Tough Guys and Lazy Police

[lifer]

OK, so as I start typing this I'm not really sure about the kind of response I'm looking for, so I'll just tell the story and see what happens.

Last night my girlfriend went out for Halloween. I wasn't really interested so I stayed home. She ended up going to Coyotes with a bunch of her friends and she said they mostly had a great time. The visible welt on her right cheek bone as she told the story made me believe there was a more interesting event that happened to her, so I asked her to skip to that part of the night. When she and 3 of her girlfriends were leaving the bar they were having trouble getting a cab. When one did pull up, they went for it at the same time as another group of 3 girls and a couple of guys dressed as figure skaters. Well, the girls started arguing and all of a sudden these two jerkoff dudes decided they were tough. One of them started shoving the girls and threw one of them on the ground. My girlfriend told them to just get in the ing cab and leave. That pissed off the other figure skating man who hit her, open palmed in the face. Then the guy grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and cocked his fist and said "I'm not afraid to hit a #$*&ing girl!" and continued shaking her, roughing her up and threatening her.
After about 20 seconds of this p.o.s. shaking and threatening my girlfriend, one of her friends boyfriends showed up and tossed the guy off of her. The two guys proceeded to try to go after him and ended up breaking his nose.
Here is the brilliant part. The group that assaulted them did not leave right away, so my girlfriend goes and finds some cops and tells them the story. The Calgary City Police's response? "This stuff happens all the time. There is nothing we can do. It's a case of he said she said".
WOW. It's great to know that we have some worthless, cowardly police officers protecting the public like that. I mean, unless a cop eye-witnesses a crime it's a case of he said she said. Do they dismiss those? I thought their job was to investigate. I mean, there are girls with scraped legs and welts on their faces and about 30 people outside the bar who witnessed it. I think a 7 year old child could start building a case with that kind of information. These loser cops did nothing. When she continued to complain to them about it they threatened to arrest her!


Now, I'm not a guy who goes around complaining about the police all the time. They have a difficult job and most of them probably do it well. Obviously they have a couple morons on the force too though. I guess what I'd like to know from you guys is if there is any way that I could launch a complaint about these officers' behaviour? If there is, would there be any point? I don't have any information about who they are or anything but I'm hoping that the CPS would track where their officers are all the time and would be able to determine who these cowards were.

The other thing I'd like to know is if anybody here was at Coyotes last night or if anybody here knows a couple of guys who were dressed up as figure skaters and went there. I'll save the tough talk and threats about what I would have done if I were there. Suffice to say things would have gone differently, but if anybody thinks they might be able to get me in touch with these guys (I know the odds are VERY slim) I'd love to talk with them for a little while.

[RougeUnderoos]

Well first of all, I was a ballet dancer, not a figure skater.

Seriously though, where were the rest of the people when this was going on? Were there a bunch of dudes standing around watching these guys beat up girls?

[SportsJunky]

Was your girlfriend drunk and beligerent(I'm not accusing her just wondering)? I would guess the cops get a little tired of drunken he said she said nonsense.

[killer_carlson]

You don't need the cops to be able to press charges. See if any of the bar staff knew who these jackpots were and then go down to court and swear an information.

Either that or go into a different police station and someone else will take up the case. Whenever you get a jackoff cop ask for their badge number. They are obligated to give it to you.

[tanguay'sstillgood]

wicked...more reasons to go downtown on weekends. too bad it was a group of almost all girls and not a sausage party.
edit: what a weird thing for a guy to say...

[Incinerator]

from my understanding, those cops are being paid by the bar to act as extra security/visual deterrent, so I'd imagine that they probably wouldn't want to put too much effort into it as they would do on their regular shifts.

[lifer]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Well first of all, I was a ballet dancer, not a figure skater.

Seriously though, where were the rest of the people when this was going on? Were there a bunch of dudes standing around watching these guys beat up girls?

That's what I asked her. She said there were people around while this was happening, but despite the time it takes to tell the story it didn't last for more than a couple of minutes. I'm quite unimpressed with anybody who would have watched this happen and done nothing.

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Was your girlfriend drunk and beligerent(I'm not accusing her just wondering)? I would guess the cops get a little tired of drunken he said she said nonsense.

They had been drinking, but not a tonne. She was pretty much completely sober when she got home about an hour after the fact. She most definately would have become beligerant when the cops said they weren't going to do anything about it, but when she initially made contact with the cops she was actually crying pretty badly.

Fotze, yeah, those bars sure kick ass. We never go to them except when our friends come out from BC. They want to go "clubbin". Boo.
Thanks Killer. I'll head in to a Police Station tommorow and see what I can make happen.

[lifer]

Originally Posted by Incinerator

from my understanding, those cops are being paid by the bar to act as extra security/visual deterrent, so I'd imagine that they probably wouldn't want to put too much effort into it as they would do on their regular shifts.

They were uniformed cops with a police cruiser outside of the bar. I thought the off duty guys were inside the bars and in civillian clothes.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by lifer

They were uniformed cops with a police cruiser outside of the bar. I thought the off duty guys were inside the bars and in civillian clothes.

nope, they wear full gear for paid duty too, just like the 4 cops you see walking around inside the 'dome for Flames games.

[tanguay'sstillgood]

i think it's time to change my signature a little bit...

[Dope-AS-Fack]

Its the whole drunk thing, they dont wanna bother with drunks

I dont blame them

I cant stand drunks, but thats terrible what happended, any guy who is willing to hit a girl...I dont even know wat to say, its just wrong

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by lifer

is any way that I could launch a complaint about these officers' behaviour?

No. I would say that is up to your g/f- not you. A 3rd hand account of events is worse that a "he said, she said."

My take- she wasn't telling you this story when she got home; she started telling you about her night. You then wanted to know about the mark on her face.

Now I'm not saying that she or you are lying. but I have been known to embelish a story from time to time; usually in my favour (making me look like the good guy.) And if that story happens after a night of drinking; it's quite possible that the events as I present them are nothing like what really happened.

As the saying goes, the truth often lies somewhere in the middle.

[lifer]

Originally Posted by ken0042

No. I would say that is up to your g/f- not you. A 3rd hand account of events is worse that a "he said, she said."

My take- she wasn't telling you this story when she got home; she started telling you about her night. You then wanted to know about the mark on her face.

Now I'm not saying that she or you are lying. but I have been known to embelish a story from time to time; usually in my favour (making me look like the good guy.) And if that story happens after a night of drinking; it's quite possible that the events as I present them are nothing like what really happened.

As the saying goes, the truth often lies somewhere in the middle.

Yeah, I realize she'd have to file the complaint. I'm going to convince her to do that. I also realize that recollections from a night of drinking are not crystal clear. That doesn't matter though. I have a girlfreind who got hit by a guy, and there is another of her friends that had been thrown around by these tough guys. The specifics of the actual confrontation honestly don't matter to me after I have the information that I have just given. Cops see a girl with a welt on her face that she says is from a guy hitting her. There is another one with bleeding legs saying the same thing and the cops can't even expend the effort to look in to it a little bit. The guys were a block away. Now that I'm aware of their "we don't investigate unless we see it happen" policy I will likely handle my confrontations with drunken clowns a little bit differently.

edit: Hey Ken. Reading this post over I see that it might seem a little bit agressive towards you. It's not intentional. I've been pretty much operating in a state of controlled rage since she got home last night. I don't disagree with anything you said.

[urban1]

(I didnt bother reading all the respones.)

With a bunch of drunks, the options are:

-let everyone go
-arrest everyone

[urban1]

Ill add, that you can still go to the cops today. Take pics of your g/f. Get witness.

If you go to the cop shop and talk to a cop who listens, then the cops can always get a warrant for the bars surveilance tapes which should have the IDs of the guys videotaped as they came in to the bar in their costumes.

If youre serious about this and have the resources, you could hire a lawyer to pursure this for you and put pressure on the cops.

(YOu could also look into womans groups who might help with legal advice for your g/f)

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by urban1

(I didnt bother reading all the respones.)

With a bunch of drunks, the options are:

-let everyone go
-arrest everyone

I think the options should be

- let everyone go
- arrest everyone
- arrest the people who are actually fighting

Why not?

We lament all this violence and then nobody does anything about it. The excuse appears to be "it's a bunch of drunks". If I'm drunk and some dimwit assaults me, didn't he still assault me? How does my drinking absolve him (and the cops) of any responsibility? Just because I'm in a bar doesn't mean it's open season on me, does it?

I don't care if lifer's girlfriend could barely stand up, if some guy hit her, he hit her.

An added bonus of this "bunch of drunks/nonchalance" method of police work is that a lot of guys would be at that very bar the next weekend looking to find the dude who punched his girlfriend. He'd probably bring a few of his buddies along for the fun and if they don't find the guy, they'll find someone else.

[urban1]

Problem is that with booze involved you never know the story.

Consider this:

The guys were waiting for a cab... cab stops... girls run in front and try to be flirty to try and convince guys to give them the cab... guy calls chick a fat pig and says "no way".... girl gets mad and smacks guy... guy pushes girl away... girl gets welt on her face from smacking against cab.... other girls jump in and biatch slap guy... other guys jump in and try to pull everyone apart. Cops show up. Whats the story? Who do you believe?

You heard one version of events in the original post (which is coming 2nd hand from someone who wasnt there). (And yeah... the OP will come and say his girlfriend isnt a drunk and would never raise her hand to anyone... blah blah blah...)

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I don't care if lifer's girlfriend could barely stand up, if some guy hit her, he hit her.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Incinerator

nope, they wear full gear for paid duty too, just like the 4 cops you see walking around inside the 'dome for Flames games.

The Flames pay the City though for those Cops... wouldn't they be "On Duty" for that? Aren't the ones in civilian clothes actually "Off Duty" and paid by the bar themselves?

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by urban1

Problem is that with booze involved you never know the story.

Consider this:

The guys were waiting for a cab... cab stops... girls run in front and try to be flirty to try and convince guys to give them the cab... guy calls chick a fat pig and says "no way".... girl gets mad and smacks guy... guy pushes girl away... girl gets welt on her face from smacking against cab.... other girls jump in and biatch slap guy... other guys jump in and try to pull everyone apart. Cops show up. Whats the story? Who do you believe?

You heard one version of events in the original post (which is coming 2nd hand from someone who wasnt there). (And yeah... the OP will come and say his girlfriend isnt a drunk and would never raise her hand to anyone... blah blah blah...)

So the answer to my question "does the fact that I've been drinking give a guy a free pass to assault me" appears to be "yes".

I don't know if I'm too fond of that answer. It doesn't apply to other crimes, does it?

Me: Officer, that guy just mugged me. He's wearing my watch and he has my wallet.
Other Guy: No I didn't.
Officer: Ah, I don't know who to believe, why don't you all go home.
Me: But he mugged me. Look at this lump on my head!
Officer: Get out of here or I'm arresting you.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by FireFly

The Flames pay the City though for those Cops... wouldn't they be "On Duty" for that? Aren't the ones in civilian clothes actually "Off Duty" and paid by the bar themselves?

Yes, it's paid by the bar to the city/CPS, then to the cops - it's paid duty - i.e. the cops get extra pay for the sole purpose of being there, as requested by the private venue, outside of their regular and OT shifts, their sole responsibility is to keep order at the venue, not to patrol its vicinity and resolve other issues that they'd normally do in a regular beat.

I wasn't talking about the guys who moonlight at the bars in civvies on their own time and getting cash from the bar directly, I don't think CPS officers are allowed to do that anyhow.