It didnt help that two other pro football players made the news this same weekend with difficulties with the law.

I agree with you, alot of he-said she said. Everybody is going to line up on both sides, and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

I consider myself a law biding citizen, and I do recall coming across a couple of young cops trying to make a name for themselves, totally clueless about the way they are supposed to be. So its not hard to image it happening that way, either. But, with booze is involved, its just as easy can be the other way too.
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Capt.,
I'm not going out on a limb in support of the player here but Benson was pretty quick to pipe up and tell his side of the story without hiding behind a lawyer. Now, everyone is entitled to legal representation so I'm not saying that using an attorney to give your side implies guilt. On the other hand, if a guy is going to give a detailed explanation on his own I'm impressed.
-- Bill O.

I am a student at UT-Austin and an Austin resident. I enjoy boating on Lake Austin and Lake Travis (the lake Cedric was arrested on). Based on the available media information, I have serious doubts that the officers conducted themselves in the most reasonable way possible. Administering pepper spray to a citizen who simply 'stood up' and asked not to be arrested does not sound like a reasonable police procedure. Why didn't the officers try to calm Cedric down and talk to him? Cedric made no attempt to flee or to attack the officers. It seems there was a crucial lack of dialogue between Cedric and his arresting officers. I think police owe suspects not having the means to escape a few minutes to discuss their alleged crimes. If officers spent ten minutes in a relaxed state, explaining their intentions for arrest/discussing possible outcomes after arrest, they might be able to avoid unnecessary behavior to subdue their suspects. I hope the follow-up on this is thorough and well-examined.
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Travis,
Thanks for reading and your thoughts on the subject.
-- Bill O.

Most perplexing to me was the report that had the lake police had boarded and checked Benson's boat numerous times already this past year.

Now if Benson knows that the cops have the hots for him and his boat, would that not make him cautious about booze but at the same time short fused because of these past 'incidents'?
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Waldo,
Thanks for writing. There are some interesting angles here.
-- Bill O.

I find the phase "random safety inspection" very disturbing. Would we let police into our homes for this reason? Be pulled over in our cars?
If it seemed Mr. Benson was not fit to pilot the boat, why not make arrangements for another person to do that? There was no mention that Mr. Benson had any prior boating problems or that there was any problem until the police showed up.
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Trish,
All good points.
-- Bill O.

Gee, one of his friends says poor Cedric was abused. Given his criminal history, I think I'll believe the police version
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Connie,
As I tried to make clear, I'm not taking sides here and I fully understand that a friendly witness' account may be taken with grain of salt. But this one just sounds odd.
-- Bill O.

First of all, I'm a police officer in Texas and I go fishing on Toledo Bend quite a bit. I've been stopped numerous times for safety inspections and I complied. Even after being identified as an officer, I still was inspected. I tell you, I've been involved in arrest to where the suspect was extremely beligerant and uncooperative and as the use of force continuim for almost every police department in the entire United States provides for the following steps. Command presence, verbal commands, then pepper spray, tazer or less than lethal weapons, impact weapons (baton) and then finally deadly force. Here is one fact for you, when you are stopped and the officer tells you that he is conducting an investigation, whether it be DWI, assault, etc. Guess what? you have to comply until it is over. If the officer feels he has enough evidence to conduct the investigation further, you can not say no on a DWI investigation and yes DWI is the same as BWI. Benson was wrong and of course his family and friends are going to come to his aid and tell a story the same as him, especially several days after the incident when he's bonded out and spoke with everyone. The guy has a history and is hot headed and thinks he is above the law. He was like that in college and he's even worse now. He'll be tried by a jury of his peers and that'll be that. Remember, everyone now a days has video cameras, phone cameras, etc. The old defense of police brutality just doesn't cut it as much anymore because police are even more careful today because of big brother watching. Just some food for thought.
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J.D.,
Thanks for reading and taking the time to write. Good to hear your perspective.
-- Bill O.

If they were so worried about safe boating practices, why didn't the cops check to see who else was "impaired" on the boat? It's like a car full of drunks, and you take the driver and leave the other passengers with the car to fend for themselves. Makes no sense. The cops should drop the case now.

Being a bears fan and a cop, I am not evenly closely confused. Even if Benson didnt think he was intoxicated he should have refused the test, and then go to court on his decision. Everyone says where is he going to go? If you think you can just decide when its convienant for the police to arrest you, then why even have police out at the lake. Obviously people forget how many problems can happen on the water if someone is being irresponsible. Bensons history has nothing to do with this incident. The person on the boat in support of Benson is probably one of his friends. Were they drinking ?Who knows. But that is why we have courts to see if you are guilty or not. But to make your own decision and stop doing what the officers say is wrong. They werent asking him to do something unsafe, just to stay seated. As far as pepper spraying him, well I watched Benson for the past 2 years. (An) arm tackle usaully brings him down, and he might even fumble if he has anything in his hands.

I want to clear up a things. Other websites and news organizations have picked up on this story, and are treating Cedric's beating like it's police brutality, or racially motivated. I don't believe that to be the case.

The police didn't get involved until Cedric was brought to shore by the LCRA. Just as BG&E provides Baltimore with its utilities, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) provides central Texas with water and electricity.

There is one **** huge **** difference between the LCRA and BG&E, the LCRA has its own security force, and they can do anything they want, because they are largely beyond the law.

There are many people who corroborate Benson's version of events. One is a kid named Toby Patch who was interviewed by the local NBC channel, and another is my daughter Elizabeth, who called me while all of this was going on.

So why did my daughter call me? She was on a boat in the middle of a lake with 15 friends, including Cedric's mom. Elizabeth had been on the lake for many hours, and it was getting dark. Because there aren't cell phone towers on the lake, a cell phone constantly searches for a signal, draining the battery faster than normal. They were also taking pictures with their cell phones. Her cell phone was running out of batteries, and she was very afraid. But why was she afraid?

As one of the LCRA officers told my daughter, "We can do anything we want to you, and you can't do anything about it." She feared for her safety and for the safety of her friends. I want to make it clear, that my daughter, and her friends, do NOT fear the Austin police, the Travis County police, or the Texas Rangers.

She does fear security guards with guns who work for a utility company. Wouldn't you, if you were in your 20's? Wouldn't you be afraid if these security guards were beating one of your friends? And wouldn't you be really afraid, if the person being beaten was the biggest, strongest man you have ever knew?

She called me, to ask me to call the real police, which I did. And they in turn called her. There are 911 tapes of these calls. And when the LCRA security cops brought Cedric to shore, beaten, pepper-sprayed and bloodied. The real police were there to take over.

I get my water and my electricity from the LCRA. If you live in the Baltimore-area, imagine BG&E taking over the Chesapeake Bay, using its own security force, and running it as a profit center.

It is illegal to drink and drive a boat. However, the boat was parked with the engines off. Some friends were in the water swimming, when the LCRA security cops approached.

Imagine BG&E's security guards can stop you because you drive a nice car. Cedric has a beautiful boat. I haven't been on his boat, but I think he has what is called a Cobalt. I have been boating about 200 times in my life, and I have never been pulled over. Cedric went out twice this year, and was pulled over both times. My daughter has been out with him six times, and he has been pulled over all six times.

Perhaps, like some are saying it's a racial thing. Perhaps, it's a celebrity thing. Maybe he just drives a really cool boat. No matter what the underlying cause, it is a definitely an abuse of power - not by the police - but by a power company.

The LCRA can detain you for any reason, but they cannot really arrest you because they aren't really police. They are security guards. The LCRA can take you to shore, but must wait until real police officers arrive. One of the reasons I called 911, was so the LCRA knew the real police were on the way, and the beating of Cedric would stop.

The LCRA doesn't have its own jails, yet.

The LCRA Rangers and LCRA security are not the same thing. Yes, they have security guards, but the Rangers are police. They are sworn Texas Peace Officers, certified by TCLEOSE (Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education) just like any other Texas cop. They are not "security cops". That's why their vehicles (including the boats) have POLICE written in great big letters, and their security forces have SECURITY written on their vehicles/uniforms. Big difference. If the above poster is a police officer like he claims, then he should understand the difference.