September 11, 2008
Girl Says "Rookie" Cop Broke Her Jaw
According to witnesses, 17-year-old Jessica Williams got a powerful punch in the mouth after mouthing off to NYPD housing cop Desmond Nichols last Sunday outside the Tompkins Houses in Bed-Stuy. The trouble started when Nichols stopped Williams for riding her bike on the sidewalk and asked to see her I.D. When pressed for her apartment number, she reportedly dismissed Nichols as a "rookie." This struck a nerve with Nichols (who is, in fact, a rookie), and he allegedly punched her in the face, remarking, "I had enough of your smart mouth." Williams's jaw broke in two places, and she's awaiting surgery to insert metal plates. After that, a lawsuit! Nichols is under investigation, but he insists Williams threw the first punch. After the altercation he charged her with resisting arrest and marijuana possession.
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I'm just waiting for the video tape (I'm sure its coming dont they have video camera for security?)
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Theres no way he can justify breaking the woman's jaw even if she attacked him. Perhaps she deserved a slap but thats about it.
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Are they sure it wasn't this guy:
http://gothamist.com/2008/09/11/mans_cop_fantasy_comes_to_end.php
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this pig had nothing better to do than to punch girls in the face?!
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its getting harder and harder to defend the good police.
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Normally I would say no, but in this case it might have been justified.
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Some law enforcement training includes handling someone yelling at your face, but you stand and take it with dignity instead of going postal.
That's part of living in a free society.
I'm not sure if NYPD is excluded this or just doing a lousy training job in view of all the bullies we keep seeing on the streets.
Good thing Asian video devices are cheap.
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its getting harder and harder to defend the good police.
How's that? Because (as of recent) less than 15 cops have been total douche bags? 15/38,000
It's not that hard.
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There's a reason why they're called pigs.
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She's not a woman, but a girl-- she's just 17. So now cops are beating the crap out of kids? Great.
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the police should be scared of US... there pieces of brainwashed garbage
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I'm shocked to read that there are any cops in that area to begin with...
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what a jerk. what would possess a cop to punch a high school girl in the face?
depending on how much makeup she wears, this could truly be lipstick on a pig...
[sorry, had to]
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ah, my lovely neighborhood. yeah there are a decent amount of cops around, they can be a little intense. this is absurd, though.
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There are situations where an officer can justifiably punch a civilian (yes, even a female, even a teen, and even in the face).
This story (with some embellishment) can go either way so that the officer is either a) a complete asshole and a criminal, or b) someone doing his job.
a) The woman said something, the officer thought it was rude and punched her. He arrested her for resisting arrest to cover his ass and when he searched incident to that arrest he happened to find marijuana, which makes her look "more criminal." I'm sorta surprised she didn't also get Disorderly Conduct as that is an officer's best friend in this type of situation.
b) The woman was doing something that gave the officer reasonable suspicion to stop her. She was non-compliant. It escalated to the point where she would be placed under arrest but she resisted. The officer cannot simply let her use force against him and leave, and he punches her back in an attempt to gain physical control of the situation. Unfortunately, the punch breaks her jaw.
Perhaps reserve indignation (for or against the officer) until we know more? She can file a complaint with IAB, the CCRB, OCD (office of the chief of the department), and will sue the City. Those investigations will almost definitely be imperfect, but they'll probably come closer to figuring out if he's a "pig" or not than anyone here can by reading a blog.
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People need to be afraid more often of mouthing off to the wrong people.
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I got stopped several times for riding my bike on the sidewalk. I was polite, recognized it was wrong, acted friendly and GOT OFF EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Sheequeesha should have left her attitude at home.
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@17: no need to be a racist imbecile, her name is JESSICA.
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@15, agreed, and @18, well said! #17 appears to suffer from short term memory. If you "recognized" it was wrong, then why did you get caught several times?
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Do what the cops tell you or you deserve a beat down. She wasn't playing by the rules. He called her on it. She had an attitude. He smacked her down. Good for him. It's like those jerkoffs who ignore traffic & cross at an intersection almost daring you to keep driving even though you've got the green light. I'd love to see someone run them over.