Comments on: NYPD probes cop in YouTube body-check video

Officer is stripped of his gun and badge after a video posted on YouTube shows him body-checking a bicyclist during Critical Mass bicycle ride.

[bpappin]

I very much doubt that the cop picked the guy out at random, and I think the title is somewhat irresponsible.

Look closely at the video; Both cops start moving toward him at the same time and the one running is saying something to the bicyclist (likely on the order of "stop the bike") when the cyclist try's to get away by swerving to the left, the officer picks up speed to intercept him and he is checked by the officer (how else do you stop a bike going 15km/h?).

Think about it. Cops are hyper aware that what they do will be seen by the general public, and those ones are in the middle of a large crowd. There is no way he'd be harassing a random bicyclist during a protest like that let alone knock him off his bike unless there was a reason to do so.

Even if the bicyclist hadn't done anything, a request from the cop to "stop" is grounds enough to stop him forcibly if he doesn't stop on his own, because the cop had reasonable grounds to stop him based on the situation that we can't see on the camera.

I've seen all sorts of people behave badly, be they pedestrians, drivers or bicyclists and just because he's on a bicycle does not exempt him from the same laws that all of us live by.
In fact half those bicyclists are breaking the law already by riding on the wrong side of the street (at least in Canada, where a bicycle is considered a vehicle and subject to the same rules of the road).

[wwwXpert]

I've reviewed the video carefully and what you described isn't what happened. Neither cop is running. Officer Pogan is positioned 14-18 feet away from the sidewalk and actually facing in the opposite direction of Christopher Long. Just as Pogan turns around, 4 bicyclists pass him on the left within a 5 second period. Pogan then takes 4 large strides accelerating towards Christopher Long within 2 seconds after the 4th bicyclist passes him. His fellow patrolman continues to stroll nonchalantly and slowly as if in shock with surprise at what Pogan just did. Try lunging 14-18 feet within 2 seconds. Pogan was deliberate in tracking and tackling Long down. Afterwards Pogan falsified his police report by stating that Long rammed and knocked him (officer Pogan) to the ground, neither of which occurred as proven in the video. Also I've seen this same post on other sites and it's almost verbatim so my bet is that you're a cop or associated with the NYPD or their defense parties, e.g. policemen's benevolent union. Stop trying to hide the truth in more lies. The video lives and you can't change it regardless of the stories you try to spin. Here's a great picture of officer Pogan in his prime: http://www.altruistictheatre.com/images/badnypdcop.jpg

[Itallourfault]

bpappin, what video are you watching. The guy was just ridding his bike. We are not that stupid to think otherwise.

[wwwXpert]

This picture of Officer Patrick Pogan sums up everything about the NYPD's attitude of "anything goes, just don't get caught" http://www.altruistictheatre.com/images/badnypdcop.jpg

[Itallourfault]

Cop. stands for Citizens on Patrol. The biggest problem here are the bystanders that act indifferent to an obvious crime, because they KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT that they will be charged with a false criminal act and beaten for standing up to this. We don't care unless it is our family member. When we loose connection with each other, we loose connection with God. The Cops are no longer the hat tipping, helping old lady citizens on patrol. They are an occuping militarized force that hates us like the enemy. We are affraid to look them in the eye. They protect thier criminal acts with a gang mentality. They don't report each other in fear of their own crimes be brought to light. How do we combat this hatred? We turn in our family members for small drug crimes. These drugs are shipped in by their bosses( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oszATUJ4IRE), but stand idly by when a psychopath violetly hurts an innocent person. SHUT UP AND DONT GET OUT OF LINE. WE MUST KNOW OUR PLACE. WE MUST PLAY THE ROLE OF VICTIMS. SUBMIT!!! WE MUST CONTINUE TO GROVEL. WE MUST TRY TO JUSTIFY THIS. MAYBE HE WAS A PURSE SNATCHER OR TERRORIST. GIVE UP YOUR RIGHTS FOR FEAR!!!! EVEN GOOD OL BATMAN TEACHES TORTURE AND SPYING ON EVERYTHING YOU DO IS GOOD. Accept his behavior the citizen on patrol has a new face and he has had a BAD DAY.

[vidyohs]

sbalourdos et. al,
you must be joking, sir. You'll wait for the evidence? Well sir, they have already given you the evidence if we are to believe the story.
"The bicyclist, Christopher Long, 29, was charged with blocking traffic, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and assault, prosecutors said."

Do you see suspected theft in that charge? How was he blocking traffic? How did he resist arrest? How was his conduct any more or less disorderly than that of any other biker you see in the video? Assault? Of whom? The policeman of course. Do you see vandalism in that charge?

The evdence you see is that a young aggressive cop in a system that he knows will cover his rear decided to vent on a randomly chosen biker, and yes, the system closed ranks and is covering his rear......for now.

There is some point when we have to recognize that many if not all police departments have employees with run-amok tendencies and covering for them only ivites more hatred and contempt. As for us the public, when we sit and suck our thumbs as sbalourdos suggests he will we loose any hope of correcting the problem.

[sarabeth1111]

What I see at the very beginning of this video is an entire string of cars which had stopped for the stop light -- while the cyclists continue weaving their way right past them and through the intersection to the next block! I still don't understand why they weren't all stopped and ticketed for running that light!

[jattttt]

Stop assuming unless you were there...This video just more liberal propaganda that appeases the media, the cops can never win in NYC...they are always in the wrong no matter what they do...You shot someone with a gun?? wait a min, was that gun pointed at you and was he holding the trigger??Oh, he had a knife? was he one foot away from you?..all the people who complain about this are the same people that complain about the cops doing their jobs on a daily basis..A) you dont know what happend in this video prior to the video begining B) you also dont know if it has been edited...soo all you liberal cop haters need to calm down and stop assuming the worst every time there is an incident with the police...

[mrsrandall]

To those of you who would defend this cop and his actions, I suggest that you are cowards and lack any integrity.

I say this based of a few undisputed facts:First is that the cyclist did nothing wrong prior to coming into contact with the officer. How do we know this? Simply because the officer DID NOT allege this in the arrest report, which he was obligated to do if he had reason to believe the cyclist committed an offense.
(If he did not believe the cyclist committed an offense he had no justification to stop him.)

Second, the officer stated that the rider ran into him, knocking him (the officer) to the ground. His report was written within hours of the incident. His memory of being knocked to the ground was an obvious LIE. I would be inclined to believed that he believe the cyclist was charging him if he had not LIED, a clear indication that he knew he was in violation of everything entrusted to him.

On top of this he comes from a line of police officers (who defend him) which indicates that he should have known better. But his actions shows that he was a coward for his actions and lacks any integrity for not admitting to his guilt as his law enforcement duty requires.

I've live in New york City for 42 years and have personally witnessed countless incidents similar to this and worst, police abuse and flat out unprovoked attacks mostly against young black males. But no video means it didn't happen.

Why I say you guys lack any integrity? Because you would have us view the cops as if they can do no wrong yet in the same breath claim that they are human too just like the rest of us. You can't have it both ways. Humans do wrong. The uniform doesn't fix flawed people.

Why I say you are cowards? Because everything I just said you know to be true. But instead of stating your true beliefs you try to mask them in this blind faith in the police, regardless of who the actual person is that wears the uniform. You are a coward for not admitting your belief that it's okay for the police to abuse certain segments of the citizenry regardless of the law.

Now for my personal disdain for you and the police you support: The big tragedy here is that the cyclist was not someone you truly love who has a passion for cycling. Who on the spur of the moment decided to join a friend in this bike ride, just for the hell of it. And that there was no fire hydrant there for you love one to go head first into. And that your loved one was not paralyzed for life just so you could explain how that cop was under pressure as you wipe your loved ones ass after feeding them a special meal prepared just for them because eating regular food was no longer an option.

But all is not lost. There are many cops out there like the one in this case and I'm sure you have plenty of loved ones and family members. Perhaps the stars will line up again one day soon.

[johnnymiller01]

wow this is brutal what planet is the man in uniform from

Johnny
http://www.localbiketrader.com