Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Dude...

Need a mid-week fix between episodes of “The Wire”?

Maybe you ain’t even about that fictional shit. You wanna know what it’s really like to police the city of Baltimore.

Watch this. (Hat-tip: HickTown Press.)

11 comments:

Dollar Bill said...

Saw this on another board.

Give respect and the chances are greater you will get it in return.

Either a bad day or the roids kicking in.
I'd be grumpy about being kicked down to skate board patrol duties too,but count to ten or something.

Undercover Black Man said...

Saw this on another board.

It has even started to bleed over into cable news, dj. Yesterday I caught a glimpse of this distinctive uniform from the corner of my eye... didn't hear any details.

I bet this is a big deal on the local news in Baltimore.

I mean, it's so perfect, it almost seems scripted: "... or my name isn't Officer Ribieri! Hey, is that camera on?..."

Dollar Bill said...

And the only fall out seems to be a suspension WITH pay from what I have heard.

Assault charges should be laid as he had no cause to become so physically agressive with some little 14 year old,punk or not.

He presented no threat to the officer or public and unless he was planning on detaining him,shouldn't have gone there.

Surprised he didn't Taze him,while dancing around daring the kid to call him dude again.

Me thinks his dad may have put a foot up his ass along with the big boys in school,which is why he packed on the pounds and is high on his badge.

Respect my athori-tay!

dwgs said...

Looks like someone's compensating for the dorky uniform and goofy car he was given. Yeesh.

Anonymous said...

BaltSun has sizable article with photo today, following a Greg Kane column about this yesterday.

From today's piece:

Salvatore Rivieri, a 17-year veteran, was suspended by the Police Department pending an internal investigation after berating, manhandling and threatening Eric Bush last summer.

"I don't feel sorry for him at all," said Eric Bush, who has turned into a minor celebrity as a ninth-grader . . .

As of last night, more than 400,000 people had watched the video on YouTube since its posting Saturday. Bush and the cameraman, Tony Santo, 15, a 10th-grader, have taped segments for two nationally broadcast shows and are expecting other interview requests before the end of the week.

. . . Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, said police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld and members of the command staff watched it.

"Officer Rivieri was suspended while IID [the Internal Investigations Division] looks into it," Clifford said. "Did this officer go about enforcing the law in a way that is appropriate?"

Anonymous said...

[ . . . it's so perfect, it almost seems scripted ]

That's high praise for Sal Rivieri's dramatic flair and ability to nail a generation chasm in 11 words:

I'm not a dude -- a dude is someone on a ranch.

Uh, sure . . . whatever you say, Officer.

Anonymous said...

David,

These officers are on the loose, mistreating people. Did you see the nut who dumped a paralyzed man from his wheelchair?

And the one in Baltimore who beat a boy so bad the child looked like Emmitt Till? Unreal!

Lynn

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry guys, but I am supposed to feel bad for this kid or something?

Really?

And some of the other, very legitimate and horrible, instances of police brutality brought up in here simply should be left out. They are on a whold different scale then this.

DeAngelo Starnes said...

silver spring, I hear you but police brutality is borne from police officers like this one abusing the authority a badge and a gun give him.

i've been confronted like police officers like this before who were having a bad day and took their bad day out on you. the most notorius time came when i was in la on the bus stop on my way home from law school at night. cops drove by, saw me by myself sitting on the bench minding my own business waiting on the bus ready to get home to eat. cop car doubles back and pulls up in front of the bench and started shining that bright ass light in my face. started asking me who i was, where i was going, where i was coming from. as i'm answering the questions, i look away because that light was blinding. was told to look into the light. didn't want to get shot so i looked at the light but put my hand in front of my face. announced i was going to put my hand in my face as i was doing it so that i wouldn't get shot. next thing i know the cops are out of the car, going through my bags. meanwhile bus comes and goes. cop calls in my license to see if i have any warrants, which i don't have.

whole incident probably took a half hour. waited damn near another half hour before another bus came.

now i wonder how much crime went down while i was being harassed? who were the cops protecting and serving?

assholes. "shining that light in my face and for what? ... fuck tha police! fuck, fuck, fuck tha police!"

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Messed-up story, DeAng. That was before the '92 riots, I reckon?

DeAngelo Starnes said...

^Dave,about a year before.