An Allentown Officer was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon on an individual who allegedly had his hands up but then was struck in the face by the officers gun.
The story according to the press conference is officers were chasing this suspect in a vehicle, the vehicle crashed and the man was ordered out. The suspect put his hands in the air. The officer approached the unarmed suspect and hit him in the face with his gun.
I’ll error on the side of caution before making a final opinion. It is important to hold judgment until all the circumstances are brought out along with evidence and body cameras.
What is
alarming is that this is the third Allentown officer to be charged this
year. The borage of allegations of
corruption within the department are too numerous to ignore.
So where does the blame fall?
Chief Roca does not appear to be an effective leader. It is evident that he cannot run his department. Is his lack of disciplining officers the cause of some of these allegations or is he protecting cronies from his earlier days?
Rumors have circulated on social media sites that another officer recently was punching a man in handcuffs. Where are his charges? I am amazed APD is charging one of its own since they appear to cover up any wrongdoing.
I’m curious if an attorney looks into the background of these officers. What kind of background check is actually performed before awarding a shield and gun? Is this there first time of an allegation like this? If so is it truly an accident or some other reason to justify it? Or was this bad training with a history of excess force complaints that have been swept under the rug?
Im on the
fence of my initial opinion of this incident.
Too many outstanding factors, and questions not answered. My one question tho would be, are police
allowed or supposed to have their weapon that close to someone’s face, or does it depend on the situation?
I will say if the video shows what reports are saying, this officer is in big trouble. I will also add from my point of view the Chief and Mayor are unskilled in running an organization.
23 comments:
Good hard questions....the suspect who led them on a chase is no boyscout, but.?.
Mike the suspect is a piece of shit as far as Im concerned. He put alot of peoples lives in danger that day. Im sure the story on why he led police on a chase will be interesting. My questions might never be answered. I just hope justice is served whether it be for or against the officer.
Who in their right mind would want to serve as an APD officer?
Are we trying to justify the behavior of this scumbag officer? The man may also be a scumbag but the officer abused his power and authority. I applaud Chief Roca for charging him. I think his swift and decisive actions should be taken as a strong message that he isn’t afraid to weed out ALL problem officers in his department. If you bring discredit to the uniform, you are out.
Someone who answers the call to serve the community through public service and not someone out for a paycheck and power over people because they are weak
I dont think you know what your talking about. Roca has protected way worse cops than this guy. Did you not watch the news this year? The thefts in the vice unit. The 2 other cops who were charged. The cop that tried to run the citizen over who was on the sidewalk. The list of crimes and misconduct Roca has allowed at APD is why he cant get hired anywhere. Other departments see how dysfunctional APD. The morale sucks there. His own guys dont respect him, yet the few that work on his floor kiss his ass and tell him things are great. The guy is literally sinking the department. Just wait more news is coming out on Roca. I think you will be changing your nind about him.
The cover up of small civil rights infractions have lead to the larger on
It is my understanding that the chief has a small group of officers that have Resentment towards him and are working overtime to take him down. It will not work. If anything from the shake up in the FOP tells us anything It’s that the haters will just sit in the corner crying
10:04 - The Chief (or the APD) does not charge anyone. That’s the job of the District Attorney’s office.
The Chief’s job is to ensure that his officers are well-trained, and disciplined. I’ll wait to hear the facts of this incident as they come out in court, but as others have noted there seem to be a lot of these incidents under the Chief’s watch.
I do think that most members of the police force are good officers. They are in a thankless position and interacting with the public in what is many times the worst of situations. Nobody is perfect, even if we expect them to be. A few are bound to be bad apples but others are good apples who just make mistakes.
Before you label any of them a “scumbag”, maybe you should wait until all the facts come out.
This will never get to court.
Maybe it doesn’t, but if there is a plea deal (or if the charges are dropped) there will certainly be additional details that come out at that point.
Plus, I’m sure the guy who was (allegedly) struck with the pistol will hire a lawyer who will also file a civil suit.
All that will take time, but with each filing will come more allegations and more facts.
The Chief has a fake and a liar for a boss. That creates credibility issues right there.
Who is his boss?
Well to state the obvious the boss of the Police Chief is the Mayor.
Right, the APD is full of people who “live to serve”. It’s a regular collection of saints as opposed to an organization that represents the same slice of life as most any other profession with a slightly larger group of individuals who are drawn to the power and control of a gun and a badge.
Now tell us how every military veteran is a hero.
This will be a civil suit against the city. There’s no ROI for the “victim” or his attorney for a criminal conviction.
The cop himself doesn’t have deep pockets, obviously.
It’s all about the money.
Meanwhile APD personnel matters are confidential.
I’m pretty sue that the Mayor is the boss of the Chief of Police.
I could be wrong.
Personnel matters might be confidential, but official actions are not. What comes out in court is also not confidential. Additionally, body cam footage is subject to open record requests.
While the city could deny the request, I’m sure there’s a Mayor and Police Chief want to be as transparent as possible and wouldn’t want to hide ANYTHING from the public.
In addition, the District Attorney can release the footage at his discretion, even without an open records/right-to-know request.
The police chief serves at the discretion of the Mayor. The strong police chiefs of Allentown’s past would have told the current mayor where to shove his ineffective policies a long time ago.
The jailhowse mentality is the infection in all of allentowns employees be it public servants or there ngo affiliates. This a long standing fact of life in the once all American city now the city with no shame in there underhanded operations.
HMMMM.... I and my neighbors can only wish for such over the top enforcement in our $heithole neighborhood... racing cars, loud car stereos, screaming me-mes ALL NIGHT LONG!!!! Welcome to beautiful, historical, downtown, $heithole Allentown!!! Y'all come back now!!!
Rodger MacLean let Pawlowski disrespect him in front of other people.
When the mayor is a third rate Pee Wee Herman impersonator you can’t very well expect to attract a Cracker Jack police chief. When you have a mediocre, at best, Chief you can’t expect to attract top notch talent at the patrol level.
The APD has lost control of the street.
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