Saturday, February 03, 2007

Woman left to miscarry by cops who write her traffic ticket.

Government in its purest form is the beat cop. There it is for all to see -- a man with a gun who can be very useful when you are under threat but who is too easily tempted to help himself to an apple from the fruit stand and harass people he doesn’t like. He’ll give you directions if you ask, advice even when you don’t want it and too often isn’t hesitant to shoot you in the back.

And if you get bothered about the apples, the unwanted advice, the ordering about and the threat of being shot in the back you will hear endless stories about the threats you face and why you need him. That you need protection is not questioned whether he is the best way to go about it -- well that’s another matter.

Observations of how cops behave has made me very skeptical about them. I never dispute that there are good people in the police force. Nor do I dispute there are a lot of thugs in the police force. But I do know that there a very high percentage of officers are convinced that they lying for a “noble” purpose is warranted. They are happy to fudge the facts.

If lying to a judge will help secure a warrant they want they will lie -- at the very least exaggerate what they know. If they want to do violate someone’s civil rights they will do so and then lie to cover it up. If they get caught they will lie about the facts. And if they know that other officers are lying and acting in illegal ways they will, for the most part, cover it up and protect one another. Too often they see themselves at war and the American people are the enemy.

To keep these posts a readable size I will break them down into two separate articles.

Sofia Salva, of Missouri, lost her baby because of unconcerned Kansas City police. She was pulled over for a traffic offense. She was pregnant and started bleeding. She told the officers she was pregnant. She told them she was bleeding. They didn’t give a damn. They refused her medical help and they refused to help her themselves. Instead they arrested her and held in jail over night. She miscarried the next morning.

Officers Melody Spencer and Kevin Schnell pulled Salva over. And videotape of the incident confirms what happened. Repeatedly Salva told the officers of her medical problems and repeatedly they callously ignored her. After telling them, for the ninth time, of her condition Spencer remarked: “How is that my problem?”

The officers told Salva she was under arrest for outstanding traffic tickets. She told them she was having a miscarriage and needed medical help. She begs the female officer to check her and see that she was bleeding. Again Spencer dismissed her comments saying: “Why are you driving to the store..?” Apparently since Salva was coming homne from the store when the miscarriage started it wasn't real since one doesn't drive to the store while having a miscarriage. That it started while she was in the car is obvious but the officer is too dense and arrogant to see this.

Now the police order her out of her car and tell her to sit on the curb while they search it -- police love to search cars. As Salva is waiting she continues pleading with the officers to take her to hospital. Spencer again chimes in: “Well, that will be something you can take care of when we get down with you.

Then officer Schnell chimes in with smart ass remarks. He orders Salva to remain seated when she becomes upset that her bleeding is being ignored by these two “serve and protect” types. Salva says: “If I die here, will you take care of me.” Schnell has a funny response: “Fair enough.” When she continues to insist that she is in medical distress and bleeding Schnell says: “I don’t doubt that you’re possible bleeding, but you got a lot more problems with us.” Those words are scary but very true. When it comes to the police in America we have “a lot more problems with” them then most Americans feel comfortable admitting.

Police officers continued to ignore Salva’s requests after she was taken to the station and while she was in jail over night. They only took her to hospital after she passed a large blood clot. The baby was then born prematurely shortly after that and died.

Police video tapes show that Spencer was the worst of the two. When Salva begs for help Spencer uses the typical police threat: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Salva doesn’t understand why they won’t help. She pleads for medical attentions and Spencer yells at her: “Don’t cop an attitude with me.” Better to cop an attitude then to have the attitude of a cop. Salva begs: “Please, please.” Spencer says: “No, I’m not dealing with you anymore.”

While this case is being investigated the officers in questions have been suspended from duty with pay. In other words they continue to earn their money but stay at home and don't work. In the private sector that is called a vacation.