'It was all taken away': Police recruit had both legs amputated after 'barbaric hazing ritual' known as 'Fight Day,' law

[sl8]

https://lawandcrime.com/lawsuit/it-was-all-taken-away-police-recruit-had-both-legs-amputated-after-barbaric-hazing-ritual-known-as-fight-day-lawsuit-says/

‘It was all taken away’: Police recruit had both legs amputated after ‘barbaric hazing ritual’ known as ‘Fight Day,’ lawsuit says

JASON KANDEL
Aug 2nd, 2024, 1:31 pm

A former Denver Police Department recruit had his legs amputated after severe injuries he suffered in a “barbaric hazing ritual” known as “Fight Day” at the police academy last year, his lawsuit alleges. Victor Moses, 29, suffered permanent physical and mental pain that has left him learning to walk again with prosthetics and requires someone to help him dress, shower and use the toilet, the lawsuit filed on Tuesday said.

“It is extremely hard to find the will to keep living,” he said in court papers. “Saying my life has been ruined is a complete understatement. I had everything going for me in life and it was all taken away. I have had many thoughts of not wanting to live.”

The lawsuit, which seeks an undisclosed amount, names the City and County of Denver, seven technicians and four officers from the Denver Police Department, and two Denver Health and Hospital Authority paramedics.

[...]

Moses was hurt when he ran the gauntlet on “fight day” at the city’s police academy on Jan. 6, 2023. The event purportedly is set up to provide police arrest and seizure training, but in reality, it has become a “barbaric hazing ritual,” court documents said.

[...]

[Lonestarblue]

1. Barbaric indeed. And this is most likely how police trained this way treat the people they encounter.

[Maraya1969]

9. I read that Hitler trained his SS men by torturing them to the point that they did not think

it was so bad, (or somehow they became desensitized to pain). They easily followed orders after that

[TommieMommy]

2. Beyond horrible and so sad

[genxlib]

3. Unnecessary and barbaric

This is the most damning part

At the hospital, unconscious and near death, the paramedics and officers who were with Moses lied to doctors about how he got hurt, the lawsuit alleges.

“In response to repeated questions by the emergency medical team about Mr. Moses’s injuries and the cause, Denver police officials and paramedics repeatedly falsely stated that Moses had not experienced ‘direct trauma,'” the lawsuit alleges.

The cover-up always tells you that they knew they were wrong for doing it. But rather than give the doctors the information they needed to provide good treatment, they tried to cover their own asses.

Financial penalties are only a start. Jail time is warranted for that kind of abuse.

[kingvitamin]

4. There are no words sufficient to express what I feel.

How can this be allowed to happen from the authorities we entrust to protect us?

I am disgusted, sad, perplexed, and angry.

[Gruenemann]

5. Of course, it has absolutely nothing

to do with the fact that he's Black.

[PedroXimenez]

8. total coincidence

About 30 seconds into Station 3, while that officer was putting his body weight and pressure on him, Moses gasped, “I can’t breathe.”

[KS Toronado]

6. Why is it not illegal?

Hazing refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person's willingness to participate. Hazing is seen in many different types of social groups, including gangs, sports teams, schools, cliques, universities, military units, prisons, fraternities and sororities, and even workplaces in some cases. The initiation rites can range from relatively benign pranks to protracted patterns of behavior that rise to the level of abuse or criminal misconduct. Hazing is often prohibited by law or institutions such as colleges and universities because it may include either physical or psychological abuse, such as humiliation, nudity, or sexual abuse. Hazing activities have sometimes caused injuries or deaths.

[Farmer-Rick]

7. We had a terrible problem with hazing in the Navy

When I was in. They outlawed physical attacks but it took a good while to get that mind set out.

Hazing rituals are just excuses to abuse newer members. It should not be tolerated anywhere.