Cops Pay $4,000 to Man Who Flipped Them Off

[dgriffin]

Threat Level Privacy, Crime and Security Online

Cops Pay $4,000 to Man Who Flipped Them Off

A suburban Oregon police department is paying a local man $4,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit in which he claimed he was pulled over for flipping off the cops in traffic.

Twice he saluted with his middle finger while driving, and was pulled over each time by a Clackamas County patrol officer, resulting in what he said was a tongue lashing and “bogus” citations that were later dismissed. He sued (.pdf) in March.

“It was just time to settle,” the plaintiff, Robert Ekas, said in a brief telephone interview Thursday. The retired Silicon Valley systems analyst declined to elaborate.

Edward McGlone III, the counsel for Clackamas County, just outside Portland, said the local government settled (.pdf) rather than litigate for “business reasons.”

“It was just cheaper than proceeding in the case at this point,” he added. McGlone, too, declined to elaborate.

There’s no law against directing to police what might be the world’s oldest insulting gesture. But it’s not advised, as it may lead to a confrontation.

In a March interview, however, Ekas told us that he performed the middle-finger salute to the cops because “it seemed like the right thing to do.” He said it was a form of protest against a department he claimed was abusing its citizenry.

The settlement comes a year after a Pittsburgh man was awarded $50,000 after he was wrongly cited for disorderly conduct after flipping off a cop.

www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/11/middle-finger-case/?mbid=wir_ob_ppc_rss_173683678

[bobbbiez]

It's too bad these cases weren't put in front of the Judge who gave Lindsay Lohan no leniency when the disrespectful starlet painted Fu*k U on her finger nail while appearing in court.

[corner]

Did you mean to say disrepectful slut?

[bobbbiez]

lol! But it's the Christmas season and I promised my kids to be nice (especially with the mouth) so don't make me break my promise. ;D

[tonyj]

I miss the cops of yesteryear. It was an era of unbridled law enforcement, before all the liberals changed things. I miss guys like Johnny Belmont, Paul Zogby and Mike Tartaglia senior. They would bust your head first, then ask for your ID. It's too bad the liberals changed it all. Stock up on your ammo, anarchy is a-commin'.

[bobbbiez]

Hey Tony, what ya mean "is a-commin?" Hell, I've been practicing that on my street here for years now. ;D


MERRY CHRISTMAS, my dearest friend! Hope your holidays are filled with plenty of happiness, good health and plenty of..................Love ya kiddo!

[stoney]

Dec 24, 2010 7:43:33 GMT -5 tonyj said:

I miss the cops of yesteryear. It was an era of unbridled law enforcement, before all the liberals changed things. I miss guys like Johnny Belmont, Paul Zogby and Mike Tartaglia senior. They would bust your head first, then ask for your ID. It's too bad the liberals changed it all. Stock up on your ammo, anarchy is a-commin'.

huh?

[Deleted]

Dec 24, 2010 7:43:33 GMT -5 tonyj said:

I miss the cops of yesteryear. It was an era of unbridled law enforcement, before all the liberals changed things. I miss guys like Johnny Belmont, Paul Zogby and Mike Tartaglia senior. They would bust your head first, then ask for your ID. It's too bad the liberals changed it all. Stock up on your ammo, anarchy is a-commin'.

Yea, a good head bustin' never hurt anybody. I remember a police brutality case a few years ago in Herkimer. A couple of tough guy cops pushed a guy down a flight of stairs while he was handcuffed. Well, the person is now a paraplegic for life. Ah, the good ol' days.

[Clipper]

Amen Kracker. I remember hearing from fellow employees about an ambulance call when I rode an ambulance in the city back in the early 70's. It was to Liberty St near Wang and Gene's bar. The cops had cuffed a guy after a fight in the bar. They then gave him a shove and he fell on his face, with his hands cuffed behind him. He broke his nose among other injuries. They then picked him up by the cuffs between his hands, dislocating on of his shoulders. Had they done that to a white person back then, they would have been sued, but at that time, a black person living in the Courts could not afford a lawyer. Possibly the city paid his medical bills, I don't know, but it was a travesty and should have resulted in two cops losing their jobs. If it was football, it would have resulted in an "unnecessary roughness" call. Thank God the Utica Police has come out of that era, and are much better trained than the "good old boys" Tony J speaks of.

[bobbbiez]

Yes, "better trained then the good old boys" but facing a hell of a lot more danger on the streets today then in the good old boy's time. No one wants to become a cop anymore. They are out there trying to recruit officers like never before. It has become a job no one wants because of the dangers facing them today and I'm afraid the list of recruits will get shorter and shorter as we speak. My god, look at the statistics. Police fatalities have jumped 37% just in the last year...117 last year and 160 this year. Those numbers are not just numbers. They are "people" who got killed in trying to do their jobs.

Clipper, I know where you're coming from but today our officers are the ones who are the ones cuffed trying to do their jobs. Having to make "split-second" decisions while worrying if I'm doing the correct procedure or if I'll be sued by someone has taken it's toll on our officers and I'm sure has cost many their lives. We, the public, can go on and on about this issue but no one knows what that is like unless you are an officer in that situation which they face every single day they are on the job.

What can we do, I don't have the answers but I am leaning more on TonyJ side. I clearly remember fully backing two little boys who grew up always wanting to become cops but now having lived my life every single day worrying if they will return home to their families I will never encourage my grandsons to follow in their father's footsteps. NEVER!

[Clipper]

I sympathize with your views BZ, but there is the issue of the rights of the individuals also. Thank goodness our police now are equipped with vests and larger caliber weapons, along with Tasers to disable unruly suspects. Never in the old days did we suspect that handguns would become such a common every day threat to our police officers. They had to contend with knives and clubs in fights back in the day, but seldom faced a firearm.

There is NO way to make the Police officer's job anything other than dangerous, but neither can we have neanderthals out there busting heads and inflicting injuries that can be life long disabilities for minor offenses either. I know cops in years gone by carried black jacks, saps, slap jacks, and other weapons designed to render a suspect unconscious. A taser makes all that unneccessary.

When a person is arrested for public intoxication or some minor offense, they should not end up in the emergency room with a fractured skull or broken nose simply because they were "uncooperative" with the arresting officer. They now are better trained to subdue a suspect. Have you ever been drunk and belligerent? I know I have, but I was lucky enough to have never been arrested or had the cops called.

[bobbbiez]

Dec 29, 2010 14:14:25 GMT -5 Clipper said:

When a person is arrested for public intoxication or some minor offense, they should not end up in the emergency room with a fractured skull or broken nose simply because they were "uncooperative" with the arresting officer. They now are better trained to subdue a suspect. Have you ever been drunk and belligerent?

Huh yeah, many times in my wilder days but never been arrested because of it. Only because I was brought up to always respect the authority and would never in a million years would I even consider fighting with a cop, physically, verbally, drunk or otherwise. Not something that is taking place in today's world. People do wrong and then go nose to nose with a cop and expect nothing to happen. Give me a freakin break! All I can say is if I were a cop and had to deal with the idiots on the streets today, the city of Utica would have a lot more law suits to contend with when I got done. Knowing you quite well, I'm pretty sure I'm safe in saying, you would to.

[bobbbiez]

Dec 29, 2010 14:14:25 GMT -5 Clipper said:

I sympathize with your views BZ, but there is the issue of the rights of the individuals also. Thank goodness our police now are equipped with vests and larger caliber weapons, along with Tasers to disable unruly suspects.

...and they get criticized for using them and have to go through hell and high water to prove their actions were justified even when someone is coming at them with a weapon. All is not that easy as it might sound. Like I said, "split second decisions" is what they have to deal with in hope they make the right one.

Ralph and I experienced that split second decision-making in the Citizens Police Academy and let me tell you it woke all our eyes up to exactly what an officer is faced with. Most of us in the Academy shot and killed most of the innocent by-standers being placed in an officers shoes. Wasn't pretty but made us get the full understanding of what the cops face today in trying to do their job in keeping us safe.

[Clipper]

We have wandered away from the obviously unacceptable practice that would have any cops today "busting heads first and then asking for ID". He talks about the days when a cops disposition often determined how you got treated. Some cops were just bullies and assholes, just like any other segment of society. My dad was partners with Tollerton years ago in a gas station on Keyes Rd. Tollerton was one of those that took pleasure in busting heads and being bad ass. He is long since deceased, may he RIP, but regardless, he was a heavy handed cop that enjoyed pushing people around, and would brag about it the next day. Thank God we don't see much of that kind of law enforcement any more. We also lived near Ray Schreck who was just the opposite, and was just as successful in his career and Don Palmer who was a cycle cop back then, and was the cop image that kids were drawn to respect.

[bobbbiez]

Bet if busting heads was still allowed we wouldn't have the punks and crimes on our streets today. The sad part is the criminals know damn well the cops can't bust their heads which gives them no fear.