An off-duty NYPD officer was brutally beaten early last Saturday morning. Surveillance video shows two masked thugs jumping the 27-year-old unnamed officer, shoving him to the ground, taking his wallet and gun, then stomping on his head.
A photo later released by the NYPD shows the boot print left on his face.
Randy Sutton of The Wounded Blue says New York, where the city council has dismantled the criminal justice system, is not safe for anyone.
"If an armed police officer is not safe from muggers and being severely assaulted, then what does the average citizen have to do to stay safe?" he poses.
The officer did not reach for his weapon during the assault, though Sutton thinks deadly force would have been appropriate.
"The reason that a police officer is armed, even when they're off duty, is to protect themselves or to protect others," he notes.
It is unclear whether this officer had time to draw his weapon, but Sutton points out that officers are increasingly hesitant to use their guns.
"Police officers around the nation are becoming more and more reluctant to use deadly force at the appropriate time because they are afraid of either being charged criminally, especially in an off-duty situation, or facing the internal discipline," he relays.
In this case, police used the injured officer's own handcuff when they arrested 23-year-old Taveon Hargrove in Virginia after his father, also arrested, tried to use the cop's stolen credit card. A second suspect is still at large.
