Salvatore Rivieri

Salvatore Rivieri is a Baltimore, Maryland police officer currently under investigation for the Department's infamous skateboard case. A 17 year veteran who joined the BPD in 1991, he was suspended following the release of a video on YouTube of alleged mistreatment of a 14-year-old boy for using a skateboard at the Inner Harbor tourist area, where skateboards are prohibited. [ [http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4282823&page=1 ABC News: Officer Suspended After Skateboarder Rant ] ] . In the video the officer is seen berating and manhandling the boy. The story received national news coverage.

Also in February 2008, WMAR-TV (an ABC News affiliate in Baltimore) reported that a second video also involving Officer Salvatore Rivieri emerged. In the new footage, Rivieri confronts a local artist who was videotaping "the reactions of passerby to a box he was moving with a remote controlled car." http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4f8b7c0f-6d4a-47b7-9e9b-569803ea7db8] During the confrontation, the officer "is seen kicking the box off of the car and then kicking the car."

In April 2008, The Baltimore Police Department made wholesale changes to the leadership of the unit that patrols the city's Inner Harbor in the wake of a highly publicized incident in which an officer berated a young skateboarder, put the boy in a headlock and then threw him to the ground. A new lieutenant and a new sergeant took command of the 12 officers charged with patrolling the area from the edge of Federal Hill to the Fallsway, near Pier 5. "Given the extreme nature of that incident, we thought it was important for the officers to brush up on their interpersonal skills," said Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the city Police Department. After the video surfaced, Officer Salvatore Rivieri was assigned to administrative duties and his police powers were suspended. The investigation is continuing. [ [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.harbor23apr23,0,4242922.story Prosecution - baltimoresun.com ] ]

External links

* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=9GgWrV8TcUc Video of Rivieri incident]

References