The Warrior cops are out of control

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Did anyone read this most recent alternet article he posted?

I know I didn't.

[boutons_deux]

The Powerful Union Official Standing Between Rikers Island and Reform

That's when Norman Seabrook, the boisterous president of the Correctional Officers Benevolent Association (COBA), the union for these latest additions to the city workforce, took the stage.
"How dare you?" roared Seabrook, referencing the mayor's departure. In patented fashion, Seabrook then delivered a lengthy rebuke of de Blasio and his reform efforts, dismissing the mayor and his correction commissioner, Joseph Ponte, as out of touch with the rank-and-file keeping tabs on New York City's incarcerated. It was a of a welcome for a group of officers who had just been tasked with helping bring about change to a system whose main jail, Rikers Island, was deemed to have a "deep-seated culture of violence" by US attorney Preet Bharara in a scathing report last year.


"Mayor de Blasio made me feel under-appreciated," Seabrook, who presides over the largest municipal jail union in the nation, said in an interview with VICE. "Because he doesn't leave the police officers' graduation early, doesn't leave the firefighters' graduation early, [but] he doesn't have respect for us. Not even to say goodbye, to our graduates and our families, is a little bit insulting."

The acrimony between the jail guards' union and City Hall is playing out just a year after the feds sued the city over conditions at Rikers Island, the hole of the New York City jail system, where thousands of men and women—mostly people of color —rot whilethey wait for a trial. But change has slowly begun to make its way to the island. From new rules on solitary confinement to more services and support for the mentally ill, the reforms are an attempt to break the cycle of abuse and mistreatment. But in the rhetorical war over fixing this well-do ented nightmare, one of the loudest and most effective voices belongs to the union leader standing in the way of change.

Throughout the reform process, Seabrook has been the proud and obstinate advocate for the status quo. The ongoing overhauls include new rules regarding use-of-force aimed at limiting the most severe methods correctional officers use to restrain and control incarcerated people, including strikes to the head, groin, or kicking an individual.

http://www.vice.com/read/the-powerfu...and-and-reform

[FuzzyLumpkins]

How about this one? Anyone read it?

[boutons_deux]

These 14 large police departments only killed black people this year


Fourteen of those departments — St. Louis, Atlanta, Kansas City, Cleveland, Baltimore, Virginia Beach, Boston, Washington D.C., Minneapolis, Raleigh, Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia and Charlotte-Mecklenberg — killed exclusively black people this year.

Only five of the 60 largest police departments killed only whites.

Police in Bakersfield, California; Oklahoma City; Oakland, California; Indianapolis; Long Beach, California; New Orleans; St. Louis, Missouri; and San Francisco killed people at the highest rates in 2015.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/thes...e+Raw+Story%29

[boutons_deux]

Nineteen-Hour 'Standoff' Ends With Law Enforcement Officers Destroying An Empty House


https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...ty-house.shtml

[boutons_deux]

New Report Finds That 44 Percent of All Georgians Killed by Police Were Unarmed or Shot in the Back

Since 2010, 81 of 184 officer-involved deaths in Georgia have involved either unarmed victims, or victims who were shot in the back. This report delves into the startling statistics around police shootings in Georgia. Some key findings:

• About one in six people fatally shot were unarmed. Of those 31 cases, 17 people were black and 14 were white. That represented 19 percent of all black shootings and 16 percent of all white shootings.
• In 18 cases, the person killed was shot solely in the back of their torso, neck, head or buttocks. In 52 other cases, they were shot in the backside, but also suffered wounds in other parts of the body.
• In at least 11 fatal police shooting cases since 2010, the person shot by police was both unarmed and shot in the back. Seven people killed in this manner were black, four were white.
• At least one in four of those killed by police had shown some signs of mental illness before the fatal encounter. About one in three whites fell into that category, compared to about one in five blacks. About 16 percent killed were veterans, but that figure could be higher because service records could not be determined for every death.
• Black citizens killed tended to be younger, with a median age of 29, while white citizens tended to be older, with a median age of 41. Only 9 of the 184 killed were women.
• At least 20 officers involved in fatal shootings had serious prior issues do ented in their records. Four had previously been fired or resigned in lieu of termination from a previous police job in Georgia. Officers in two other shootings had been disciplined for lying. And two officers had failed to complete state-mandated annual use-of-force training to maintain their powers of arrest at the time they fatally shot someone.

The report also illustrates the fact that people with mental illnesses are more likely to die at the hands of police than other people, and also the fact that officers with serious disciplinary issues are likely to continue campaigns of brutality.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-pol...er1047793&t=12

Reports like this persecute the helpless policemen

[boutons_deux]

Private Prison Exec Waves Off Criminal Justice Reform, Predicts More Profits

A senior executive with the second-largest for-profit prison company in America assured investment bankers last summer that despite talk of drug policy and criminal justice reform, the country will continue to “attract crime,” generating new “correctional needs.”

“The reality is, we are a very affluent country, we have loose borders, and we have a bad education system,” said Shayn March, the vice president and treasurer of the Geo Group. “And all that adds up to a significant amount of correctional needs, which, thankfully, we’ve been able to help the country out with and states with by providing a lower cost solution.”

The previously unreported remarks were made during a presentation at the Barclays High Yield Bond & Syndicated Loan conference in June.

While students and activists have protested private prison corporations, scoring a recent victory last week with the decision by the University of California system to divest from firms like Geo Group and Corrections Corporation of America, the firms have largely avoided the spotlight.

Private prison companies are a controversial player in America’s criminal justice system. In the 1990s, private prison firms pushed for tougher sentencing laws at the state level and have been tied to efforts in recent years to compel local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration laws. Geo Group has also been faulted for multiple incidents of abuse, ranging from inmates who have died in their facilities to employees charged with sexual assault.

Corrections Corporation of America, the largest for-profit prison company in the U.S. and a compe or of Geo Group, discussed sentencing reforms on a call with investors in August. Damon Hininger, the chief executive of CCA, told analysts that new guidelines that narrow the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences will “have an impact” on “Bureau of Prisons populations.”

However, March told attendees that factoring in elderly care, immigrant detention, and expansion plans overseas, the company is sure to grow. “

I think I started at GEO, our stock price … got down to $12.50. And if you factor in an apples-to-apples comparison to where we are today, our stock is well over $50 a share. So we have quadrupled our value in that six-year period.”

He added, “No, we’re not Google, but we’re still doing pretty good.”
https://theintercept.com/2015/12/22/...xplains-crime/

for-profit prions as wealth creation vehicle. What a ing country the 1%/BigFinance/VRWC has screwed up.

[boutons_deux]

Cop Charged With Murder and Manslaughter in 2 Separate Fatal Shootings Gets His Job Back



Indicted on five counts, including felony murder and reckless homicide, Pike County Deputy Joel Jenkins was officially reinstated on Tuesday after the sheriff recently fired him for shooting his neighbor to death while drunk.

Indicted on five counts, including felony murder and reckless homicide, Pike County Deputy Joel Jenkins was officially reinstated on Tuesday after the sheriff recently fired him for shooting his neighbor to death while drunk.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/cop-charged-murder-and-manslaughter-2-separate-fatal-shootings-gets-his-job-back

Cops are untouchable, immune, totally unaccountable, in 99% of cases.

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“You Don’t Have a Dog Anymore”: Police Officers in Pennsylvania Take Turns Shooting Family’s Dog

According to Fry, Bear was secured to a cable leash in his backyard when she heard him barking at the construction workers working on an abandoned house next door. Fry says that Bear was a ‘barker’, so this was nothing out of the ordinary. But when the barking was brought to a halt by the sound of gunfire, Fry panicked.
“Thank god the kids were at school,” Fry said in an interview with PuppycideDB.com

When Fry got up to see what was going on, she heard more shots. Fry recalls those frightening moments:

I hear 2 gunshots. As I’m getting up I hear the third. As soon as I’m standing, I can see out my side window. Police. Fourth shot. I look at what they’re doing & see my dog on the ground. My dog starts screaming. I scream. More shots. Five, six, seven, eight. There’s 2 cops taking turns shooting him with smiles on their faces. I run out yelling “What the !!!!!” They said “Is this your dog?” “Yes!!” I replied. “What happened??!!” The officer said (& I quote!!) “Well you don’t have a dog anymore. He’s done now!” & laughed in my face.

My 1yr old puppy that I did everything in my power to save was laying there dead. They shot my dog like he was a human coming at them with a gun.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-pol...ooting-familys

[boutons_deux]

Cops Brutally Abuse Man in Public for Rolling Through a Stop Sign

A video uploaded to Facebook shows a gang of cops from the Fort Myers Police Department and Lee County Sheriff’s Office brutally violating a man on the roadside, after pulling him over for a rolling stop.

Screams of agony can be heard echoing from the trees as the man’s arm is twisted almost to the breaking point and his rectum is invaded by the gloved hand of a drug war enforcer.

The cops can be heard saying, “Stop resisting! Just relax!” as the victim continues to scream and kick in pain.

Five officers are initially involved in subduing the man and searching his vehicle, and then another joins the fun by posing with gun in hand facing the onlookers.

The search appears to be in violation of at least part of Florida statute 901.211, which states in part:

“No person arrested for a traffic, regulatory, or misdemeanor offense, except in a case which is violent in nature, which involves a weapon, or which involves a controlled substance, shall be strip searched unless:
(a) There is probable cause to believe that the individual is concealing a weapon, a controlled substance, or stolen property; or
(3) Each strip search shall be performed by a person of the same gender as the arrested person and on premises where the search cannot be observed by persons not physically conducting or observing the search pursuant to this section. Any observer shall be of the same gender as the arrested person.
(4) Any body cavity search must be performed under sanitary conditions.
(5) No law enforcement officer shall order a strip search within the agency or facility without obtaining the written authorization of the supervising officer on duty.

Clearly, the anal cavity search was carried out in full view of the public, including a female onlooker. Other parts of the statute may have been violated as well.

Todd Crisp, a family member of the victim, said that at least one of the cops, Arturo Gonzales, routinely harasses Crisp and his family, and this was just the latest episode.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-pol...ough-stop-sign

[boutons_deux]

Police Union Thinks Cops Should Receive Less Scrutiny Than Retail Workers

from the pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behind-the-arbitration! dept

Police unions are working tirelessly towards destroying any remaining shreds of respectability. Presumably, they once served a purpose roughly aligned with the public good. Now, they serve the singular purpose of ensuring our nation's law enforcement agencies will always be forced to keep the abusive, incompetent officers on their payroll.

No en y has spoken out more frequently about the supposed damage body-worn cameras will do. Meanwhile, many officers appear to have made peace with the new technology, much as they had with dash cams.

No en y has continued to voice its resistance to anything approaching accountability as vociferously as our nation's police unions.

If you want to see what's wrong with today's policing and why it won't be changing anytime soon, all you have to do is spend a few minutes talking to a union rep.

Out in Pittsburgh, the local police union wants cops to be held to a lower standard than retail employees.

The union representing Pittsburgh police officers has filed a civil rights grievance against the city, claiming officers have been ordered to undergo drug and alcohol testing that is in violation of their contract.

The union tells Channel 11’s Rick Earle that the testing amounts to an illegal search and seizure that is not only in violation of the contract, but the Cons ution as well.

Perhaps the union will be surprised to know that these supposed "Cons utional violations" occur daily at nearly every major employer. They are required before applicants are hired and random checks are often performed post-hire as well. Why the union feels police officers -- who should hold themselves to higher standards than the average hourly worker -- should be exempt from this extraordinarily common practice isn't clear.

The only thing it offers in its defense is that the contract signed with the city only specifies three times cops can be tested: after firing weapons, being involved in a car accident, or are "suspected of being under the influence." Why the additional testing of three officers involved in a car chase suddenly rises to the level of Cons utional violation is something only the union can suss out. And it seems to have confused "violated the terms of an agreement" with "violated officers' Fourth Amendment rights."

Because if the test is a violation of civil rights in this particular cir stance, then it's a violation of rights even under the terms of the agreement. The union reps seem to have opted for drama, rather than accuracy, which is kind of standard operating procedure. I mean, it's not as though the Pittsburgh PD needs to swear out a warrant to obtain the fluids requested in the cir stances permitted by the agreement.

Police officers should be subject to random drug and alcohol testing just like everyone else in the nation's workforce.

Considering most states tie implied consent to drug/alcohol testing to the issuance of drivers licenses, it's really not too much to ask that people in powerful government positions be subject to the same expectations.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...l-workers.shtml

[boutons_deux]

A California lawsuit over the cash bail system could prompt changes across the U.S.

Crystal Patterson didn't have the cash or assets to post $150,000 bail and get out of jail after her arrest for assault in October.

So Patterson promised to pay a bail bonds company $15,000 plus interest to put up the $150,000 bail for her, allowing the 39-year-old to go home and care for her invalid grandmother.

The day after her release, the district attorney decided not to pursue charges. But Patterson still owes the bail bonds company. Criminal justice reformers and lawyers at a nonprofit Washington D.C. legal clinic say that is uncons utionally unfair.

San Francisco public defender Chesa Boudin says some of his clients who can't afford to post bail plead guilty to minor charges for crimes they didn't commit so they can leave jail.

"The bail system in most states is a two-tiered system," said center founder Phil Telfeyan. "One for the wealthy and one for everyone else."

http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...226-story.html

[boutons_deux]

listen to the audio after the dog has done its doggy work

Horrifying video shows cops sic K-9 on infant daughter of a man they mistook for a suspect


http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/horr...for-a-suspect/

rightwingnut response: "no big deal, happens"

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The Girl Who Was Assaulted By A Cop At Spring Valley High Is Now Facing Jail Time

Justice is being served in the Spring Valley High assault case. But not like you’d think.

Shakara, the girl who was thrown to the ground by a school resource officer, and Niya Kenny, the student who filmed it, are now in legal trouble.

While Officer Ben Fields was promptly fired, the two girls face a misdemeanor charge of disturbing schools.

If found guilty, they could face 90 days in jail or be fined up to $1,000.

http://newsone.com/3299797/girl-assa...ing-jail-time/

[boutons_deux]

Watch: Mall Cops Forceful Restraint of Black Teen Girl for Curfew Violation



The family of a 14-year-old black girl accuses Mall of America security guards of using excessive force to restrain her over a curfew violation, as the local NAACP calls for a boycott, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

According to Isabella Brown’s family, mall guards approached her around 5 p.m. on Dec. 26 and asked Isabella to leave the shopping center. She was shopping beyond the 4 p.m. curfew for children under 16 without an adult escort.

https://www.facebook.com/jalynjakobe...04785/?fref=nf


Following that warning, Isabella walked around the mall’s public transportation area asking for change of a $20 bill. At that point male security guards wrestled her to the ground and restrained Isabella face down, as she screamed for them to get off her back. She was not arrested or charged with a crime.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/news...rl_curfew.html

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Undercover Cop Disgracefully Tricks Autistic Student into Selling Weed, Court Denies Family Justice

Riverside County Superior Court Judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Jesse’s family against the school district.

“The suit alleged that the Temecula Valley Unified School District had breached its mandatory duties by allowing a deputy from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department to manipulate Snodgrass – a friendless student who had bipolar disorder, trouble keeping up with conversations and a history of being bullied – as part of an undercover drug sting.”

The undercover cop, named “Dan,” introduced himself to Jesse on the first day of school and befriended him during graphics art class. After committing this first act of deceit—which itself would violate the moral code of most people—“Dan” gave Jesse $20 and badgered him repeatedly to find a bit of weed.

Having never come in contact with marijuana before, Jessie had no idea where to find the illegal plant. He was forced to dangerously seek it out on the streets from a homeless man – just so he could appease his ‘friend,’ who would later turn on him and ruin his life.

http://www.alternet.org/civil-libert...er1048379&t=18

[boutons_deux]

“Speed Trap Town” Dissolves Entire Police Dept After Years of Officials Getting Rich from Fines

According to a 2007 report from the Enquirer, the overwhelming majority of cases (93%) that pass through court in Arlington Heights, are for traffic fines alone.

Despite issuing and collecting a record number of traffic fines, the money from those fines never found its way to the village bank account. The clerk of courts and the deputy clerk of courts, with the help of the ticket writing cops, enriched themselves to the tune of $260,000 before they were finally caught in October.

http://www.alternet.org/civil-libert...er1048410&t=22

[boutons_deux]

Judge sets bail for former cop filmed killing an unarmed man, but delivers blow to his defense team

Michael Slager, the former North Charleston police officer seen on cell phone video shooting an unarmed Walter Scott in the back numerous times in April of 2015, has been granted bail. The now-bearded Slager, who was originally denied bail in September of 2014, is scheduled to go to trial on murder charges on October 31.

All defendants have a right to bail whether they can afford it or not; Circuit Judge Clifton Newman reversed his earlier decision of no bail so that Slager would not be unduly punished by sitting in jail until his trial later this year. Charleston’s Post and Couriernewspaper has more on this story.

Newman also denied a request by Slager’s attorneys that they be paid with public monies available for indigent clients. The attorneys made the request last month, stating they hadn’t been paid yet and wanted to be able to bring in expert witnesses.

Audio obtained by theNew York Daily News captures Slager talking about his adrenaline and laughing after the incident.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/06/1466418/-Judge-sets-bail-for-former-cop-filmed-killing-an-unarmed-man-but-delivers-blow-to-his-defense-team?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_cam paign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

[boutons_deux]

NYPD officer indicted for groping woman, then attacking and arresting the man who tried to film it

Alas, there is some justice, sometimes. The indictment of New York City Police Officer Jonathan Munoz was announced last week by the the Manhattan district attorney. Munoz is accused of illegally arresting a man who tried to videotape the illegal search/groping/sexual assault of a young woman. The confrontation took place last spring. Jezebel reports:

Last spring, Jason Disisto and some friends were hanging out in front of a restaurant in Washington Heights when an NYPD officer named Jonathan Munoz came up to one of Disisto’s female friends and started to frisk and paw her. Munoz stuck his hand in the woman’s sweater and took her by the wrist.

Disisto then grabbed his friend’s cell phone to record the incident. Another officer, Edwin Flores, charged at Disitso to prevent from filming. Video footage shows Munoz and Flores attempting to wrestle the phone of Disisto’s hand and then cuffing him. The two officers arrested Disisto and put him in a police car, throwing the cellphone out of the car window.

In the now dismissed case against Disisto, Officer Munoz claimed Disisto lunged and swung a fist at him. Thanks to cell phone cameras, security cameras, and social media, Munoz and others like him are proving themselves to be liars.

video:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/1...d-groped-woman

[boutons_deux]

Nebraska routinely holds children in solitary confinement for ‘relatively minor infractions’

Solitary confinement is a commonplace experience for children held in Nebraska juvenile detention facilities, a report has shown, with minors routinely detained in isolation for days, weeks, even months at a time.

To varying degrees, in each of the state’s nine juvenile facilities children are placed in solitary confinement for “relatively minor offenses” such as keeping too many books, according to the report compiled by the state’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter. Other infractions triggering the “overused” practice included talking back to staff members or refusing to follow directions.

The ACLU Nebraska spokesperson said they had heard reports of children as young as 12 being put into solitary confinement, although this was not confirmed by any of the facilities themselves.

Isolation practices include putting a child alone in a cell for several hours or days, restricting contact with family members, limiting access to reading and writing materials and providing limited educational programming, recreation, drug treatment or mental health services, the report found.

“It was 23 hours a day alone, no TV or radio,” Rusher was quoted as saying in thereport . “You were in there with one book, a blanket, a mat and a toothbrush. No art materials, no hobby items – everything was considered contraband.”

Rusher said he developed anxiety and began a pacing habit as a result of being held for months at a time.

“If you don’t know how to deal with demons – you’re a kid, you don’t even know how to deal with normal emotions yet – then you’re sitting there by yourself, nowhere to go and every negative thing you’ve been told about yourself seems to be coming true,” he said.

Nebraska has the third highest per capita number of youth under 21 in juvenile detention centers, according to the Kids Count Data Center . Some facilities surveyed in the report had no policies governing or tracking the use of solitary confinement.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/nebr...e+Raw+Story%29

... the inhumanity of red states, slave states, Christian Sharia states

[boutons_deux]

Narcotics Cop Who Ruined Countless Lives for Weed Possession, Busted with $2 Million in Marijuana




A California police officer was recently busted after driving 247 pounds of marijuana all the way across the country. Yuba County Deputy Christopher M. Heath was caught in York, Pennsylvania with a shipment of marijuana that was worth over $2 million. Heath was reportedly on vacation from his job at the Yuba County Police Department at the time of his arrest.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-pol...er1048519&t=20

[boutons_deux]

Texas trooper charged with perjury in arrest of Sandra Bland

A Texas state trooper has been charged with perjury for conduct related to a contentious traffic stop of a black woman who was eventually arrested for assault and then died three days later in jail.A grand jury indicted Trooper Brian Encinia on Wednesday with the misdemeanor charge. Encinia has been on desk duty since 28-year-old Sandra Bland, formerly of Naperville was found dead in her cell in July. Her death was ruled a suicide.

Dashcam video shows the traffic stop quickly became confrontational, with Encinia holding a stun gun and yelling, "I will light you up!" after Bland refused to get out of her car.
Encinia is accused of lying about how he removed Bland from her vehicle

The same grand jury declined last month to indict sheriff's officials or jailers.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...106-story.html

[boutons_deux]

Govt Pays Millions in Reparations to 57 Victims of Worst Cop in History – Who Still Receives a Pension

Former Chicago Police Commander received 13 commendations before his termination for torturing over 200 citizens.



Responsible for torturing more than 200 people to obtain false confessions, former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge has cost the city and Cook County over $100 million in legal fees and settlements.

On Monday, the city of Chicago paid out $5.5 million in reparations to 57 of Burge’s victims, while the corrupt former police commander continues to receive his $4,000 monthly pension from the city.

Between 1972 and 1991, Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his men tortured hundreds of people to extract forced confessions from them.

Up to 200 torture victims have accused Burge of using cattle prods on their genitals, plastic bags to cause suffocation, phone books to strike their heads, burning them on radiators, and forcing guns into their mouths during interrogations.

Suspended from the department in 1991, Burge was fired two years later after the Police Department Review Board ruled that he had tortured hundreds of people.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-pol...er1048557&t=16

[boutons_deux]

Hawaiian man beaten and pepper sprayed by police for praying over a seal on the beach



http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016...h?detail=email

great video, hi res, great colors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GLJqsqnh2o

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Nice echo chamber boutox.