UC Davis pepper-spray cop claims psychiatric injury, wants worker’s comp

[Newsjock]

Source: Davis Enterprise

The former police lieutenant who became the target of worldwide ire after dousing Occupy UC Davis protesters with pepper spray, John Pike, is appealing for worker’s compensation, claiming psychiatric injury caused by the Nov. 18, 2011, incident.

Pike’s case is scheduled for a mandatory settlement conference on Aug. 13 in Sacramento, according to the State Department of Industrial Relations website. If no settlement is reached, his case would go forward to trial or further hearing.

... Bernie Goldsmith, a Davis attorney who has supported Occupy UC Davis, said a protest would likely be held outside.

“In an ideal democracy, violent suppressors of political speech are jailed and not rewarded. This sends a message that acts of violent political repression can be both insulated from real criminal prosecution and rewarded,” Goldsmith wrote in an email message.

Read more: http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/ucd/pepper-spray-lieutenant-appealing-for-workers-comp/

[Dawson Leery]

1. PIG!

[Make7]

2. I thought this was going to be an item from The Onion.

[niyad]

3. I had no idea police were so highly paid--is this something new?

Pike, whose annual salary was $121,680, remained on paid leave for eight months while the pepper-spraying was investigated.

[arely staircase]

9. that is odd

cops around here get less than teachers and we aren't making anything near that. granted the cost of living in N Cali is way higher than rural East Texas, but still that is a lot, unless he was some sort of commander in charge of like everything.

[reformist2]

10. Don't know, but it sure hints at a lot of wasted money in the university system

[kestrel91316]

4. He caused his own "injury". Don't give him a dime.

[PD Turk]

5. Fuck this pig

He should have gone to jail

[AnotherMcIntosh]

6. Since there was only a $1 million settlement and he was paid $121,680 annually, it's possible that

his workmens' comp, if any, will exceed the amount paid to those who were victims of his pepper spraying.

[uppityperson]

7. Actions have consequences. I hope he gets his shit together better than he has.

[arely staircase]

8. awe poor baby

did that somehow hurt his pea brain when he abused those peaceful protestors?

[Rex]

11. So why did it take him so long?

I mean, we all knew he had problems with anger management.

[Zoeisright]

12. What a complete asshole.

I thought he looked like a complete dick in those pictures. Turns out he's also a whiny little brat.

[Electric Monk]

13. Do self-inflicted injuries count for worker's comp? Because Pike's "injury" is all his own fault.

[Ed Suspicious]

14. I think I may have gotten to him.

[alp227]

15. NOW he regrets it? BOO FRIGGIN' HOO.

Maybe he should move to Egypt, where cops protest WITH the common folk!

[dogknob]

16. He needs to get nothing. He needs to be made an example of.

The people in law enforcement need to understand that when they do this, we do not have their back.

They do not get to whine about the effect the consequences of their actions are having on their "innocent" families.

If your family depends on you, then you need to remember that before you do horrible shit to unarmed people.

[dickthegrouch]

17. This shameful attempt at fraud should cost him his job too /nt

[NutmegYankee]

18. I found this interesting:

While a task force headed by former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso and an outside security firm, Kroll Associates, found that Pike’s decision to spray the protesters unwarranted, an internal affairs investigation deemed his actions “reasonable.”

Basically further proof that the Internal affairs divisions of police forces are shams and should be replaced by external entities.

[one_voice]

19. He basically got an...

8 month paid vacation for terrorizing those protesters. He should have to pay that money to the victims of what he did. IMO.

There are people that are truly injured at work that have to fight like hell to get their workmans comp; and this guy is doing this? He's a dick.

[LWolf]

20. I found this part interesting:

The task force and Kroll reports, which placed blame on Chancellor Linda Katehi and other top campus decision-makers as much as on police, noted that Pike and another lieutenant had a heated disagreement with Spicuzza, questioning the legal rationale for removing a small Occupy encampment.

Does this mean that he didn't want to "remove" them, and was only acting under orders?

UCD promoted Carmichael, another lieutenant not present during the pepper-spraying, after Spicuzza retired while under investigation for her role in the incident.

He obviously didn't handle the situation correctly. His firing, imo, was justified. I can imagine his "psychiatric" pain from all that attention he got.

I agree with Goldsmith; violent suppressors of political speech should be jailed, not rewarded. That would include Spicuzza, if she, as indicated, gave the order. While neither were jailed, both lost their jobs. Spicuzza, though, as I recall, was not held publicly accountable in the same way Pike was.