Austin Police Chief: Arrested Austin Jaywalker Just Lucky Not To Have Been Gang-Raped By Cops
How do idiots like this man ascend to positions of power?
Jonathan Turley blogs about the aftermath of the ridiculous arrest of the Austin jogger for jaywalking -- and the aftermath. (The official reason for the arrest was "failure to identify" and "failure to identify a pedestrian control device"):
People in Austin were outraged recently when Amanda Jo Stephen was arrested for jaywalking - a crime that ultimately required four officers and left Stephen sitting cuffed and crying on the ground in front of onlookers. The video is below. However, it was the response of Austin police chief Art Acevedo made this even more bizarre and disturbing.When people objected to the treatment this woman and over-reaction of his officers, Acevedo responded that "In other cities there's cops who are actually committing sexual assaults on duty, so I thank God that this is what passes for a controversy in Austin, Texas." At best, that sounds like a flippant dismissal of abuse and at worse almost sounded like Stephen was lucky to get away without a gang rape by officers.
Acevedo was inundated with calls and later apologized for the "poor analogy" and insisted that "I attempted to place the arrest into context by bringing attention to the fact that law enforcement deals with many acts of serious misconduct."
The problem with the apology is that it still misses part of the problem. Putting aside the basis for this arrest, everyday and casual abuses are a major problem of police misconduct. This woman was left cuffed and sitting on the ground in public and then arrested and charged. Four officers participated in the arrest. Arbitrary and over-the-top police enforcement that creates fear of police and a sense of impunity for officers. Then when a chief of police shrugs it off as still better than a rape, it sends a chilling message to citizens and the wrong signal to officers. It is much much worse than a "poor analogy" in my view.
The video, in case you haven't seen it:
Rotten, power-mad bullies.
I have never heard Acevado sound truly sorry for any behavior on the part of his officers, from harassing a white grandfather while out walking with his black granddaughter to chasing down and shooting a man in the mistaken belief that he had something to do with a bank robbery. He always blames the victim.
Astra at February 24, 2014 6:21 AM
COPS NOTHING BUT A BADGE,GUN,AND A GOD COMPLEX!!!
Jerry Evans at February 24, 2014 6:49 AM
Sounds more like a veiled threat to me.
Joe j at February 24, 2014 7:05 AM
If the city council and mayor aren't total cowards they'd fire the chief immediately. To not do so sends a clear message to both cops and the population of Austin.
JLS at February 24, 2014 7:40 AM
Think he is wrong in saying they a right to arrest her for "failure to identify".
Hope the citizens take this up every month in City Council meetings until the police dept. receives new training and a new chief.
Bob in Texas at February 24, 2014 8:35 AM
I'm surprised those fat pigs were able to catch her.
Assholio at February 24, 2014 9:07 AM
From what I can see, they arrested and harassed a beautiful, athletic young woman. They probably did it because none of them would stand a chance with her.
mpetrie98 at February 24, 2014 9:13 AM
From the text on the video it appears she was not arrested for jaywalking, but for refusal to stop when the police officer was going to cite her for jaywalking.
[Note: I've never understood why jaywalking is considered a crime rather than a Darwinian population control measure.]
And it was only one officer doing the arresting. The others seemed to show up later, probably to provide back-up and crowd control if necessary - also possibly a ride for Stephen if the arresting officer was walking a beat rather than patrolling in a car. Two of the officers were bicycle officers, so they couldn't transport Stephen to jail.
What cities? And in which of those cities are those assaults not dealt with harshly and officers arrested?
Conan the Grammarian at February 24, 2014 9:24 AM
[Note: I've never understood why jaywalking is considered a crime rather than a Darwinian population control measure.]
Because it could damage my car.
Joe J at February 24, 2014 9:27 AM
"What cities?"
He's referring to San Antonio, I believe.
Then there's the small towns, where cops get away with pretty much anything and nobody cares...Bastrop, for instance.
Anyway, they're not going to fire Acedvedo, at least not now. He says stupid crap all the time. (He's one of those people who shouldn't be on social media.) Things could change; the City Council will be all new soon, since they're moving from an all at-large election system to district representation. I expect there could be some serious shake-ups at that point. Anyway, APD has been far more corrupt and had worst leadership in the past. Acedvedo actually fires cops for misconduct. But yes, this arrest was over-reach and his comments were stupid.
Trying to drive down the Drag/near campus or Downtown will make you homicidal, though. People DO NOT PAY attention when they cross the street. I don't think she should have been arrested for complete lack of awareness of her surroundings, but I would't care all that much if she got hit by a car, either.
ahw at February 24, 2014 9:52 AM
"Rotten, power-mad bullies."
Amen!
Further, if they grabbed her the way I've read then the cops are lucky she didn't carry pepper spray or a gun. Sneak up behind me and grabbed my arm I'll deck you one and call it self defense; because that is what it would be.
Charles at February 24, 2014 10:11 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/02/24/austin_police_c.html#comment-4282781">comment from CharlesWomen jogging are probably especially sensitive to this.
Amy Alkon at February 24, 2014 10:24 AM
"law enforcement deals with many acts of serious misconduct"
Yup, and this ain't one of them. Jay walking requiring more than one officer? Even if the others came later, this is something you warn on... most people don't know what it is.
SwissArmyD at February 24, 2014 10:26 AM
[Note: I've never understood why jaywalking is considered a crime rather than a Darwinian population control measure.]
Posted by: Conan the Grammarian at February 24, 2014 9:24 AM
__________________________
It isn't even necessarily that. In a very good 2007 book, "A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder--How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place," by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman (chapter 10), it mentioned that jaywalking can in fact be safer than following the traffic signals, because people who do the latter can be very passive and may fail to notice that cars are heading straight for them - especially a car that is turning right on a red light, which is legal far more often than when *I* was a kid! Whereas jaywalkers very often look in all directions first (if not often enough) and, importantly, their behavior helps to thin crowds of pedestrians in advance, and so they speed up life for ALL those who prefer to move faster than they would have to otherwise.
You can read chapter 10 in Google Books:
http://books.google.com/books?id=GWjfLAwlDawC&pg=PT137&dq=%22perfect+mess%22+jaywalker&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1I8LU_rJF6zhsATi44L4AQ&ved=0CC8QuwUwAA#v=onepage&q=%22perfect%20mess%22%20jaywalker&f=false
(They point out that in some chaotic cities, it backfires - namely, Mexico City and Bangkok. Tokyo, London, and Washington DC are the too-orderly opposite extreme, where crowds move like "a pig in a python." New York is the happy medium.)
lenona at February 24, 2014 10:36 AM
From the text on the video it appears she was not arrested for jaywalking, but for refusal to stop when the police officer was going to cite her for jaywalking.
She had her headsets in, listening to...well something. Probably loud, too. Yes, another Darwinian act. So she likely never heard them. Then they attempted to get her attention by grabbing her from behind.
Ladies of blog, what would you do if you were suddenly grabbed from behind? yes, that's right, you'd be assaulting an officer.
I would claim self-defense at that point.
I R A Darth Aggie at February 24, 2014 11:22 AM
Well, it looks like it's idiots all around.
They wanted to cite her for jaywalking, for which they can require her to identify herself (in order to put a name on the ticket). Rather than acting like an adult, she goes all "college protestor", refuses to identify herself, and sits down on the pavement to have a tantrum.
On the side of the police, it's unclear why they're bothering to enforce jaywalking in the first place. It's also unclear why hauling her idiot ass down to the station takes four officers.
The chief of police, of course, has foot-in-mouth disease.
a_random_guy at February 24, 2014 11:40 AM
No, she was not arrested for jaywalking. She was STOPPED for jaywalking, which is annoying, often dangerous, and illegal. Joggers are the worst for it. (Anyone here know anything about this particular location?)
They arrested her because she repeatedly refused to ID herself so they could write her a ticket or a warning. When they cuffed her, she did the "go limp" thing that protesters do and started screaming.
Acevedo made a terrible choice of words because it was inevitable it would result in this knee-jerking and deliberate misinterpretation. He was just saying that as far as police related controversies go, this is pretty mild, and he's pleased that's the worst accusation he has to deal with--i.e., a BS accusation that is easily defended against.
He obviously was not saying she was lucky not to have been raped. It is dishonest to pretend that's what he meant.
Insufficient Poison at February 24, 2014 11:48 AM
Also known around here as 'Ann Arbor walking' - wherever, whenever and never looking up from the phone or I-Pad. In lovely downtown A², this pedestrian behaviour is practiced as a form of active guerilla theatre and one way in which privileged, rich, white kids can tell themselves that they are Sticking It To The System.
The cops were - misguided. If you go to stop a person to issue them a citation, and they don't stop when told, sure, you can restrain them. But there's no law that says you have to be able to hear an officer when he tells you to stop, and citing her for all this other cr*p smells to high heaven of being punishment for what they perceived as 'contempt of cop'. Some basic common sense by the officers would have gone a long way. I've seen this dynamic first-hand in campus-type environments - all the kids think that the cops are just officious, not-very-bright blowhards, and the cops think the kids are just spoiled middle-class brats who need to be taken down a peg or two. It's not a good dynamic.
But what an awesome faceplant by the chief, eh? Really? Of all the dumb comparisons I could have thought of to excuse what his officers did, this exceeds even the dumbest I could have imagined. Really? My officers didn't do anything too bad - look how badly they could have behaved! For sheer tone-deaf bone-headedness, this one takes the cake. I see an awesome T-shirt coming out of this - something so deliciuosly pointed and sarcastic that it probably will only further damage relations between town and gown. But, in the immortal words of B. Bunny - what a maroon!
llater,
llamas
llamas at February 24, 2014 11:54 AM
http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/austin-police-chief-art-acevedo-jaywalker-was-arre/ndXcz/
Additional info:
This was part of a pedestrian enforcement initiative requested by local residents.
"Acevedo said Stephen had a direct line of sight at an officer in front of her trying to stop her. An officer grabbed her after yelling at her to stop several times."
"Only after screaming at officers and being placed in the pack of a police vehicle did Stephen provide her name."
Chris Quintero, the witness who initially went on record, has since amended his position to say he is no longer as critical of the police after watching the video.
And I think they called for backup because they were on bikes, and probably it's hard to take someone in to the station on your handlebars.
Insufficient Poison at February 24, 2014 12:03 PM
Most likely, the two bicycle cops showed up for crowd control and to be witnesses in case the arrested later alleged any misconduct.
Because the video starts after the stop, it's not clear if the first officer had a car in which to put her to "haul her ass down to the station" (i.e., if he was on foot patrol). If he didn't have a car, he would have called for transport and that produced the fourth officer with the car.
It may be that his partner had left him with Stephen while he went to get the car.
Conan the Grammarian at February 24, 2014 12:04 PM
I grew up in Pittsburgh, where jaywalking was a thing you did. No one waited at the corner unless they were from out of town.
The people in the crosswalks actually caused more traffic problems than the jaywalkers, because they would slowly stroll across the street even after the light had changed and make you sit there. Jaywalkers would hustle across and be out of your way as fast as they could.
Kat at February 24, 2014 12:09 PM
I've lived in Chicago and San Francisco.
In Chicago, jaywalkers know how to cross the street in the face of oncoming traffic ... and the drivers don't panic if a person is trying to cross the street. Everybody times it and no one gets hurt.
In San Francisco, the California pedestrian right of way has resulted in no one knowing what to do. The pedestrian thinks the car will stop because he has the right of way (laws of physics governing the stopping distance of a 2,000 pound car be damned). The car driver slams on the brakes the minute someone steps off the curb, even if he's going 30+ mph down a busy street. On top of that, throw in the bored Muni driver too busy texting to pay attention to traffic.
I don't know how it is in Austin, but most state capital slash university towns I've lived in can be brutal places for cars and pedestrians to mix it up in traffic.
Conan the Grammarian at February 24, 2014 12:27 PM
(Anyone here know anything about this particular location?)
Right by UT Austin campus and no, students don't stop or look for anything around there. Nevertheless, it takes a special kind of peace officer to escalate a jaywalking violation to international news.
Astra at February 24, 2014 12:29 PM
Yeah, I don't think the officer did that. I think credit goes to the girl willing to create a huge scene to get herself out of a ticket and then the sensation-craving media creating link-bait for cop haters.
Insufficient Poison at February 24, 2014 12:34 PM
A citation for jaywalking seems to have been well deserved. I do wonder why a cop with a bicycle stopped her from behind - if that is actually what happened, there seems among other other things to have been a second cycle cop in FRONT of her whom she ignored...
Chief Acevedo is apparently an idiot.
But "failure to identify" oneself is a bit grey, there may be reasons to detain someone pending identification but OTOH in the US we do not always have to identify ourselves or carry ID.
As to jaywalking, it can be dangerous not only to the jaywalker but to others as well. Yet I admit I have done it - after considering conditions. Indeed, in low-traffic areas I prefer to cross in the middle of a block as I only have to look in two directions rather than four to avoid cars, bikes, skateboards, and so forth.
OFF TOPIC but related, there is a small furor over a rape victim being "arrested." Actually she is being held as a material witness because she seldom if ever kept appointments relating to the case and being homeless is a contributing factor. Hopefully she will get psychiatric help while "in the system" - I have been there as a homeless person suffering depression.
John A at February 24, 2014 2:00 PM
She refused to give her name, so she couldn't be given the citation. And yes, it seems there was also a cop in front of her.
Insufficient Poison at February 24, 2014 2:29 PM
"I grew up in Pittsburgh, where jaywalking was a thing you did. [...] The people in the crosswalks actually caused more traffic problems than the jaywalkers, because they would slowly stroll across the street even after the light had changed and make you sit there."
Posted by: Kat at February 24, 2014 12:09 PM
Fascinating. Jaywalking is still the unofficial sport, and drivers run over the pedestrians who have the right of way and use the crosswalk - and not just near the schools.
Michelle at February 24, 2014 3:54 PM
Looks like a case of an idiot, running up against the thugocracy.
Its like North Korea declaring war on China.
I dnt know who to root against.
Isab at February 25, 2014 1:23 AM
First sentence of story is incorrect. She was not arrested for jay walking
Rod at February 25, 2014 10:10 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/02/24/austin_police_c.html#comment-4286704">comment from RodSee the charges, Rob.
Amy Alkon at February 25, 2014 10:21 AM
I spent two years living in Texas, and believe me when I say the faster we let it secede from the rest of the US, the better off we are.
CmdrBna at February 25, 2014 2:21 PM
California cops impound cars.
And then give them to other cops.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at February 25, 2014 9:59 PM
Not surprised, Gog.
King City has long been known as a speed trap. And most speed trap experts advise you not to even try to fight the ticket because the judges and the cops work pretty closely together.
That the rot goes deeper is not surprising.
Conan the Grammarian at February 26, 2014 8:59 AM
The Austin Police Department gets in its own way ... again, arresting a sober man for DWI.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/man-blows-0-00-on-breathalyzer--gets-arrested-for-dwi-003450614.html
Conan the Grammarian at February 26, 2014 1:08 PM
As I understand it most of the rest of Texas would like to see Austin sevede and become part of California.
Jim P. at February 26, 2014 4:35 PM
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