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Cops smashed autistic teen’s head into sidewalk: lawsuit

Anomalism

Anomalism

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I'm glad we have officers like this to keep us safe from innocent autistic people.

Cops smashed autistic teen’s head into sidewalk: lawsuit | New York Post

Police officers smashed an innocent autistic teen’s head into ​a concrete sidewalk and punched him in the face as he screamed to his family for help — then released him an hour later with no explanation for their violent conduct, a ​new ​federal lawsuit claims. Troy Canales, 18, was standing in front of his Bronx home in November 2014 when two cops drove up in a police car and demanded to know what he was doing, according to the Manhattan federal court lawsuit. “[Canales] was extremely scared, but told the officers that he was just ‘chilling’ and was not doing anything,” the suit states. “[The officers] each grabbed plaintiff’s arms and forcefully threw him down on the sidewalk, smashing his head against the concrete. [The officers] kneed plaintiff in the back and punched him in the face as he screamed to his family for help.”

Canales’ mom and brother came out of their home and told the cops that he was autistic, but the cops ignored them and took him to the precinct, according to the suit. Canales — who was 17 at the time — was held for an hour until his mom spoke to the precinct’s commanding officer. The cops wouldn’t explain why Canales was assaulted and arrested except to say that one officer “feared for his life” when he spoke to Canales on the sidewalk, according to the lawsuit. The suit also claims the NYPD doesn’t give its officers sufficient guidelines for how to deal with autistic people. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
 
Almost there, the Police State is right around the corner.
 
It is sad that officers do not interact appropriate to the situation sometimes when dealing with the mentally ill. I do not take an article based on allegations in a lawsuit as the truth though. I would at least want to know what the grounds of defense would say once it is filed to start to form an opinion. Lawyers looking for a cut of the verdict/settlement are not going to say, "Oh yeah, and my client told the officers it was none of their f-ing business and that he was going to kick both of their asses" or something along those lines.
 
First, autism is not a mental illness. Secondly, this is ridiculous. For an armed police officer to say he feared this boy is called incompetence. I hope they fire him and they file suit.
 
Anomalism said:
...then released him an hour later with no explanation for their violent conduct, a ​new ​federal lawsuit claims.
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I'm sure they were doing something such as falsifying the police report claiming the child had "lunged" at them.
 
The police nowadays have so much reasons to fear for their live. Everyone is threatening them. They need to be very, very attentive and ready to react immediately any moment they feel a tiny possibility of danger.
Geez, these people are going through hard times.
 
CherryPanda said:
The police nowadays have so much reasons to fear for their live. Everyone is threatening them. They need to be very, very attentive and ready to react immediately any moment they feel a tiny possibility of danger.
Geez, these people are going through hard times.
Click to expand...

Fear should not be the standard by which we judge conduct -- both the police and the citizenry have ample examples to justify irrational fear.

Police officer is a noble and demanding profession, one what that comes with both power and responsibility. We should expect people who choose this profession to rise to the high standards of the uniform they wear.

As to the scenario in the OP, there just isn't enough information to draw a conclusion as yet.
 
Definitely need some more information on this one. It sounds horrible, but there is lots missing.

And just because a kid has autism, doesn't mean he/she can't be violent. My son had several in his class who could not control themselves (granted, they are much younger than this kid). Even my son can be violent at times. Should know what actions worried the police. Repetitive behavior is common in those with autism. Some of this behavior can make a person appear to be crazy. And the lack of strong communication skills can easily cause a miscommunication between them. I would want to know what the police are claiming happened, as well as hopefully additional details about the story, preferably from an unbiased source. If it is as stated, they had no reason to confront him to begin with, or at least to get physical, then this is horrible.

I do agree that police officers should be taught to deal with all different kinds of people who can be both "suspicious" and "violent" due to their mental condition. This doesn't mean that it should be acceptable to allow people who do have mental conditions that affect their behaviors in a way that can be violent should be able to harm or threaten others with their behavior, particularly once they become adults or even teenagers. But there should be a realistic threat, not a suspected threat due solely because of "strange" or "off" behavior.
 
GhostlyJoe said:
Fear should not be the standard by which we judge conduct -- both the police and the citizenry have ample examples to justify irrational fear.

Police officer is a noble and demanding profession, one what that comes with both power and responsibility. We should expect people who choose this profession to rise to the high standards of the uniform they wear.

As to the scenario in the OP, there just isn't enough information to draw a conclusion as yet.
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Are you always that serious?
I understand what you mean, but still... An autistic kid? A real threat? The officer felt feared for his life? Really?
 
Anomalism said:
I'm glad we have officers like this to keep us safe from innocent autistic people.

Cops smashed autistic teen’s head into sidewalk: lawsuit | New York Post

Police officers smashed an innocent autistic teen’s head into ​a concrete sidewalk and punched him in the face as he screamed to his family for help — then released him an hour later with no explanation for their violent conduct, a ​new ​federal lawsuit claims. Troy Canales, 18, was standing in front of his Bronx home in November 2014 when two cops drove up in a police car and demanded to know what he was doing, according to the Manhattan federal court lawsuit. “[Canales] was extremely scared, but told the officers that he was just ‘chilling’ and was not doing anything,” the suit states. “[The officers] each grabbed plaintiff’s arms and forcefully threw him down on the sidewalk, smashing his head against the concrete. [The officers] kneed plaintiff in the back and punched him in the face as he screamed to his family for help.”

Canales’ mom and brother came out of their home and told the cops that he was autistic, but the cops ignored them and took him to the precinct, according to the suit. Canales — who was 17 at the time — was held for an hour until his mom spoke to the precinct’s commanding officer. The cops wouldn’t explain why Canales was assaulted and arrested except to say that one officer “feared for his life” when he spoke to Canales on the sidewalk, according to the lawsuit. The suit also claims the NYPD doesn’t give its officers sufficient guidelines for how to deal with autistic people. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
Click to expand...

Wow. Talk about a lack of information. That was a pretty thin story. Not enough information.
 
tres borrachos said:
Wow. Talk about a lack of information. That was a pretty thin story. Not enough information.
Click to expand...
That'd be because the "journalist" who wrote it is clearly trawling published lawsuits for something controversial and building stories out of them. This isn't about news, its about entertainment. I guarantee the New York Post won't follow-up the case if it never catches wider media attention.
 
It's the NYPD. Of course they're such thin-skinned cowards that they'd be in fear of their lives while talking to a teenager.
 
CherryPanda said:
Are you always that serious?
I understand what you mean, but still... An autistic kid? A real threat? The officer felt feared for his life? Really?
Click to expand...

I guess I missed your sarcasm. Of course I'm always serious. Message boards are serious, serious business. :p
 
CherryPanda said:
Are you always that serious?
I understand what you mean, but still... An autistic kid? A real threat? The officer felt feared for his life? Really?
Click to expand...

Just being autistic does not prevent a person from being a threat. Not saying that this kid did pose a threat. There really isn't enough information to know this. But it sounds like you are suggesting that just because he is autistic, he couldn't pose any threat to the police officers.

This guy is autistic and firebombed some dealerships.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cottrell

The Sandy Hook shooter had Asperger's, which is considered a part of the autism spectrum.

Like I said, we need more details. Just being autistic doesn't mean the teen wasn't a threat or potential threat to officers. The situational details would be needed to determine this.
 
logansrun said:
It is sad that officers do not interact appropriate to the situation sometimes when dealing with the mentally ill. I do not take an article based on allegations in a lawsuit as the truth though. I would at least want to know what the grounds of defense would say once it is filed to start to form an opinion. Lawyers looking for a cut of the verdict/settlement are not going to say, "Oh yeah, and my client told the officers it was none of their f-ing business and that he was going to kick both of their asses" or something along those lines.
Click to expand...

Bingo. I can't take this story at face value either. Not till I know the facts.
 
Where is the cops body cam? That should solve this whole issue. If there is no cam then ill just go ahead and believe the mom. Cops have their own job paycheck and pension to protect.
 
logansrun said:
It is sad that officers do not interact appropriate to the situation sometimes when dealing with the mentally ill. I do not take an article based on allegations in a lawsuit as the truth though. I would at least want to know what the grounds of defense would say once it is filed to start to form an opinion. Lawyers looking for a cut of the verdict/settlement are not going to say, "Oh yeah, and my client told the officers it was none of their f-ing business and that he was going to kick both of their asses" or something along those lines.
Click to expand...

Bingo. I can't take this story at face value either. Not till I know the facts.
 
exactly

i feel like i am missing the "Paul Harvey" part

you know....where he says, and now you know the rest of the story

there has to be more to this than what we know so far

so many questions....and no freaking answers
 
CherryPanda said:
The police nowadays have so much reasons to fear for their live. Everyone is threatening them. They need to be very, very attentive and ready to react immediately any moment they feel a tiny possibility of danger.
Geez, these people are going through hard times.
Click to expand...

I bet if they didn't shoot or beat so many people up (or to death), it wouldn't quite be as problematic.
 
That is repulsive, that poor person. What that does to an autistic person can only be imagined by another autistic person. With sensory images, sounds, and scents 100 times stronger than regular humans, an autistic person experiences such an assault much differently.

Bravo police officers, nothing like trash here
 
Politics1234 said:
That is repulsive, that poor person. What that does to an autistic person can only be imagined by another autistic person. With sensory images, sounds, and scents 100 times stronger than regular humans, an autistic person experiences such an assault much differently.

Bravo police officers, nothing like trash here
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Since we have no idea where this teen sits on the autism scale, then you can't know that this experience is that much different for him than such a thing would be for any other person.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism

My younger son, who is autistic, does not have any sensory enhancements like you describe. Heck he handles loud noises better than my older son, who doesn't have autism. Autism symptoms, particularly those associated with the senses, are different for everyone diagnosed, and not actually required for any diagnosis of autism (my son was tested several times for his sight and hearing while we were going through the diagnosing process, and there was no signs of him having "100x stronger than regular humans" sensory differences, in fact they said he was within normal parameters).
 
Ikari said:
I bet if they didn't shoot or beat so many people up (or to death), it wouldn't quite be as problematic.
Click to expand...

Really?

2bce9412e13ad5f20f0f1b34215a0d94.jpg


That and the laws concerning it and other drugs are not the problem?

f21da20757d80387b2bd1bcd223c84f1.jpg


http://www.newsweek.com/who-kills-police-officers-315701

Seriously? Maybe if they didn't do their job they wouldn't get shot at either? You can't justify attempts to kill police by saying "well maybe if the cops didn't XYZ." MOST cops did their job and FEW did what you said they did. Take Darren Wilson. Do you think he was outside the law?

MAYBE...if we as a society actually dealt with the criminals it wouldn't be a problem? And that may make you get a little upset, but keep in mind I said CRIMINALS. That includes out of line cops. MAYBE if we were willing to "snitch" on the people who abuse the system...defrauded the government (and by extension US) in any form, raped, shot, and murdered, extorted, and bribed...we would be able to actually hire GOOD COPS, arrest the bad ones, lock up the murderers, and shoot the leaders of organized and corrupt politicians if it came to it.

There is a lot of filth and corruption. You can't assume that dirty cops are the CAUSE. They are a symptom.
 
stonewall50 said:
Really?

2bce9412e13ad5f20f0f1b34215a0d94.jpg


That and the laws concerning it and other drugs are not the problem?

f21da20757d80387b2bd1bcd223c84f1.jpg


http://www.newsweek.com/who-kills-police-officers-315701

Seriously? Maybe if they didn't do their job they wouldn't get shot at either? You can't justify attempts to kill police by saying "well maybe if the cops didn't XYZ." MOST cops did their job and FEW did what you said they did. Take Darren Wilson. Do you think he was outside the law?

MAYBE...if we as a society actually dealt with the criminals it wouldn't be a problem? And that may make you get a little upset, but keep in mind I said CRIMINALS. That includes out of line cops. MAYBE if we were willing to "snitch" on the people who abuse the system...defrauded the government (and by extension US) in any form, raped, shot, and murdered, extorted, and bribed...we would be able to actually hire GOOD COPS, arrest the bad ones, lock up the murderers, and shoot the leaders of organized and corrupt politicians if it came to it.

There is a lot of filth and corruption. You can't assume that dirty cops are the CAUSE. They are a symptom.
Click to expand...

Bad cops are part of the feedback loop, they are much more than some passive symptom of a larger problem. Their actions exacerbate the problem and break public trust with the police. It's an amplifying effect. You cannot divorce the effects of bad cops, their abuse of power, and the death they rain upon the citizens as a passive symptom. It's an active element in the feedback loop.
 
Ikari said:
Bad cops are part of the feedback loop, they are much more than some passive symptom of a larger problem. Their actions exacerbate the problem and break public trust with the police. It's an amplifying effect. You cannot divorce the effects of bad cops, their abuse of power, and the death they rain upon the citizens as a passive symptom. It's an active element in the feedback loop.
Click to expand...

Look. A symptom is a symptom. People won't trust the police. That is a symptom too. All of it is a symptom of bad policies. Bad laws. Fraud. Corruption. A system that is being abused constantly. And our hope of fixing it? Deal with the ones who abuse it.
 
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