Justin Knolls being arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court
So it's not just Amherst PD and UMass PD who sometimes -- although very infrequently -- have to resort to the use of force that includes pepper spray to bring an out of control perp into compliance.
Especially when he's a danger to himself, a large group of party goers and responding police officers who like to return home to their family after work. Even more so when he stands 6 foot 2 inches tall, and weighs 225 pounds.
AFD responding to APD sally port for a prisoner hit with pepper spray.
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) October 5, 2014
Since Amherst College does not have their own holding cell they use Amherst Police Department's just around the corner at 111 Main Street. When Justin Knolls was brought in Amherst Fire Department had to respond to the sally port to treat him for pepper spray.
In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday Mr. Knolls was provided a public defender and his case (which includes a felony charge) was continued to next month.
Click to enlarge/read
White fanny pack. Check.
ReplyDeleteHandlebar mustache. Check.
Ugly sweater. Check.
He's a hipster.
Lock him up for good!
Any injuries?
ReplyDeleteNo, I believe not.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the arrest situation seemed to parallel the recent one that broke an Amherst police officer's finger.
Judging by the report it almost sounds as though the assaultiveness he exhibited was more indirect and passive; eg, the angry student who chose to punch the wall instead of the teacher. This makes me think--judging by his physical size & stature--that this could've been far worse, especially for the first officer on scene.
ReplyDeleteClearly a repeat offender if they recognized him.
Yeah that thing about his "blank stare" indicates he was in an altered state of consciousness. And he is a pretty big dude ...
ReplyDeleteHow come no AB on a PO?
ReplyDeleteHe clearly was on something -- folks, drugs are back in a big way and you really gotta wake up and realize that.
ReplyDelete"Judging by the report it almost sounds as though the assaultiveness he exhibited was more indirect and passive; eg, the angry student who chose to punch the wall instead of the teacher."
ReplyDeleteKeithw, this is a bad thing?
I make a big distinction between someone who is non-compliant and someone who is assaultive.
Notwithstanding the fact that he was most likely high as a kite, exactly what are you basing your presumption that the student who punches a wall is as violent as the student who punches a teacher? One is an inanimate, replaceable object and the other is a human being...
I make a big distinction between someone who kicks out a cruiser's window while in custody and someone who clubs a cop across the side of the face with a glass bottle...and then runs.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's no presumption, it's my experience with both the violent student who physically attacks the teacher and the passive-aggressive student who punches the wall instead; and comprehending the difference between the two.
Noncompliance is the beginning stage of a loss of rationality and has all kinds of potential for violence; the Kyle Dinkheller shooting is chilling proof of that.
You shouldn't put such static constraints on something as dynamic as violence.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform-free-speech/how-many-people-must-be-maimed-or-killed-we-end-militarization
ReplyDeletehow did the cops who shot pepper balls through third floor apartment windows on the day of the blarney blowout know whether or not their chemical munitions might land in a toddler's crib?
the answer is: they didn't.
Larry, can you define very infrequently? Are we talking like 2-3 times a year? I would consider that infrequent. My sense is it is more like one use of force or threat of force per interaction with the public.
ReplyDeleteEven a cop walking down the street with his chest out wearing a uniform at this point is a threat of force, even better, give him a dog.
Almost every action a cop takes is based on the use of force or the threat of force. Otherwise citizens would keep doing what they decided was best before the cops arrived.
Cops are all about force and using it to make people comply with the law.
We may all want it, but lets not be so distant as to try to even remotely disassociate the police with force.
And I know they fill in and do a lot of the parenting that parents don't. This is not a compliment for cops, it is an insult to local parents.
This is not a lack of respect for police, it is just recognizing them for what their role is.
the important distinction that must be made is between reasonable and prudent use of force and "excessive force". excessive force, which with the widespread availability of simple and inexpensive video and audio recording devices proves, occurs on a near daily basis in our country, and is a violation of a person's constitutional rights.
ReplyDelete"Noncompliance is the beginning stage of a loss of rationality and has all kinds of potential for violence; the Kyle Dinkheller shooting is chilling proof of that."
ReplyDeleteAnd by the same logic, what happened on 9-11-01 is why we should summarily incarcerate everyone who is Muslim.
There is a very real difference between "noncompliance" and overt violent acts. The fact that people like you can't tell the difference scares me.
"You shouldn't put such static constraints on something as dynamic as violence."
So Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a clear and present threat of violence? Ghandi as well?
Good Lord!
Of course you probably are into this "cognative aggression" crap as well -- the example being that a man comes home and finds his wife having sex with someone else and he either plots murder or nonchalantly accepts the fact that she sleeps around.
There IS a third option that you folks seem not to comprehend -- DIVORCE! He goes to a judge and tells the judge what she did and asks for the marriage to be dissolved, he goes to his church and his friends and tells them why and the entire community soon knows she's a slut.
Aggression, yes, but I don't consider this violence -- and you apparently do. I consider him perfectly justified in doing this -- and you likely consider him a dangerously violent man, and that is problematic.
And am I the only one who didn't see mention of when/why pepperspray was used in the police report? When/why WAS he sprayed?
If the perp had been sprayed and then put into the confined atmosphere of a cruiser, not only would 8th Amendment issues arise, but kicking out a window could be justified under the concept of "necessity" -- he needed fresh air.