Good Cops and Bad Cops: Saving From Fire and Beating the Deaf

[Note: This was originally published on another blog Friday, April 18, 2014]


#1: One good :-), Four Bad :-(

The Good...

While on routine patrol the night of January 28, 2014 Austin Miller of the Columbia Borough Police Department in Lancaster County Pennsylvania smelled smoke.

When he identified the house that was on fire Miller was able to rouse and evacuate five people, including a baby. As the flames spread toward a neighboring home Miller roused two people there as well - two people who had no idea they were in danger.

This is a great example of an alert, decisive, and courageous police officer saving seven people from possible injury or death. Great job!
Austin Miller
you are a good cop! Thank you for your service.

For more details click on the two links below:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/police-officer-s-heroic-efforts-save-from-columbia-fire/article_760519e4-8931-11e3-9630-0017a43b2370.html?mode=story

http://fox43.com/2014/01/31/columbia-police-officer-saves-two-familes-from-fire/#axzz2zHnWrCd9



The Bad...

Jonathan Meister has a Master's Degree in Architecture and had never been arrested before February 13, 2013. On that day he was picking up some belongings from his ex-roommate's back porch when officers from the Hawthorne (California) Police Department showed up to investigate the "suspicious" activity.

Now as it happens Meister cannot speak or hear so he tried to explain what he was doing using gestures and sign language. Apparently the police interpreted this as threatening behavior so they shot their victim with a taser, threw him on the ground, punched, kicked, and choked him, and finally handcuffed him and arrested him for assaulting them!

Meister has now filed a lawsuit over this incident and we will have to wait and see how that turns out. However, when an innocent man who is harming no one is tasered, handcuffed, and arrested I don't think we have to wait to pass ethical and moral judgment.

This one seems like a pretty easy call:
Jeffrey Salmon
Jeffrey Tysl
Erica Bristow
Mark Hultgren
you are bad cops! Please find some other line work....

Read further details by clicking on the links below:

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/02/17/police-beat-stun-deaf-man-after-confusing-sign-language-with-threatening-gestures/

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/lawsuit-hawthorne-police-allegedly-beat-deaf-man-245916161.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/california-cops-taser-deaf-man-unconscious-communicate-article-1.1618103


Copyright © 2016 by Joseph Wayne Gadway

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