Video: Florida Cop Beats 66-Year-Old Man With Dementia

Earlier this week we told you about a police officer in Melbourne, Florida, who brutally attacked 66-year-old Albert Flowers before placing him under arrest for battery of a police officer. The incident happened in October, but Flowers' case didn't come to light until someone from the Melbourne Police Department leaked the raw dash-cam footage from Officer Derek Middendorf's cruiser. (Middendorf, the offending officer, allegedly turned his dash-cam off before getting out of the car; it may simply be the case that he tried to delete it. Either way, the footage was rescued from his harddrive and leaked). Courtesy of FloridaToday.com, you can now watch raw video from the dashcam:

Comments

[Gimlet]

"Video: Florida Cop Beats 66-Year-Old Man With Dementia"

Who knew dementia was a weapon?

[Ironic]

It was used as a political weapon in 2000 when it was used to attempt to throw out the votes of people who voted for Pat Buchanan.

[sarcasmic]

Reagan?

[*]

That very first kick to the chest could have killed the guy. And may yet.

[Tim]

Right in the balls. Nice work.

[juris imprudent]

The Balko nut-punch was only virtual.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...it may simply be the case that he tried to delete it.

There's no maybe about it. Turn the cam off and there's no video evidence to recover. You can't recover data that was never written. Officer of the Year.

[sarcasmic]

Give that man a medal!

[sarcasmic]

Oh wait, they already did.

[Res Publica Americana]

Aggravated assault and battery. Why isn't this fucking thug in chains inside a small cell right now?

[me/dwc]

He was just following procedure, ya damn commynist! Servin' and protectin'. America's heroes. If you're not doing anything wrong... yadda, yadda, yadda.

[Res Publica Americana]

This is so fucking infuriating. I'm having a hard time resisting the urge to rip something apart. God Almighty, if ye be real, send a drive-by this fucker's way.

[sarcasmic]

The worst part is that we know this cop will not be charged with anything, and at worst will be given an unpaid vacation.
The department will be sued, and likely will lose, forcing the taxpayers to fork out a chunk of change to the victim's family.

[dunphy]

sarcasmic displays his ignorance yet again.

cops get charged all the fucking time with assaults etc. based on duty use of force. heck, just in my area several have been charged in the last couple of years. why? because the facts supported the charges.

also, this myth aobut the unpaid vacation. admin leave is not punishment. when cops are suspended WITHOUT PAY, it happens AFTER the investigation. it's part of the due process we enjoy PER CONTRACT. contracts... how do those work?

[sarcasmic]

There was one time I was walking down the street at night in a blizzard and I saw a police car out of the corner of my eye pulling up beside me.
I thought "Great. Not again."
I stopped, expecting the usual "I saw you doing such-and-such so give me your ID, I'm running you for warrants" and then a search after no warrants were found. Followed by the usual "I'm watching you" intimidation routine.
To my utter shock he said "I don't want to see you walk in front of a car in this mess, howsabout I give you a ride home. Let me pat you down for weapons. Cool. What's that? Cigarettes. K. Get in the back, I'll give you a ride."
He gave me a ride home and then drove away.
I was flabbergasted.

That was the only time in my life I met a cop who wasn't a complete dick for no reason other than to be a dick.

So yeah. That 99% of bad apples does give the rest an unfair reputation.

[Loather of Cops and Feds]

The cops on police one say he did a hulluva job, went home at the end of his shift, officer safety...

Read the police one comments on every one of these stories. Eight months ago I was pro cop until one decided to target my kid. That led me to the comments section of police one. Now I laugh when a cop dies. Direct all of your friends to that site. It is an education unto itself.

[sarcasmic]

Like I've said before. Most people who respect the police have never actually dealt with them.

[Howie]

They always say at preliminary that all recorders are either "broken" or "turned off".

Here they have mics that link to the system on the car when they are out.

Invariably they all claim at preliminary that the system is "broken" or "off".

Of course after discovery you might get a well I'll be damned it was working.

Its so predictable you can mouth it with them.

Of course they know no perjury charge is coming...so WTF. They hate the things.

[dunphy]

rubbish. your evidence for this is what?

[sarcasmic]

Looks like an observation to me.
Kind of like how I've observed that every police report I read involving something I witnessed was a work of fiction.
Does that mean every police report is a work of fiction? No.
Does it lead me to believe that other are? Yes.
What evidence can I present to prove my point? None. None at all. The liars in uniform know this and exploit it. I believe it is part of their training, though I will never know for sure.
I find it is interesting that when an officer does not know that they are on camera, the official record and the recording are often very very different.

[Buford]

We get it. You hate cops. All cops. Every cop. The very concept of law enforcement. Anarchy is the only way. Thanks. Now go away.

[sarcasmic]

I just wish that cops were held accountable when they step commit crimes that land mere citizens in jail.

[Karl Hungus]

Let's suppose that guy walking around, after witnessing the assault, put a bullet in that cop's head. Let's further suppose that Good Citizen Hungus was called to serve on that man's jury. While I cna't promise the man wouild walk, you would have at the very least a hung jury.

[Res Publica Americana]

That bystander would have been well within his rights to shoot that fucking animal dead. You don't beat the living daylights out of a 66-year-old man with dementia and get away with it.

Oh wait, he DID. Justice for all, eh, mother-fuckers?

8 years in a maximum-security prison would have been just the thing for this prick.

[sarcasmic]

That bystander would have been well within his rights to shoot that fucking animal dead.

And that bystander would have then been shot dead by the other cops arriving at the scene.

[R C Dean]

You would have an excellent self-defense claim. You are allowed to use deadly force to protect yourself or others from serious injury or death.

[sarcasmic]

Dead people can't claim self defense.

[R C Dean]

They also can't contest your claim of self-defense.

One of the reasons that, if you have to shoot in self-defense, shoot to kill.

[sarcasmic]

I mean his buddies would kill you.

[Brendan]

Focus on them too. Aggressors are aggressors.

A gang member assaults a man and you believe that person's life is danger and shoot the gang member. When his buddies show up to defend/avenge him, you're still in danger and justified in shooting them if you believe your life is in imminent danger.

[sarcasmic]

If in the situation you describe the gang is the police department, you're dead. Period.
If a cop is beating someone to death, do nothing. Or you too will be killed.

[Randall]

Wow, he just halls off and kicks him in the nuts for no apparent reason.

[sarcasmic]

Probably had a bad day and needed to blow off some steam.

[Tim]

you. bastard. you.

[sarcasmic]

C'mon. Therapists are expensive. It's much cheaper, and fun, and manly, to beat a defenseless old man nearly to death.

[Bobby Hill]

That's my purse, I don't know you!

[Gojira]

On the upside, it cured his dememtia.

[me/dwc]

I can't even watch this stuff. It just makes me sick to my stomach. Some people actually enjoy cruelty videos - whether it's animals or people. It makes me physically sick and poisons my mind so I have forcibly push the images out of my mind. You can't unsee what you have seen.

[jasno]

Here's one for the tranny lovers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_4PkC8XH7k

[sarcasmic]

Makes you wonder how many times this guy has done this over his career.

[Episiarch]

That's the exact question I asked when Lucy posted this a few days ago. No credit for Lucy, Riggs?

[Episiarch]

Oops, it was actually Riggs the first time, not Lucy. My mistake. Don't go all Mel Gibson on me, OK?

[Gojira]

Doesn't count, no penis.

[Gojira]

Damnit you fool, now I've wasted an anti-woman jab!

[Episiarch]

That was my plan all along! Ha ha ha ha!

[Less equal than others]

I look forward to dunphy's defense.

[sarcasmic]

In the original thread dunphy, shockingly, did not defend the guy.

[TrickyVic]

He said the cop should be charged and prosecuted.

[Nipplemancer]

Dunphy was kind of reasonable on this one.

[Nipplemancer]

perhaps I should refresh more often.

[creighton]

Cop #4: "ooooo...lemmee in on this, guys. Guys? C'mon! Can't I at least kick his leg or somethin'?"

[Bobby Hill]

""but Flowers' case didn't come to light until someone from the Melbourne Police Department leaked the raw dash-cam footage from Officer Derek Middendorf's cruiser.""

I'm curious if that someone was another cop, or a someone else working for the cops.

[sarcasmic]

Notice that it was leaked.
To me that means that it was known inside the department what happened, and nobody gave a shit.
It wasn't until someone smuggled it out and gave it to the media that they did anything.

We're not talking about a bad apple here. We're talking about an entire department containing one oddball with a conscience.

[Coeus]

You're just a butthurt biggot. You don't know what you're talking about. We don't have all the evidence. You just don't understand UOF. Take my word for it, but your's needs a cite.

(figured since dunphy hadn't commented on this one, I'd cover the bases for him)

[sarcasmic]

Thanks. It needed to be done.

[sarcasmic]

It said it was on a hard drive. May have been a techie.

[MattJ]

Michael Westen.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Watching this, it looks fake, quite frankly. Two of those so-called "policemen" aren't even fat.

[DK]

Shouldn't that bystander be arrested by the DHS?

Paging Ms. Napolitano... "If You See Something, Say Something".

[R C Dean]

From our earlier post, it was pretty clear that under current law, what this guy did was just barely illegal.

If he had opened with squirt of pepper spray, for example, rather than a kick to the gut, it would probably all have been perfectly kosher (with the possible exception of the taser to the face).

Bottom line: cops are allowed to initiate force on you, and use whatever force they deem necessary to ensure compliance with their demands. Period.

Cop tells you to stop, and you don't hear him over your ipod? Get ready for a beatdown, punk.

[Res Publica Americana]

Unless I live in one of the few places (deep-west Louisiana) left in the United States where people hate government almost universally. It would be genuinely interesting to see a cop try something like this, and then face a fully armed mob of hundreds of people.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Unless I live in one of the few places (deep-west Louisiana) left in the United States where people hate government almost universally. It would be genuinely interesting to see a cop try something like this, and then face a fully armed mob of hundreds of people.

You have way too much faith in the average Joe. I guarantee you that all the cop would have to do is say said 'perp' was gay/Muslim/illegal immigrant and said mob would gleefully join in the beatdown.

[R C Dean]

It would be genuinely interesting to see a cop try something like this, and then face a fully armed mob of hundreds of people.

Yeah, it would. Won't happen in the United States of Authioritah, though.

[sarcasmic]

The people who founded this country would be ashamed of what it has become.

[dunphy]

lol.

[sarcasmic]

What kind of person seeks out an occupation where they may hospitalize or even kill anyone who does not obey them?

I'm thinking it's the kind of person who is seeking out the opportunity to hospitalize or even kill anyone who does not obey them.

And why the fuck are we supposed to look up to these people?

[dunphy]

most people in america look up to cops, because most cops do a good job at a noble profession. use of force, to include deadly force, is a sadly sometimes necessary part of the job, but it is not the raison d'etre for police, and i thank god i live in a nation where most people are not deluded bigots like you.

it's amazing the # of people who walk up to me and thank me for simply doing what i do. or when my partner and i are eating dinner, and we go to pay the bill, and some person has paid for us anonymously with a message that they thank us for doing what we do.

and i know you hate that this is the way the real world works

i am sad for you, that most people aren't the hateful bigot that you are

[sarcasmic]

I'm just going from experience.

[Coeus]

it's amazing the # of people who walk up to me and thank me for simply doing what i do

Not too amazing. Most people are assholes who want to tell others what to do (current observation puts it at about 80%). You and your partner make that possible. Of course they love you. Same reason shithead cops love their tasers so much. It makes it easier to bend people to your will.

[RedDragon6009]

Wow, I'm surprised dunphy hasn't chimed in yet about how the old man should have known better than to resist the police or fail to heed officer dumb-fucks lawful orders.

[Colonel_Angus]

Some day, Dunphy will say something along the lines of "I can't comment on issues pending litigation".

[sarcasmic]

I don't think so. I'm starting to think he might be part of the 1%.

[sarcasmic]

I withdraw that.

[sarcasmic]

I'm pretty sure he did on the original thread.

[dunphy]

i said the cop committed assault

i also said the man had to "stop" if the officer told him to "stop"

those are two different issues.

assuming arguendo, the cop said (repeatedly) "STOP!"

and the man ignored him, that would justify detention and/or arrest if PC held up.

that's completely tangential to the fact that the WAY the officer took the man down, etc. was excessive and imo criminal

[erikjay]

I hate cops. Okay, that's a lib-style sweeping generalization. I hate 90% of the cops I've met, watched on video, and read about. Or 95%. Screw it -- "I hate cops" sounds so nice to my ears. Didn't take long to get from "peace officer" to "armed goon in the service of the sociopolitical elites," a group, by the way, that is populated by more self-identified liberals than conservatives (or libertarians). Quite a change from my youth, when the Dems were anti-war, anti-establishment, and anti-authoritarian. Now they're the New Tyrants Of Forced Wonderfulness. Or something.

[P Brooks]

Let's suppose that guy walking around, after witnessing the assault, put a bullet in that cop's head.

Exactly.

If that guy's son (or wife/daughter/neighbor) came out of the house and put a couple of rounds of .45acp just behind that cop's left ear, I vote to acquit.

[sarcasmic]

What do you vote on?
Soon as the cop's friends arrived they would murder the person who shot their buddy in self defense.

[P Brooks]

n the original thread dunphy, shockingly, did not defend the guy.

He did, however, go out of his way to remind us that ANY ORDER given by a police officer must be instantly and unquestioningly obeyed, or the cop is totally justified in establishing his dominance and compelling your submission.

Baboons with guns.

[dunphy]

false. as usual.

i said lawful orders generally must be obeyed.

and that IS the law, and SHOULD be the law.

i know you don't like rule of law, but fortunately we have it

"stop" "put your hands up" "take your hands out of your pockets" etc. are lawful orders

i realize in your fantasy world, people could decide whether or not to obey such orders, but thankfully here in the real world they can't

but thanks for AS USUAL, misstating my(correct on the law) position

[dunphy]

and more on point, the tiem and place to protest such an order is ... later. make a complaint, contact tghe press, file a lawsuit. etc.

it's almost always impossible for you to know if the order is justified or not... at the scene

when i was pulled over at gunpoint, seized, told to put my hands over my head, handcuffed, etc. i KNEW i had done NOTHING wrong. but i also was legally bound to comply

and i did

LATER, after a few minutes, it was explained i had been detained as a robbery suspect. they had RS. but i had no way of knowing that.

so deal with it. i know you're butthurt that god forbid you have to, but you do... comply with the orders. your time for redress is later

hth

[sarcasmic]

your time for redress is later

If you can't afford thousand of dollars for an attorney, your time for redress is never.

Most people don't have thousands of dollars lying around for an attorney, and cops both know and exploit this.

[P Brooks]

Soon as the cop's friends arrived they would murder the person who shot their buddy in self defense.

More likely than not.

[P Brooks]

It would be genuinely interesting to see a cop try something like this, and then face a fully armed mob of hundreds of people.

Since a group of howling pissed off Marines did not storm the Sheriff's office to avenge the death of Jose Guerena, I'm not very optimistic.

[sarcasmic]

Join the police, where you can commit assault and perjury on a regular basis, and if you're lucky you may even get an opportunity to commit murder!

If the pesky media do catch you doing "wrong", you will be given a paid vacation followed by a medal and a hefty raise.

If you value and respect the Constitution and your fellow man, please do not apply.

[dunphy]

the sad thing is you really believe this shit. contra evidence. i used to think you are a troll, but clearly you are just bitter over being justly prosecuted for a crime you committed, and are thus a blind ideological bigot from then on.

sad

[sarcasmic]

I've watched cops beat the shit out of 100lb weaklings who were doing nothing more than jam out in their driveway.
They busted up thousands of dollars worth of equipment to make sure it wouldn't happen again.
While I was watching in disbelief one of them ran up to me yelling, so I ran off, not wanting to be bloodied like the poor kids.

I've had a cop whisper into my ear "Give me one reason. I'm begging you. You know I want to. Please, give me one fucking reason."

I've overheard cops jovially bragging to each other about choke holds, knocking people out, and otherwise beating the shit out of people.

I even heard a drunk cop (en vino veritas) lament about never having the opportunity to kill someone.

And yeah, I did have to fix a car that hit me after running a red light because the cop didn't bother to mention that little tidbit in the report.

Go ahead and focus on the last one, ignoring the rest.
I wouldn't expect a liar in uniform to do otherwise.

[agamemnon]

This idea that these thugs can always hide behind "I thought I was in danger" is outrageous when there is absolutely no evidence that the victim has any harmful intents whatsoever - as in this case. To you police officers: there is some "small" risk to your profession, you need to live with it or move on to another line of work. In this case the "belief" that this victim had a knife is not good enough -- there must be some evidence.

Other professions also have a high risk of violence, even a higher risk than the policing profession. These include liquor store attendants, quick mart cashiers, jewelers, bank tellers, etc. These people work with their risks without going off the handle an imagining knives and guns, and beating the crap out of innocents.

How many videos do we have to see before police behavior becomes civilized? I have seen way to many.

DOJ, you should be on top of these incidents putting pressure on the police departments to behave and not violate the civil rights of citizens.

This is clearly assault and battery, maybe with the intent to kill. I wish our police would not act like the worst criminals in our community.

Fire this thug!!!

[dunphy]

there is large risk. the reason the stats aren't bad for cops killed etc. is good tactics, officer safety, etc.

have you been shot at? i have. had somebody try to stab you? i have

been kicked in the head? i have

etc.

however, that's tangential. the officer imo in this case was clearly not justified and imo committed assault

[Coeus]

have you been shot at? i have. had somebody try to stab you? i have

been kicked in the head? i have

I don't know about agamemnon, but I've had everything listed there multiple times except for the gunshots. And I've had 2 jobs more dangerous than police officer. But, amazingly enough, I've never pre-emptively assaulted someone for a misguided sense of my own importance and safety.

[P Brooks]

i realize in your fantasy world, people could decide whether or not to obey such orders

In my fantasy world, cops would be subject to consequences for their misdeeds, and would consequently treat their fellow citizens respectfully, as equals.

hth

[sarcasmic]

aye

[P Brooks]

In my fantasy world, "good" cops would hold the equivalent of blanket parties for their out-of-control psychofuckbag coworkers instead of forming ranks shoulder to shoulder to protect them no matter how depraved they are or how wanton their disregard for simple human decency.

hth

[sarcasmic]

What "good" cops?

Why seek out a job that allows you to beat the shit out of people who do not obey your every command unless you want to beat the shit out of people who do not obey your every command?

That's not what I think of when I think of a "good" person.

[P Brooks]

That's the problem; as long as they look the other way, they're all bad cops.

[P Brooks]

Why seek out a job that allows you to beat the shit out of people who do not obey your every command unless you want to beat the shit out of people who do not obey your every command?

WANTED: Depraved self-obsessed psychopath, willing to exhibit wanton disregard for the rights and safety of everyone except himself and his fellow baboons. Sexual arousal at the sight of blood helpful, but not necessary.

[sarcasmic]

After watching that clip I wonder if the victim was squirming because he couldn't stand the feel of the hot hard penis being pressed into the small of his back.

[Police...]

[Cops...]

[...]

[Police Cops.]

[Copernicus]

Open Question (especially want Dunphy's take on this):

I'm trying to put myself in the cop's shoes. Here's the scenario (possibly) from what I can see on the video:

Cop arrives at scene. Mr. Flowers is acting erratic/irrational and verbalizing who knows what? Flowers walks toward Cop. Perhaps he is saying violent/aggressive things. Cop says several times to stop/stay away. Flowers closes the distance fairly quickly. Cop now has about 1-2 seconds to act before Flowers is literally on top of him.

You are the Cop. What do you do?
0. Let Flowers do what he whatever he wants.
1. Run away
2. Walk away
3. "fend off" Flowers with extended arms.
4. taser
5. pepper spray
6. Strike him with some kind of blow
7. Single or Double leg take down
8. Shoot him
9. Other

extra points for explanation of your choice..

[sarcasmic]

A 200+lb trained law enforcement professional should be able to take down an elderly man half his size without kicking him in the gut (I'm sure it's a practiced move that he brags about to his peers).

Obviously this cop got out of the car planning to put the hurt on this poor old man.

Why else would he have turned off the dash cam?

[Sam B]

Why else indeed

[Copernicus]

Disappointing as hell so far.

Not one clear direct response to my open question.

Forget the camera. Pretend cameras don't exist.

What exactly (physically) would you do as this demented man approaches you and Why?

[Copernicus]

By the way, isn't it pretty obvious he didn't turn off the camera? I just watched 2.5 minutes of video from the cop's camera. WTF is wrong with you guys?

[Loather of Cops and Feds]

9. Other

Don't be a fascist cocksucker in the first place. Cop should only be a decent human being's last career choice, right after medical experiment test subject or crack whore.

[Copernicus]

If being a cop should be every decent person's "last choice", all cops will be indecent people.

Great logic.

[Loather of Cops and Feds]

And don't forget before you select any of the choices, turn off the dash cam. Or try to delete it afterward. Can't have truth as a part of a police report.

[NL_]

The gut-kick makes perfect sense if you first assume that members of the public are generally dangerous and could at any time knife a cop in broad daylight with no provocation.

The report was a man with a knife. So in the cop's mind, he has to assume that a normal resident of the community he's meant to serve is very likely a would-be murderer bent on randomly knifing cops.

This is a side effect of cops assuming that the populace is the enemy. I'm sure that they comfort themselves that this warfare mentality (viewing the majority of the populace as though they are all 3 seconds away from being cop-killers) saves cop's lives. But if regular residents started gut-kicking and tackling people on the assumption that any given stranger MIGHT be a murderer, police and prosecutors would not give them a break. That's the real issue here.

Cops see themselves as embattled and therefore justified in extreme measures that are otherwise only seen in warfare or hunter-gatherer contexts. But they expect the populace at large to be compliant and docile, even when their houses are being raided unannounced at 4 am by twelve armed guys dressed in all black.

[Copernicus]

Hey, Where did everybody go?

A lot of armchair quarterbacking earlier. Not one reply to...

YOU ARE THE COP, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Just a bunch of "Well, he shouldn't do that" and "Fuck cops".

Come on you pussies!

[Copernicus]

P.S.

Dunphy, please tell us the correct procedure when a guy like Flowers is approaching you too fast or aggressively and you feel threatened. What would you do?

You commented a shitload above on statistics, law, perception vs. reality, etc.

Analyze this scenario and make the call.