COPS behaving badly

[RTH10260]

Kalamazoo police tight-lipped about why family's home was torn down after police standoff
by Trisha McCauley | News Channel 3Wednesday, November 10th 2021

The home where the suspect barricaded himself during the standoff is demolished.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A Kalamazoo mother and her five children are without a home after police demolished their house during a standoff.

The latest: Kalamazoo police chief says deadly standoff decisions 'prioritize lives before property'

Police said a suspect took over the family's house and barricaded himself inside for more than 16 hours before police shot and killed the man.

Community members watched as the family's home in the Edison Neighborhood was torn down on Tuesday.

Neighbors said they wondered why the family, who had nothing to do with the standoff, had to lose everything.

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety is not saying why the home was destroyed.




https://wwmt.com/news/local/kalamazoo-p ... e-standoff

[RTH10260]

KDPS chief defends police tactic that demolished home
By LEONA LARSON • 19 HOURS AGO

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety is defending its decision to demolish a home in the Edison neighborhood to encourage a gunman to surrender. Instead of surrendering, police say the man, who was in a 16-hour standoff with Kalamazoo officers, died by suicide.

In a news conference on Thursday, November 11, the department described the tactic, called “porting,” as using machinery to force open doors and windows, and knockdown walls, so a suspect can be easily located without sending in officers and putting them in harm’s way.

Alex Rawles, 35, of Kalamazoo was armed with an assault rifle when he barricaded himself on the second floor of a home on Washington Avenue. Rawles didn't live there but knew the tenant’s boyfriend and had been sleeping at the home for several days when police came to arrest him on Monday, November 8. He was wanted for for the attempted murder of an ex-girlfriend’s sister.

“Our community has experienced multiple tragedies in the last week,” said Public Safety Chief Vernon Coakley. He apologized for the delay in addressing public questions and criticism about the incident. “A woman was shot multiple times, a man lost his life, and a family lost their home and belongings as many officers were fired upon.”




https://www.wmuk.org/post/kdps-chief-de ... ished-home

[RTH10260]

Why completely destroy building and not let owners recover their belongings?

[p0rtia]

Boys and their toys.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elijah-mcc ... wsuit/#app

Elijah McClain's family settles lawsuit with Aurora, Colorado, over police confrontation

McClain was walking home from a convenient store when someone called 911 saying they saw someone acting suspiciously. Police arrived and arrested McClain moments after talking with him. Paramedics injected him with ketamine in order to subdue him.

McClain repeatedly told officers he was on his way home and didn't mean anyone harm. He was not armed.

McClain didn't stop when officers told him to, later telling them he had his music on and couldn't hear them. Officers claim McClain resisted arrest, and that he attempted to take one of their guns. Body camera footage does not capture evidence of McClain reaching for their guns.

McClain suffered a heart event on the way to the hospital and was taken off life support days later.

[Volkonski]

[RTH10260]

[LM K]

She is a psychopath.

One of the jobs most attractive to psychopaths is law enforcement. This doesn't mean law enforcement is teeming with psychopaths. But psychopaths are attracted to the career.

Montoya punched Esparza 8 time, with 7 punches being to the head. Esparza was 6 months pregnant. Montoya restrained Esparza on her belly on concrete. While Esparza was on her belly an officer (not sure which one, but likely Montoya) raises Esparza's arms in the air towards her shoulders, pushing Esparza further into the concrete.

San Antonio Police officials have released body-worn camera footage showing one of its officers repeatedly punching a handcuffed pregnant woman before leaving her in the street in heavy rain.


“She shouldn’t be on any police force”
Records show Montoya and other officers were dispatched to the 1200 block of San Luis Street, just west of downtown, on July 5, 2018, around 4 a.m.

The footage from Montoya’s camera obtained by the Defenders starts as she attempts to search a barefoot Esparza in the street.

Less than 30 seconds after the clip begins, as the two women struggle, Esparza tells Montoya that she is hurting her baby.

Montoya then accused Esparza of stealing, taking drugs and not caring about the baby’s well-being.

After Esparza tells Montoya she is hurting her arm, Montoya replies, “Good. Are you going to stop?”

Esparza, still struggling and yelling, is then placed on the ground on her stomach.

Montoya tells Esparza that if she kicks her again the officer will break her arm.

Esparza is then picked up and, as Montoya attempts to secure her in the back of an SAPD patrol vehicle, another struggle between the two women ensues.

Footage from the body camera of Officer Joshua Vega, who was standing behind Montoya, shows Montoya reach into the vehicle and deliver a flurry of punches as Esparza screams and struggles.

Vega was later suspended two days for muting his body-worn camera during portions of the incident, SAPD discipline records show.

Montoya begins to repeatedly claim that Esparza kicked her a second time.

Esparza is pulled from the vehicle and again put on the ground, while still in handcuffs.

At one point Esparza asks, “Why did you hit me like that?”

Montoya answers, “Because you deserve it.”

Montoya was issued an indefinite suspension by SAPD Chief William McManus months later, in January 2019. The documents state that Montoya did not treat Esparza humanely and also muted her body camera at the scene while not permitted to.

The documents also state that Esparza was left on the ground in the rain for 26 minutes, after Montoya had punched her once in the breast and seven times on her head.

The footage shows Esparza eventually being checked out by medical personnel in the back of an SAPD transport van.

“An officer like Elizabeth Montoya should not be on our police force. She shouldn’t be on any police force,” said Carolyn Wentland, Esparza’s criminal defense attorney, in an interview with KSAT.


Prior to muting her camera, Montoya is heard at the scene telling other officers that Esparza is fine and faking her injuries and that she punched her in the face because she could not punch Esparza in her side.

Esparza can be heard weeping throughout much of the footage.


All charges were later dismissed, court records show.

Wentland, who agreed to represent Esparza after being contacted by a family member, said the resisting arrest and assault charges were dismissed soon after the prosecutor in the case was able to view Montoya’s body camera footage of the incident.


Wentland also took issue with Montoya’s actions at a hospital, while Esparza was being examined after being taken into custody.


At one point while at the hospital Montoya says, “(Expletive) load of bulls---. She’s probably high on drugs.”

Asked for comment, SAPD’s public information office released the following statement via email:

“Chief (William) McManus moved swiftly to terminate Elizabeth Montoya’s employment once he became aware of the allegations. The Department also criminally investigated Montoya’s actions and forwarded the criminal case to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.”


Esparza was not the only suspect on the receiving end of on-duty violence from Montoya, SAPD records show.

Years earlier, in September 2015, Montoya was suspended five days after an internal investigation determined she kicked a handcuffed man in the stomach while he was lying on the ground and then placed her foot on his neck.

The man had been pulled from a patrol vehicle after kicking and damaging a rear window in it, records show.

Montoya was suspended for violating SAPD rules pertaining to responsibility to serve the public and for stopping her body camera while not permitted to.


An SAPD spokeswoman confirms Montoya was criminally investigated for the 2015 incident and the findings were forwarded to the DA’s office.

The Defenders could find no record that Montoya was ever criminally charged.


The same week Montoya received her 2019 indefinite suspension, she was suspended 10 days for a separate incident in August 2018 involving her interactions with the public.

After encountering several people sleeping in the parking lot of a store in the 300 block of N. Zarzamora Street, Montoya told one of them, “Pick up all your (expletive) trash... I don’t want to (expletive) hear it... I’ll (expletive) Tase you,” her suspension paperwork states.

Montoya is scheduled to go before a third-party arbitrator in early December in an effort to get the indefinite suspension reversed, city officials confirm.

I'm stunned Montoya is trying to get her job back. I wonder what the union thinks of all of this. They have to back her up.

I don't expect Montoya to be reinstated.

Body cam footage of Esparza's very violent arrest.

[RTH10260]

Sewall's Point police officer accused of sexual misconduct with minor

BY JASMIN HURTADO
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24TH 2021


SEWALL'S POINT, Fla. (CBS12) — A Sewall's Point police officer has been arrested and accused of sexual misconduct with a minor.

On Tuesday, the Sewall’s Point Police Department was notified that Officer Juan Garcia was the subject of a criminal investigation by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office regarding alleged sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old minor.

The Martin County Sheriff's Office arrested Sewall's Point police officer Juan Garcia on four counts of solicitation of a minor and one count of traveling to meet a minor. (WPEC)

The Martin County Sheriff's Office arrested Garcia late Tuesday afternoon on four counts of solicitation of a minor and one count of traveling to meet a minor.

news video

► Show Spoiler

[RTH10260]

KCPD Det. Eric DeValkenaere found guilty in death of Cameron Lamb

By: Tod Palmer
Posted at 1:15 PM, Nov 19, 2021 and last updated 12:43 AM, Nov 20, 2021

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, police detective who shot and killed Cameron Lamb on Dec. 3, 2019, at his residence in the 4100 block of College Avenue has been found guilty.

Jackson County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Dale Youngs announced the verdict Friday, a week after Det. Eric DeValkenaere’s four-day trial wrapped up on Nov. 12. It was a bench trial, so no jury was seated and Youngs alone ruled on the case.

A Jackson County grand jury indicted DeValkenaere in June 2020 and he was charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action, which are both felonies.

Friday, Youngs announced the court found DeValkenaere guilty of both the lesser charge of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action.

Youngs' ruling focused largely on whether or not DeValkenaere and his partner had a right to be on the property.

Determining they did not, Youngs said the pair were the initial aggressors and escalated a situation which had previously deescalated. As police officers, Youngs said, the detectives had a duty to retreat from the interaction.



https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/kcpd-de ... meron-lamb

[RTH10260]

a TYT report and comments

[Chilidog]

OK. This one is bad.

Tucson.

A man in a mobility scooter is suspected of shoplifting.

Heads away from the cop. Won't stop.

Shot 9 times in the back and killed.

[LM K]

Tucson police officer fired after fatally shooting man in a wheelchair, officials say

A Tucson police officer was fired Tuesday after video captured him fatally shooting a man in a motorized wheelchair, officials said.

The video, released by the Tucson Police Department, shows portions of the fatal confrontation between Officer Ryan Remington and a man in a wheelchair identified by police as Richard Lee Richards, 61.

The video shows a combination of three camera views of the event on Monday: a Walmart parking lot security camera, a police body camera, and a Lowe's security camera. Two of the videos show the fatal shooting of Richards as he is rolling away from officers through the Lowe's parking lot. Playing throughout the video clips are portions of police radio communications.

Richards had been accused of stealing a toolbox from the Walmart when an employee contacted an off-duty Tucson police officer who was working a special duty assignment at the store, according to a statement from Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus.

Remington, an officer for four years in Tucson, joined the Walmart employee in the parking lot and followed Richards while "attempting to gain his cooperation," the police chief said in a statement.

"According to the employee, he caught up with Mr. Richards outside as he fled the store and asked to see a receipt for the toolbox. Instead of providing the receipt, Mr. Richards brandished a knife and said, 'Here's your receipt.'"

Magnus said that Remington wanted Richards to stop and to surrender his knife.

"Mr. Richards refused to comply, and instead continued to head through the Walmart and Lowe's parking lots," Magnus said.

"According to the Walmart employee, Mr. Richards said, 'If you want me to put down the knife, you're going to have to shoot me.'"

A second officer arrived on the scene to assist Remington.

Both officers were a short distance behind Richards when they warned him not to enter the store, the chief said.

The video shows Richards beginning to enter the Lowe's when Remington tells him, "Do not go into the store, sir." Seconds later, the officer begins shooting Richards, who slumps over and falls out of his chair and onto the ground.

Remington fired nine rounds, striking the man in the back and side, according to Magnus.

"His use of deadly force in this incident is a clear violation of department policy and directly contradicts multiple aspects of our use of force training," Magnus said. "As a result, the department moved earlier today to terminate Officer Remington."


A clip of Lowe's security camera footage shows Richards lying on the ground immediately after being shot, as the officer appears to be pulling his hands behind his back to handcuff him.

Remington was the only officer that discharged his weapon, according to Magnus.

Medical care was called to the scene "but a short time later Mr. Richards was declared dead," the police chief said.

Magnus said the incident will be reviewed by the Pima County Attorney's Office.

Attorney Michael Storie, who is representing Remington, told CNN that the "selected clips" presented at the news conference were only half the story.

"In any of these types of things, if you cut and paste a video, it will not properly lay out the officer's impressions and state of mind leading to a decision to employ force of any kind," Storie said.

Shooting at approx 1:10.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

"I didn't have a choice." -I anticipate the accused officer to say this, just likeTravis McMichael. The mindset that the gun solves problems is bewildering to me.

[LM K]

"I didn't have a choice." -I anticipate the accused officer to say this, just likeTravis McMichael. The mindset that the gun solves problems is bewildering to me.

Yep. He was obviously afraid for his life.

That cop flat out murdered Richards. He just kept shooting and shooting and shooting.

If I were that officer, I'd take a plea deal ... IF the state would accept one.

[LM K]

WaPo

A Tucson police officer shot a man in a wheelchair 9 times, killing him. The department is moving to fire him.

On Monday evening, Richard Lee Richards rolled his motorized wheelchair toward the entrance of a Lowe’s in Tucson as a police officer trailed behind with his gun drawn.

Moments earlier, an employee at a Walmart that shares a plaza with Lowe’s had alerted the officer that he saw Richards make off with a toolbox without paying, according to police. The employee and the police officer, Ryan Remington, followed Richards through the parking lot toward Lowe’s. At one point, Richards brandished a knife at the employee, police said.

“Do not go into the store, sir,” Remington yelled as Richards moved toward the Lowe’s entrance and another police officer, Stephanie Taylor, arrived at the scene with her gun drawn, according to body-camera footage of the incident.

Then, seemingly without warning, Remington closed in from behind Richards and fired nine shots at the 61-year-old at close range, the video footage shows.

Richards was struck in the side and back, police said, and was later pronounced dead.

On Tuesday, Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus told reporters that the department had “moved” to terminate Remington. He added that the Pima County Attorney’s Office is reviewing the incident.

“To be clear, I am deeply troubled by Officer Remington’s actions,” Magnus said. “His use of deadly force in this incident is a clear violation of department policy and directly contradicts multiple aspects of our use-of-force training.”


Mike Storie, a lawyer for Remington, did not return a request for comment from The Washington Post late Tuesday. In a statement to the Associated Press, he said Remington “had no non-lethal options.”

"He did have a [Taser], but in his mind, he couldn’t use it because he didn’t feel he had the proper spread to deploy it, with the wheelchair between him and Richards,” Storie said.[/color]


Just before 6 p.m. on Monday in Tucson, the Walmart employee noticed Richards leave the store without paying for a toolbox, Magnus said at the news conference. The employee followed Richards into the parking lot and asked if he had a receipt. According to Magnus, Richards then waved a knife at the worker and said: “Here’s your receipt.”

The Walmart employee alerted Remington, who was on a security assignment at the store, Magnus said. The employee and the officer trailed Richards as he rolled through the parking lot toward Lowe’s, and Remington ordered Richards to drop the knife, the chief said.

“If you want me to put down the knife, you’re going to have to shoot me,” the Walmart employee recalled hearing Richards say, according to Magnus.

As Richards approached the Lowe’s entrance, Taylor joined Remington, and both followed Richards, ordering him not to enter the store. When Richards continued toward the entrance, body-camera footage shows Remington approached Richards’s left side and fired nine times, according to surveillance and body-camera footage the police department released. Magnus said Richards was struck “in the back and side.” Taylor, whose body-camera footage was released, did not fire her gun.

Richards fell out of his wheelchair in front of a flower display, and then Remington handcuffed him, the footage shows.


Brick P. Storts III, a lawyer who represented Richards in the immigration case, noted the man’s criminal history to the New York Times, telling the paper that Richards used a wheelchair because of a hip replacement and other physical problems. Storts called the shooting of Richards “horrifying and over the top.”

A Tucson Police Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about the process by which Remington can be fired. The department told KGUN that Remington was served with paperwork indicating intent to terminate him in seven days. Remington can challenge the firing in civil court, the station reported.

Since when are cops on "security assignment" at private businesses?

And the officer thought he didn't have "enough spread" to deploy his taser? Was it impossible for Remington to create better spread?

Remington was pissed off that he had to chase a wheelchair bound suspect through a parking lot. He was pissed off that a man in a wheelchair wouldn't obey. That's why Remington shot Richards 9 times.

[Patagoniagirl]

My.Bro often did private duty at private businesses. Bank, movie theater, traffic control at churches, and at a brewery. In uniform.

[sugar magnolia]

Pretty much every cop I've ever known worked side jobs. They work everything from armed store security to directing church traffic on Sunday to doing parade duty. Most of them make as much or more from the cash jobs as they do in salary. As long as the specific job is approved through department channels they can be uniformed.

[neonzx]

9 bullets into a wheelchair-bound 61 year old. Sounds reasonable.

[Chilidog]

9 bullets into a wheelchair-bound 61 year old. Sounds reasonable.

Well, when your last name is Remington....

[Chilidog]

Sadly, there will be those who will support Remington.

[Chilidog]

That poor Walmart employee was lucky she wasn't hit.

[Atticus Finch]

9 bullets into a wheelchair-bound 61 year old. Sounds reasonable.

It was also reasonable that Remington handcuffed him afterwards. You don't want a suspect with nine bullets in his body crawl away.

[Foggy]

Hay nao, he had to shoot him nine times to soften him up a bit. Easier to handcuff him that way.


If a skateboard can be a deadly weapon, I'd hate to think how dangerous that motorized wheelchair is.

[sugar magnolia]

9 bullets into a wheelchair-bound 61 year old. Sounds reasonable.

It was also reasonable that Remington handcuffed him afterwards. You don't want a suspect with nine bullets in his body crawl away.

Actually, handcuffing him was about the ONLY thing he did that followed protocol.

That pause between the 8th and 9th shots....I have no words.