Deaths and Injuries in Police Custody

[Andrea]

Woman with Asperger’s who touched millions with viral video shot dead by police in Arizona

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woman-asperger-shot-dead-police-article-1.2520902

A woman with Asperger’s who posted a touching viral video with her service dog last summer has been shot dead by police.

Danielle Jacobs was killed by Mesa, Arizona, officers on Thursday after they arrived at her apartment for a suicide call around 11 a.m., her mother Stacia confirmed to the Daily News.

Police told local media that the 24-year-old came at them with a knife and they fired in self-defense.

[Andrea]

SAPD chief: Man shot by San Antonio police was unarmed

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/SAPD-North-Side-man-shot-by-police-was-unarmed-6809669.php

San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus said that a 11-year veteran of the department who fatally shot a man Thursday evening on the North Side believed the victim was holding a gun when he pulled the trigger.

McManus, however, confirmed Friday morning that the object in the suspect's hand was actually a cellphone.

The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. in a parking lot of an apartment complex near Isom Road. Officials said the officer pulled up to the man, identified as 36-year-old Antronie Scott, as he was exiting his vehicle. The officer approached and told Scott to "let me see your hands" and almost immediately fired his service weapon, according to McManus.

[Andrea]

Officer-Involved Shooting in Northeast Austin

http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2016-02-08/officer-involved-shooting-in-northeast-austin/

An 18-year-old black man was shot and killed by an Austin Police officer this morning in Northeast Austin, shortly after 10:30am.

The 18-year-old, who has not yet been identified by police, was shot by a 10-year veteran of APD who was immediately placed on administrative leave, as is customary with officer involved shootings. A spokesperson for the department declined to identify the officer.

According to APD Chief of Staff Brian Manley, who held a press conference shortly after the shooting, police were called to the 12000 block of Nature’s Bend in Northeast Austin – just south of Parmer Lane – at 9:57am after receiving a number of calls about a “suspicious man” acting “erratically” around the neighborhood.

Police reported that the 18-year-old was naked when they found him in the neighborhood. He was issued directives from responding officers but did not to follow them. Manley said the 18-year-old began charging at the officer, at which point the officer fired his gun. Austin-Travis County medics responded to the scene at 10:26am and took the body to St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center, where he died.

Department Public Information Officials have not commented on whether the 18-year-old was armed when he was shot, but his lack of clothing suggests that any potential weapon he possessed would have been held in one of his hands and in full sight. Police said dashboard camera footage from APD vehicles captured video of some of the incident but did not catch the shooting – although it did pick up audio, Manley said, of the officer ordering the 18-year-old to stay back. Police did not comment on whether or not the 18-year-old was captured on the dashboard camera footage at any point, and did not say whether APD found a gun that didn’t belong to the department anywhere in the vicinity.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Officer-Involved Shooting in Northeast Austin

http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2016-02-08/officer-involved-shooting-in-northeast-austin/

An 18-year-old black man was shot and killed by an Austin Police officer this morning in Northeast Austin, shortly after 10:30am.

The 18-year-old, who has not yet been identified by police, was shot by a 10-year veteran of APD who was immediately placed on administrative leave, as is customary with officer involved shootings. A spokesperson for the department declined to identify the officer.

According to APD Chief of Staff Brian Manley, who held a press conference shortly after the shooting, police were called to the 12000 block of Nature’s Bend in Northeast Austin – just south of Parmer Lane – at 9:57am after receiving a number of calls about a “suspicious man” acting “erratically” around the neighborhood.

Police reported that the 18-year-old was naked when they found him in the neighborhood. He was issued directives from responding officers but did not to follow them. Manley said the 18-year-old began charging at the officer, at which point the officer fired his gun. Austin-Travis County medics responded to the scene at 10:26am and took the body to St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center, where he died.

Department Public Information Officials have not commented on whether the 18-year-old was armed when he was shot, but his lack of clothing suggests that any potential weapon he possessed would have been held in one of his hands and in full sight. Police said dashboard camera footage from APD vehicles captured video of some of the incident but did not catch the shooting – although it did pick up audio, Manley said, of the officer ordering the 18-year-old to stay back. Police did not comment on whether or not the 18-year-old was captured on the dashboard camera footage at any point, and did not say whether APD found a gun that didn’t belong to the department anywhere in the vicinity.

Austin police: Teen shot by officer identified as David Joseph, 17

Austin police: Teen shot by officer identified as David Joseph, 17

***Unarmed naked child***

[Andrea]

Arrest Video (Blurred)

https://www.facebook.com/LocalMemphis/videos/1018848638177911/

[Andrea]

'Street files' raise question: Did Chicago police hide evidence?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-chicago-police-street-files-met-20160212-story.html

The homicide files sat untouched for years in the dingy basement at a South Side police station, thousands of aging manila folders locked away in cabinets cataloging seven decades of long-forgotten killings.

Stuffed with manually typed police reports, scribbled detectives' notes, faded lineup cards and other evidence, the so-called "street files" might never have seen the light of day.

But now about 500 of the files — located in 23 cabinets — have landed at the center of a court fight over whether the Chicago Police Department for years violated its own directives by hiding evidence from criminal defense lawyers.

[Andrea]

Pa. trooper charged in brutality case

http://abc27.com/2016/02/12/pa-trooper-charged-in-brutality-case/

A state police trooper has been charged in the beating of a Harrisburg man last year.

A criminal complaint filed Friday charges Trooper Ryan Luckenbaugh with two misdemeanor counts of official oppression, a misdemeanor count of simple assault, and a summary harassment count.
man-pressing-charges

Luckenbaugh, 36, of Mechanicsburg, is accused of kicking Chris Siennick in the face while Siennick was seated on the ground and handcuffed behind his back, according to the charging documents filed by the Internal Affairs Division of the Pennsylvania State Police.

He also subjected Siennick to arrest, detention, search, seizure, or mistreatment based on false allegations and facts, the criminal complaint states.

As ABC 27 first reported last year, Siennick was riding his skateboard near Second and Locust Streets on May 16 when he says Luckenbaugh and Trooper Michael Trotta called him a gay slur from their police vehicle.

Siennick admits making an obscene hand gesture to the officers. He says they circled the block, got out of their car and chased him. Siennick says they hit him with a baton and twice hit him with a Taser. After he fell to the ground, Siennick says they punched and kicked him.

Siennick was arrested on numerous charges and spent three weeks in jail with a high bail. After reviewing videotape of the incident, the Dauphin County district attorney’s office decided to drop all charges against Siennick and recommended Internal Affairs investigate the actions of Trotta and Luckenbaugh.

According to the arrest papers, the complaint filed by Luckenbaugh claimed that Siennick failed to obey verbal commands to move from the roadway, displayed an obscene gesture, and struck the police vehicle “with either his person or an unidentified object” when the troopers first encountered him.

The troopers did not stop, nor did they attempt to take Siennick into custody, but drove past him a second time. Luckenbaugh wrote that Siennick spit on the police car as they passed, but again the troopers did not stop.

The police car’s camera did not record the second encounter, nor did it capture the sound of anything striking the vehicle. The troopers are heard talking about Siennick being in the roadway and giving a middle finger, but they made no comments about anything hitting the car, the complaint against Luckenbaugh states.

After Siennick was Tasered, pepper sprayed, and handcuffed, the camera shows he was acting belligerent and yelling loud profanities. A spitting sound is heard, and Luckenbaugh delivered a kick and said, “spit on that.” Harrisburg city police officers who were on the scene said the kick struck Siennick in the face, and they did not believe it was reasonable or justified, according to the complaint.

Luckenbaugh also claimed in his paperwork that Siennick had a heavy odor of suspected alcohol, but one Harrisburg police officer told investigators he didn’t smell anything and another didn’t believe Siennick was intoxicated.

Luckenbaugh’s complaint further alleged that Siennick refused a breath test, but investigators said at no point in the police car video and audio did anyone offer Siennick a test, and city police officers didn’t recall anyone requesting one.

Luckenbaugh, a trooper since 2006, has been suspended without pay. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 22.

The case is being prosecuted by the Dauphin County district attorney’s office.

Siennick has filed a federal lawsuit naming both troopers.

Trotta was fired last year. A state police spokeswoman said his termination was due to an “internal matter.”