Author Topic: Police State - Official Thread  (Read 980185 times)

Agnostic007

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2725 on: January 29, 2016, 09:45:49 AM »

Agnostic007

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2726 on: January 29, 2016, 09:47:03 AM »
The flinch and stutter step with the head movement certainly was there. Not sure why the author of the article didn't see it, I noticed it before I read the article. So the gun fired unintentionally. The problem as I see it is guns generally never fire without the trigger being pulled so it is highly unlikely it was a defective gun, and more likely it was a defective cop. That he never mentions it ... no matter how it happened, that is problematic  

is this perhaps a caveat?

Agnostic007

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2727 on: January 29, 2016, 09:48:09 AM »
in my opinion, there is a mixture of bad policing/police officers and misunderstanding policing that is discussed here. While we always don't agree on which it is, My hope is to on occasion, show the difference. If someone happens to see it from that perspective and it reduces the animosity towards police in general, that is a good thing. On the flip side, I can certainly see all is not rosy and there are issues and examples of what's wrong with policing. For example, prior to running a warrant on a house our department has several specific checks they do to insure it is the right address. Assumptions are never allowed and it has to be concrete evidence. It's amazing to me that there are still agencies that will occasionally run a no knock warrant  on a house and have the wrong address or the person hasn't lived there in awhile. That to me is just mind boggling.       

is this unreasonable?

Agnostic007

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2728 on: January 29, 2016, 09:51:03 AM »
I went back 9 pages for those examples

What you may be calling a caveat is me wanting to share insight into what may be happening that might not be obvious.

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2729 on: January 29, 2016, 10:05:47 AM »
"No Cost" License Plate Readers Are Turning Texas Police into Mobile Debt Collectors and Data Miners

Vigilant Solutions, one of the country’s largest brokers of vehicle surveillance technology, is offering a hell of a deal to law enforcement agencies in Texas: a whole suite of automated license plate reader (ALPR) equipment and access to the company’s massive databases and analytical tools—and it won’t cost the agency a dime.

Even though the technology is marketed as budget neutral, that doesn’t mean no one has to pay. Instead, Texas police fund it by gouging people who have outstanding court fines and handing Vigilant all of the data they gather on drivers for nearly unlimited commercial use.

ALPR refers to high-speed camera networks that capture license plate images, convert the plate numbers into machine-readable text, geotag and time-stamp the information, and store it all in database systems. EFF has long been concerned with this technology, because ALPRs typically capture sensitive location information on all drivers—not just criminal suspects—and, in aggregate, the information can reveal personal information, such as where you go to church, what doctors you visit, and where you sleep at night.

Vigilant is leveraging H.B. 121, a new Texas law passed in 2015 that allows officers to install credit and debit card readers in their patrol vehicles to take payment on the spot for unpaid court fines, also known as capias warrants. When the law passed, Texas legislators argued that not only would it help local government with their budgets, it would also benefit the public and police. As the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Allen Fletcher, wrote in his official statement of intent:

[T]he option of making such a payment at the time of arrest could avoid contributing to already crowded jails, save time for arresting officers, and relieve minor offenders suddenly informed of an uncollected payment when pulled over for a routine moving violation from the burden of dealing with an impounded vehicle and the potential inconvenience of finding someone to supervise a child because of an unexpected arrest.

The bill was supported by criminal justice reform groups such as the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, but it also raised concerns by respected criminal justice blogger Scott Henson of Grits For Breakfast, who theorized that the law, combined with ALPR technology, could allow police officers to “cherry pick drivers with outstanding warrants instead of looking for current, real-time traffic violations.”

He further asked:

Are there enough departments deploying license plate readers to cause concern? Will they use them in such a fashion? How will anyone know? Is it possible to monitor—or better, measure—any shift in on-the-ground police priorities resulting from the new economic incentives created by the bill?

As it turns out, contracts between between Vigilant and Guadalupe County, the City of Orange, and the City of Kyle in Texas reveal that Henson was right to worry.

The “warrant redemption” program works like this. The agency is given no-cost license plate readers as well as free access to LEARN-NVLS, the ALPR data system Vigilant says contains more than 2.8-billion plate scans and is growing by more than 70-million scans a month. This also includes a wide variety of analytical and predictive software tools. Also, the agency is merely licensing the technology; Vigilant can take it back at any time.

The government agency in turn gives Vigilant access to information about all its outstanding court fees, which the company then turns into a hot list to feed into the free ALPR systems. As police cars patrol the city, they ping on license plates associated with the fees. The officer then pulls the driver over and offers them a devil’s bargain: get arrested, or pay the original fine with an extra 25% processing fee tacked on, all of which goes to Vigilant.1 In other words, the driver is paying Vigilant to provide the local police with the technology used to identify and then detain the driver. If the ALPR pings on a parked car, the officer can get out and leave a note to visit Vigilant’s payment website.

But Vigilant isn’t just compensated with motorists’ cash. The law enforcement agencies are also using the privacy of everyday drivers as currency.

From Vigilant Solutions contract with City of Kyle
Buried in the fine print of the contract with Vigilant is a clause that says the company also get to keep a copy of all the license-plate data collected by the agency, even after the contract ends. According the company's usage and privacy policy, Vigilant “retains LPR data as long as it has commercial value.” Vigilant can sell or license that information to other law enforcement bodies and potentially use it for other purposes. (See clarification at bottom.)

In early December 2015, Vigilant issued a press release bragging that Guadalupe County had used the systems to collect on more than 4,500 warrants between April and December 2015. In January 2016, the City of Kyle signed an identical deal with Vigilant. Soon after, Guadalupe County upgraded the contract to allow Vigilant to dispatch its own contractors to collect on capias warrants.

Update: Buzzfeed has published an in-depth report on how police in Port Arthur, Texas also use Vigilant Solutions ALPR technology to collect fines.

Alarmingly, in December, Vigilant also quietly issued an apology on its website for a major error: 

During the second week of December, as part of its Warrant Redemption Program, Vigilant Solutions sent several warrant notices – on behalf of our law enforcement partners – in error to citizens across the state of Texas. A technical error caused us to send warrant notices to the wrong recipients.

These types of mistakes are not acceptable and we deeply apologize to those who received the warrant correspondence in error and to our law enforcement customers.

Vigilant is right: this is not acceptable. Yet, the company has not disclosed the extent of the error, how many people were affected, how much money was collected that shouldn’t have been, and what it’s doing to inform and make it up to the people affected. Instead, the company simply stated that it had “conducted a thorough review of the incident and have implemented several internal policies.”

We’re unlikely to get answers from the government agencies who signed these contracts. To access Vigilant’s powerful online data systems, agencies agree not to disparage the company or even to talk to the press without the company’s permission:


From Vigilant Solutions LEARN-NVLS User Agreement
You shall not create, publish, distribute, or permit any written, electronically transmitted or other form of publicity material that makes reference to the LEARN LPR Database Server or this Agreement without first submitting the material to Vigilant and receiving written consent from Vigilant thereto…

You agree not to use proprietary materials or information in any manner that is disparaging. This prohibition is specifically intended to preclude you from cooperating or otherwise agreeing to allow photographs or screenshots to be taken by any member of the media without the express consent of LEARN-NVLS. You also agree not to voluntarily provide ANY information, including interviews, related to LEARN products or its services to any member of the media without the express written consent of LEARN-NVLS.

You might very well ask at this point about the legality of this scheme. Vigilant anticipated that and provided the City of Kyle with a slide titled “Can I Really Do This?” which cited a law that they believe allows for the 25% surcharge.

The law states that a county or municipality “may only charge a fee for the access or service if the fee is designed to recover the costs directly and reasonably incurred in providing the access or service.”

We believe that a 25% fee is not reasonable and doesn’t recover just the direct costs, since the fee is actually paying for the whole ALPR system, including surveillance capabilities unrelated to warrant redemption, such as access to the giant LEARN-NVLS database and software suite.

Beyond that, the system raises a whole host of problems:

It turns police into debt collectors, who have to keep swiping credit cards to keep the free equipment.
It turns police into data miners, who use the privacy of local drivers as currency.
It not-so-subtly shifts police priorities from responding to calls and traffic violations to responding to a computer’s instructions.
Policy makers and the public are unable to effectively evaluate the technology since the contract prohibits police from speaking honestly and openly about the program.
The model relies on debt: there’s no incentive for criminal justice leaders to work with the community to reduce the number of capias warrants, since that could result in losing the equipment.
People who have committed no crimes whatsoever have their driving patterns uploaded into a private system and no opportunity to control or watchdog how that data is disseminated.
There was a time where companies like Vigilant marketed ALPR technology as a way to save kidnapped children, recover stolen cars, and catch violent criminals. But as we’ve long warned, ALPRs in fact are being deployed for far more questionable practices.

The Texas public should be outraged at the terrible deals their representatives are signing with this particular surveillance contractor, and the legislature should reexamine the unintended consequences of the law they passed last year.

Update January 28, 2016: We have updated this piece to include the City of Orange's contract with Vigilant Solutions.

Clarification January 28, 2016: We originally stated that data collected under this program may be sold "potentially to private companies such as insurance firms and repossession agencies." Vigilant generally agrees in its contracts and policies that ALPR data collected by law enforcement agencies will only be shared with (i.e. sold to) other law enforcement agencies. However, data collected by Vigilant directly may be shared for a variety of purposes, including insurance and repossession. We used the word "potentially" because it gets murky when it comes to ALPR systems licensed to law enforcement that are not the property of the agency, but rather are Vigilant's property attached to a police vehicle. Vigilant's contract with the City of Kyle, for example, allows Vigilant to use the data "in accordance with, and pursuant to, a permissible purpose set forth under the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA)." The DPPA includes many permissible purposes, such as insurance purposes and or private investigations, but it also usually only regulates vehicle registration data, the information that would allow you to connect a name or addresses to license plates. Vigilant itself notes in its materials that DPPA regulates connecting personal information to a license plate, but argues LPR data on its own is fair game because "there is no reasonable expectation of privacy." It's also unclear how Vigilant treats data collected by Vigilant employees and contractors on behalf of law enforcement agencies, as is the case in Guadalupe County. Vigilant's policies also allow the company to retroactively change its usage rules at anytime.


https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/01/no-cost-license-plate-readers-are-turning-texas-police-mobile-debt-collectors-and

Agnostic007

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2730 on: January 29, 2016, 10:36:06 AM »
Interesting.. we will be going to LPRs with the same company brand mentioned and will not be collecting fines based on the info, nor assessing fees. I guess that is why it is costing us money

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2731 on: February 01, 2016, 09:36:56 AM »
“Get Your Hands Where I….” BOOM! Cop Shoots Unarmed Man Before Finishing His Command


Eden Prairie, MN — On June 15, 2015, Matthew Hovland-Knase was allegedly driving his motorcycle at excessive speeds down a two-way street. After being clocked at speeds over 110 miles per hour, Sergeant Lonnie Soppeland gave chase and pulled him over.

Hovland-Knase did not attempt to run, was unarmed, non-violent, and posed no threat to Soppeland at all when the officer jumped out of his cruiser with his gun drawn. As Soppeland exited the cruiser, he yelled, “Get your hands where I….” BOOM — and before he could finish the sentence, he’d shot the unarmed motorcyclist.

“I’m bleeding,” screams Hovland-Knase after this overzealous cop squeezed off a round into the unsuspecting motorist.

Those who’ve been trained to use firearms know that you should keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you are ready to fire. If anyone should know this, it’s a police officer. But at that moment, on that night, officer Soppeland forget one of the most important rules in handling a firearm.

Immediately after he nearly killed a man, officer Soppeland said, “I’m not going to say anything right now, but was not intentional. I can tell you that.”

Intentional or not, this man fired a deadly projectile at an unarmed individual who meant him no harm.

After Soppeland had been granted a cool down period of three days, he was finally interviewed by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. During the interview, Soppeland told a detective, “As I was giving commands, I drew my firearm with my right hand, I planned to steady it with my left hand. When my hands made contact, the firearm discharged once unintentionally. It was not my conscious choice…I could feel the effect of the adrenaline.”

Notice how he blamed the firearm. According to Soppeland, he did not discharge the firearm, ‘the firearm discharged.’

In a loaded question, which was obviously used to steer the investigation in favor of the officer, the detective then asked Soppeland whether firearm training 20 days before the shooting, when Soppeland fired 50 to 100 rounds, was a factor. Soppeland replied, “Yes, I feel the muscle memory from that recent training of squeezing the trigger contributed to the unintentional discharge during a high-stress situation.”


Luckily it wasn’t a church van full of innocent children that Soppeland pulled over that fateful night — as his ‘muscle memory’ could have killed them.

As soon as the investigation had begun, it was then over — Soppeland was taken off of paid vacation and immediately placed back on regular duty.

Imagine for a moment that Soppeland was not granted a badge and a uniform from the town of Eden Prairie, and he attempted to use the same excuse for discharging a firearm at an unarmed, nonviolent individual. Do you feel that he would have been granted the same leniency?

What if Soppeland was the owner of a private shooting range and he accidentally shot one of his customers? Would that shooting range be opened the next day? Would Soppeland ever be able to operate a shooting range again? The short answer is, no. The range would likely be closed down, and Soppeland would be facing charges of negligence, at a minimum.

However, because Soppeland is a police officer, he not only faces no consequences but he was put back out on the street to do it again.

What this case illustrates is that police in America are subject to a different set of rules than the rest of us. Their ‘qualified immunity’ sets them above the same laws that apply to everyone else, and they are subsequently allowed to cause harm to others without the fear of repercussions.

There was one person who was charged in this incident, however, and that was Hovland-Knase. After being shot by Soppeland, Hovland-Knase was arrested and convicted of fleeing an officer.



Soppeland’s case is hardly unique, cops ‘accidentally’ shoot people quite often, and get away with it.

Last year, on Thanksgiving night, with his 23-year-old wife, Darien Ehorn in the passenger’s seat, Andrew Thomas left the Canteena Bar and was immediately pursued by Paradise police officer Patrick Feaster.

After Thomas lost control of the SUV, Officer Feaster then gets out of his car, gun drawn, and as Thomas attempts to get out of the vehicle, in a likely attempt to check on his wife, the cop shoots him in the neck.

When backup arrived on the scene, Feaster said nothing of discharging his firearm. For 11 minutes, Thomas lay bleeding out in the vehicle before anyone even found the shot.

Only when the commanding officer on the scene suggested an investigator return to the Canteena to find out if Thomas had been shot at the bar did Feaster reveal he’d pulled the trigger.

In spite of shooting a man in the neck and being caught red-handed trying to cover it up, Feaster faces zero consequences. Last month, Feaster walked.



http://thefreethoughtproject.com/get-hands-i-boom-cop-shoots-unarmed-man-finishing-command/

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2732 on: February 03, 2016, 02:36:10 PM »
He should go to prison and receive multiple daily shocks from a similar shocker anklet throughout his prison term.

Judge Convicted After He Admitted to Torturing Man in Court With 50,000 Volts to Shut Him Up

Greenbelt, MD – A man representing himself in a Maryland court was shocked with 50,000 volts of electricity by the judge because he continued to speak when the judge ordered him to stop.

Judge Robert Nalley pleaded guilty on Monday to depriving the defendant of his civil rights.

The charge stems from an encounter between the judge and victim Delvon King in July of 2014, when King was appearing before Judge Nalley to face gun charges. King had a shocker anklet attached to him, which was supposed to be used in case of an emergency situation, or if King were to attempt to escape or hurt anyone.

In the court, King attempted to make his case but was constantly interrupted by the judge who repeatedly told him to be quiet. When King continued to make his case to the court, Judge Nalley told the court deputy “Mr Sheriff, do it… use it,” at which point 50,000 volts of electricity were sent through King’s body, causing him to scream in pain. The court transcript read, “DEFENDANT SCREAMS.”

King later described the situation to reporters, saying that he experienced “Excruciating pain then, and a burning sensation.”

“It burned the rest of the day. Messed me up mentally. I don’t really remember that part. Just next thing I know, I’m on the ground,” King added.

The U.S attorney said that Judge Nalley acted as if he was above the law, and that this conviction should be a message to other state employees that they should treat the people that they encounter as equals.

“It’s not about race. It’s about power. It’s about a judge who abused the power vested in him to order a defendant to be punished essentially before he was convicted of any crime,” the attorney said.

However, Judge Nalley may end up getting off easy, with his defense asking for just one year of probation, a sentence that is lighter than most marijuana offenders receive in some states. The charge against Nalley was also weak, as he did not simply deprive a man of his civil rights, but he tortured him. Under any other circumstances, Nalley’s actions would have been considered torture, but since he did it under the sanction of his place in government, he was given a pass.

Nalley is still awaiting sentencing from a federal magistrate, who will decide if the judge will receive probation as requested, or if he will actually see jail time.

Witnesses at the recent trial noted that the judge did not show any signs of remorse.


http://thefreethoughtproject.com/judge-probation-shocking-defendant-50000-volts-quiet/

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2733 on: February 03, 2016, 02:42:40 PM »
Award-Winning Michigan Officer Known as “Robocop” Receives 13-Month Sentence for Vicious Beating Caught on Camera

The Michigan cop known as Robocop will spend at least 13 months in prison for placing a man in a chokehold and punching him repeatedly in an incident captured on dash cam video.

However, that sentence can stretch up to ten years if he is not granted parole after the 13-month period.

But we know that won’t happen.

Robert Melendez, who was fired from the Inkster police department because of the incident, reacted in disbelief at the sentence Tuesday – even though it fell below the sentencing guidelines that range between 29 months to 57 months.

As if to make up for the lenient sentence, Wayne County Judge Vonda Evans scolded Melendez on his “Dirty Harry tactics” that he was known for throughout his long career, which included more than a decade at the Detroit Police Department where he earned his nickname.

Melendez apologized to Floyd Dent, the 58-year-old man who ended up in the hospital with broken ribs and blood in his brain from the beating after he was accused of running a stop sign on January 28, 2015.

Melendez then went into a spiel reciting a poem called the “The Final Inspection,” comparing himself to a soldier who deserves to go to heaven because he spent his time in hell.

The reality is, he made Dent go through hell as he has done to so many citizens in the past. And despite the conviction, he still believes he is above the law.

After all, as his attorney pointed out, he is an award-winning officer, a former “Officer of the Year,” according to Michigan Live.

Defense attorney James Thomas said Melendez is a man who “put on a uniform every day and went out into public not knowing what was going to happen,” “stood in front of people being shot at and protected them,” rushed into a burning building to save lives and, was once named Detroit police officer of the year and received at least 14 awards for his police work.

But he also received countless complaints and was sued several times, costing the city of Detroit more than a million back in 2003 when he was indicted for stealing drugs and money from suspects while planting guns, charges for which he was acquitted.

Dent accused him and other officers of planting cocaine on him the night of his arrest, a charge that was dismissed along with the assault on a police officer and resisting arrest charges.

Dent ended up receiving a $1.37 million settlement.

According to Michigan Live:

With his arms crossed, Melendez blinked frequently as Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans summarized her interpretation of the crime, calling his acts “cowardly” and “barbaric.”

She referred to the dash-camera that captured the arrest as the “eye of justice.”

“He was grabbed out thrown to the ground and struck 16 times in the head by the defendant,” Evans said. “Mr. Dent was struck, kicked and Tased while he was on the ground by a group” of officers who appeared to celebrate and bump fists afterwards.

Melendez, who was convicted in November, will also received 85 days credit for time served, so he’ll probably be released around the New Year where he will likely continue his private security business.

In a Facebook message to Photography is Not a Crime, Nick Bennett, one of Dent’s attorneys, explained how sentencing guidelines work in Michigan.

So in Michigan we used to have guidelines. Like six months ago. A judge had to stick within the guidelines for the minimum sentence. Maximum always stayed the same based on the offense. A case came out in the Supreme Court that said mandatory guidelines are unconstitutional so now they are advisory. Before, if a judge wanted to go outside the range there had to be substantial or compelling reasons. Now they can deviate however the want. So the max was always going to be ten years in this case the minimum advisory guidelines were 27-54. Just went way under.

Below is the dash cam video as well as the video of Judge Evans making her remarks.





https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/02/03/award-winning-michigan-officer-known-as-robocop-receives-13-month-sentence-for-vicious-beating-caught-on-camera/

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2734 on: February 03, 2016, 02:47:33 PM »
Tennessee Cops Taser Middle School Cleaning Lady, Mistaking Her for Burglar

She was doing her job, cleaning the inside of a school, when she was confronted by two gun-wielding Tennessee cops, who began barking questions at her.

But the Guatemalan cleaning lady did not understand English, so all she could say was “No.”

When they continued demanding information, the woman tried to walk away, then run away.

That was when the cops chased after her, tasering her, charging her with evading arrest.

Juana Raymundo, 36, spent the night in jail, wearing a shirt with the letters “ABM,” the company contracted to clean the school every night.

The incident took place January 11 when two Collegedale police officers became suspicious when they noticed an open door at Ooltewah Middle School.

They entered with their guns drawn, even though there was no sign of forced entry. They came across some cleaning supplies outside a restroom in a hallway, but that still did not satisfy their suspicions.

They were inside a room when Raymundo entered empty-handed.

“She obviously noticed us, as she looked directly at us, appearing to be nervous and somewhat reserved,” Sergeant Jamie Heath wrote in his arrest report.

Officer Brian Desmond said he began to ask her for her identification in both English and Spanish but all she could say was “No.”

According to the Chattanooga Times Free-Press:

 

As Desmond tried to speak with the woman, she walked to the door where Heath was standing. He motioned for her to stop and asked for her “identificacion” and “licencia,” according to the report. She said “no” and continued to slowly walk through the room.

She then rounded a corner and began to walk quickly away down a hallway, Heath wrote. He yelled “alto” — the Spanish word for stop — and the woman began to sprint away. The two men chased after her, running through the school’s cafeteria, down a flight of stairs, out the building and into the parking lot. Heath warned the woman to stop or she would be shot with a stun gun, he said in his report.

When she didn’t stop, he deployed his Taser while running behind her. The Taser hit the woman and she fell to the ground. They then called for medical attention, according to the report.

The woman, who gave several different names to officers and seemed to have trouble understanding both Spanish and English, was an employee of the cleaning company ABM, which regularly works in the school, ABM managers told police that night. Chas Strong, senior manager in corporate communications at ABM, declined to comment Friday.

The woman was charged with evading arrest and booked into jail under the name Juana Raymundo, 36. She was released on a $750 bond and is due in Collegedale Municipal Court on March 2.

The Times Free-Press notes that while the arrest report goes into great detail to justify tasering the woman, it does not even say if the cops were wearing uniforms or if they were driving marked cars or even if they identified themselves.

One Nashville attorney questioned why didn’t they holster their weapons when realizing the woman was not much of a threat.

https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/02/01/tennessee-cops-taser-middle-school-cleaning-lady-mistaking-her-for-burglar/

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2735 on: February 03, 2016, 03:04:27 PM »
Award-Winning Florida Deputy Charged with Attempted Manslaughter After Lying About Suspect Grabbing His Gun

One month ago, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told reporters that one of his deputies had to shoot a handcuffed man because the handcuffed man pulled the gun out of the deputy’s secured holster and threatened him with it.

That, of course, made Timothy Virden fear for his life, who in 2004, was named one of the “nation’s outstanding law enforcement officers.”

Being the valiant hero that he was, Virden managed to snatch the gun back from the suspect and shoot him twice.

The suspect, whose hands were cuffed behind him and his pants around his ankle, survived the shooting.

On Friday, Gualtieri spoke to reporters again.

This time announcing that deputy Timothy Virden was being charged with attempted manslaughter.

It turns out, the suspect, Dylan Tompkins-Holmes, never touched the deputy’s gun.

That, Gualtieri said, was determined by three thorough investigations that lasted a month which included evidence from a dash cam video and statements from another deputy that contradicted Virden’s claims.

The dash cam video only captures the audio because it is pointed outward towards the front of the car and the shooting took place as Virden was trying to place the suspect in the back of the car.

But Tompkins-Holmes was drunk and mouthing off to Virden, calling him a “pussy” and a “bitch.”

His pants had fallen and he apparently was halfway in the car, but wanted his pants pulled back up.

“You’re a real man, bro, you’re a real man,” Tompkins-Holmes said. “Keep going, keep going.”

Then two gunshots are heard and a man is heard yelling in pain.

A man, whose voice differs from the suspect, can be heard yelling “oh, shit.”

Then a few seconds later, a deputy, possibly Virden, is informing dispatch that he needs fire-rescue because “shots have been fired.”

Hours after the incident, Gualtieri held his press conference, defending Virden. And, of course, the media ate it all up.

This is how ABC Action News reported it:

A deputy shot a man Wednesday morning after he tried to grab the deputy’s gun, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

It started around 3:00 a.m. with a traffic stop near 129th Avenue West at Village Boulevard in John’s Pass Village.

During the traffic stop, deputy Timothy Virden suspected the female driver of DUI, and began to investigate.

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said passenger Dylan Tompkins-Holmes, the driver’s boyfriend, interfered with the investigation. Gualtieri said the man was arguing with the deputy, and imploring the woman not to cooperate. At one point, he jumped into the driver’s seat.

Deputy Virden arrested Tompkins-Holmes, handcuffed him, and placed him in the back of the patrol vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe.

Inside the vehicle, the man’s pants fell down, and he fell to the floor. Tompkins-Holmes was loudly complaining and asked for help. Deputy Virden help him out of the SUV to pull up his pants, and Tompkins-Holmes — still handcuffed — grabbed for the deputy’s gun.

After a short struggle, Deputy Virden got control of the gun and shot Tompkins-Holmes twice. One shot hit the man in the wrist and thigh. Another shot struck him in the abdomen.

This is how the Tampa Bay Times is now reporting it:

A Pinellas sheriff’s deputy shot a 26-year-old man early Wednesday outside John’s Pass Village after the arrestee — with his hands cuffed behind his back — grabbed the deputy’s weapon, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Deputy Tom Virden was “concerned for his safety and his life,” when he shot Dylan Tompkins-Holmes, whose criminal record dates back to 2008.

“We’re extremely lucky and fortunate that Deputy Virden is fine — when someone grabs your gun and has your gun in their hand, it could be an absolutely volatile situation,” Gualtieri said.

The sheriff added: “Even if (people) are in handcuffs, there’s a lot of flexibility. You’re able to use your hands and fingers, and you’re able to grab.”

Now this is the way WTSP is reporting it:

“There is no evidence of any struggle,” said Sheriff Gualtieri, “There’s no evidence of anybody reaching for a gun.”

Deputy Verdin had claimed Tompkins-Holmes, whose hands were behind his back, whose pants had fallen down, and whose body was wedged against the backseat of Deputy Verdin’s cruiser, was somehow able to unholster and then grab the deputy’s weapon.

It’s a struggle that a second deputy who was standing just feet away, said never occurred.

“While handcuffed, being able to do this, this, and this,” Gualtieri demonstrated, “and then get the gun out? Didn’t happen.”

Gualtieri said three separate investigations all reach the same conclusion.

On Wednesday, Verdin was charged with attempted manslaughter, and was fired from his job at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

“I’m believe Tim Verdin is a good man, and a deputy that dedicated his professional life to law-enforcement,” said Sheriff Gualtieri, “And by all accounts, up to this point, had an excellent performance record.”

This is how Fox 13 is now reporting it:

On Friday, Gualtieri confirmed that Tomkins-Holmes never grabbed the deputy’s weapon.

The sheriff showed off a utility belt and gun holster to demonstrate how improbable that would have been to begin with: The 26-year-old was drunk, handcuffed, and did not have proprietary knowledge on how to release a gun out of the deputy’s twice-secured holster.What do you think?

The sheriff added that even if that part had been true, Virden would have been the only one with the gun when he shot the handcuffed man.

He played dashcam video of the shooting which countered the deputy’s account.

“There’s no evidence of a struggle, no evidence of anybody reaching for a gun,” Gualtieri offered after showing the footage. “This is all inconsistent with Deputy Virden’s version of events.”

A second deputy at the scene also refuted Virden’s claims that Tompkins-Holmes was a threat.

“All he had to do was walk away,” the sheriff continued. “There was no justification for shooting Tompkins-Holmes.”

Gualtieri maintained the sheriff’s office was correct in charging Tompkins-Holmes with “obstruction.” He also said he had no regrets for justifying the shooting the morning it took place, before the agency had completed an investigation.

“Dylan’s no angel, but he’s not a bad guy,” the sheriff said, adding that he’s never been charged with any violent crimes.

Meanwhile, Tompkin-Holmes is still recovering from his injuries, but Gualtieri said they not only dropped the obstructions charges against him and his girlfriend, they are going as far as paying for his medical bills because it’s the “right thing to do.”

But he made it clear that the department is not civilly liable for his deputy’s actions because of qualified immunity.

And in that, he is wrong. Dead wrong. In fact, he was an accomplice to the attempted manslaughter because he defended it within hours, only reversing judgement after three month-long investigations.

Let’s just hope they did not coerce Tompkins-Holmes into signing away his right to sue in exchange for them paying for his medical bills.

Below is the press conference from Friday where he announced Virden’s arrest. And below that is the dash cam video of the shooting. And below that is the video from last month where he is telling reporters that Tompkins-Holmes reached for Verdin’s gun.







https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/01/30/award-winning-florida-deputy-charged-with-attempted-manslaughter-after-lying-about-suspect-grabbing-his-gun/

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2736 on: February 03, 2016, 03:13:11 PM »
Award-Winning Florida Deputy Charged with Attempted Manslaughter After Lying About Suspect Grabbing His Gun

One month ago, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told reporters that one of his deputies had to shoot a handcuffed man because the handcuffed man pulled the gun out of the deputy’s secured holster and threatened him with it.

That, of course, made Timothy Virden fear for his life, who in 2004, was named one of the “nation’s outstanding law enforcement officers.”

Being the valiant hero that he was, Virden managed to snatch the gun back from the suspect and shoot him twice.

The suspect, whose hands were cuffed behind him and his pants around his ankle, survived the shooting.

On Friday, Gualtieri spoke to reporters again.

This time announcing that deputy Timothy Virden was being charged with attempted manslaughter.

It turns out, the suspect, Dylan Tompkins-Holmes, never touched the deputy’s gun.

That, Gualtieri said, was determined by three thorough investigations that lasted a month which included evidence from a dash cam video and statements from another deputy that contradicted Virden’s claims.

The dash cam video only captures the audio because it is pointed outward towards the front of the car and the shooting took place as Virden was trying to place the suspect in the back of the car.

But Tompkins-Holmes was drunk and mouthing off to Virden, calling him a “pussy” and a “bitch.”

His pants had fallen and he apparently was halfway in the car, but wanted his pants pulled back up.

“You’re a real man, bro, you’re a real man,” Tompkins-Holmes said. “Keep going, keep going.”

Then two gunshots are heard and a man is heard yelling in pain.

A man, whose voice differs from the suspect, can be heard yelling “oh, shit.”

Then a few seconds later, a deputy, possibly Virden, is informing dispatch that he needs fire-rescue because “shots have been fired.”

Hours after the incident, Gualtieri held his press conference, defending Virden. And, of course, the media ate it all up.

This is how ABC Action News reported it:

A deputy shot a man Wednesday morning after he tried to grab the deputy’s gun, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

It started around 3:00 a.m. with a traffic stop near 129th Avenue West at Village Boulevard in John’s Pass Village.

During the traffic stop, deputy Timothy Virden suspected the female driver of DUI, and began to investigate.

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said passenger Dylan Tompkins-Holmes, the driver’s boyfriend, interfered with the investigation. Gualtieri said the man was arguing with the deputy, and imploring the woman not to cooperate. At one point, he jumped into the driver’s seat.

Deputy Virden arrested Tompkins-Holmes, handcuffed him, and placed him in the back of the patrol vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe.

Inside the vehicle, the man’s pants fell down, and he fell to the floor. Tompkins-Holmes was loudly complaining and asked for help. Deputy Virden help him out of the SUV to pull up his pants, and Tompkins-Holmes — still handcuffed — grabbed for the deputy’s gun.

After a short struggle, Deputy Virden got control of the gun and shot Tompkins-Holmes twice. One shot hit the man in the wrist and thigh. Another shot struck him in the abdomen.

This is how the Tampa Bay Times is now reporting it:

A Pinellas sheriff’s deputy shot a 26-year-old man early Wednesday outside John’s Pass Village after the arrestee — with his hands cuffed behind his back — grabbed the deputy’s weapon, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Deputy Tom Virden was “concerned for his safety and his life,” when he shot Dylan Tompkins-Holmes, whose criminal record dates back to 2008.

“We’re extremely lucky and fortunate that Deputy Virden is fine — when someone grabs your gun and has your gun in their hand, it could be an absolutely volatile situation,” Gualtieri said.

The sheriff added: “Even if (people) are in handcuffs, there’s a lot of flexibility. You’re able to use your hands and fingers, and you’re able to grab.”

Now this is the way WTSP is reporting it:

“There is no evidence of any struggle,” said Sheriff Gualtieri, “There’s no evidence of anybody reaching for a gun.”

Deputy Verdin had claimed Tompkins-Holmes, whose hands were behind his back, whose pants had fallen down, and whose body was wedged against the backseat of Deputy Verdin’s cruiser, was somehow able to unholster and then grab the deputy’s weapon.

It’s a struggle that a second deputy who was standing just feet away, said never occurred.

“While handcuffed, being able to do this, this, and this,” Gualtieri demonstrated, “and then get the gun out? Didn’t happen.”

Gualtieri said three separate investigations all reach the same conclusion.

On Wednesday, Verdin was charged with attempted manslaughter, and was fired from his job at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

“I’m believe Tim Verdin is a good man, and a deputy that dedicated his professional life to law-enforcement,” said Sheriff Gualtieri, “And by all accounts, up to this point, had an excellent performance record.”

This is how Fox 13 is now reporting it:

On Friday, Gualtieri confirmed that Tomkins-Holmes never grabbed the deputy’s weapon.

The sheriff showed off a utility belt and gun holster to demonstrate how improbable that would have been to begin with: The 26-year-old was drunk, handcuffed, and did not have proprietary knowledge on how to release a gun out of the deputy’s twice-secured holster.What do you think?

The sheriff added that even if that part had been true, Virden would have been the only one with the gun when he shot the handcuffed man.

He played dashcam video of the shooting which countered the deputy’s account.

“There’s no evidence of a struggle, no evidence of anybody reaching for a gun,” Gualtieri offered after showing the footage. “This is all inconsistent with Deputy Virden’s version of events.”

A second deputy at the scene also refuted Virden’s claims that Tompkins-Holmes was a threat.

“All he had to do was walk away,” the sheriff continued. “There was no justification for shooting Tompkins-Holmes.”

Gualtieri maintained the sheriff’s office was correct in charging Tompkins-Holmes with “obstruction.” He also said he had no regrets for justifying the shooting the morning it took place, before the agency had completed an investigation.

“Dylan’s no angel, but he’s not a bad guy,” the sheriff said, adding that he’s never been charged with any violent crimes.

Meanwhile, Tompkin-Holmes is still recovering from his injuries, but Gualtieri said they not only dropped the obstructions charges against him and his girlfriend, they are going as far as paying for his medical bills because it’s the “right thing to do.”

But he made it clear that the department is not civilly liable for his deputy’s actions because of qualified immunity.

And in that, he is wrong. Dead wrong. In fact, he was an accomplice to the attempted manslaughter because he defended it within hours, only reversing judgement after three month-long investigations.

Let’s just hope they did not coerce Tompkins-Holmes into signing away his right to sue in exchange for them paying for his medical bills.

Below is the press conference from Friday where he announced Virden’s arrest. And below that is the dash cam video of the shooting. And below that is the video from last month where he is telling reporters that Tompkins-Holmes reached for Verdin’s gun.







https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/01/30/award-winning-florida-deputy-charged-with-attempted-manslaughter-after-lying-about-suspect-grabbing-his-gun/






The Good Old 'He was In fear of His Life'  ::)

Poor Cops Forced To Do The Most Dangerous
Job On Earth.

They Dindu Nuffin.. ;)

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2737 on: February 03, 2016, 03:44:09 PM »
Good Cops Stand Around and Watch as Rogue Cop Takes Out His Aggression on Non-Violent Teen


Pittsburgh, PA — After assaulting a 19-year-old man outside of a football game, Pittsburgh police officer Sgt. Stephen Matakovich was arrested and charged with assault. However, in a glaring and insulting display of blue privilege, on Monday, all the charges against Matakovich were dropped.

According to the police, Matakovich was working security outside of the Heinz Field Stadium on November 28, 2015, when he arrested Gabriel Despree on a number of charges, including public drunkenness and aggravated assault.

The entire encounter was captured on surveillance footage. As the video begins, it shows security officers appear to be asking Despree to leave. As he turns to leave and obey their request, Matakovich and several of his fellow officers stop him in an obvious move to bully this teen.

Once police obtained the surveillance video of the incident, showing Matakovich, entirely unprovoked, attack Despree, throw him to the ground and punch him several times, the officer was charged with simple assault and official oppression.

But, thanks to a clearly biased judge, Matakovich, who’s been on paid vacation for nearly two months, will now return back to the streets to ‘officially oppress’ once again.

The excuses used by the defense to convince the court to throw out the charges were nothing short of laughable.

“The video, it says a lot, but when you have an opportunity to break it down and listen to Sgt. Matakovich, his reasoning it makes total sense. The young man is going in and out of his pockets he was asked to leave his BAC was very high he admitted on the stand today he was very intoxicated,” said defense attorney Blaise Jones.

Somehow, the court found that the 19-year-old Despree, who was no threat to anyone and was trying to leave, was the ‘aggressor,’ and there was not enough evidence to hold the charges against the violent officer.

In a courtroom full of his fellow officers, applause exploded after the judge bought Matakovich’s claims that he feared for his safety.

“I don’t think it’s unusual to say Sgt. Matakovich put his safety first, his and those around him,” Jones said.

Apparently, Matakovich, an armed, 200+ pound officer, surrounded by his other fellow 200+ pound officers, who are also armed, felt that a drunk teen half his size posed a threat to him. Or, at least, he thought that the court would buy his preposterous story, and he was right.

Still facing the entirely false charge of assault on an officer, Despree is due in court in March. Welcome to justice in the land of the free.



http://thefreethoughtproject.com/bully-cop-attacks-peaceful-teen-video-reason-cop-claims-victim/

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2738 on: February 04, 2016, 02:13:23 PM »
Once again, send the bill to the taxpayers...

NYPD Cop Wins $15M After Fellow Cops Falsely Arrested & Beat Him at His Daughter’s Birthday

Queens, NY – After suing his fellow officers for savagely beating and falsely arresting him at his daughter’s birthday party, an NYPD cop was awarded $15 million by a federal jury on Wednesday. Although he identified himself as an officer, his colleagues viciously struck him with batons and fired pepper spray into his face before bothering to check the badge and ID in his pocket.

On August 22, 2010, NYPD Officer Larry Jackson was off-duty at his daughter’s birthday party in Queens when an unidentified man with a gun appeared in the street breaking a bottle. Although Jackson did not have his gun with him, the off-duty cop confronted the armed man and asked him to leave while Jackson’s wife called 911. As Jackson attempted to calm down the armed man, a crowd of roughly 15 to 20 men armed with bats and sticks began to approach them.

Instead of attacking Jackson or the armed man, the crowd immediately dispersed as a marked patrol car arrived in front of Jackson’s house. Even though Jackson’s wife told dispatchers that her husband was a cop and Jackson immediately identified himself as a fellow officer, the cops ignored him while trying to assess the situation. Hearing an argument from inside Jackson’s home, one of the officers suddenly ran into his house without a search warrant.

After striking one of Jackson’s friends with a police baton, the officer ordered Jackson to step back. Standing his ground, Jackson again identified himself as a cop and informed the officer that they were in his house. Instead of requesting to see Jackson’s police ID or badge, the officer slammed the baton against Jackson’s throat and shoved him into the living room.

While repeatedly punching Jackson in the face, the officer accidentally tripped over a cooler leftover from the birthday party. As Jackson attempted to help the officer up, another cop placed Jackson in a chokehold. Unable to speak, Jackson tried to pull his police ID out of his pocket but another officer restrained his hands.

Falling backwards, Jackson and the cop choking him landed on Jackson’s 82-year-old mother-in-law, briefly knocking her unconscious. As the officer released his chokehold, Jackson again informed the cops that he was an NYPD officer when another cop struck him in the head with an ASP tactical baton. After stumbling down the front steps, Jackson remained on the ground as a group of bloodthirsty officers began beating him with their batons and pepper-spraying him in the face. While placing him in handcuffs, the cops repeatedly kicked his body and kneed him in the back.

Following the brutal assault, the officer who initially attacked Jackson asked him, “Yeah, you motherfucking dirt bag, if you are really a cop, where is your ID?”

“My ID has been in my front pocket the whole entire time,” Jackson responded. “I told you that in the house.”

After finally checking his pockets, the crowd of cops immediately dispersed upon the realization that they just brutalized one of their own without justification. Despite the fact that he had his police ID and did not commit a crime, Jackson was detained at the police station for 20 hours before being transported to a local hospital. According to his medical records, Jackson’s face and torso were covered in large bruises while his right hand was fractured due to numerous baton strikes.

On June 24, 2011, Jackson filed a federal lawsuit accusing the NYPD of negligence, assault, false arrest, and false imprisonment. Despite the fact that NYPD Officer John Czulada admitted to punching Jackson in the face, none of the cops involved confessed to beating him with their batons or placing him in handcuffs. Even though the police refused to break their code of silence, a jury decided Wednesday to award Jackson with $15 million in damages.

“I feel vindicated,” Jackson told The NY Daily News after the verdict. “Just like they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Out of the 70 cops who arrived at Jackson’s house that night, none of the officers involved in his ruthless beating have been charged with a crime. Instead of punishing the cops who assaulted a fellow officer with batons and pepper spray, the citizens of New York are held responsible for the incompetence and utter brutality of their police force. Perhaps if the police officers were held financially responsible for their actions, they might have bothered to check his badge and ID in the first place.


http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-awarded-15-million-fellow-officers-assaulted-falsely-arrested/


From http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/15m-award-nypd-beaten-police-officers-article-1.2519526
Quote
"The jury has sent a message to the Police Department that what happened was unacceptable," said Jackson's lawyer Eric Sanders. "And that guy with the gun? No one ever bothered to look for him."

City lawyer Matthew Modafferi had told jurors that Jackson was out of control and resisting arrest, and should have counted himself "lucky" not to be charged with a crime ultimately.

"And we also know why he got lucky…he's a police officer right?" Modafferi told the jury.

But the jury rejected the argument, including the claim that Jackson was drunk. "That totally didn't happen," juror Lisa Gaeth of Queens told The News.

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2739 on: February 04, 2016, 02:22:28 PM »
Gruesome Dashcam Shows Slowly Driving Away From Cops is Punishable by Death by Firing Squad


Billings, MT — In January of 2015, two former Yellowstone County Sheriff’s deputies Jason Robinson and Christopher Rudolph opened fire on Loren Simpson and killed him as he attempted to flee their stop.

According to the police, Simpson matched the description of a suspect in an “allegedly stolen vehicle,” and had pursued him down a dead end road. During the officers’ attempt to block him in, Simpson veered to his left to avoid the deputies. However, Robinson, with an AR-15, and Rudolph, with a Shotgun, both opened fire, dumping 54 rounds within 5 seconds into the SUV and Simpson.

The rifle caused the fatal shot, striking Simpson through the back of the head and immediately paralyzing him, according to Thomas Bennett, associate medical examiner for the Montana and Wyoming, reported the Missoulian.

Likely knowing that they were going to be charged, both men resigned from the sheriff’s office just days after the shooting — as is standard protocol for officers attempting to avoid accountability.

For the last year, this story was swept under the rug as it was just another case of some loon attempting to run over cops and getting what he had coming. However, the dashcam of the incident was released this week, and it clearly contradicts that notion.

“I saw the front wheels turn in my direction,” Robinson said in a statement about the incident. “At that point, I knew he didn’t care he was going through me and he was going to kill me.” But the dashcam never shows the wheels coming at Robinson, and, in fact, it shows the exact opposite.



During the two-day coroner’s inquest, a use-of-force expert and former FBI special Agent Brian Kensel was brought in to help the jury understand that the officers’ only option was to fire 54 rounds into a vehicle that was driving away from them.

According to the Missoulian, Kensel testified the deputies were justified in their actions. He said the only thing that matters in the eyes of the law is that the deputies felt threatened in the moments before they pulled the trigger. Any actions leading up to that moment are a “smoke screen” distracting them from the matter at hand.

Sadly, the sentiment that the only thing a cop has to do to kill someone is “feel threatened” resonated with the court and on Wednesday, a jury bought the assertion of Kensel and found the officers justified in the killing of Simpson.

After the trial, the attorney for the Simpson family, Nathan Wagner said they are confident that the outcome of the civil case will be much different.

“We are confident that the outcome will be different when we are allowed to present the rest of the evidence and cross-examine the witnesses at the civil trial,” Wagner said. “We look forward to the opportunity to continue pursuing justice for the family.”

Below is the entire video from that cold January day. Watch it carefully and you will see how easily it is for police to kill – with impunity. Take note that at 5:30 in the video, the officer says, “he hit the gas and was coming right at us.” The deception had already begun.



More info:

Many Questions After Deputies Kill a Man


BILLINGS, Mont. (CN) - In a deadly abandonment of protocol, Montana sheriff's officers "essentially deputized" three teenagers to look for a car-theft suspect, then shot the man to death when they found him, his family claims in court.
Yellowstone County sheriff's Officers Jason Robinson and Christopher Rudolph killed 28-year-old Loren Benjamin Simpson on Jan. 8, shooting him with an AR-15 assault rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun as he drove along White Buffalo Road in Huntley, Mont., about 13 miles northeast of Billings.

"Robinson and Rudolph stood in the roadway, with their vehicle serving as a barricade or blockade, and waited for the vehicle they had been following to return down White Buffalo Road," the family says in the Oct. 16 complaint in Yellowstone County Court. "As the vehicle approached, Robinson and Rudolph opened fire."

Simpson was hit repeatedly, the car swerved into a snow bank and stopped, but Robinson and Rudolph kept shooting, the family says. Two weeks after the killing The Missoulian newspaper, citing "a document filed in Yellowstone County Court," said the sheriff's department claimed that the car Simpson was driving was "bearing down" on the officers so they opened fire.

 In the lawsuit, the family says the officers parked their squad car on a narrow plowed section of the snowy road, stood in front of it, leaving no room for passage anywhere, and opened fire on Simpson as he approached. According to the sheriff's department and The Missoulian, Robinson and Rudolph became stuck in the snow as they sought a purple Ford Explorer, so they asked three teenagers to push them free.
"Robinson and Rudolph flagged down three teenage residents of the area, ages 16, 14 and 14, who had just been let off the bus near the intersection," the complaint states.

The teenagers told the deputies the car would have to come back the way it had come, as it was a dead-end street, so the officers blocked the road and waited.
"Robinson and Rudolph then exchanged phone numbers with the 16-year-old boy, and sent the three youths up White Buffalo Road toward their residence with instructions to call the officers if they saw the vehicle the officers had been pursuing," the complaint states. "Robinson and Rudolph essentially deputized the three youths on the spot and enlisted them to go investigate a vehicle that the deputies suspected had been involved in a crime."

When the teens called the officers on a cell phone to say the car was coming, the officers took up their position in front of their car and shot Simpson to death, according to the complaint. The family says the road, covered about a foot deep in snow, had "multiple plowed driveways" nearby where the officers could have parked, so as not to stand in front of their own roadblock.
The Simpson's attorney Nathan Wagner, with Datsopoulos MacDonald & Lind, was not available for comment Monday and did not return a phone call or respond to an email on Tuesday.
The family seeks punitive damages for wrongful death, assault, negligence, civil rights violations, constitutional violations and loss of consortium. Simpson is survived by his mother, sister, brother and grandmother, all of them plaintiffs.

Citing a warrant application, The Missoulian reported that a purple Ford had been reported as a suspicious vehicle and as a stolen one, in separate reports. The family's complaint calls it an "allegedly stolen vehicle." Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder responded to questions in an email Tuesday afternoon.
"Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to discuss this matter since the case ... is still an open case and the inquest has not yet been scheduled," he wrote.
Yellowstone County Deputy Attorney Kevin Gillen said he could not comment on the case.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/10/21/many-questions-after-deputies-kill-a-man.htm

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2740 on: February 04, 2016, 04:09:02 PM »
He "feared for his life"..

Five years trimmed from sentence of ex-New Orleans cop who burned body of man shot dead by his colleague during Katrina aftermath

  • A federal judge reduced Gregory McRae's 17-year sentence to 11 years and nine months
  • McRae was convicted in 2010 of taking part in police cover-up of Henry Glover's killing
  • Another cop, David Warren, shot dead the 31-year-old man five days after Katrina hit 
  • McRae was found guilty of torching the victim's body in a bid to conceal the crime
  • Appeals court last year tossed out one of McRae's four convictions 
  • Warren was ultimately acquitted after testifying he feared for his life when he shot Glover
 

A former New Orleans police officer who torched the body of a man shot dead by a fellow cop in the chaos following Hurricane Katrina had his 17-year-sentenced slashed by more than five years Thursday by a federal judge.

But Gregory McRae, who was convicted in 2010, lost his bid for an even greater sentence reduction.

US District Judge Lance Africk trimmed McRae's sentence to 11 years and nine months because a federal appeals court last year tossed out one of his convictions related to the burning of 31-year-old Henry Glover's body four days after Katrina hit in 2005.

But Africk insisted that a stiff sentence was still warranted, saying McRae took part in 'a blue code of silence' following the shooting.

Africk rejected defense attorney Michael Fawer's argument, bolstered by a forensic psychologist's testimony, that McRae was mentally 'unhinged' on September 2, 2005, owing to four days with almost no sleep, pressure to help find and rescue people and horrific sights such as bodies floating in flood waters and dogs eating flesh from corpses.

Psychologist Rafael Salcedo said he believed McRae was suffering from the early onset of post-traumatic stress disorder by the time he burned the car containing Glover's body, and that it diminished McRae's ability to realize the action was wrong.

'Other first-responders with PTSD in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were not going around burning bodies,' Assistant US Attorney Jared Fishman said while questioning Salcedo.

Fishman said circumstantial evidence presented at trial indicates McRae knew that Glover had been shot by then-police officer David Warren and set his corpse alight as part of a cover-up.

Fawer said there is no evidence that McRae knew at the time that Glover was shot by a police officer.

Five people were indicted on charges connected to Glover's death and its aftermath. McRae, who has served five years and whose wife died while he was imprisoned, is the only one whose conviction still stands.

Warren was initially convicted on a federal manslaughter charge, but, while imprisoned, he won a new trial when an appeals court said he should have been tried separately from those charged in the cover-up.

Warren was acquitted after testifying he feared for his life when he shot Glover. He said he thought he saw a gun in Glover's hand as Glover and another man ran toward a building he was guarding.

An officer convicted of writing a false report on the incident had his conviction thrown out after new evidence surfaced. Two other officers were acquitted.

One conviction against McRae was tossed in 2013 but resulted in no sentence reduction. Last summer, a federal appeals court threw out McRae's conviction for altering or destroying 'any record, document, or tangible object' with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation, basing its decision on a recent Supreme Court precedent in an unrelated case.

McRae remained convicted on two other charges, neither of which directly deals with Glover's body. One is unreasonable seizure of the car, owned by a friend of Glover. The other is 'use of fire to commit a felony.'

'The facts behind your conviction deal with much more than the burning of an automobile,' Africk told McRae, who did not speak at the hearing. Africk said McRae's silence about the shooting long after Glover's death, and the destruction of Glover's body, which would have provided vital evidence, remained factors in his sentencing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3432425/5-years-trimmed-ex-cops-sentence-Katrina-body-case.html

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2741 on: February 05, 2016, 08:14:45 PM »
"Fraternal Order of Police".. Sounds more like criminal organization with police ties.

Cops take revenge on Florida woman who pulled over speeding officer - by tweeting photo of her 'drinking and driving a boat', posting her phone number to Facebook and revealing she has 14 motoring citations - including one two weeks ago

  • Miami Fraternal Order of Police union president Javier Ortiz blasted Claudia Castillo on social media for viral video of pulling over an officer
  • Ortiz shared several photos including one where she appears to be holding a beer while driving a boat
  • He also shared an image of her business card and directed people to call her and share their thoughts about the viral video
  • Castillo filmed officer Daniel Fonticiella moving quickly through traffic and her confrontation with him after he pulled over on January 29
  • Since 1998 Castillo has been cited at least 14 times for speeding, speeding in school zones, driving without a license and accidents
  • Her latest crash happened two weeks ago, as she is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol for the alleged reckless driving incident

A police union chief in Florida has taken to social media to blast the civilian vigilante who decided to give a police officer a piece of her mind on video after the Miami woman believed the cop was speeding.
Filming from her driver's seat, Claudia Castillo shot three videos total of Miami-Dade Police Officer Daniel Fonticiella moving quickly through traffic on Dolphin Expressway and her confronting him after he pulled over on January 29.

Javier Ortiz, the Miami Fraternal Order of Police union president, called Castillo out in several posts to Facebook and Twitter, including a photo that appears to be her in a bikini driving a boat while drinking a beer.
On the picture of her, Ortiz wrote: 'Nobody is above the law Except me when I'm driving.'

In another post that has since been deleted, he shared Castillo's business card with her phone number and wrote: 'Feel free to call Claudia Castillo at her cell and let her know drinking and driving on a boat isn't safe. #shesNOTaboveTheLaw #wesupportmdpd It's important that law enforcement is aware of this woman.'

Ortiz also shared an image of Castillo taken during an interview she gave with NBC Miami about the viral video.
He captioned the photo: 'Oh look, cop wannabe (sic) Claudia Castillo got cited for careless driving 2 weeks ago. Sounds like a #COPhater.'

Court records show that since 1998, Castillo has been cited at least 14 times for speeding, speeding in school zones, driving without a license and accidents, NBC Miami reported.
Her latest crash happened two weeks ago, as she is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol for the alleged reckless driving incident.

'To keep up with him I've had to push the limit and everything and I actually know he was going about 100mph because I was going about 80,' Claudia says in the video as she follows the officer.
Ironically, to catch the allegedly speeding officer Claudia herself had to speed about 20mph over the 60mph speed limit on the Dolphin Expressway.

Claudia says in the video at one point when she was able to catch up to him due to the highway congestion, she flashed her lights and honked her horn to get him to pull over.
Eventually when she does get him to pull over it's because he was worried she was having an emergency.

Fonticiella pulls over with his lights on and Claudia begins to lecture him about his speeding.
'The reason I pulled you over today and I'm asking you to come over and have a conversation is because I saw you, since Miller Drive when you were first jumping onto the Palmetto, and you were pushing 90 miles an hour,' Claudia says to Fonticiella in the video.
'Really?' OK,' he responds.
'You were pushing 90mph because I was going right behind you and you passed me.
'I was going like 35mph down Miller and you passed me like I was standing still,' she says continuing to reprimand the officer.

She begins to explain how she followed him from one highway to another and says: 'I was pushing 80 and I was still eating your dust and I just wanted to know what's the emergency?'
Fonticiella tells her he doesn't believe he was speeding and that he's 'on his way to work'.
He goes on to tell her she's 'entitled to her opinion' and that he was fearful she had an emergency, which is why he pulled over.
She replies: 'No everything's fine. It's just your speeding.'
The officer offers to give her his name and badge number, but she says no and continues to lecture him about 'being a leader in the community'.

She tells him she drives in the car with her boyfriend's son and she has seen other cops speeding.
The officer, appearing to want to move on, tells her to take care and be safe before going back to his vehicle and driving away. 

Miami-Dade's top cop praised Fonticiella for his professionalism but advised citizens against chasing down or pulling over law enforcement on Tuesday.
'The best way to denounce something, to launch a complaint against an officer, would be to just get the car number or badge and then call us and let us handle it,' Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez told NBC Miami.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3433965/Police-union-chief-blasts-Florida-woman-pulled-speeding-cop-social-media-bikini-photo-driving-boat-drinking-beer-posting-phone-number.html

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2742 on: February 07, 2016, 11:02:46 AM »
Missouri woman returning from a dream vacation is arrested and jailed for A WEEK in case of mistaken identity

  • Cynthia Cheesbrough was arrested on her way home from Cancun, Mexico
  • The 52-year-old spent five days in jail after security stopped her in Houston
  • She later found out she was mistaken for a woman with the same name
  • But Cheesbrough says authorities are refusing to compensate her for expenses incurred after her false arrest

A Missouri woman said her dream vacation turned into a ‘nightmare’ after she was arrested on her way home and jailed for almost a week in a case of mistaken identity.
Cynthia ‘Cindy’ Cheesbrough, 52, of Joplin, and her fiancé Jason Istas, 46, had been traveling home from Cancun, Mexico, when authorities in Texas stopped the couple.
She said she was stopped by airport security on April 24 after getting off the plane for a layover in Houston, where authorities arrested her.
Cheesbrough spent five days in jail for a crime she did not commit – an ordeal she described as ‘humiliating and degrading’ to the Huffington Post.
‘It was a nightmare,’ she told the website. ‘I was hysterical, shaking, dumbfounded and pretty angry.’

Authorities told her there was a warrant for the arrest of Cindy Bayless – Cheesbrough’s maiden name - for more than $1,000 worth of insufficient funds charges out of Farmington, Missouri.
‘I haven’t used my maiden name in 30 plus years, so I really wasn’t sure what was going on and I didn’t even know where Farmington, Missouri was,’ she told KMOV.

What Cheesbrough didn’t realize at the time was that an error about birthdates had meant she was confused with another woman who shared her first and maiden name.
Cheesbrough spent five days in county jail before Istas was able to secure her $3,500 bail and another two days in a hotel before a judge permitted her to travel.

She began investigating and figured out that authorities had mistaken her for someone else.
‘Her year of birth was 1972 and mine is 1962,’ she added to the Huffington Post. ‘They had mistakenly put a six instead of a seven in the computer, which caused my identification to be pulled instead of hers.’
But when calling authorities to explain the situation yielded no results, she took a five-hour drive to Farmington.
There, she learned that the charges against her had been dropped. But no-one informed her of this, she said.
‘I had to drive all the way there to find out and when I did, there was no apology – nothing,’ she added.

She says St Francois County authorities refuse to compensate her for the expenses she incurred after being falsely arrested.
Daily Mail Online has contacted authorities for comment.
But Jerrod Mahurin, the prosecuting attorney, told KMOV: ‘I don’t know a lot of details and it’s in the hands of the county’s insurance company.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3436084/Missouri-woman-returning-dream-vacation-arrested-jailed-nearly-week-cops-mistake-identity.html

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2743 on: February 09, 2016, 12:40:23 PM »
If the man saw an armed intruder break his door and he tried to defend his home and family would he be alive to tell his sorry or would he be dead, shot by the "heroes" who "feared for their lives". Why weren't these cops arrested on the spot (rhetorical question)?


Cops Spray Family’s Home with Bullets, Nearly Kill them All, Handcuff Child – Offer No Explanation

Ocoee, FL — A Florida man and his family are lucky to be alive after his house came under gunfire by police in the early morning hours on Saturday — but it was all a terrifying mistake.

According to the man, who asked to remain anonymous, he awoke around 1 am to pounding on his front door; but when he asked who was on the other side, no one responded.

Afraid his home was about to be burglarized, local ABC affiliate WFTV reported, the man retrieved his gun.

A bright light shone through the front door when he returned, and someone outside yelled “gun!”

Then the gunfire started.

According to WFTV, “Two bullets flew past the man’s head, and more bullets pierced walls and shattered glass windows, he said.”

He said he never returned fire, but he, his wife, and their 12-year-old son were forced to huddle on the ground until the gunfire finally stopped.

To add insult to the family’s terror at having been pulled from sleep and promptly fired upon, they were then handcuffed by Ocoee Police and seated on the curb outside — and weren’t allowed back into their home for 10 hours.

Why were the family members’ lives put in jeopardy by this gang-style shootout of their home?

According to WFTV, “he was told police officers mistakenly responded to the home after receiving a report of domestic violence.”

Ocoee police Sgt. Bob Rivera said, “Upon arrival, a person was confronted and shots were fired. The investigation is ongoing by the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement.” An FDLE spokesperson concurred, but refused to offer further details.

If police want any sympathy from the public for the supposed difficulties they face on the job, perhaps they should stop making such inexcusable errors — particularly when the consequences have the potential to end people’s lives.



http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-spray-familys-home-bullets-kill-all-handcuff-12yo-offer-explanation/

http://www.wftv.com/news/local/man-says-ocoee-police-mistakenly-shot-up-his-home/64826962

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2744 on: February 10, 2016, 09:45:22 AM »
How was this person allowed to serve in any law enforcement capacity?

Cop Never Fired After 2 Fits of Road Rage – On the 3rd Fit, He Shot a Lady in the Head for Honking

Houston, TX — It was recently revealed in court documents that a former police officer who shot a woman in the head during a road rage incident has a history marred with violence and anger issues.

Kenneth Caplan, a reserve deputy constable with Harris County Precinct 6, was charged last year with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after shooting a woman in the head during a fit of road rage.

The officer was reportedly driving on the 610 Loop at Stella Link when he cut off a 20-year-old woman who was also driving on the highway. The woman responded by pulling in front of him, and cutting him off. Next, the off-duty officer pulled up next to her car, pointed his gun directly to her window, and fired.

Now, the lawyer for the victim is saying that Caplan should have never been a cop to begin with and that the police department had many opportunities to see that he had anger problems.

“What sticks out is this was not an accident, this was an incident waiting to happen. First, when I read it, it was chilling,” attorney Steve Couch said.

“It’s a huge question mark, in my opinion,” he added.

Couch was referring to the former officers employment file, which shows that he had 21 different jobs in the past five years, 12 of which he was fired from for undisclosed reasons. He was fired from more than half of the jobs that he had in the past five years.

His time as an officer was also filled with disciplinary problems. In just two years working at Precinct 6, Caplan had five different anger-related complaints filed against him, including two road rage incidents. In one of the road rage situations, the Caplan threatened a mother and her three children. On another occasion, he got into a road rage squabble with another police officer.

Couch also suggests that Caplan was allowed to pass through police academy despite the fact that he was initially kicked out. Couch also said that the doctor responsible for giving the former officer a psychological evaluation may have not even done her job.

“I engaged a psychologist that said she (Busick) fell short of the standard in testing and evaluating Caplan if she tested him at all,” Couch said.

Caplan claims both that he shot the woman in self-defense and that he shot her by accident.

“She was trying to run us into a wall. She got shot. The gun went off but it was an accident. It was self-defense,” Caplan said.

Caplan also downplayed his sketchy work history, saying that he did not care about the jobs that he was fired from.

“When you have a job you don’t care about, you really don’t care if you get fired or not,” he said.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/officer-accused-road-rage-shooting-prior-anger-issues-cop/

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2745 on: February 10, 2016, 09:48:14 AM »
Sadistic Cop Forces K9 to Maul 59-Year-Old Woman Who Was In Custody – Then He Covered it Up

Trenton, NJ – Pulled out of her car and violently thrown to the ground during a traffic stop, a 59-year-old woman recently filed a federal lawsuit against the K-9 officer responsible for releasing his police dog, which attacked the unarmed woman while she was already in custody. Although the charges against the woman were eventually dropped, the K-9 officer has been charged with official misconduct, aggravated assault, false swearing, tampering with public records, and hindering his own apprehension.

On January 29, 2014, Tuckerton police Cpl. Justin Cherry and another officer responded to a residence where Wendy Tucker was reported as an unwelcome guest. After agreeing to leave, Tucker said she would take the bus home due to the fact that her license was suspended. But shortly afterward, Cpl. Cherry observed Tucker driving and attempted to pull over her vehicle.

Asserting that she was distrustful of the Tuckerton police officers, Tucker did not immediately pull over and instead drove to the municipal complex in Barnegat before stopping her car in the parking lot. While in the custody of Barnegat police, Tucker remained sitting in her vehicle when Cherry and other officers dislocated her left arm by roughly pulling Tucker out of the car and throwing her to the ground. Although Tucker was unarmed and not posing a threat, Cherry allegedly sicced his K-9 partner, Gunner, on her without justification.

After Cherry’s police dog reportedly took a bite of her right shoulder, Tucker was charged with eluding police, resisting arrest, and driving on a suspended license. The charges against her were later dismissed.

Last year, Cherry was charged with official misconduct, aggravated assault, false swearing, tampering with public records, and hindering his own apprehension. Instead of simply allowing Barnegat police to take Tucker into custody, Cherry has been accused of using excessive force and covering up his abuse by writing false police reports. Although the dash cam video from Cherry’s patrol car reportedly captured footage of the brutal incident, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato is fighting to keep the video suppressed.

While a cowardly panel of judges with the Appellate Division of Superior Court sits in silence, refusing to arrive at a decision, Coronato defends the blatant lack of transparency by stating that releasing the dash cam video to the public would deem it impossible for Cherry to get a fair trial. Video evidence cannot be excluded because it makes the defendant appear guilty. Especially when the defendant is a cop, and the prosecutor routinely works with police.

Despite the fact that Superior Court Judge Vincent Grasso ruled that the dash cam video was a public record that fell under the requirements of New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA), Coronato filed an appeal and refuses to release the footage of the attack to the public. By building a wall of secrecy, the police and the prosecutor have merely confirmed their reckless abandonment of justice and transparency. They have traded the public’s trust in order to defend an officer responsible for attacking a helpless woman without provocation.

Besides naming Cherry in her recent lawsuit, Tucker also accused Tuckerton Police Chief Michael Caputo and Barnegat Police Chief Arthur Drexler of failing to track complaints of excessive force by their officers or properly train them. She also blames the unidentified officers who witnessed the attack and did nothing to stop Cherry from using excessive force on her.

Cherry has filed a cross-complaint against the same police chiefs for any role they may have played in the damages suffered by Tucker. According to Cherry, he is not responsible for any injuries inflicted on the unarmed woman who was already in police custody when he ordered his dog to attack.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-sics-k9-59-year-old-woman-cover-brutality/

Skeletor

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2746 on: February 10, 2016, 09:54:09 AM »
Another celebrated "honorable hero"..

Retired Massachusetts Cop Charged with Stealing $400,000 from Evidence Room

In 2014, Massachusetts Police Detective Kevin Burnham retired after 43 years on the job with the Springfield Police Department.

Local media celebrated him as a dedicated cop who could have retired ten years earlier, but chose to stay on out of pure love for his job.

Now it appears as if he stayed on solely for the purpose of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the department’s evidence room.

Burnham, who was the narcotics evidence officer, is accused of stealing nearly $400,000 from December 2009 until July 2014.

He was apparently living  a comfortable retirement with that money along with his monthly pension before he arraigned last month in court on several counts of larceny.

He probably would have continued stealing money had an investigation not have been launched into the missing money in the summer of 2014, which was when he announced his retirement and was honored with a party.

According to an July 25, 2014 Mass Live article:

Dozens of colleagues, friends and family gathered in the department’s squad room at about 11:30 a.m. for the traditional pizza and cake farewell.

The 65-year-old Burnham beamed as he moved about the room, shaking hands and hugging all he encountered. He laughed often as he swapped jokes and stories with well-wishers.

Burnham, at 65, could have retired 10 years ago. He opted, however, to stay on another 10 years. “I really enjoyed coming to work,” he said. “It’s going to be hard not to answer the bell tomorrow morning at 5 o’clock.”

But on January 11, 2016, Mass Live wrote the following:

Kevin Burnham, a decorated and now retired Springfield police detective, pleaded not guilty in Hampden Superior Court on Monday to several charges relating to nearly $400,000 missing from the Springfield Police Department’s evidence room.

It was a stunning fall for the once-beloved police department veteran, who retired as its senior officer in 2014 after 43 years on the job. At the time, he passed along badge No. 1 along with his longtime responsibilities in the evidence room, over which many officers said he virtually lorded for decades.

The first signs of trouble – at least publicly – came several months after Burnham’s retirement party at police headquarters, where several of his colleagues lauded him as a “great guy” with an infectious laugh.

Burnham had a system where he would take money out of envelopes seized from suspects, then replace that money with either counterfeit money that was seized in other cases or real money that was seized from other other cases.

Meanwhile, lawyers whose suspects were found not guilty would ask for their client’s money back and the department would tell them the money is “unaccounted for.”

The money would be repaid only after years of legal wrangling but it’s not clear from where the money came from.

“The Defendant has made repeated requests upon the Springfield Police Department for the return of his currency and has been told they have been unable to locate it; the Defendant has now been deprived of his property for almost two years,” a motion Bongiorni filed with the court read.

In both his clients’ cases, the city Law Department issued checks despite the missing status of the cash.

“They did the intelligent thing and paid the money,” Bongiorni said during an interview at the time.

The city offered no explanation to Bongiorni as to where the money might be, however. When asked if he had been unable to recover money seized as evidence on behalf of his clients in recent memory, Bongiorni, who has practiced criminal defense law for decades, responded:

“This has never happened to me.”

Burnham has pleaded not guilty and is out on bond after giving up his passport, his guns. Read his indictment here.

Evidently, there is no surveillance camera in the department’s evidence room.

https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/02/09/retired-massachusetts-cop-charged-with-stealing-400000-from-evidence-room/

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2747 on: February 10, 2016, 02:36:48 PM »
Another criminal organization..

Ex-L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca to plead guilty in jail scandal, his attorney says

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ex-l-a-county-sheriff-baca-jail-scandal-20160210-story.html

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2748 on: February 12, 2016, 09:21:59 AM »
A Couple of Bad Apples? Nearly 4 Dozen Georgia Officers Arrested in Massive FBI Sting

Georgia — As part of an investigation and crackdown on extensive contraband smuggling, drug dealing, and other criminal activity within the Georgia Department of Corrections, 46 people — mostly current and former corrections officers — were arrested by the FBI on Thursday.

Indictments for those arrested have been handed down over the last three months. So far in the FBI’s sting, around 130 people have been taken into custody by authorities, reported local ABC affiliate, WJCL.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, John Horn, said the charges represent “staggering corruption within Georgia Department of Corrections institutions.”

Among those arrested were two civilians, one inmate, and according to CNN, five members of an “elite squad” called the Cobra Unit, whose job ostensibly involved dismantling drug rings inside the prison system.

Investigators found the accused officers had affected drug deals both inside and outside prison walls — including large quantities of cocaine and crystal meth — by exploiting the supposed impunity of their position in law enforcement. According to WJCL, the indictments state officers “agreed to wear their uniforms during the drug transports to deter law enforcement interference.”

Besides illicit drugs, investigators said smuggled contraband included liquor, tobacco, and cell phones — which are then used by inmates to commit wire fraud and identity theft.

Those phones comprise “a huge challenge for law enforcement,” explained special agent in charge of the Atlanta FBI office, Britt Johnson, to CNN. “After you chase down, arrest and prosecute criminals, and put them away for life, they continue to direct crime on the streets from their jail cells.” He also called the ability for inmates to communicate with the world outside prison to “intimidate witnesses and prosecutors” a “breakdown of the judicial system.”

After their arraignment, the arrestees were expected to be taken back into custody by the Federal Marshals to undisclosed locations in the state, pending trial.

What this case illustrates is the criminal incentive created by the war on drugs and the monopoly of power granted specifically to those tasked with carrying it out. Outlawing substances and then locking up people who choose to use those substances creates a concentrated customer base to be exploited by those in positions of authority.

If anything exposes the war on drugs as the massive failure that it is, it’s the fact that police can’t even keep drugs out of their own prisons.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/46-current-ga-dept-corrections-officers-arrested-sting/

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #2749 on: February 12, 2016, 09:24:17 AM »
Taxpayers Shell Out $100K to Parents After School Cop Tased 14yo Daughter for No Reason

Allentown, PA – The family of a teenage girl was recently granted a $100,000 settlement from their local police department after an officer used his stun gun on the girl for no reason. The incident occurred in 2011, when the girl was 14-years-old while she was attending Dieruff High School.

The settlement was to prevent the family from moving forward with a federal civil rights lawsuit which accused Jason Ammary of using excessive force on the young girl.

According to court documents, the officer was ordering students to clear a street near the school on the day of the attack, but apparently the victim, Keshana Wilson, was not moving fast enough. So, Ammary grabbed her arm from behind and pushed her against a parked car when she instinctively pulled away from him.

As she struggled to get away, Ammary fired his taser directly at her and she collapsed onto the street.

The entire attack was documented by the school’s security cameras, and even the police department could not defend the actions of the officer when the recordings were made public.

Wilson and Ammary both had different stories about what happened that day, the officer claiming that the victim was defiant and uncooperative, and the victim saying that the only reason she pulled away from the officer was because she could not breathe. However, Ammary has had a hard time keeping his story straight since filing the first report about the incident.

At first, Ammary had claimed in the police report that Wilson was planning to fight other girls and that he was attempting to break up a fight. However, he later testified that he had never met her and had no clue who she was until he walked up to her in the street.

“This factual inconsistency raises questions about whether officer Ammary believed Ms. Wilson was a threat to his safety when he first approached her,” U.S. District Judge Lawrence Stengel said.

“Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, a jury could conclude that officer Ammary used excessive force when arresting Ms. Wilson,” Stengel said.

“Given that seven officers were placed in city schools with Tasers, the department’s lack of guidance on what type of force may be used on children and teenagers and lack of guidance on when tasing juveniles was appropriate could amount to ‘deliberate indifference,’” Stengel concluded.

Allentown solicitor Susan Ellis Wild said that the city ultimately decided to settle out of court because they wanted to avoid paying lawyers fees.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/family-granted-100000-settlement-cop-tases-14-year-old-girl-reason/