (though he did not respond by punching her). Knowing this makes me wonder what exactly transpired between the officer and the individual.
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