Youtube Video Exposes Dallas Cops To Be Liars

November 12, 2011 @ 12:31AM

Youtube Video Exposes Dallas Cops To Be Liars

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News

Once again, a Youtube video proved police officers lied through their teeth when writing a police report.

But this time, his department is taking quick action against one of the officers.

So for that, the Dallas Police Department should be commended. Let’s hope they follow through with their investigation.

The incident took place last weekend during an Occupy Dallas protest in front of a Bank of America.

An Occupy Dallas activist named Stephen Benavides was arrested on a felony charge of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. He spent four nights in jail until he was released Wednesday on a $50,000 bond.

This is how the original story read on NBC DFW.

After being directed to get down, one of of the protesters became aggressive and assaulted a police officer.

That person was arrested and will be charged with assault on a public servant and resisting arrest.

Occupy Dallas spokesperson Michael Prestonise told NBC 5 via email that an off-duty Dallas officer working security at the bank shoved a protester and that is what sparked the violence.

That report also states that seven other people were arrested for "use of sidewalk."

Initially, Dallas Police Chief David Brown stood by his officers, despite the allegations of excessive force.

But that was before someone posted a video on Youtube proving the allegations were correct.

Benavides told the Dallas Morning News that officer Jimmy Hollis had ordered him off the planter, but didn’t even give him time to comply. Initial reports list the officer's name as Jay Hollis.

It was not but a split second, a split second reaction by him and he shoves me off the planter," Benavides said. "I fall down, I land on the curb, I bust my ribs up and eveyrhting else is kind of out there on the videos."

Benavides added: "You can see him standing there in the video and we're talking and then he pushes me. The conversation didn't last any more than a couple of seconds. So he didn't give me an opportunity to comply."

Once Chief Brown saw the video, he authorized the following comment on Facebook.

Last night, the Dallas Police Department discovered a new video of the Occupy Dallas demonstration that occurred on November 5, 2011. The video shows a Dallas Police Officer, who was working off-duty for Bank of America, push a demonstrator off a planter in front of the building.

Chief David Brown has ordered the officer placed on restricted duty and initiated a formal investigation into the officer's actions. The restricted duty assignment will also prohibit the officer from working off-duty employment until the departmental investigation is complete.

In light of this development, the Police Department has requested that the Dallas County District Attorney and the Dallas City Attorney proceed no further with the criminal cases alleged to have occurred until further consultation takes place. These meetings are anticipated to occur next week.

The Dallas Police Department is dedicated to the protection of all members of the public. Any allegation of police misconduct is taken seriously and will be vigorously investigated. The Police Department encourages any witnesses who would like to make a statement or who have additional video to contact the Internal Affairs Division at (214) 671-3986.

Here is a video of an activist confronting Hollis about the incident.

Comments

Rance

6 months ago

Kudos to the DPD.

the Bulldog

6 months ago

keep hope alive!

Joe Murray

6 months ago

" Any allegation of police misconduct is taken seriously and will be vigorously investigated. "

...as long as you have incontrovertible proof to back it up, otherwise the allegations will be ignored.

Norwegian Chap

6 months ago

It is their job to uphold the law and public order, as such, they will be subject of frivolous accusations all the time. It doesn't take the intellect of a rocket scientist to understand that a simple "he started it" accusation against a police offcer will stand on very limited legal feet.

You do need proof, as the officers are the ones the courts will regard as more or less impartial witnesses to what happened, at least in term of "mr. X hit bystander y in the face and was arrested". In cases where the officer is to a larger degree arresting someone for violence towards him or herself, it might be a different matter, but generally speaking, it's perfectly understandable that officers don't get fired or prosecuted for every single accusation.

Even as a doorman, I've gotten accusations thrown against me that I hit someone in the face, when I, hand on heart, didn't. And I would remember if I did. It doesn't seem far fetched that anyone who's forced to use force from time to time through their job will get accused of all manner of things. The accusations are not always true, most of the time, they're probably completely bogus.

As we've debated many times at PINAC, there are good cops and bad cops. The good cops are the silent majority, we don't recognize them because we're watching the bad eggs. Stereotypes always have some truth to them, but there's a reason it's deemed bad form to argue from them: They're not accurate.

Citizen A

6 months ago

"The good cops are the silent majority, [citation needed]"

FTFY

Phred

6 months ago

Perhaps if the "good" cops who are the silent majority would speak up against the "bad" cops who give all of them a bad name, this sort of thing would happen far less often. As long as they observe the "code of silence," they are just as guilty as the ones committing the actual abuse and they contribute directly to the lack of respect heaped upon all cops by the public at large.

One need only look at the Penn State University child abuse scandal to understand that silence in the face of abuse makes one just as guilty as the actual abuser.

*Pixie*

6 months ago

After viewing the tape I see something interesting: there were others on the planter. So why would he ask him to get down? What right did he have to do that?

The report lie isn't the only problem here.

When the cops think they can push you back, make you move, stop the pictures, stop the video, etc. etc. when you've committed zero crimes...well, that just pisses me off. (for good reasons, but that's a story for another day.)

We're letting officers make decisions on the job that would be considered wrong by a reasonable person, and not backed by law. They're getting away with them because the "stress" of their job allows them to make bad (illegal) decisions without repercussion. Really? Gee, the stress from my job makes me want to drive fast...can I get away with that?

Good for the DPD to recognize the one illegal act but c'mon! Recognize ALL his illegal acts. TRAIN YOUR OFFICERS IN THE LAW.

Rich

6 months ago

So the 40 witnesses before the video were liars, why should we expect the police to do anything but cover up any evidence they gather from any other witness in the future. Police who commit perjury need to do jail time.

Ken Bankers

6 months ago

You know it one cops eye is as good as a survalance tape......... ( enter sarcasam here)

Norwegian Chap

6 months ago

If those 40 witnesses are protesters, their value as witnesses will, sadly, be very small in a court of law. We don't even need to discuss why, it's simple; they're part of a protest, someone taking part of that protest got arrested and charged for assault, therefore the court and most jurors will have a hard time seeing their testimony as credible.

There needs to be an opening with regards to perjury, that will take lapses of memory into account (I believe that should be the case for everybody, I don't know how the laws work on this matter in the states, as an example), but clear cases of intentional perjury is not a disiplinarian matter, it is a criminal matter, and should be handled as such.

We need to keep in mind that eye witness accounts are, and always have been, notoriously unreliable. The surest way to spot who's lying after something's happened is usually to look at the one who's got the most complete version of events.

I witnessed an assault on someone I didn't know by someone I didn't know last weekend. I told the police what I did see, and left descriptions to other people. I simply could not give an accurate description of the guy who threw the punch. Most people won't be able to do so either.

Anonymous22

6 months ago

Texas is the creepiest state and it doesn't surprise me that officers there are ultra creepy like that. If you ever go to Texas your best protection is to pretend to be a bible-thumper or you will get your ass beat like that.

benwolfe54

6 months ago

BofA is a company that pays executives in the $400 million/year range. The guy should file a suit against them, as the cop was their agent, for 2 or 3 times that amount.

#Anonymous

6 months ago

Carlos, you're spreading a lot of misinformation here:

"Once again, a Youtube video proved a police officer was lying through his teeth when he wrote a police report."

-The officer who pushed Mr. Benavides off the planter wouldn't have written the report because he isn't the one who arrested Benavides. Here's a video that depicts the officer being confronted about it after the fact.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VL9mqiyPCo&feature=related). In the video you can see Benavides being led away in handcuffs while Officer Hollis is talking to the camera.

"Officer Jimmy Hollis claimed that activist Stephen Benavides had assaulted him, starting a mini-riot in which eight people were arrested, including some who were pepper sprayed."

-Officer Hollis never claimed Benavides assaulted him. Benavides was charged with assaulting a different officer and resisting arrest in an incident that happened later. About four seconds into this video you can see Benavides' flag as he stands on the ground waving it. (http://vimeo.com/31660131). It is claimed that Benavides swung the flag pole at an officer some time after he was pushed off the planter, resulting in his arrest.

Also, according to Occupy Dallas, Officer Hollis' first name is Jay not Jimmy.

tldr: Mr. Benavides wasn't arrested for the incident shown in this video. Officer Hollis didn't arrest Mr. Benavides.

Matt Fisher

6 months ago

Fire the cop. Take away his pension. Charge him and convict him of a felony so he can't vote or ever get a decent job. Then charge him with something appropriate in civil court so he has to pay a settlement so large he'll never eat anything better than Top Ramen.

That would be a start.