Ambulance VS. Police

[pixie]

Whoahz. That is hella wrong right there. I wonder what their excuse would have been if the woman in the back had died while the cops were busy with their power trip.

[SANDwich]

Originally Posted by Dodecahedron

This is really neither here nor there, but I did notice that the ambulance was driving at a moderate speed and did not have sirens or ligths on. I don't know the protocol for using lights in an emergency vs not-quite-an-emergency. Given this, I can only assume that the driver of the ambulance should have heard the police car way before he approached the parked car and could have easily pulled over, if that was his intention. Maybe the driver wasn't really paying attention, or maybe he had a right to be on the road, I'm not certain. But I'd be careful before I sudennly claimed that the ambulance driver was "completely in the right." What persued was not acceptable ont he cop's part in any way. however also the ambulance attendent could have said "pleas ebe quick so we can get ourr patient to the hospital" taken the ticket, got the woman to the hospital, and then fought the ticket later.

Agreed. The cop certainly did get too hot too quickly, and would not listen to reason.

However, he did not "attack" the EMT for not pulling over. When the cop says you are under arrest and is trying to put the cuffs on, you don't resist, even if you think you are in the right. When the cop grabbed his arm to try to arrest him, the EMT pulled his arm back and tried to throw an elbow. That's when the cop really got physical, which he should be able to. The choking certainly wasn't textbook, though.

Again, I'm not saying the cop was in the right in the first place, but when the EMT threw his elbow around resisting is when the cop started to get physical with him for resisting arrest.

You don't get to wrestle with the police if you don't agree with their decision to arrest you. You fight that in court. If you allowed people to fight back when being arrested, the cops wouldn't be able to do their job.

[stabbyhappy]

An EMT spends most of his job trying to save peoples lives in unpredictable circumstances. He probably saw a couple people die that day. Its very likely he even helped save a life or two. He was yelled at by hysterical family members and put himself in dangerous situations for the sake of others.

The cop spends most of his day handing out tickets for traffic violations so the city can increase revenue for social programs. He would have liked to have saved some lives or stopped some bad guys. But he didnt get that chance.

You can see where the mutual resentment brews.