American police state: officer may be fired for protecting young man from police brutality

Madison Ruppert
Apr. 23, 2012

The United States’ descent into a hellish police state continues and appears to only get worse as the years go by. The case of Officer Regina Tasca of the Bogota Police Department in New Jersey is a troubling example of just how far gone some law enforcement agencies are today.

In this case, Officer Tasca is being declared “psychologically incompetent” for stepping in to save an emotionally disturbed young man from a brutal beating at the hands of police.

Here at End the Lie I have covered just a few of the troubling things police are able to get away with, such as murdering elderly tourists with pepper spray while they are restrained and brutally beating senior citizens suffering from dementia.

I have also pointed out how when the good police officers out there actually do their job and stand up for justice, they are targeted for harassment or in some cases even thrown in a psychiatric ward.

The things that police officers end up actually getting in trouble for tend to be outright absurd, like mowing the lawn in shorts, yet no one is held responsible for the most egregious violations like those listed above.

Officer Regina Tasca’s ordeal started back in April of last year when she turned on her dashboard camera before attempting to stop two officers from brutally beating a 22-year-old emotionally disturbed man.

It was just a matter of days after Tasca stepped in to defend the helpless man that she was informed she was being suspended without pay. One year later and she is still suspended and awaiting her internal trial. According to WPIX, the Bogota Police Department is looking to see her fired.

The incident occurred when a mother, Tara, called to have her emotionally disturbed son, Kyle, taken to the hospital.

While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, Bogota police responded. Officer Tasca was the only officer on the road – the Bogota PD has a mere 20 officers in total – so she followed protocol and called for backup.

Two officers from the Ridgefield Park police showed up, and that’s when everything went horribly wrong.

Keep in mind, Tasca had just finished being trained to work with emotionally disturbed individuals as part of a state-mandated training program.

“The Ridgefield Park officer automatically charges and takes him [Kyle] down to the ground. I was quite shocked. As he’s doing that, another Ridgefield Park officer flies to the scene in his car, jumps out and starts punching him in the head,” Officer Tasca described.

When viewing the disturbing video (which can be seen here), we hear Kyle and his mother Tara screaming, “Stop punching me!” and “Why are you punching him?”

Astoundingly, the two Ridgefield Park Sergeants responsible have never refuted the claims that they repeatedly assaulted the 22-year-old man as he was waiting for medical assistance.

Even more insane is that Kyle was never arrested or charged for any offense whatsoever.

Officer Tasca says that is because Kyle never threatened the officers, did not possess a weapon and most importantly, was not violent and did not resist.

Tasca was eventually able to pull off one of the Ridgefield Park officers who was striking Kyle and his mother actually called Tasca personally to thank her.

“Thank you Regina. I appreciate you standing up for him, for protecting him while the officer attacked him. I can’t figure out what i would have done without you at the scene,” Tara said in the message.

Officer Regina Tasca says she is “the only female–the first female ever–and the first and only gay female also,” in the Bogota Police Department. When asked if she thinks this blatantly unfair has anything to do with her sexual orientation and gender, she said, “Yes,” unhesitatingly.

Tasca also said that she is being punished for actually doing her job is because she crossed the so-called “blue line” by refusing to support another officer who was guilty of using excessive force. It definitely doesn’t help that she is one of just 20 other officers.

Tasca is going to be assisted by Catherine Elston, an attorney and former police officer herself, during the week-long department trial.

“This was excessive force used against an emotionally disturbed person,” Elston said. “This was an unlawful tackle, this was a punching an emotionally disturbed person whose arms were pinned under his chest with his face pushed into the ground.”

After the incident, she met with her superior officer and, “The next thing I know he asks me to turn over my weapon and be sent for a fitness for duty exam,” she recalled.

Once Tasca recounted he events, the Bogota PD apparently believed that she was psychologically incompetent and thus unable to be a police officer.

She was sent for testing but the Ridgefield Park officers were never so much as questioned.

No investigators from the department’s internal affairs even interviewed the officers and they are currently still on the streets and continue to be paid.

This is all while there is photographic evidence from the hospital showing the bruises the 22-year-old sustained on his head, back, arms and wrists from the assault.

While letting the officers responsible for the beating off the hook completely, Bogota PD opted to suspend Tasca, an 11-year veteran with multiple commendations.

Tasca’s trial, which will be held before a retired judge who will be the only person making the final decision, began on April 17.

“If another officer is using excessive force, it’s my duty to make sure you stop it. And that’s what I did,” Tasca said.

“They’re not just terminating her. They’re destroying her reputation,” Elston said.

It is great to see that there are indeed still police officers out there who join the force for the right reasons and continue to actually do their job, which is to protect and serve the people, not ruthlessly beat them for no reason.

Hopefully Tasca will have her name cleared, have all back pay paid and both of the officers responsible will be stripped of their positions and ideally charged with assault.

The fact that the Bogota PD thought that this decision was in any way rational or legitimate is, in my opinion, deeply troubling and a disturbing sign of the times in which we live today.
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Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. Madison also now has his own radio show on Orion Talk Radio from 8 pm -- 10 pm Pacific, which you can find HERE. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at [email protected]