According to their defense in The Morning Call, this is what Allentown police claim happened when, on September 29, Officer Jason Ammary tased a 14 year old Dieruff High School student. She was walking along Washington Street after school with two female companions at the time.
Police tried to get students to move along with verbal commands. Most listened, but some remained in the middle of the street, talking on phones, texting or just not moving.The video captured from City surveillance cameras, which you can see above, tells quite a different tale.
An officer approached the girl and two of her friends to get them to move along, but she began to curse, which was inciting the crowd. The officer went to arrest her for being disorderly, but she twisted away from him.
She began to resist and the officer had to lean her against the trunk of a car to place cuffs on her. The girl turned back and elbowed the officer in the chin.
The girl kept hitting the officer, so he backed up, un-holstered his Taser and fired at her. He reached down to get his cuffs, which fell during the struggle, and he placed her in custody.
The first segment, lasting 15 seconds, shows the girl walking along Washngton Street with her two friends. They're obviously in the middle of the street, which would certainly be an annoyance to drivers. But there was certainly no riot. The scene is similar to what you see at any high school at the end of the day. The video ends when the girl suddenly turns around, perhaps in response to a friend calling her, or to Officer Ammary.
Then the camera apparently moves to something else.
The second segment, lasting 39 seconds, shows Ammary's taser assault. You can see this big tough cop ramming a 14 year-old girl up against a parked car, jamming his forearm into her throat. I see n evidence of any violence from her at all.
The Officer claims he was forced to tase this 14 year-old girl because she kept hitting him. But what the video reveals is that, despite the absence of violence from her, he suddenly backs away from chiking her and decides to pull out his taser. As he does so, you can see her raise both hands in surrender. According to the complaint filed by Att'y Rick Orloski, she shouts "No!" at that time as well.
Despite this, Officer Ammary hits her with his taser, and in her private parts. As this young girl goes down, one of her friends tries to help her, but is shooed away by Ammary and two other security officers. As the film ends, you can see a third security officer escorting a handcuffed young man away.
All of these security offices and Ammary have no problem walking all over the street thy are so concerned about, according to their claims in The Morning Call.
To me, it is a disgusting display.
74 comments:
Retired ASD teacher here.
Bernie, I watched the video several times. I am concerned the video is not continuous from start to finish. The missing seconds might be critical.
Also, as the girl was up against the car, I as able to spot her left hand striking the officer. Finally, without the use of microphones, we can't be sure how threatening and abusive her words were to the officer. He possibly was quite threatened and used what he believed a last resort to immediately halt the confrontation.
With so many students flocking nearby, had the officer grabbed the girl, struggled with her for a few seconds, then wrestled her down, etc., my guess is other students would have jumped in and attacked him.
These are difficult situations, I've been in several similar incidents. In one example, I struggled alone outside our building to break up a violent fight between two large kids. It was getting the best of me. The worst part was, at least a dozen parents surrounded us cheering on the kids.
Right now, I give the benefit of the doubt to the officer.
Thank you for obtaining and providing the video.
Bernie: It seems to me that, even if I give the officer every benefit of the doubt right up until he backed away from the girl (which I'm not sure I do), once she put her hands in the air he was in control of the situation. The need to actually use the taser had clearly passed. At that point, he could undoubtedly make a safe arrest if he had wanted to do so. Or, if he used appropriate discretion, he could have used that opportunity to get her to move along and end the confrontation. Any way you look at it, the officer went a step too far in a situation where his well being was not in any jeopardy. Thus, the use of such force was excessive. i hope the girl will be OK. Allentown will definitely have to pay up on this one. Glad they aren't my client.
Let's assume the girl was acting up in the missing portion of the video. It's clearly no justification for the taser assault that ensued,
As for her left hand striking thevofficer, give me a break. He hadcher rammmed against a parked car and was choking her. I think she's entitled to try and stay alive.
Then, before he zapped her, she had both arms up in the air, in an act of surrender. It ade no difference.
And youbchoose to accept the officer's account bc you've been in difficukt situations and this or that could have happened?
I'll go by what did happen. A 14 yo girl was senselessle tasered by a big, bad cop, and while her arms were in an act of surrender.
Sorry for the poor spelling. My fat fingers and ipad do not mix.
Well, I watched the video a bunch. And here's the thing - that very huge GAP in the video is weird - I mean, who taped this and why is that part missing? Obviously, the provocation occurred during the time NOT taped, so we have a very biased video here that is not the whole story.
Also, I actually do not see the girl hold her hands up in an act of surrender. All I can see is her right hand go up after she shoves the police officer away.
I do see the girl strike the officer.
So while I feel for the girl in question, I really have no idea what led up to this tasing. The video is clearly lacking in critical information.
the girl is clearly struggling to get the officers forearm off her neck... anyone in that situation would fight to breathe.. also someone commented that without audio we dont know what the girl was saying to the officer... well i doubt she was able to say anything to him with his forearm pressed against her throat!!!!!
She was effing 14. Cop should have badge and big boy weapons confiscated. 14. A 14 year old girl. This guy is going to kill someone if we let him continue to work out his anger issues with weapons. Tax payers can do better than this type of law enforcement.
Anyone who wants to refer to a 14 year old as a ghetto hood is clearly a bigot and has no place on this blog.
The only thing I see is the girl striking the officer, the officer creating distance as he was taught, and giving verbal commands as he was trained also.
The girl did not follow verbal commands, and since she struck the officer and resisted arrest the use of the taser was justified.
The taser is used as a form of less lethal force for circumstances such as this.
What ever happened to respect of authority??
If only the video showed what led up to the officer having to put hands on her. That is the whole key.
As far as I am concerned the video doesn't tell the story.
So you did not see him choke her or her raise her hands in surrender.
Monkey momma, if this happened to your 14 yo, younmight have seen that this cop was choking this girl, and that he tased her after she put up her hands insurrender.
3:55, to me, that is irrelevant. He may have neen justified in slamming her against a parked car. But after that, when he clearly had her under control and she even raised her hands in surrender, he tases her, and in her private parts. This is animalistic behavior.
Orloski will get $50,000 out of this in some kind of settlement. we'll never know the facts. The officer might get a warning but I doubt it.
Retired ASD teacher here.
The video is certainly intriguing. It demands many viewings.
Just before the break in the tape, it appears the three girls are attracted to something behind them and they move in that direction. At the end of the tape, a youth appears to be led away in restraint from that same area.
I'm not even sure the girl was one of the three shown walking at the beginning of the tape. If you observe the placement of backpacks and the color of their denim, one could make a case the girl the officer tased is NOT one of the original three walkers.
The missing tape footage is troubling. Since these cameras are mounted high-up and shoot continuously, the current video gives the impression it was edited.
In any event, I believe this video is too inconclusive, because of the break in video. I'm just not ready to really know what went on there.
"he tases her, and in her private parts. This is animalistic behavior."
Having shot, and been shot with a taser you are taught to aim center mass meaning mid torso. The barbs will then spread out once fired. The exact location is difficult to determine.
As far as whether or not he was justified, none of us can tell. It comes down to how the officer felt. It is also up to that officer to justify his actions.
Again, I wish the video didn't cut out and showed the whole story. With out that we can not fairly judge the officer or his actions. Frankly we can not judge the officer or his actions with or with out video.
You never know what you are dealing with in these situations. The average person sees a 14yo girl. The day before the officer may have dealt with a 14yo girl with a weapon. It is not fair for the average citizen to pass judgment until they walk a day in the shoes of those involved.
The idiots that come on here. First off I am a lawyer myself and this is clearly an officer assaulting a child. And for you idiots that keep asking about the video it was captured by a police city camera which is set to rotate or be operated by man do you mean to tell me you think the 14 year old girl stole a clip out of the city cameras.
For retired Asd teacher city cameras rotate. But im sure you wouldnt no that being that you teach in Allentown
This defiant young woman appears to be resisting arrest. It appears as though the officer had her turned to the car probably to apply handcuffs and she turned around and tried to push him away. At that point he could have either tried to get in a wrestling match with the idiot or use the taser. She was not a small 14 y.o. If the taser leads hit her genitals that was not the intent. This is just another arrogant, potty mouthed punk who got what she deserved. And that bar room barrister Orloski is trying to stir up a civil rights case to line his pockets. He needs to build up his war chest for another failed campaign.
Her hands were clearly raised. She was unarmed and posed no threat to the considerably larger officer. She may have been behaving badly. That should not get one tased. The city should pay and the cop should be fired. I wonder who else he's beaten or tortured out of camera shot.
Retired ASD teacher here.
Anonymous 5:08/5:10-
No, a 14 year old student could not steal the police camera footage, but an ADULT might choose to omit some of the footage to better illustrate their contention.
Also, the security cameras can be rotated. If so, would the footage of the new area not still be included in any continuous tape? This particular camera WAS being controlled by a human back at headquarters. You will notice it is zoomed-in to a view of greater interest. The camera can’t make that judgment on its own.
I always advised my students to be careful and consider both sides before making absolute claims. You would be wise to do the same.
How can anyone make a fair call here if we're only being shown part of the tape? Clearly this has been edited. You can't tell for sure. You can't even tell if it's the one of the girls that appeared in the beginning of the tape. And I'm really not trying to be mean...but that's a big girl. Maybe the use of the taser was justified if the officer felt threatened. Plus we're only getting the side of the story that is in the lawsuit because the tape only shows that the girl was tasered, but doesn't show it in its entirety. Once the civil trial starts, then both sides will get to speak. Until then, you shouldn't be so quick to judge the actions of the officer or the actions of the girl.
Wow you can clearly tell you were once a Asd teacher that video is the video the city recorded & brought to court that is the video theres nothing more missing but more proof of the cop beating the kid so if anyone took out parts its the city duhhhh. Go back to lccc for another degree you must of been a special ed teacher no disrespect to handicap kids but clearly thats were u belong!!!!
"First off I am a lawyer myself and this is clearly an officer assaulting a child."
Who gives a shit what you are?
This could quite possibly be the video the attorney of the girl has. I am sure the city has the entire video, and if we see the whole thing the officer will be cleared, and if we don't see the whole thing nothing else needs to be said.
Bernie,
Go to PoliceOne.com or their Facebook page. You will regularly see posters calling teens "ghetto thugs". Sadly you have to be a member of law enforcement to post on their site. There is an element in the industry because of the power trip. If you speak up about the bad seeds you get booted by "the good ol' boys club".
Think of cops with long established good records suddenly getting the boot for something kind of minor. While others blatantly do bad things and keep a job. Victims of the good ol'boys.
Just think of a few valley departments. Not hard to find examples of minor offenses that end in termination, versus major screw ups that keep their job.
Unnamed for a reason
The people that live in the valley!!! For the 100th time that is all the video it was a city camera that rotates every so often. The camera turns automatically if you dont no what rotate means. The ignorance that we live amongst. Your clearly a failure to your society and the officer should have shot you!!! Ps. Just in case you ask again that is all of the video you dont like that tell the city to add 300 more cameras so they can cover every angle of every street without cameras having to rotate. I prob wont get to read your reply cause I will be in my office doin work I dont get to sit around in my grandmothers house on the computer all day like you
I did research into this and this was all the video. And the cop is clearly wrong and was removed from the school immediatly. Schools dont turn against there own unless there clearly wrong which he was and he has prior complaints for being violant why would he be put at a school with are children in first place. But I understand why some of use are posting the things you are because to use its just another minority kid but if it was a white girl this cop would have been linched! You dont put your names but God knows who use are and use will get urs.
Retired ASD teacher here.
To the offended Anonymous poster, you are also choosing to be anonymous. By the way, I am NOT anonymous to the owner of this blog.
I have no problem with YOU (or anyone else) choosing to be anonymous. I'm more interested in what perspective you provide. So far, I am not impressed with what you have contributed to this topic, but I thank you for trying to help us understand this story.
6:29 is correct. The camera rotates so there is no video of the initial confrontation with the officer. In fact, it is a fluke that this video was obtained at all.
Retired ASD teach, the young lady who was assaulted is in fact in the original segement. She is on the right. You can see that she is with two friends, walking down the street, when there attention is drawn to something.
There is little doubt in my mind that, being 14 and in the midst of her peers, she probably was rude. She may even have been violent. But it is also very clear t hat a pretty big guy subdued her right away. When he had his arm in her throat, he was the aggressor and she was acting defensively.
When he stepped back to zap her, you can set her put both arms up in surrender. There was no need at that point to tase her. In addition, there were three big school security guys on hand.
Having decided to zap her anyway, there was no reason to zap her in her private parts. But he did it anyway. I cannot condone this.
This is assault, pure and simple. This officer should not be allowed near children.
It wpuld be great to have the entire video, but that's not tye way the city camera works. I did notive the zoom, and it makes me wonder whether it zoomed in as a result of motion or bc it finally caught someone's attention.
Take care.
To those attacking Retired ASD Teacher,
He has made a career teaching in Allentown, and loves the kids. He has every right to his own interpretation of what he saw. I appreciate his insight and candor, even when he and I strongky disagree.
Well, if he decided not to use the taser gun, he would have had to wrestle with this giant 14 yr old girl.SHe was fighting. Having said that, I am sure no officer wants to get into a wrestling scuffle with a girl, and possibly break bones, noses, give bruises, sprains etc.
True, she's a hefty chick ...but a chick is a chick.
Her injuries would have been much more severe if he arrested her the ole fashion way.
Hey O'Hare, anon 6:37 is clearing threatening white people. Why not delete her comment. Oh that's right you thunk hanging out with a 10 year old black kid gives you 'street cred".
Pathetic.
The cop was getting his ass beat by this girl.
Her arms never went in the air.
He acted 100% within his rights
Good job Joe
The cop was 100% right and getting his ass beat
Once a coward, always a coward! No 30 something cop should attack a 14 year old girl with a taser. If he couldn't subdue her without this kind of force he should not be on the force. What a jerk, wonder if this is how he handles his home life.
the cop was 100% right
Thank you Allentown Police for trying to control the vermin. It is a thankless job but the great silent majority of Allentown appreciate it.
We are all trying to leave the city so we appreciate your efforts in holding back the scum in the meantime.
Allentown use to be a pretty city. What a shame it is now a lawless filthy pit. Yet the animals are on here defending lawlessness.
Disgusting animals.
Thank you Allentown Police for trying to control the vermin. It is a thankless job but the great silent majority of Allentown appreciate it.
We are all trying to leave the city so we appreciate your efforts in holding back the scum in the meantime.
Allentown use to be a pretty city. What a shame it is now a lawless filthy pit. Yet the animals are on here defending lawlessness.
Disgusting animals.
I have not had the unfortunate experience of being harrassed by the police. I have had positive encounters over the years. I do respect them, however shit like this is the reason I will never trust them. ANY OF THEM. They are a fraternal organization and will support each others lies until tapes and or evidence proves otherwise. Why do you think many municipalities are trying to and have enacted laws prohibiting the video taping of the police? THEY DON'T WANT CONFLICTING EVIDENCE OUT THERE. So they tramp all over our rights to photograph their antics. If your community tries to enact these types of laws there should outrage and solidarity among the citizens against it. Like I said I respect them for what they do, I don't trust them.
Advice live within the confines of the law and hope you aren't dragged into any situation with them. ANY OF THEM.
And a question does anybody interact on a friend / buddy relationship with any officers?
Why do they only hang out with each other?
And does anyone have access to statistics for how many officers get arrested for DUI?
I hear there is never any in the courts in NorCo.
They must really follow the law....to a "T"
Retired ASD teacher here.
Bernie, thank you. This is a fascinating story.
I agree with you, the sight of a youthful female being tased is disturbing.
Again, I watched and paused the video. The girl on the right has much shorter hair than the girl being tased. I also believe any continuous video would show "something" between the two segments, rather than black screen. That's the confusing part here. Something was edited out by someone and that won't help either the Orloski or city claim.
Finally, the cameras are not sophisticated enough to zoom due to movement. They are surrounded by movement, like from cars and blowing litter. A human on the other end made that call.
We'll see where this goes, I guess.
What happened, ASD, is that the camera turned and began filming another portion of the high school campus, then it returned to this incident. It would not have helped Orloski or the Officer.
7:30, There are cases upholding the right to film police officers, as they also have the right to film you and me.
7:29, Does it make you feel good to anonymously call a 14 yo girl an animal. Why not just be honest and admit you're a bigot?
Kent State rings a Bell.
"Her arms never went in the air."
22-23 seconds into the video, her arms and hands are up in surrender.
Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la.
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio
Four dead in Ohio.
Anon 730,
I have several friends who are police officers and I hang out with them quite a bit. In addition, my son's Godfather is an FBI agent. The guys that I know are consummate professionals who would not cover up misbehaviour by one of their own. Sure, as in any profession there are bad officers, but the vast majority of them are intelligent professionals who would lay down their lives for you if duty called.
In this case, pepper spray may have made this a non issue.
"Hey O'Hare, anon 6:37 is clearing threatening white people. Why not delete her comment."
She or he has threatened no one, but speaks the truth to bigots like you.
C, Well put, as always.
Bernie,
I live next to West Park on Turner Street, a major artery for student traffic. Unless you are familiar with the volatile nature of super concentrations of students the police conduct here might seem excessive. I will withhold judgment until all of the evidence is in. In my many years in the city I have witnessed many episodes of unruly behavior, often bordering on riot, on the part of the district’s students. In this same time period I have never seen or heard of any sort of abuse on the part of the APD.
Scott Armstrong
An anonymous comment referring to a 14 yo girl as an "animal" is going to be deleted. What you are really saying is that you are a bigot.
Scott, Your insight is appreciated. I would expect APD to be professional in their encounters with anyone. But when they are short on manpower, which is the case in Allentown, this kind of thing is inevitable.
7:05, I will tolerate no racism. If you can't manage that, then get lost.
6:24, I went on that site and saw comments that are undeniably racist.
Bernie,
The police force has been understaffed since Afflerbach sold out the city’s best interests to the FOP in 2004. However the numbers have in the past few years crept back to what would be considered normal staffing levels. Not much works in the city but two institutions continue to perform, one is the parking authority which operates with a brutal efficiency, the other is, thank heavens, the police department. A person who actually lives and knows the city is the chief. Imagine that.
It is not my intention to comment on this one case with any certainty, I do however wish to make clear the very solid record of our police department.
Scott Armstrong
A man is not ever supposed to hit a woman, but a cop can tase a 14 year old girl in the crotch because she didn't like being shoved around... wow...
The sad part is that it didn`t have to happen if she had just moved along. By the way aren`t there side walks around ? Will her mother and father teach her to respect authority next time ?
Respecting authority doesn't mean jack crap. If the authority is telling you nonsense, you don't have to just listen to it. The street appears to be marked as closed, indicating students cross there etc when being let out, note that no cars pass through the entire time and there is a sign at the top left part of the view.
Authority doesn't mean it can do whatever it wants, its attitudes to the contrary that are taking this country down the drain. A high school grad without a college degree who couldn't hack it in any other job, is suddenly an expert on what we can and can't do and we have to lsiten to them or worry about being tased in the crotch? gimme a break.
6:24
Do your fellow officers know you directed us to that site?
You'll be first through the door ala Serpico for that if they find out.
I do appreciate your candor though.
I forgot, the ghetto thug comments, are they based exclusively on ethenic background or are the "wiggers" included?
Whites pretty much do bad things as well 9:53.
Bernie leave the comments up to show what kind of aholes there are in the world.
mistake I meant 9:55
mistake mistake
2 posts at 9:53
I refer to the second sorry
@ 3:51pm (cuz that's as far as I could get without getting nauseous):
"The taser is used as a form of less lethal force for circumstances such as this... "
So, clearly - if taser were not available, you would support lethal force given the situation?
Good god...what a slew of paranoid readers.
It's a shame it has to come to where the police use cattle prods to effect behaivour. Most thought tasers were to be used to protect an officer from violence. This hardly seems the case with this girl. The City will be paying a settlement here. Take that to the bank.
Bernie you are full of crap that she was trying to "surrender." Her arms were up as a result of pushing the officer away while resisting arrest. While they were up she probably realized she was about to be tased and tried to protect her face. He was already reaching for the taser in a continuous motion when she raised her arms so there is no way he could have construed her actions as a "surrender." Why do you hate cops so much? Just cause they jostled your sorry ass once too many times?
She was obstructing the flow of traffic and pedestrians. She disobeyed a request by an office of the law to move on. She cursed, threatened and assulted said officer. She may have been inciting other "students" to harm the officer.
O'Hare can delete and delete some more. The fact is the majority of Allentown citizens applaud the officers actions in enforcing the law.
These "children" have no real moral or ethical upbringing. Momma never taught them that.
Many of us have been insulted and threatened by these hoodlums when they block traffic.
We thank the Allentown Police Force for at least trying to make Allentown safe for the real taxpaying residents.
The Real Silent Majority!!!
This is a 14 year old child, this is a girl, I'm sorry this is just plain wrong and there is no justification for this
12:23, You have no idea what she did, and ignore what is plain for all to see. Your anonymous comment is motivated by hatred for what she is, not what she did. You are a bigot, unlike the real silent majority.
White kids, black kids, spanish kids, no matter. They think they own the world because instead of requiring accountability, maintaining standards, and integrating them into civilized society, we have those on your side of the argument, Bernie.
That side is: Make excuses, justify, mollify and play the race card whenever it is convenient.
I generally have no use for cops, because my experience is that they are lazy, pension padding slackers who can't be bothered in situations much less stressful than this. Township and staties who could not give a shit. But these city cops deal with vermin every minute of every day. None of us were there, the cameras rotate and are obviously missing much and, from what can be seen, this girl was not at all innocent in this mess.
Here's a link to what a 14 year old who can absolutely be called a ghetto thug (despite your admonition) is capable of:
http://www.chicagonewsreport.com/2011/11/marshown-means-6-year-old-shot-in-chest.html
Perhaps the cop should have waited for the girl to stab him or for one of the onlookers to take a shot?
There is a difference between racism and simply stating facts in an incident that involve minorities. And if it is a beligerent, in-your-face white kid who gets it, he or she is a ghetto thug, too. Quit trying to sugar coat it. Sugar coating and explaining it away is why good people of all colors have to deal with this shit in their communities every day.
That's a fair comment, bt is not the type of comment I was getting and deleting.
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