Sadly I see far too many of these types of videos. This one is one of the worst I’ve seen though although that one where Canadian police stripped a 15 year-old and hogtied her in a jail cell in the nip is still the most disturbing I’ve ever seen but I digress.
Sheriff Larry Amerson of Calhoun County, Alabama can clearly be seen in this video with his hands around the neck of a handcuffed and shackled inmate. Think about that for a minute and the ethics and the civil liberties behind this. We all want the police to be trustworthy people whom will treat anyone fairly even under strenuous conditions. I think everybody going for a career in criminal justice should take a look at this case, or at least the subject of police brutality. I’m beginning to wonder just what they are teaching police recruits in America. It seems though that maybe the problem goes beyond just the sheriff and partly lies with the culture
Reading the letters in The Anniston Star it seems as though the general public are fully behind the Sheriff. They think a bit of tough life and hands around a throat of a teenager toughens him up and will scare him straight. This may be the case but doing it in full view of a CCTV camera is dumb. The kid apparently was on a programme that it is hoped would ‘scare him straight’ but still I’m not sure that hands around the throat is the best way forward.
The officer is under an FBI investigation and the CCTV evidence is pretty damning. If he doesn’t lose his job he’ll be a very lucky man and I wouldn’t be shocked to see criminal charges laid at his feet.
I just wonder when people will learn that CCTV is everywhere and in this day and age you have to watch everything you say and do. Had this happened 25 years ago no-one would’ve heard about it let alone complaints made. A seemingly good career thrown away in a moment of madness. However as they say ‘if you can’t do the time then don’t do the crime’ and I’m pretty sure that is assault at worst.
Watch the video below to put together your own thoughts.
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