Friday, September 16, 2011

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 09-15-11

VERBATIM POST
Injustice Everywhere

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Here are the 20 reports of police misconduct tracked in our National Police Misconduct News Feed for this Thursday, September 15, 2011:

  • 2 New Orleans LA cops were sentenced, 21yrs for one & 6yrs for the other, for the beating death of a man and the subsequent cover up [0] bit.ly/o9RmGt
  • Conneaut Lake PA cop fatally shoots his girlfriend before shooting himself in a domestic dispute, 2 children who were in the home at the time were unharmed [0] bit.ly/oygulT
  • Ridgfield Park NJ police are accused of using excessive force while arresting 2 women for recording them during a traffic stop. Police say there is no video of the incident in response to a court order demanding any video evidence related to the incident. [4] bit.ly/q9v04T
  • An Atlanta GA cop with an apparently extensive history of several complaints and questionable arrests is now accused of roughing up a disabled woman while falsely arresting her when she tried to call his supervisor when he ordered her to leave a yard she would sit in every day for several years. [3] bit.ly/nO43Za
  • 2 Calhoun Co MI deputies are the subject of a suit alleging they threw a 72yr-old man & his 68yr-old wife to the ground at gunpoint and injured them during a traffic stop [3] bit.ly/po9AB6
  • 2 Maricopa Co AZ deputies are being sued by a 50yr-old man who claims he was put in choke hold, tasered, then suffered a broken foot when he was stomped on, all because he gave his pal a bear hug at NASCAR race. The arrest report alleges he was belligerent and attacked the deputies but several witnesses contradict that report and charges were later dismissed. Not only that, but the suit alleges the report neglected to document how the man’s son was also attacked and detained w/o charge as well. [3] bit.ly/olLQ57
  • Seattle WA offers $105k to the lawyers of a man who won a $1 judgment in order to get civil rights judgement against cop tossed in an effort to stop it’s use as evidence of a pattern of misconduct in another pending civil rights lawsuit where the same officer is accused of using excessive force in a shooting incident… honestly, I didn’t even know such a thing was possible, let alone that a city official would be willing to openly do something like this to protect a suspect cop. [5] bit.ly/rgxybB
  • Karnak IL police chief resigns after an incident where he was accused of tasering & falsely arresting a council member who voted against the purchase of a new drug dog [0] bit.ly/ruuKj4
  • Colorado Springs CO cop already facing 196 counts child porn & sexual abuse of a child charges involving 21 kids may face more charges in allegations he had even more victims [0] bit.ly/qdhccn
  • Osceola Co FL deputy found guilty of child abuse, sexual activity w/child & attempted sexual activity w/child that was in his care. [0] thesent.nl/qwsbzn
  • Bernalillo Co NM deputy investigated after seen on video violently shoving woman in dispute over table at restaurant. The video also shows the off-duty deputy and his friend, a former deputy from Texas, put their hands on their guns during the incident. [1] http://bit.ly/mXcYl1
  • Sunrise FL cop arrested on agg assault charges on allegations he slashed tires on a car at a gas station then threatened 2 men who witnessed it with a knife [0] sunsent.nl/qThqaO
  • Ector Co TX deputy fired after being arrested on domestic violence charges for the second time this year [0] bit.ly/nM8e0O
  • Oxnard CA police detective suspended after arrested on suspicion of domestic violence involving unspecified woman [1] bit.ly/ouNnLx
  • Jonesboro GA cop fired for false statements claims it was retaliation for reporting excessive force & discrimination[3] bit.ly/r78vYj
  • Indianapolis IN police major/councilman found guilty of extortion & solicitation of a bribe in fed sting operation [0] bit.ly/nAknI5
  • Asbury Park NJ cop fired after jury finds her guilty of forging Army relocation orders to get out of rental lease [0] bit.ly/pR8sKM
  • 3 Glendale CA cops rehired by civil service commission ruling after fired for taking cop car on joyride to Vegas [0] bit.ly/rgz4zN
  • Honolulu HI cop indicted for impersonating other officers and forging their names on checks in order to skirt limitations on special duty shifts [0] bit.ly/pt9VWk
  • Annville PA police chief charged w/2 counts record tampering for falsified records related to state-funded program [0] bit.ly/pfFQDo

In addition to the reports above, three videos were brought to our attention by a reader via email but weren’t added to our feed yet due to a number of different credibility considerations that I have to take into account. Still, in the spirit of transparency here are those videos along with my concerns about them:

Video 1:
This video from Compton allegedly shows “police brutality” via an officer apparently shoving a woman against a cruiser in a highly charged situation where he then appears to pull out an ASP baton as several men confront him and another suspect kicks out the window of his cruiser. Given the situation this officer was in it’s hard to say what the justification might have been, but the video isn’t clear enough to determine if the shove was excessive force or if it was even intentional given the swarm of people around the officer at the time. *CAUTION: This video is VERY loud, you may want to reduce your speaker volume before playing.



Video 2:
The person who took this video alleges that the officers from an unknown agency had used excessive force in this altercation involving apparently intoxicated individuals outside of a bar who were apparently in a fight. The problem here is that the actions shown appear to be in response to resistance shown by the individuals and the excessive force allegations involve activities that allegedly occurred before the video started. What’s disturbing here, though, is the shouts from the drunken crowd urging the cops to beat them up more. Furthermore, even if I didn’t have concerns, I couldn’t add this to our reports since I can’t figure out what agency is involved.

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Video 3:
This news report shows a video clip showing an officer trying to pick a woman up by her hair while trying to get her to cooperate during an incident that occurred after an accident she was involved in along with her husband. The actions of the officer are pretty questionable here, the use of a person’s hair to physically manipulate them is generally banned by policy in most agencies because there is a high risk of serious injury, especially on someone who was just in an accident, and it’s degrading. However, the police claim that dascham videos they have show actions that justified the use of force before this other video started. I may still add this one, but it’s not as clear cut as it sounds.


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