@gamer00 Has Offered Me 1000 Steem if I Can Post 1000 Stories About Racist Policing in the U.S. (pt 7)

chalidore (54)in #news • 7 years ago

In 1991, a neo-Nazi white supremacist gang was terrorizing the streets of Lynwood in Los Angeles County. The reason these violent thugs could run amok was because they were deputies at the Lynwood Sheriff’s station, having the power of blue privilege. A federal judge acknowledged that the gang of deputies carried out “systematic acts of shooting, killing, brutality, terrorism, house-trashing and other acts of lawlessness and wanton abuse of power.” These maniacs were not the sudden appearance of a unique group of individuals among law enforcement, but the progeny of a decades-long effort by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) to infiltrate police departments wherever possible. That’s why it is so difficult to believe the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) when it said on Tuesday that there was no racial profiling in any of the 1,365 allegations leveled against the department from 2012 to 2014. “I don’t think anybody believes that there are actually no incidents of biased policing,” said Matt Johnson, president of the Police Commission panel. “The problem is we don’t have an effective way of really adjudicating the issue.”
A Florida deputy police chief was exposed as a member of the KKK last year, and no criminal wrongdoing was found as he resigned. In September, a Louisiana police detective was caught in a photo giving a Nazi salute at a KKK rally. An Alabama police officer recently spoke at a League of the South rally. While the South has been fertile ground for racist groups, the KKK has penetrated many police departments around the country, as evidenced by the Lynwood horror.
Larissa Moore and four of her law school colleagues performed an investigation of unsolved civil rights murders from 1946 to 1969, under a Syracuse University program, and confirmed an ugly truth. During the Civil Rights movement, one of the KKK’s first orders was to infiltrate police departments, “because the laws don’t apply to them if they are the law,” according to Moore. This echoes an FBI statement in 2006 that white supremacist groups “have historically engaged in strategic efforts to infiltrate and recruit from law enforcement communities.” The federal agency’s concern seems to be selfish, though, as it stated that the hate group’s actions cause “investigative breaches and can jeopardize the safety of law enforcement sources and personnel.” So far, the FBI has not reviewed any of the 37 cases sent to them from the program in which Moore is involved—The Cold Case Justice Initiative. Since the purview expires in 2017, there seems to be little chance that the FBI will take meaningful action.
September 1, 2015: The police chief of Lake Arthur, LA has demanded the resignation of a detective who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in 2014 when he attended an anti-immigration rally in North Carolina.
September 26, 2016 Jackson GA: A white officer said she was shot by a black man. Then her story started to unravel. Just after midnight Sept. 13, Officer Sherry Hall radioed for help. She had just been injured in a gun battle with a man in a cul-de-sac in Jackson, Ga. He was 250 pounds, she said, mentally disturbed — and black. Without warning, Hall said, the man stood up and fired his gun, shooting a round into her bullet-resistant vest. As she took cover, she said, he ran away. It was, seemingly, another unprovoked attack on a law enforcement officer in a summer full of them. In July, officers were targeted and killed in Dallas. A week later, it happened again in Baton Rouge. The shooters claimed the bloodshed was retaliation for the killing of black men by white law enforcement officers. Now, people were about to learn there was a cop-shooting black man on the loose in Jackson, a city of 5,000 where 41 percent of the people are black, according to the U.S. census. Hall stoked the fear during an interview with a local CBS affiliate. “For him to have such a disregard to human life really angers me and upsets me,” she said amid a manhunt for the man she had described. “If he’ll do this to an officer, how much more will he do to a citizen on the street.” She was grateful for her training, she told the station, and relieved to make it home to her three children. The shooting set residents on edge. “It’s a little bit scary, so hopefully they catch him really soon,” Jackson resident Stacey Patterson told ABC-affiliated KLTV. Shortly after, though, Hall’s story began to unravel. During three interviews, she told investigators that she didn’t turn on her patrol cruiser’s dash cam or audio recording device, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. But investigators pored over the equipment — even reaching out to the manufacturer — and recovered video and audio from a hard drive. They discovered numerous inconsistencies, including some with the physical evidence in the case. They interviewed Hall again, pointing out things that didn’t add up. “During this interview,” a GBI statement said, “Sherry Hall watched the video and at that time Hall stopped cooperating with the investigation.” [Illinois police officer whose death prompted a manhunt was killed in ‘carefully staged suicide,’ officials say] The probe shifted focus, from a still-unidentified 250-pound black man to the white officer who said she’d been shot.Particularly damning: She hadn’t told investigators about a second gun that was issued to her by the Jackson Police Department on July 1. Police haven’t said whether they believe Hall shot herself with the second gun, and they haven’t said what they believe motivated her. But they have said they weren’t looking for any suspects, and the city’s mayor called the incident a “ruse.” On Sept. 23, the GBI obtained arrest warrants for Hall. She’s accused of making false statements, tampering with evidence, interfering with government property and violating her oath of office. In Jackson, after Hall was charged, officials rushed to assure people that they weren’t in danger. “I am disappointed that anyone would cause such fears. For two weeks, the good people of the city of Jackson have poured out their hearts, expressions of concern and their support for what they believed to be a police officer, one of their own, harmed in the line of duty. I share their disappointment in what we now believe to be a ruse.” Before the charges were filed, she voluntarily booked herself into a private facility to seek help and will be arrested and booked into the Butts County jail once she is released from that facility, the AP reported. Her case will be brought before a grand jury, and she could face more charges, Milam said.
December 31, 2009 GAINESVILLE, Florida – A county jailer in Florida has been fired after telling investigators he was an officer of the Ku Klux Klan. An internal affairs report by the Alachua County Sheriff's Office says Detention Officer Wayne Kerschner defended the KKK as a faith-based organization. Kerschner told investigators that he blogged on a KKK Web site, attended a rally in Tennessee and paid dues to the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. He said his wife was also a member. Kerschner was fired Wednesday for violating a department ban on subversive or terrorist organizations. The KKK promotes the interests of white Americans, often with violence and intimidation.
January 5, 2016 Chicago, IL: Cop Responsible for the Torture of Over 200 Citizens, Tied Bags Over Heads, Called N****ers and Electrocuted Penises. The government has formally “apologized” to the victims and now it has agreed to throw some money at them — a mere $100k. Last spring, the City Council agreed to make Chicago the nation’s first major city to pay reparations 44 years after the first known instance of torture committed by Burge and his men. After Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the creation of a $5.5 million city fund for Burge’s victims, the former police commander condemned the decision by stating, “I find it hard to believe that the city’s political leadership could even contemplate giving `Reparations’ to human vermin.” On Monday, 57 of Burge’s torture victims each received $100,000 from the city of Chicago. Since a few victims had already received previous settlements, those amounts were deducted from their shares. Family members of deceased Burge victims were ineligible for financial reparations but were still eligible for non-financial reparations, including prioritized access to senior care services, health services, job training, small business assistance, and specialized counseling services. Besides formally apologizing and paying the reparations, the city has also agreed to begin teaching students about Burge’s legacy of corruption in Chicago’s public schools. Beginning this school year, eighth- and tenth-grade students will examine Burge’s crimes in U.S. History in regards to police brutality and the violation of constitutional rights. Officer Jon Burge was a police commander for over a decade in Chicago. The now-former Chicago police officer will be rewarded with a $4000/month pension despite the fact that he was found responsible for the false imprisonment and torture of as many as 200 citizens, mostly African American males. During his time as a commander, he oversaw a literal torture ring for innocent black people that his officers scooped up from the streets and framed. The torture used on these victims included electrical shocks, genital torture, suffocation, bludgeoning, and isolation, to name but a few techniques. Some of the techniques are so heinous we cannot repeat them here. Officer Burge was eventually sent to prison, but spent less than four years. Pictures of him walking out of the court house victoriously after being released and rewarded with a $4000-per-month pension have outraged the victims, who still bear the emotional and physical scars of what Burge did to them. Many of the victims are now reliving their nightmares as Burge was transferred to a comfortable halfway house in Florida. The terrorism and torture that he waged on Chicago’s southside spanned from the 1970s to the 1990s. Because of the statute of limitations, Burge was not fully punished for his actions, but only received four years for a charge of perjury, having lied about the torture he managed. Many of the victims have started to speak out on this travesty. You’d think that with all the attention the mainstream media is giving to police brutality lately, that they would be broadcasting this story every day and night. Instead it was briefly reported and then allowed to sink quickly down the memory hole. One of the victims who spoke out recounted how police under Burge’s command kidnapped him and took him to a police station where his family and friends could not be reached. Once in the police station, the officers tied a bag over his head. They then hooked up electrical devices to his body that would shock him. They began shocking him over and over again, suffocating him until he “confessed” to a murder he had never committed. Since police could not solve the case, they chose a random black person from the streets and tortured that person into confessing so that it would look like they solved it. The victim recounts how Burge screamed “don’t bite [n-word]!” as he was suffocating inside the bag. Burge also oversaw the electrocution of the victim’s penis repeatedly. “I need some help,” Holmes told a crowd of reporters at city hall yesterday, according to the Tribune. “I try to hold my emotions back because I don’t want people to see me like that. … My family has been through a lot.” After gaining the fake “confession” from him, Officer Burge saw to it that Holmes would spend the next 30 years of his life locked away in prison, torn from his loved ones. Since Burge’s capture and release, Mayor Rahm Emanuel officially apologized on behalf of Chicago. He called Burge’s torture ring a “dark chapter in the history of the city of Chicago.” “All of us,” he said, are “sorry for what happened.” And there you have it. Officer Burge gets rewarded with monthly cashflow, while the victims receive an “apology.”
August 22, 2014: Police Officer publicly states "I Kill Everybody, I Don’t Care." During the protests that have arisen from this debacle, a St. Louis County police officer roughly shoved CNN reporter Don Lemon and a crowd of protesters back from the spot on which they stood for hours–and that man turned out to be a bigger asshat than revealed simply by his conduct regarding the press and protesters. It turns out he firmly believes that President Obama was born in Kenya, gays and women are infiltrating the armed forces, at least four Supreme Court Justices are “sodomites,” and any laws aimed at creating equality are evil–Oh, and he looooooooooves to kill people! Officer Dan Page of the St. Louis County PD has not fared quite as well as Wilson once his bigotry was laid bare via the discovery of a video of his speech at an Oath Keepers meeting. “I flew to Africa, right there, and I went to our undocumented president’s home,” Page said in the video. “He was born in Kenya.” He told the group that he loves his Jesus, but he also loves to kill–something that did not sit well with his superiors. “I personally believe in Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, but I’m also a killer,” Page told the “patriots” in the crowd. “I’ve killed a lot. And if I need to, I’ll kill a whole bunch more. If you don’t want to get killed, don’t show up in front of me. I have no problems with it. God did not raise me to be a coward.” Page has been suspended and ordered to take a psychiatric exam, and County Police Chief Jon Belmar issued a public apology “to anybody that was offended” by Page’s comments. “He does not represent the rank-and-file of St. Louis County Police Department,” Belmar told Don Lemon in an interview on Friday.
March 2011 Jennings, MO: The Jennings Police Department was disbanded due to corruption and community outrage over racially biased policing. While news outlets and commentators have attempted analyze every action of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen shot to death six times in Ferguson, Missouri two weeks ago, we seem to know very little about his shooter, Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Wilson, who just months ago won a commendation in a Town Council ceremony, now remains under the police's protection and hasn't spoken about the incident. But as the public continues to search for answers, the Washington Post has published a report on Wilson's career, including a brief biography, that offers some insight into Wilson's past. According to officials interviewed by the Post, Wilson maintained a clean record, but the Post reports that his first job "was not an ideal place to learn how to police." He entered the police force in 2009, joining a nearly all-white, 45-member task force that patrolled Jennings, Missouri, a small, impoverished city of 14,000 where the residents were 89 percent African-American. The racial tension was high, and the police were accused of using excessive force against its residents. Racial tension was endemic in Jennings, said Rodney Epps, an African American city council member. “You’re dealing with white cops, and they don’t know how to address black people,” Epps said. “The straw that broke the camel’s back, an officer shot at a female. She was stopped for a traffic violation. She had a child in the back [of the] car and was probably worried about getting locked up. And this officer chased her down Highway 70, past city limits, and took a shot at her. Just ridiculous.” Police faced a series of lawsuits for using unnecessary force, Stichnote said. One black resident, Cassandra Fuller, sued the department claiming a white Jennings police officer beat her in June 2009 on her own porch after she made a joke. A car had smashed into her van, which was parked in front of her home, and she called police. The responding officer asked her to move the van. “It don’t run. You can take it home with you if you want,” she answered. She said the officer became enraged, threw her off the porch, knocked her to the ground and kicked her in the stomach. The department paid Fuller a confidential sum to settle the case, she said. The department also endured a corruption scandal. In 2011, city council members voted 6-1 to shut down the force and start over, bringing in a new set of officers. Everyone was let go, including Wilson, but he soon found a job at the Ferguson police department, where he has been since. Lt. Jeff Fuesting, who took over command of the Jennings force, assessed the problems of the former task force like this. “There was a disconnect between the community and the police department. There were just too many instances of police tactics which put the credibility of the police department in jeopardy. Complaints against officers. There was a communication breakdown between the police and the community. There were allegations involving use of force that raised questions.”
September 7, 2017 Seatlle, WA: How a Not Racist Cop Arrested a Man for ‘Walking While Black,’ Blamed It on Black People and Walked Away With $100,000. According to the new, reflexively defensive school of thought, it is not fair to call people racist. The proponents of this school of thought say that racist people believe others are inferior, and there is no way of knowing what the angry Caucasians in Charlottesville, Va., toting tiki torches, or people like Donald Trump, actually believe. Unless we can see what they feel in their hearts, they say we should not slander them with the term “racist.” There is no way of knowing what Seattle Police Officer Cynthia Whitlatch believes in her heart. All we can say is that Cynthia Whitlatch has done racist things. She posted numerous racist tirades to social media. She once arrested a man for “walking while black.” A judge awarded a black man more than $1 million after a jury found that Whitlatch violated his civil rights. But we must be careful not to paint Whitlatch as a racist cop because she is endowed with the privilege of innocent whiteness. On July 9, 2014, not racist Cynthia Whitlatch was patrolling the Capitol Hill area of Seattle when she spotted William Wingate walking around the area with a golf club. Because William Wingate is black, he is not afforded the same presumption of innocence as Whitlatch. Because William Wingate is black, Officer Whitlatch assumed that the golf club was probably a weapon. Even though Wingate was 69 years old. Even though Wingate was using the golf club as a walking cane. Even though he took the same walk to pick up newspapers, with the same golf club, every day. No, dear reader, William Wingate was probably up to something. Whitlatch immediately got out of her car and yelled at the elderly Air Force veteran to drop his club. She repeatedly asked him to do it, but Wingate kept telling her that he couldn’t hear her. He instead asked her what was going on. She said the golf club was a weapon. He told her he’s been walking with it for 20 years. He said he would never use it to hurt anyone and asked her to “call somebody.” Then, not racist Cynthia Whitlatch said that she saw Wingate swing it at someone. She said he also hit a stop sign with it. She said she had it on video and audio. Another officer arrived on the scene, called Wingate “Sir” and asked for the club. Wingate politely handed it over. Then they arrested Wingate, handcuffed him and took him to jail, where he spent the night. Whitlatch never saw Wingate swing the golf club, but she wrote it up in her report. She let authorities file charges against Wingate for unlawful use of a weapon. She let him hire a lawyer. It was only after Wingate got in contact with state Rep. Dawn Mason that the police even acknowledged that footage of the arrest even existed. Mason is black, and police figured she’d make it one of those “Black Lives Matter” issues, so, of course, they wouldn’t let her see the video. Instead of getting loud, Mason left and came back with two white women. “I just took some white women into the precinct with me,” said Mason, “who know they have privilege and know they can make a difference.” They let them see the video. Cynthia Whitlatch might not be racist, but Cynthia Whitlatch is a liar. The video did not show Wingate swinging a club. She would later say that she knew he swung it because he “looked angry.” Wingate eventually sued the city of Seattle, and a federal jury awarded him $1,278,479.85, according to the Seattle Times. More than a year after making her false arrest of Wingate, the Seattle Police Department fired Whitlatch for biased and overly aggressive policing. Whitlatch still believed that she was fired because she was white. So Whitlatch fought her firing, costing taxpayers even more money than the $1.3 million the city had already paid. Last week the city announced that it had reached a settlement with Whitlatch. She was now unfired for her not racist actions. Instead, the city decided to put her down as “retired,” allowing her to collect her retirement, pension and ... OK, you’re not going to believe this part: The city gave Cynthia Whitlatch money. A lot of it. The city awarded her $105,000 in back pay. Yes, Whitlatch was fired for cause, after a jury inside a courtroom found her guilty of basically practicing racism, and she still received money for not working. And that’s how Cynthia Whitlatch falsely accused a black man of a crime he didn’t commit, was caught in a lie, blamed it on black people and made six figures doing it. I cannot call her a racist, but I know what is in Cynthia Whitlatch’s heart.
November 15, 2016 Austin, Texas: Two officers were suspended for inappropriately impeding an activist who was recording them in the performance of their duties. One officer was suspended 10 days and the other officer was suspended 20 days
April 10, 2017 Los Angeles, CA: Now-former Sheriff Lee Baca was found guilty of obstruction of justice for trying to hide various civil rights violations that were happening at the jail and within his department. Ten other officers, including Undersheriff Paul Tanaka, were convicted and sentenced to prison terms for beatings of inmates, general jail conditions, and hiding information from the federal government.
April 7, 2017 Glassboro, New Jersey: The police department is being sued by a man who claims he was falsely arrested, assaulted by an officer and repeatedly bitten by a K-9 while riding his bike through a park. The man was a college athlete and judo instructor—the police say it was a mistaken identification. They were looking for a black 13-year-old boy suspected of drug crimes.
November 8, 2016 St. Paul, Minnesota: An officer who was fired for his use of excessive force that led to a $2,000,000civil settlement was reinstated by a labor arbitrator.
April 5, 2017 San Francisco, CA: An officer was fired after sending an anti-Muslim text message.
April 10, 2015 San Bernardino County, CA: Two deputies pled no contest to lesser charges for beating a man on live television after a chase on a horse. The County previously settled a lawsuit in the case for $650,000.
February 29, 2016 Iberia Parish, Louisiana: The sheriff’s department faces two civil suits alleging abuse following the guilty pleas and sentencing of several deputies for jailhouse beatings and other misconduct. The sheriff was acquitted in his criminal trial, during which his former deputies testified against him.
March 23, 2016 Kissimmee, Florida: Two now-former officers take plea deals in a perjury case regarding a bad arrest. Video evidence undermined the sworn statements of the officers and the case against the suspect was thrown out. As part of the deal, they must testify if called in a third officer’s trial for the same charges.
March 30, 2017 Brunswick, Georgia: An officer was arrested for making threats against a man who was appearing in an assault case against the officer’s relative. The officer was in uniform at the time of the alleged incident.
March 31, 2017 Wayne County, Ohio: A deputy pled guilty to aggravated assault against a jail inmate. The original sexual battery charges were dropped in exchange for the plea.
For my 420th story, I thought it would be appropriate to post a piece on the racist origins of marijuana prohibition. There are thousands of articles, and millions of lives ruined, just from this one single aspect of the systemic and institutionalized racism in United States policing. Harry Anslinger, the father of the war on weed, fully embraced racism as a tool to demonize marijuana. As the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, a predecessor to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Anslinger institutionalized his belief that pot’s “effect on the degenerate races” made its prohibition a top priority. Here are just a few of his most famous (and most racist) quotes: “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.” “Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.” Between Anslinger’s ruminations on the need to keep marijuana away from minorities — especially the entertainers! — were countless other fabrications about the health effects of pot. It was “more dangerous than heroin or cocaine” and “leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing,’’ he claimed. “If the hideous monster Frankenstein came face to face with marijuana, he would drop dead of fright,” Anslinger declared in a line that underscored the type of extreme anti-marijuana hysteria that served as a catalyst for the 1936 propaganda film “Reefer Madness.” Anslinger was also a liar. As the drug war got going in the early 20th century, the bureau published surveys showing its efforts to combat drug use had led to dramatic declines over the decade of the 1920s. But drug historian David Courtwright, through a Freedom of Information Act request, got his hands on the actual surveys and found the data to have been fabricated. He also found a private memo from Anslinger admitting the numbers were made up. Nevertheless, Anslinger used that success to argue for an expansion of the drug war to weed in 1937. Meanwhile, states throughout the south began implementing drug laws as part of the explicitly racist Jim Crow system, with southern lawmakers being quite open about the racist motivations behind the laws. Sure, this was more than 75 years ago, but how much has actually changed today? The feds have stripped Anslinger’s offensive language from their official mission statements, but we are left with anti-drug policies that are hardly less racist in their application. According to a 2013 study by the American Civil Liberties Union, blacks across the nation were nearly four times more likely than whites to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession in 2010, despite data that suggested they use the drug at about the same rate. In some states, blacks were up to six times more likely to be arrested. This disparity isn’t new, and plays into broader arrest data: A study published in the journal Crime & Delinquency this month found that by the age of 23, nearly 50 percent of black males have been arrested, compared to 44 percent of Hispanic males and 38 percent of white males. In all, around 750,000 people are arrested for marijuana each year, with more than 650,000 of them for possession alone. (The U.S., of course, incarcerates a higher percentage of its population than any other nation in the world.) As Tressie McMillan Cottom writes in Slate, these commonplace arrests for simple marijuana possession have rippling effects, especially in minority communities. Anyone convicted of possession or sale of a controlled substance under federal or state law forfeits their eligibility for any [federal] grant, loan, or work assistance, meaning that a dimebag could cost a hopeful teen his shot at an affordable higher education. And though the anti-marijuana hyperbole of the “Reefer Madness” era may no longer be believable today, our current anti-drug policies remain bolstered by arguments that have little, if any, factual basis. According to federal authorities, marijuana fully deserves its current standing as a Schedule I substance, alongside heroin, LSD, ecstasy and a “Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas”-length list of inorganic -dines, -mines, -dols and -ates. By definition, then, the government considers marijuana to have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” It is among the “most dangerous drugs of all … with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.” Opponents regularly cherry-pick studies that support these conclusions about weed, while simultaneously ignoring others that may counter them, or at least lead to further questions about whether marijuana is accurately scheduled. Anti-pot crusaders also stubbornly insist that it is a “gateway drug,” despite countless studies that have been unable to prove any direct causation between using weed and trying harder drugs. Regardless of what individual studies have found, the fact of the matter is that the federal ban on marijuana has discouraged the type and volume of research that will likely need to be done before any absolute conclusions can be made about weed. Until then, very little is certain — except for the racial undertones of the war on pot.
March 28, 2017: ICE Agents Shoot Unarmed Legal Resident in His Home. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot Felix Torres, a 53-year-old Chicago man, on Monday morning in his home that he has lived in for 30 years. Officials alleged in a statement that ICE was at Torres’ home in an attempt to make an arrest when someone pointed a weapon at agents, leading to the shooting, according to NBC Chicago. Felix’s daughter Carmen told DNAinfo she was sleeping with her 1-year-old daughter when agents burst through the front door. “They didn’t say anything. They just came in and pointed pistols in our faces and dragged us out,” Carmen Torres said. “We didn’t even have time to dress or grab milk for the baby.” Standing outside the home in sweatpants and slippers Monday morning, Carmen Torres denied that her father had pointed a gun at the agent before being shot. “It’s a lie when they say he was holding a gun. He doesn’t even own a gun,” Carmen Torres said. “They shot my dad. They shot him, and I don’t know why.” Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) was also highly critical of the raid. “ICE’s guns blazing raid on a northwest side home filled with sleeping kids is exactly why the City of Chicago should refuse to collaborate with ICE. ICE routinely violates the American people’s constitutional rights,” Ramirez-Rosa said in a statement. “This guns blazing ICE raid deepens my resolve to organize my community so we can keep each other safe from the threat posed by ICE. A City Council committee last week unanimously approved a resolution to renew Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city, meaning that city police would not help federal officials find and deport undocumented immigrants.
March 28, 2017: Judge decries 'lousy leadership' of Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office in sentencing seven former deputies. Seven former deputies who agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in a broad federal probe of abuse and coverup in the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office were sentenced yesterday in a case that missed its main target: Sheriff Louis Ackal. Ackal was acquitted at trial last year, but 10 of his deputies admitted to wrongdoing, and some of them agreed to take the witness stand to testify against their former boss on allegations that Ackal oversaw a department tainted by a culture of abuse. The seven deputies sentenced Tuesday received prison terms ranging from six months to more than 4 years behind bars. It was a task that clearly pained U.S. District Judge Donald Walter, who lamented that poor decisions by a few officers can tarnish the image of a noble profession. "In over 30 years on the bench, I have never liked sentencing, and these are the worst," the judge said. "... The best I can say is you had lousy leadership. I'm restrained to say anything further." The stiffest sentences were handed down in the cases of former narcotics officers Byron Benjamin Lassalle and Bret Broussard, both of whom received prison terms of four-and-half years. The sentences of the other former deputies were: Wade Bergeron, 48 months; David Hines, 40 months; Jason Comeaux, 40 months; Jeremy Hatley, 36 months and Robert Burns, six months. The trial is pending for an 11th deputy who did not plead guilty, Mark Frederick, and three of the deputies who pleaded guilty had their sentencing hearings delayed because they are possible witnesses in the pending case. Most of the seven deputies sentenced on Tuesday were accused of participating in inmate beatings at the Iberia Parish jail or roughing up suspects on the street. Some admitted to lying or altering records to cover-up the abuse. In testimony at last year's trial, deputies said it was all done at the direction of Ackal, who prosecutors alleged was physically present while at least one inmate was beaten during a 2011 contraband sweep at the Iberia Parish jail. When recalling the incident at Ackal's trial, Comeaux said Ackal pointed to the inmate and said, "I'm the f****** sheriff, and I want him taken care of," before following deputies into the chapel and looking on during the assault. "He was the boss and he ordered it and he came in with us," Comeaux said. Deputies talked of routinely being called on to "clear the streets" in some neighborhoods, roughing up anyone who was not inside their home. One group of deputies admitted getting drunk and beating up two young black men for no reason. Incident reports were doctored to cover up abuse. Internal affairs records were destroyed. Lassalle admitted making an inmate mimic oral sex on his baton and then striking the man with his baton during the 2011 contraband sweep at the jail. He also admitted to repeatedly striking another inmate as he knelt on the chapel floor. At the sentencing hearing on Tuesday, he pleaded for leniency. "All the good I did at the Sheriff's Office was ruined once I obeyed Sheriff Ackal's orders," Lassalle said. Prosecutor Mark Blumberg told the judge that despite the abuse he dished out, the former deputy's cooperation was key in the investigation. "He took on a role to bring some daylight ... to what was a very dark place at the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office," Blumberg said. Ackal, who was elected to a third term in 2015, denied any wrongdoing in the case, pointing the finger at a group of rogue deputies who operated beyond his control and lied to supervisors to cover-up their tracks.
March 29, 2017 New York, NY: The officer who fatally shot Ramarley Graham, an unarmed black teen, resigned in lieu of termination after an administrative trial for the incident.
March 16, 2017 Walker, Louisiana: An officer who was suspended for three days for placing a noose in the squad room to be found by black officers has resigned. The matter has been turned over to another department to investigate possible criminal charges.
July 27, 2015 Tukwila, Washington: A now-former officer was sentenced to nine months for pepper-spraying a handcuffed man while he was in the hospital
October 20, 2014 Chicago, IL: Laquan McDonald was shot by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke from approximately ten feet away. After investigation, Officer Van Dyke was charged in November 2015 with first-degree murder and initially held without bail at the Cook County Jail. He was released on bail on November 30. The city reached a settlement with McDonald's family.
March 21, 2017 Allentown, Pennsylvania: A now-former officer pled guilty to three counts of assault and one count of official oppression for beating two men and kicking a handcuffed suspect in the head. He is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
March 14, 2017 Columbus, OH: OhioHealth has put three of its protective service officers on suspension while the healthcare company investigates an incident between the officers and man at Grant Medical Center was caught on tape and widely spread on social media. The officers arrested Shelton Adams, 38, for disorderly conduct, but the woman who shot the video questions why. "The way they handled that situation, it should not have been handled that way," said Mellena Jackson. "It could have been completely different." She said she was compelled to record the incident after seeing the officer follow Adams out and hearing him say, "Leave me alone.'" The video shows the officers pushing Adams and one officer extending a retractable baton. At that point Adams flicked his cigarette towards the officers, prompting one officer to use pepper spray on Adams and then to tackle him. Any conversation between the officers and Adams is inaudible on the video. A spokesman for OhioHealth said the company began an investigation as soon as this happened last night and that the officers were placed "on a fact-finding suspension." Ohio Health Protective Services is a police agency with full law enforcement powers. The video has been seen more than half-a-million times on Jackson's Facebook page and shared more than a thousand times. "People need to see this," said Jackson. "People abuse their power and it seems like they're above the law."
March 10, 2017 Faulkner County, Arkansas: A former Faulkner County sheriff’s deputy was found guilty of battery Friday. Eugene Watlington, 43, of Vilonia was charged with third-degree battery, a Class A misdemeanor that is punishable by up to one year in jail with a $2,500 fine, after video footage that was released following the May 4, 2015, high-speed chase from Mayflower to Conway indicated he used excessive force on a suspect.
Fort Collins, Colorado: The City settled a lawsuit with a man who was pepper sprayed, illegally removed from his house, and wrongfully arrested for refusing consent to a search and unlawful orders. The officer allegedly asked a civilian who was on a ride-along to come into the home and help restrain the man. The settlement was for $150,000.
March 14, 2017 Greeley, Colorado: The City agreed to pay an immigrant woman $150,000 who sued after her acquittal for prostitution. She claimed the arresting officer lied about an ‘inappropriate’ massage at her parlor. The detective at the heart of the case has since left the department.
March 10, 2017 Kenner, LA: A former Kenner police officer was arrested Friday (March 10) for allegedly stealing money and wallets belonging to Hispanic men the officer had arrested during traffic stops. Jan Michael Gregory, 32, will be charged with five counts of malfeasance in office, two counts of felony theft and three counts of misdemeanor theft, the Kenner Police Department said. Kenner police initiated their investigation into Gregory in February, while he was still employed by the department. He resigned Feb. 22, immediately after being confronted with evidence that he had stolen money from Hispanic men he arrested for driving without a license. A subsequent search of a gym bag inside Gregory's police vehicle revealed two wallets that were later linked to Hispanic men he had arrested. Detectives later identified five Hispanic men Gregory arrested between Dec. 19, 2016 and Feb. 5, 2017, all of whom reported Gregory stole their money and wallets after pulling them over, police said.
February 23, 2017 Los Angeles, California: An officer is being sued by a 13-year-old boy whom the officer shot at while off-duty in Anaheim. The incident was captured on video that went viral and sparked protests in the area.
434)March 13, 2017 New York, NY: An NYPD officer has been convicted of lying about a 2014 arrest in Washington Heights. Jonathan Munoz was found guilty of all counts in the indictment against him, including two counts each of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree and official misconduct, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced Thursday. The 33-year-old cop unlawfully arrested a man and illegally searched a woman in addition to filing false documents to conceal the circumstances of the man's arrest. "Police officers have one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the world, and they are tasked with carrying out their sworn duty to protect with the utmost honesty and integrity," said Vance. "These tenets are critical to maintaining public confidence in law enforcement authorities and our criminal justice system as a whole."
March 8, 2017 Owasso, Oklahoma: A now-former officer was acquitted of excessive force for beating a suspect with the butt of a shotgun. The incident was captured on dashboard video. This was his second termination and prosecution for excessive force. He was reinstated with back pay by a labor arbitrator after his last acquittal. The department reiterated its rationale for his termination as a result of the present case.
February 17, 2017 New York, NY: Two officers were charged for lying to make a bogus cocaine arrest. An innocent man spent 50 days in Rikers. This is the second such case against these officers from the gang unit.
March 7, 2017 ROCKLEDGE, Fla. - A former Rockledge police officer who is accused of shooting a teenager while responding to a burglary call has been arrested on an attempted manslaughter charge, according to the state attorney's office. Cpl. Nicholas Galluzzi was put on administrative leave following the Dec. 1 shooting and then resigned Dec. 19. An officer-involved shooting is investigated in Rockledge. Rockledge officer shoots 17-year-old during burglary call, police say. In that incident, Galluzzi was following two teens accused of breaking into cars. The teens' car crashed and one boy ran out, while the other surrendered and exited the car with his hands above his head, police said. Galluzzi ordered the 17-year-old suspect to get on the ground and extend his hands above his head. The teen complied, but Galluzi shot him seconds later, according to the arrest affidavit. Galluzi claimed the boy reached, but his body camera proved that the suspect was complying with all the demands, officials said.
February 28. 2017: A San Antonio police officer was suspended for 10 days in December after he made "racially insensitive and derogatory" jokes while responding to an assault between a woman and man, the latter of whom was issued a ticket for a non-existent crime because the officer wanted to "f--- him over so he [didn't] talk s--t or call and complain." Ofc. Hector Gallardo was served a contemplated suspension on Oct. 4, 2016, which he served from Dec. 6 to 15 without pay. He is still employed with the department. According to his agreed suspension file, Gallardo responded to an assault call in the 7900 block of Pipers Creek on July 17, where he met a man and a woman who had been dating for about six months. "During Officer Gallardo's investigation of the incident, the male offered to show Officer Gallardo a video claiming there was proof that he was assaulted by the female, but Gallardo did not view the evidence," according to the suspension file. He then issued the man a citation for a non-existent crime, "fighting." He also issued a citation for a misdemeanor "that did not occur within his presence or view." "I figured we'd f--- him over so he doesn't talk s--- or call and complain on us," Gallardo told another officer at the scene, according to body camera footage. Gallardo also made "racially insensitive and derogatory statements" about the people involved in the alleged assault, bringing "discredit to himself and the department," according to the suspension.
July 24, 2016 West Linn, Oregon: An officer was fired for a Facebook post that referred to Black Lives Matter protesters as “target practice.”
May 20, 2015 Las Cruces, New Mexico: The City settled a lawsuit with a man who was beaten in his jail cell by two now-former officers for $400,000.
February 22, 2017: Milwaukee officers' use of "stop-and-frisk" is racially motivated and unconstitutional, the Wisconsin arm of the American Civil Liberties Union alleges in a lawsuit announced Wednesday. The suit alleges the department, led since 2008 by Chief Ed Flynn, has targeted tens of thousands of people without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, and at the detriment of police-community relations and in violation of the 4th amendment to the United States Constitution. "Rather than feeling protected, these residents feel that they're under siege," ACLU attorney Jason Williamson said. Preliminary data shows significant disparities between police stop rates for white people and for black and Latino people, the ACLU said. The lawsuit represents lead plaintiff Charles Collins and five others who claim they've been victimized by the policy. Collins, 67, said he's been pulled over by police several times without justification, and he recalled a 2014 incident in which an officer pulled him over, asked to see his driver's license and checked for weapons. He said he was never told why he was stopped. "There's an anxiety in me when I go out," he said. "My eyes are always poised to see if there's a policeman in my vicinity. ... I'm on edge." The ACLU has challenged similar police initiatives in Boston and Chicago over racial-profiling concerns. New York halted its stop-and-frisk policy in 2014 after a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional.
February 17, 2017 Chicago, IL: Chad Robertson was running from Amtrak police Feb. 8 when one of the officers fatally shot him near Union Station, prosecutors said Friday. The officer, 31-year-old LaRoyce Tankson, appeared in bond court Friday on charges of first-degree murder. His bail was set at $250,000. According to prosecutors, Robertson and two other people arrived in Chicago on a bus from Memphis about 8 p.m. on Feb. 8. The three began smoking marijuana outside Union Station, 272 S. Canal St., as they waited for a bus to Minneapolis, slated to leave at 9:45 p.m. Tankson and his partner found the three about 8:30 p.m. and let them go with a warning, Assistant State's Attorney Ahmed Kosoko said in court Friday. But moments later, after one person retrieved luggage from inside the station, Tankson and his partner stopped the three again, prosecutors said. The officers began to pat them down, and Robertson took off running. At that point, Kosoko said, Tankson pulled his gun, crouched down and fired a single shot toward Robertson — striking him in his shoulder. Robertson fell to the ground, motionless, authorities said, and died from his wound a week later. According to prosecutors, Robertson was not armed, and police never found a gun on the scene. Defense attorney Will Fahy on Friday argued that Tankson was scared for his life and acting in self-defense when he shot Robertson that night. According to Fahy, Robertson had reached for something in his pocket and turned toward Tankson as if he had a gun before Tankson opened fire. Fahy said police found a small bag of marijuana near Roberston's body. Robertson's relatives, who have filed a lawsuit against Tankson and Amtrak, slammed Fahy's version of events Friday. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. As a young black," sister Nina Robertson said before cutting herself off and collecting her thoughts. "How many times are they going to keep being able to do this to us? How many times are they going to keep saying that that was why they're killing us? It's wrong." Nina Robertson said her brother was most likely afraid of the officers: "I'd run, too." "They shouldn't be able to shoot people for running away," Leroy Taylor, Robertson's father, said before expressing anger at Tankson's $250,000 bail. "That's ridiculous. I think it should've been millions," Taylor said. "I think that's ridiculous that they let him out for so little money when he murdered my son. My son ran away. He did not stop and turn around. Why would he stop and turn if he was running? ... [Tankson] killed my son, and he should be in jail." According to Fahy, Tankson is married to a firefighter and has three young children. He's been an Amtrak officer since 2015. According to Nina Robertson, her brother was a devoted dad and loving person who liked to draw and work with his hands. "He was taken from us," Nina Robertson said, "and we are confident that we will get justice. We are glad today that [Tankson] was charged. We know we will get justice, and that this is just the beginning." An attorney representing Robertson's family said Robertson was unarmed and had not committed a crime when Tankson shot him. Robertson had been traveling home to Minneapolis after going to Memphis for a family funeral when his bus stopped for a layover in Chicago. Robertson went to Union Station to stay warm, family said, but he and a friend were asked to leave. The lawsuit contends Tankson was "very disrespectful, aggressive and called them 'motherf---ers' several times." Robertson and a friend walked to a nearby restaurant to stay warm and saw the officer and his partner had followed them, according to the lawsuit. The officers stopped and began searching Robertson and his friend, the lawsuit says, and the officer was again "very aggressive, disrespectful and again used a great deal of profanity." Robertson feared for his life and ran away, the lawsuit says, at which point Tankson "calmly dropped to one knee, removed his gloves, unsecured his weapon and aimed it in the direction of Mr. Robertson's back." Robertson was shot in his back while he was less than 30 feet away, the lawsuit says. Prosecutors in court Friday estimated the distance to be 75 to 100 feet. Tankson did not give commands before shooting his weapon, according to the lawsuit, only saying, "It's a gun out. It's a gun out." The bullet lodged in Robertson's spine, his family said after the shooting, and he was paralyzed in the days before his death. Amtrak in a statement Friday said it was cooperating with Chicago Police and the State's Attorney's Office.
February 15, 2017 Nashville, Tennessee: An officer was fired for social media posts about the fatal shooting of Philando Castile in Minnesota. The Chief said the posts were so bad that they discredited the officer.
July 8, 2016 Memphis, TN: Two Tennessee police officers have been disciplined for a potentially offensive social media post. The two unidentified Memphis Police officers were suspended Friday for a picture on Snapchat showing a white person pointing a gun at a cartoon of a young black person.
February 16, 2017 Providence, Kentucky: A patrolman resigned after an FBI investigation into alleged racial profiling.
February 7, 2016 Pennsylvania State Police: A trooper is on trial for assault and official oppression. He was video recorded kicking a handcuffed activist and subsequently lying in his official statement.
February 15, 2017 Jackson, Mississippi: An officer was fired after a cell phone video showed him knee a handcuffed suspect in the head.
January 27, 2016 Marion County, Florida (First reported 01-27-16): A now-former deputy was acquitted of state battery charge for actions during a 2014 arrest that was caught on video. He was acquitted of federal civil rights charges for the same incident last year. Four other now-former deputies pled guilty to charges and testified against him.
February 14, 2017 North Charleston, South Carolina: A deputy who was fired for excessive force was charged with third-degree assault and battery for an on-duty incident. This is the same community that is preparing for the retrial of its former officer Michael Slager for fatally shooting Walter Scott in the back. In both cases, the officer was white and the citizen was black.
February 9, 2017 Chicago, IL: The Independent Police Review Authority is calling for the firing of an officer linked to the shooting of Darius Pinex. IPRA is recommending that Raoul Mosqueda, the Chicago Police officer involved in the shooting of Pinex, be fired for lying about the events that led to the shooting. The mother of Darius Pinex says she is overjoyed right now. She says the IPRA report is what she has been fighting for six years. Now she wants Chicago's police department to officially fire Officer Raoul Mosqueda. A January night in 2011, when Chicago Officer Raoul Mosqueda shot and killed Darius Pinex during a traffic stop that turned deadly. The Independent Police Review Authority has released this report, concluding that the officer "was not justified in initiating the traffic stop of Subject or treating the stop as a high-risk encounter." For years, Pinex's mother, Gloria, has called for the officer to be fired. "I was thrilled, I was overjoyed... I'm just happy. He is finally going to get what he deserves. That's it, that's all," said Gloria Pinex, mother of Darius Pinex. Gloria Pinex was recently upset after learning that Officer Mosqueda was appointed to become a field training officer. Again, she called for him to be fired. The IPRA report states the officer lied three times about the deadly traffic stop - "he willfully gave three materially false statements" - it concludes. Now Pinex wants police to follow through. "That's my concerns that they follow through on it, you know. And I don't have to fight them tooth and nail. I've been fighting tooth and nail for 6 years," said Pinex. On Thursday, a Chicago Police spokesman said the department will review the IPRA findings. "If the IPRA findings are true and he lied, he will be fired," said the CPD spokesman. The video released on Thursday does not show the actual shooting. A spokesman for CPD said that their legal department is reviewing it and that it will ultimately be the superintendent's decision if the officer is fired. In January 2016, a federal judge accused a City Hall lawyer of hiding evidence in the fatal police shooting of Pinex and tossed out a jury's ruling in a wrongful death lawsuit that the shooting was justified. The city settled a lawsuit in December from Pinex's family for more than $3 million.