MIT student killed by drunk off-duty officer in Brooklyn crash had big plans

[SummerMadness]

MIT student killed by drunk off-duty officer in Brooklyn crash had big plans

He relished his time in New York.

The 21-year old MIT student killed by an allegedly drunken off-duty cop on a Williamsburg sidewalk was eager to start his Big Apple internship at the mobile marketing firm Appboy, his old wrestling coach told the Daily News.

Andrew Esquivel was walking home when he was fatally struck and three others were injured by Officer Nicholas Batka's runaway SUV on a Williamsburg sidewalk at shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday.

[...]

Batka, 28, who was seen driving erratically before the crash, refused a Breathalyzer test at the scene and has been charged with manslaughter.

 

[The Hammer of Witches]

It is irrelevant if he is a cop, a drunk driver is a drunk driver.

 

[SummerMadness]

Any time a politician or agent of the state does something wrong, it is relevant? Ted Kennedy was involved in an auto accident that killed a woman, and he was likely drunk, his status as a member of a political family aided him, much like many police officers use their badge to commit crimes and hide behind it to escape prosecution.

 

[Cimorene]

That's horrible.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Any time a politician or agent of the state does something wrong, it is relevant? Ted Kennedy was involved in an auto accident that killed a woman, and he was likely drunk, his status as a member of a political family aided him, much like many police officers use their badge to commit crimes and hide behind it to escape prosecution.

That's not what's happening in this case though...and your point about politicians is a total strawman. Politicians are elected by their constituents...so the crimes they commit in and out of office are relevant to the voters who elected them.

Police aren't elected...and this guy wasn't acting as a cop at the time he was drunk driving. This idiot's behavior is no more relevant to his job than if he were a mechanic who was drunk driving and killed someone.

Regardless of what you think about police "using their badges to commit crimes" that's not what happened here.

You're really reaching on this one.

 

[SummerMadness]

That's not what's happening in this case though...and your point about politicians is a total strawman. Politicians are elected by their constituents...so the crimes they commit in and out of office are relevant to the voters who elected them.

Police aren't elected...and this guy wasn't acting as a cop at the time he was drunk driving. This idiot's behavior is no more relevant to his job than if he were a mechanic who was drunk driving and killed someone.

Regardless of what you think about police "using their badges to commit crimes" that's not what happened here.

You're really reaching on this one.

You're reaching if you're arguing that one's status as a police officer is not and cannot be used to escape prosecution for crime. As members of law enforcement, they are given privileges by fellow officers, which is why such impropriety is no different than a legislature using their political office to escape wrongdoing. Keep spinning.

There's a reason why Daniel Holtzclaw was able to rape so many women.

 

[Ana the Ist]

You're reaching if you're arguing that one's status as a police officer is not and cannot be used to escape prosecution for crime.

That's not what happened here...it has nothing at all to do with the article.

Zero.

Zip.

Nada.

Zilch.

 

[TerranceL]

It is irrelevant if he is a cop, a drunk driver is a drunk driver.

I disagree, as someone whose job it is to enforce the law he knew very well what he was doing was wrong.

Chances are very good that working as a policeman he's seen the effects on others when people are so stupid as to drink and drive, and yet he still did it.

 

[craigerNY]

If someone that works for the EPA were caught dumping used motor oil in the ditch behind their house I am pretty sure the headline would be something along the lines of "(insert name) from EPA caught dumping oil illegally".

 

[iluvatar5150]

I disagree, as someone whose job it is to enforce the law he knew very well what he was doing was wrong.

Chances are very good that working as a policeman he's seen the effects on others when people are so stupid as to drink and drive, and yet he still did it.

I'd also bet that at least some of his cop buddies have in the past extended him some measure of leniency regarding his drunk driving. If everybody knows he's a drunk, this is hardly the first time he's done this.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I disagree, as someone whose job it is to enforce the law he knew very well what he was doing was wrong.

Chances are very good that working as a policeman he's seen the effects on others when people are so stupid as to drink and drive, and yet he still did it.

Does anyone who drives in the U.S. not know about drinking and driving?

 

[Ana the Ist]

I'd also bet that at least some of his cop buddies have in the past extended him some measure of leniency regarding his drunk driving. If everybody knows he's a drunk, this is hardly the first time he's done this.

That's a rather large assumption.

 

[iluvatar5150]

That's a rather large assumption.

What's a large assumption? That this is his first offense or that his buddies cover for him?

Regarding this being his first offense - having known plenty of drunks and been on the verge of being one myself at one point, I say with confidence that tons of people drive past when they should. Most don't get caught because a lot of people can hold their liquor better than what the legal limits allow for. For a drinking pro like this guy, you have to be pretty stinking hammered to run off the road on a city street.

Regarding his buddies covering for him, practically everybody I've ever met tends to be less condemning of their friends who do things wrong than of people they don't know who commit the same offense. I guarantee you that at least some of them have been out with him in the past and been skeptical of his ability to drive home, yet let him do it anyway.

 

[Ana the Ist]

What's a large assumption? That this is his first offense or that his buddies cover for him?

Regarding this being his first offense - having known plenty of drunks and been on the verge of being one myself at one point, I say with confidence that tons of people drive past when they should. Most don't get caught because a lot of people can hold their liquor better than what the legal limits allow for. For a drinking pro like this guy, you have to be pretty stinking hammered to run off the road on a city street.

Regarding his buddies covering for him, practically everybody I've ever met tends to be less condemning of their friends who do things wrong than of people they don't know who commit the same offense. I guarantee you that at least some of them have been out with him in the past and been skeptical of his ability to drive home, yet let him do it anyway.

The assumption that his "buddies" covered for him in the past. You're right that it could happen...but you've got no reason to assume it did.

When it comes to those situations...the problem for the officer who stops him drunk driving is a matter of covering your own butt vs covering his. If you put out on the radio, which is recorded, that you're stopping him for driving erratically or possible dui and you decide to let him go...what do you think would happen to you if he gets in a wreck afterwards?

Cops tend to cover their own butts first and anyone else's second.

 

[Sweet Tooth]

Does anyone who drives in the U.S. not know about drinking and driving?

Exactly. It doesn't matter if you are a cop, a regular citizen, a tourist, whatever. Get sloshed and get behind the wheel, you suffer the consequences.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Exactly. It doesn't matter if you are a cop, a regular citizen, a tourist, whatever. Get sloshed and get behind the wheel, you suffer the consequences.

Indeed.

 

[iluvatar5150]

The assumption that his "buddies" covered for him in the past. You're right that it could happen...but you've got no reason to assume it did.

When it comes to those situations...the problem for the officer who stops him drunk driving is a matter of covering your own butt vs covering his. If you put out on the radio, which is recorded, that you're stopping him for driving erratically or possible dui and you decide to let him go...what do you think would happen to you if he gets in a wreck afterwards?

Cops tend to cover their own butts first and anyone else's second.

I should clarify - I don't mean that he was pulled over while drunk and then let go. I mean he's been out drinking with cop buddies and then they looked the other way while he left the party under his own power instead of getting a cab/DD.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I should clarify - I don't mean that he was pulled over while drunk and then let go. I mean he's been out drinking with cop buddies and then they looked the other way while he left the party under his own power instead of getting a cab/DD.

Oh I see...so instead of imagining wrongdoing by the police department he works for, you're imagining wrongdoing by his friends while off duty.

Well that's much different...

 

[iluvatar5150]

Oh I see...so instead of imagining wrongdoing by the police department he works for, you're imagining wrongdoing by his friends while off duty.

Well that's much different...

Yes. Granted, I can imagine a lot of things, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that there had been times in the past where he'd been pulled over and given a courtesy escort home instead of being booked. But I was referring to off-duty leniency that would've otherwise resulted in a bust had the offender been a civilian.

 

[Ana the Ist]

. But I was referring to off-duty leniency that would've otherwise resulted in a bust had the offender been a civilian.

I have no idea what you mean by this...

Do you think that cops go out drinking and then "bust" people they see drinking in the same establishment that attempt to drive home?