Baltimore Police Officer Featured In Youtube Video Assaulting Teen Loses Job

This guy needed to get fired. he was being a bully

Hard to say. I have seen LA cops do far worse and still keep their badge.
I tend to say that was harsh punishment for the situation, But like I said here we are used to worse behaviors our police

I wonder how many other things he did that were completely out of line before and after? Just a thought….Over one incident–no, I do not agree with losing 19 years of service. He was a rite dick though.

I remember this back in tha day and i still stick to he needed to lose his job. He had no right putting his hands on that kid, obviously he was a bully. Its sad that he even got to keep his job for this long.. I would seriously hate to be in that guys family.. could you imagine those holidays of eating leftovers and beating your kids!!!

I can't say whether he deserved to lose his job or not but it doesn't hurt my feelings at all that he did. The kids was probably a wise ass but the cop is an adult and after 19 years on the force, he ought to be able to choose his battles a little better than this.

If he was really “out of control” then of course he needed to lose his job. This guy packed a gun, remember?

Police officers have a public trust and a license to use lethal force. They must be beyond all reproach. One proven instance of unethical, illegal, undisciplined, or otherwise dubious behavior should mean instant termination from their jobs. Zero tolerance.

I'm glad he got fired. He was being a total ass. He certainly shouldn't have been grabbing that kid like that. Over what? Him skating? Come on. The kid said he was going to to call his mom and the guy said he should. He didn't need to berate the kid like that. He should have just talked to his mom, if that was what he wanted to do. If he was acting like that, it surely wasn't the first time.

Very true. We all have bad moments–I almost jumped out of the car earlier and punched a chick in the face for tailing me sooo–I guess if I can maintain self-control…Then so should a cop.

Ok Ok I take it back! I just watched it again (after a few years) soooooo, yhea that was bad. It made my stomach turn. Poor little dudes.

I am sorry.

lmao I sat and watched this till the end. When the camera panned down it poped into my mind, was he aware he was being filmed? Then I hear him ask if the cam was on haha.

Kind of hard to take a cop serious that drives a vehicle like that. Piggish but he didnt act as bad as I thought b4 I saw the vid.

poped into your mind? Was the thought wearing the pope hat, too?
/kissnoise!

I am actually really heart broken for this little dude. All of them. I just want to hug them for being bullied by that big bad po-po. Seriously, little guy was a soft spoken, harmless, little skater. He really did NOT deserve that.

The review board forced the Commissioner's hand. They cleared him of ALL wrongdoing. That means no ordered counseling, no suspension, nothing that might discourage this kind of behavior in the future. And, let's be real – if he's roughing up punk kids that are likely to report such behavior, I can only imagine what he's doing to people who aren't so likely to report abuses.

The police rely on their relationship with the community. When they've got a shitty image, bad things happen (just look at what's gone in in L.A.).

It may be a harsh punishment, assuming he has not history, but the department would be taking a gamble by keeping him on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FedlpshJb4c

After seeing that, I revoke my answer. That guy has got some serious anger issues and needs serious help. I don't think he's doing the public any service in his smart car.

That car is funny, and no reply to the asshole who wanted to make funny of my typo…ha ha ha lmfao

The kid was skateboarding in an area where it is prohibited, so the officer had some obligation to enforce the law. The kid was a smart ass and the officer's behavior was excessively harsh. But he was fired and not disciplined? What did the public learn from this? That you can be abusive? That you can insult your police officers with confidence that if they do respond in kind, you can have them fired.

What have the other police officers learned from this? That you don't have the backing of the people or the department. You're on your own. They also learn that is safer to not enforce the law and look the other way to keep their job.

It's not the job of the police to respond to insults “in kind.” It's their job to maintain discipline and enforce the law. So yes, he should have been fired for forgetting that important fact.

As far as the punk kid goes, if he was really doing something so heinous as to merit intervention by an officer, he should have been politely asked to desist. If he didn't desist, and it was really a serious breach of the peace requiring detention, the officer should have placed him under arrest in a calm and dignified manner – without swaggering, without bullying, without rage. If the officer can't manage that basic transaction, he shouldn't be on the force. The plaza in front of the building where I work is a favorite target for skateboarders. It's illegal for them to be there and of course exposes my employer to liability issues in case they fall and break their stupid necks. When I see them I go out – no badge, no gun – and tell them in a firm no nonsense voice that they have to leave. They leave the first time, every time. If a civilian can do it, why couldn't he?

As far as the officer's “perogatives” go – being addressed as Officer Whatever and so forth – they mean nothing. Nothing. A police officer is the public's servant, not their master. It wasn't his job to collect tips of the hats and bows of the head from civilians; it was his job to enforce the law. If the officer lost sight of that fact – once again, he shouldn't be on the force. There are plenty of good people who need jobs. Train them to be police officers, and let this meathead flip burgers at McDonalds.

We need good police officers who put public order first – not insecure bullies with guns.

Although I don't believe in it, this is probably karma for all the shit this cop has done that didn't end up on the internet.

Again, as I said above, I think police shouldn't face an automatic dismissal for “any” act of misconduct, as you suggest.

This is where I have issue with the whole situation. He should have been suspended without pay and issued a formal apology. If he has a history of this, then I can see firing him.

Officer, dude…your an idiot

The 'Review Board' is a group of 3 of rivieri's badged-buddies, so of course they cleared their 'brother-in-blue' of doing anything wrong. Kudos to Bealefeld for doing the right thing — ex-officer psycho-dude got what he deserved.

Well, apparently it took two years to fire this guy, so it was hardly automatic.

I should point out (since no one else has) that the officer basically threatens the kid with DEATH for calling him “dude”:

“I am Officer Rivieri. Now the sooner you learn that, the longer you're gonna live in this world. Because if you go around doing this kind of stuff, somebody's gonna kill you.”

So we have a grown man – with a gun – threatening a dimwitted 14 year old with death for calling him “dude.” I don't know, that strikes me as disproportionate somehow. It also seems a little bit like child abuse.

He deserved to be fired, you don't treat your kid like that much less someone else's. I would have demanded he be fired and sued his dumb jerk butt.

I'm going to shift the horse carcass around for you. You haven't flogged the withers enough.

The officer was being a dick for sure but nothing to lose his career over, I'd rather see police that use extreme force lose their jobs. This video example is going to make other teens think they can disrespect police and some may even try egg on other officers to manhandle them. I had a bad run-in with police in my teens over fighting and I learned respect after a officer gave me a good talking to & a good shaking. Wish more kids got the same treatment early, it sure smartened me up.

This has been mentioned but let's summarize:
He used excessive force for the situation (one doesn't put a citizen in a headlock for 'name calling' and calling the officer 'dude' is really stretching the term 'name calling.')
He's overweight (many departments have standards for this kind of thing).
He knew he was in the wrong when he asked the kid at the end of the video if “that camera is on and I find myself on…” This makes it appear that he KNEW he'd screwed up.
He likely has been in trouble before. Hence the lousy electric car downtown patrol assignment.
The dude reminds me of Farva in Supertroopers. He's a joke and the taxpayers don't need to paying such a buffoon to beat up on kids.

Pretty much.

Even so, civilians are also reluctant to ever hold police accountable for their actions, no matter how heinous. They're worried that any restraint will make the cops afraid to do anything and we'll have anarchy. That's why a jury full of civilians can actually see with their own eyes a video of cops pounding a prone man with nightsticks, or shooting an unarmed and restrained man in the back, and return either an acquittal or a ridiculously lenient verdict. The review board probably has the same cowardly mindset.

Fortunately the commissioner knows bad apples on the police force are no better than criminals and got rid of this jackass.

I realized this below….and after watching–I am not convinced he needed to lose his job. He is truly a disgusting individual with some real issues.

I also picked up on the thinly veiled death threat as being a little excessive. This dude would be mighty unhappy to live in my neck of the woods, where even my boss calls me dude (i'm female).

The ONLY time the kid listened was after the headlock! The kid is not sooo innocent!

Its funny you said you weren't sure if he should have lost his job over mouthy kids. They really were not that mouthy. The jackass cop had no right even touching the kid or taking his board. But I think it must be the queer uniform and the unmasculine thing he was driving that made him feel the need to act like a douche. I am a woman and if they made me wear that god awful uniform I would have to turn down the job. Lol. He deserved to loose his job .

That kid, and I'm sure he's really a pretty good kid, is a little bit of a smart-ass. I mean, not too bad, but there's a glimpse of disrespect, as shown when he continued to skate there, right in front of the cop, after he had apparently been told several times before not to skate there! Are you stupid? At least chill till he gets out of sight! And then, when the cop is talking to him, again, telling him for the however many'th time, he still continues to do tricks on the board! This IS blatent disrespect, again, not a huge amount, but enough. It would be disrespectful to anyone, his mother, his neighbor, his teacher, you- but ESPECIALLY to a police officer, who, as a society, we need to treat as someone of superior authority. They must have this respect and authority in the communities in order to maintain a peaceful and just society. Otherwise, what? I don't think the cop should have put the kid in a head-lock though. lol I can see clearly how it progressed to that, and I, myself, probably would have done the same, but he's a cop, and he's supposed to have more control over himself than that. Maybe he was having a bad day, but still. I don't think he should have been fired over it! He should have had to take a few weeks, get cleared by a mental health expert, had to take counceling, and some sort of behavioral control courses, and appologize to the public for reacting in an 'innappropriate manner to that of a Baltimore Police Officer'', or something. Having to do go through all that would definately have him on alert to his actions. He needs to realize that he is in public authority, and is accountable for his actions. We are all only human, though, and this incident could have been way worse. Let's get the real bad cops off the streets, instead of making this guy the spokesman for 'out of control' police!! (That is, of course, if this was an isolated incedent for this guy.)

I thought this was a kings of queens episode!! HA!
…. this fat ass bully cop is a typical – over the top flexing … duuuude chill..
if you want to flex and show everyone how BADASS you are, go into compton and try that on those young men hanging out and see how fast you’ll be wearing that badge in your lower intestine..
ps- your running tab at dinky donuts has been canceled

sweet moses.. this barney rubble lookin toy cop doesnt know when to stop..notice how he only picks on dorky kids so he wont get his doughy fat ass kicked in?
Nice goin officer C Cup!!

Not the first cop I’ve seen who thinks he is God, and I doubt he will be the last. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

the cop knew he had gone overboard because he kept coming back to justify his actions and to build up a re pore with the kid so he would not complain. The cops as a whole, are over powered with their own importance and most overweight people are bullies.(thats a fact) They need to keep building their low self esteem by treating others as lower beings. I dont think he should lose his job BUT he should (as most officers) get trained in how to treat people as equals.

I blame the schools for the way the kids speak. I have heard pupils call the teachers ‘dude’ and the teachers do NOT correct them or explain that it is a ‘black term’ for the head honcho, the king pin, the big kaluha etc etc etc.

I blame the schools for the way the kids speak. I have heard pupils call the teachers ‘dude’ and the teachers do NOT correct them or explain that it is a ‘black term’ for the head honcho, the king pin, the big kaluha etc etc etc.

I just saw the second video and please tell his kids to buy him some white socks for xmas.