Deaths and Injuries in Police Custody

[Andrea]

Agawam fires 3 city cops in connection with 'use of force' incident at police HQs

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/10/agawam_fires_3_city_cops_for.html

Mayor Richard A. Cohen has fired three Agawam officers who were suspended in connection with a "use of force" incident at police headquarters.

City officials have yet to release details of the June 19 incident, which involves allegations that the officers assaulted a male suspect who was in their custody. The officers — Sgt. Anthony Grasso, Edward Connor and John Moccio — were terminated on Wednesday, according to Agawam Police Chief Eric P. Gillis.

"The men and women of the Agawam Police Department serve this community with honor and distinction every day, and both Mayor Cohen and I stand firmly beside them," Gillis said. "We will continue to work hard to maintain a level of trust with our citizens, and we fervently hope that this incident will not interfere with those efforts."

The officers were placed on paid administrative leave in September, pending hearings and the outcomes of internal and external investigations. The case is now in the hands of the district attorney's office, which will determine whether to file criminal charges against the officers.

Attorney John Connor, who represents the officers, said in previous comments to the media that he would appeal any disciplinary actions taken against his clients, who "acted properly" in the incident. Connor could not immediately be reached for comment.

Agawam Mayor Richard Cohen said he takes the allegations "very seriously." The incident, which sparked an internal investigation conducted by an outside agency, is now in the hands of District Attorney Anthony Gulluni.

Legal and law enforcement sources have told The Republican that the officers used excessive force and injured the suspect. The alleged assault was captured by police station cameras, according to officials.

All materials related to the investigation, including audio and video recordings, have been turned over to Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni, who will decide whether to prosecute the officers. A spokesman for Gulluni has declined to comment on the probe.

"We fully expect that this matter will continue forward pursuant to law and established provisions within both of the collective bargaining agreements currently in place," Gillis said of the fired officers, all of whom belong to a union.

Agawam hired APD Management, a Tewksbury firm that handles confidential inquiries on behalf of police departments and municipal governments, to conduct an investigation into the matter. APD's findings were among the materials sent to the district attorney's office.

'They acted properly,' says lawyer for Agawam officers accused of excessive force

"We had an opportunity to present evidence, and that evidence is very clear that they acted properly," said John Connor, the attorney representing the Agawam police officers.

[Andrea]

Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy no longer employed after using excessive force during domestic dispute

http://kron4.com/2016/10/20/sonoma-county-sheriffs-deputy-no-longer-employed-after-using-excessive-force-during-domestic-dispute/

A Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy who was deemed to have used excessive force during a “non-criminal domestic argument” in Sonoma Valley last month, is no longer employed with the sheriff’s office, a sheriff’s sergeant said Thursday afternoon.

Deputy Scott Thorne, who was hired as a reserve officer in June 2015 and began working full-time in April, used excessive force with his baton and Taser against a husband during the domestic dispute around 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 24.

Sgt. Spencer Crum said the sheriff’s office is prohibited from saying if Thorne was fired or voluntarily left the force. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office and the Santa Rosa Police Department are conducting an independent criminal investigation into Thorne’s use of force, Crum said.

“He had no probable cause for an arrest and used excessive force using his baton and Taser,” Crum said.

“Sheriff’s Administration felt that the actions of the primary deputy (Thorne) were excessive for the circumstances and were in violation of our use of force policy,” Crum said.

The sheriff’s office’s policy specifically states that use of force by deputies must be reasonable and appropriate for every situation, Crum said.

Thorne and deputies Beau Zastrow and Anthony Diehm responded to a domestic dispute call by a neighbor. A woman at the residence opened the front door and the deputies entered the home.

Diehm interviewed the woman and Thorne and Zastrow went to the back of the home where the husband was locked in a bedroom, Crum said.

According to the sheriff’s office’s account of the incident, Thorne forced open the bedroom door when the husband refused to come out. The husband was lying on a bed and Thorne ordered him to stand up but he refused.

The husband pulled away when Thorne grabbed his arm, and Thorne shot the husband with his Taser but it had little effect. The husband sat up and pulled the Taser wires out, and Thorne then struck the man in the leg with his baton.

Zastrow and Thorne tried to restrain the man in bed and Diehm arrived to assist. The man broke free and ran toward the bedroom door. Thorne struck the man several times with his baton and the man fell to the ground where the struggle continued. Diehm shot his Taser to no effect and three deputies were able to handcuff and arrest the man.

The deputies then determined there had been a non-criminal domestic-related argument between the husband and wife. The husband was taken to a hospital for treatment before he was booked in the Sonoma County Jail at 1:12 a.m. Sept. 25 for threatening an officer, resisting and obstructing an officer and battery on an officer. He was released on $10,000 bail at 2:36 a.m.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office informed the sheriff’s office on Oct. 11 it would not file criminal charges against the husband. The sheriff’s office did an internal review of the incident that included reviewing the video from the deputies’ body-worn cameras, Crum said.

The sheriff’s Administration Office then determined Thorne’s actions violated its excessive force policy, Crum said.

“The Sheriff (Steve Freitas) is deeply concerned over the incident that transpired. We are conducting a thorough investigation of all deputies involved and will take prompt, firm and appropriate actions in this matter.

“We have reached out to the victim in this case and offered our sincere apology. We also want to apologize to our community. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office strives to do our absolute best to provide professional public safety services. This is an isolated incident that we are proactively addressing, and does not reflect the values of the Sheriff’s Office,” Crum said.

Zastrow, who joined the sheriff’s office in September 2013, and Diehm, who started in May 2015, are still on duty. They also are the subject of an internal investigation, Crum said.

“We don’t believe they are a danger to the public,” Crum said.

There were no previous complaints about Thorne before the incident, Crum said.

Sheriff Steve Freitas did not return a call for further comment on the incident late Thursday afternoon.

[Andrea]

Brown Deer officer charged in shooting

http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2016/10/21/brown-deer-officer-charged-shooting/92508848/

A Brown Deer police officer who shot an unarmed man after removing him from a county bus in March has been charged with aggravated battery with use of a dangerous weapon, a felony, according to a criminal complaint.

The man, Manuel L. Burnley Jr., 26, was face down on the ground when Officer Devon Kraemer shot him in the back, according to the complaint issued Friday.

Charges in police shootings are extremely rare in Wisconsin.

In Milwaukee County, just two officers have been charged in fatal shootings in nearly 50 years, according to legislative research conducted in 2014. Only one of those shootings occurred while the officer was on duty. That research did not quantify charges in nonfatal shootings.

Charges are filed so infrequently in part because officers are authorized to use deadly force if they reasonably believe someone poses a threat to officers or to members of the public.

Kraemer, 27, told authorities she shot Burnley "because she feared for her safety and that of her partner," the complaint says.

But an expert retained by the prosecutor's office, Emanuel Kapelsohn, concluded that while Kraemer may have been afraid, that fear was not objectively reasonable.

"It was Kapelsohn's professional opinion that Kraemer's use of deadly force was not consistent with generally accepted standards for use of force in Wisconsin or nationwide," the complaint says.

According to the complaint:

The incident began when the bus driver flagged down the officers in the 8600 block of N. 60th St. because Burnley was arguing with her. Kraemer boarded the bus and told Burnley to get off, but he refused, using vulgar language and displaying a belligerent attitude. He did not threaten anyone on the bus or suggest he had a weapon.

Kraemer and her partner, Michael Leeman, removed Burnley from the bus. As they took him to the ground, they also fell. The two officers rolled Burnley onto his stomach; he struggled as they tried to handcuff him.

"Kraemer stated that she was unable to gain control of Burnley's left arm, and she drew her firearm, and pressed it against Burnley's back," the complaint says. "She then drew it back a short distance, to avoid a malfunction, and fired once, striking Burnley in the back, then immediately re-holstered her firearm."

After he was shot, Burnley asked what happened and heard Leeman respond by saying, "We just shot you" and using a racial slur, according to a document Burnley's attorney filed as a precursor to a lawsuit. Burnley is African-American; the two officers are white.

Burnley was hospitalized for 12 days and lost part of a lung as a result of the shooting. The bullet remains in his body and he is unable to work, according to his attorney, Jonathan Safran.

"Mr. Burnley is lucky to be alive and not paralyzed from being shot," Safran said Friday.

Kraemer has been placed on administrative leave with pay, according to a statement from Brown Deer Police Chief Michael Kass.

"As with any officer-involved shooting, the Brown Deer Police Department recognized that criminal charges were always a possibility," Kass said in a statement. "We fully understand and accept the need for this high level of scrutiny within the criminal justice system."

Milwaukee police conducted the investigation into the shooting at the request of Brown Deer police.

Brown Deer police had referred Burnley to the district attorney's office, requesting charges related to assaulting the two officers, but prosecutors did not charge him.

Kraemer has five years of experience with Brown Deer police and Leeman has two years with the department.

If convicted, Kraemer faces a maximum possible penalty of 20 years in prison and $50,000 in fines. She would not be able to continue working in law enforcement since she would no longer be allowed to carry a gun under federal law.

Kraemer is the second police officer to be criminally charged by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office in as many days. On Thursday, Milwaukee Police Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown, whose shooting of Sylville Smith prompted riots in the Sherman Park neighborhood, was charged with three felonies and two misdemeanors, including off-duty sexual assault. Smith's death remains under investigation.

The shooting of Burnley isn't the first time Brown Deer police training has been called into question in recent years.

In 2012, Brown Deer police officials asked the state Department of Justice for training on how to handle domestic violence situations.

The request came amid sharp criticism in the wake of a shooting at Azana Salon and Spa that resulted in the deaths of three people and the suicide of the gunman. The shooter, Radcliffe Haughton, and his wife, who was among his victims, lived in Brown Deer. Less than two years before the spa shooting, officers saw Haughton point what appeared to be a rifle at his wife. Officers set up a tactical perimeter, told him he was under arrest and ordered him to surrender. He refused. A supervisor ordered officers to leave the scene 90 minutes into the standoff.

At the time, police experts told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that leaving without making an arrest was a breach of basic police protocol and created a risk to the public.

[Andrea]

‘Hurt Him’

https://www.abqjournal.com/873290/guards-handling-of-problem-inmate-sparks-complaints-from-mdc-medical-staff.html

Jail Sgt. Eric Allen gave the order repeatedly: “Hurt him.”

Correctional officers responded by twisting inmate Joe Ray Barela’s handcuffed wrist as he screamed in pain. The officers described it as “pain compliance” needed to control a belligerent prisoner with a long rap sheet and a history of violence.

But it horrified medical staffers who were trying to assess and treat Barela in the emergency room at the Bernalillo County jail, according to county documents released in response to a Journal request for public records.

One nurse called it torture. Two employees were in tears.

“They won’t stop hurting him,” one counselor told a colleague.

And the orders to “hurt” Barela, they said, interfered with their attempts to assess his medical condition.

They told sheriff’s detectives and a private investigator for the county that they think officers used excessive force on Barela and that the incident fueled tension between medical staff and corrections officers inside the massive jail.

Some medical staffers also said correctional officers tried to intimidate them after the incident.

Their accounts of what happened to Barela on Dec. 18 are outlined in reports prepared by sheriff’s detectives and a private investigator for the county Human Resources Department.

The officers saw the incident much differently. No one used excessive force, they said, and their actions were simply intended to keep everyone safe from an inmate with a history of violence.

Barela, 39 at the time, has been booked 30 times and was being held on charges that included aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to a jail report.

“This guy is a decade-long troublemaker in any facility,” jail Lt. Stephen Perkins, head of the correctional officers’ union, said in a Journal interview. “This guy is a problem child.”

Whatever happened, the incident highlights tension between correctional officers and medical personnel inside the Metropolitan Detention Center, one of the 50 largest jails in the country.

Allen acknowledged telling “the civilian staff to keep their opinions and noses out of his and security staff’s business,” the private investigator, Doug Shawn, a retired Albuquerque police officer, wrote in his report.

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