Just remember the next time your in Louisiana, the cops will kill you, in order to make an arrest. Why didn't they just shoot the man and be done with it. Come on, was it really worth killing the man? What will they charge him with now?

The man's family should put on his tombstone, choked to death by the police for a bag of weed!

William Aiken

This dash cam video should serve drug reformers with a powerful argument for curbing police powers under these circustances. All the statistics of drug arrests, drug enforcement costs and skyrocketing prison rates don't have the emotional power of a man being choked to death for consealing drugs.While there have been rulings on the State that limit to what degree police can go to retrieve drugs from a suspect. The Supreme court hasn't heard any of those cases. It's hard to say how they would rule, today. Although when it comes to drug issues and police searches, there wasn't a worse justice than David Souter. Good riddens.

There shold be a website which documents incidents where the police go too far in enforcing the drugs laws. This website could be referenced whenever the issue arises. Our elected leaders need to be aware that this kind of police brutality is alive and well. The fact that this Louisiana Police Chief thought that by releasing the video, it would vindicate his officers is quite telling. Are cops allowed to choke drug suspects? That question is one that needs to be answered by the new drug czar. This death should be a significant event to rallying the public sentiment toward limiting police powers concerning these intrusive searches.

In Arizona, too, cops kill with impunity. In Chino Valley, just a few months ago, a cop killed an unarmed man because the cop "thought" the guy had a gun. In Chino Valley, also, the cops still drive cars that have "to protect and serve" painted on the side; their motto, too, is "no remorse."

War, by definition, does.

JJ

I am afraid if I thought the way you do, that the death sentence would be the verdict for all the "stoners" in our country. People, like this man, have a severe problem and deserve compassion and help. Not death! I pity any of your family, with the judgmental attitude you seem to have.

I would never put anything as dangerous as cocaine and meth in my body. But that does not mean I lack compassion towards someone who has made that mistake. It is no different from the mistake all of my cohorts made, back in school, when they decided to start smoking or drinking too much alcohol. It just gets out of control for some.

sicntired@mac.com,Vancouver,B.C.Canada I have seen many friends chocked to the point of death ,only to be revived by someone with the proper training who happened by.I myself was once chocked and made the decision that I would rather die than be returned to the pen.There was a infamous drug squad officer who used to use a chop to the adams apple to better seize evidence.He finally killed a kid and the papers played it like the 19 year old kid had it coming.I'm sorry to see that this still goes on down south.Using a choke hold to prevent the swallowing of a drug is a sure fire certain way to assure someone will die.I lost three friends that I know about.I still don't know how I survived but I remember going out.This used to be SOP in Vancouver.The police,over the years,managed to eliminate all access to capsules,pay phones,lactose and manitol and the DEA has made the shipping of many precursor chemicals that drugs are being cut with far too dangerous for the traffickers to risk chancing.now all manner of horrible bleaching and processing chemical substitutes are being used.It sounds like a good idea until you see the results on the street.I know for an absolute certainty that drugs on the street are 100 times more lethal due to DEA efforts to eradicate items.Don't let anyone tell you that these people care.They are either turning a blind eye or they have no concern for human life.As for violence,every increase in violence is as a result of an escalation in tactics by the agencies out in the field.Anyone that's ever seen a raid on a mom&pop grow op knows what I'm talking about.Choking a person to prevent the swallowing of evidence must be disallowed.There will be more bodies until this practise is stopped.

I'm 65 years old and I do not recall there ever being passed any legislation, at any level of government, which granted cops the additional authority to be judge, jury, and executioner on top of their legitimate role as investigators and/or arresters (and supposedly "protectors", but they''re not very good at that).

When a cop kills anyone, a full investigation (just exactly as is done when a non-cops kills someone) must be done. Perhaps by a team of prosecutors, PIs, and defense attorneys? And the cop should get the same kind of trial and, if convicted, the same sentence as anyone else would get under the exact same circumstances. Any suspicion of misconduct should warrant immediate investigation and, if proven, severe punishment and loss of the job.

Since we give cops permission to be in a position where they have authority over us, we MUST hold them to the very highest standard of ethical behavior, when they fail to hold up to that standard, they MUST be severely punished and removed from such a position of power. Same thing goes for judges, prosecutors, legislators and presidents.

I'm pro-choice on EVERYTHING!

Those cops are murderers. Only a fool would argue otherwise.

Uzz