More Benefits of a Surveillance Society

Jacob Sullum | March 2, 2009

Anthony Abbate, a Chicago police officer who faces an aggravated battery charge for viciously beating a female bartender half his size because she told him he'd had enough to drink, was initially charged with misdemeanor battery, presumably until the bar's security tape revealed the full extent of his assault. The local Fox affiliate reports (below) that the police department's internal affairs division is investigating an attempt to cover up Abbate's attack, which occurred two years ago. Attempts to negotiate a plea deal have failed, so Abbate will take his chances in court. A review panel recently recommended that he be fired.

King's County, Washington, Sheriff's Deputy Paul Schene, who faces assault charges for beating a 15-year-old girl arrested after taking her parents' car on a joy ride, does not even have the excuse that the demon rum made him do it. The surveillance camera in the girl's jail cell shows her kicking off a sneaker at the entrance after being instructed to remove her shoes. Apparently the sneaker struck Schene in the shin, "causing injury and pain." You can see what happened next (but not here, because I can't get the damned embed code to work). One suspects the negligent sneaker removal was a pretext for punishing the girl's bad attitude. Travis Brunner, the deputy accompanying Schene, says she was "real lippy" upon being arrested, calling him and Schene "fat pigs."

Another recent example of unjustified police violence caught on camera (in this case, a subway rider's cell phone) was the January 1 shooting of an unarmed, subdued man by an Oakland transit cop, which Reason covered here, here, and here.  In the June 2004 issue of Reason, Declan McCullagh explored "the upside of 'zero privacy.'"

[Thanks to Gabe and Sage for the tips.]

Comments

|3.2.09 @ 4:40PM|#

Travis Brunner, the deputy accompanying Schene, says she was "real lippy" upon being arrested, calling him and Schene "fat pigs."

Oh, yeah, that should be enough justification to beat a 15 year old girl up.

Apparently the sneaker struck Schene in the shin, "causing injury and pain."

Must have been a steel-toe sneaker to have caused the pain and injury that warranted such a savage beating. Otherwise, you're talking about a bully with anger management problems . . . and I am NOT talking about the beaten-up girl.

|3.2.09 @ 4:44PM|#

By the way, for those who can't watch the 15-year-old girlvideo, the kicker at the end is when the cop, after she is handcuffed, picks her up by her hair. 'Roid rage asswipe.

|3.2.09 @ 4:45PM|#

girlvideo

Damn Mexicans stole my space bar.

Jennifer|3.2.09 @ 4:51PM|#

The SOB who beat up the 15-year-old is facing up to a year in jail. His accomplice, who watched him do all this but said nothing, is not facing charges at all.

If you want to commit violent acts of assault and face much lower consequences than ordinary people, by all means become a cop. (Provided your IQ is less than 115; otherwise, at least in Connecticut, you are legally too intelligent to be hired. See "Robert Jordan v. New London" if you think I'm kidding.)

Jordan|3.2.09 @ 4:57PM|#

Anthony Abbate, a Chicago police officer who faces an aggravated battery charge for viciously beating a female bartender half his size because she told him he'd had enough to drink, was initially charged with misdemeanor battery, presumably until the bar's security tape revealed the full extent of his assault.

Remember though, the citizens of Chicago don't deserve to be armed because they can rely on the police to act professionally and protect them.

robc|3.2.09 @ 4:58PM|#

Jennifer,

Really, they allow up to 115? I thought the cutoff was much lower than that. I wonder if I am smart enough to fake a 100 on an IQ test?

|3.2.09 @ 4:58PM|#

If you look at the video, it seems like the cop bangs his ankle on the steel toilet in the cell while he's running in to clean the girl's clock.

Most of the comments on the story in the local paper are along the lines of "he'll get away with it, he'll get a vacation while the county pays through the nose, he'll get a promotion because it's King County," etc.

|3.2.09 @ 5:00PM|#

Another recent example of unjustified police violence caught on camera (in this case, a subway rider's cell phone) was the January 1 shooting of an unarmed, subdued man by an Oakland transit cop

It won't be long before States in the USA follow the path of fascistic UK and ban the video capture of any police arrest, in order to better cover unwarranted acts of aggression against citizens - as part of the final takeover of the State over people's lives. If this happens, expect to see more killings and abuses going unknown and unpunished, just like the "Good Ol' Times" before video . . .

Untermensch|3.2.09 @ 5:01PM|#

the kicker at the end is when the cop, after she is handcuffed, picks her up by her hair.

Yeah, and right before that he pushes her face down into the floor and smears it back and forth a few times. Real class act. I've often defended cops (as a group) against the "shoot the pigs" class acts we get on H&R, but I'm beginning to wonder if I don't need just to defend the few good ones against the group...

robc|3.2.09 @ 5:06PM|#

Untermensch,

First you need to identify the good ones. Apparently they never get randomly teamed up with the bad ones. Probability doesnt function right near cops, the only two bad ones always get paired together.

|3.2.09 @ 5:06PM|#

Jordan,
Remember though, the citizens of Chicago don't deserve to be armed because they can rely on the police to act professionally and protect them.

Jokes aside, it will get even nastier if the FedGov passes stealth legislation that makes it impossible to own a gun. Imagine: Police brutality going unchecked, and a totally disarmed population - a recipe for creating the very same kind of atmosphere that exists in Mexico, with a disarmed population having nothing more to defend themselves than putting gates and fences in their homes and hoping for the best . . .

(BTW, if a person in Mexico injures or kills a perpetrator that enters that person's home, according to Mexican law, that person is guilty of assault or manslaughter, and can take a lot of money and months [or years!) to be able to get the charges dropped or some sort of reduced sentence, and only if you're rich.)

|3.2.09 @ 5:13PM|#

I don't see the benefit. Abbatte and Schene are still walking the streets. That BART cop that executed that guy I think is walking the streets too. But at least some cops are being charged.

Do these cops have to turn in their guns?

shocked|3.2.09 @ 5:15PM|#

The last part of that story is more telling than all of the video.

"20th precinct tactical officer"

That fat ass qualifies as a tac officer? I don't think he could tie his own running shoes much less run a simple course. Although he appears to have the hand to hand combat down to an art form when faced with 150lb woman. (yes that was sexist)

It's a little disturbing someone didn't stop him. There were at least 4 other people there and no one thought to at least try and help.

la fascitis necrotizante|3.2.09 @ 5:18PM|#

Yo fuck the bystanders in both vids who just watch small women get brutally beaten.

|3.2.09 @ 5:19PM|#

It's a little disturbing someone didn't stop him.

I think that the cops have gotten to the point where you just don't interfere with another cop's actions (when those actions only involve non-cops). Whether "interfering" is ratting on them, physically restraining them, yelling at them, anything. I assume in cop culture it's considered very bad to give another cop shit about anything they do to the peasants.

Jennifer|3.2.09 @ 5:21PM|#

Really, they allow up to 115? I thought the cutoff was much lower than that.

It is. The guy with the 115 IQ wasn't hired on grounds of being too intelligent. But considering how vile most cops are these days, I'm actually glad they're legally required to be stupid. A smart-but-crooked cop, for example, wouldn't have beaten up that girl in front of a video camera.

|3.2.09 @ 5:24PM|#

Monday, Radley, Reason and outrage. Crap!

A Chicago police officer charged with beating a bartender two years ago had a status hearing on Thursday.

Outrage A) I assume that he has been receiving paychecks the entire time. After all, unions protect the worker from management capriciously dismissing them.

King's County, Washington, Sheriff's Deputy Paul Schene, who faces assault charges for beating a 15-year-old girl arrested after taking her parents' car on a joy ride, does not even have the excuse that the demon rum made him do it.

Outrage B) The brutalizing officer's partner did not turn him in. A detective investigating the case did his job* and reported the obvious criminal act.

... the January 1 shooting of an unarmed, subdued man by an Oakland transit cop ...

Outrage C) I still see it as murder. The best spin you can give it is the BART cop killed somebody while commiting a felony (attempted tasing a suspect under control).

* That's all he did. Nothing heroic or laudable here, he just did his job.

boston|3.2.09 @ 5:25PM|#

Yo fuck the bystanders in both vids who just watch small women get brutally beaten.

in the one with the 15 year old i think the camera was just in the cell. no one there operating it.

|3.2.09 @ 5:28PM|#

The guy with the 115 IQ wasn't hired on grounds of being too intelligent.

According to the link you provided upthread, his IQ was 125.

|3.2.09 @ 5:33PM|#

So, I've been away for a bit. WTF happned to joe?

|3.2.09 @ 5:36PM|#

There were at least 4 other people there and no one thought to at least try and help.

Which pretty much shows that this kind of thing is just business as usual.

la fascitis necrotizante|3.2.09 @ 5:36PM|#

yeah i meant the other, less violent officer as more or less a bystander

Jennifer|3.2.09 @ 5:40PM|#

According to the link you provided upthread, his IQ was 125.

Then maybe "115" is the cutoff. I just remember that number being mentioned in all the news reports, which (ironically) aired just after I moved to Connecticut from the Southland. Because I thought Northerners would be more intellectual and less benighted than Southerners. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

boston|3.2.09 @ 5:41PM|#

yeah you did. I'm dumb. apologies.

|3.2.09 @ 5:43PM|#

Winter Soldier, here you go. It's long, but worth it.

Warty|3.2.09 @ 5:44PM|#

If smart people aren't allowed to be cops, who will train our next generation of avenging serial killers?

|3.2.09 @ 5:46PM|#

Episiarch,

For some reason, the breaking cat-in-a-bong story made me think of you. Not sure why.

Warty|3.2.09 @ 5:53PM|#

Dogs are pretty funny when you get them high, but I've never tried it with a cat.

|3.2.09 @ 5:55PM|#

ProL, that's because in college we did get the cat stoned. But we were smart (?) enough to just blow smoke on its ears and not stuff it in a bong.

As soon as the lighters fired up that cat would come running. Man, did he like the chronic.

|3.2.09 @ 5:56PM|#

The kid was acting like an ass and she, big surprise, provoked a cop into beating the crap out of her. I'm not excusing the officer's actions. This was however a failure of the kid to get a grip on reality.

Once again this proves the adage, "Never fuck with the police."

It also proves the adage, "Never pick a fight you can't win."

It amazes me when people fail to see the obvious regarding possible ramifications for failing to deal with reality.

|3.2.09 @ 5:58PM|#

Ah, I know you so well, Episiarch. Perhaps I comment here too often after all.

Although I do not partake, I enjoy the idea of the live-cat bong. Now, if it had been a monkey, my Monkey Tuesday post would already been written. Drat the bad luck!

Warty|3.2.09 @ 6:03PM|#

Once again this proves the adage, "Never fuck with the police."

Never, ever talk to the police.

|3.2.09 @ 6:04PM|#

Tom, do you honestly not see the inconsistency between:

The kid was acting like an ass and she, big surprise, provoked a cop into beating the crap out of her.

And:

I'm not excusing the officer's actions.

As for:

It amazes me when people fail to see the obvious regarding possible ramifications for failing to deal with reality.

We're really more concerned with the reality that a cop can beat the crap out of just about anyone they want, the vast majority of their colleagues will give them a pass, and nothing will be done unless it happens to be videotaped and the video somehow escapes into the wild. Does that reality bother you at all?

|3.2.09 @ 6:06PM|#

Tom,
This was however a failure of the kid to get a grip on reality [...] Once again this proves the adage, "Never fuck with the police."

What, she asked for it? We're talking about a 15 year old girl.

I don't know: I was raised under the idea that you one does never hit a girl, that real men don't beat up women. Maybe in order to be a police officer one not be raised believing that, and that it is all right to beat up a girl half your size . . .

|3.2.09 @ 6:07PM|#

Sorry, that should be "I was raised under the idea that one should never hit a girl, that real men don't beat up women. Maybe in order to be a police officer one should not be raised believing that, and that it is all right to beat up a girl half your size . . ."

|3.2.09 @ 6:09PM|#

You know, I first heard that old frog-in-the water adage in Sunday school. Man, did they have that one pegged right. We (collective we, please) just sit here, watching government actors at every level ratchet up the oppression, and we don't jump the hell out of the hot water. What the hell happened to America, anyway? We used to get violent when stuff like this happened.

jk|3.2.09 @ 6:10PM|#

There are ash trays on the bar! I don't understand why anyone would be preoccupied by a woman being assaulted when there is clear evidence that cigarette smoke may have been present.

Jordan|3.2.09 @ 6:17PM|#

There were at least 4 other people there and no one thought to at least try and help.

This is Chicago. None of the good guys are armed and civil society has been displaced by the nanny state.

|3.2.09 @ 6:25PM|#

No points to the other men in the bar who just watched this jerk beat up the woman. They couldn't have beaned him with an ashtray or something?

|3.2.09 @ 6:27PM|#

Although I do not partake, I enjoy the idea of the live-cat bong.

I can haz thc?

or

im in ur bong smokin ur bud

|3.2.09 @ 6:36PM|#

If you are stupid enough to exercise your natural right of free speech, enshrined in the constitution, a cop will beat the crap out of you. Other cops will watch and do nothing.

Everybody knows this. The 15 year old girl is partially (mostly?) at fault.

|3.2.09 @ 6:37PM|#

Strangely, it was from this thread that Episiarch made his fortune, selling LOL live-cat bong posters, shirts, and, inevitably, bongs. The pinnacle of his success is considered by most historians to have come when the vice president in 2013 (I forget his name) was photographed wearing one of Episiarch's shirts.

His nadir, of course, was the sitcom. Bad idea from the beginning.

jgr|3.2.09 @ 6:39PM|#

How about all the lowlifes who stood around and watched Bubba beating the bartender?

Anyone here believe that she was thinking "thank god he's the only guy here with a gun!" . . ?

I find it especially telling that the original charge was so light, despite all of the physical injury and the obvious size mismatch. Makes me glad I canceled that trip to Chicago!

|3.2.09 @ 6:39PM|#

"It amazes me when people fail to see the obvious regarding possible ramifications for failing to deal with reality."

You obviously haven't spent much time around 15-year-olds if you continue to find that aspect of their behavior amazing.

|3.2.09 @ 6:43PM|#

This is why every bartender in the world should keep a shotgun under the counter.

-jcr

|3.2.09 @ 6:44PM|#

His nadir, of course, was the sitcom. Bad idea from the beginning.

"Fluffy's Not Here, Man"

|3.2.09 @ 6:45PM|#

I was raised under the idea that one should never hit a girl, that real men don't beat up women.

What if the woman in question is a cop who's beating a child?

Just sayin'...

-jcr

|3.2.09 @ 6:51PM|#

What the hell? No, man, I am Fluffy, man. Will you. . . . C'mon! Open up the door, will you? I got the stuff with me, I think the cops saw me.

|3.2.09 @ 6:51PM|#

Awesome...my first hat-tip by a Reason journalist! I am so happy...thanks for remembering me Mr. Sullum.

Now here is another tip, there will be a Bilderberg group meeting this summer and none of the MSM will mention it for some reason.

Watch Endgame before you try to get any info out of the meetings. If the NYT wants us to think all of the talk is about how best to make our lives better then maybe they should have someone covering it. If not it will still be up to Alex Jones.

Warty|3.2.09 @ 6:52PM|#

I was raised under the idea that one should never hit a girl, that real men don't beat up women.

What if she's yelling about something? What if she's fat? What if she's harshing your mellow? Yo, fuck that bitch.

LarryA|3.2.09 @ 7:01PM|#

This was however a failure of the kid to get a grip on reality.

Someone must have filled her head with all that "You have rights" nonsense.

Or, like, she was like fifteen and like she was like acting like it.

You obviously haven't spent much time around 15-year-olds if you continue to find that aspect of their behavior amazing.

Bingo.

This is why every bartender in the world should keep a shotgun under the counter.

See Cory Maye et al.

|3.2.09 @ 7:06PM|#

I should also point out to Jacob that it's King county, WA. As in Martin Luther. Not King's county. No biggie.

Famous Mortimer|3.2.09 @ 7:08PM|#

Why is there always some cowardly moron standing by while someone is being beaten? Is it really that terrifying for an adult to do something to slow, or stop what is happening?

I understand that this is a good ol' boy scenario, but it reminds of how often someone stands by, too afraid to get involved.

Grow some balls people. If you see someone being attacked like that, do something about it, and I don't just mean call 911, and then hope that they arrive before it's all over.

Famous Mortimer|3.2.09 @ 7:12PM|#

"I was raised under the idea that one should never hit a girl, that real men don't beat up women."

If someone lays hands on you in a violent manner, then it's on. You've forfeited any courtesy in that regard.

Besides, have you seen the size of women these days? You don't assume that a women could never pose a threat.

|3.2.09 @ 7:22PM|#

Not King's county.

Kings County (no apostrophe) is Brooklyn, NY.

What if she's yelling about something? What if she's fat? What if she's harshing your mellow?

What if she's not giving you your cut from her johns? What if that bitch is holding out on you?!?

Warty, go get me another beer before I crack you one. Don't make me use my ring hand.

JB|3.2.09 @ 8:14PM|#

I would have killed that fat pig if I was in that bar. Then of course I would be the one arrested.

There is a reason people don't fight back against bullies: because they are cowards. Beware if you fuck with the government, you better be ready to keep killing. The prosecutor who charges you, the judge who sits there, and the stupid and ignorant jury. And all those other asswipes who defend the government on a consistent basis. You better be ready to kill all those people.

Mad Max|3.2.09 @ 8:26PM|#

'Because I thought Northerners would be more intellectual and less benighted than Southerners. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.'

Three stories from the North and West about police beating up or killing people without any, techical, legal justification for doing so. Man, o man, imagine if these incidents had happened down South! The comments would have been . . . predictable.

lurker|3.2.09 @ 8:33PM|#

I wonder if the people at the bar knew the guy was an off-duty cop, and presumably armed. That could maybe explain why nobody helped her, but even that is a crappy excuse. Yeah, he's a big guy, but 2 or three people could definitely have pulled him off of the bartender. Or, one person could have hit him on the head with a bottle, and drunk as he was, he'd have passed out.

|3.2.09 @ 8:48PM|#

To answer: No, I'm not okay with the fact the girl got beaten. That was not the point of my post.

Penalties exist for lapses in judgement.

"Speaking your mind" when you have just been bound by someone carrying a gun who has wide authority to deliver you to holding is stupid. Stupidity is frequently fatal in many parts of the world.

Had the girl simply been polite and kept her mouth shut none of this, probably, would have happened.

@ Tom|3.2.09 @ 9:05PM|#

15-year-olds are not "people"; they're people-in-training.

@ Tom, having read your 8:48pm|3.2.09 @ 9:06PM|#

So are trolls.

Jeff Balla|3.2.09 @ 9:58PM|#

How about benefits of a sarcastic Reason blogger?

Or benefits of the 2nd Amendment, so someone could have stopped that asshole, instead of standing there watching him?

Bob Mologna|3.2.09 @ 10:11PM|#

If you've been in American jails a few times you would know that this sort of behavior by cops is not unusual in the least. I've seen many people beaten down by cops and guards, generally they like to cluster around the victim so nothing is clear on tape. Cops in Ireland and the UK are much more civil.

La Fascitis Necrotizante|3.2.09 @ 10:46PM|#

Cops in Ireland and the UK are much more civil.

Stomach head and genitals
Choked until unconscious
Cold water poured in the ears
Plastic bag held over head
Thrown against the walls
Then they were thrown against the wall
Then they were hit with karate chops

Beaten in the face
Bending of the wrists
Lifted up by the ears
Burnt with cigarettes
And teeth knocked out
Then they were spread-eagled on the floor
Then they were spread-eagled on the floor

And then jumped upon
And then jumped upon
And then jumped upon

Bob Mologna|3.2.09 @ 10:59PM|#

Nice song lyrics, reality may be a bit different. I've been in jails in Ireland (very polite and civil), the UK (a little less polite, but they serve a nice cuppa and don't even beat back), and the USA (AZ, NM, and CA). The cops and guards here are straight up bastards compared to the British isles. Oh the US cops put on a polite mask when you first encounter them: "do you know why I pulled you over sir?". An Irish Garda Siochana would say "what the fuck do you think you're playing at?".
There is something deeply wrong with the police in this country. False civility, followed by brutal violence.

|3.2.09 @ 11:03PM|#

"""""Speaking your mind" when you have just been bound by someone carrying a gun who has wide authority to deliver you to holding is stupid. Stupidity is frequently fatal in many parts of the world.""""


Fellow LEO or Troll? What other kind of person would defend child abuse under the color of authority? If her parents can't treat her like that for doing something wrong, where does a cop get moral or legal authority to do so?

|3.3.09 @ 1:44AM|#

"it will get even nastier if the FedGov passes stealth legislation that makes it impossible to own a gun."

You misspelled "illegal." Impossible is a much harder concept.

johnl|3.3.09 @ 2:45AM|#

What's up with the other patrons at the Chicago bar? One guy was on the phone, presumably to 911, which is the textbook correct move. But wasn't anyone compelled by the situation to act? What's wrong with them?

|3.3.09 @ 4:24AM|#

A smart-but-crooked cop, for example, wouldn't have beaten up that girl in front of a video camera.

He would have destroyed the recording, too.

Captain Cool|3.3.09 @ 6:30AM|#

The little slut deserved it.

Our society expects us to refrain from beating women and children but has given them liscense to act in a repulsive manner. These smart ass kids yell at authority figures because there's no chance of retribution and become legends in their own mind and heros among their fellow losers.

I used to get arrested as a kid and then laugh at the cops. I felt really cool. Me and my friends would brag about how tough we were.

If cops beating people were widespread kids would know not to mouth off. The fact that they still do shows that it's not widespread enough.

|3.3.09 @ 10:55AM|#

Years ago I witnessed a group of Chicago cops beat down a man in a bar in Schererville, Indiana. They flashed pistols and were hustled out the back door by the bar's workers when local cops arrived. The next day I went to the Schererville police station to identify the attackers. The line up card had 8 nearly identical photos of bald headed, cleft chin people. I described a tattoo one of the attackers had, but that wasn't specific enough. Since I wasn't able to pick the offender out of a card with 7 other identical looking guys, the cop wasn't charged. I see no reason to ever go back to that shithole. And I mean Chicago.