Video: Baltimore Officer Physically and Verbally Abuses Skateboarder

cop needs about 5 years to think about what he did

This is a fine example of why citizens should not only be allowed- but encouraged- to record all encounters with law enforcement. These kinds of incidents occur countless times every day all across the country (I've had first hand eperience myself) - yet the thin blue line ensures that the perpetrators are rarely held acountable for their actions. In many cases, the abusive officers are actually *promoted* even after a pattern of abuse comes to light.
The news accounts state that Officer Rivieri is a 17 year veteran of the Baltimore PD. I wonder how many complaints have been filed against him during that time- and what actions (if any) were taken in response?
And how many more people would this loser be harassing if that kid hadn't had the presence of mind to turn on his camera?

I think we all know why this guy became a cop! What a fat F*c*in PiG!

Wow, that guy is wired way to tight! I would suggest that he deserves to have charges of theft, assault, and a few other things... I guess when you have a small penis you make up for it by belittling kids. He should definitely lose his job and be forced to do volunteer work at a skateboard park.

The funniest thing is when he lectures about knowing when to keep your mouth shut! Sounds like he needs to take his own advice.

Thanks for posting this! That tends to be the difference that gets people talking enough for someone to get things done!

This cop obviously had no right to take the kid's skateboard or unlawfully detain him. Criminal assault charges would be appropriate, for this "pig" to face. This is exactly the type of behavior that originated the term in the 60's.
Rivieri was concerned about the "camera" at the end of this video, wonder why? How many others did he abuse in his 17 year reign of terror? Too many police have this same attitude, it must be stopped! I agree with the "small penis" syndrome in a previously posted comment. I disagree that this cop should be anywhere close to a skateboard park. The douchebag should be forced to hand write the constitution 1,000 times, as he sits in jail for his crime.

As we have seen from the comments, this is the type of officer that gives police a bad name. Hopefully the good ones will put pressure on bullies like this as much as anyone else to stop as they give all police a bad name. You don't see or notice the ones who quietly handle the situation, just assume they are in-between bullying.

I think the closing comment by the police officer is very telling... Asking if that camera was on, obviously about to start threatening if it was. If he thought what he did was okay, why would he worry about that? Because he knew he used too much force, blew an incident up out of proportion, and was using his age, size, and badge to intimidate a kid. 14, for Pete's Sake. And not a foul mouthed, punk thief. A clean cut scateboarder. Sure the kid should have answered quickly and not back-talked, but he didn't insult the cop. He called him 'dude'. A littl disrespectful, but is that all it takes to have your property siezed and have yourself bullied and thrown to the ground.

Kudos tlo whoever managed to quietly tape it. Lots of nerve but hopefuly it gets this officer suspended - without pay - and sent t some anger management classes. Obviously he has far more issues than the kid does.

It's not only the skateboarder video. There is one with a street painter and the same "officer".

Wow - this is exactly what happens in a fascist society. Wake up people, this kind of crap is only going to get worse. This jackass cop not only will keep his job, but will receive a medal from our fine President.

if you look in the background, you see 1 of them carts that the traffic cops ride around in... i think i can guess why he is workin traffic enforcement

I really wish I heard what he said at the end, I would have liked to hear the threat he leveled against them if he found out they were taping him.

Cops more and more regurally are harrasing minors for either small things, like skateboarding (which is good exercise) and simply walking to a friends house at night and feel its useful to try to act like a god alomst, there need for control over situations is insane

Give people some power and man does there head get big!

That fat fuck has a childish, pathetic and useless attitude. People like that shouldn't be allowed to wear the badge that so many brave men and women have worn. Fire him!!

I hope his parent took the Police Dept. to court. they definitely have a good case and that asshole should be fired.

sucker has to tackle a 14 year old kid to steal his skateboard! what a fkin LOSER! Theres using your power for good. any why is he yelling? hes gunna have a heart attack or stroke or something like that if he keeps it up. someone needs an anger management class and a good lay.

This is a goddamn shame. I'd love to see someone kick the shit out of this guy.

Does anyone know if this is a consistent problem for the Baltimore PD -- do they have more of an anti-youth bias in general than most PDs do?

Several years ago, I lived in Baltimore. I never heard any overall statistics about the city cops, but I heard occasional bad stories, and personally had one infuriating experience with them. I got into an accident at one of the city's busier intersections. The accident was clearly the other driver's fault. I was 24 years old, looked quite a bit younger, and was dressed in old blue jeans and some tee shirt with a rock band logo on it. The other driver was fiftyish, distinguished looking, and wore a suit -- to look at him, one might have thought he was a corporate director on his way to a board meeting.

Well, you guessed it -- the cop who handled the accident took one look at us, made a snap judgment from appearances (responsible community member vs. some kid), and made his decision as to who was guilty. The very first thing he did was to ask the other driver, "let me guess, he [meaning me] ran the red light?"

I started to interject that it hadn't happened like that, and the cop cut me off, then turned back to the other driver and said, "now, did you get a chance to see how fast he was going when he ran the red light?"

Thank God the other driver was an honest man! He set the cop straight, admitting that he had got distracted for a moment and ran the light. Even after that, the cop was still very rude to me, implying several times that I was probably lying about something; implications he didn't make about the other driver, who would have had far more of a reason to lie than I would have. I'm sure that even to this day, that cop thinks that I was some punk kid who deserved to be punished, and that I got off only because of some mere technicality. Stupid bastard.

This officer has done NOTHING wrong. He had to set these pre-teen punks in line as it looks like their parents never did. The problem today isn't the police but the foul-mouthed little pricks who think they can abuse their 1st Amendment and talk back to an officer. This is a prime example of what cops SHOULD be allowed to do: Whip these children in line and cut their disrespectful bullshit towards cops and authority in general, not just in law enforcement. Parents these days spoil and baby their children (as it looks these posers were wearing top of the line designer emo clothes)and its up to police to take the parental discipline role.

And on the part of abuse, this officer did not 'detain' the punk nor did he 'steal' his skateboard. He gave the kid a fucking time out for being a snotty little brat and from what I see he is actually concerned about the kid hence why he wanted to get on the phone with his mommy. If he had 'harassed' all three then I could see a foundation for a lawsuit but it was the one kid who was the only one giving him lip as his friends were smart enough to learn their place. And for all your informational purposes, I'm 22 years old.

"Officer is 100% CORRECT"

He was correct when he was physically and verbally assaulted a kid?

That kid needs a attorney ASAP.

Not convinced lawsuits, jail etc. are necessary, but the officer is clearly too much of a power junkie to do the job effectively. Sack him and be done with it.

what did the kid do wrong he clearly was exersising his first ademendment rights gurenteed by the founding fathers of this country if i were this kid i would get this all the way to the supreme court

100% correct,
I completely disagree with you. What you are referring to are parental responsibilities....not the state. Do we really want the state making these decision? In a free society, I don't think so. The kids may be jerks but that is not a crime.

The sad irony is that these kids will now likely never respect a law officer. Nice job officer Rivieri meathead. Instead of displaying maturity and leadership in dealing with these kids....something you might want them to emulate....you've just given them, and all of us, more reasons to always, always be suspect and skeptical when dealing with officers and finding it difficult to respect you.

What an idiot

Respect from and for police changed when they become controllers instead of protectors. You must earn respect. This officer does not understand respect. He does not understand the limits to his authority or the liberty of those he is supposed to serve.

The comments about our constitutional rights ignore the fact that our rights come from this nations only founding document, the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. Itcreated this nation and defined our liberty. It stands unamended as the right and reason for our liberty. Patriots fought, bled and died a decade before the Liberty they earned created a constitution charged with its protection.

The Bill of Rights does not create Rights. It was a compromise to win ratification from anti-federalist. These amendments merely deny authority that has never been granted.

This was a self-evident truth to those who earned our Liberty.

Think about it.

Rick

My favorite line in the whole video. Chilling.

It cuts off when he says "I don't want to see myself...", but probably ends with "On YouTube" or "On the Internet". Doesn't matter. I'd post video of a bad cop on every video site in the world and send a DVD copy to his boss, prosecutor's office, TV stations, newspapers, etc. with links to every web site it's on. No problem. I'd have it done within hours of the incident.

Well. Sometimes kids that age need a little physical reminder.

They were both wrong.

The cop for not being smart enough to handle the situation more intelligently. He could have controlled him without touching him. Could have made his point without threatening. But we are all human and sometimes we all can be assholes when we deal with attitude like that all day long. We can cut him a little slack....bad day. Girlfriend dumped him. Buddy died. Or just 17 years of dealing with crap most of us don't have to see. He was wrong but the point is NO ONE is perfect.

The kid for not shutting his mouth. He thought he was so smart. At that age they think they can say or do anything and he needed to learn there were limits to his attitude. But not that way.

They don't issue tiny little cars like that to the serious cops anyway. Poor guy is suffering from being between a squad car and not being in shape enough for a bike.