Last week, Vancouver tuner shop Bayside Performance posted the above video of a police takedown of a motorcyclist, with the officers throwing the rider to the ground before cuffing him. And, predictably, people are riled up.
The takedown occurred in the Bayside Performance parking lot, and was recorded on their surveillance camera. According to this CBC story, police say it followed a pursuit in the 19th Avenue/Fraser Street/49th Avenue area. Police say the rider tried to evade their cruisers and ran a couple stop signs before they caught up to him, which endangered the public. They told CBC the takedown was executed swiftly to protect the public. although that doesn’t really explain why one of them decides to remove the rider’s helmet and roll it across the parking lot before cuffing him.
The motorcyclist in the incident seems to be one Lucas Moh (see his Facebook page here, including a note saying “I miss my bike ?? thx for support fam.” CBC says Moh claims to have picked up charges for dangerous driving, evading police, and failing to stop, along with the inevitable speeding charge.
The comments section below the story, though, is outraged at the takedown, despite the list of charges, and the comments on the YouTube video echo that sentiment: People are not happy with how this arrest went down, and they’re calling for officers to be fired. And of course, there’s the opposing chorus of angry non-riders who are furious over the alleged offences. We’ll keep an eye on this one and see how it all works out in the courts.
Once the rider had pulled over, parked and got off the bike, all threats to police and public had come to an end, leaving no reason to attack him, throw him to the ground, assault him and remove and damage his helmet and gear. At his point they should have just put rider in the cruiser for questioning without beating on him. The beating wasn’t warranted, any assaulting officers, at this point, should be charged with assault and the rider charged with his offences too!
Blackie you’re not getting it and appear to be the only one NOT getting it, as someone mentioned here “the job of the police is to secure and arrest and to use force only when necessary, not to administer punishment”.
They spend 4 hours covering the same CFSC subjects that require 20+ hours for everyone else. But yes they naturally spend many more hours on use of force type firearms training, though history would suggest that there’s a clear need to spend more time improving their training there as well.
As someone has already mentioned, WE DO NOT KNOW what transpired prior to the arrest. Was the rider speeding recklessly through school zones or areas of high pedestrian traffic? Did he endanger other individuals or police? If yes, then it is understandable how he was treated. If, for example, someone in a car tried to run over a police officer while trying to evade, you might see that driver’s face up close and personal with the pavement when he is apprehended. I suspect something similar happened here. But please, feel free to jump to conclusions. Most others are. Oh, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to look into the history of the witness. Let’s see what the cop video shows us before making any rash judgements.
I’m not s cop hugger by any means, but if I had to spend the day dealing with the human refuse crawling the streets of vancouver… lets just say Id be a regular attraction on u tu be.
Properly trained? One example – police get 4 hours of training on firearms…that’s it! They don’t even require the two CFSC certificates that normal Canadians would require to handle “restricted” firearms – over 20 hours of training and 4 practical and written exams to pass. Makes one wonder…
Are you sure you have your facts straight?
I am shocked at the level of violence from the police in this video. I don’t know what led up to this encounter but the rider didn’t offer any resistance after parking and getting off the motorcycle yet the police treated him as if he did. Do the police treat all motorcycle riders that way? I didn’t realize Vancouver was such an unfriendly city; I’ll think twice before visiting again, especially on a motorcycle.
Two wrongs don’t make a right he was obviously endangering the public but the use of force was obviously excessive. IMO
This video is so sublime. We have no idea what brought on any of this except the specified charges. I do not ever remember having a copper throw me to the ground or knee me in the side. Oh ya, I guess that was because when I got caught doing something stupid I just pulled over and sucked it up like a man. Sometimes all I received was a stern warning. Are there some cops that take things to far? Yes. Do they take it to far if you comply to their commands? Not that I have ever seen. Do they get annoyed with idiots that think they don’t have to stop when signalled to? You bet they do. They are hired to enforce the laws. If you break any of those laws chances are you will get caught sooner or later. Suck it up and pay your dues. Who knows maybe you get off with a stern warning.
The police are high on adrenalin and are not properly trained to handle human being interactions with any decency or respect. The rider was being co-operative once he pulled over and got off his bike. Those 2 policemen are thugs and should be kicked off the force immediately. The police used violence when it was not necessary. Thank goodness for videos!! I fear for the safety of this citizen and anybody else that gets pulled over by the aggressive police. Total uncalled for by the police bully. What a dramatization created by the police for no reason, seriously. I would press charges against those 2 officers. It almost looked as if the officer with red hair was not comfortable what his bully partner was doing. Did you see the police officer knee the citizen in the stomach while he was pinned down? How pathetic.
Another reason for ATGATT?
There’s always more to the story FROM BOTH SIDES. let’s see what comes out in court before passing judgement.
There may have been circumstances that caused the police reason for concern, however the rider made no agressive moves. There was no justification for the violence.
It is quite a simple case, no matter what happened before the arrest.
The job of the police is to secure and arrest and to use force only when necessary, not to administer punishment.
Obviously these two should be sanctioned and possibly fired.
I can’t take either side because I have no information other than the video. Nothing. I don’t know how fast the man on the bike was going. I don’t know if there was a playground or schoolyard in the vicinity. I don’t know what information the officers had in regard to the vehicle or the rider/owner. I have nothing other than a video with no sound. How can I or anyone else come to any conclusion based on that?
But that’s the point – the police are not supposed to “punish” just arrest and charge – it shouldn’t matter what happened before, it’s all about the moment – even if the punk ran over the Pope, the cops are not supposed to deliver street side “justice” – if they can’t keep their emotions in check, time for a new job
WTF are the cops worthy of support here? The video clearly shows that the rider stopped on his own, parked the bike facing in, and got off the bike. At that point the “threat to public safety” ceased, so cuff him & book him – not tackle him, beat him and destroy his property and step near and over his head for the remainder of the afternoon.
Interesting how no one is supporting the cops here.
But I’m sure this guy wasn’t trying to evade. I mean, no one on a bike would ever do that, right?
That tells virtually none of the story. Need to see the cruiser-cam before judgement.
Human rights in the freedom country! !!!!!
we need police to police the police for the protection of citizens from these horrible examples of how they do things.
Stuff like this makes me so angry because it reflects badly on the good officers that are out there.
What i would like to know is if the rider really committed these traffic violations but knowing their propension at altering or exagerating facts he might have just take a certain time before realising the police wanted to pull him over.
That’s business as usual here in the States except they would have kicked his bike over and then claimed he resisted arrest. Cops are bullies with badges.