Post-Video, Cops Release
Report & Criminal History

Don't resist and you won't get beat.

You have a right to "Rally", but try watching this with your computers speakers turned on first. Can you not hear them screaming "PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK!" Until he does that they need to treat him like he is holding a weapon.

Pulled a sawed off rifle on police officers? Lots of officers whould have just shot him dead. This was the compassionate route and is one of the worse pieces of evidence I have ever seen. I bet the video from the squad car and vest recordings tell a very different story.

And thanks for more child testimony NHI, I know it's been a slow summer for you and you hate to leave the office, but stop taking gasoline to the BBQ.

I understand that some actions cops do are things us citizens can never understand. (they are risking their lives). Once I saw 5 cops in fair haven 2 decades ago... try to take one guy down and he was so hopped up on drugs it really did take 5 officers to cuff him. But even me, who gets why cops have to use force can clearly see that the kicking was excessive.

If the guy didn't resist, the cops would have quickly cuffed him and put him in the car.

Why would cops struggle with a guy in a neighborhood that has had a significant amount of gang/criminal activity recently? The longer they're there, the more potential danger they are in.

That guy is clearly a gang-banger given that he had a rifle in his pants, was shooting it, and had previously been convicted of burglary.

Of course, the local "neighborhood" will rally around the gang-banger instead of supporting the police who has removed the gang-banger from the streets.

No wonder crime persists in those neighborhoods! They only have themselves to blame.

It appears as if NHPD apprehended a man with a sawed-off shot riffle. Nice job.

Protests against violence in the inner city next to protests against police for arresting those responsible for the same violence. Makes perfect sense.

Could the Independent please call them Police Officers. Cops makes them sound like their job is easy. It isn't. Obviously.

WOW.

This and two incidents I witnessed/suffered:

What the person recording the video doesn't seem to understand is that getting the guy on the ground and getting his hands secured are two different issues. He could pull a weapon - which he already was known to carry, having dropped one - until he was secured in cuffs. The fight is still happening until that point.

I am disappointed in Paul Bass for not having a story on this sooner, except for the one that claims the police officers were injured. It is as if the NHI is in cahoots with other mainstream New Haven media that have failed to cover the story up until now. Surely the video was provided well before the Advocate ran the story. This beating happened two weeks ago. There were two murders in this neighborhood the weekend following this beating.

[Note: We had no idea the video existed. We would have certainly published it if we'd known.]

The author is making an assumption that cops were "punching and kicking a man after he has been detained". In my view he wasn't yet detained. This was the tail end of a chase in which the chasee was armed to the teeth and probably fighting. I'd like to see the rest of the posters video to see what led up to it. If the chasee was resisting, this may have been the only way to stop him.

Just saying.

Give them a medal. Next please.

the dude was resistin the whole time. Cops did nothin wrong.

Our police officers should be trained to cuff suspects properly. There are more effective (and more humane) ways than punching and kicking to encourage a suspect's cooperation and submission -- even a potentially armed and dangerous citizen.

Just as with the Rodney King video, what we're seeing here is not officers protecting themselves against a suspect who's still a potential danger, but rather exacting revenge for his previous actions.

This is understandable, but it's also counter-productive to the police force's mission, and our American ideals of justice.

As with the death penalty, I think that almost everyone (including me) would agree that (if the police report is accurate) this guy deserved a beating -- but I would hope that almost everyone would also agree that the police should not be allowed to administer retributive beatings.

The NHI article states that a "video that appears to show cops punching and kicking a man after he has been detained." Detain does not mean that the man is controlled/secured/handcuffed. NHI readers should check out the link to the New Haven Advocate story. It is absolutely incredible in how it gives all the merit to the angle that the video is about police brutality, while glossing over the circumstances that lead up to the time of the video.

What I see in the video, is a person refusing to be handcuffed, after being detained, and then being arrested by the police. My interpretation is based upon the prior reporting of the circumstances leading up to his detainment, as well as the video.

ShotSpotter reported a gunshot on Blake Street.
Police respond to the area and saw a subject there.
Subject removed a sawed-off rifle from his pants and fled.
The police ran after him.
The police caught up to him and had him detained on the ground.
The subject will not submit to their lawful authority to be arrested and handcuffed.
For at least one minute, subject continued to not allow the police to handcuff him.
Police used physical force to get him to comply to handcuffing.

With that in mind, the critics of Police Misconduct will rally at City Hall today to protest. Will there be a counter-rally by those who are campaigning against street violence in New Haven?

Does the Police Misconduct Rally group truly believe that on an early summer evening, in a residential neighborhood, with dozens of on-lookers, that these officers "beat/stomped/kicked/to a bloody pulp" this man, without justification?

I certainly do not claim that there have never been incidents where police officers, including NHPD, have used of excessive force. However, I think it would behoove the Police Misconduct group to do their homework a little better, so they can present true example(s) of Police Misconduct. Every person who has physical force used upon him/her during an arrest is NOT a victim of Police Misconduct. Every person who is injured during a police encounter/detainment/arrest is NOT a victim of Police Misconduct.

It would be interesting to know if there were drugs and/or alcohol in the system of the arrestee. I will not bore the readers with true stories of what a motivated person can do while resisting arrest; especially when drug and/or alcohol increases their pain threshold and impedes their rational thinking.

The arrestee's criminal history includes a Burglary conviction. (See New Haven Advocate article that names him, then cross check with the State of Ct Judicial Website). Could that rifle had been taking from a local building during a burglary? I am sure the NHPD is tracing the rifle.

Last, but certainly not least. To Officers Halim and Senior--Thank you for your dedicated service. This is not the first gun and perpetrator with a gun you have grabbed from the streets; it will not be your last. Keep up the good work. Stay safe!

I challenge Streever to go a month without posting about how he was harassed by the cops.

DHS is expanding their polygraph program to fight corruption of their CBP agents - http://t.co/fMENr6o
To be done every 5yrs and for internal affairs investigation. All levels of law enforcement should follow their lead. Corruption, misconduct, excessive force, abuse of power, perjury, etc. is no longer an option we can ignore. It has become a national and world security issue, along with civil and human rights. Once and for all we can 'break the code.'

I wonder who is alive and well today, who might not have been, if the police hadn't controlled and arrested the man. Was he out to rob a store, or a home, or a person on the street? Or to settle a grudge with someone? There is no good reason for a person to be on a city street with a shotgun. Having been mugged years ago by two men with sawed-off shotguns, I have a clear idea of the extreme danger the officers faced, and the danger to by-standers and intended victims had the police not been able to control and arrest the gun-toter. Not every violent arrest is a Rodney King story. As Richard Seltzer said about the difference between surgery and assault, it is CONTEXT. It appears that the police used tactical force only, which is still, unquestionably, hard to witness. There are consequences for criminal behavior and intent, and consequences for resisting arrest.

@ streever,..if you really think for one minute that a more subtle approach should have been used,...wow,..what world do you live in. sure next time i or any of my co-workers see/face/deal with an individual with a gun,..i'll be sure to say,..'excuse me sir/mam,. can you please put down that gun, i don't know what your intentions are with that gun,..but just put it down so we can talk about it, and after you put the gun down, please turn around so i can handcuff you." well come out with us for a week and you tell me how that approach works.

@James:
The cop who choked me and beat me on the side of a road for following the law did not "harass" me--he abused me and beat me and left me lying in the street.

The cop who grabbed an intoxicated and helpless young woman, cuffed her, and then dragged her to her feet to bash her face into his car repeatedly did not harass me--he abused and beat an innocent person.

His partner who told me I'd get the same treatment if I didn't shut up did not harass me--he threatened to abuse me and committed another felony.

The IA cop who threatened to arrest me for "Trespassing" when I showed up at his office for our scheduled meeting because I "illegally entered" his office didn't harass me--he threatened me and disenfranchised me.

I'll stop posting about it when those officers step up and offer a sincere apology for abusing me and other citizens.

to all the police haters and bashers,..i guess it would be ok if the perp/suspect shot and injured/killed one of the officers or an innocent person of the public,...i guess his actions who be ok then,...again,..think like a reasonable person,..who carries a sawed-off shotgun around,..what kind of persons carried a weapon like that???? i know it's hard,..but try to open your minds and think....!!!!

DKR:
I'm not a hater, so I'll assume you are not referring to me with that comment.

As to what do I expect--the video is unclear, but it sounds as if the suspect was already in cuffs and immobile before being severely beaten. Unarmed, handcuffed, and on his knees.

Doesn't the department issue tazers, which don't do permanent damage?

Hey, I know it is scary out there--I've seen the evidence in the officer who beat me and the officer who I saw beat an unarmed sub 100 pound woman who was lying on the ground crying. Clearly you guys are under a lot of stress and your job is very, very difficult. I think the city should institute counseling and PTSD treatments for many officers.

I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, and I am sorry it sounds that way--I have a lot of respect for how difficult your life is, and I think the city should take better care of your health.

I find that the eyewitness testimony will be key here. Sounds to me like this man was senselessly beaten, on our streets, by the people we indirectly hire and pay.

To the good cops on our force: I am sorry that repressed angry officers are giving the force that you are part of less credibility. To those good cops, I also want to thank you for not succumbing and always staying true to our country's core values.

Funny thing about people commenting about the perpetrator is that if the cops knew that there was a gun then why in the video why did the final officer come in and ask " he has a gun right?" There is no way being on your stomach face down you can harm a police officers with a foot in your mouth and knee in your back! Police have been beating up on and terrorizing black black males physically for along time in this country history tells it. Whether a black man has a record or not shouldn't justify a beat down. A lot of you people are simply misinformed about the rules of engagement for officers. How can you be afraid of someone face down on the ground when you have about four lethal weapons not counting your fist and feet? I have police officer in my family they've suggested just do what they say because you don't want to be assaulted or killed because they will if they have too. What kind of oppressive society do we live in where a person can be beaten on camera and it's justified?

Has anyone asked the obvious question? Does the man on the ground understand english?? You can hear the police very clearly on the video tell the man to "put your hands behind your back".

How many engish-speakers would understand if a Mexican police officer took you down and repeatedly yelled "Ponga sus manos detrás de la espalda!"?

The other question is what if he was deaf? And if so, were either of the arresting police officers trained in sign language?

@Streever:

Read the report. The cops did use a tasor on the guy.

The full description in the report seems to gel with the video.

Based on all of that, I'm tempted to believe the cops over the guy who's bringing illegal weapons into our neighborhoods.

@DKR -- no one is hating or bashing the police. We just want them to follow the rules that they agreed to when they put on the uniform. One of those is not beating a helpless suspect, even if that suspect is Jeffrey Dahmer or Casey Anthony. If the suspect is a potential threat, you subdue them and restrain them; once they are no longer a threat, you do not lose control and beat the cr*p out of them due to pent-up rage.

So now these officers are claiming that during the time of the videotaped beating, the suspect was reaching for ANOTHER OBJECT in his waistband. Yet, they never found it:

"Mr. Donaby continued to resist arrest and refused to comply with our commands continuing to reach and remove an unknown object from his waist band area"

two more short paragraphs after that in the report, but that is it. Only the Taser and the Rifle were logged as evidence.

@joebob: it appears he WASN'T restrained. That's why the officers were fighting to get his hands. Monday morning quarterbacking is all this combat thread is. The officers had secedes to react and I'm sure try feared for their own lives as they responded to shots fired, see a man with a gun and chans him down, who won't surrender his hands once they make physical contact with him. You the readers are guaranteed the officers weren't killed, but the officers involved at the time don't get that peace of mind.

Guy carrying an illegal gun, just be design alone. Kicking wildly and ignoring instructions that certainly were loud and clear enough. Watched the video a number of times and still don't see anything wrong by the cops. Guy is lucky they didn't blow him out of his socks. ...

To Streever:

If you listen to the video you can clearly hear the officers tell the P.O.S to put his hands behind his back. How do you figure he was handcuffed and beaten, also as a taser instructor we do not train officers to use it in a deadly force situation, which this clearly is. A subject pulls a gun on officers, that is not the time to use non-lethal force. If you think a taser will stop someone from accurately shooting someone I can prove you wrong quickly.
...

its funnier how NHI changed the article from cops beating a "detained" man. u guys should worry about gathering the facts instead of copying The Advocates fairy tale.

Funny how news venues are quick to slander a good cops name and reputation. I think these officers should find a lawyer and go after the newspapers for slander once they get cleared of this "show" the chief wants to put on.

Good job officers...

Gee Streever! You had a bad experience with a police officer and the entire force is chastised?

Your comment concerning tasers ... Less the half the force have them. The mayor is more interested in 50 million dollar schools than spending 50 thousand to properly equip the force. Forget about bringing the issue to ... Frank Limon ...

Another dangerous felon and loaded gun off the street. I want to thank the Officers of the New Haven Police Dept. For risking your lives day in and day out to keep us safe. Thank You! And Good Job!

Don't run from the police and you wont' have these problems. If this guy had been in NYC the cops would have shot him as soon as they saw a weapon and been done with it. New Haven criminals don't know how good they have it.

Funny ,in this town you have multiple witnesses plus video to an arrest but when a man accidently hits a kid who is riding illegaly in the street no one don't know nuthin' .

This rifle with a cut down barrel is a Federal crime. ATF says 10 years and $100,000.00 lets see!

@anon, for once you and i agree. nice job, NHPD; you fight terrorists everyday and although violence is always deplorable, sometimes it is necessary, sometimes it is an emotional inevitability that is caused by ***es with sawed-off shotguns.

NON ILLEGITIMIS CARBORUNDUM.

Very few people seem to want engage with the real issue here, which is the officers' behavior, not the suspect's. I think we can all agree that the suspect needed to be arrested and quickly subdued. Where I do not agree with the officers' defenders is on the issue of whether they were justified in repeatedly kicking and punching the suspect after he was down. This is by no stretch of the imagination a standard method of restraining an uncooperative suspect. Officers are trained in how to deal with these situations, and punching a kicking a suspect who is down is simply not an option that's on the table.

The criticism against these two officer's is completely unfair. The fourth most dangerous city in the US, no public support ever, no pension. This is why some police in new haven do not do anything pro-active, and i dont blame them. The ones that do pro-active work get their names slandered after almost dying. I just don't understand it.

@Just the facts: New Haven is not the fourth most dangerous city in the US.

Also, repeatedly kicking a guy who's already down is not "proactive", it's contrary to policy, as these officers are well aware. Sure, it might be understandable under the circumstances, but that doesn't mean that it ought to be praised, or even condoned.

Cops are only human. What would you do if someone pulled out a sawed off shotgun?
Why do we excuse members of our armed forces when they beat and sometimes kill the enemy once they pull a weapon?
We are in more immediate danger from a drug dealing thief with a sawed off shotgun than the "enemy" in a far off country.
These cops showed major restraint by not shooting this man dead. We did not see beginning of the altercation. How do we know that this convicted felon did not aim the sawed off at the cops?
I can't believe the community is rallying in defense of a gun toting ... instead of the cops that put their lives at risk every day. Yet when bullets fly into their homes they complain that the police are not aggressive enough in getting criminals off the streets.

So which is it gonna be? You have rallys for nhpd to stop the violence and clean the streets of gun-toters, then when the police do that to someone threatening with a gun, there is rallys against the police doing their job. You cant have it both ways, clean the streets of gun toting scum or endanger the lives of the only people trying to help your city?

I agree with those that are saying that the cops were correct. I too looked at the video and saw the cops trying to restrain a guy who pulled a sawed off shotgun on them. They were trying to restrain him and hitting him as he posed an immediate danger to the neighborhood and the officers.
I wounder if the person taking the video would rather the cops leave this guy on the loose with that sawed off shotgun?! I thank the NHPD for doing their job and putting their lives at risk to protect mine.

For all of you claiming police brutality, lets pull the police off the streets of New Haven for a month and see what a zoo this city becomes. Or, should I say, how much more of a zoo it becomes.

If those claiming brutality don't want the police in their neighborhoods, they can redirect them all to Westville. I'd be happy to have the police.

On another note, to all those who feel that this is a case of police brutality, I'd like you to have a sawed off shotgun put in your face and see how you react!

@K

AMEN!

I am shaken by this video. I am scared of the possibility that either a man with a sawed off shotgun is on the streets, or officers who choose to diffuse a dangerous situation with excessive violence. I am aware that it shows only one minute of footage, however in that one minute I counted thirteen blows within the first twenty seconds. As a third officer arrives the physical intensity of the first two officers reduces dramatically. Thirty seven seconds in there is the fourth and final officer which then ends out the footage with the question, He had a gun right? That question, along with the rest of the video can be interpreted in either way. It is a moment of great stress for these officers, yet I can't condone the actions they chose under such stress. Violently kicking an individual thirteen times in under twenty seconds is excessive, regardless of the crime that was committed. I by no means support a criminal with a gun roaming the streets, but I cannot stomach the manner in which this man was brutally kicked in the head and beaten in the street. The video can be interpreted however one chooses, but it is without debate that the two primary officers involved did hit and kick that man thirteen times. Our police are here to protect and serve, not to punish. It is the courts that are there to serve a judgement and I believe that these officers crossed a line.

Just one more thing taken from CONFLICT MANAGEMENT - QUICK FIELD REFERENCE GUIDE
http://www.ct.gov/post/default.asp

@K:

We don't excuse members of our armed forces when they unnecessarily beat or kill enemy combatants; we court-martial them.

Also, no one is "rallying in support" of the suspect -- they are rallying against the apparent unnecessary violence of the officers.

Outside of Internet political debates, reality comes in shades of gray, not in stark black-and-white. Therefore, it is possible to simultaneously be grateful to these officers for apprehending a dangerous thug, while at the same time condemning their post-take-down kicking and punching.

In other words, it's not about whether the suspect deserves any mercy or consideration; it's about what we are willing to let our public servants do in our names. I applaud these officers' courage and dedication, but beating a suspect is just stupid and counter-productive. All it accomplishes (besides satisfying the officers' rage) is to drive a wedge between the police force and the public that they're trying to protect.

@Roger

Are you a trained and experienced police officer or a training officer at a police academy? Perhaps a police commissioner?...
Have you ever almost died at your work place in the fulfillment of your duties in service to a community who appears to hate you no matter what you do? ...
@K

I agree, they did show great restraint in not shooting this individual. Just because the suspect was down doesn't mean he's incapable of still shooting the officers at all. I don't understand why some people are not open minded to this.

do members of our police force who post here believe it is OK to beat someone who is restrained and no longer poses a threat?

In light of what's been happening in New Haven lately w violence, this doesn't seem like the case to be rallying around against police brutality. If the "victim" had a sawed-off shotgun as reported, it's hard to have empathy or sympathy for him. Could've been my family or friends he shot...
just not a good case for that issue (brutality).

On a slightly different note...I recently moved to a different state where I have seen the police act in a much different fashion than I am used to in New Haven. I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop when a very intoxicated man stumbled in for coffee. Seeing this the employees told the man we are going to get you some help. Living in new haven for most of my life I was ready for the worst. i.e. A beating, lot's of cursing and an arrest. I felt so scared for this man that I took out my camera to record the incident. What I captured on film was the police gently asking the man a few questions about himself, talking to him about his time in the marines and eventually helping him to a detox facility rather than do any of the things I had imagined they would do. The New Haven Police are notorious for overreacting and abusing people, not just physically but emotionally.

Police Chief's always list an individuals criminal history after their police officers break the law themselves,however, as they read off the criminal history they never reveal what charges were dismissed by the DA. The reason is over half the time there were no evidence in the first place. The officers had no reason to stop, search or arrest the individual.

Too many times murders, rapist, child molesters go free because of Police Misconduct, therefore, police officers and their cchiefsf police need more trtrainingn order to Protect the Public at Large, instead of terrorizing the PuPublict Large.

@Strever

With regard to your last comment. In watching the video what I saw was that the guy with the gun was NOT restrained in handcuffs and he still was a threat to the cops when he was being hit. He was struggling and fighting back.

Or perhaps was your comment just a general question.

http://www.policeone.com/use-of-force/articles/3950109-Hidden-hands-are-not-harmless-Video-reinforces-sound-officer-safety-tactics/

interesting perspective on this..

Is kicking an appropriate and acceptable use of force when trying to restrain a suspect? I thought kicking someone when they're down could be a felony? (Especially when the receiving party is outnumbered.)

To the NHI Staff and lilliereal:

The NHI incorrectly wrote that the suspect's ARREST Record was released. What was released is not his arrest record; it is his CONVICTION RECORD. Every entry listed has a conviction and the sentence imposed.

It is possible that he has been arrested more than the times listed in the Conviction Record. However, if the charges in those arrests were dismissed, or he was found not guilty, or Nolled over 13 months ago, then those incidents would not show up in a Conviction Record.

What it all comes down to is perception. You the public perceive a man being beaten unjustly. I can't blame you for that, because that's what you are being told you're seeing. Yes there's police officers struggling with a man in the middle of the street. Police officers perceive that somebody in the area of shots fired starts running from them with gun and assaults them whenthey attempt to apprehend him. He will not give up his hands, and at that point seeing the ENTIRE context of the situation, they have to use serious physical force to secure the hands of the 6'2 280 lb man who is resisting them all the way. The cops perceive that it is very possible the man could be further armed, seeing he was already armed times one. This is all basic police training 101. In the future, me being a police officer, I very well may think differently about how I risk my health and safety when I approach that guy who looks out of place, seeing this is the treatment I'm going to get from the community if he so decides to fight me.

@joe-bob. Nicely said. Civility is what we expect from residents and officers. Many of the same people who are rallying against police brutality are also in the community rallying against gun violence. An officer's job is to arrest and allow the courts to reprimand. Officers are NOT judge,jury and executioner. If you listen with open ears you will hear the man cry out that he can't put his hands behind his back. (he had recent surgery).Due to the fact that many have been wrongfully accused and witnessed or endured an officer's rage in this city and around this nation some of us are a little jaded and mistrustful of cops and their incident reports. Part of academy training is how to write a good report to support arrest and justify abuse. At the end of the tape you hear an officer ASK, "He had a gun, right?" as though once his rage subsided he was trying to justify why he was behaving like a common thug. Many have allowed their civil rights to be trampled due to the violence in our city and in our nation.Not all of us have so stopping using fear to make us feel comfortable about police violence.

Yes, I am a New Haven Police Officer and feel the need to comment to some of you hateful disbelievers in our department.
To Roger, unless the crime stats reported in June have changed New Haven is #4 most dangerous city in the country.

To Steever, stop crying were all aren't bad officers. What happened to you happened get over it. Damn it already.....

To Joebob, we train with the belief that if a subject has one gun look for the second gun. So as the subject lied on the ground with his hands under his stomach, hiding then from the officers. The fight and the threat is not over. So we are going to do what ever it takes to go home. so what you people perceive to be brutality is survival mode. at least in this incident.

To the rest of you people how about telling your children the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. All we ask is for a little home training...stop blaming us for having to discipline your failure......Man up- Woman Up do your job, so we don't have tooooo.

Good article that all naysayers posting here should read. Really puts things in perspective and appears to be from an unbias source.

Just as an example, I am not a board certified physician and do not have any medical training or experience. Therefore I wouldn't tell a proctologist how to perform a colonoscopoy. In addition, a doctor isnt even considered a dangerous job.

I cant understand why people who don't do the job, have experience or training in the position or have a certification in the field claim to be law enforcement experts. New haven officer's must suffer horrendous psychological effects from the unnecessary stress the public places on them.

now i can see why cops cant do their job... when they do and try to arrest a person with a GUN they are wrong... no wonder some police drive the other way when they hear gun shots because they act just the way the public acts (or wants them to act). this person had a GUN!!! not a bag of weed... so if you want the police to fight crime then let them.... it wasn't a person stealing chips.... either let them fight crime or tell them to sit there and wait to be called.... i'm confused... then the Chief speaks before he finds out the circumstances... hey Chief i don't know how they do it in CHICAGO but in the east we investigate before we prosecute....

Retire to Amsterdam:
I was beaten and choked by a cop, and the incident was swept under the rug by Chief Ortiz and IA, who went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure I was not able to file a complaint.

"Get over it?"

How would you feel if one of your loved ones was illegally beaten and choked, and the police refused to do anything?

The girl I saw get her head slammed into a cop car repeatedly should just "get over it"?

Because citizens don't want to get beaten up on the streets by the TAX PAID POLICE FORCE we should "RETIRE TO AMSTERDAM"?

...

I like what the cop wrote.
"Stop blaming us for having to discipline your failures."
So true.

and who is responsible for cops behaving like common street thugs? I hope that we are not expected to blame their parents. More likely they are the product of a dept who is unable to discipline its " failures".

Actually if the cops behaved like a common street thug, they would have just shot the guy that pulled out the sawed off.
Do you think any thug would have let a guy live that pulled out a sawed off shotgun?

To Steever,... what happened to you is not the norm believe me and the sub 100 pounder i don't remember ever hearing about her and I have been hear nearly twenty years....but as DRK has suggested come and do a ride along as see what we are up against, grown ups refusing to answer the door for the police, lying for their children or others. I not easy in this city.

To bjfair; ...PEOPLE remember there are bad seeds in every walk of life, but in this incident, on that day on Blake Street. your boy messed up, follow direction, listen to authority and you get to go home. It works for both sides of the law.

Hey Amsterdam. I was wondering if you have noticed that a lot of your fellow officers cuss at people quite a bit, and if so, why do you think this is? To me it is indicative, as with any field of work, of a lack of professionalism. Is it really necessary for police to use the f-word (and worse) when trying to discourage a panhandler, as I have seen many times on Chapel st. If your doctor went around cussing all the time, would you trust him to be your doctor. (and I am only speaking of swearing, I have also seen people brutalized in your hands) Sorry, but I think as much good as some of you guys do, you also really need work....

@NHI I am not allowed to say I do not trust the police? This is obviously a sentiment shared by many in New Haven, and you deleted this from my post why? Is this not a constructive way to approach this issue? By being honest about ones feelings which are born of my own lifelong experience as a New Havener. Can you please explain why you felt the need to alter my post?

In order to believe that he pulled out a gun on the police means u have to discount all the witnesses and the video. You have the right to take that stance. Just don't expect all of us to do so. BTW all street thugs do not shoot. Some will behave just as the officers did. They will get a person in a defenseless position and beat them to a bloody pulp.

first to @NHI, if you felt it necessary to cut my blog then u should have cut the whole point because it doesn't make sense.
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To Abdel nior, there is no law against police officers using profanity. many times it all some people will respond too. The TV image the public wants only exist in Mayberry RFD with Sheriff Andy Taylor, OP and Aunt Bea. If my Doctor swore at me i'm not sure how i would react. What ever happened to "stick and stones" and I'm rubber and you are glue." It worked when we were little right? If police have to thicked skinned then i believe you people need to man/woman-up..........The Brutality part it happens and we hope it will stop, but you guys have to stop resisting and think one slap equals one slap....

RATIONAL discussion of the video and whether the actions the officers took were justifiable or misconduct, is a healthy thing. However, when one buttresses their opinion by suggesting that Donaby NEVER had a rifle in his possession during the incident, their sheer lack of objectivity comes shining through. In Donaby's mother's case, it is understandable; she is going to stand by her son. For others, it is a chance to lay claim that the officers, as usual, will say or do anything to justify their unjustifiable actions.

To claim that since no rifle was seen in the video or seen in Donaby's possession by observers on Blake Street, that Donaby did not have one, is a desperate attempt to discredit the officers and deflect from the totality of the circumstances that led up to what was video recorded..

IF ONE WANTS TO BELIEVE DONABY WAS NEVER IN POSSESSION OF THE SAWED-OFF RIFLE, too many things would have to be orchestrated.

ShotSpotter would have to have been compromised to show a firearm discharge at that time and place that the officers were dispatched to. Or the officers would have to discharge a/their weapon, right there, to record the discharge. Or have someone discharge a firearm, at their direction. For those who think fireworks could have been lit off to mimic the gunfire, ShotSpotter can differentiate between the two sounds.

With step one complete, it would be time to find a patsy/mark to accuse of firing a gun. Or, for those conspiracy theorists who think that there may have been gunfire, but the officers set-up the wrong man, it was time to pick their mark.

If there really was gunfire, why would the officers want to get the right man? The conspiracy theorists believe that officers do not care about arresting the real perpetrator when a crime occurs; they just need to arrest anyone. So, they picked Donaby because he was right there.

The officers, when they picked their mark, certainly would have to be careful if they were going to bring the planted rifle out to their detaining of the mark. Then, they had to make sure the mark ran from them, so they could throw down the rifle when they chased him into the rear yards. Or, have him run to the vicinity of where they had hidden a rifle earlier, just for times like this.

Then, the officers would have to perform "street theater", to make it look like they were in a desperate struggle to get the mark secured, in front of dozens of witnesses in a residential area, on an early summer evening.

Or, it could have happened as the officers reported.

@Lets Retire
You scare me, man.
... The power that police wield--the authority and the privilege you have over the rest of us. ... With power comes responsibility.

There have been over 90 cops killed so far in 2011. Get a clue people. These criminals don't have respect for you or value your life nor do they care about the people who protect u. If you don't think for one minute that these ... would kill or hurt a police officer ... If this is the kind of force the cops in New Haven need to use to regain order then so be it. I was taught when a police officer gave you an order to put your hands behind your back then u do so. Its really sad that you people portray this guy to be a model citizen when he's walking around the streets carrying a shot-gun, No wonder why New Haven is the way it is today!!!!! ...

Ex NHPD: Why are you TRYING to make this incident into an elaborate plan? All that had to happen was a shot was fired, police spotted this man in the vicinity, he ran,(that's an automatic NHPD style a**kicking in itself when caught). Once the man has been assualted in the presence of witnesses the officer immediately begins to justify what he has just done by asking, "He had a gun right"? When no gun is found on his person (because witnesses are there) the claim then begins he had a gun and threw it somewhere. Recovering a gun within NHPD is not an impossible task since guns are recovered all the time. I'm not saying the man did not have a gun and my point is not about whether he did or not. You purposely glaze over the problem that the community has and that is even if he had a gun we don't accept beating and stomping him as a proper response from professionals. ... more sensitivity training, more professional training, wipe out corruption and above all extinguish the "us vs them" mentality and instill in officers they have signed on to PROTECT AND SERVE the NEW HAVEN COMMUNITY and they are not allowed to do so by any means necessary.Since you have worked there in the past you are aware that racism and corruption thrives within the dept and the "no snitching" rule keeps it all undercover. Let's just call a spade a spade. I am in no way trying to deflect blame on officers for what they did not do. We all can see what they did and there is no justification for it. Violence is unacceptable no matter who is doing it.

seems like the author had nothing better to do then take bits and pieces of the real story twist them up and make it seem like ofc. halim and senior are horrible cops , switch places with a cop one day , just think having every one against you and then getting into a fight with a guy who has the mindset on killing you , obviously your fighting for your life not for the enjoyment of watching the suspect suffer . they repeadtly told him to stop resisting if he wasnt such a fighter then this wouldnt have gone down like this . think about it imagine being a cop and have a guy who is armed trying to retrieve his weapon and kill you obviously your not going to stand there and gently say hey can you please let me handcuff you ? no ! get real do you know how many cops have been killed in these past years they did what they had to do to save their lives im sure you would act out in the same way . its funny how bystanders only capture the cops beating on someone but never what really has happend that lead to their actions . im not just saying that because both officers are my advisors for the police explorers program but because they simply did what they had to do to protect themselves so if your going to sit there behind your computer sceen and defend a criminal who has no emotion for you or what you think and walks around carrying guns and breaking the law , then maybe you should have been the one to recieve the beating for such ridiculous thinking.

These two police officers did their jobs. They are not bad cops, they don't go around beating up suspects. They both are currently advisors for my son in the police explorer program and i am grateful for the time they spend, and the training and morals they help teach the kids. my son wants to be a new haven police officer and im proud to say these two men are his friends, and teachers!!! I'm glad they are both okay!! Keep up the GREAT work guys!!