ACLU: Miami Beach cops arrest people for recording police misconduct

By Daniel Tencer
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 -- 8:21 pm

miamibeachflamingopark ACLU: Miami Beach cops arrest people for recording police misconduct 'We're sick of all the f***ing fags in the neighborhood,' cops allegedly told gay man

Miami Beach has long had a reputation for being a refuge for gay Americans, but if the ACLU's allegations against the city prove true, people in the LGBT community may want to think twice about retiring to the vibrant little community just off the coast of southern Florida.

The ACLU's Florida chapter says it plans to sue the Miami Beach Police Department after a gay visitor to the city was beaten and arrested by police when he tried to call 911 to report the police beating of another gay man.

According to the NBC affiliate in Miami, Harold Strickland says he was harassed, verbally assaulted and wrongfully arrested in March, 2009, when he called 911 after witnessing two police officers kicking a handcuffed gay man in Miami Beach's Flamingo Park.

Strickland says the officers, identified as Frankly Forte and Elliot Hazzi, were kicking the suspect "like his head was a football." When the officers saw Strickland making a call on a nearby pay phone, Strickland says one officer came up to him and said, "We know what you're doing here. We're sick of all the fucking fags in the neighborhood."

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The officers arrested Strickland and continued to barrage him with homophobic epithets, NBC Miami reports.

"Often, police target gay men walking near Flamingo Park for nothing more than looking тАШtoo gayтАЩ,тАЭ Robert Rosenwald, director of the Florida ACLU's LGBT Advocacy Project, said in a statement. тАЬWhen police officers become the problem rather than the solution, the City needs to take action."

In a letter (PDF) sent to Miami Beach Mayor Matti Harrera Bower on Wednesday, the ACLU said Miami Beach police "also have an alarming history of arresting individuals, particularly African-American men and women, who witness police misconduct."

The ACLU says it has received reports of Miami Beach officers threatening to arrest witnesses of police misconduct and even tearing out cellphone SIM cards belonging to people who photographed police arrests.

"All people have a clear constitutional right and a civic duty to report police misconduct," said Ray Taseff, an attorney working with the ACLU. "When police start arresting people for reporting police misconduct, the publicтАЩs faith in law enforcement suffers.тАЭ

According to Carlos Santoscoy at OnTopMag, the officers who arrested Strickland claimed in their police report that Strickland had been "prowling" Flamingo Park and approached their squad car before fleeing when he realized there was an officer inside.

But Santoscoy reports that Strickland's recorded 911 call "conflicts" with the arresting officers' claims, as the officers can be heard on the 911 call confronting Strickland after he had reported what he had allegedly seen.

The ACLU is calling on Mayor Bower to discipline the two officers involved.

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Octavio
The United States increasingly is looking more like what we used to consider a Latin American "banana Republic": rampant homophobia, sanctioned corruption, blatant sexism, extreme inequality of wealth getting worse, institutionalized bribery (or "free speech", lobbying), a military/corporate plutocracy that really controls the government, and a media reminiscent of Orwell's 1984. It is in this environment that people will allow authorities to increasingly do whatever they want in the name of security. And an increasingly imperial attitude that makes this country almost indistinguishable from the government our own revolution fought against, the British Empire. We should be able to imagine where this will take us.

facebook-526367381
Sorry guys.... but this just reinforces the fact the US is utterly fecked. Till U lot revolt and overthrow the fascist corporate wankers that run your country you're doomed :)

6GirlsGrandpa
The same type of actions occur in Boston on a regular basis. The cops will arrest people who use their cell phones to record the beating by using the Boston law requiring both parties to be amenable to being recorded. Great way to protect cops from being video/audio recorded beating handcuffed suspects.

carol h.
A new and kinder America. Brought to you by the intolerant, illiterate, vapid, lawless law enforcement.

al green
Violent personalities are drawn to occupations where they can express that trait. corruptible persononalities too.

So why are people surprised at violent cops & corrupt politicians, who else would want to do that sort of work?

atheistlibertariancriminalassh
in my own state the police have long been un-accountable for their transgressions, or at least far less so than non-l.e. citizens they have been absolved of things by our courts that routinely land regular citizens in jail or prison. e.g pointing a firearm at a person who presents no perceptible threat earns a regular citizen a charge of aggravated assault but is routine part of police procedure here. while the law makes no provision for a police officer to have the right to assault me in practice the court system always upholds his non existent right. a man severely injured a police officer by accident (negligence stemming from his failure to take anti seizure meds) and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, while in a contemporary incident a cop ignoring his dept. policy, instructions from his dispatcher and the instructions of his shift supervisor caused the deaths of three citizens and the critical injuries of six more was given six months probation. this double standard is not the result of the cheney admin. it far predates it. it is a willingness of the population to grant special rights to police officers (practically if not literally) and that is based, imho in a widely held belief that through training or selection or something that police officers are somehow better than the rest of us. that they have a guaranteed moral character or some elevated level of judgment and that therefore we are safe giving these extra rights to cops. until we can break down this illusion (delusion?) that exists in the minds of the majority of our population we'll keep on having these bullies-in-uniform, and nothing will change. it is not the law or the govt. that needs changing, per se, but rather the perceptions of your neighbors. if we all question selection and training of our l.e. personnel, and if we can end the blind hero worship of l.e. officers then, maybe, we can get judges to hold them to the same legal standards that the rest of us are obligated to follow.

i live in arizona.

i apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors in the above post.

davidrvelasquez
Wow,... cops behaving like fascist bullies.... big surprize there.

Having been beaten by the cops on more than one occasion it becomes clear to me that sometimes the only difference between a crook and a cop is the badge.

Dr. Freud
right you are ... studies have shown that the psychological profiles of cops and crooks are the same: superior and entitled. (and you can probably also apply that to military, politicians, and the wealthy).
practically everyone who needs to be hanged for the good of the world these days.

thx1138
.
ICE-Ts 1992 "COP KILLER" ENJOYING NEW FOUND RESURGENCE IN DISTRIBUTION, SALES

-- Former Critics Admit Controversial Rapper's Inflammatory Hit Was "Way Ahead Of Its Time" --

-- Rapper Plans Studio Return To Record "CEO Killer", "GOP Killer", and "MIC Killer" --
.

justpointingout
nice to see tax dollars are being put to good use.

braind
Yes, the government and the christian war criminals are responsible here. To spell it out for youтАж the government and government workers... do what they damn well please. Don't act surprised when people have had enough of this crap.... jack.

Investigate NWO/globalists
Too many cops smell the increasing fascism & want to become a part of it!

thepoliticalcat
Discipline??!! How about kicking their fat asses off the citizens' payroll?

Hologram5
Obama's great idea of reshaping of the DHS. Gestapo, draconian ideals and thoughts. Great.

willcarlile
You are just a fucking idiot plain and simple

Hologram5
It's people like you that is the problem with this country. Instead of working together AGAINST the common enemy, toolsheds like you instead choose to attack and belittle people as if it makes you feel better. Have fun with that. Hope you have a great life and choose wisely when the time comes.

PT
Really? You think a policy change on federal level made over the last year suddenly turned an upstanding Miami Beach police force (or members of it) into a homophobic bunch of bullies in uniform? I would assume the precedence of such behavior can be found way before January 20th 2009. My suggestion (take it or leave it of course) would be to think a little more about it, before using the single brush your painting with.

Hologram5
Before you get yourself all a'twitter, I loathe both parties with a passion as they do NOTHING for us the people. They don't listen to the people, they show disdain for us with every vote. Why you defend them, I have no clue because they don't give a rat's ass about you. That is, unless they are paying you to be here. Politicians are nothing but leeches on society that give nothing in return for the honor we give them by voting them into office.

PT
Dare I say that nowhere in my comment did I profess undying love for either/any party? I was (merely?) commenting on your statement which showed no deeper thought about the issue apart from regurgitating blame shifting views often associated with a republican ideology. Your attempt to obfuscate this now by sidestepping the point in question and starting a diatribe about politicians does nothing to change my opinion (which you might find odd to hear, is certainly changeable if presented with a reasonable argument).

Hologram5
My bad, I don't have a disagreement with you, we are fellow Americans both fed up with the lies, the buying selling of votes/loyalties for mere pieces of silver, the pet projects, waste of tax dollars and the list goes on and on. We both have our hard earned dollars sapped into even more every year so that those that "Have", can have more while we continue to scrape and save and sacrifice for the "better" good, so they tell us. You have a good weekend, huh?

steveg2
cops in the USA generally need to be kept on a much tighter leash. The idea that it is possible to do police work to a personal code as opposed to a universal one is just bizarre.

Would also recommend raising entry requirements to something higher than walk and chew gum at the same time.

There are lots of good cops and stories like this must really piss them off.

Legend
Wit so many freemason gays in Miami/Dade county, this IS odd! I'm talking very queer.
And I mean odd queer, not Gay.

robertfromphila
Discipline them? Arrest them for assault and abuse of power, and then PUBLICLY Fire them!

OldAtlantic
This is 3rd worldization. If you want cops like Andy Taylor then you have to have a community like Mayberry. The cops are only as good as the people and somewhat better in most cases. Bring down the level of the people and the level of the cops comes down as well. Its a choice that libs imposed on the rest of us by 3rd world immigration.

LumberJock
In a world where there is social equity, you would have no computer since you have no mind, you would have no mouth since you don't know how to use it, you would have no audience to listen to your mindless drivel ... oh! we're closer than I thought. No one listens to you at all. Pretty soon your brain is going to be as shrivelled and useless as your johnson. Bet you haven't had eny since childhood! Oooooooooooooooops, your still in your childhood, eternal childhood.

OldAtlantic
Libs say terminate the rights of those who speak what they don't like. Libs are little tyrants. Geert Wilders trial shows libs inner Lenin.

WJM51
No, not even close. This is the logical outcome of voting authoritarians into office who see EVERYTHING that pisses them off as an excuse to jail someone, and if not that, then beat them for fun.

Were EITHER of these people beaten by these PIGS an immigrant? Now way to tell from the article, but you insist on blaming those who Faux noise has told you to blame. I'm goddamned sick and tired of you and your blame the victim bullshit. Blame those who beat the first guy for nothing, and then beating the second guy for doing his citizenly duty and called the REAL cops over it.

And the PIG actually admitted that they were dong it essentially because the guy was gay? Where is equal protection under the law? Do gays pay any less in taxes than anyone else? Hardly. Why do they deserve to be beaten for who they are? Goddamn, I thought we had come further than that, in SPITE of people like you. I guess not, your side has done a great job taking us back a hundred years or so.

These cops deserve to be fired, fined and jailed. They broke their trust with the people, and have shown that they are not capable of doing their jobs properly. FIRE them. FINE them. JAIL them.

OldAtlantic
"Were EITHER of these people beaten by these PIGS an immigrant? " Are Haitians immigrants? Are blacks in South Africa or Zimbabwe? Are Muslims in Afghanistan? These people create societies in their own image and that includes police brutality. Bring them here and you get brutal police because these people have a brutal way of thinking and that changes society in their direction.

Hologram5
Sorry to say sir but you are way off base there. These officers are ex-military and are taking HGH or some other type of steroids which makes them angry and aggressive. This has NOTHING to do with liberal/conservative or political party. Quit politicizing things that aren't political, it is people, not politics.

OldAtlantic
Each case has its own genesis in the particularities of that situation. However, how people react to the situation and how they acted to put themselves in that situation reflects the state of society. So individual cases are driven by particularities, but the aggregate is driven by aggregate factors. Any society will respond on multiple levels to violence and the loss of safety, if it ever had it.

Juan Valdez
VeryOldAtlantic,

YOU FOOL!!

So many words to say absolutely nothing.

And English is my SECOND language!!!

OldAtlantic
Where are you from Mr. Valdez? Does your country have more brutal cops? Are those cops from your country? Are the gangs brutal there too? Same as Hispanic gangs in LA?

Robert Lockwood Mills
This isn't a political issue, or even a First Amendment issue, first and foremost. It's a criminal matter, a case of aggravated assault by renegade cops against a citizen. It should be treated as such.

Hologram5
I agree, a Judge ruled about a year ago that this type of arrest is a false arrest, basically it is the same as assault. The Judge ruled that we have the right and duty as sovereign citizens to resist this assault up to the point of taking the assaulter's life. Case law states we can help those being assaulted as well. They'll think twice about doing this when enough people get sick of seeing it and start acting. But most people need to grow a set before they'll start acting.

when_the_whip_comes_down
My biggest concern about confronting corrupt police would be the judges that tend to unfailingly side with the pork. It takes deep pockets to wage war and these guys are getting paid overtime to oppose you... on your taxpayer dime. In whose interest is it to defend liberty? Not the squeaky wheel.

eldurado
Last year when the local county DEA cops broke into a house where a newly arrived, church sponsored family from Bosnia was living. Drug lords broke husbands nose and arm, threw the wife to the floor causing 2 fractured vertebra, and traumatized their 3 young children. The church and brought the home two months before and refurbished it for the families arrival. The goons broke down the front door and trashed the whole house looking for drugs causing over $10,000 in damage. They even started a small fire in the bedroom. The DEA cops claimed they had made drug purchases at the house over the past several months. No one had lived in the house in a year. Then they claimed that they had the wrong address. The search warrant had the correct address for the drug raid. Drug loads could provide no evidence that drugs had been bought at the house....they lied to the judge and provided him falsified evidence for the warrant. Cops tried to sweep it all under the table but it seems the judge presiding over the case and several state and local politicians are members of the church, as is the local police chief. County and city are going to pay big time for their misconduct. Oh, neighbor across the street captured pretty good video of the whole scene with his video camera through the broken down front door and the picture window as he was getting ready for work. Goons don't have a chance in hell but will they really pay for what they did to this family?

lefive
2 cops in montreal
they bust a guy for weed
they let him go after usual intimidation
they are seen smoking it 4 blocks away half hour later
we all saw this but
we couldn't say they had a smile on their faces
they were parked the wrong way