A Florida cop pushed a teenager off a roof. His punishment: Forfeiting one vacation day.
Police officers should not push people off roofs. Giving someone the option of jumping or having a taser used against you is not acceptable.
Yadiel Torres perched nervously on the edge of the roof of his friend’s house as police surrounded him in March. It was roughly a nine-foot drop to the manicured green lawn below, and from his vantage point, he could look into the backyards of neighboring homes in the Orlando suburb of Kissimmee, Fla. One officer had clambered up the roof after him, while two others waited on the ground, their hands on their stun guns. The lanky 18-year-old dangled one leg, looking as though he was contemplating his options.
“Push him off the roof,” Kissimmee Police Sgt. Anthony Amada called from the yard. “Push him off. Just push him off.”
But for the two officers involved, the consequences have been minimal. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Massiah was given an eight-hour suspension, which he fulfilled by giving up a vacation day. Amada, who the investigators recommended be fired, had handed in his notice in June. At the time of his resignation, the 14-year veteran was facing another, unrelated complaint alleging excessive use of force, and had recently been suspended for another incident in which he was deemed to have acted carelessly during a police pursuit, the paper reported.
Police officers should not push people off roofs. Giving someone the option of jumping or having a taser used against you is not acceptable.