Police Are Supposed to Help Us Right?

I would like to preface this post with the fact that I have the utmost respect for police officers. They have extremely difficult jobs, and they put their lives on the line day in and day out to uphold the law and maintain peace. With that said though, there is a reason why we hold police to a higher standard (or should hold them to a higher standard) than most other people. We do not expect that when we call the police to help in a particular situation that the police would actively contribute in bringing about the worst possible outcome of that situation. This story out of Arizona just makes me sick because that is exactly what happened.

Michael Angel Ruiz decided to climb on to the roof of a building for unknown reasons. He may have had personal problems, but he was known to have substance abuse issues. Police were called to the scene to assist in the situation. Ruiz was unarmed so in this instance the only danger he posed was to himself if he were to fall off of the roof and injure himself.

But when police arrived at the scene, they decided to use their taser on Ruiz multiple times to coax him off the roof. When Ruiz complied and dropped down onto a landing area, he was immediately met by multiple police officers with one of the officers placing him in a chokehold for minutes. Once Ruiz was cuffed (and unconscious), police carried Ruiz down the stairs of the landing without securing his head. During this time, Ruiz's head was allowed to smash against the stairs multiple times. When Ruiz arrived at the hospital, he was pronounced brain dead. Five days later, Ruiz's family decided to take Michael Angel Ruiz off of life support.

Though Michael Angel Ruiz posed a safety risk to himself, it looks like the greater risk to his safety in this case was that of police abuse and negligence. We can rest assured though that the police will investigate themselves in this matter, but as of this writing, I have not seen a statement by police indicating that any of the officers involved in this incident being placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. They are still out there "serving" the public.