The Official IC Race Solider Neo Gestapo Pig Behaving Very Badly Thread

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2 fatally shot, 1 accidentally, by Chicago police on West Side; families demand answers, con't.

A police source said investigators were waiting for the autopsy to determine how many times LeGrier was shot. The source also said investigators were looking into whether responding officers knew they were dealing with someone with mental health issues and whether anyone on the scene was equipped with a Taser.

Relatives of Bettie Jones said they, too, had questions.

“Right now there's a whole lot of anger, a whole lot of tears,” said her brother Melvin Jones.

Jones lived in the first-floor apartment with her boyfriend, he said. She was the mother of four daughters and a son, her brother said.

Melvin Jones said he and about 15 other relatives were at the apartment Friday to celebrate Christmas with food and card games. “She had an excellent Christmas. Family was over,” Melvin Jones said. “And then to wake up to this.”

Robin Andrews, Bettie Jones' youngest brother, said Jones had been battling ovarian cancer for several years and had recently taken time off from her job at a bakery to recuperate.

“She was already sick,” he said through tears. “She was already fighting for her life.”

Chicago Tribune reporters Deanese Williams-Harris, Genevieve Bookwalter, Annie Sweeney and Bill Ruthhart contributed.

mcrepeau@tribpub.com

jgorner@tribpub.com

gwong@tribpub.com

Copyright © 2016, Chicago Tribune

 

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Video of Chicago Cop Opening Fire on a Car Full of Unarmed Black Teens is 'Disturbing on a Whole New Level'
http://www.businessinsider.com/chic...ning-fire-on-a-car-full-of-black-teens-2015-6
http://chicagoreporter.com/video-chicago-cop-opens-fire-on-black-teens-in-car/[/i]

Christina Sterbenz

Jun. 19, 2015, 11:19 AM

A video of a Chicago police officer appearing to open fire into a carload of unarmed teenagers troubled a former judge so greatly that he handed the video over to the media.

“I’ve seen lots of gruesome, grisly crimes,” retired Cook County Judge Andrew Berman told Jonah Newman of the Chicago Reporter. Berman, who was a judge in a criminal case against one of the teens, added, “But this is disturbing on a whole different level.”

The December 2013 video, embedded below, shows Chicago police officer Marco Proano allegedly shooting more than a dozen rounds at the moving vehicle full of six minors, according to civil complaint filed against the city of Chicago and several officers. The Reporter identified them as black.

None of them had a weapon or acted aggressively toward the officers, according to the complaint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vMcBNd_8xQ

Chicago Cop Opens Fire on Black Teens in Car

Proano hit one passenger in the shoulder and another in both hips, according to the complaint.

Prior to the incident, two other Chicago officers had stopped the car near 95th and LaSalle Street in Chicago's notoriously violent South Side. Moments later, one of the passengers took off running. Proano, who had just arrived at the scene, exited his patrol car and approached the car with his gun drawn sideways, according to the civil complaint filed on behalf of the teens. When the car started to move in reverse, Proano allegedly began shooting.

The video is the crux of a federal lawsuit filed against Chicago and the three police officers on the teenagers' behalf. Pending approval from the City Council, it could end with a $360,000 payout for the victims.

While Proano didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reporter, in a federal filing he admitted he was the officer who opened fire on the vehicle in question.

We reached out to a lawyer for Proano and will update this post if we hear back.

Proano has been assigned to desk duty but remains otherwise undisciplined and on the force, the Reporter reported. In the past four years, he has been cleared of six complaints against him, one of which included excessive force, according to the Reporter.

“He [Proano] shouldn’t be allowed to be out there with a gun,” Berman told the Reporter. “He has shown callous disregard for human life ... You don't start firing into a car full of unarmed people. You just don't do that."

 

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Walter Scott Case: Michael Slager Released From Jail After Posting Bond
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/04/us/south-carolina-michael-slager-bail/
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...-michael-slager-released-from-jail-smh#latest

By Catherine E. Shoichet and Chandler Friedman, CNN

Updated 9:01 AM ET, Tue January 5, 2016

CNN) Michael Slager, the former police officer who's charged with murder in the shooting death of Walter Scott, was released from jail on Monday after posting bail. Under the conditions of his bond, which a judge set at $500,000 on Monday, Slager must reside in South Carolina until his trial. He will be held under house arrest and cannot have any contact with Scott's family.The case drew national attention last year after a video of the incident surfaced. It shows Scott being shot to death by Slager as Scott runs away.

Slager, who was fired from his post as a police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, was arrested in April and has been in custody since. In September, the judge denied Slager bond after prosecutors argued he was a danger to the community and a flight risk. Slager's lawyer argued that he should be placed on house arrest, saying that the former police officer does not have a previous criminal record, isn't a flight risk and is considered low risk for violent behavior.

On Monday, the judge set October 31 as Slager's trial date. When he decided to set bond, according to CNN affiliates, the judge said he'd taken into consideration the lengthy amount of time Slager would have to wait behind bars before having his day in court.

Case Drew National Attention

Slager pulled Scott over on April 4, reportedly for a broken brake light. Scott was shot in the back by Slager as he was running away.A bystander recorded the shooting, and the graphic footage sparked outrage and reignited a national conversation around race and policing.Scott was black; Slager is white.

Slager told investigators Scott did not comply with his demands and tried to grab his stun gun. The cell phone video shows what appears to be a quick scuffle. Scott then runs away from Slager, who raises his gun and fires eight times, striking Scott, who was unarmed and whose back was turned to Slager as he fled. Scott died at the scene.

Before the judge's decision Monday, Walter Scott Sr. told the judge how he feels when he sees the video of his son's death. "Looking at the film that I saw, every time I look at it, it makes me cry," the father said, according to CNN affiliate WCSC. "When I go down to the graveyard, the only thing I see there is a pot sticking in the ground with flowers in it. ... If you let him out, he's gonna go home and look at his wife and children."

Prosecutor Also Trying Charleston Church Shooting

One key reason Slager's trial won't start for months: Solicitor Scarlett Wilson is also prosecuting confessed Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof. At Monday's hearing, Slager spoke in court before his bond was set, CNN affiliate WCIV reported. "I look forward to going to court and clearing my name," he said.In a statement released by their attorneys Monday night, Scott's family members said they were disappointed but respected the judge's decision. "The family is pleased at how the Charleston community has responded throughout this situation and asks again for calm following this decision," the statement said. "They will now anxiously await Michael Slager's criminal trial and continue to thank the community for their prayers and support."

 

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NYPD Settles for Nearly $3 Million for Fabricating Charges Against Great-Grandfather to Protect Cop
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2...ges-against-great-grandfather-to-protect-cop/
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...es-charges-after-hitting-grandfather-with-car

An NYPD cop speeding on his police scooter lost control and ran into an elderly man crossing the street, sending the man flying head over heels and leaving him injured in the street.

New York City police officer Thomas Hopper then cited Jose Flores for jaywalking, accusing him of endangering the life of an officer by stepping in front of him, even though a surveillance video shows Flores looked both ways before crossing.

It also shows that Hopper had lost control and that the scooter was skidding on its side when it slammed into Flores on August 7, 2012.

But Hopper was not going to take the fall for his own fall. Not when he has a badge and can place the blame on a defenseless victim.

Flores was briefly transported to a hospital where he was chained to a bed and released without having x-rays done because the cops wanted to jail him on a ten-year-old warrant for an open container, according to Gothamist.

He then spent the next 36 hours in a jail cell complaining of neck pain, which led to other inmates giving him sandwiches that he was able to use as pillows.

 

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Sheriff Says Race Not Involved In Derrick Price Arrest
http://www.wuft.org/news/2016/01/28/sheriff-denies-race-involved-in-derrick-price-arrest/
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...urrenders-sheriff-denies-race-involved#latest

By Carel Lajara and James Torrez

January 28, 2016 Public safety

Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair answers questions during a press conference regarding the five officers under investigation for civil rights violations. (Carel Lajara/WUFT News).

No new information was revealed about the August 2014 arrest of Derrick Price by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office at a Thursday press conference, but the sheriff did say the arrest wasn’t race related.

The press conference comes on the heels of former Marion County deputy Jesse Terrell being indicted Wednesday for the incident.

Terrell, along with four other officers, were investigated in the aftermath of their arrest of Price on a drug-related warrant.

At the press conference, Sheriff Chris Blair described the occurrence as an isolated incident that has nothing to do with race. Price is black, and all five officers captured in the video are white.

There is no trend of white officers attacking black people, Blair said. “These are individuals making poor decisions.”

Ocala Mayor Kent Guinn said after the press conference that Price’s arrest was planned ahead of time, but the way it was carried out wasn’t something the sheriff could have predicted.

Guinn said police are trained but not to do what is seen in the video.

Blair has been handling the situation effectively, Guinn said.

Blair said he asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the incident, and all evidence was turned over to FDLE.

“We wanted immediate action,” said Dennis Bustle, special agent at FDLE. “And Blair wanted it done right.”

Programs, including body cameras, are being discussed to increase the transparency within the sheriff’s office, Blair said.

The sheriff said he hopes that the decisions of a few individuals do not tarnish the reputation of the sheriff’s office.

“MCSO has no tolerance for this kind of behavior,” he said. “It was very disheartening. … Without integrity, we have nothing.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQp0xvi0b8w

Former Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Indicted By U.S. Department Of Justice

 

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L.A. Police Commission clears officers in skid row shooting but faults officer in Burbank killing

Charly Leundeu Keunang, 43, a Cameroonian national, hugs his mother, Heleine Tchayou, in 2014. Keunang was shot and killed by LAPD in the skid row area of Los Angeles on March 1, 2015. (Handout / Family handout)
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-skid-row-shooting-20160202-story.html
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...row-shooting-of-homeless-black-man-smh#latest

The Los Angeles Police Commission ruled Tuesday that officers were justified in shooting a homeless man last year in a controversial, video-taped killing on skid row, but faulted another officer who shot and killed an unarmed man in Burbank days later.

The officers did not violate the LAPD's policy on using deadly force after Charly Leundeu Keunang, a 43-year-old man known as Africa along skid row, reached for a rookie patrolman's holstered gun during a struggle March 1, according to the commission's ruling.

Keunang's death garnered international attention after a bystander posted a dramatic video of the shooting to Facebook. The recording of his death became the latest in a catalog of video that has left police shootings under intense scrutiny.

ome homeless-rights advocates sharply criticized the decision by the commission and the LAPD to find the shooting within policy.

“Obviously there's a disconnect in terms of what we're seeing and what they're deciding,” said General Jeff Page, a skid row activist who attended Tuesday's commission meeting.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the shooting — along with other incidents — prompted his department to reexamine how officers are trained to interact with people who have mental illnesses. He noted the LAPD is expanding teams that pair officers with mental health professionals to better respond to “calls of crisis” like the one involving Keunang.

“This one was obviously made more difficult by the times we live in and by the outcome — which was sad, certainly,” Beck said, referring to other high-profile police shootings. “But I also recognize how hard police officers' jobs are. And they have a right to defend themselves.”

In the other shooting, the commission found that Officer Brian Van Gorden violated LAPD policy when he killed Sergio Navas. Navas was shot four days after Keunang, but the circumstances surrounding his death were overshadowed by the skid row incident.

Officers tried to stop Navas after they spotted him speeding in a gold Mercury Sable in Toluca Lake, but the 35-year-old took off toward Burbank, according to a report Beck sent the commission.

Six minutes later, Navas came to an abrupt halt on National Avenue, a dead-end street. The officer who was driving the police SUV told investigators he tried to stop behind Navas' car, but was driving too fast and had to veer alongside the Sable to avoid hitting it, the report said.

Navas then got out of the car, the report said. The officer who was sitting in the passenger seat told investigators that Navas slammed the Sable's door and turned to face him. At that point, the officer said, he thought Navas was “trying to trap me in the car” and “ambush me,” according to the report. The officer said he couldn't see Navas' hands, the report said.

“He wasn't trying to run. He was facing right at me. That's when I thought, I was like, this guy is going to try to shoot me,” the officer told

investigators. “I didn't want to wait around and find

out.”

The commission agreed with Beck's conclusion that an officer with similar training and experience “would not reasonably believe Navas' actions presented an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.” The board faulted both officers for their tactics leading up to the shooting.

Van Gorden remains on administrative duty. His attorney, Gary Fullerton, defended the officer's actions, saying he was in fear for his life.

“The officer was face-to-face with the suspect and believed he was going to shoot him,” Fullerton said. “If you wait, there's a good chance you're a dead man.”

A lawyer representing the Navas family in a lawsuit against the city said the commission's finding could help shift the perception that the panel gives officers wide latitude when considering police shootings.

 

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L.A. Police Commission clears officers in skid row shooting but faults officer in Burbank killing con't

“That provides hope,” attorney Dale Galipo said.

But that sentiment wasn't shared by some of those who had criticized the killing of Keunang.

The video of Keunang's death, which drew millions of views, helped renew long-standing complaints from skid row residents and advocates who say police use heavy-handed tactics against a population plagued by mental illness and drug use.

Police Commission President Matt Johnson said the board's analysis of the shooting was “deliberate, thoughtful and compassionate” based on an investigation that included interviews with more than a dozen witnesses, DNA analysis and video from police body cameras. He called the shooting “nothing short of a tragedy.”

Reports from Beck and Inspector Gen. Alex Bustamante summarizing the investigation described an intense struggle between Keunang and the officers, who went to South San Pedro Street after someone called 911 and reported a robbery. When the officers arrived, the reports said, they were told that Keunang had also threatened the caller with a baseball bat.

Keunang became aggressive during the encounter, clenching his fists and raising his voice, according to the reports. Recordings from body cameras worn by two of the officers, the inspector general's report said, show Keunang ignoring one officer's commands and repeating, “Let me express myself.”

The officers repeatedly warned Keunang he would be Tased if he did not calm down, the reports said.

At one point, Keunang walked back into his tent. Two sergeants pulled the tent open as Keunang grabbed a cellphone from inside. One officer then used a Taser, the reports said, but it didn't appear to have an effect.

Instead, Keunang charged an officer and began swinging his arms, the reports said. One officer punched Keunang in the face, and he was taken to the ground. A Taser was used on him again.

At some point, a rookie officer said, he felt Keunang grab his holstered pistol. “He's got my gun,” the officer yelled. “My gun, he's got my gun.”

One officer opened fire. When the other officers heard the gunshot, they said, they believed Keunang had control of the weapon.

“I firmly believed that this suspect had shot an officer,” one said. “It was very — very quick.”

Portions of the shooting were captured by several cameras, including bystanders' cellphones and body cameras worn by a sergeant and one officer.

That video evidence showed Keunang's hand grabbing the top and grip of the officer's gun, the reports said. One video showed Keunang's hand “holding onto” the gun as it was “substantially removed” from the holster, the inspector general's report said.

A coroner's report showed Keunang was shot six times, including twice by a gun pressed against his body. The autopsy also showed he had meth in his system.

Although the Police Commission determined the officers were justified in firing their weapons, it decided in a 3-2 vote to fault the rookie officer — who did not pull the trigger — for his “failure to maintain control” of his pistol and baton.

Redacted versions of reports made public Tuesday did not identify the officers. But the LAPD previously identified the three who opened fire as Sgt. Chand Syed and Officers Francisco Martinez and Daniel Torres. All three have returned to the field, according to an LAPD spokeswoman.

Dan Stormer, an attorney representing the Keunang family in a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, criticized the LAPD for not reaching out during the investigation, saying he believes he knows of witnesses to whom police have not talked.

“This was a police coverup, not a police investigation,” he said.

The district attorney's office has yet to decide whether to bring criminal charges against any of the officers.

Navas and Keunang were among 21 people fatally shot by on-duty LAPD officers in 2015.

After the commission announced its decisions, about a dozen activists gathered outside police headquarters in downtown L.A., chanting, “Charly Africa. Charly Africa.”

Page, the skid row activist, said the panel's actions would serve only to widen the rift between the homeless population and city officials trying to bring services to them.

“It's worse than reinforcing — it creates an even stronger divide,” he said.

 

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Police officials slam proposal to rein in cops' use of force
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-officials-slam-proposal-to-rein-in-cops-use-of-force/
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...-proposal-to-rein-in-cops-use-of-force#latest

WASHINGTON -- A police group's proposal that law enforcement officers be required to do more than what's minimally required by law in violent encounters has spurred anger and pushback from leading national groups representing chiefs and rank-and-file sworn officers.

The Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank, last week unveiled its 30 new principles that re-envision how officers use force after national outrage over questionable shootings and violent arrests.

Recommendations include an unprecedented acknowledgement by police professionals that officers should go beyond the Supreme Court-adopted basic legal standard that asks what a reasonable officer would do in such situations, and encourage officers to focus on preserving all lives, not just their own.

Two of the most influential police groups, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Fraternal Order of Police, said they have problems with the proposals.

Setting different policies and standards would lead to confusion and hesitation by police, endangering officers and the public, the police chiefs' group said. It emailed its 19,000 members in the United States this week to say it was "extremely concerned" about the recommendations.

The group's president, Police Chief Terry Cunningham of Wellesley, Massachusetts, said such a proposal needs more research and involvement from police, plus a recognition that officers are under scrutiny and asked to deal with social issues on the streets, such as mental illness.

"Using force is an unfortunate part of the job," Cunningham said. He said police are confronting people responsible for murders. "Usually those are really dangerous people, clearly, and those are people usually the police have to deal with and bring them into custody."

The Police Executive Research Forum, or PERF, developed its proposals after about 18 months of research. Law enforcement officials even went to Scotland to observe Scottish officers, who are nearly all unarmed, back away from suspects with their hands up, for example, to defuse situations without violence.

Another recommendation was that officers should imagine the public's perception to their response in a potentially violent situation.

"We don't believe that we should just move headlong based on PERF having taken a trip to Scotland, that we should just turn policing in a country, God knows how many times bigger than Scotland, totally on its head," said Jim Pasco, executive director of The Fraternal Order of Police, which represents 335,000 sworn officers.

He added: "We're not going to stand by and let police officers be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness."

PERF's executive director, Chuck Wexler, said the Supreme Court case was the "floor" and not the "ceiling" and that law enforcement officers need to do better.

"We aspire to have a higher standard in terms of preventing these unfortunate situations from happening at all. That's what this is about," Wexler said. "This is about the difference between legal versus moral."

The 1989 Supreme Court ruling, Graham v. Connor, by which officers are judged in court notes that an officer makes split-second decisions and relies only on what police know in the moment of decision about whether to use force.

For years it was rare for a chief to determine that an officer had violated department policy if the officer met that legal standard. In recent years, departments from Los Angeles to Milwaukee have more frequently disciplined officers for violating its force policy even if no charges were filed.

But such varying standards leave a police department open to civil liability and claims. Training - and adhering to it - becomes more critical, said retired Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Lou Salseda, an expert and former police academy instructor.

"You can write any policy you want, but if you don't train your officers, what happens (is officers say 'That's what they wrote, but I never got training,' or 'the last time I got training was three years ago,'" Salseda said.



Chicago officer sues estate of teen he shot, claiming trauma
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ch...trauma/ar-BBpct3P?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...estate-of-teen-he-shot-claiming-trauma#latest

Janet Cooksey, center, the mother of Quintonio LeGrier, is comforted by family and friends during a press conference on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, to speak out about the shooting death of her son by the Chicago police on Saturday. (Nancy…

CHICAGO (AP) — A white Chicago police officer who fatally shot a black 19-year-old college student and accidently killed a neighbor has filed a lawsuit against the teenager's estate, arguing the shooting left him traumatized.

The unusual lawsuit was filed Friday amid city leaders' efforts to win back the public's trust after several cases of alleged police misconduct.

Robert Rialmo's lawsuit provides the officer's first public account of how he says the Dec. 26 shooting happened. It says Rialmo opened fire after Quintonio LeGrier swung a bat at his head at close range.

LeGrier's father, Antonio LeGrier, filed a wrongful death lawsuit saying his son wasn't a threat. His attorney, Basileios Foutris, did not return messages seeking comment on the countersuit.

 

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'Staggering corruption': 46 correctional officers charged in years-long drug trafficking sting
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/11/politics/fbi-georgia-correctional-drug-trafficking/index.html
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...ia-doc-officers-arrested-in-drug-sting#latest

By Pamela Brown and MaryLynn Ryan, CNN

Updated 12:21 PM ET, Fri February 12, 2016

(CNN)The FBI arrested 46 current and former correction officers in a sting at nine facilities around Georgia, as a result of a two-year undercover operation went down early Thursday with raids by FBI at the prisons.

The indictments revealed "staggering corruption within Georgia Department of Corrections institutions," said John Horn, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Among those arrested were five members of an elite squad aimed at busting up drug dealing in prison, called the Cobra unit. Also rounded up in the bust were two civilians and one inmate.

The probe found that prison guards and staff were smuggling contraband such as liquor, tobacco and cell phones into the cell blocks for money. Inmates used the illegal cell phones to commit wire fraud, money laundering and identify theft.

Officers are also charged with using their badges to facilitate drug deals on either side of the prison wall. The trafficking is said to include multiple kilos of cocaine and meth in exchange for thousands of dollars in bribe money.

Britt Johnson, special agent in charge of the Atlanta FBI office, told CNN that contraband cell phones in prisons are a tremendous problem.

"It makes a huge challenge for law enforcement," Johnson said. "After you chase down, arrest and prosecute criminals and put them away for life, and they continue to direct crime on the streets from their jail cells."

Johnson pointed to how a North Carolina prisoner was able to orchestrate a 2014 hostage-taking in Atlanta from inside prison on a cell phone.

"When an inmate can reach beyond prison walls and threaten and intimidate witnesses and prosecutors, it's a breakdown of the judicial system," he said.

The 46 officers along with two civilians and one inmate that were facing charges were expected to go in front of a federal magistrate in groups of four or five on Thursday. They were then expected to be turned back over to the custody of the Federal Marshals at undisclosed locations in Georgia, while they await trial.[

Kevin Conlon and Leigh Waldman contributed to this report.

 

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Local I-Team: MPD Arrest Caught On Camera
http://www.localmemphis.com/news/local-news/local-i-team-mpd-arrest-caught-on-camera
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...-force-on-young-black-man-surrendering#latest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVWIz32aRlw

By Maria Hallas | mhallas@localmemphis.com

Published 02/11 2016 10:35PMUpdated 02/11 2016 11:51PM

MEMPHIS, TN

In a story you'll see only on Local 24, the Local I-Team's Maria Hallas exposes an arrest caught on camera.

The Memphis Police Department launched an administrative investigation into the arrest after the Local I-Team brought it to their attention.

Maria and a Local 24 photographer were at the Country Squire Apartments in Cordova, working on an unrelated story, when they heard sirens. Police were called to handle a domestic violence dispute. When they tried to arrest the suspect, he ran right in front of the camera as they were recording.

You can see the suspect as he runs from police. He drops to the ground, the officer strikes his right arm with a baton, kicks the same arm, and then his side. The officer orders him to put his hands behind his back and radios for help.

The officer later pulls him up by his handcuffs with an arm around his neck, and as they get to the squad car, shoves the man in with his foot.

State Representative G.A. Hardaway watched the video and said he was outraged by what he saw.

"There's obviously some abuse going on here, excessive force. When I'm looking at a young man that's on the ground and supporting himself with one arm laying down, that is not a position where he's a threat to anybody standing," said Hardaway.

Steve Mulroy, a former federal prosecutor and civil rights lawyer for the Department of Justice, agrees.

"When the suspect was already down on the ground with his arms indicating that he was going to comply, offering no resistance and not failing to obey any commands from the officer, it was not justified for the officer to strike him with the nightstick or to kick him," said Mulroy.

Hardaway said the officer's conduct endangers not only Memphians, but also other officers, because it feeds into the community's distrust of police.

"That's unacceptable, completely unacceptable. It unravels every bit of goodwill that has been rolled out. Any child that sees that is going to be imprinted with it for lifetime. Any adult is going to be imprinted with it. They're going to teach their children that this is what the police do," said Hardaway.

Not everyone agrees. Out for a walk with his wife and son, James Richey witnessed the arrest. He was pleased with the officer's response.

"They pretty much followed standard procedures that an MPD officer would follow, took him down. You had the other officers detain him," said Richey.

The Local I-Team shared the video with the Memphis Police Department. They refused to talk about this case, but say they've launched an administrative investigation. The suspect was also contacted; at first he said he felt he was treated wrongly, but now will not talk.

According to the police report, the suspect in this case hit a woman and in the process hit his child. The report says he fought with police. MPD is not talking but the police union is. Memphis Police Association president Mike Williams watched the video and shared his thoughts. (Note: When he says "ASP" he is referring to the officer's baton.)

"I don't think they took it to a point, to me, to where it was excessive because I don't think anybody had to go to the hospital, anyone was injured. You know, I think they deployed the ASP right because you are allowed to strike people in the fatty parts of the body. But I don't know if citizens are ready to see that, you know, because they're like, ‘Oh, wow, they beat him,’" said Williams.

So what do you think about the video? Share your opinion. Based on what you just watched, do you feel the officer's conduct was reasonable or unnecessary?

 

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S.F. police shoot suspected stabber in Bayview District

By Jenna Lyons and Vivian Ho Updated 9:54 am, Thursday, December 3, 2015
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Police-say-SF-officer-shoots-suspect-in-Bayview-6671485.php
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...-a-black-suspected-stabber-holding-a-knife/p1

Photo: Instagram / Daniggahot The shooting on Keith Street in San Francisco occurred after officers tried and failed to subdue the man with nonlethal beanbags, was recorded by someone on a Muni bus who posted the video to Instagram.

San Francisco police shot and killed a suspected stabber in the Bayview District late Wednesday afternoon after the man approached an officer while holding a knife, police said.

The shooting, which authorities said occurred on Keith Street after officers tried and failed to subdue the man with nonlethal beanbags, was recorded by someone on a Muni bus who posted the video to Instagram.

Police Chief Greg Suhr told reporters that the video confirmed the suspect “does have the knife in his hand and he does move toward officers.”

But San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, after watching the same video, said it appeared that “the person was not posing a direct threat and certainly did not have to be shot.”

The video shows the man up against a building gesturing as armed officers surround him. A bystander can be heard shouting, “Just drop it!” The man, his hands at his sides, is seen walking away from at least four officers but toward one officer, who steps in his path, walking backward with his gun drawn.

Moments later the camera turns away as the first of at least 15 shots ring out. The camera does not capture the man’s last movements.

Police went to the neighborhood about 4:20 p.m. after a man told them he had been stabbed in the shoulder about half an hour earlier on the 6600 block of Third Street by an assailant who was still in the area, police said. Officers said they found the suspect nearby on the 2900 block of Keith Street, holding what appeared to be a six- to eight-inch kitchen knife. At least five officers surrounded him at gunpoint and ordered him to drop the knife, Suhr said.

Police first shot the man with lead-filled beanbag pellets, and he fell but then rose again, the chief said. With the officers surrounding him, Suhr said, the man approached one officer, still holding the knife, and was shot at 4:35 p.m. He said five officers opened fire.

Officers summoned paramedics and tried to revive the man, but he died at the scene, Suhr said. The man was not immediately identified.

Suhr said he did did not know how many shots were fired, but the suspect “had already demonstrated, by committing a felony aggravated assault, that he was a danger to others, so he could not be allowed to move away from the scene.”

The police chief said the officers’ account of the shooting was supported by witnesses on the bus and by the video.

Video segments “appear to show the officers encircled and they appear to show the suspect moving toward the one officer before the shots were fired,” Suhr said.

Adachi, however, told reporters that the footage he saw did not show a need for deadly force. “It does not look like the officer who fired the fatal shots was in immediate danger of being killed,” the public defender said. He said it appeared the officer “can move back and at least order the person to the ground or use some other sort of defensive maneuver, rather than using a gun and shooting him point-blank.”

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Bob Egelko contributed to this report.

Jenna Lyons and Vivian Ho are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: jlyons@sfchronicle.com and vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno and @VivianHo

 

[Maximus Rex]

Flint Police Chief Fired After Lying To People About Bringing Water Filters Then Arresting Them

February 12, 2016 4:41 pm by Counter Current News Editorial Team
http://countercurrentnews.com/2016/02/flint-police-chief-fired-water-filters/
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...bout-water-filters-then-arresting-them#latest

Police in Flint Michigan have been preying on people’s hopes for clean water, by showing up with filters, then arresting people who have outstanding warrants.[/b] Now, the Chief of Police has been fired, without warning, and many believe it is because of the controversy that ensued when the original report went viral.

Local WJRT 12 News confirmed that Flint Police Chief James Tolbert has in fact just had his employment terminated. But police officials would offer us no explanation as to why they fired him. But Chief Tolbert told WJRT that he met with Mayor Karen Weaver and was told “your services will no longer be needed.”

After 5 p.m. today, he will no longer be employed with the City of Flint.

“I have mixed feelings but at the end of the day it is all part of the job,” Tolbert said.

But it isn’t part of the job – it’s part of losing your job.

Recently, the Genesee County Health Department declared a public health emergency for the City of Flint. They told residents that they should immediately stop drinking the city’s tap water due to the high levels of lead that had been coloring the water a muddy orange.

It was another two months before the mayor of Flint declared a state of emergency. The mayor explained that all of this was due to the city’s pipes leaching lead, and the water was unsafe to drink for the foreseeable future.

Since then, the National Guard began distributing of bottled water to Flint residents. The state had received the bottled water a full year earlier, but they didn’t start handing them out until this January.

Police saw an opportunity in this crisis: they could join in the door-to-door deliveries, but they could also use it as a pretext to get people to identify themselves, who otherwise might be hesitant to talk to the police. Specifically, police were interested in getting people with outstanding warrants to identify themselves.

Here’s how it works: the police officer shows up with bottled water or filters. They tell the resident that they are there to give the bottles and/or filter to them… “but first, we have to cross you off of our list. What’s your full name?”

After the resident has positively identified themselves, the police cuff and arrest them.

In a recent interview with Democracy Now!, former inmate Jody Cramer said that many inmates landed behind bars after being tricked by deputies.

The deputies came to their homes claiming to be passing out water filtration systems. But when people opened the door, and their names were confirmed, the deputies served warrants to the people on the spot.

“Here’s your water filtration system. By the way, you have a warrant for your arrest,” Cramer said.

Does it seem right to you that Flint police officers and Sheriff’s deputies are preying on people’s hopes for clean water, using this crisis as an opportunity to lock people up?

It certainly has to many, prompting the Flint Police Department to formally stated that they will not do this (any longer), just days before firing the Chief. Do you think these are related?

(Article by M. David; image by #Op309 Media)

 

[Maximus Rex]

Old police 'street files' raise question: Did Chicago cops hide evidence?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-chicago-police-street-files-met-20160212-story.html
http://community.allhiphop.com/discussion/542620/chicago-police-caught-fucking-up-again#latest

Lawyer Candace Gorman looks through some of the more than 70,000 pages of files, including police "street files" related to Nathson Fields' 1986 conviction. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)

ByJason MeisnerContact Reporter

Chicago Tribune

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.

The controversy could become another black mark for a Police Department rocked in recent months by the fallout over a disturbing video of an officer shooting teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.

With the approval of a federal judge, Chicago attorney Candace Gorman has spent much of the last year combing through street files found in the basement of the old Wentworth Area headquarters, trying to match their contents with evidence that was disclosed by police and prosecutors at the time of trials long ago.

It has been a monumental task. Gorman and her small team of attorneys have spent hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars tracking down prisoners whose murder cases were among the stack she was allowed to review. As they've navigated the archaic bureaucracy of the Cook County courts, Gorman and her team have run into numerous delays and dead ends, from cases missing from boxes buried deep in county warehouses to others that were destroyed long ago by private attorneys who purged their files when cases concluded.

But what Gorman has found so far has been eye-opening.

In the 60 cases she's been able to compare, Gorman said she has found that more than 90 percent have information in the street file that was not in the defense file. The discrepancies run the gamut, she said, including names and accounts of eyewitnesses that apparently were never disclosed, statements in detectives' notes that contradict later versions of typed reports and lineup cards that were missing or different from what the defense eventually saw.

"I knew we'd find stuff that was missing, but I didn't think it would be this much," said Gorman, who will only recoup her expenses if she wins. "These little pieces of information can be so crucial to a defense attorney because you never know which witness could be the key unless you're able to track them down."

The city, meanwhile, has vehemently denied that any evidence was improperly withheld.

Nearly 500 files to examine

The Tribune first wrote about the filing cabinets in the Wentworth Area basement in a front-page report in April 2014. A street file on Gorman's client, former El Rukn lieutenant Nathson Fields, had been found there three decades after his conviction in an infamous 1981 double murder. Fields was sent to death row, but his conviction was later overturned after it was discovered the trial judge had taken a bribe to fix the case.

After he was freed, Fields filed a wrongful conviction suit against Chicago police and prosecutors alleging his street file was buried in an effort to frame him for the murders. The file contained evidence of other potential suspects that was not turned over to his trial lawyers.

At trial in 2014, Gorman had the grimy, yellow-green filing cabinet hauled into a federal courtroom to show the jury where Fields' file had been found. The jury, however, ruled against Fields on all but one count and awarded him just $80,000 in damages.

But last April, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly ordered a new trial. In doing so, Kennelly made the bombshell decision to allow Gorman to expand her investigation well beyond Fields' file, giving her wide range to dig into the rest of the cabinets in her effort to show the burying of street files was a de facto policy of the Police Department.

Fields, whose retrial is scheduled for May, told the Tribune he hoped his case "can be the lightening rod to help other men who were innocent and fall in the same boat as me."

Filing cabinets in the basement of the Chicago Police Department station at 51st Street and Wentworth Avenue holding "street files." (Courtesy of Candace Gorman)

"You've got people in prison trying to fight a fight where they don't even know what happened because they've never seen their street files," said Fields, who now works with a national organization of former death row inmates.

The filing cabinets contained about 2,700 cases dating to the 1940s, but to keep the search relevant to Fields' claims, Gorman was allowed to dig into homicide files ranging from 1979 to 2006.

That left her with a total of 466 files to examine — and an equal number of defense files to track down for comparison. Unless she wanted to issue subpoenas for each case, Gorman was advised early on by the Cook County Public Defender's Office to try to obtain authorization to review files from the defendants themselves.

"That started my letter-writing campaign," Gorman said.

 

[Maximus Rex]

Did police 'street files' raise question: Did Chicago cops hide evidence? con't

'Bureaucratic shuffle'

Using online databases, Gorman located and contacted more than 275 defendants — most still in prison — to ask permission to view their defense files. But in doing so, Gorman was worried about giving false hope to many who had heard about her efforts through the legal grapevine.

"I explained in each letter that I needed the attached authorization signed so that I could try to track down the defense counsel's file and compare the two," Gorman said. "Only then would I know if material was withheld in their cases."

To help with the seemingly overwhelming task, Gorman last fall enlisted lawyers with the Loevy & Loevy law firm, which specializes in police misconduct cases. Also involved was the Committee on Transparent Files, a watchdog panel of about a dozen lawyers from some of the city's top wrongful conviction groups as well as the public defender's office that formed after the Tribune wrote about the basement filing cabinets two years ago.

Even after finding a defendant and obtaining authorization, locating the original defense file for cases up to three decades old has proven difficult. Armed with a list of defendants, Gorman contacted several dozen private attorneys who had handled some of the murder cases and asked for their files, but it often led to a dead end because the files had either been destroyed or sent to other offices for postconviction litigation.

Meanwhile, the bulk of the files were determined to belong to the public defender's office, which had only one staffer with the knowledge and authority to look up files and find them in one of the county's two sprawling warehouses.

Adding to the difficulty was the county's Byzantine system for storing files. Records that were supposed to be in boxes in a specific area of a warehouse had been removed for postconviction litigation or other reasons. In other cases, their current location was not noted. During one visit to the warehouses in December, attorneys were able to locate only eight of the 20 files they had hoped to find, court records show.

In a court hearing last month, Gorman and other attorneys involved in the search described the frustrating process for the judge, who likened it to a "bureaucratic shuffle."

"Look here, no,' " Kennelly said. "And then that person says, look there. That person says look over there, and that person says look over here. And eventually, you get to the point where you say, this is a stupid system."

Heartbreaking stories

The controversy over street files first erupted in 1983 when Chicago police Detective Frank Laverty blew the whistle during the trial of George Jones in the murder of a 12-year-old girl. Incensed that the prosecution was going forward despite evidence that Jones was innocent, Laverty turned his street file over to defense attorneys in the middle of the trial. The charges against Jones were dropped.

Laverty, a veteran homicide detective, was demoted to overseeing urine tests for recruits at the police academy, but his whistleblowing wasn't for naught. After Jones successfully sued the police for railroading him, police issued a new general order in 1986 that eliminated street files. In its place the department created what are called general progress reports in which detectives' notes and other updates on the investigation are typed into a form that is inventoried and subject to subpoena.

Lawyer Candace Gorman displays files on Feb. 9, 2016, for inmates' letters, which ask her to look into their case or give her permission to acquire their files. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)

Gorman said that one of the hallmarks of the department's 1986 general order was the inventory log sheet. Essentially a "road map" for each homicide investigation, the inventories were supposed to give defense attorneys a clear idea of what documents and evidence they should expect to receive in discovery.

But there was one problem. In all the defense files Gorman has reviewed as part of the Fields litigation, not one contained the inventory log, even though most of the street files found in the basement had them. When Gorman talked to defense attorneys for those charged, not one knew that the inventory forms even existed or that they were supposed to have been tendered to them, she said.

"They were in a situation where the police were telling them that's all there is," Gorman said. "Without the inventories, defense attorneys did not know what they were even missing."

Most of the details uncovered in the street files search so far is subject to protective order and cannot be revealed publicly. In a recent court filing, however, one case in which evidence appeared to have been withheld was identified as the 2004 homicide of Alonzo Jones, who allegedly was beaten, stabbed and run over by a car by a group of people after he was accused of molesting a child.

In all, five people were charged in the murder, including a woman who told police in a videotaped statement that while she had been present at the beginning of the incident, she was not in the car when Jones was killed, court records show. The filing does not identify the woman.

 

[Maximus Rex]

Did police 'street files' raise question: Did Chicago cops hide evidence? fin

The investigative file found in the Wentworth Area basement contained an Illinois State Police lab report that might have bolstered the woman's account, according to a recent court filing by Loevy & Loevy attorney Anand Swaminithan. Among the details in the report: the woman's DNA was not one of the profiles found on cigarette butts in the car's ashtray, and her fingerprints were not on a knife or other evidence gathered at the scene. That report was not included in the defense file, according to Swaminithan.

The street file also contained information that could have been helpful to a defense attorney seeking to track down witnesses to the murder. In a general progress report, a detective stated first-floor neighbors reported seeing the victim being beaten and described what they saw.

But that report apparently was never turned over to the defense. Instead, a supplemental report included in the public defender's file stated only that the neighbors were "highly intoxicated and uncooperative with the investigation" and "denied all knowledge of any crimes," according to the filing.

The woman wound up pleading guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She isn't eligible for parole until 2025.

While she's found a clear pattern of police withholding evidence, Gorman said, it's difficult to know whether any of the information contains a smoking gun — a piece of evidence that wasn't turned over that could have changed the outcome of a trial.

As she's pored through the files, Gorman has been struck by the heartbreaking stories they tell, of Chicago's violent history, of victims long buried and of defendants who were mostly young when they were arrested and are now growing old in prison.

The search also has had its notes of irony. The defense file for Cecil Robinson, who was charged in the 1983 murder of a junk shop owner, contained a response to a subpoena asking for the street file in the case. The response, dated March 8, 1989, was typed up by Jon Burge, then-commander of the Area 3 detective division who has since been disgraced over allegations of torture of dozens of black suspects.

"A diligent check of our records disclosed that no investigative file exists on this case," Burge wrote.

Robinson was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Two decades later, his street file was found in the basement cabinets at 51st Street and Wentworth Avenue.

And Gorman has a copy.

Candace Gorman creates files for inmates' letters asking her to look into their case or giving her permission to acquire their files. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)

jmeisner@tribpub.com

Twitter: @jmetr22b

 

[Ghost313]

None of this shit surprises anyone. Them motherfuckers are Brilliantly Wicked.

 

[Maximus Rex]

Video Proves There Are No ‘Routine’ Traffic Stops For Black People

The driver said that when the cop walked up with his gun drawn, “My only thought was that he was going to kill me.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chris-jeffries-traffic-stop_us_56ba61c3e4b08ffac12313ba
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...pulls-out-gun-on-pizza-delivery-driver#latest

02/09/2016 08:38 pm ET | Updated Jul 11, 2016

Tyler Tynes

Politics Fellow, The Huffington Post

UPDATE: July, 11, 2016 ― All charges against Chris Jeffries have been dropped and his case has been dismissed, his lawyer announced in a Facebook post Monday.

Attorney J. Wyndal Gordon said he is prepared to file a civil suit against the officer who made the traffic stop and was recorded pointing a gun at Jeffries, before allegedly pulling him out of his car.

“Now let’s get some transformative justice,” Gordon wrote.

PREVIOUSLY

WASHINGTON ― Footage of a Maryland traffic stop posted to Facebook Monday offers yet another example of the many hazards of “driving while black.”

Chris Jeffries, a 25-year-old black man working as a pizza delivery driver, started recording with his cell phone when Bladensburg Police Officer Munir Ayoub pulled him over for an improper lane change last month.

In a brief exchange, which is captured on film, Jeffries asks Ayoub to put his gun away. Jeffries says Ayoub subsequently dragged him from the car and beat him, before taking him to jail on charges of fleeing and eluding an officer, assaulting an officer and resisting arrest. The alleged beating is not recorded.

In an interview with The Huffington Post on Tuesday, Jeffries said his experience shows how even routine interactions with police can lead to violence and even death.

“I think the best word to describe the feeling of him walking up with a gun pointed on me was feeling like this was the end and thinking: ‘Is this how I was going to die?’” Jeffries said. “It’s a different fear than a roller coaster or the dark. This was it. This man has a gun on you. My only thought was that he was going to kill me. ... It wasn’t even fear, it was a realization that all he had to do was pull a trigger, and that was from the beginning of the traffic stop.”

Jeffries said he was on his way to make a delivery and driving his BMW sedan in the left lane going southbound on Baltimore Avenue in Bladensburg, Maryland, when Ayoub stopped him.

Jeffries said Ayoub approached his vehicle with his gun drawn and pointed into the car. In the video, Ayoub tells Jeffries that if he doesn’t stop recording with his cell phone, the situation would go from “bad to real bad,” and that he would be removed from the car.

At one point, Jeffries asks, “Can you put your gun away, sir,” and, “Sir, are you about to kill me right now?”

Jeffries’ lawyer, J. Wyndal Gordon, said his client attempted to follow his GPS when he realized his missed a turn. When Jeffries realized his mistake, he signaled from the left lane to make a hard right across one lane of traffic. There were no other cars near Jeffries, Gordon said.

Gordon said he viewed a copy of the police report, and that Ayoub cited an “improper lane change” as the cause for initiating the traffic stop. Gordon said Jeffries didn’t know he was being followed by police at first, and may have driven a quarter-mile before pulling over on a well-lit road.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Bladensburg Police Department said Ayoub followed Jeffries for a half-mile before he stopped. It also described Jeffries’ driving as “erratic,” and said he was “defiant to lawful orders” to roll down his window and present his license and registration.

The department made no mention of Ayoub’s weapon being drawn.

The video shows that Jeffries’ window is at least partially rolled down during the interaction. Jeffries also attempts to pass his identification through the window, at which point Ayoub demands that he roll the window all the way down, or else he’ll pull Jeffries “out the car.” Ayoub is then heard pulling on Jeffries’ door handle.

Jeffries’ camera is lying on his dashboard at the end of the recording. It captures Jeffries telling Ayoub that he is afraid and suggesting that he would like another officer on the scene to monitor the stop. Gordon told HuffPost that Jeffries was eventually extracted from the vehicle, and then Ayoub beat him.

Gordon said he and his client are seeking justice for what occurred.

“These issues happen nationwide. There’s been a discussion of implicit bias and this is another example that was expressed explicitly,” Gordon said. “His gun was drawn immediately. He was ready to kill someone that night. [Without] the camera on him, there’s no knowing what would have happened to Christopher that night.”

The escalation of seemingly minor traffic stops has become a common complaint in the U.S., especially among black Americans.

Last year, 28-year-old Sandra Bland was stopped for failing to signal in Texas. During the traffic stop, Bland repeatedly questioned the reason for the stop and the legality of state Trooper Brian Encinia’s demands. After Bland declined to put out her cigarette, Encinia pulled her out of the car, wrestled her to the ground and arrested her. Days later, she was found dead in her jail cell.

Gordon said he wants to reform police protocol for routine traffic stops, in order to reduce unnecessary escalation on the part of officers. Jeffries, a former football player at Missouri Southern State University and 4.0 student, said the incident is not just about Ayoub’s conduct.

“Freddie Gray, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, the list goes on, these are the nationally recognized executions. This stuff happens,” Jeffries said. “There needs to be a line drawn between an officer sworn to protect us and those who have a badge and feel they can take our lives. ... You can’t create a narrative about my personality or my character. I don’t have any priors, I was working a second job, I was a 4.0 student.”

Jeffries said he wants his experience to open up a line of conversation about the legitimate fear of driving while black.

“That fear that I felt, I know it was the fear that everyone who is recognized nationally for being executed felt. And for what, a routine traffic stop?” Jeffries said. “For that guy, of course he has to lose his job. He can’t be in the position to take someone’s life.”

Jeffries continued, “One semester I’m a Dean’s List student and captain of a sports team, and months later I have a gun in my face by someone sworn to protect me.”

 

[Maximus Rex]

St. Paul cop allegedly urged drivers to hit Black Lives Matter protesters
http://www.twincities.com/2016/01/1...drivers-to-hit-black-lives-matter-protesters/
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...s-to-hit-black-lives-matter-protesters#latest

By MARA H. GOTTFRIED | mgottfried@pioneerpress.com

PUBLISHED: January 19, 2016 at 11:17 am | UPDATED: February 9, 2016 at 2:05 pm

St. Paul police have placed a sergeant on leave as they investigate a report that he posted on Facebook, “Run them over,” in response to an article about an upcoming Black Lives Matter protest.

The comment detailed what people could do to avoid being charged with a crime if they struck someone during the unpermitted march on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which blocked traffic on the Lake Street-Marshall Avenue Bridge.

Andrew Henderson, who frequently videotapes officers at work because he says he wants them to be held accountable, noticed the comment from “JM Roth” about 1 a.m. Saturday and immediately reported it to St. Paul police. He filed an internal affairs complaint Sunday, naming Sgt. Jeffrey M. Rothecker.

He posted video of himself reporting the post to police.

Rothecker could not be reached for comment Monday. The St. Paul Police Federation, the union for St. Paul officers, is representing Rothecker. Chris Wachtler, the union’s attorney, said in a statement Monday, “There is an investigation under way. We will let the process play out. I can’t comment on an active investigation until it is complete.”

On Monday, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman issued a statement saying he is “outraged and disgusted by the post and (I) have directed the SPPD to investigate.”

“Chief Smith and I are committed to building strong, trusting relationships with the communities we serve,” Coleman continued. “There is no room in the St. Paul Police Department for employees who threaten members of the public. If the allegation is true, we will take the strongest possible action allowed under law.”

At 9:30 p.m. Friday, the Pioneer Press posted an article to the newspaper’s Facebook page with the headline, “Black Lives Matter planning to rally at Lake Street bridge Monday.”

One comment on the post from “JM Roth” said, “Run them over. Keep traffic flowing and don’t slow down for any of these idiots who try and block the street. Here is the deal, you continue to drive and if you hit someone make sure you call 911 to report the accident and meet the cops a block or two away and you can justify stopping further away because you feared for your safety since in the past people in this group has shown a propensity towards violence.[/u] Since they are trying to block the street and/or cross where there is no crossing you should not be charged with anything. Now, these idiots could try and sue in civil court, but remember that it will be jury trial and so most likely it will come out in your favor.”

The comment has since been deleted, but Henderson captured it in a screenshot. Roth’s Facebook page, which didn’t include a mention of its owner’s full name, was changed over the weekend to not be visible publicly.

Henderson, who is an administrator on the Minnesota Cop Block Facebook page, said he’s familiar with Roth because that person frequently comments on Cop Block posts.

Henderson said he found evidence that “JM Roth” is Rothecker, which he provided to internal affairs, including that a woman whose last name is Rothecker had indicated on Facebook that she’s married to “JM Roth.” State records show a woman with that name is married to a Jeffrey M. Rothecker.

The head of the internal affairs unit, Senior Cmdr. Shari Gray, contacted Henderson after his initial report Saturday and they met Sunday. Henderson filmed the meeting with Gray and Sgt. John Wuorinen, an internal affairs investigator, and posted the video online Monday.

Henderson told them that when he saw the comment from “JM Roth,” he thought, “You know, a police officer shouldn’t be advising people to run over other people for just standing in the road. That’s not reasonable to me. I don’t know if that’s reasonable to you.’ ”

Wuorinen responded, “It wouldn’t be reasonable to, I would think any person, any decent person.”

Police Chief Thomas Smith was informed of the allegation on Saturday, Gray said.

“This was of grave concern because of the upcoming event and we want to make sure everybody’s safe,” Gray said. “If we needed to change tactics or operational security on the event, we needed to do it. And then, two, make sure that if indeed this was one of our officers, that it’s addressed quickly.”

The police department said in a statement Monday that it has an active investigation underway and, if it’s determined a member of the police department wrote the comment, “swift, strong and decisive disciplinary action will be taken.”

“The statement (posted) is offensive, disappointing, concerning and does not reflect in any way — or align with — the views, values and practices of the St. Paul Police Department,” the department said.

Trahern Crews, a Black Lives Matter St. Paul leader, said that before Monday’s march, he and others were telling participants to be aware of their surroundings.

Crews said he found it disturbing and frightening that an officer would allegedly be “teaching people how to break the law or basically harm protesters. … We’re hoping nobody’s going to do anything like that, but it’s happened before.”

In November 2014, a St. Paul man’s car struck a 16-year-old protesting outside a police station on Minneapolis’ Lake Street over a Missouri grand jury decision not to charge a Ferguson, Mo., police officer in Michael Brown’s shooting. The 41-year-old pleaded guilty to failure to yield to a pedestrian; the teen suffered a minor leg injury.

Rothecker has been a St. Paul officer for 22 years and is the department’s only elder-abuse investigator, according to information about him on the website for the Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police, of which he is second vice president and was previously a St. Paul lodge president. He’s also a U.S. Army combat veteran, where he served from 1988 to 1996, the site said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX2x19Mnz68

Saint Paul Cop Incites Violence

 

[Maximus Rex]

2 LAPD officers are charged with sexually assaulting women while on duty
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-officers-sexual-assault-20160217-story.html
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...t-police-this-time-a-pair-of-lapd-pigs#latest

Two Los Angeles police officers have been charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting four women. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

By Joel Rubin and Kate MatherContact Reporters

Two officers from the Los Angeles Police Department have been charged with repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting several women while on duty.

The men threatened their victims with arrest if they did not comply with their demands and abused at least some of the women in the back seat of the unmarked police car they drove together, according to court records.

Luis Valenzuela, 43, and James C. Nichols, 44, face more than a dozen felony charges, each stemming from allegations they preyed together and alone on four women from late 2008 to 2011, according to a complaint filed Tuesday by the county district attorney’s office. They are accused by prosecutors of forcing some women to have sex and others to perform oral sex. Valenzuela also is accused of assaulting one woman with a gun.

The charges carry a possible punishment of life in prison.

Both men were arrested Wednesday by detectives from their own department and held on more than $3.5 million bail. They are scheduled to appear in court Thursday. The men and their attorneys could not be reached for comment.

“It is a wonderful development, although it is years overdue,” said Dennis Chang, an attorney representing two of the women. “It’s a ray of light that these women will finally see some justice.”

The LAPD placed the officers on unpaid leave more than two years ago after a stop-and-start internal investigation that was launched when a woman came forward to report the men.

Detectives from an elite investigative unit eventually took over the case in 2014 and reworked it in an effort to gather sufficient evidence for prosecutors to bring a criminal case against the men.

“These two officers have disgraced themselves, they’ve disgraced this badge, they’ve disgraced their oath of office,” a somber Chief Charlie Beck told reporters Wednesday. “I am extremely troubled by what they’ve done.”

Over the next year, Nichols and Valenzuela confronted the woman repeatedly, telling her they would no longer help her unless she had sex with them, Chang and the affidavit said. She agreed, she told investigators, out of fear the officers would send her back to jail if she refused.

Valenzuela later showed up at the woman's apartment while he was off duty and, several months later, had sex with her in the back seat of an unmarked undercover car while he was working, according to the affidavit. Nichols, the woman told investigators, brought her to a hotel and, on a later encounter, had sex with her in her apartment, the affidavit alleges.

The first woman to accuse the men came forward in early 2010. She told a supervisor in the Hollywood narcotics unit of being stopped by the officers more than a year earlier, according to the affidavit. The woman, who worked as an informant, said Valenzuela had threatened to take her to jail if she refused to get in the car, then got into the back seat with her and exposed himself, telling the woman to touch him, the affidavit said.

An attempt to look into the woman’s claim went nowhere when the detective assigned to the case was unable to locate her, according to the affidavit.

A year later, however, another woman gave a similar account to a station supervisor after being arrested. She recounted how two officers driving a Jetta had pulled up alongside her as she was walking her dog in Hollywood in 2009. The officers, whom she recognized as the same cops who had arrested her previously, ordered her into the car.

Valenzuela then got into the back seat with the woman and handed her dog to Nichols, who drove the car a short distance to a more secluded area whereValenzuela forced her to perform oral sex on him, according to police records contained in the warrant.

The department’s internal affairs office reopened the case, but for reasons not explained in the warrant, the investigation stalled again for the next year and a half. During this time, police records show, the officers were transferred to different divisions.

Then, in July 2012, a man left a phone message for the vice unit at the LAPD’s Northeast station, where Nichols was assigned. The man relayed a conversation he had had with a prostitute, who said patrol officers in the area were picking up prostitutes and letting them go in exchange for oral sex, the warrant said.

It is not clear how, but from this lead an investigator identified two more women who reported encounters in which Nichols and Valenzuela coerced them into performing sex acts in exchange for leniency.

Beck had harsh words for the officers Wednesday, saying they had abused their authority as police officers.

“It’s a violation of public trust,” the chief said. “That’s what makes it so horrific.”

 

[Maximus Rex]

Cop Stops Fellow Officer From Choking Handcuffed Man, Then She Was Beaten and Fired

February 7, 2016 11:29 am by Counter Current News Editorial Team
http://countercurrentnews.com/2016/02/cop-stop-fellow-officer-from-handcuffed-man/#
http://community.allhiphop.com/disc...ffed-man-then-she-was-beaten-and-fired#latest

Officer Cariol Horne did what any good person would do, when she saw a fellow cop choking a handcuffed suspect. She stepped in, and stopped the attack on the defenseless citizen.

In a story that garnered national attention, Horne was fire, then dismissed from the Buffalo Police Department after 19 years of service.

She was one year shy of her required 20 years, to get her pension. Now, she is fighting to get the money that she worked so hard for – only to have it stolen out from under her for taking a stand against illegal police violence.

It all started back on November 1, 2006, when Officer Horne arrived at the scene of an officer in distress at 707 Walden Avenue, in Buffalo, New York.

That officer was Gregory Kwiatkowski, had responded to a domestic dispute between Neal Mack and his girlfriend.

Officer Horne entered the house and saw Mack had already been placed under arrest.

Officer Horne told local 7 Eyewitness News that Mack had been handcuffed in the front and was sideways. He was unable to move, and was being punched in the face repeatedly by Officer Kwiatkowski.

Horne says that she and 10 other officers brought Mack outside, but Officer Kwiatkowski got right back to work on him, choking the handcuffed suspect.

“Gregory Kwiatkowski turned Neal Mack around and started choking him. So then I’m like, Greg! You’re choking him! I though whatever happened in the house he [Kwiatkowski] was still upset about it so when he didn’t stop choking him I just grabbed his arm from around Neal Mack’s neck,” Horne recounted.

Horne says that’s when Kwiatkowski physically attacked her, “He comes up and punches me in the face and I had to have my bridge replaced,” Horne explained.

But no charges were ever raised against Mack or Officer Kwiatkowski. Horne was, however, charged with obstruction – 13 counts in total, including obstruction for “jumping on officer Kwiatkowski’s back and/or striking him with her hands.”

But Horne has documents from Officer Kwiatkowkski, including his sworn statements which state, “she never got on top of me.”

She ended up filing numerous arbitration hearings to keep her job but she was ultimately found guilty of the charges.

By May of 2014, Officer Kwiatkowski and two other officers were indicted on federal civil rights violations against African American teen suspects.

By December 11th of 2014, the Buffalo Common Council held a special meeting to review Officer Horne’s case.

By June 4 of 2015, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown requested a special meeting with Cariol Horne to revisit her case with what he called “fresh eyes.” But ultimately, he said that she has “exhausted” all of her “legal options.”

Now, a documentary is being made about Horne’s case that hopes to reignite national attention.

Watch the video below, like the Facebook page “Get Cariol Horne Her Pension“, and help SPREAD THE WORD!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc7vmLLqI9w

City revisits fired Buffalo cop case