Let’s face it (sorry) … one-on-one police arrests make it difficult for police officers to temper or neutralize disorderly or dangerous situations.
A BART rider posted a YouTube video of a glass-shattering altercation that injured a police officer and a disorderly rider on the West Oakland platform last Saturday night. Both men suffered lacerations during the incident, which is especially sensitive because of a fatal shooting of an unarmed man on New Year’s Day 2009 at the Fruitvale Station.
In Saturday’s incident, investigators were trying to determine if the offender’s head hit the glass first or if the officer’s hand or arm hit the glass first. Possibly, the officer had a lapse in judgment assuming the glass was a plexiglass material that would not have broken. Plexiglass (PMMA or poly methyl methacrylate) is an impact-resistant substitute for glass.