California beating highlights distrust of police (by RTAmerica)
Published on May 26, 2013
The beating of David Silva, a father of four in California’s central valley, garnered national attention after it was reported that deputies took away the cell phones of people who witnessed the confrontation between Silva, and Kern County Sheriff’s deputies. Sheriff Donny Youngblood announced that the cause of death was hypertensive heart disease. Critics say law enforcement is trying to cover up their deadly deed, and now the FBI is involved.
epidemic.
Just about…
Santa Ana, CA: Cops Intimidate Man For Filming.
If you don’t think we’re already living in a police state, get your head out of the sand. Know your rights, and never let fascist pigs like these intimidate you.
Dayton police "mistook" a mentally handicapped teen-ager's speech impediment for "disrespect," so they Tasered, pepper-sprayed and beat him and called for backup from "upward of 20 police officers" after the boy rode his bicycle home to ask his mother for help, the boy's mom says.
Agents of the State are just benevolent angels here to protect and serve. Call me crazy, but the last thing I want is to grant these people more power. This took place about 10 minutes from my house for fuck’s sake.
(via beatyourselfup)
DALLAS - News 8 (WFAA) has obtained exclusive video that appears to show a Dallas Police officer may have lied about being assaulted by a driver.
Officer Eric Watts said he spotted a teenager drag racing last April.
So, he followed the driver, without his lights and sirens, going more than 60 miles per hour.
At one point he drove down the wrong side of the road to catch up with the driver and then activated his emergency equipment.
He told supervisors the driver, “smiled and burned off.”
The dash camera video showed officer Watts got out of his car, draw his weapon and attempt to stop the driver.
That is when he said in a police report that the driver, “… drove over my right foot, causing pain and struck me in the midsection along my gun belt with his driver’s side mirror.”
Later on in the tape you hear him joke about it with other officers. “Well he got my foot (chuckles).”
The suspect eventually stopped on his own. Watts arrested him for aggravated assault of a police officer and evading arrest.
When supervisors looked at the tape, it clearly showed Officer Watt’s was not hit because the car appeared to be too far away to have touched the officer.
Internal affairs investigators said Watts lied and he could be fired because of it.
A grand jury is also looking at charges of official oppression.
The suspect was charged with evading arrest, but the aggravated assault charge was dropped.
(via beatyourselfup)
Police Chief Used His Position To Get Women To Perform Oral Sex On Him, Pissing On Graves
A sordid story of sex and lies are at the heart of the criminal complaint. Prosecutors say Larson used his position as chief to leverage sexual favors while he was on duty and lied to investigators.
According to the complaint:
Larson engaged in conduct “very disturbing and sexual in nature” with a woman in the village park on April 21.
Later that month, a confidential informant working with the West Central Drug Task Force said she had been touched and sexually propositioned by Larson while he was on duty.
In two other instances, Larson was on duty when he approached women in a sexual manner or made sexual references to them. Another witness said Larson encouraged her to drive after she had been drinking to rendezvous with him at the village park.
Investigators learned in September that Larson had oral sex performed on him three times by another woman who “felt obliged to perform Larson’s request due to the fact he was a police officer.” This occurred in a store that was open for business in downtown Readstown.
At first, Larson lied about having oral sex with the woman but later admitted the acts to investigators and provided details to “verify the credibility of the information,” according to the complaint.
Larson’s inappropriate behavior wasn’t limited to sex, investigators said.
One witness described an incident when Larson witnessed three people drinking alcohol during a birthday celebration in the Readstown Village Park. According to the complaint, a woman in the group said she had to use a restroom, and Larson led them to the cemetery in Soldiers Grove so she could urinate behind a headstone. The group continued drinking, and the person celebrating the birthday said “he would never forget this birthday as he was partying with a cop.”
The complaint also lists numerous times when Larson told witnesses not to tell people that he had witnessed their illegal behavior or asked people not to report his behavior.
Larson is charged with two felony counts of misconduct in public office. The six misdemeanor counts include two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, three counts of disorderly conduct and one count of obstructing an officer. The two felony counts each carry a maximum penalty of 3 ½ years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
A Cook County judge today ruled the state’s controversial eavesdropping law unconstitutional.
The law makes it a felony offense to make audio recordings of police officers without their consent even when they’re performing their public duties.
Judge Stanley Sacks, who is assigned to the Criminal Courts Building, found the eavesdropping law unconstitutional because it potentially criminalizes “wholly innocent conduct.”
St Louis MO police sued after 9 witnesses claim cop shot an unarmed man and continued to shoot him to death while he laid on the ground bleeding then planted a gun to cover it up
ST. LOUIS • The mother of a man fatally shot by an undercover St. Louis police detective in 2010 has sued in federal court here, alleging the officer continued to fire as her son lay on the ground dying, then planted a gun on him to claim the use of deadly force was justified.
Normane Bennett, 23, was shot June 25, 2010, in an alley behind the 3900 block of Sherman Place after he fled from police who tried to arrest him and others for alleged drug activity.
[…]
Wasem’s actions were unanimously cleared by the police board. The department on Thursday declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
A Post-Dispatch review earlier this year found the department cleared all but four of 117 officer-involved shootings over the last five years. The reviews are done with little outside scrutiny, the newspaper found.
[…]
The federal lawsuit claims the police board “turns a blind eye to use of excessive force by its police officers.” It seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
Police Use Innocent Citizens’ Cars For Make-Shift Road Block. Civilian Cars Destroyed, Officer Says “Hope You Have Good Insurance”
Some motorists are considering suing the District after police officers used the citizens’ vehicles as a roadblock to stop a speeding driver.
On February 2, a chase began during the evening rush hour in Prince George’s County and ended in Northeast D.C.
Maryland State Police say they got calls from drivers about a black Lincoln Navigator pickup driving erratically on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near Maryland State Route 212. Troopers began following the vehicle southbound on the Parkway to inbound Route 50/New York Avenue, at which point D.C. police joined the chase..
Police then stopped traffic at the intersection of Florida and New York Avenues NE, not far from Capitol Hill.
“The police cars blocked off the intersection and they just told us to wait,” said Rochelle Smith, whose vehicle was damaged.
According to several motorists, they waited in their cars for more than 10 minutes. Police allegedly did not tell them why they were stopped.
However, several motorists had heard reports of the chase on the radio and knew it was heading their way.
“Then, all of a sudden, police came in a panic and they told us to get out of our cars,” said a driver. Within seconds, the motorists saw the truck heading toward their parked cars.
Police used citizens’ vehicles to stop the driver. When it was over, six vehicles were damaged, all while the owners of the cars watched helplessly from the sidewalk.
At the time, one police officer allegedly told a motorist, “Hope you have good insurance.”
“The truck hit the cars and then panic started,” said motorist Mustafa Khan.
According to a police report, the truck plowed through the first car.
There were no injuries reported and the driver was apprehended.
(via beatyourselfup)
ACLU sues Baltimore police for deleting videos off cell phone
The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland (ACLU) on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore City Police Department on behalf a man whose personal videos were deleted after he filmed officers subduing and arresting a woman.
The lawsuit alleges Christopher Sharp was detained and harangued by police officers after he recorded the arrest. He handed over his phone to officers after being told to surrender it as “evidence.” Once the cell phone was in the officer’s possession, they deleted the video of the arrest and all other videos contained on the cell phone.
(via deus--ex-machina)
