British author jailed for jaywalking in Atlanta

[Boiler 46,615]

I would guess a H1, but he would probably be EB1 as far as GC is concerned.

[Heracles 417]

The ridiculous thing about it is that the US has such a problem with worse crimes yet the cops waste a lot of time with BS like that. I wonder what would have happened if he was black. Then jesse Jackson etc would be out saying they are racists and try to keep the black man down rubbish..

have you joined the kkk or are you just blind that minorities still suffer abuse from the authorities??

yea some pigs are hateful, i dunno how they keep their jobs after being complete arseholes..

Poor poor minorities. Like the poor Mexicans I just saw the other day having 30 kids each. Pedroh come on now. I was not born yesterday. Minorities may be able to fool the average white American but the will not fool me.

The problem with police in the US is that they are still county based, which leaves a lot of room for corruption, incompetence, wastefulness and lack of training. A lot of countys' are filled with idiots in charge. Each state should have one united police force. The police officers should be provided with regular training and proper pay. Most of all they should only hire smart police officers with a good background.

Edited January 9, 2007 by Infidel

[Ban Hammer 13,876]

The ridiculous thing about it is that the US has such a problem with worse crimes yet the cops waste a lot of time with BS like that. I wonder what would have happened if he was black. Then jesse Jackson etc would be out saying they are racists and try to keep the black man down rubbish..

have you joined the kkk or are you just blind that minorities still suffer abuse from the authorities??

yea some pigs are hateful, i dunno how they keep their jobs after being complete arseholes..

Poor poor minorities. Like the poor Mexicans I just saw the other day having 30 kids each. Pedroh come on now. I was not born yesterday. Minorities may be able to fool the average white American but the will not fool me.

The problem with police in the US is that they are still county based, which leaves a lot of room for corruption, incompetence, wastefulness and lack of training. A lot of countys' are filled with idiots in charge. Each state should have one united police force. The police officers should be provided with regular training and proper pay. Most of all they should only hire smart police officers with a good background.

corruption? complete arseholes? sounds like the police in mexico

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I'm glad the Atlanta police are keeping the world safe from jaywalkers -- truly a menace to society!

[Heracles 417]

I'm glad the Atlanta police are keeping the world safe from jaywalkers -- truly a menace to society!

I hope this arrest is part of a zero crime policy rather than stupidity.

[Boiler 46,615]

I'm glad the Atlanta police are keeping the world safe from jaywalkers -- truly a menace to society!

I hope this arrest is part of a zero crime policy rather than stupidity.

You're kidding...

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I hope this arrest is part of a zero crime policy rather than stupidity.

An arrest for a misdemeanour (vs felony) the result of a zero-crime policy? Almost no chance.

Basically the result of some traffic cop taking "easy way to make ticket quota" (if it was close to the end of the month, I could say "desperate to make quota").

[almaty 19]

I hope this arrest is part of a zero crime policy rather than stupidity.

An arrest for a misdemeanour (vs felony) the result of a zero-crime policy? Almost no chance.

Basically the result of some traffic cop taking "easy way to make ticket quota" (if it was close to the end of the month, I could say "desperate to make quota").

yeap...needed to make a ticket quota and there he was.....i see jaywalking all the time, in st louis...never charged until the end of the month

[pedroh 21]

The ridiculous thing about it is that the US has such a problem with worse crimes yet the cops waste a lot of time with BS like that. I wonder what would have happened if he was black. Then jesse Jackson etc would be out saying they are racists and try to keep the black man down rubbish..

have you joined the kkk or are you just blind that minorities still suffer abuse from the authorities??

yea some pigs are hateful, i dunno how they keep their jobs after being complete arseholes..

Poor poor minorities. Like the poor Mexicans I just saw the other day having 30 kids each. Pedroh come on now. I was not born yesterday. Minorities may be able to fool the average white American but the will not fool me.

The problem with police in the US is that they are still county based, which leaves a lot of room for corruption, incompetence, wastefulness and lack of training. A lot of countys' are filled with idiots in charge. Each state should have one united police force. The police officers should be provided with regular training and proper pay. Most of all they should only hire smart police officers with a good background.

so all the minorities abuse-cases are fake in your opinion? and what's the relationship between police abuse cases and a mexican 'having 30 kids'? do you want to control the brown people's birth rate?

Edited January 9, 2007 by pedroh

[almaty 19]

The ridiculous thing about it is that the US has such a problem with worse crimes yet the cops waste a lot of time with BS like that. I wonder what would have happened if he was black. Then jesse Jackson etc would be out saying they are racists and try to keep the black man down rubbish..

have you joined the kkk or are you just blind that minorities still suffer abuse from the authorities??

yea some pigs are hateful, i dunno how they keep their jobs after being complete arseholes..

Poor poor minorities. Like the poor Mexicans I just saw the other day having 30 kids each. Pedroh come on now. I was not born yesterday. Minorities may be able to fool the average white American but the will not fool me.

The problem with police in the US is that they are still county based, which leaves a lot of room for corruption, incompetence, wastefulness and lack of training. A lot of countys' are filled with idiots in charge. Each state should have one united police force. The police officers should be provided with regular training and proper pay. Most of all they should only hire smart police officers with a good background.

so all the minorities abuse-cases are fake in your opinion? and what's the relationship between police abuse cases and a mexican 'having 30 kids'? do you want to control the brown people's birth rate?

and a shot at police everyone except for the State Troopers...

[Artegal 1]

Published on: 01/10/07

The Atlanta police officer being investigated for his treatment of a prominent British historian said Tuesday that Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is not the innocent abroad he claims to be.

The Tufts University professor, who was arrested last Thursday and charged with disorderly conduct, contends he was assaulted without provocation for merely jaywalking across Courtland Street. But Officer Kevin Leonpacher insists he is no rogue cop and suggests perhaps the professor is a bit of a scofflaw.

Joey Ivansco/Staff

(ENLARGE)

Officer Kevin Leonpacher says the British historian was warned before he began to cross and had several chances to obey. JOEY IVANSCO / Staff

Leonpacher said the professor repeatedly refused to cooperate when asked why he did not heed the officer's instructions.

"I told him, it's gonna be awful silly if I have to take you to jail for jaywalking," said Leonpacher, a native of Niceville, Fla. "I used an excessive amount of discretion."

Or, to hear Fernandez-Armesto's account, an excessive amount of force. They agree on one thing: the author of 19 books, including the (now) ironically titled "Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration," did cross in the middle of the street.

"It did not occur to me that there was anything wrong with what I was doing," said the former Oxford professor.

The five-year Atlanta Police Department veteran said he initiated verbal contact with Fernandez-Armesto before he stepped into the street, directing him to the nearby crosswalk, but said the professor ignored him. Fernandez-Armesto said he didn't know Leonpacher was a police officer.

"When I questioned who he was, he said something to the effect of 'When I give you an order, you obey it,' " Fernandez-Armester said. "I asked him what his authority was because I didn't see a badge. But he was extremely upset I had questioned his bona fides."

Leonpacher — who said he was wearing his Atlanta Police Department uniform — said when he asked Fernandez-Armesto why he didn't follow his instructions, the author shrugged him off and walked away.

"Five times I asked him to stop," the officer said. He then asked him if he was hearing impaired. Once Fernandez-Armesto confirmed he wasn't, Leonpacher said he grabbed the professor's arm. "I let him go when he turned around to face me," he said. Leonpacher then says he repeatedly asked Fernandez-Armesto for his identification, but the professor responded by asking for the officer's I.D.

When the historian allegedly repeatedly refused to produce ID (Fernandez-Armesto said he left his passport in his hotel room and was flummoxed when he realized he did not have it), Leonpacher said he told him he was under arrest. As he put his hands behind his back, "he pulled away and grabbed me. He said 'leave me alone, let me go.' I told him 'you're under arrest, stop resisting.' "

Leonpacher, half Fernandez-Armesto's 56 years, contends he could not handcuff the professor by himself. "He was swinging, kicking wildly," Leonpacher said. Backup was called to assist in his detainment. They arrived almost immediately, Leonpacher said. According to the incident report, the cop quoted the professor as saying, "Well now I believe that you are the police."

Leonpacher insists he was a good representative for the city. He was working a part-time job that day — with police consent, his superiors confirmed— for the Hilton Hotel, trying to direct pedestrians to use crosswalks. Police describe the street as one of downtown's most dangerous for pedestrians.

Fernandez-Armesto, who suffered minor cuts during the scrum, was taken into custody via a prisoner transport van. The historian said he spent the next eight hours alongside "extremely unfortunate members of the underclass."

"It looked rather pathetic," said Lisa Kazmier, a professor of history at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She witnessed the arrest. "I definitely felt sorry for the guy. It was like he was Osama Bin Laden or something. It seemed so bizarre seeing this helpless looking guy on the ground like that."

But Leonpacher said Fernandez-Armesto has no one to blame but himself.

"He made the choice to go to jail that day," he said. "He chose to ignore a uniformed officer. At what point can anyone say that I overreacted to the situation?"

Leonpacher said he even contacted the British consulate to notify him of Fernandez-Armesto's arrest.

As the investigation unfolds, Leonpacher's superiors said they stand behind their charge.

"He is an oustanding officer," said Maj. James Sellers. "We've never had a complaint about him before."

Fernandez-Armesto said he doesn't plan to purse any legal action against the city. Charges against the professor weren't officially dropped, and could be brought again, but that would be virtually unprecedented. As for now, his record merely will show an arrest.

Officials with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau declined repeated requests for comment, but Mayor Shirley Franklin said she has asked police chief Richard Pennington to look into the incident.

"We certainly want everyone who visits Atlanta to find Atlanta to be friendly and helpful, and that is from the people at the airport to police officers to the mayor, if they bump into me. That's the standard we set for ourselves. It doesn't always happen that way but that's our expectation."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

Noting Fernandez-Armesto's comment:

"Where I come from, jaywalking is not a crime," he said. "It did not occur to me that there was anything wrong with what I was doing."

May not be a crime in UK, but it is a traffic offence (misdemeanour) in US and Canada. Since he has a GC, he should have been aware of traffic laws by now.

Er, I jaywalk all the time and have never ever been stopped for it. Everyone in the US and Canada does it. Try NOT jaywalking in this town in MA where I live and you could end up walking blocks and blocks to find a pedestrian walking light, let alone a cross walk.

The officer needed to identify who he was and it sounds as if he did not act in proper fashion.

[chagalafamilia 0]

He better watch out that he not break any of these laws while in Georgia:

Georgia Crazy Law

• Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs.

• No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.

• It is illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body which lies in a funeral home or in a coroners office.

Acworth

• All citizens must own a rake.

Atlanta

• Against the law to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp.

• One man may not be on another man's back.

Columbus

• Can't cut off a chicken's head on Sunday.

• It is illegal to carry a chicken by it's feet down Broadway on Sunday.

Gainesville

• Chicken must be eaten with the hands.

Jonesboro

• It is illegal to say "Oh, Boy"

Kennesaw

• Every head of household must possess a firearm of some kind.

Marietta

• Though it is illegal to spit from a car or bus, citizens may spit from a truck.

St. Mary's

• No spitting on the sidewalk is permitted after dark.

Quitman

• Cars are not to drive on sidewalks.

• It is illegal for a chicken to cross the road.

[Artegal 1]

Update: Inquiry clears officer, but jaywalker won't step back

Inquiry clears the police in this case, but the Professor is pursuing civil legal action.

[ivona 0]

How is he allowed to work a part time job in his police uniform? That doesn't make any sense