A rough ride is a form of police brutality in which a handcuffed prisoner is placed in a police van or other patrol vehicle without a seatbelt, and is thrown violently about as the vehicle is driven erratically.[1][2][3] Rough rides have been implicated in a number of injuries sustained in police custody, and commentators have speculated that the practice contributed to the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland, in April 2015.[1][2][4] Throughout the U.S., police have been accused of using aggressive driving tactics to "rough suspects up", resulting in numerous injuries, and millions of dollars of damages awarded to victims and their families.[5][4]
Baltimore lawyer Phil Federico described the practice as "definitely intentional", saying "they're unbelted, the inside of these wagons are not padded, they can't protect themselves, and they get thrown from one side to the other, usually landing on their head, and fracturing their neck."[2] The practice has been described as torture by Philadelphia based activist and academic Marc Lamont Hill.[6] University of South Carolina professor Geoffrey Alpert, an expert in police use of force, has asserted that the practice was common in the 1980s and 1990s, but has become less so with the increased presence of video recording equipment in police vehicles.[1] There are no reliable records of the frequency of these incidents.[5][4]
Other terms for the practice include "nickel ride" (a reference to carnival rides),[5][7] "cowboy ride",[2][4] "joyride",[8] "bringing them up front" (referring to sudden braking),[1] and "screen test" (as the prisoner may hit the protective screen behind the driver).[3][9]
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