COPS behaving badly

[keith]

TV series "Yellowstone" dramatized that event. Only it wasn't a black guy getting killed, it was a white supremacist if I recall correctly (and I probably don't).

[RTH10260]

Judge releases names of 17 California police officers accused of sending racist texts, memes

TheGrio Staff
Mon, April 10, 2023 at 7:46 PM GMT+2

FBI agents discovered the texts last month after searching the residences and seizing the phones of several Antioch officers amid a probe into allegations of fraud, bribery, drug distribution and civil rights breaches.

The names of 17 California-based police officers suspected of using racist epithets, jokes and memes in text conversations are now public information.

According to the East Bay Times, Contra Costa County Judge Clare Maier issued a warning before disclosing the names, saying the communications’ foul nature could “incite further hate or racial animus.”

However, she contended that the California evidence code should not be used to protect information about the texts, including the Antioch police officers’ identities. Maier said the inflammatory communications started in September 2019 and continued until January 2022, when FBI agents seized the officers’ phones and other items.

“I’ve had my eye on Antioch for a long time,” civil rights attorney Adante Pointer said Friday, according to the Times. “This is proof-positive what people who have been watching Antioch already knew — that it is full of officers who do not deserve to wear the badge.”

The roster of embattled officers includes Rick Hoffman, the head of the Antioch Police Association. Hoffman — who has frequently criticized Antioch mayor and police reform advocate Lamar Thorpe — is one of at least eight Antioch officers on leave because of the texts. Six other officers whose alleged criminal activity is already being looked at by the FBI — Devon Wenger, Eric Rombough, Andrea Rodriguez, Calvin Prieto, Morteza Amiri and Tim Manly, who has resigned — are also listed.

While Maier did not specify what each officer sent out, she described the messages as “deeply disturbing” and directed toward “members of the Black and Hispanic community.”

Investigators accused Rombough, Manly and fellow officers Jonathan Adams, Scott Duggar, Joshua Evans, Robert Gerber, Brock Marcotte and Thomas Smith of mentioning four alleged Oakland-based ENT gang members in texts sent over a 10-day period in March 2021, when Antioch police were eavesdropping on the suspects’ phones.




https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-releas ... 39881.html

(original:TheGrio)

[RTH10260]

KS cops ‘chased’ elderly man for driving 3 mph over limit then tased him, lawsuit says

Luke Nozicka
Wed, April 12, 2023 at 1:30 PM GMT+2

An 80-year-old man filed a lawsuit this week against an eastern Kansas sheriff’s office for allegedly tasing him without warning after officers pursued him for driving 3 mph over the speed limit.

In his federal lawsuit, John Sigg said a lieutenant with the Iola Police Department in Allen County on April 16, 2021, clocked him driving 38 mph in an area where the speed limit was 35 and decided to give “chase.”

Multiple police vehicles followed Sigg for a few minutes as he drove to his family’s car lot, although he did not realize he was “the subject of the pursuit,” his attorney wrote. He parked, got out and was surrounded by officers from several agencies.

Two Chanute police officers pulled their guns on Sigg, according to the lawsuit. Looking “quizzically” at them, he raised his hands, which can be seen in a screenshot of body-camera footage of the incident.

“Get on the f—ing ground,” a now-former deputy with the Allen County Sheriff’s Office yelled, according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District of Kansas.

Without warning, the deputy used a Taser on Sigg — even though the manufacturer of the TASER X2 warns about using it “on the elderly,” his lawyer wrote. Sigg dropped “like a rock,” his attorney said, and cut his head.

“Sigg mumbled and was hard to understand,” his Wichita attorney, Randall Rathbun, wrote in the lawsuit. “As officers talked with him on the scene he indicated that he did not know what was going on and did not feel right.”

Rathbun, who served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas from 1993 to 1996, told The Star that Sigg required a trip to the emergency room to have the taser probes removed from his body.

“To this day, he can’t believe they did it,” he said.

Other cops at the scene knew the deputy used excessive force and “were concerned by his conduct,” the lawsuit alleges.




https://www.yahoo.com/news/ks-cops-chas ... 00403.html

(original: Kansas City Star)

[neonzx]

That is kinda mucked up. Generally LE ignore 5mph or less over the posted limit-- unless there is something else/contributing factor.

[keith]

TV series "Yellowstone" dramatized that event. Only it wasn't a black guy getting killed, it was a white supremacist if I recall correctly (and I probably don't).

Oh no. It musta been horse thieves.

[RTH10260]

Man with schizophrenia was left naked in jail cell for weeks before death, video shows
Joshua McLemore died of malnutrition after 20 days in windowless Indiana jail cell with no medical treatment

Sam Levin in Los Angeles
Thu 13 Apr 2023 18.21 BST

New surveillance video from inside an Indiana jail shows how a 29-year-old man who died in the summer of 2021 from dehydration and malnutrition was left naked in solitary confinement for three weeks with no medical attention.

The footage was released on Wednesday by the family of Joshua McLemore as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit against Jackson county, Indiana. The suit accuses the local sheriff, jail commander and medical staff of causing McLemore’s death through deliberate indifference, neglect and unconstitutional jail conditions while he was in a state of psychosis.

Disturbing videos, some of which were reviewed by the Guardian, show McLemore as he was left in a small, windowless cell for 20 days straight in Jackson county jail in July and August of 2021. The cell had no bed or bathroom and had fluorescent lights on at all hours.

In the footage, McLemore, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, appears detached from reality, speaking gibberish, rolling in filth and his own waste and becoming clearly emaciated. He received daily meals through a small slot in his jail door, but appears to have rarely eaten them. He had extended human interactions on only four occasions – when guards used intense force and restraint devices to drag him out to clean the cell or give him a shower.




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... more-video

[Volkonski]

Minneapolis to pay $9m for Derek Chauvin misconduct claims

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65271877

Minneapolis has agreed to pay nearly $9m (£7.2m) to settle lawsuits filed by two black residents against Derek Chauvin.

Both residents, who were arrested in 2017, said Chauvin had pressed his knee into their necks - the same tactic that killed George Floyd three years later.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey apologised to all the victims.

He said if supervisors had fired Chauvin six years ago, Floyd would be alive.

Minneapolis City Council announced during a meeting that John Pope Jr would receive $7.5m and Zoya Code would get $1.375m (£1m).

Both lawsuits alleged police misconduct, excessive force and racism by Chauvin and other officers.

Charges against both residents, one of whom was 14 at the time of his arrest, were eventually dropped.

Police Chief Brian O'Hara told a press conference on Thursday that Chauvin was "a national embarrassment" to police.

[pipistrelle]

Yes, but how many national embarrassments are there? Police and prison/jail misconduct at some level seem to be a daily occurrence.

[raison de arizona]

That is kinda mucked up. Generally LE ignore 5mph or less over the posted limit-- unless there is something else/contributing factor.

In AZ they used to have (might still have, I think) Zero Tolerance Days. 1mph over will get you a ticket.

[neonzx]

That is kinda mucked up. Generally LE ignore 5mph or less over the posted limit-- unless there is something else/contributing factor.

In AZ they used to have (might still have, I think) Zero Tolerance Days. 1mph over will get you a ticket.

1mph over? That is stupid and likely easy to beat in court. I get the need for strict limits in school zones or with road work crews (fines here are automatic double on both).

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

I remember the last time my bio-father and I flew to Arizona (we often drove there for vacation, but I think this was a Christmas trip), leaving the airport he got pulled over for accelerating to the new speed limit before actually reaching the speed limit sign. It wasn't even a hard acceleration.

[jcolvin2]

I remember the last time my bio-father and I flew to Arizona (we often drove there for vacation, but I think this was a Christmas trip), leaving the airport he got pulled over for accelerating to the new speed limit before actually reaching the speed limit sign. It wasn't even a hard acceleration.

I always assumed that when the speed limit was increasing, you could accelerate to the new speed as soon as you could read the sign, but when it the limit was decreasing, you had to decelerate before you reached the sign.

Also, several years ago, my wife got a ticket for going 26 mph in a 25mph zone. She complained and the city eliminated the ticket.

[AndyinPA]

There's a place near New Bridge in West Virginia that thrives on ticketing people as they are supposed to be slowing down. I can't remember the name, but they are infamous for it.

[RTH10260]

Cops and commissioner conspire murder

Sheriff And Officials Plot To Murder Reporters Who Exposed Them

4 hours ago
James Freeman

Mc Curtain County Sheriff and commissioners are caught on recording plotting the murder of reporters that exposed their bad cops.

[RTH10260]

More than just the cops and jailers behaving badly

Investigation at Clayton County Jail leads to 65-count RICO indictment

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published April 13, 2023 12:00PM Updated 5:28PMNewsFOX 5 Atlanta

• Grand jury indicts 65 people in 'criminal enterprise' in Clayton County jail
  A Clayton County grand jury has handed down a bombshell series of RICO indictments. At least 65 people are believed to have been involved in a criminal enterprise being run from inside the Clayton County Jail.

CLAYTON COUNTY - According to a press release sent to the media on Thursday, more than 100 arrests were made recently in connection to the investigation into Clayton County Jail.

The crimes committed by those arrested included crossing guard lines, extortion, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, kidnapping, possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute, possession of prohibited items by inmates, bribery, and others.

These charges were forwarded to the Clayton County District Attorney's Office, resulting in a 65 count indictment under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (R.I.C.O.).

Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley says the indictment accuses inmates of having gang affiliation and committing unthinkable crimes behind bars.

The DA didn't want to talk specifics about the crimes, but she said the investigation started back in October

The indictment says one of those accused is a former security specialist for the jail. He is alleged to have taken bribes through cash App.

All of the alleged crimes occurred under acting Sheriff Boehrer and interim Sheriff Levon Allen who is running for office, but neither top cop was charged in the indictment .

The DA has put everyone on notice that there will be additional indictments soon.



https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/100-ar ... ounty-jail

[RTH10260]

follow-up video

Sheriff Issues New Threats To Reporters That Exposed Mc Curtain County

James Freeman
19 Apr 2023

Mc Curtain County Sheriff issues threats instead of resigning.


Mc Curtain County Sheriff's Department
https://g.co/kgs/84s3d7

Mc Curtain County Commissioners Office
https://g.co/kgs/qzuxDk

[raison de arizona]

► Show Spoiler

Police in Boston enter a family’s home without showing a warrant and shoot their dogs

[sugar magnolia]

► Show Spoiler

Police in Boston enter a family’s home without showing a warrant and shoot their dogs

For completeness.
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/do ... r/3025901/

[Volkonski]

Boston Police Shoot 2 Dogs, 1 Fatally, After Officer Bitten

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/do ... r/3025901/

A police officer shot two dogs, killing one of them, after another officer was bitten while responding to a home in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.

Police said an officer was attacked by the two animals while serving an arrest warrant on Michigan Avenue. Another officer then shot the animal.

The officer who was bitten was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Boston police said. The second officer who shot the dog was also taken to the hospital, per department procedure.

One of the dogs has died, and the other was injured, police said.

The mother of the man who was arrested recorded a cellphone video that captured the sound of five gunshots going off in the apartment, followed by screaming.

The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, says the dogs that were shot, Colby and Tampa, are pit bulls. She said the arrest warrants against her son were for driving without a license. She shared photos of the pit bulls with NBC 10 Boston and says she believes the actions by the officers were excessive.



A neighbor told NBC10 Boston that one of the pit bulls is known to be aggressive with residents.

"A few months ago, he did bite my daughter," she said. "I think a couple weeks ago, he bit the landlord's wife, and they did call Animal Control."

[neonzx]

Boston Police Shoot 2 Dogs, 1 Fatally, After Officer Bitten

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/do ... r/3025901/
...
A neighbor told NBC10 Boston that one of the pit bulls is known to be aggressive with residents.

"A few months ago, he did bite my daughter," she said. "I think a couple weeks ago, he bit the landlord's wife, and they did call Animal Control."

pit bulls

I don't think it was excessive force to shoot them after one bit an officer. I NEVER rent to any potential tenant who has a known aggressive breed or mix thereof.

Cops did not behave badly here.

[raison de arizona]

Watching the video, I think the "raid" (or whatever it is) could have been handled much better.

But then I just hate to see dead dogs.

[Kriselda Gray]

pit bulls

I don't think it was excessive force to shoot them after one bit an officer. I NEVER rent to any potential tenant who has a known aggressive breed or mix thereof.

Cops did not behave badly here.

Pit bulls aren't automatically aggressive. I used to be afraid of pit bulls until we discovered we adopted 2 (at least). We always looked for lab mixes at the shelters, but when I had DNA tests done on our latest pair, Sasha and Von, it turns out Von is about 30% pit bull and Sasha is close to half pit bull. These dogs are NOT at all aggressive. Even when they roughhouse with each other, you can tell there's no intent on either one's part to hurt the other, and NEITHER of them have ever bitten, nipped, or lunged at a person. There's at least one other dog we had that I suspect was part pit bull, though I never had a test done to find out, and he, too, was a gentle dog who never tried to hurt anyone. In fact, the one dog we had who showed any signs of aggression (and then, for reasons I never understood or was able to even remotely guess at, only towards me, specifically - she never tried to hurt anyone else) is one I'm pretty confident was NOT part pit bull.

Many, if not most, communities that used to have laws banning pit bulls or other specific breeds seen as "aggressive" (german shepherds, doberman pinschers, rottweilers, etc.) have now changed their laws so that a dog is judged individually based on it's observed behavior. These laws were changed as lawmakers realized that the breed of the dog matters considerably less than how the dog is (or isn't) trained to behave.

If one of the dogs actually did bite an officer, the his reaction - no matter how much I might not like it - is at least comprehendible, but I'd wager that the officer simply did not have time to look at the dog, determine what breed it was or might be, think "Oh, pit bulls are bad" or some such, and shoot. He just reacted to "a" dog attacking him without regard to it's breed.

[raison de arizona]

[neonzx]

pit bulls

I don't think it was excessive force to shoot them after one bit an officer. I NEVER rent to any potential tenant who has a known aggressive breed or mix thereof.

Cops did not behave badly here.

Pit bulls aren't automatically aggressive. I used to be afraid of pit bulls until we discovered we adopted 2 (at least). We always looked for lab mixes at the shelters, but when I had DNA tests done on our latest pair, Sasha and Von, it turns out Von is about 30% pit bull and Sasha is close to half pit bull. These dogs are NOT at all aggressive. Even when they roughhouse with each other, you can tell there's no intent on either one's part to hurt the other, and NEITHER of them have ever bitten, nipped, or lunged at a person. There's at least one other dog we had that I suspect was part pit bull, though I never had a test done to find out, and he, too, was a gentle dog who never tried to hurt anyone. In fact, the one dog we had who showed any signs of aggression (and then, for reasons I never understood or was able to even remotely guess at, only towards me, specifically - she never tried to hurt anyone else) is one I'm pretty confident was NOT part pit bull.

Many, if not most, communities that used to have laws banning pit bulls or other specific breeds seen as "aggressive" (german shepherds, doberman pinschers, rottweilers, etc.) have now changed their laws so that a dog is judged individually based on it's observed behavior. These laws were changed as lawmakers realized that the breed of the dog matters considerably less than how the dog is (or isn't) trained to behave.

What "laws" were changed?

I understand dog lovers trying to re-frame these breeds as harmless, but that is B.S. I'm a landlord/owner. If I rent to a tenant with a known aggressive breed dog -- and that dog goes on to maul somebody, what do you think happens? The victim will sue the tenant(dog owner) and also sue the landlord(me). I'm not interested in the liability exposure.

This is just business for me and I do not have the skill-set nor time to evaluate a potential tenant's aggressive breed dog(s), thus the reason for my hard-line policy.

[neeneko]

Pit bulls aren't automatically aggressive.

Thank you for bringing this up a lot calmer and more eloquently than I was planning to. The whole 'pitbulls are an aggressive breed' meme pisses me off to no end. It is kinda like 'mentally ill people are dangerous', all it does is increase the danger to the subject and excuses violence/policies against them.