Violence is not the solution, some say

Feb 13, 2008 22:06 GMT  ·  By

Skateboard riding might not be the best thing to do, if you're in a state that prohibits it, the Police will be on the lookout for you. Come to think about it, don't do anything against the law, but that's a different moral lesson, one that has to be taught by the people in charge and by the endless number of movies dealing with cops and lawyers.

The 14-year-old was stopped while skateboarding and then manhandled with brutality while being yelled at. All of that triggered by a single word: 'dude'. Officer Salvatore Rivieri could not stand that appellative and cracked: "Obviously, your parents don't put a foot in your butt quite enough, because you don't understand the meaning of respect. First of all, you better learn how to speak. I'm not 'man.' I'm not 'dude,' I am Officer Rivieri. The sooner you learn that, the longer you are going to live in this world. Because you go around doing this kind of stuff and somebody is going to kill you." You have to watch the video to get the real feel of the moment, but at some point the policeman seemed to go berserk.

Skateboarding, according to Baltimore Sun, is not allowed in the Inner Harbor area, where the event took place. Filmed with a phone (probably) by one of the child's friends, it ends brusquely when Rivieri turned and asked if "You got that camera on? If I find myself on? [video ends]".

The video brought about the officer's suspension and Sterling Clifford, of the Baltimore Police Department and the mayor's office's spokesmen, said that an internal-affairs investigation has begun. "We have invested a lot of time and energy in having better relations between the community and the police," Clifford said. "The bad behavior of one police officer can jeopardize a lot of hard work."

Officer Salvatore Rivieri has been with the Force for 17 years and does not have citizen complaints in his file. He's not going to have one after this case either, as the boy chose not to say anything.