ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD

| | Comments (13) |
The videotaped beating of a pursuit suspect by El Monte Police officers has caught the eye of the ACLU.
An El Monte police officer kicked Richard Rodriguez, 23, of El Monte in the head following a half-hour high speed pursuit through the East San Gabriel Valley.
Ramona Ripston told the Los Angeles Times the video "is truly chilling."
Rodriguez, a member of El Monte Flores was on parole at the time of the pursuit, El Monte police said.


13 Comments

Nestor Oropeza said:

This Police Officer should of put his shotgun in this guy's mouth and blown his head off. Did anyone see these 2 guys that were running from the police?????....they were the epidemy of the Gang problem L.A. County has. As a business owner in the city of Whittier this trash (Gang Members) prey on inocent citizens day in/ day out. These gang members do not care about anyone or anything, why should we care about them, WHY!!???

Nestor Oropeza said:

This Police Officer should of put his shotgun in this guy's mouth and blown his head off. Did anyone see these 2 guys that were running from the police?????....they were the epidemy of the Gang problem L.A. County has. As a business owner in the city of Whittier this trash (Gang Members) prey on inocent citizens day in/ day out. These gang members do not care about anyone or anything, why should we care about them, WHY!!???

Criminal Justice Major said:

Aren't you being a little drastice on putting a shotgun to the guy's mouth? No matter what, Officers are suppose to obey the law as well and kicking someone why they are surrending breaks it. I hope he gets suspended without pay. We need these crooked cops out of here. Just because they are officers doesn't mean they are above the law. The question is not why should we care about these criminals, it's what if this officer next time shoots or kills a surrendering offender. I understand his frustration but being in that type of career you better learn how to handle it. If not then he better find another career.

Janell said:

Yes, that Police Officer was wrong, he should have klicked the thug in the groin & shot him in the head.. Lets get rid of these violent gang member the cheap way , 1 bullet instead of $40K a year of my tax $$$$$$$$$$$$ to house them in a State Prison..

Alabama John said:

Legalized killers -- All of the intelligent middleclass.

Law enforcement are all have college level intelligence, and they spend 95% of their time policing laboring men. Result being 95% of all prisoners in jails, prisons and insane asylims are fighting age laboring men. For 60% of men have not a high school degree, they are slave labor and live in a police state

Anonymous said:

Cops are worse than the gangs. He should be fired, no desk duty, no paid leave, just fired. All they do is abuse inner city people and act like they're above the law. COP = crooked old punks

My 2 Cents said:

I see absolutely nothing wrong with this! This scumbag takes police on a pursuit with no regards to human life, being kicked in the head is the least of his worries. The ACLU should is a piece of work...what a fantastic organization!!! I think the officer was just trying to get him to think straight...that's all!!!!

- My .02 cents

quicksilver said:

The ACLU can go to hell. They, along with every single gang member should be rounded up and shot summarily.

TDoc said:

It's sad how a uniform and sense of authority could make a person think he could do things he normally don't to other fellow humans. It's not like he was a relative of a victim who got killed by the suspect or anything.

I'm pretty sure cases like this one occur on a daily basis. Unfortunately, other parts of the country don't have resourceful news media like Southern California. This awesome video sums up every perspective of the story: http://www.newsy.com/videos/the_kick_caught_on_tape

Anonymous said:

He didn't kick him hard enough. The gang bangers did not care if they hit anyone on the road. Can we have a replay with a cheering section................

Donna H. said:

It's NOT the police's role to administer justice. The separation of the police's role of enforcing the law from the court's role of administering justice is one of the essentials that distinguishes us from a police state. I'm sure the guy fleeing the police will face many added charges and consequences for doing so. Just like many other professionals, police should be screened, trained, and paid well enough to do their job while keeping their personal feelings under control. If you like what the police did, maybe you'd like life better in places like north korea, kazakhstan, or myanmar--i'm sure the authorities there would like your attitude.

211guy said:

Lucky this didn't occur in Tijuana, the cops would have ripped off his head, used it for a soccerball and set his carcass on fire. Just check the body count in TJ today.
Wonder if the ACLU office in Tijuana is called 'MCLU'?.

The police may have acted out of frustration, and it's understandable with what they see and deal with daily, especially in a city like El Monte. I grew up in the city and can say firsthand how seedy the gang-infested streets can be. However, without police passionate about their jobs, you also have to wonder who's enforcing the law. This city can get pretty nasty and I think the cops got a bit carried away--we'd need more info on past offenses to better weigh their actions.

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CONTRIBUTORS

Frank Girardot
Frank Girardot, Metro Editor for the San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, brings you behind the yellow tape with takes on true crime, cold cases and more. This is also your forum to discuss crime, its impact on your neighborhood and how we cover it. Have any questions or tips? You can leave a comment here or e-mail Frank.

Brian Day
Brian Day is the crime reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper group.
E-mail Brian.

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Frank Girardot published on May 14, 2009 8:25 AM.

Woman shot after confronting burglar was the previous entry in this blog.

Minor rap sheet, major headache in El Monte is the next entry in this blog.

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Recent Comments

elmonteblogger on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: The police may have acted out of frustration, and it's understandable ...

211guy on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: Lucky this didn't occur in Tijuana, the cops would have ripped off his ...

Donna H. on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: It's NOT the police's role to administer justice. The separation of th ...

Anonymous on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: He didn't kick him hard enough. The gang bangers did not care if they ...

TDoc on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: It's sad how a uniform and sense of authority could make a person thin ...

quicksilver on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: The ACLU can go to hell. They, along with every single gang member sho ...

My 2 Cents on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: I see absolutely nothing wrong with this! This scumbag takes police o ...

Anonymous on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: Cops are worse than the gangs. He should be fired, no desk duty, no p ...

Alabama John on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: Legalized killers -- All of the intelligent middleclass. Law enforc ...

Janell on ACLU demands investigation of El Monte PD: Yes, that Police Officer was wrong, he should have klicked the thug in ...

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