Bus tunnel victim says she sought help from police

[Adsos Letter]

Source: AP

SEATTLE – A teenage girl beaten in a Seattle bus tunnel as three security guards who were following company orders looked on said Friday that she sought help from the guards and police but was rebuffed.

Speaking at a news conference, 15-year-old Aiesha Steward-Baker said she asked Seattle police for help several times at a shopping center and Macy's in the hour before the Jan. 28 attack.

In court papers filed earlier this week against another teenager accused in the attack and three young men accused of stealing the victim's purse, phone and iPod, the girl told King County sheriff's detective that the group followed her from the department store into the bus tunnel at Westlake Station, and she deliberately stood next to the three guards.

Surveillance video of the beating first aired by Seattle's KING-TV this week has prompted a re-examination of tunnel security, with King County Metro reviewing its policy of having contract security guards only observe and report crimes, and Seattle police on Friday announcing an internal review of the officers' actions to determine whether enough was done.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100213/ap_on_re_us/us_bus_tunnel_beating_police;_

[Proletariatprincess]

1. jesusmaryandgoodsaintjoseph...

you would think that in a police state like ours people would be safer from crime in broad daylight and under the watchful eyes of guards anyway.

[Ex Lurker]

4. doesn't surprise me at all

a law abiding citizen is easy for a cop to rough up. An actual thug might, y'know, fight back or something.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

2. This story has made me so mad.

The victim had gone to the Seattle police for help but they forced her out into the street with the gang. She thought the guards would defend her, but the video shows they didn't. They all look black to me and I'm sure if that had been me in Macy's (a white grandmother) asking for protection, they wouldn't have forced me back out into the street with this gang to be beaten. I've been to Seattle enough to know the police would look after me...but they wouldn't look after this 15 year old girl. It could have been my granddaughter. Someone needs to lose their job over this. :mad:

O God, the attacker came back and kicked her in the face again and the guards just stood there and let her do it. How the hell can you train a human being to stand there and let that happen? What if it had been a man beating a baby? Or a man raping a little girl, would they always just stand there and watch as they (maybe) call on their radios for grown ups to come and help? What if the attacker started hitting them, would they stand there and take it because they are trained not to get involved in physical confrontations? Cowards!

[uppityperson]

3. There is more to the story...

I read a longer article, police statement of what had happened earlier, it was in paper copy of Seattle Times. It sounds like this was an ongoing thing between the girl and the others, and now the Seattle Police are posting real police, not just security guards, in the tunnel.

I expect more to come out as time passes. Not saying that there is anything good about this, but that there is more to the story.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011061551_apwabustunnelbeatingpolice.html

A 15-year-old girl beaten in the downtown Seattle bus tunnel while three security guards took no action says she tried to get help from the guards and earlier from Seattle police but was rebuffed.

Aiesha Steward-Baker told a news conference Friday that she asked Seattle police for help several times in the hour before the Jan. 28 attack while she was in Westlake Center and Macy's.

Video of the attack has brought outrage and a re-examination of security in the tunnel. The victim was punched, stomped and kicked by another teen girl but not seriously injured.

Seattle police have said they did everything they could to separate the girl from another group, but did not witness unlawful behavior before the attack. Sgt. Sean Whitcomb earlier characterized the situation between the girl and the other group of young people as "a roving, verbal dispute."

Late Friday, the Seattle Police Department announced it was conducting an internal review of the officers' actions to determine whether enough was done.

[Tempest]

8. The police did not do everything they could to separate the girls

They should have escorted her to the tunnel and waited for her to get on the bus.

[alfredo]

11. They were corporate cops, not real cops. Corporate cops are useless.

They are mercenaries, not public servants.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[uppityperson]

22. Seattle Police are "corporate cops, not real cops"??

that poster is referring to the police, not the "security guards".

[uppityperson]

18. Seattle Police Dept statement (not the security dudes). Not arguing, just giving info

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2010/02/12/2011060356.pdf
Seattle Police Department Statement
February 12, 2010
By now, almost everyone is familiar with the vicious, senseless attack that
occurred in the Seattle Transit Tunnel on January 28th, 2010: a fifteen-year-old girl
beaten to the ground and kicked by her assailant in the presence of three Metro
Transit contract private security guards and a number of witnesses.
During the hour prior to the attack, it is known that Seattle Police foot-beat officers
had at least two contacts the both parties. During these two interactions, it is
agreed that the officers separated the involved individuals and instructed the
fifteen-year-old girl to leave the area.
The question that remains is whether or not enough was done. Was there an
opportunity for action that would have changed the outcome?
Interim Chief John Diaz has initiated an internal review in an effort to answer this
question and to address the larger issue of how the King County Sheriff’s Office
and the Seattle Police Department can jointly address public safety priorities for
citizens who use public transportation within the City of Seattle. Towards this end,
Chief Diaz has reached out to King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, who commands the
King County Metro Transit Police.
This review will be conducted by the Seattle Police Operations Division with
direct oversight by Chief Diaz. The review will commence immediately.

[alfredo]

21. Why have security cops if they can't or won't stop violence on transit property.

[xxqqqzme]

23. The 'security' is for property not people!

[alfredo]

24. exactly.

I've had bad experiences with rent a cops.The night before going into the Army, my girlfriend and I were kicked out of a restaurant that was mostly empty because we were "taking too long." At a concert everybody was standing up and dancing at their seats, a rent a cop walked along the front row and hit us across our chest with his billy club. The girl next to me got the same treatment. She crumpled like a wet dish cloth.

BTW, the song was "Stand" by Sly and The Family Stone. Sly Stone urged us to stand up, and the rent a cops didn't like that.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. " but did not witness unlawful behavior "

The little girl should have lied and said she was carrying drugs. They would have tasered her, searched her and taken her to the nearest police station. That would have been a preferable outcome to getting curb stomped. At least she would have been safe (assuming the taser didn't kill her).

Or maybe she should have told the cops she was carrying Arabic flash cards.

[Vidar]

5. Pitiful, but not unexpected.

[Supply Side Jesus]

6. *yawn*

Let's see where the facts really are at the end. Too many times people make claims that are...factually impaired. Let's see what the truth is before we make judgments.

[1monster]

7. The pertinent facts: the girl was beaten in front of security guards who stood there and did

NOTHING to stop the beating.

No matter what happened before, that is wrong.

They could have stopped the beating and held both girls until law enforcement arrived to investigate.

The fact that they just stood there and allowed her to be beaten and then robbed is indefensible and reprehensible.

[WriteDown]

15. The security guards were probably in fear of being sued...

If they did anything.

[bitchkitty]

19. Oh, right.

I guess for some men, the thought of being sued turns their balls into macadamias.

[WriteDown]

27. Actually, for most people.

Many people have been sued after tying to help people.

http://www.ktnv.com/global/story.asp?s=9568145

[bitchkitty]

28. Not an excuse.

There is morality, and there is legality. Not the same thing.

If you fail to save the life of someone because you're afraid they are going to sue you, you are the proud owner of two tiny shriveled macadamia nuts.

[WriteDown]

29. Regardless...

Many people will take a shot at their pride then face bankruptcy, especially when it's someone they done even know. I also like how you equate helping people to masculinity. I guess women are just damsels in distress. Haha.

[bitchkitty]

30. How so?

Because I use the ball analogy? I have balls, okay? Bigger than most. And I am very much female.

[WriteDown]

32. Ookay....distancing....nt

[LanternWaste]

31. Alas, I fear you may be correct...

Alas, I fear you may be correct.

The fear of metaphorical emasculation via financial grievances is not too uncommon. And, even worse, many will justify it. :shrug:

The three times I've involved myself in assisting someone, the last thing that entered my mind was my wallet-- but I imagine it all depends on an individuals priorities: money or morality.

[Tempest]

9. I suppose the video of the security guards standing by isn't factual

It must be since the security guards are being replaced with cops and the company is looking at changing the policy of not getting involved.

[northernlights]

10. if a video of a 15 year old being beaten while "security guards" look on

wtf is factual enough? seriously.....:wtf:

[Skittles]

14. if I was walking by I would have tried to do something

it's just inhumane to see something like that and not step in, whether you're on the job or not

[mbperrin]

20. Good gawd, yes. I teach high school, about 380 adolescents a year.

In 14 years, I've had exactly one student persist in bad behavior toward another after being told (once) to stop it. He kicked a girl in the back who was trying to walk away from his ugly comments. By the time I got across the room, 5 other students had pinned him to the floor. We called the city police, who took him away. Turns out he was on probation for assault already, and he went away for the rest of his 6 year term.

If we won't help, we deserve a beating ourselves while others look on.

[DesertDiamond]

13. So appalling it's unreal. But if it was policy, those guys were afraid of losing their jobs.

In this time of scant employment opportunities, fear of losing one's livelihood could cause people to do unspeakable things.

[defendandprotect]

16. Amazingly disgusting -- and on what level of humanity would anyone not help????

[marshall]

25. Hopefully the "security guards" will be equipped with tasers from now on

That would have certainly stopped the thug who was beating on this girl.

[DebbieCDC]

26. I have lived in Seattle for several years and love many things about the city

But one thing not so nice is Seattle's police force. A lot of bad apples -- and it's not just City of Seattle. Right now there's going to be a retrial of a SeaTac police officer who beat the living crap out of 15 year old girl in the holding cell because she kicked her shoe in his general vicinity. Yup, it was all caught on video which is the only reason he's getting prosecuted. First jury was hung 11-1 to convict. At least he got fired from his job. Disclaimer: the girl was being held on suspicion of trying to steal a car, but still -- a large, full-grown man, officer of the law beating the shit out of a skinny 15-year old who was in handcuffs at the time just isn't right.

This business in the Metro Tunnel is very disturbing. I'm in that tunnel twice a day to commute, and while I have never felt in any danger, I have seen those rent-a-cops standing around, staring at the ceiling, gathering together in coffee klatches and the males making bawdy comments about the women walking through the tunnels. I'm trying not to paint with a broad brush here, but from personal experience, and after seeing both the video from the tunnel and the girl's press conference, I'm inclined to believe her.