Teen Skateboarder Uprising Squashed in Arkansas
Police State Premonition:
Child Skateboarder Uprising Squashed by Police
A Police officer in Hot Springs Arkansas goes nuts while attempting to apprehend a group of teen skateboarders.
Until recently, I had family who lived in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Lovely place. I miss visiting and I wish they had never moved out. I know the main street quite well. The skateboarders there never, ever bothered me. Not in the least… Now, to watch this video, it not only breaks my heart, but it angers me to no end.
So, this is the preferred method to “taking care” of the “skateboarder problem”? By unleashing your pit-bull mentality, testosterone driven, out of control police force to forcibly take down these children on skateboards?
Indeed, police state coming
July 3rd, 2007 at 3:37 pm
What an unfortunate situation to have occured in such a hospitable town as Hot Springs, Ark., host to nearly 3 million visitors a year.
According to newspaper interviews, several of the group knew they were violating the ordinance, but were prepared to lose their boards and possibly pay a fine. After they taped the event.
Thanks for helping us let the world know this video is neither a complete account of the skateboarding incident nor an accurate portrayal of Spa City, America’s first resort.
Rebecca McCormick,
Travel Journalist and Photographer
What an unfortunate situation to have occured in Hot Springs, Ark.,where tourism is our number one industry.
Tourists particularly enjoy our historic downtown district, stretched primarily along a 10-block section of Central Avenue. Sandwiched between two mountains, a row of eight bathhouses - named a Historic Landmark District - faces dozens of shops on the opposite side of the street. Hot Springs National Park, celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, comprises the entire area.
To protect pedestrian safety, the City of Hot Springs passed an ordinance prohibiting bicycles, skateboards, rollerskates, rollerboards and any similar apparatus in these clearly marked areas. Tom Daniels, president of the Downtown Merchants Association, says despite strategically placed signs designating the no-wheels zones, skateboarding violations have been an ongoing problem.
Most of the time, local police just ask the skoarders to move on, and they do. This time, however, at least one of violators had already been asked to leave Exhange Street Parking Plaza before he joined the group of two adults (ages 21 and 19) and four juveniles (three 16-year olds and one 13-year old) skating down the crowded sidewalks of Central Avenue. According to newspaper interviews, several of the group knew they were violating the ordinance, but were prepared to lose their boards and possibly pay a fine, anyway. After they taped the event.
As another commenter noted, the arrests were not made for skateboarding in a prohibited area, but rather for other crimes:
AR 5-54-125. Fleeing.
AR 5-71-207. Disorderly conduct.
AR 5-54-103. Resisting arrest - Refusal to submit to arrest.
AR 5-54-102. Obstructing governmental operations.
AR 5-71-206. Failure to disperse.
Did the arresting officer perform his job appropriately? Within department guidelines, according to Internal Affairs Board, who indicate the entire incident appeared to be part of a planned participation in a nationwide anti-authority demonstration. Should young teenagers be hanging out with 19- and 21-year old adults who have nothing better to do than skate through downtown during the summer? Probably not. Does Hot Springs need another skating venue to add to the nine parks and Hot Springs Greenway where skating is already allowed? That’s being discussed.
Those of us who live here hope that your readers will isolate their opinion of one police officer from their overall opionion of our genuinely hospitable city.
Rebecca McCormick,
Travel Journalist and Photographer
July 3rd, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Time to eat crow, eh? I’m PERSONALLY encouraging the officer to sue you and a host of other sites for slander for saying he “choked” and brutalized someone now that an official inquiry has WITHOUT A DOUBT determined otherwise. The comments that you have also permitted to be posted are slanderous as well and the Supreme Court has ruled that a wesite host bears sole liability and responsibility for what they allow to be posted about someone. Now that he’s been cleared of wrongdoing my prediction is that he’ll be a very wealthy man soon. Serves you right for being such a judgemental idiot.
April 26th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Rebecca;
While what you say may well be true, my girlfriend and I took Hot Springs off our list of potential sites to visit this summer after viewing this (the unedited version, in two parts) on YouTube. What you fail to notice is that one of the teens (Drew Irwin) was, in fact, arrested solely for “violation of city ordinance,” meaning the skateboarding prohibition in the area. Skateboarding in a prohibited area is akin to a minor traffic violation, and what concerns my girlfriend and I is that this is how Hot Springs police approve of handling such an infraction?!?! Sorry, but if the officer (Joey Williams) can be returned to duty without so much as a suspension or even retraining for leaving one handcuffed teen to pursue another, or the manner he treated the female (Casie Canterbury), or even a public scolding for excessive treatment of a minor infraction, you can’t tell us we have no reason for concern.
Bobby H.
Orlando, FL
September 6th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
AR 5-54-125. Fleeing.
AR 5-71-207. Disorderly conduct.
AR 5-54-103. Resisting arrest - Refusal to submit to arrest.
AR 5-54-102. Obstructing governmental operations.
AR 5-71-206. Failure to disperse.
thank you rebecca for continuing the hatemongering. this list [which is not factual as a majority of the kids were minors so their records are sealed] is full of the usual trumped up charges that people face after ugly confrontations with police
the first boy in the video is heard IN THE VIDEO saying he had no idea the cop was after him. yet the cop claims loudly several times that he not only knew the cop ordered him to stop but also told the others to keep going
which one is lying?
the skater behind the boy wrote an account claiming he was unaware
on the video showing the previous minute to this one, you see the cop run out of a store. several skaters stop immediately but most of the skaters were ahead and unaware. it was a group of about a dozen
why the cop did not detain and deal with the skaters who stopped eludes me [at least one of them left the scene anyway]. was it vitally important to chase down 13yr old jared? did the cop not see the others who stopped and were older, more responsible members of the group?
notice the cop is wearing a golf shirt and shorts. even with the badge iron-on at his chest he could have easily been mistaken for a shopkeeper. fleeing from a shopkeeper is not an offence
fleeing is also a ‘misdemeanour C’ which in arkansas is a lesser offence than gay sex and certainly not appropriate to tackle and choke a 13yr old for it
disorderly conduct? the ordinance already covered that. they would not be charged with both
Failure to disperse? they were never told to disperse, in fact if any walked away it would be considered fleein
Obstructing governmental operations sounds very serious, but go look it up.
this bogus charge is most often used against people taking photos of police.
skylar, who is responsible for the photo at the start was not arrested or detained when he ran. the charge for taking photos of the cop choking the kid made him a candidate for arrest, thus the chase
Resisting arrest - Refusal to submit to arrest is a valid charge, but considering the group was young [every kid the cop handles in this video is 16 or 13] and they had just witnessed their friend being manhandled by the cop for a minor offence, it will surprise noone that they were scared and afraid for their safety
every kid in the video is handled by the neck
the Internal Affairs decided that was appropriate but most people ive read comments from dont agree
rebecca, as you pointed out, the IA report claims “the entire incident appeared to be part of a planned participation in a nationwide anti-authority demonstration” this sounds suspiciously like they have deemed officer williams actions appropriate considering he was dealing with a “nationwide anti-authority demonstration” by himself
i suggest you go to goskateboardingday dot org and see what kind of “nationwide anti-authority demonstration” it is [not]
is this the new ‘patriot act’ in action?
the fearmongering is most apparent of your accusation of inappropriate relations re: “Should young teenagers be hanging out with 19- and 21-year old adults who have nothing better to do than skate through downtown during the summer? Probably not”
it was a planned ride through town to celebrate the internationally recognized ‘go skateboarding day’. would you deem it inappropriate for children to walk alongside adults on an earth day parade?
furthermore, the claim they were “skating down the crowded sidewalks of Central Avenue” is obviously designed to make them look like bad kids. not only can you see in the video itsself that the sidewalks were not crowded, but in the video showing the previous minute the skaters pass 18 people [half of which are waiting at one bus stop] over the 200feet of 15foot wide sidewalk in question
i have no doubt that on some days the walks are crowded and perhaps the ordinance was necessary, but to add fuel to the fire is mean spirited
i will look for your name on travel books rebecca and avoid buying them
by the way ‘utoober’s claim that “Now that he’s been cleared of wrongdoing my prediction is that he’ll be a very wealthy man soon” did not happen at all
people have the right to the opinion that the officer acted inappropriately even though the Internal Affairs cleared him. the kids claim the choke took place and we can see that three minors were in fact brutalized right on the video
this ordinance is one born out of the prejudice against skateboarders. i challenge anyone who reads this to find credible evidence that skateboarders pose a significant increase in risk of injury to pedestrians
it is an unfounded fear and misunderstanding of skaters which makes most people believe blindly they need to be protected. statistics based on youth injury from sport show skateboarding does not cause as many injuries to those participating compared with many popular youth sports and activities. if it isnt dangerous for those kids doing tricks over and over, how is it a danger to those pedestrians they pass?
if the sidewalk is crowded it is nearly impossible to skate on it. a dozen skaters in a line could not have passed if there were people in the way. crowded sidewalks and skateboarding cannot happen together. nobody was in danger
my final point is a simple one. the ordinance may be unfair, but it is in place. the kids knew about the fine and were willing to take it. the officer had several opportunities during the incident, including at the outset, to deal with the skaters with no force at all
his choice to use force on a 13yr old boy who was unaware and on a 16yr old girl who was arrested for refusing to sit down is what most people still consider to be excessive force
i doubt people who see this video will judge your whole town by this one bad cops actions, however they will certainly judge the american system of justice for condoning this despicable behaviour against kids
as the camerakid says, its not like they were being arrested for breaking into houses or dealing drugs. this officer is obviously unable to distinguish between people who need force to stop them and kids who will naturally struggle if you grab them by the neck
he should not be allowed to interact with the public in an official manner
sam