Cameraphone makes cops nervous

An excellent development. Video at source. It is pretty clear that the the cop drives the black guy's head through the window

CALIFORNIAN police have taken the unusual step of releasing a damning video to the public before it becomes a YouTube hit. The video shows a policeman dragging a man off a train in Oakland and then appearing to put the man’s head through a window at the terminal.

Police said Michael Gibson, 37, was drunk, however Mr Gibson's family says he suffers from a mental illness and has been in trouble with police before, Fox News reported.

Debate surrounds whether Mr Gibson stumbled into the glass during a struggle with the officer or whether his head was deliberately driven through the window. Both the police officer and Mr Gibson suffered minor cuts in the incident. An investigation is under way into whether the officer used excessive force.

Regardless, the Bay Area Rapid Transit department called a press conference as soon as footage from the phone of a commuter watching the incident appeared on YouTube as “Officer breaks window with drunks face”.

Before it went viral, BART released the video to the media in an attempt to manage any fallout from the incident. “We are keenly aware of what YouTube brings to the public,” BART police patrol Commander Daniel Hartwig said. “We want to assure the public that we are moving forward. We are not waiting. “We are investigating this to the fullest extent.”

It’s not the first time the department has been burnt by YouTube. In January, one of its officers was videoed fatally shooting unarmed man Oscar Grant III, an incident that sparked riots after it went viral on YouTube.

Original report here



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