Cop Involved In Snowball Fight Identified: Det. Mike Baylor
City Desk has identified the D.C. Police detective who brandished his weapon during Saturday's controversial snowball fight at 14th and U Streets NW. According to two D.C. Police officials, the gun-toting cop is Detective Mike Baylor. Baylor apparently works out of the Second District police station covering everything from property to gun crimes. At one point in his career, he worked homicides.
According to Assistant Chief Peter Newsham, the officer has been placed on desk duty pending an investigation into the incident. Internal Affairs will be conducting the inquiry. Newsham says that Baylor has yet to be questioned about the incident.
“We’re looking at any potential police misconduct," Newsham says. "It should be completed within a few weeks.... We have not taken a formal statement from him.”
Newsham says that officers should only draw their weapons in cases where a citizen's life is in jeopardy. A snowball fight would not qualify as such a case, he says.
One police official had harsh words for both Baylor and the snowballers. "There's no way to justify him taking out his gun without more information," says the official. "What the detective did was clearly wrong. We should sanction him."
"He lost his mind," the official goes on to say. "You don't want an angry guy with a gun."
But the police official adds that the crowd—judging from the videos—were technically engaging in disorderly conduct. "What they did was a breach of the peace," the official says. "If they wanted to have the biggest snowball fight in the city…14th and U was not a place for that.”
Philip K. Eure, the executive director of the Office of Police Complaints, says that his office has received a few inquiries on the incident. "If the allegations are true, we would obviously take those very seriously," Eure says. "We would consider that to be a matter of serious interest."
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier issued a statement calling Det. Baylor's actions "inappropriate."
*photo courtesy of Matthew Bradley.
2:33 pm
Finished in a few weeks? How does an investigation take that long? The entire thing is on video! The cop hasn't been questioned yet? WTF?
2:35 pm
There were uniformed officers in patrol cars on the scene long before Detective Baylor showed up. They were laughing and taking pictures. They even got assistance from the crowd when their cruiser got stuck in the snow. If there was disorderly conduct engaged in by the gathered crowd, why didn't those officers break it up or make arrests?
I will tell you why: because it's all fun and games until someone brings a gun to a snowball fight.
2:43 pm
Det. Baylor should be fired. We do not need anyone with clear anger management issues roaming the streets with a gun. The snow-ballers were wrong to throw at cars, but his over-reaction could have resulted in a death - and that is unacceptable. Watching the video you can clearly see that he is spoiling for a fight and out of control.
2:45 pm
In my best Connery impression:
Ah... just like a cop. To bring a gun to a snowball fight.
3:12 pm
JGavin, it takes weeks because of union rules regarding due process. This officer could end up losing his job so it has to be handled properly and within established procedures.
3:21 pm
@TWashington
Possibly but given past MPD behavior I suspect a more likely explanation is that they are waiting for media coverage to die down so that they can quietly announce that Det. Baylor is not being punished (or is being given a BS punishment like a short suspension with pay) without much public outrage.
4:07 pm
You are doing the Lord's work Cherkis trying to get this cop canned. I especially love how on the last thread you gave a hysterical girl the link to the DC police complaints department. A regular Bob Woodward. Hope you're not in need of any police assistance in the near future.
4:57 pm
I wish he'd have done that here in Cleveland!!! There'd be one less dumb-a$$ walking the streets with a gun, badge, and bad attitude. The Folks in Cleveland woulda shot him and buried him before it became an issue! That's what people get for helping the other cops out... They get bullied by the guy with the little winky and frail ego. If D.C. keeps him on the force, they're the real losers. Props to the kids on the street for knowing what to do when it snows... Have fun and stay young, or you'll end-up a grumpy waste of skin like Det. Baylor!
6:38 pm
MPD has not taken the detective's statement yet. PRICELESS and PATHETIC. Meanwhile, he's still carrying a loaded gun. Steer clear of FOP Hummers people.
6:49 pm
Here we go again, rich white adults on a public street throwing snow balls at moving vehicles, which is a violation of DC Laws thats alright cause they white,put it on u tube. The cop who just happen to have gun challege this bunch of Jerks and all of sudden the jerks are holier than thou and the Cop should be fired, Bull **$$, These Jerks are lucky it was a cop who only held the gun in his hands not pointing it at anyone rather that some of these neighbor hood thugs who would have done more than held the gun in their hands. Our down low bonus paying Mayor have of course jump in to another low level fray again, elevating it to another level, I wonder why?
6:55 pm
Det. Mike Baylor isn't the first to bring a gun to a snowball fight: http://www.whptv.com/news/state/story/Sentencing-set-in-Philly-snowball-fight-shooting/nmsOUmuu3U6RyczeG7Zs3w.cspx
7:46 pm
If this how Det. Baylor acts in broad daylight with hundreds of people looking and filming him with cameras, how to you think he acts on a dark street in the middle of the night at a traffic stop? Or when he stops someone who he thinks 'fits the description'? I think you know.
8:09 pm
sorry but this guy has to be fired now. And should not be allowed to be a police officer ANYWHERE!
8:20 pm
Another ignorant pig abusing his "power".
9:14 pm
Det . Baylor will have to fall on the sword and maybe, just maybe, will keep his job. His actions were clearly an over reaction and he has anger issues. "Deadly force" was almost applied to a snow ball fight. I hope Det. Baylor has his 20 in!
9:32 pm
I hope every person throwing snowballs is also procescuted for disorder conduct and agravated assault. The innocent fun of the snowball fight became exactly that when they started whipping snowballs at cars and people who didn't want to be in on the snowball fight. And I hope the idiots who did that are happy think it was worth it.....try having another snowball fight at 14th & U next time and see how fast the police break it up instead of just letting it go on like the initial officers who were there were doing. A few bad apples really can spoil the bunch. Just the way everyone thinks the detective's action is representative of all the hard working MPD officers out there.
9:36 pm
The old police lament,I was in fear for my life.
9:42 pm
ah, can't we all just get along?
kinda funny, 40 odd years past the riots, when 14th & u was an epicenter,
we have this, a petit contretemps involving mostly bratty white kids.
maybe one of them will be motivated to go into politics.
graham, graham, graham?
10:04 pm
What a pussy.... Why do we let these out of control cops keep their jobs... This guy should go to jail for assault.
10:28 pm
Det. Baylor is my hero. Eff these white kids who have no respect for the law, think they are above the law, etc. LFMAO and the self righteous white girl screaming for a badge #. Haha...Next time pleaze put a bullet in one their azzes.
11:00 pm
Detective Baylor is an anti-terrorism operations hero.
We shall not tolerate Arab and Muslim terrorists who perpetrate snowball attacks in the 1400 block of U Street NW
11:27 pm
I wish the cop bussed some caps in doez snowballer fools
12:32 am
I guarantee that this lap dog, Det. Baylor, believed initially that the 'masked' snowballers were BLACK! No way a BLACK COP would brandish a pistol while white youth joyfully, gleefully and innocently heaved snowballs at pedestrians and motorists! LMBAO, What a helluva NORMAN ROCKWELL MOMENT! His azz is grass and they will probably demote his dumb azz and 'hide' him, internal affairs have been busy these past 4 years!
12:47 am
That disdainful Dvorak lady thinks some veterans of the 1968 riots might have flashbacks or something from seeing folks throwing fluffy snowballs at each other. Seriously? That was 40 years ago and the differences between a riot and an afternoon snowball fight are numerous.
No one should have been driving in that shit anyway.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/21/AR2009122103481.html
2:38 am
i would have capped dem stupid hooligans ... throwin dam ice at me!!! what!! bop bop!!
3:47 am
He hasn't had a statement taken because the union needs time to figure out his justification.
8:15 am
Bow-tie Mofo, lol!
10:25 am
Wish the Cop had a TASER... would love to hear someone saying 'Don't Tase me Bro again'
The people who disturb the peace never seen to learn until the lose a piece of their hiney..
2:31 pm
The only thing he did wrong was to to shoot one of these sad,sad men. If a 30 year old man that I didnt know hit me in the face with a snowball I would've kicked the cr@p out of him. He showed a lot of restraint IMO
2:32 pm
The only thing he did wrong was not to to shoot one of these sad,sad men. If a 30 year old man that I didnt know hit me in the face with a snowball I would've kicked the cr@p out of him. He showed a lot of restraint IMO
6:13 pm
Or, Tim Rob, you could have made a ball out of snow and thrown one back. Might save you a night in jail and could be more rewarding.
I want to hit you in the face with many snowballs very badly, if only to videotape your tantrum.
Next fresh snowfall (the melted stuff is too hard, everyone knows that) at a place and time of your choosing. Wear something bright.
8:07 pm
this really is a funny story. So did he actually throw snowballs back ?
3:04 am
Vbn Im assuming you are 12 so I will forgive you. Go see Santa today and pass on your gift list, build a snowman and make sure your parents keep you away from the busy roads
2:46 pm
Too bad this azzwipe didn't pullout his gun in NYC. His own people would have shot him 57 times "by mistake".
2:20 am
he could have just flashed his badge (instead of gun) and they probably would have stopped throwing snow balls at him...........
5:46 am
This is a shame, another piece of bad press about our justice system, got to stop!