I don't know if this is technically police custody but it is disturbing.

Why Did a 16-Year-Old Black Girl Just Die in a Kentucky Cell?

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/...ention-mystery

Los Angeles police officers charged with sexual assault

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/17/us/la-police-officers-sexual-assault-charges/index.html

Two Los Angeles police officers who once worked as partners patrolling the streets of Hollywood have been charged with sexually assaulting four women they encountered while on duty, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Officers James Nichols, 44, and Luis Valenzuela, 43, are charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, including rape under color of authority, according to a criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The alleged assaults in some cases took place while the officers were on duty, according to prosecutors, including in their police car. Valenzuela is accused of pointing a gun at one of the victims.

"These two officers have disgraced themselves. They've disgraced this badge. They've disgraced this office," Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference.

The officers, who were arrested early Wednesday, were not immediately available for comment. They were expected to be arraigned Thursday morning. Lawyers who represent them on pending administrative charges of sexual misconduct said they had not yet reviewed the criminal complaint, but said if the allegations were the same, the officers denied them.

Each of the women had at one point been arrested by the officers during "narcotics-related" investigations, according to prosecutors.

The alleged assaults occurred between December 2008, when the officers first became partners, and March 2011. The alleged victims were ages 19, 24, 25 and 34 at the time.

They didn't quite make it into police custody...
 

Police in six Southern California counties have shot more than 2,000 suspects since 2004. Only one officer was prosecuted and he was acquitted.

Complete story in LA Times dated February 19, 2016:

http://graphics.latimes.com/officer-involved/

Emotional injuries
 

Florida police accused of racial profiling after stopping man 258 times, charging him with trespassing at work

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/police-stop-man-258-times-charge-trespassing-work-article-1.1526422?utm_content=bufferf0f3d&utm_medium=socia l&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDailyNewsT w

In the last four years Earl Sampson, 28, has been questioned by police 258 times, searched more than 100 times, jailed 56 times, and arrested for trespassing 62 times. The majority of these citations occurred at his place of work, a Miami Gardens convenience store where the owner says police are racially profiling.

Man who died in Box Elder jail was there for not paying a debt

http://www.standard.net/Courts/2016/02/14/Man-who-died-in-Box-Elder-jail-was-there-for-not-paying-a-debt?utm_content=buffereab32&utm_medium=social&utm _source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Rex Iverson died in a jail cell shortly after he was taken into custody, but he wasn’t there for a criminal act.

He was there on a civil judgment, for not paying a bill.

Jail and state court statistics and interviews with various officials in the justice system show that a debtor ending up behind bars is relatively rare, but Iverson’s case was instructive: Any Utahn who ignores a civil court judgment and subsequent court orders may end up incarcerated.

On Christmas Eve 2013, the Bear River City man incurred an ambulance bill. Tremonton City won a justice court small claims judgment against Iverson in September 2014 that compelled him to pay the city $2,376.92.

He never paid the bill and ignored repeated court orders to appear, court records show. That led to a county sheriff’s deputy, serving a $350 bench warrant issued by the justice court on Dec. 29, 2015, arresting him on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 23.

Iverson, 45, died in a Box Elder County Jail holding cell early that afternoon while jailers were elsewhere in the jail preparing for the booking process, the sheriff’s office said in a press release reporting the in-custody death. The death is under investigation by the Northern Utah Critical Incident Investigative Team, but foul play is not suspected.

Lawyers say woman, 50, died after being ‘deprived of water’ at Charleston County jail

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160224/PC16/160229636

A woman who was arrested at a hospital over the summer for failing to pay court fines died the next day because she was deprived of water at the Charleston County jail, her family’s attorneys said Wednesday.

Joyce Curnell, 50, of Edisto Island was found dead in the jail shortly before 5 p.m. July 22, a day after being taken from Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, where she had been treated for a stomach illness.

She spent the last 27 hours of her life behind bars. During that time she became too sick to eat or call for help, according to court documents filed this week. She vomited all night and couldn’t make it to a bathroom, so jailers gave her a trash bag. Some medical staffers ignored the jail officials’ requests to tend to her, the documents alleged.

Curnell’s family filed a notice Wednesday to sue the jail’s medical contractor, Carolina Center for Occupational Health, for malpractice. Unless a settlement is reached, a lawsuit likely will follow. The filing cited expert opinion from a local doctor, who said Curnell’s death “more likely than not” would have been prevented if she had been properly treated for gastroenteritis and dehydration.

The family attorney, James Moore III, said in a statement that her death resulted from a “deliberate failure.” While a suit in state court is planned, Moore said one in federal court could follow.

“Providing access to reasonable medical care to those under police custody is a necessity, not a privilege,” he said. “It is a constitutional right. We are committed to seeking justice for Joyce and for her family.”

Curnell’s death came at a time of increased scrutiny of how black women are handled behind bars. She was one of at least six such women nationwide to die in law enforcement custody that month. They included Sandra Bland, the inmate found hanged in a Texas jail days after a state trooper pulled her from her car during a traffic stop. Her death was ruled a suicide, but the trooper was indicted on a perjury charge for his handling of the arrest.

In Curnell’s death, the State Law Enforcement Division did an investigation and completed a report, SLED spokesman Thom Berry said. The Post and Courier filed a S.C. Freedom of Information Act request for the document, but SLED officials did not turn it over Wednesday.

Attempts to reach the contractor through three telephone calls and an email Wednesday were not successful. Maj. Eric Watson of the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the jail, said he had just learned of the possible lawsuit and had no immediate comment.

State law requires officials to render medical care when inmates need it, said Shaundra Scott, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina. The Bill of Rights, she said, also demands humane treatment of those incarcerated.

The ACLU plans to monitor the case closely, Scott said.

“It is very unfortunate to hear of another death of an African-American while in police custody,” she said. “If Ms. Curnell was denied medical treatment, then it is our position that her constitutional rights were violated.”

Around noon on July 21, Curnell was taken from Edisto Island by ambulance to the hospital as she complained of nausea and vomiting. She was diagnosed in the emergency room with gastroenteritis, an irritation of the stomach and intestines.

At some point at the hospital, it was discovered that she had a bench warrant in a 2011 shoplifting case. She had been put on a payment plan in April 2012 to cover $1,148.90 in fines related to the charge, according to court records, but she quit paying the following January. After she didn’t respond to a letter from the court, the warrant was issued in August 2014.

No one could tell The Post and Courier how law enforcement got word of the warrant as she lay in the hospital last summer.

The Charleston Police Department was first summoned there, but officers later called deputies from the Sheriff’s Office. Watson said he could not immediately find documentation about how the authorities learned of Curnell’s charge.

The family’s attorney also said he was looking for that explanation.

Curnell was hydrated at the hospital, given medications and told to seek prompt medical attention if she continued to experience pain and vomiting. On top of her illness, she had a history of sickle cell disease, high blood pressure and alcoholism.

Doctors discharged her from the hospital with instructions. The deputies then took her to the jail around 2:30 p.m. It was her only arrest in South Carolina, according to a SLED background check.

A nurse at the jail who examined Curnell when she got there later told SLED that she was complaining only of a headache, this week’s court filings stated. A doctor prescribed medication for the headache and nausea, but the documents alleged that the staffers didn’t follow the hospital doctor’s recommendations.

Instead of staying in the jail’s medical facility, Curnell was taken to a housing unit. Jail officers reported later that she vomited “through the night” and “couldn’t make it to the bathroom,” the documents stated. They gave her a trash bag.

The jailers said they informed the medical staff of Curnell’s condition, but the experts “refused to provide any medical attention to (her) whatsoever,” the court documents stated.

She couldn’t eat breakfast the next morning. No records indicated that she was given water or intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration, the filings added.

A sheriff’s incident report stated that the medical staff checked her around 2 p.m., but within three hours, she was dead.

Maria Gibson, the Medical University Hospital primary care doctor hired as an expert witness for the family, said in an affidavit that Curnell died of complications from her sickness. Coupled with her underlying conditions, Curnell was just too sick to overcome dehydration without aid, Gibson said.

Gibson blamed a “series of conscious violations.”

“Simply put,” the doctor said, “Ms. Curnell died because she was deprived of water.”

So apparently we do have debtor's prison. Even in cases of bills for medical emergencies, like Mr. Iverson who died while in jail for an ambulance bill. Not that I think prison is the place for people who owe money period, except maybe Wall Street and banks too big to fail who owe tons of money and should be jailed for cowboy moves and questionable tactics and of course just outright stealing the Public's money using complicated tricks and sleights of hand.

I just think it's particularly despicable when jail is inflicted on those who owe money for hospital bills. One of the ways it has been made legal for you to get jail time for owing money, aka debtor's prison, is if a judge decides the nonpayment is willful. This is extremely arbitrary as it is left to the judge's discretion. A judge can decide it because of the way you are dressed, or they can just consider all nonpayment willful unless you can show that you have exhausted all sources of possible income, such as quitting smoking, asking family and friends for loans, returning used soda cans and bottles and whatever hairbrained idea the particular judge you draw thinks is fair. It is so arbitrary it is ridiculous.

Big banks willfully refuse to pay their debts and then they cause there own demise. They take trillions of dollars from the government, which means, technically, from us and still they continue to put us all in jeopardy by refusing to stop taking dangerous chances with the economy and with our money. The government is not a separate entity; it is owned, run and paid for by the people so they are hurting us and we have no recourse. But they have so much recourse that banks can have us jailed for losing our jobs and not being able to pay them. Corporations avoid their responsibilities as citizens by refusing to pay their fair share of taxes and not paying importing for all the products they make overseas and declare as American made. Are they not willfully refusing to pay?

This debtor's prison is really scary since it can easily with just a little bit of misfortune, make criminals of us all...well, I guess technically, not all of us, just 90% of us.

Man, Woman Killed in Police Shooting Were Unconscious When Police Arrived: Mayor

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/couple-killed-inglewood-police-shooting-asleep-mayor-butts-369902981.html

Both the man and woman who were mortally wounded during an officer involved shooting were unconscious when Inglewood police first responded to where they were sitting in a car, said Inglewood Mayor James Butts Tuesday in response to questions about the incident.

For at least 45 minutes, police attempted "to rouse" them in an effort "to de-escalate the situation," said Butts. It is the first public explanation for what transpired early Sunday morning during the time between the initial call and the shooting. Police previously had stated responding officers saw the woman had a gun, retreated to behind cover, and then gave orders for the couple to exit the vehicle.

"Obviously at some point they were conscious because somebody felt threatened," said Butts, a retired law enforcement officer who previously had served as police chief in other cities. He said it is important for police to finish their investigation, and verify facts, before commenting further.

Andrea: Bolding mine

Witness, family of victim speak about Montgomery officer-involved shooting

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/31311999/montgomery-man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting

Family members of the Montgomery man who was killed in an officer-involved shooting Thursday have identified him as 59-year-old Gregory Gunn.

According to Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley, the shooting happened around 3:20 a.m. in the 3200 block of McElvy Street, which is in the Mobile Heights neighborhood. This is the first fatal police shooting in Montgomery in five years.

Finley said the officer was on routine patrol when he noticed what he believed to be a suspicious man walking down the street.

"At this point in time what we have is we had a suspicious person, and the officer engaged that individual. There was a slight struggle that continued for about a block or so at which time the officer fired and shot and killed the suspect," Finley said.

The investigation was turned over to the State Bureau of Investigations, which is common practice when an officer is involved in a shooting. The investigation could take months.

When asked if the man was armed, Finley said "there was some indication of some instrument." He later called it a stick, pole and painting pole.

Finley says the officer, who was identified as a young officer with under four years with the department, has been placed on administrative leave. The police chief said he doesn't know if the officer was injured. The officer will be "isolated" and interviewed.

The findings of the investigation will be turned over to the District Attorney's office. Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey released the following statement:

I assure our community that once the investigation into this matter has concluded that the Montgomery District Attorney's Office will review all the evidence in a thorough manner and will conduct any additional investigation if it is deemed appropriate or necessary. I also assure our community that once this investigation is concluded and I am satisfied that all evidence has been collected and reviewed that this case will be heard by a Montgomery County Grand Jury.

I encourage anyone with information regarding this incident to contact ALEA at (800) 392-8011 or the Montgomery County District Attorney's Investigation Unit at (334)-832-1642.

Gunn lived in the community, and the initial encounter was about a block or so from where he lived.

It doesn't appear this incident was in the news so I am posting the court opinion. Also, I found no mention of when this happened but no matter, it is still ugly.

http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/16a0112n-06.pdf?mc_cid=a28b9d18b8&mc_eid=bdf013911c

According to Cheryl McCarty, she was driving her three young grandchildren to school when Officer Birberick pulled her over and accused her of illegally passing a stopped school bus. She argued with him, claimed there had been no school bus, accused him of racism, and refused to accept the ticket, letting it instead drop on the ground. Officer Birberick returned to his patrol car—a large SUV—and drove away. But McCarty, who had turned off her ignition but not her headlights, had accidentally drained her car battery and could not restart her car. Stranded on the side of a very busy city street, she turned on her emergency lights and attempted, unsuccessfully, to phone a friend for assistance. Approximately 20 minutes later, Officer Birberick returned, as part of his routine patrol, and pulled up behind her. When he approached McCarty’s driver-side window, she rolled her eyes in disgust and looked away. They did not speak. Officer Birberick returned to his SUV, which he then rammed into McCarty’s sedan from behind, purportedly to move her car off the busy street into the adjacent gas station lot. He did not forewarn McCarty of his intention to ram her car and the collision took her and the children by surprise, throwing them from their seats.

Rather than moving the car to the gas station, however, this collision actually forced the car further into traffic. McCarty and the children were wailing in panic. Officer Birberick got out of his car and began screaming at McCarty that she could have been killed, though he did not specify what she had done wrong or should have done differently. He then waited for traffic to clear and rammed her car again, this time so hard that he knocked the rear end of the car up off the ground, causing it to lurch into the gas station, just missing the gas pumps. At this point, McCarty was dazed, the children were on the floor with one bleeding from the head, and the car was severely damaged. Officer Birberick drove off without any further interaction.

A service station attendant jump started the car and McCarty drove the damaged car and children away. She filed a police complaint and, eventually, this lawsuit. Officer Birberick moved for summary judgment on qualified immunity which the district court denied upon concluding that, taking these facts in the light most favorable to McCarty, a jury question remained as to whether Officer Birberick’s ramming of her car, without warning and with three young children in it, was so outrageous as to shock the conscience and violate McCarty’s clearly established, substantive due process rights. Officer Birberick appeals.

Witness says 16-year-old boy shot by police in downtown Salt Lake City

http://www.sltrib.com/news/3591149-155/shooting-involving-police-creates-chaotic-scene

Police on Saturday were investigating the shooting of a teenager by Salt Lake City police.

Few details were available late Saturday. The shooting occurred about 8 p.m. near 250 S. Rio Grande St. Selam Mohammad told The Salt Lake Tribune a police officer shot a friend, a teenage boy.

Salt Lake City police late Saturday confirmed one officer, and possibly a second officer, were involved in the shooting, but did not provide more details. The victim was taken to the hospital, but no information about his condition was provided. There was conflicting information about the boy's age.

Detective Greg Wilking would only confirm that "shots were fired," but not how many.

Salt Lake City police later said in a tweet that officers were responding to a call in area when they were alerted to assault in progress.

The officers "tried to engage altercation," the tweet added.

After the shooting, Salt Lake Tribune journalists saw and heard onlookers yelling obscenities at police and throwing rocks.

There were "a lot of hostile people upset about what had taken place," Wilking said.

Police detained multiple people, but Wilking could not elaborate on why.

According to Mohammad, the victim and a man were in a confrontation, and the victim was holding part of a broomstick at his side when officers ran up.

"They told him to put it down, once," Mohammad said, and "started shooting him as soon as he turned around."

Mohammad said that the teenager was hit in the chest and stomach.

Neighboring departments, including Unified Police Department, West Valley City, Sandy and University of Utah police, deployed to assist Salt Lake City officers. In all, almost 100 officers, come carrying riot shields, arrived.

At 8:40 p.m., a line of officers moved people down the sidewalk on the south side of 200 South, from Rio Grande to 400 West.

Police closed the Trax Blue Line before the Old Greektown stop, providing difficulties for some fans leaving the Utah Jazz game. The TRAX trains resumed about 11 p.m.

The Unified Police Department will be investigating the shooting. Wilking could not say whether the incident was captured on officers' body cameras.

Wilking encouraged anyone with information about the shooting to contact the police.

The $230,000 goes to the cop, not the man he kicked in the head
 

Delaware officer who kicked black suspect in head resigns, gets $230,000

DOVER, Del. — To Kentrell Sewell, it was barely worth notice that Thomas Webster IV had resignedfrom the Dover Police Department.

Webster, a Dover police corporal, was acquitted of a felony assault charge late last year after a police dashcam captured him kicking a black man in the head during a 2013 arrest.

"He didn't take responsibility. No jail, no nothing," Sewell said Wednesday while seated for a trim at a downtown Dover barbershop. "Now, if it's not going to happen in Dover, he's just gonna kick somebody somewhere else."

Sewell's reaction to Webster's resignation signifies the lingering distrust still simmering in Dover after the August 2013 encounter between Webster and Lateef Dickerson, whose jaw was fractured by the kick.

Webster, indicted by a second grand jury after a first declined to issue charges, faced trial in late 2015. After being found not guilty of felony assault, he returned to the department's payroll while on administrative leave, even as community activists and African-American leaders urged the city to fire him.

Late Tuesday, Dover announced Webster would separate from the force by June 30. His day-to-day work for the department is over immediately and a settlement agreement between Webster and the city says he "shall not enter the Dover Police Department building or communicate with the City of Dover or its representatives."

He remains on administrative leave until his separation.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...ion-topstories

Police-involved shooting in southeast Raleigh

http://abc11.com/1223954/

A Raleigh police officer shot and killed a man wanted on felony drug charges during a foot chase Monday.

It happened at Bragg Street and S. East Street in southeast Raleigh around noon close to a business called PJ's Grill and Groceries.

Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck Brown told reporters Monday afternoon that a gun was found near the man.

Brown promised a thorough investigation which will "follow the available facts and evidence wherever they may lead."

Brown said the State Bureau of Investigation as well as Internal Affairs are working on the case. The findings will be presented to the Wake County District Attorney.

"This is a sad day, and our thoughts and prayers go out to all involved," said Brown.

In a statement, the Wake County District Attorney, Lorrin Freeman, said they will release information as it becomes verified and available. Freeman asked for "people's patience as we work to ensure that this investigation is thorough and complete."

Shortly before 5 p.m., the crime tape was taken down and authorities began leaving the scene.

While police have not identified the dead man, shortly after the shooting, a woman on the scene told ABC11 that officers shot her son, Akiel Denkins, who was wanted on a warrant.

"He was running away," said Rolanda Byrd. "They couldn't catch him so they shot at him seven times."

"Everybody seen it," said Byrd. "They ain't going down with this one. They ain't gonna get away with this one, there's at least 40 eyewitnesses out here."

Byrd said several people told her that her 24-year-old son was unarmed and was shot by a white officer.

As word of the shooting spread, a small group of demonstrators arrived at the scene and started chanting "Black lives matter."

The ACLU of North Carolina said in a statement, "Along with many community members in Raleigh, we are alarmed by these reports, trying to learn more details about what happened, and express our deepest condolences to Akiel's family. What we do know is that far too many people of color are victims of wrongful targeting and excessive use of force by law enforcement officers across the country, and North Carolina is not immune to that reality."

Raleigh's city council was supposed to hold a meeting on the use of body cameras on police officers Monday but the event was cancelled because of the shooting.

"This is obviously a sad, terrible situation," Mayor Nancy McFarlane told reporters. "We are all very saddened by the news."

Denkins was the father of two sons and turned 24 on February 8th.

Baltimore School Police Officer Seen Slapping Young Man In Video

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2016/03/01/baltimore-school-police-officer-seen-slapping-young-man-in-video/#.VtZetBpBMlc.twitter

A shocking video recorded at a city school. Now the head of the Baltimore school police force is on administrative leave–and two of his officers reassigned–for what was caught on tape.

Ava-joye Burnett explains what happened.

The school system didn’t even know about the video until WJZ brought it to their attention. They are appalled at what they saw–an officer hitting and kicking a young man.

Profanity laced and slap after slap–even a kick–video recorded at Reach Partnership High has people outraged.

“He’s lucky that wasn’t my little brother because I would be in jail right now. He had no right doing that,” said David Lucas.

WJZ has now learned the chief of Baltimore City school police, Marshall Goodwin, has been placed on administrative leave.

Baltimore City schools says it didn’t even know about the video until WJZ called them asking for an explanation.

“I was totally appalled at what I saw today,” said Karl Perry, chief officer of school supports.

School leaders told WJZ that the police officer seen landing hit after hit will not be in the building Wednesday morning. He’s been reassigned until the investigation is complete.

“I’m a parent, and I’m totally appalled at what I saw in that video. No matter what the circumstances are, I am totally appalled,” said Perry.

Reach Partnership is one of only seven high schools in the city that has a school police officer dedicated to the building. School officials say it’s not because of violence in the facility; it’s because of the sheer size of the building.

It’s not clear what led up to the very first slap or what happened after the camera stopped rolling, but the video–just seconds long–is making people ask: how could this happen at a school?

“If it was my son, I would be highly upset, asking questions, wanting to know what happened prior to it,” said Gary Payne, “But still, nobody deserves to get their hands put on them like that.”

The school system doesn’t know if the young man seen getting slapped is a student at the school, but the person who recorded the video told WJZ the victim does, in fact, go there.

Baltimore City schools also did not identify the school police officer because it’s a personnel matter.

Andrea, have you already posted about Sandra Bland? I just came across a news story about her. Apparently the Texas Dept. Of Public Safety has fired the Texas State Trooper who wrongfully arrested Sandra. Video evidence captured showed that the opposite was true: That the officer escalated the event and he physically assaulted Sandra, then wrongfully arrested her. Sandra died in jail for something she didn't do. : (

https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2...-traffic-stop/

I believe I posted something pages ago but her story is very important. She did nothing wrong and should never have been arrested. The video of her arrest is the only reason any justice can be achieved in her death.

Kätzchen, I did not know that they fired the Trooper that arrested and assaulted her. Everything about that traffic stop was wrong and that it ultimately resulted in her death (as so many others have) is a tragedy.

Ala. Officer Charged With Murder in Death of Unarmed Black Man

http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/03/ala_officer_charged_with_murder_in_death_of_unarme d_black_man.html


Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey charged Montgomery, Ala., Police Officer Aaron Smith with murder Wednesday in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man outside his mother’s house.

“I will do everything in my power to protect a police officer who is operating within the law,” Bailey said Wednesday, CBS News reports. “I will also use every ounce of my power to prosecute a police officer who is acting outside of the law.”

Bailey added that Smith, 23, was in custody, with bond set at $150,000.

On Feb. 25 around 3:20 a.m., 58-year-old Greg Gunn was walking to his mother’s house, where he lived, after playing cards at a neighbor’s home. Officer Smith stopped Gunn, reportedly for looking “suspicious.” Within minutes, Smith had shot Gunn dead.

“I want to be crystal clear that the arrest that is being made today is in no way an indictment on the Montgomery Police Department,” Bailey said. “In fact, 99.9 percent of the Montgomery police officers do an exceptional job on a daily basis protecting us and our community. They are, in fact, the thin blue line between order and chaos.”

Civil rights activist Jamel Brown told WAKA that black men can’t be afraid to walk in their own neighborhoods without feeling threatened by police.

“You were telling 17-, 18-, and 15-year-old black boys that they can’t walk in their neighborhood at three and four o’clock in the morning without having to be charged with a looks suspicious,” he said. “No, we’ve got to change that type of dominion—we want to bridge the gap between the police agency and the black community in Montgomery.”

Family: ATL Officers tased son to death, then high-fived!
 

Julie Wolfe and Ryan Kruger , WMAZ 8:59 AM. EST March 11, 2016

ATLANTA -- Days before he died, Chase Sherman was in his brother's wedding. Laughing, joking, loving the sea and making a living boating. Even as his family made their way through customs on the return trip from the Dominican Republic, he joked about his passport photo with the customs agent. Hours later, he was in the throes of a mental breakdown. He thought he was being kidnapped by his own parents. And then, he was dead.

"His parents did what everybody is supposed to do, you call 911, because 911 brings help. But in the case of Chase, 911 brought death," attorney L. Chris Stewart said.

Chase's parents stood beside the attorney, calling for charged to be filed against the Coweta County deputies involved in the confrontation

In November 2015, less than a month before his 33rd birthday, as they were traveling home, Chase told his mother he had taken Spice earlier, but not on the trip.

Spice, also known as K2, synthetic marijuana, and potpourri, was officially banned by the DEA as a Class I drug in 2013. Incidents of extreme agitation, psychotic episodes, hallucinations, and even heart attacks have been documented in users.

After going through customs at Hartsfield-Jackson airport, Chase's parents say he became agitated and did not want to get back on the plane to continue their trip home to Destin, Florida. Instead, the family decided to rent a car and drive. Worried about his condition, they called 911 in Atlanta. Atlanta police responded to the call, and according to the family "they were a great help." They helped calm him down, spoke with his parents about the plan to get home, and helped them to the car.

As the family was driving home and passing through Coweta County, Chase had another episode. Kevin Sherman told his wife Mary Ann to call 911. "It was a terrible scene," Kevin said. "He told the 911 operator he didn't know anybody in the car, he was being kidnapped, help him."

"They got one handcuff on, then tased him again, and got the other handcuff on," Mary Ann said. "I told them, 'Don't shoot him!' At that time, they told us to get out of the car."

"Homicide," Attorney Stewart said. "And those aren't my words, these are the official words of the death certificate." A copy of that death certificate provided to 11Alive News by the Sherman family listed the cause of death as, "sudden death during an altercation with law enforcement with several trigger pulls of an electronic control device, prone positioning on the floor of a motor vehicle and compression of the torso by the body weight if another individual."

The family says the real blow came after Chase stopped breathing. They say the EMT on scene did little to help "just 20 chest compressions, or so", and then the deputies high-fived each other in front of his parents. "Like he was a trophy they got off the street," Kevin said.

"They both told me they had to protect themselves, I mean, what were they protecting themselves from? He was already handcuffed. He was unarmed. What did they have to protect themselves from?" Mary Ann asked.

"Is this how we treat those who are having a mental breakdown? Is this how we treat those that are mentally ill?" their attorney asked.

The GBI told 11Alive's Ryan Kruger their investigation is complete and has been turned over to the Coweta County D.A. 11Alive has contacted the Coweta County Sheriff's Office for a comment, but have not yet heard back. Sheriff Mike Yeager has previously publicly stated the deputies were acting to defend themselves.

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/family-at...fived/77499428

No Charges For Cop Who Killed Unarmed Black Man Despite Grand Jury Recommendation

http://filmthecops.news/news/no-charges-cop-killed-unarmed-black-man-despite-grand-jury-recommendation/

This week, DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James declined to press any charges against Avondale Estates Police Sgt. Lynn Thomas for fatally shooting unarmed Jayvis Benjamin, despite the recommendation of a grand jury.

The fatal shooting occurred on January 18, 2013, after Benjamin, a 20-year-old college student with no criminal record, was involved in a car crash. As can be seen in the dashcam video below, Benjamin exited the car with his hands up and walked away from Thomas before the fatal shooting later occurred, off camera.

Benjamin’s family and community called for Thomas to be criminally charged almost immediately after the incident. However, District Attorney James failed to take any action for a full two years. By comparison, the arduously long investigation into the fatal police shooting of Laquan MacDonald in Chicago, which received nationwide criticism, lasted approximately 400 days.

After 800 days, James finally took action, but he took the highly unusual action of convening a “civil grand jury” to review Benjamin’s case, as well as six other police-involved shootings. The civil grand jury was charged with deciding which cases, if any, should be recommended to a criminal grand jury, to face criminal charges.

Of the seven police-involved shootings, the civil grand jury recommended only one case be heard by a criminal grand jury: Benjamin’s. According to James, the civil grand jury “strongly recommended the case move forward for indictment.”

Benjamin’s family expressed vindication that a grand jury agreed with them that the officer’s actions leading to the death of their loved one were criminal. And in May of last year, James confirmed that he would convene a criminal grand jury in the case.

Another 10 full months went by without James taking any action, and his inaction began to garner nationwide attention.

Now, James has reneged on his promise to convene a criminal grand jury, going against the findings of the civil grand jury, and has closed the case. Barring a federal investigation, Officer Lynn will never face criminal charges for the fatal shooting of unarmed, 20-year-old Jayvis Benjamin.

Officer Lynn continues to be on active duty with the Avondale Estates police department.

"Macing drivers is not a department-endorsed tactic"
 

FWPD investigating video showing officer allegedly spraying bikers

Lauren Zakalik, WFAA 7:02 PM. CDT March 14, 2016

FORT WORTH -- A Facebook video apparently depicting a Fort Worth officer spraying pepper spray into a group of oncoming motorcyclists has received more than 200,000 views in 15 hours.

Fort Worth police confirmed Monday morning they started investigating the video as soon as they received it. FWPD Corporal Tracey Knight says macing drivers is not a department-endorsed tactic.

News 8 spoke Monday to Jack Kinney, the man who recorded the video with his helmet camera, and Chase Stone, who edited the video and posted it to Facebook.

They say a group of about 200 motorcyclists were traveling up northbound U.S. 287 in Fort Worth Sunday afternoon when a Fort Worth police officer pulled over one of the motorcycle group's "safety vehicles," which is a vehicle that follows behind bikers in case of an incident.

In the edited video, which slows down and zooms in at one point, so viewers can see more clearly, the officer appears to spray something directly into oncoming traffic as he exits his vehicle. The bikers say it was pepper spray. "It's the last thing I would expect to see," Kinney said.

"His intent was to hit the bikers for sure, there’s no doubt about it," Stone says. The men spoke to News 8 via Skype from Longview, Texas, where they live.

"His intent was to send somebody down, if not to cause a major accident with that spray," Stone said.

As the story spread online Monday, viewers shared pictures and videos with us. Two videos show bikers driving "foolishly," the viewer said, on another area highway, poping wheelies and weaving in and out of traffic. Fort Worth police say they had multiple calls about reckless motorcycle drivers on area highways, including 287.

We asked Stone and Kinney if it was possible the officer felt threatened. "If you're worried about safety, why would you pepper spray a large group of bikers like that?" Kinney said.

They say nothing justifies spraying blinding material into traffic. They say people could've died. "When you put other people’s life in danger, it's just uncalled for," Stone said.

Late Monday afternoon, Fort Worth police announced the officer in the video has been taken off patrol and put on administrative duties until the culmination of the investigation. The officer is a six-year veteran with the force.

Police also say three of the people in the truck the officer pulled over were cited; the driver, for not having a license, and two others, for riding in the bed of a pickup truck.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/tarra...ikers/82200692

:police: " Investigating video showing officer allegedly spraying bikers..."

For keeping up with the latest news on which bozo the clown criminal cops are busy abusing the badge where, much to the much to the detriment of good, decent cops everywhere I like the website - bad cop no donut dot com.

Half of People Killed by Police Have a Disability: Report

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/half-people-killed-police-suffer-mental-disability-report-n538371

Taser death probed

http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/taser-death-probed/article_008a2a1f-c9a6-518b-a9a1-02db49e711b5.html

A Bowling Green man who died after being thrown from his vehicle and then having a Taser used on him by law enforcement had previous health issues.

A preliminary autopsy showed that Michael Roll, 52, of Bowling Green, had blunt-force trauma of the head, torso and upper extremities as a result of being thrown from a vehicle Saturday, Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby said.

Kirby said the autopsy also showed Roll had minor coronary artery disease and some lung problems.

Kentucky State Police responded to a single-vehicle crash at 10:52 p.m. Saturday near the 4-mile marker on the Natcher Parkway. "It was reported that a vehicle had overturned and the driver appeared to be under the influence and was being combative," according to a news release issued Sunday by KSP Post 3 in Bowling Green.

State police troopers and a Warren County sheriff's deputy found the overturned SUV and Roll, who "became extremely combative and it appeared to officers that he was highly under the influence," the release said. "At this point a (Taser) was used in an attempt to effect an arrest of Roll, where he still resisted for a short period before going unconscious."

Roll was taken to The Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Kirby said that while the use of the Taser could have exacerbated Roll's preexisting health conditions, it is too soon to know for sure.

"The biggest thing is going to be finding out what type of drug he was on or what he was drinking," Kirby said. "That can elevate or slow down a lot of things."

Kirby said because Roll was in "full arrest" when he arrived at the hospital, he doesn't know if a blood sample was drawn then. A toxicology screen will be run on the blood sample taken at autopsy. Results should be available in a couple of weeks.

Kirby said it's possible that the head trauma night have contributed to Roll's combative actions toward police.

"But he was intoxicated on something," he said. "We just don't know what yet."

Cleveland police officer arrested, accused of slamming woman's head into car bumper

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/03/cleveland_police_officer_arres_3.html

A Cleveland police officer was suspended Friday after he was accused of assaulting a woman and slamming her head into a car bumper, according to a Cleveland Municipal Court charging document.

David Manns, 33, was arrested on a felonious assault charge Friday afternoon. He is suspended without pay until the criminal case is resolved, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said.

A Cleveland police officer was arrested after he was accused of assaulting a woman.

Officers responded about 4:50 a.m. Friday to the area of West 45th Street and Detroit Avenue, the charging document states. The female victim told police Manns grabbed her and "smashed her head on the bumper" of a car, the document says.

The woman received five stitches above her eye, and her shoulder was separated, according to the document.

The victim was treated at the hospital, where investigators saw her injuries and took her statement, the document states.

The warrant does not indicate whether the woman knows Manns.

Shocking force: Police in Maryland didn't follow Taser safety recommendations in hundreds of incidents

Shocking force: Police in Maryland didn't follow Taser safety recommendations in hundreds of incidents

As two Montgomery County police officers slowly closed in with Tasers pointed, Anthony Howard retreated up a small step and backed himself against the front door of a townhome on a quiet cul-de-sac in the Washington suburb of Gaithersburg.

Minutes earlier, the 51-year-old man had asked an officer: "Are you gonna kill me?"

High on cocaine, Howard started the standoff by dancing barefoot on an SUV roof, barking and muttering gibberish on the late afternoon of April 19, 2013. Two dozen neighbors gawking at the bizarre spectacle laughed when Howard jumped off the Ford SUV to avoid an officer's stream of pepper spray, and they taunted police, urging them to use their stun guns.

Police said in a report on the incident that Howard had thrown "boulders" and charged at officers. But a 17-minute video taken by a resident and obtained by The Baltimore Sun shows that when officers approached Howard for the last time, he was standing still, holding a child's scooter. Officers fired two Tasers, shooting electrified darts connected by long wires into Howard's body.

Andrea: Click the link for the rest of the article

Austin Police Officer Caught On Video Allegedly Pepper-Spraying Handcuffed Man

Austin Police Officer Caught On Video Allegedly Pepper-Spraying Handcuffed Man

The Austin Police Department has launched an investigation following the release of a video that shows an officer apparently pepper-spraying a handcuffed suspect.

The video, posted on YouTube by local police watchdog group Peaceful Streets Project, shows an officer opening the door to the back of a police van last week during the South by Southwest Festival.

“What’d I tell you about kicking the door?” the officer says to the subject inside.

“I didn’t do nothing,” the man replies.

The officer then sprays him in the face from a few feet away:

“What’d I tell you about kicking the door?” the officer repeats as the man falls backward and puts his hands to his face. “I told you.”

Peaceful Streets identified the officer as Cameron Caldwell.

“Wow, you asshole!” the person recording the footage yells. “I saw that, I got that on film, you abusive asshole!”

Police told the Austin American-Statesman that the incident is under investigation and asked that anyone with information call the Office of the Police Monitor at 512-974-9090.

After the incident, the witness recording the scene urges police to let the man out so he’s not locked inside a closed space after being sprayed.

“He’s under arrest, ma’am,” an officer tells her.

“Yeah I know — can you, like, keep him under arrest out where he can breathe?” she responds.

“He’s been fighting us for like 20 minutes,” an officer says.

“Oh you poor baby,” the woman answers.

The police department’s code lists a number of cases in which “chemical agents” such as pepper spray shouldn’t be used, including “when a subject is under physical restraint unless the subject is still aggressively resisting and lesser means of controlling the subject have failed.”

Peaceful Streets also said the code requires that officers ensure that someone who has been sprayed remain “upright with a clear airway... to avoid possible positional asphyxiation.”

However, in the clip, the officer shuts the door after the man falls backward, although he appears to moving back to an upright position as the door closes.

“Listen we see these cops violating policy and committing crimes all the time, but usually there is some gray area that they like to dance [in],” Antonio Beuhler, the activist who founded Peaceful Streets Project, told the Free Thought Project. “This was just crystal clear, there is no way by law or policy that what this guy did was acceptable. There is zero gray area.”

A Mailman Handcuffed in Brooklyn, Caught on Video

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/nyregion/glen-grays-the-mailman-cuffed-in-brooklyn.html?_r=1

Late in the afternoon on St. Patrick’s Day, Glen Grays, a 27-year-old African-American mail carrier, was making his rounds in Crown Heights, in Brooklyn, about to leave a package at 999 President Street. Mr. Grays prides himself on getting to know the community he serves, he told me on Wednesday. He figures out who is sick, or old, or enfeebled, and makes sure that their parcels, especially if they contain medication — “I can shake a box and usually figure that out,” he said — land directly at the doors of the people waiting for them, even if they live in fourth- or fifth-floor apartments, in walk-up buildings.

On this afternoon, Mr. Grays was descending the steps of his mail truck backward, as postal workers often do to minimize wear and tear on the knees, when out of the corner of his eye he noticed a car making a sharp right turn onto President from Franklin Avenue. Mr. Grays shouted at the driver, climbing back up the steps to avoid getting sideswiped. The black car, in Mr. Grays’s telling, came tearing back his way in reverse. The driver said to him, Mr. Grays recounted, “I have the right of way because I’m law enforcement.” The unmarked car held four plainclothes police officers, according to the Brooklyn borough president’s office, which has taken an interest in the case.

This video of Glen Grays's arrest on March 17 contains graphic language. Video, via DNAinfo.com, is courtesy of the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President.

By the time Mr. Grays arrived at the front door of 999 President Street, the police were approaching him. A video of the incident, taken by an observer on the street, begins at this point and shows Mr. Grays, in his postal uniform, as he is handcuffed, frisked and taken to the unmarked car. The officers tell him to stop resisting, even though there is no evidence in the video of resistance. What the video does not show, Mr. Grays said, is what happened next, after he was placed in the back seat of the unmarked car, with his hands cuffed and without a seatbelt, compelling him to leave the mail truck unattended. The driver, who had turned around to taunt him, hit the vehicle in front of them, Mr. Grays said, causing him to bang his shoulder against the front seat. Mr. Grays was then taken to the 71st Precinct station, where he was issued a summons for disorderly conduct that will require him to appear in court. He was then released.

On Tuesday, the Brooklyn borough president, Eric L. Adams, himself a former police officer, released the video at a news conference, expressing what he said was his outrage over the ostensible violations of the civil rights of yet another young black man, this one an employee of the federal government.

Mr. Grays is the oldest of six boys. His mother, Sonya Sapp, who lives in middle-income housing in Fort Greene, spoke briefly, only to say, “I worry about them every day, every minute, every second of every day,” before fading off with, “I’m short on words; I’m just hurt.”

A still from a bystander’s video of Mr. Grays in the custody of police officers. He was later issued a disorderly-conduct summons. Credit via The Office of the Brooklyn Borough President

Mr. Grays’s fiancée is also shaken. She is a New York City police officer he met while delivering the mail.

The day after the news conference, the Brooklyn district attorney, Ken Thompson, announced that his office would not seek a prison sentence for Peter Liang, the former police officer convicted of manslaughter in the death of Akai Gurley two years ago in an unlit stairwell at an East New York housing project. In response, Mr. Gurley’s family issued a statement demanding accountability and a real message from prosecutors that “police officers are not above the law.”

About Mr. Grays’s encounter, the Police Department said only that the matter was “under internal review,” in an email response to queries. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s deputy press secretary, Monica Klein, added that the mayor would be “in close touch with Commissioner Bratton over this incident’s investigations and findings.” (William J. Bratton is the police commissioner.)

Mr. Grays, who speaks with an intense focus, has an elaborate tattoo on his right arm, a tribute to his paternal grandmother that says, “Willa May Grays 1928-2004.” Twenty-two years ago, when he was 5, she covered his eyes on a sidewalk in Brownsville, shielding him from the sight of a stabbing that unfolded right in front of them. “I have been to more funerals than graduations,” Mr. Grays said, explaining that the horrors he had witnessed kept him from whatever nefarious temptations might present themselves to a boy growing up in a rough place.

Before joining the Postal Service, Mr. Grays worked at a branch of Key Food in Park Slope, where he took home $117 a week, he said: not nearly enough. He dropped out of college at City Tech, he said, because he couldn’t afford to stay in school. Later he worked stocking inventory at Fresh Direct in Long Island City, in Queens, but the stocking room was very cold, so he took a job in Floral Park, near the border with Nassau County, for a uniform company, which required him to leave his apartment in the Bronx at 3 a.m. to take the D train to the F to a bus that brought him to Carnation Avenue by 5:30.

Mr. Grays recounted these aspects of his biography to me at Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Clinton Hill, in Brooklyn. He brought along his mother; three of his brothers, among them a set of 4-year-old twins; and his aunt, who, he pointed out, had accomplished the feat of sending one of her children to Brooklyn Tech, the highly competitive high school. He quoted something his grandmother used to say: “The best way for a black man to become successful is to stay away from the cops, to keep a clean record.” Mr. Grays said he felt that he needed to live his life as an example for his siblings. He pointed to his fiancée, who sat silently in the corner. “I don’t hate cops,” he told me. “I’m marrying one.”

I'm really glad you posted about this story because thanks to an bystander who captured an majority of this incident on video, it adds to an body of evidence already in progress on the narrative of police brutality and the abuse of perceived power.

In only a six-year period, the AP exposed more than 1,000 officers who were fired for a range of sex crimes
 

Young Woman Aspired to be a Cop Until Her Mentor Officer Took Her Away and Raped Her

By Matt Agorist March 28, 2016

Las Cruces, NM — In 2011, Diana Guerrero, 17 at the time, was an aspiring young woman with hopes of becoming a police officer. Guerrero became a member of the Las Cruces police department’s high school intern program to pursue her dreams of law enforcement — when that dream turned into a nightmare.

Guerrero, who bravely came public after the incident, just settled a federal lawsuit for $3 million this week after her mentor officer in the high school intern program raped her. "It had never occurred to me that a person who had earned a badge would do this,” she said.

During a ride along with Las Cruces police detective Michael Garcia, who was ironically “assigned to a unit that focused on child abuse and sex crimes investigations” at the time, the pair headed out to a crime scene. However, instead of going to the crime scene, Garcia took the young girl to a secluded location and forced himself on her.

“The defendant abused his authority as a sex crimes detective in the most horrific way, exploiting the victim’s trust in him to commit his egregious acts,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta for the Civil Rights Division, during Garcia’s trial.

In 2014, Garcia pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced to 9 years in prison.

For nearly two years after the assault, Guerrero kept quiet out of fear. However, after feeling “like a piece of trash” in 2013, Guerrero says she bumped into a female detective who asked her why she had ended the internship program. “I just blurted it out,” Guerrero told KVIA, describing how she finally built up the courage to expose her attacker.

After Guerrero’s run in with the detective, without Garcia knowing it, his fellow detectives began investigating him and then confronted him with the allegations. Garcia confessed to the assault on an audio recording. Its contents are stomach turning.

KOB News also found out that Garcia’s department knew that he had problems, and yet they still allowed the teen to go out on a call with him.

A few years prior, records show that Detective Garcia had been reprimanded for having sex in his patrol car with a fellow officer’s girlfriend while drinking a bottle of wine. A used condom and empty wine bottle confirmed his supervisors’ suspicions.

In the confession of the sexual assault on the intern, Garcia is heard saying, “The badge gets you the pussy and the pussy gets you the badge. I don’t think we even kissed. I mean it was straight touching, touching! It was like three f****** minutes. Three minutes for the rest of my life. I’m gonna f****** go away.

Once word in Las Cruces spread of this monster’s actions, an underage family member also came forward and alleged that Garcia had been raping her for years.

“I am most happy and satisfied that this lawsuit brought to light a cesspool of sexual violence and harassment that exists in police departments across this country,” Guerrero tells the AP and she’s correct.

In only a six-year period, the AP exposed more than 1,000 officers who were fired for a range of sex crimes; it calls that number “unquestionably an undercount.”

According to KVIA, Guerrero now intends to pursue a career in nutrition.


**Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks.

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/gir...SPzIA1C6gGx.99

Attorney: Deputies Offered Onlookers Cash After Beating Man

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/03/29/attorney-deputies-offered-onlookers-cash-after-beating-man/

An attorney says two Northern California sheriff’s deputies seen beating a suspect on video offered the man’s belongings to homeless onlookers in exchange for their silence.

The Oakland Tribune reports that attorney Michael Haddad represents beating victim Stanislav Petrov. He says the Alameda County deputies approached a homeless man in a San Francisco alley after the beating and gave him a large gold chain with a medallion, cash and a pack of cigarettes.

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon says he hasn’t decided whether he will criminally charge the deputies in the incident.

The video released by the San Francisco public defender’s office shows both deputies repeatedly hitting a man with their batons as he screamed.

Deputies say they believed Petrov was armed and possibly on drugs.

Sheriff: Video shows deputy striking handcuffed suspect in face

http://www.wesh.com/news/seminole-county-sheriff-to-discuss-deputy-misconduct/38763446

During a news conference held Wednesday, Seminole County Sheriff Donald F. Eslinger discussed an incident involving misconduct by former Deputy Sheriff Michael O'Connor.

According to Eslinger, on Jan. 12, O'Connor was disrespectful to a person who was arrested for domestic violence, then struck him once on the face while he was handcuffed and in the back of a patrol car. The sheriff's office learned of the incident on March 18 and immediately began investigating, officials said.

O'Connor was charged Wednesday with one count of battery, a first-degree misdemeanor.

"We have a strong and long-standing relationship with the community we serve, and my commitment is to always be transparent with, and accountable to, our residents," Eslinger said.
"O'Connor's actions were not just a violation of policy and law, they were also contrary to our agency's core values. His behavior was completely inappropriate and totally inconsistent with what is expected of a deputy sheriff at our agency."

O'Connor was placed on suspension at the onset of the investigation and then submitted his resignation on March 24, WESH 2 News has learned. O'Connor had been employed with the sheriff's office as a deputy assigned to Seminole Neighborhood Policing (patrol division) since October 2013.

The case will be prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney, 18th Judicial Circuit. The sheriff's office criminal and administrative investigations will be forwarded to the state's Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, which reviews officer misconduct and determines if action should be taken against a law enforcement officer's certification.

Egregious Much??
 

Cop Who Shot Teen Boy 16 Times On Video Hired By Police Union

March 31, 2016

Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who is accused of murdering Laquan McDonald, was rehired by the police union three weeks ago as a janitor. Despite the fact that the Chicago PD already tried to cover up this incident and got caught, they apparently decided to bring the accused back into the fold while he awaits trial.

OTHERS HAVE LOST JOBS WITH POLICE DEPARTMENT OVER SAME INCIDENT

The truly bizarre aspect of this hiring is that this incident was so dirty and bungled the police chief was fired. You can’t help but ask, why were other people fired but the accused murderer is given another job?

The union stated it would do the same for any of its members and Van Dyke has not been able to hold a job due to the charges. They stated he is in a “very difficult situation, financially” and have decided to protect their member.

Protecting Van Dyke seems ridiculous, considering his record. The McDonald killing was not the first (or second, or even third) heinous incident Van Dyke was involved in. In fact, his record is quite long:

The veteran officer has had at least 15 complaints filed against him while working in high-crime neighborhoods, for accusations including using racial epithets and pointing a gun at an arrestee without justification.

In 2007, the officer was involved in a traffic stop in which he and his partner were found to have used excessive force on a man with no prior convictions, leading to a $350,000 award for damages in the case.

Chicago PD’s attempt to cover up this case is disgraceful. Van Dyke claimed McDonald came at the officers with a knife and swung aggressively at them . Van Dyke’s partner corroborated his story despite the fact Van Dyke was the only officer out of eight on the scene to discharge his weapon. The video, which the department fought to keep from the public, proved these accounts to be blatant lies.

While it is true that most police officers do their jobs correctly, there needs to be accountability for when an officer breaks the law.

America has a police violence problem that the numbers show doesn’t happen in many other advanced countries. The answers to this problem will vary, but they certainly do not include rehiring an accused murderer when others have paid for his actions with their careers.

http://reverbpress.com/justice/cop-w...-police-union/

‘Please Don’t Shoot Me,’ Unarmed Man Begs — Before Being Shot Dead by Arizona Police: Report

Distraught widow is now fighting to ensure that the officer responsible ends up behind bars.

A police report indicates that an unarmed young father of two begged for his life before being shot dead by a police officer in Mesa, Arizona. His distraught widow is now fighting to ensure that the officer responsible ends up behind bars.

According to KTAR radio in Phoenix, the newly-released police report indicates that Shaver told officers “please don’t shoot me,” shortly before he was indeed shot five times and killed.

Philip Brailsford, a former officer for in the Mesa Police Department, has been charged with second-degree murder, and he has pled not guilty. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said a plea deal is being considered, in place of going to trial.

On the night of Jan. 18, police were called to a hotel on reports of a suspect pointing a rifle out of the window. When police went to the room, they ordered Shaver and a woman to crawl out from the room. As Shaver was leaving, officers say he made a slight movement toward his waistline, at which point Brailsford shot him five times.

KTAR reports: “No weapons were recovered from Shaver’s body, but officers found two pellet rifles in the hotel room, which they later determined were related to his pest control job, police said.”

Shaver was 26 years old, and had wife and two daughters back home in Texas.

According to a Facebook post in January by Shaver’s widow, Laney Sweet, Shaver frequently traveled to Mesa as part of his job selling and servicing pest control equipment, which included the two pellet guns. She also said that he had been having dinner at the hotel with two people, “a man and a woman.”

“At some point, someone near the pool called the local police stating that they saw a man with a gun near the window of a 5th floor hotel room,” Sweet wrote. “Whether Daniel was the one holding it or he allowed the other man to view his equipment and look into the scope, we don’t know. The man left the room at some point, for what we think was a trip to the gas station.”

Sweet also wrote in that post that she had not been notified of her husband’s death, but had called every hospital and police station after she hadn’t heard back from him for two days — until she finally reached the coroner’s office.

This week, Sweet posted a new video on YouTube, opposing the plea deal has been offered to Brailsford, on the grounds that it would at most result in him serving three years and nine months in prison, and could potentially even result in probation.

She also plays back a recording of her conversation with the district attorney’s office, during which she felt silenced by the conditions that were being set if she were to be shown the video from Brailsford’s body cam. (Montgomery’s position was that it was necessary for Sweet to promise that she would not publicly describe the contents, or otherwise the defense team could potentially get an opportunity to say the case was being unfairly affected.)

Based, however, on the descriptions in this conversation itself made by Montgomery as well as by Sweet’s former attorney, who both saw the video, a person can get a decent idea of what is on it.

Brailsford was fired from the department on March 21, with records indicating another accusation of inappropriate force from months before the January incident.

http://www.alternet.org/civil-libert...-police-report

There are so many police shootings, improper arrests, sex crimes committed by cops, injuries, etc., etc., sometimes I don't even want to find any more when I go online.

I don't post half of what I find because it is so disheartening and profoundly sad. There is a also a great sense of hopelessness.

What can be done at this point to change America from a police state back to some small essence of cops that knew their community and were there to help them. Didn't that exist? It is not just a Mayberry fantasy I carry in my head, is it?

It is scary times out in the world. Are the hiring ends of the police organizations not doing complete psychological exams/profiles/background checks, before they hire an officer? Are they cutting corners and not looking carefully at the men and women that they see hiring?

I am troubled that there are so many deaths, injuries, improper arrests; it gets overwhelming. I need to know because I should know.

The constant question that runs through my mind for me is:

What (if anything) can be done about it to bring some small sense of Mayberry-type policing back to our country? Is it too late?

This article was written in December so it's a few months old, but I think it hits on some points as to the whys of police aggression and I imagine countering those would begin to reverse the trend that has the US police killing more people in one month than the UK has in 25 years.

I think something that can be added to this article is the meme that the police are in a war with criminals and always in mortal danger. The reality is truck drivers, farmers and fishermen are more likely to die in the line of duty than police officers. But you wouldn't know that watching a TV cop show. The hysteria surrounding the war on police has to have an impact on cops. I know it would make me nervous thinking this way.

http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/a...many-european/

Historic rates of fatal police shootings in Europe suggest that American police in 2014 were 18 times more lethal than Danish police and 100 times more lethal than Finnish police, plus they killed significantly more frequently than police in France, Sweden and other European countries.

As a scholar of sociology and criminal justice, I recently set out to understand why rates of police lethality in the US are so much higher than rates in Europe.

More guns and aggression

Such massive disparities defy a simple explanation, but America’s gun culture is clearly an important factor. Unlike European nations, most states make it easy for adults to purchase handguns for self-defense and to keep them handy at nearly all times.

Acquiring guns illegally in the US is not much harder. About 57% of this year’s deadly force victims to date were allegedly armed with actual, toy or replica guns. American police are primed to expect guns. The specter of gun violence may make them prone to misidentifying or magnifying threats like cellphones and screwdrivers. It may make American policing more dangerous and combat-oriented. It also fosters police cultures that emphasize bravery and aggression.

Americans armed with less-lethal weapons like knives – and even those known to be unarmed – are also more likely to be killed by police.

Less-lethal weapon holders make up only about 20% of deadly force victims in the US. Yet the rates of these deaths alone exceed total known deadly force rates in any European county.

Knife violence is a big problem in England, yet British police have fatally shot only one person wielding a knife since 2008 – a hostage-taker. By comparison, my calculations based on data compiled by fatalencounters.org and the Washington Post show that US police have fatally shot more than 575 people allegedly wielding blades and other such weapons just in the years since 2013.

Racism helps explain why African Americans and Native Americans are particularly vulnerable to police violence. Racism, along with a prevailing American ideology of individualism and limited government, helps explain why white citizens and legislators give so much support to controversial police shooters and aggressive police tactics and so little to criminals and poor people.

Not racism alone

But racism alone can’t explain why non-Latino white Americans are 26 times more likely to die by police gunfire than Germans. And racism alone doesn’t explain why states like Montana, West Virginia and Wyoming – where both perpetrators and victims of deadly force are almost always white – exhibit relatively high rates of police lethality.

An explanation may be found in a key distinguishing characteristic of American policing – its localism.

Each of America’s 15,500 municipal and county departments is responsible for screening applicants, imposing discipline and training officers when a new weapon like Tasers are adopted. Some underresourced departments may perform some of these critical tasks poorly.

To make matters worse, cash-strapped local governments like Ferguson, Missouri’s may see tickets, fines, impounding fees and asset forfeitures as revenue sources and push for more involuntary police encounters.

Dangers in small places

More than a quarter of deadly force victims were killed in towns with fewer than 25,000 people despite the fact that only 17% of the US population lives in such towns.

By contrast, as a rule, towns and cities in Europe do not finance their own police forces. The municipal police that do exist are generally unarmed and lack arrest authority.

As a result, the only armed police forces that citizens routinely encounter in Europe are provincial (the counterpart to state police in the US), regional (Swiss cantons) or national.

What’s more, centralized policing makes it possible to train and judge all armed officers according to the same use-of-force guidelines. It also facilitates the rapid translation of insights about deadly force prevention into enforceable national mandates.

In the US, the only truly national deadly force behavioral mandates are set by the Supreme Court, which in 1989 deemed it constitutionally permissible for police to use deadly force when they “reasonably” perceive imminent and grave harm. State laws regulating deadly force – in the 38 states where they exist – are almost always as permissive as Supreme Court precedent allows, or more so.

A different standard

By contrast, national standards in most European countries conform to the European Convention on Human Rights, which impels its 47 signatories to permit only deadly force that is “absolutely necessary” to achieve a lawful purpose. Killings excused under America’s “reasonable belief” standards often violate Europe’s “absolute necessity” standards.

For example, the unfounded fear of Darren Wilson – the former Ferguson cop who fatally shot Michael Brown – that Brown was armed would not have likely absolved him in Europe. Nor would officers’ fears of the screwdriver that a mentally ill Dallas man Jason Harrison refused to drop.

In Europe, killing is considered unnecessary if alternatives exist. For example, national guidelines in Spain would have prescribed that Wilson incrementally pursue verbal warnings, warning shots, and shots at nonvital parts of the body before resorting to deadly force. Six shots would likely be deemed disproportionate to the threat that Brown, unarmed and wounded, allegedly posed.

In the US, only eight states require verbal warnings (when possible), while warning and leg shots are typically prohibited. In stark contrast, Finland and Norway require that police obtain permission from a superior officer, whenever possible, before shooting anyone.

Not only do centralized standards in Europe make it easier to restrict police behavior, but centralized training centers efficiently teach police officers how to avoid using deadly weapons.

The Netherlands, Norway and Finland, for example, require police to attend a national academy – a college for cops – for three years. In Norway, over 5,000 applicants recently competed for the 700 annual spots.

Three years affords police ample time to learn to better understand, communicate with and calm distraught individuals. By contrast, in 2006, US police academies provided an average of 19 weeks of classroom instruction.

Under such constraints, the average recruit in the US spends almost 20 times as many hoursof training in using force than in conflict de-escalation. Most states require fewer than eight hours of crisis intervention training.

Desperate and potentially dangerous people in Europe are, therefore, more likely than their American counterparts to encounter well-educated and restrained police officers.

However, explanations of elevated police lethality in the US should focus on more than police policy and behavior. The charged encounters that give rise to American deadly force also result from weak gun controls, social and economic deprivation and injustice, inadequate mental health care and an intense desire to avoid harsh imprisonment.

Future research should examine not only whether American police behave differently but also whether more generous, supportive and therapeutic policies in Europe ensure that fewer people become desperate enough to summon, provoke or resist their less dangerous police.

Like you, I don't post half of what I read. Before posting, I read the article to make sure the situation occurred within the last two years and I eliminate any situations where the 'criminal' was found to be armed or attacked the police. Not because they deserved to be shot or harmed but because there are plenty of situations where use of any force was not necessary.

I don't believe we will ever achieve Mayberry but I do hope there will come a time that those with the power to harm others will be held accountable for using that power when it isn't necessary.

200 imprisoned based on illegal cellphone tracking, review finds

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/03/31/200-imprisoned-based-illegal-cellphone-tracking-review-finds/82489300/

Lawyers in Baltimore have identified as many as 200 people who were sent to prison based on evidence police gathered with the help of a powerful cellphone tracking tool that a state court has now ruled was used illegally.

The ruling, issued Wednesday by Maryland’s second-highest court, said Baltimore police violated the Constitution when they used one of the tracking devices to catch a shooting suspect without first obtaining a search warrant. It was the first time an appeals court had weighed in directly on the legality of phone-trackers that have been widely — and mostly secretly — used by police agencies for nearly a decade.

“Cellphone users have an objectively reasonable expectation that their cellphones will not be used as real-time tracking devices, through the direct and active interference of law enforcement,” a panel of three judges on Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals wrote. The judges also accused Baltimore authorities of misleading the lower-court judge who had approved their use of the device, commonly known as a stingray.

That decision could imperil hundreds of criminal convictions in Baltimore and elsewhere in Maryland, where police have used stingrays prolifically. An investigation last year by USA TODAY identified nearly 2,000 cases in Baltimore alone in which the police had secretly used stingrays to make arrests for everything from murder to petty thefts, typically without obtaining a search warrant.

“We have a grave concern that our clients are incarcerated because of the use of a stingray that was illegal,” said Natalie Finegar, who is coordinating a review of stingray cases for the city’s public defender.

Finegar said defense lawyers are focused most urgently on about 200 cases in which people appear to have been sent to prison based on evidence the police found after they used a stingray. “Those are the emergencies,” she said. “By itself, it’s just a huge number of cases."

Stingrays are suitcase-sized devices that allow the police to pinpoint a cellphone’s location to within a few yards by posing as a cell tower. They have drawn alarm from privacy advocates, in part because they also can intercept information from the phones of nearly everyone else who happens to be nearby.

Dozens of police departments from Miami to Los Angeles own stingrays, but few have revealed when or how they use them, in large part because they signed nondisclosure agreements with the FBI. As a result, few courts have weighed in on the circumstances in which the police are permitted to use them.

The U.S. Justice Department last year ordered federal agents to obtain search warrants before using stingrays.

Maryland prosecutors can ask the state’s highest court to overturn Wednesday’s decision. Christine Tobar, a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney general, said it was “reviewing and evaluating next steps.”

Even if it stands, the legal road for people imprisoned on the basis of what the judges declared to be an illegal search is far from straightforward. State law puts strict limits on when and how people serving prison sentences can challenge their convictions.

“This isn’t some kind of get out of jail free card. It might be different case by case,” American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Nathan Wessler said. “What’s clear from this opinion is that this secrecy cannot stand.”

A Baltimore detective testified last year that police had used their tracking device about 4,300 times since 2007.

Wednesday’s court opinion came in the case of Kerron Andrews, who was charged in a 2014 shooting. A city judge gave the police a “pen register” order — a court order that does not require the same level of proof as a search warrant — authorizing them to use a stingray to find him. Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals ruled that because police had not obtained a search warrant, prosecutors could not make use of the evidence they found when Andrews was arrested.

The judges announced their decision nearly a month ago, but did not lay out their reasoning or the legal problems with Baltimore’s surveillance until they delivered a 74-page opinion on Wednesday.

A Baltimore court ordered Andrews freed on bond while the state decides whether to appeal. His lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Deborah Levi, said he could be freed as soon as Friday.

Video shows white cops performing roadside cavity search of black man

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2016/04/01/video-shows-white-cops-performing-roadside-cavity-search-of-black-man/

For the past few weeks, I’ve been working on an investigative series about police abuse in South Carolina. I’ve found a dizzying number of cases, including illegal arrests, botched raids, fatal shootings and serious questions about how all those incidents are investigated. Many of these cases were previously unreported, or if they were reported, the initial reports were a far cry from what actually happened. The series will run at some point in the next week. But in the meantime, I want to share one particularly horrifying incident that I came across this week while researching the series.

According to a federal lawsuit filed by attorney Robert Phillips, what you see in the video below occurred in the town of Aiken, S.C., starting at about 12:20 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2014. The two occupants of the car are black. All the police officers are white.

This edited dashcam video shows white police officers in Aiken, S.C., stop and search a black couple. The police are accused of conducting illegal searches, including a rectal search on the male occupant. (Aiken Police Department)

Here’s what happened: Lakeya Hicks and Elijah Pontoon were in Hicks’s car just a couple of blocks from downtown Aiken when they were pulled over by Officer Chris Medlin of the Aiken Department of Public Safety. Hicks was driving. She had recently purchased the car, so it still had temporary tags.

In the video, Medlin asks Hicks to get out, then tells her that he stopped her because of the “paper tag” on her car. This already is a problem. There’s no law against temporary tags in South Carolina, so long as they haven’t expired.

Medlin then asks Pontoon for identification. Since he was in the passenger seat, Pontoon wouldn’t have been required to provide ID even if the stop had been legitimate. Still, he provides his driver’s license to Medlin. A couple of minutes later, Medlin tells Hicks that her license and tags check out. (You can see the time stamp in the lower left corner of the video.) This should be the end of the stop — which, again, should never have happened in the first place.

Instead, Medlin orders Pontoon out of the vehicle and handcuffs him. He also orders Hicks out of the car. Pontoon then asks Medlin what’s happening. Medlin ignores him. Pontoon asks again. Medlin responds that he’ll “explain it all in a minute.” Several minutes later, a female officers appears. Medlin then tells Pontoon, “Because of your history, I’ve got a dog coming in here. Gonna walk a dog around the car.” About 30 seconds later, he adds, “You gonna pay for this one, boy.”

Moments later, a K9 officer named Clark Smith arrives. He walks around the car with his dog. A fourth police officer then shows up. The four officers then spend the next 15 minutes conducting a thorough search of the car. Early into the search, Medlin exclaims, “Uh-huh!” as if he has found something incriminating. But nothing comes of it.

After the search of the car comes up empty, Medlin tells the female officer to “search her real good,” referring to Hicks. The personal search of Hicks is conducted off camera, but according to the complaint filed by Phillips, it allegedly involved exposing Hicks’s breasts on the side of the road in a populated area. The complaint also alleges that this was all done in direct view of the three male officers. That search, too, produced no contraband.

The officers then turn their attention to Pontoon. Medlin asks Pontoon to get out of the car. He cuffs him and begins to pat him down. Toward the end of the first video, at about the 12:46:30 mark, he tells Pontoon: “You’ve got something here right between your legs. There’s something hard right there between your legs.” Medlin says that he’s going to “put some gloves on.”

The anal probe happens out of direct view of the camera, but the audio leaves little doubt about what’s happening. Pontoon at one point says that one of the officers is grabbing his hemorrhoids. Medlin appears to reply, “I’ve had hemorrhoids, and they ain’t that hard.” At about 12:47:15 in the video, the audio actually suggests that two officers may have inserted fingers into Pontoon’s rectum, as one asks, “What are you talking about, right here?” The other replies, “Right straight up in there.”

Pontoon then again tells the officers that they’re pushing on a hemorrhoid. One officer responds, “If that’s a hemorrhoid, that’s a hemorrhoid, all right? But that don’t feel like no hemorrhoid to me.”

The officers apparently continue to search Pontoon’s rectum for another three minutes. They found no contraband. At 12:50:25, Medlin tells Pontoon to turn around and explains that he suspects him because he recognized him from when he worked narcotics. “Now I know you from before, from when I worked dope. I seen you. That’s why I put a dog on the car.”

That was Medlin’s “reasonable suspicion” to call for a drug dog — he thought he recognized Pontoon from a drug case. Medlin could well have been correct about recognizing Pontoon. He has a lengthy criminal history that includes drug charges, although his record appears to be clean since 2006, save for one arrest for “failure to comply.” Of course, even if Medlin did recognize Pontoon, that in itself isn’t cause to even stop him, much less search his car, or to subject him to a roadside cavity search.

With no contraband and no traffic violation to justify the stop in the first place, Medlin concluded the stop by giving Hicks a “courtesy warning,” although according to the complaint, there’s no indication of what the warning was actually for. Perhaps it was to warn to steer clear of police officers in Aiken.

Andrea: Click the link for more instances

Thanks for posting that article Andrea.

By chance, have you read about the black judge, Justice Olu Stevens who filed an emergency lawsuit, earlier this past week?

Justice Stevens spoke out about racism from the bench and is taking lots of heat for doing so.

Here's an link to that news story, if you or others might be interested in reading about this situation:

http://m.nydailynews.com/king-black-...le-1.2585022?e