Published on Nov 5, 2016 by A.C.A.B police state crossing the line
http://acabpolicestate.weebly.com/
St. Paul police Friday released video showing a June 24 arrest in which a 53-year-old African-American man was bitten by a police dog and kicked by an officer.
The man, Frank Baker, spent two weeks in the hospital after suffering severe wounds to his legs and feet with the K-9 tearing “hunks of flesh” and biting “down to the bone,” said Baker’s attorney, Robert Bennett. “It’s certainly one of the most serious non-fatal attacks I’ve seen.”
The video, shot from a squad dashboard camera, shows police surrounding Baker as they responded to an emergency call about a fight in the area. Baker can be heard shouting in pain. The incident led St. Paul police chief Todd Axtell to apologize to Baker.
“I’m disappointed and upset by what the video shows,” Axtell told reporters Friday afternoon. “This simply isn’t the St. Paul way.”
He said he visited with Baker in the hospital and again on Friday. Asked why he apologized, Axtell said, “Because he’s a human being and I’m a human being … When we don’t get things right we have to own it, we have to be transparent and we have to apologize.” The officers at the center of the controversy, five-year veteran Brian Ficcadenti and three-year veteran Brett Palkowitsch, were not available to respond. Palkowitsch is on an unpaid leave that began Thursday and faces an investigation.
The department said that Ficcadenti on Thursday received a 30-day suspension. Axtell said the police civilian review board had recommended 10 days but he upped it to 30.
In a letter to Ficcadenti detailing his suspension, Axtell took the officer to task for his tactics, listed multiple violations of department policy and called the officer’s decisions and conclusions that night “troubling.”
Failure to control the K-9 led to “serious injury and permanent disfiguration of the citizen’s leg,” he added.
According to police reports, officers were called to the 1800 block of E. 7th Street shortly after 10 p.m. that night in June on a report of a fight, including people wielding bats, golf clubs and a gun.
Responding officers didn’t find a fight in progress, but did spot a man in an SUV nearby matching the description of the person with a gun — a black male with dreadlocks and wearing a white T-shirt. “I believed Baker to be the male the caller was referring to as the male with a gun in his hand,” Ficcadenti wrote in an arrest report. Ficcadenti got his K-9 partner, Falco, out of his car and ordered Baker to get out of the vehicle, which he did. But Ficcadenti reported Baker hesitated and wouldn’t raise his hands where the officer could tell if he was armed.
“It was my belief at that moment that Baker was about to pull a firearm on me,” Ficcadenti wrote in the report. Ficcadenti reported he released his dog and it bit Baker’s leg, but Baker wouldn’t comply with orders to put his hands behind his back as he lay on the ground. Another officer reported that Palkowitsch “delivered several kicks to the male, and he handcuffed the male.”
Palkowitsch later wrote that a large crowd had gathered from a nearby apartment building and he feared that some of them could be armed. “I wanted this now progressively evolving use of force encounter on a gun call to end as fast as possible for the safety of the scene,” he wrote.
A St. Paul Fire Department paramedic was called to the scene and took Baker to Regions Hospital with Baker complaining he was having difficulty breathing and that his ribs and right leg were hurt.
Baker was later cited for obstructing legal process, a misdemeanor.
On Friday, however, the department acknowledged that no gun was located on Baker or in the surrounding scene.
The leader of the city’s police union spoke up for the officers while acknowledging the video is difficult to watch.
“Things were omitted from that video,” said St. Paul Police Federation Dave Titus. “They showed how the officers acted in good faith and they have very good morals and good work history. But the fact that this is on video — it’s ugly.”
Police use of force, he added, “will always be ugly. But it doesn’t mean that use of force wasn’t necessary. It comes back to compliance. If this individual, if this person who became the arrestee would have complied from the start, we would not be talking about this, period.”
Bennett, Baker’s lawyer, dismissed the initial police report and said he’s discussing options with his client, including a lawsuit.
“If that report were true, (the officer) wouldn’t be getting the discipline he’s getting,” he said.
*** The incident led St. Paul police chief Todd Axtell to apologize to Baker.
“I’m disappointed and upset by what the video shows,” Axtell told reporters Friday afternoon. “This simply isn’t the St. Paul way.”
He said he visited with Baker in the hospital and again on Friday. Asked why he apologized, Axtell said, “Because he’s a human being and I’m a human being … When we don’t get things right we have to own it, we have to be transparent and we have to apologize.” ***
Wow. This guy doesn’t talk like a pig at all. He sounds almost human. But the only way for him to prove it is to do everything in his power to have those two dirty pigs arrested and charged in exactly the same way any other citizen would be in comparable circumstances. Oh, and he also has to stop enforcing laws against victimless crimes.
How about it, Axtell? You sound like you could be a decent person. Why not do the right thing?
*** The leader of the city’s police union spoke up for the officers while acknowledging the video is difficult to watch.
“Things were omitted from that video,” said St. Paul Police Federation Dave Titus. “They showed how the officers acted in good faith and they have very good morals and good work history.” ***
Oh, yes. A couple of real saints, those two.
*** But the fact that this is on video — it’s ugly.” ***
Sounds like you only regret the fact that it was caught on video.
*** Police use of force, he added, “will always be ugly. But it doesn’t mean that use of force wasn’t necessary. It comes back to compliance. If this individual, if this person who became the arrestee would have complied from the start, we would not be talking about this, period.” ***
That works both ways, asshole. For example, I could say, “That SWAT pig wouldn’t have gotten blasted right in his face if he hadn’t been breaking into someone’s house in order to enforce asinine laws against victimless drug crimes.”
Two related points need to be made. First, demanding compliance is only justified when someone is committing a genuine crime, i.e., committing an act that violates the rights of another. Generally speaking, if a private citizen wouldn’t have the right to use force to prevent another citizen from doing something, then neither do the police have any such right, regardless of what stupid laws politicians have scribbled onto paper. The exceptions are fairly trivial and include matters like directing traffic.
Second, even when it’s legitimate to use force, by no means is a carte blanche granted to the police to do whatever they want to someone who’s resisting arrest. It’s not the job of the police to dispense justice, EVER. Failure to understand this is one of the most moronic characteristics of the police-apologist mindset. If a pig uses more than the MINIMUM force needed to arrest someone, then he is a criminal himself who deserves punishment.
I saw 5 dirty pigs stand in a circle around a guy shouting commands at a guy being mauled by another trained animal, and if he couldn’t comply despite him fighting for his life, they kicked and shouted some more trying to assert their “authority”.
F’g sadistic pigs, aided by a brainwashed machine to assist in their disgusting endeavors.
No humans here except for the victim of this assault by something far less then feral animals with nothing short of a lead overdose to cure their mental defects.
That was after about 10seconds I saw.
The dog was closer to human than the mf’s in blue but still an operative.
“RAAAWWWRRRROOWRRWWRWRAAARRR..Don’t move!…Put your hands in the air!….Don’t move!…RAAAWWWRORRROAAWWWRAAWWRRR.”
So which is it? Don’t move or put your hands in the air? Can’t do both.
Shoulda shot the first f–k that came at ya… And his f–kin dog, too.
“Don’t move!…Turn over!…Don’t move!”
Who in the flying f–k obeys these commands?
Oh that’s right. The poor, unarmed and hapless son of a bitch being eaten by a dog.
” I accepted his apology, because he seemed genuine about it….”
Are you kidding me? He had his police beating you and one of his dogs try to eat you. The dog ate you!
Axtell: “So this is how it’s going to go m—–f—er. I’m going to go out and apologize, and your going to accept my apology. If you don’t, well, I’m sure I can find some more dogs.”
The pigs arrested this hardened criminal as he was assaulting the ground he laid on! “Don’t move!” (Munch, munch, crunch, crunch, oowwweeee!)
Every pig who was there and assisted in this unwarranted attack, on the wrong guy to begin with, needs a long time incarcerated to think about what transpired there.
Think about it. An innocent man, it could have been anyone of us. And these F’N pigs stood there and unleashed their dog, watched him tear up that guy’s leg. It makes me a little nervous driving into the Twin Cities, that’s for sure.
I say we put them, one by one, into a room, and let the dog have at it. Just desserts.
there are an enormous number of Muslims in and around StPaul/Minneapolis. Do you suppose there could be an undercurrent that we don’t know about?
Slight typo in typo in the article.
It should read .
“K9 Attacks Beats Up Broken Minnesota Cops and Breaks Man Ribs”.
Fkng…A… man…