Is this Baltimore Cop acting professionally?

United American Socialist States

It's a set up. The camera doesn't show the punk until after he's sitting with the exception of when the officer took the skateboard. These kids set out to get under the officers skin and unfortunately succeeded. Just another group of entitled punks who really haven't had a good boot to the butt often enough.

Camille L

as a friend of those "hoodlums" i would just like to say that it was definitely not a set up. the one getting slammed to the ground is one of the nicest and quietest people you'll ever meet. honestly. this was not a set up and they never even back talked. the cop must of had something shoved up his ***.
he was at fault, not the kids.

Print the nin died for Limeninja

Who cares if they did set up the cop to make a vid? He's an adult!!! They are 14, and he's ACTING like HE'S 14!!!

A grown adult, ESPECIALLY a police office, should be able to manage his anger a little better, and a police officer should be able to conduct himself with a bit more dignity. If the kids did something wrong, there are PROCEDURES for dealing with them, and they don't involve making idle threats, or behaving like a horse'sass.

This cop screwed up, and he knows it. He's acting like a $9.00/hr security guard, not a 17 year veteran of the force, and I would say this right to the DUDE'S face. :-)

mark m

The kid's a momma's boy. If I had spoken to a cop that way my old man would have done worse to me than this officer did to the kid here. I have two sons and if one of mine did this I'd let them have it, too, and also make them write a letter to the officer to apologize for being disrespectful and calling him "dude."

Now the kid is a big victim and he and momma (who has a different last name, so we can assume his dad isn't in the home) gets in TV interviews with him and enables his behavior and victimhood. Great.

It is well-documented that fatherless homes are overly permissive, it is one of the reasons fatherless boys have so many problems as adults. This officer was doing the kid a long term favor. The kid wasn't hurt--he had his precious little ego bruised, so what!? Get back up, brush yourself off and be a man you little crybaby!

I also live just outside Baltimore City and I'm going to contact the police union and urge them to support their member.

He was being an a******. This particular officer/dude felt he was allowed to assault a 14 year old child. No one is above the law including police officers. He should have received training on how to keep his temper...??? He certainly wasn't threatened by the child so why did he need to be so rough??... because the child called him 'dude' ???? Not a good enough excuse for a jury.

lomodus

I don't think we're seeing everything, obviously those punks set the officer up just for a little bit of internet fame. Nice. They have no respect for the job that man does day in and day out. Who is it that runs towards the bad guys when all hell breaks loose? Him, not the punks trying to make him look bad. Way to thank the men and women who put their lives on the line every day so everyone else can go home and get a good night's sleep.

When those kids have raced to a call only to get there just a few minutes too late and have someone die in their arms, then they can whine about their skateboards getting taken away.

He's an officer of the law, trained and sworn to put himself in the line of fire to protect even punks like that. He deserves more respect than "dude".

Scott W

He is way out of line. I do not care if the kids were working to "get under his skin" or not. He is a cop, and he should be held to standards much higher than the rest of society. His job, no matter how tough or how "disrespectful" a 14 year old kid is being is to act professional and always ALWAYS set an example. If it were my kid that he was speaking to like that, my first call would be to the department, then next to every news service around, then to my attorneys. Cops like this give every good and decent cop a bad name and image and makes their jobs that much more difficult. I hope that every good cop in the Baltimore Police Department is giving this guy a ration and letting him know how he is making their life tougher. Rivieri should be fired. He shouldnt even be allowed to be a security guard. Profesionalism - without it, he is just an ***...not a cop.

Shawn

I think he's an a hole, however...

Its a total setup, and the kids admit to it. Besides, cops are trained to take control of situations by yelling and asserting themselves in this manner no matter what the demographic is.

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=598&sid=1343577

Bush said he did not hear the officer's orders to stop skateboarding because he was wearing headphones. The teenager said he and his friends often have run-ins with police for skateboarding. Santo said he sometimes uses a camcorder to tape the interactions with police because they find humor in getting yelled at by officers.

jlstud2

I highly doubt that this cop was set up by this skateboarders. Skateboarders always have camcorders with them to film tricks. They probably just kept the camera rolling when the cop started talking to them. However, even it was a "set up" this cop in no way should have abused his power they way he didn't pushing that kid down. Also according to a Baltimore news station, this even happened a long time ago. If they set it up, why release the video so much later?

Tom S

The cop is acting like a 13 year old bully. He was verbally abusive, disrespectful and physical with the youngster. The kid spoke to him in the slang that he speaks. He used no profanity, was not disrespectful and certainly was no threat to the officer. The cop seemed like he was angry that the kid did not kiss his ***. He sure changed his tone when he saw the possibility that a camera was on him.

klown

What a disgusting angry old man. I hope his career is finished.

Much respect to those kids for surviving the assault with composure and class, and for taping the incident and posting it on youtube.

word

The kids were elite punks? It was a set up? You have to be kidding me. The officer was completely out of line and by the responses and the tone of those kids they were not punks. This is what happens when ego and authority get tangled up. He obviously feels his badge permits him to use aggressive force without provocation. This is not surprising at all, it just surfaces more often because of camera phones and other recording devices. The kid assaulted should be given an apology by the police department or the humiliation and assault suffered.

simsimi

Obviously the cop knows he's doing wrong. Theres nothing illeagal in video taping cops; (even cops have dash cams and such) however, at the end of the video, the cop says is that camera on? and i can hear him say "if i find myself on that ......" in a ****** tone and then the clip ends.

Im only answering the question because of all the "people who think they know it all" sayin that the clip is a setup.

Clearly the officer did not want the camera on, and for what reason? Guilt. He knew he was not professional.

kes_dude_2000

I don't like saying this to most people, but that cop should go to hell. That was unacceptable and suspension with pay is not enough. He should get the death penalty for that conduct.

herkco

No setup.
This 'officer' has serious self control issues and should be
reassigned and reevaluated as to his emotional fitness to 'serve' as a police officer. What a disgrace.

Bob56

Acting professionally? Let's analyze this:
A couple of kids call him 'dude' -- and mr. cop blows a gasket -- c'mon, mr. officer, put your testosterone on ice, and get over yourself already.
The headlock, the throwdown, then pushing a 14-year old kid down again, a kid clearly less than half his size, posing NO physical threat to the officer or anyone. NO possible justification WHATSOEVER for ANY of that. If I did that to my son when he 'dissed' me in public, I'd (very rightfully) be charged with child abuse.
Telling the kids that 'their parents don't put a foot up their butt enough' -- a cop not only quick to resort to violence himself, but advocating corporal punishment?
Telling the kids that if they call him 'dude' once more, he'll 'smack them'? Perhaps I'm not totally informed on the matter, but when exactly do officers have this right assigned to them?
Asking to speak to one of the kids' mother -- gee, do you think this wonderful cop would tell the mother EXACTLY what happened? yeah, right.
At the very end of the recording, you can clearly hear mr. 'dude' rivieri asking if that's a camera -- and saying 'I better not see this' (then it's cut off) -- sure sounds like a threat to me....

The sad thing is hearing so many people defend this abusive, arrogant idiot -- it's clear, watch the video -- he's a CRIMINAL. And he deserves to be treated like one. I sincerely hope the kids' families have lawyers lined up and ready. I'm so glad this idiot was CAUGHT RED-HANDED, and that it is posted for the world to see. If more incidents such as this are recorded, perhaps the Baltimore police department would take it more seriously, and officers such as mr. rivieri would think twice before abusing their authority.
Professionally? you've got to be kidding -- he deserves to be FIRED, CHARGED, CONVICTED, and SUED. Anything less would be a travesty. C'mon Baltimore City, DO THE RIGHT THING.

Micah S

Cops do do a job that others wouldn't. No one forced them to it, they chose it. The reasons for choosing this particular profession vary widely I'm sure. The high school strutters that NEEDED to bully, the ones NEEDING to show-off, the ones most people never liked due to the unfounded arrogance ..... those become cops. ALL new additions to the police force in my hometown in my early to mid-twenties comprised of these characters. Granted, this is coming from growing up in a place far smaller than Baltimore, but I'm sure the conditions are similar most everywhere. No, I didn't learn who they were by routinely being arrested, simply by remembering names and faces. This pig, I suspect, is just that type person with that type attitude and that type need.
Paul Blair stated "videos show only part of a story"......that can be true. I'm sure he'd rather the video not exist....it shows only the kids & the cop and what I'm guessing was MOST of the encounter. It's not as though any of it would be admissable in a court of law is it? Want respect for being a cop? Act like a respectable cop. Blow up when they called you 'dude'? That relegates you to the 'pig farm'. Kids are impressionable, it's the nature of how we all are when young. Most kids don't like cops, think this may explain why? Perhaps you personally don't and think that youth simply question authority, fine, it would be an accurate statement. In no way did this pig have grounds to assault this kid, and that's what it was, assault. He never placed the kid under arrest first of all. Second, there's no law against 'talking-back' to an officer, just don't curse or touch them. Third, where's this pigs notion that there's cause or a right for him to take the board away? Sure, he's upset, but that's not reason, it's illegal seizure of private property. Had they continued to skate? If not, they were pedesrians. This pig is on leave, with or without pay? He would ot have treated an adult in this manner and NEVER WOULD HAVE CONSIDERED IT IF THE PARENTS HAD BEEN THERE! He has no business with any job that provieds him authority over others, end of story.

Lurch

Wow, he could have handled that a little better. I live in Baltimore and I will say most Baltimore cops are a lot cooler than that. He should spend more of his time busting up the rampant heroin dealers, or the overly-aggressive panhandlers that roam the Inner Harbor.

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