Now this man has class, NYPD needs a reset


http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/12/us/tennis-james-blake-tackled/index.html

Or time out.

I don't think he arrested, he was just taken down pretty hard by a cop with a long history of excessive force complaints. He was mistaken for someone else and I believe was released at the scene.

No argument.
NYPD needs a midol.

Although, tennis might become interesting enough to watch... If it were a contact sport.

Well I saw the 'suspect' pic and Mr. Blake does actually have quite a strong resemblance.It later turned out that the actual 'suspect' was the wrong guy too, so the NYPD really look like the Keystone Kops here.

In the case of Mr. Blake, there is no ID or badge displayed, seemingly no "Police! Freeze!" command issued, just the cop rolling up on him and taking him down.

The NYPD has publicly apologized, and the cop is riding a desk. He has other charges of brutality pending from incidents where a group of officers are alleged to have taken suspects down and beaten them. He's been named as a defendant in at least two of these group cases, and some individual complaints.

As a general rule it is not unusual for a street cop to have a couple unsubstantiated complaints in his jacket. They are usually from career criminals claiming abuse of some kind. They are rarely from model citizens alleging a beat down. They may complain the cop was mean, or unprofessional, or rude writing a ticket, but generally violence is not an issue.

In this case, since it was a non-violent offense being investigated, the cop should have 'badged' Mr. Blake and explained he's being taken into custody for a field interview. They could question and ID him on the spot. You hold up the pic of the suspect and conclude ok, you guys could be brothers, but you're not our guy. Sorry for the misunderstanding, we appreciate you co-operating, and have a great day. I think if you show him the pic, he gets why you detained him and it's a non story.

IF however the takedown to the pavement goes bad, and there is a broken wrist or leg, or a concussion to Mr. Blake, then your liability goes through the roof. If he wants to generate revenue as a tennis instructor or do endorsements for tennis racquets and can't swing one any more, you are looking at millions for a settlement.

As it stands right now, if I'm the NYPD, this cop is toast and has to be kicked off the force. Too many complaints, and now undisputed video. That video is going to be front and center at his other complaint hearings to try and establish a pattern of behavior. He's a wrongful death lawsuit just waiting to happen.

After finding out he didn't identify himself at all putting him behind a desk and having the mayor apologize don't go together. It says 'we know this (bad) cop is a bad cop and doesn't know how to catch a guy who's standing still, but the next person he tackles won't be as well spoken as you or have a squeaky clean record so that guy will have it coming.'

imagine if Blake had resisted in the slightest....
his family would probably be planning the funeral right now...