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In Summary: Audio & Video of the Melvin Jones Arrest

by Bill Dusty

Last Friday I appeared on the Bax & O’Brien Show. In case you missed it, you can check out my visit here.

On the show, we talked about the controversial video of an alleged incident of police brutality involving a suspect, Melvin Jones III, during his encounter with police on Rifle Street in Springfield last November as they attempted to arrest him.

I use the term “alleged” because, in volatile situations, police may sometimes have to resort to what many civilians view as alarming force in order to subdue a suspect. But the level of use-of-force is largely relative to the resistance being encountered. And in this video, that is extremely difficult to determine either way.

Regardless, I think I should mention that, in all honesty, I never looked at this as a racial incident. In my eyes, this is simply a drug dealer – with multiple past arrests that include drug and firearms violations – who chose to fight it out with the police. And, although I know this may irritate some people, I think drug dealers should get their asses kicked. Routinely. There would be a lot less of them poisoning our streets if that were the case.

Many people have seen the 6-minute video of the incident on Masslive, but if you want to check out the 19-minute unedited version, see below. Most of the extended video beyond the first three minutes is fairly boring, but you might raise your eyebrows a bit during the final three minutes or so.

Uncut video: Arrest of Melvin Jones III, November 27, 2009

And here is my post over at Masslive that dissects the extended video.

Maureen Turner, meanwhile, writes about the incident over at the Valley Advocate’s website, here.

Also, in case you may have missed appearances by the Springfield Police Department’s Sgt. John Delaney, SPD union head Joe Gentile, and Springfield City Councilor Melvin Edwards, they are listed here:
- John Delaney
- Joe Gentile (discussing his “lynch mob” reference.)
- Melvin Edwards

To check out more past visitors on Bax & O’Brien, you can visit their Archives page here.

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Posted by Bill Dusty on Jan 30th, 2010 and filed under Crime, Latest Posts, News Catch, Opinion, Podcasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.