on sale now at amazon

on sale now at amazon
"I don't like this book because it don't got know pictures" Chief Rhorerer

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”
“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”


It might sound like a joke, but this outrageous event actually took place at Morrell Park Elementary School after a school fight. The officers from Baltimore Police Department arrested three 9-year-old girls and an 8-year-old boy on aggravated assault charges after a schoolyard fight that broke out 9 days prior to the arrest. What makes it so shocking is the fact the children were treated as adult suspects, and as soon they were taken out of the class and into the principal’s office, they were handcuffed and arrested.

In defense of their action, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that they handled the children as they would any felony suspect due to the fact that it was more than just a school kids brawl. Allegedly one of the kids threatened to kill one of their peers by forcing their head on the railroad track and the other held another kid’s head underwater, which made the school authorities ask police for help.

The ACLU of Maryland reacted severely to this case, calling the whole thing “appalling”. ACLU’s attorney Sonia Kumar stated that “Even if it was appropriate to treat the fight between children as a criminal justice matter, there is no excuse for treating eight and nine year olds the same way we treat adult criminal suspects.”

This week’s candidates for the Brian Sonnenberg Peaceful Resolution to Conflict Center Award. Fairfax County Police. police brutality


Durham Co NC deputy resigns after arrest on assault charges in domestic dispute at his home [1] http://bit.ly/IkeuhQ




The Fairfax County Police Officer Jeffrey Hand Award for Creative Income Production. Fairfax County Police. Police Brutality


Logansport IN cop fired for alleged misuse of city money involving unspecified purchase using city credit card [2] http://bit.ly/Ho22ln


“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”


Santa Fe NM cop caught on dashcam talking dirty to himself while masturbating in police cruiser while on duty [0] http://bit.ly/IfD3Nt

 
Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.

Fairfax County Police officer Irene M. Boyle “Opps! Gee gosh it was loaded?” awards


3 New Haven CT cops arrested for interference, reckless endangerment & illegal discharge of firearms outside of bar [0] http://bit.ly/Ho2ujC


Fairfax County Police Officer Amanda Perry award for Safe Driving. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality


El Paso Co CO deputy w/history found guilty of careless driving in crash that killed female Air Force captain [0] http://bit.ly/HwJUBE


The officer Christian Chamberlain Award for “Fuck you, I’ll get away with it anyway” Fairfax County police . Police brutality


Pine Bluff AR cop investigated for using pepperspray on jr-high kids because they didn’t get to class fast enough [0] http://bit.ly/Ho2ksG

 Des Plaines IL cop suspended 4mo for his involvement in an excessive force incident instead of fired in apparent deal to testify against other cop in brutality case [2] http://bit.ly/I7s25J


Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.




Fairfax County Police Officer David Ziants award for kill somebody and the worst thing that happens to you is you get fired.


Chicago IL sued by family of unarmed woman shot in back of head by off-duty cop who claimed self defense [4] http://bit.ly/Ho1Qmh


Fairfax County Police Officer David Ziants award for kill somebody and the worst thing that happens to you is you get fired.


Parents of Kendrec McDade File Wrongful Death Suit; Allege Pattern of Police Misconduct



The parents of slain 19 year-old college student Kendrec McDade are bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the Pasadena Police Department.



According to the Huffington Post, the McDade family contends that McDade’s death is  “part of a pattern of abuse by the department and that the investigation ‘reeks’ of a cover up.”



The chain of events leading to McDade’s death began on March 24th, when Oscar Carrillo called 911 to report that’s he’d allegedly been robbed at gunpoint by two men. Carrillo was lying about the use of guns in the robbery; Pasadena police say that Carrillo’s untruthful phone call led them to believe that McDade was armed when they approached him in an alley a couple of blocks from where the robbery took place. Kendrec allegedly reached for his waistband, prompting the police to fire upon him, killing him.



McDade did not have a weapon.





Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.






The Fairfax County Police Officer Jeffrey Hand Award for Creative Income Production. Fairfax County Police. Police Brutality


Pr. George’s officer charged in theft



 A Prince George’s County police officer was charged criminally with theft and misconduct in office Monday, accused of trying to swipe an expensive camera from the department’s property warehouse, authorities said.

 A property commander tipped internal affairs detectives that Martin Abundez, a six-year veteran of the department, walked out of the Lanham warehouse with the camera concealed in some type of backpack, said Prince George’s Assistant Chief Kevin Davis. He said internal affairs detectives worked with the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office to investigate the case and that they do not think Abundez was responsible for widespread theft.


We think it was a singular incident,” Davis said. “We’ve investigated him and have taken an accounting — a very thorough accounting — of the property warehouse. We don’t think he stole anything else.”

Abundez was working desk duty because of misconduct unrelated to his job when the incident occurred Jan. 18, Davis said. Abundez was placed on paid administrative leave after the theft, Davis said, and a suspension hearing is scheduled for this week.

Davis declined to give details on Abundez’s earlier misconduct.

Someone repeatedly answered and hung up a phone number listed for Abundez when a reporter called Tuesday afternoon, and no one returned a message left on what appeared to be another number for him. Vince Canales, president of the county’s Fraternal Order of Police, declined to comment and said he was doing so on Abundez’s behalf.

Davis said investigators believe the camera was worth a few thousand dollars. He said it was not evidence in any upcoming trials and that he was unsure where police had initially recovered it.

Prosecutors initially charged Abundez by way of a criminal information — meaning he was served with charging paperwork and not arrested — with theft between $10,000 and $100,000, theft less than $1,000 and two counts of misconduct in office, court records show. Davis said prosecutors would amend those charges to better reflect the camera’s value.

All of the charges reference the Jan. 18 incident, court records show.

Davis credited the property commander — whom he declined to name because he is a witness in the case — with acting swiftly to stanch Abundez’s misdeeds.

“He didn’t overlook it,” Davis said. “He didn’t excuse it.”



Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.

Fairfax County Police officer Irene M. Boyle “Opps! Gee gosh it was loaded?” awards

3 Cops Arrested; Witnesses Recall Gunshots

Witnesses who heard gunshots at 2:37 a.m. at Christopher Martin’s pub had no idea that the ruckus allegedly came from off-duty cops—cops who surrendered for arrest Friday.
Witnesses told their stories Friday afternoon after three officers turned themselves for their roles in an alleged fusillade five days earlier outside the Upper State Street restaurant and pub—and the city sent an “unprecedented” message about police behavior, in the view of one police critic.
Two of the three officers—Charles Kim and Lawrence Burns II—were charged with interfering with a police officer, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and reckless endangerment in the first degree. They allegedly shot their department weapons into the air outside the nightspot at Clark and State while off-duty early Sunday morning.
A third officer, Krzystof Ruszczyk, who was with them at the time but didn’t fire his gun, was charged with interfering with a police officer.
The charges are all misdemeanors.
The interfering charge stems from an allegation that all three left the scene after being ordered to stay there by an officer.

All three officers are members of the police academy’s 2008 graduating class. Kim was the class leader.
Police don’t believe Kim and Burns were shooting at anyone. Rather, according to one person familiar with the case, the two were “just drunk and let loose behind the building.” Department brass placed the officers on administrative leave following the incident last Sunday; they had to turn in their weapons.
“These arrests are unprecedented and extraordinary given the swiftness of the action taken against these officers,” said defense lawyer Michael Jefferson, a longtime critic of the department. “I’m sure additional facts will come to light that strongly support the action taken. As a taxpayer, I think it’s critical to hold public servants accountable, particularly those that can take your life and liberty and more often than not get away with it.”
Pow, Pow, Pow, Pow, Pow, Pow
Two witnesses said they had no idea that the rowdy behavior they observed allegedly came from sworn police officers.
Tarese Scruggs said he left his girlfriend’s Lawrence Street house at 2:18 a.m. Sunday when the pair ran out of smokes. He was looking to buy a loose cigarette from someone who might be leaving a bar. He started walking on State Street toward downtown.
When he walked past Modern Apizza, past the parking lot shared with Christopher Martin’s at 860 State St., he stopped in his tracks.
“I hear pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow,” Scruggs, 38, said in an interview Friday. There were six to eight shots, he reckoned.
I ran in the first doorway that I seen,” he said—the front entrance to the closed pizza store.
“I dove back there,” he said. On the way in, he scraped his left shoulder on the brick.
The gunshots “was so close. I was so scared,” Scruggs recalled.
He said he peeked out, looking for a drive-by shooter. Seeing none, he emerged. His girlfriend, Delorise MacFadden, who’s also 38, showed up to the scene shortly after. He had her check his body for bullet wounds. All she found was a scrape on his shoulder (pictured in photo at the top of this story) from the brick.

Scruggs said when he and MacFadden walked past Christopher Martin’s and stepped into Clark Street, they saw three men hanging out the pub’s Clark Street patio (pictured). One of the men fired another gunshot, just 50 feet away from them, Scruggs said. He said he plainly saw the shooter.
Scruggs and MacFadden claimed the man pointed his gun right at them before shooting. (That last part, unlike much of the rest of the story, has not been independently corroborated.)
Soon after, Scruggs flagged down a cop and pointed out the alleged shooter.
“That’s him right now! They shot at us and they’re right there!” Scruggs said he told the cop.
“I wanted to press charges right there. I was so scared.”
“Relax—we know who they are. We’ll get them,” the cop replied to him, according to Scruggs. Scruggs said he saw the shooter take off in a yellow Chevy Camaro, while his two friends left later in a black truck.
He said he was outraged the cops didn’t do more: “If it was us, we would’ve been on the ground until he checked us out,” Scruggs said.
Police officials had no comment on most specifics of the incident. But they said the three off-duty officers did receive an order to stay at the scene, and ignored it.
Scruggs and MacFadden  stuck around and talked to the cops. Then they went home without any cigarettes.
“We decided not to press charges because we thought they were regular college kids” acting stupid, Scruggs said.
He also subsequently gave a statement at the police station to Detective Tammi Means as part of an internal investigation.
Early Sunday morning, he found out on the TV news that the alleged shooters were cops.
Scruggs was “infuriated.”
“There’s no way we should have to be afraid of New Haven police department officers who are supposed to protect us,” Scruggs said.
He said he thinks the off-duty officers got special treatment when on-duty cops allowed them to leave the scene. A black civilian would have been thrown in jail, he argued.
Scruggs said when he committed an assault and robbery in 1998, cops locked him up when he was picked out of a photo lineup—before any charges were made. He ended up with a 10-year conviction.
“I paid,” he said.
He said he wants to see tougher charges for the offending cops.
Back at Christopher Martin’s, Chris Garaffa was biting into a Cajun chicken sandwich and drinking a beer Friday afternoon when he heard the news from a passing reporter that the cops had been arrested.
“Finally,” he said.
Garaffa, who lives directly above the pub, said he was at home Sunday morning around 2:30.
“I heard five loud bangs,” he said. The bangs were quick; they lasted just a few seconds. Then he heard male voices outside.
“You nearly gave me a heart attack,” said one voice.
“You scared the shit out of me,” said another.
“I figured it was drunk people,” Garaffa said. “I didn’t think it was gunshots. It didn’t cross my mind out here,” in East Rock.
Garaffa looked out the window and saw cop cars around 3 a.m. He didn’t piece together the story until he read about it in the news.
“It’s about time,” he said when he heard about Friday’s arrests. “They should’ve been arrested as soon as they found out who it was.”
Firing shots into the air is dangerous, Garaffa said. “Who knows where the lead is going to come down.”
No Tolerance
Mayor John DeStefano called the arrests are evidence of firm policy against police misbehavior.
“The chief’s expectations are clear,” DeStefano said in an interview Friday. “More importantly, I think citizens need to know that this kind of behavior of firing weapons is not tolerable in a city that has experienced more than its share of gunfire.”
“This is a very unfortunate event. How can anyone, a cop or not, think it’s OK to be shooting a weapon in the middle of a major thoroughfare?” remarked Board of Aldermen President Jorge Perez. “It’s unfortunate that we find ourselves here. The city is doing what it needs to do” to let people now it’s now tolerable.
The arrests followed a swift internal affairs investigation, as well as repeated comments by Chief Dean Esserman to the press and to cops at line-up and this week’s regular CompStat crime-data meeting that he intended to take this case very, very seriously. Internal affairs probes have traditionally taken months or longer in New Haven; some have quietly disappeared without follow-up or public comment despite hard evidence.
Since taking over the department four months ago, Esserman has vowed to restore community policing in New Haven, with public trust in the cops a bedrock of the program.
The officers were released after turning themselves in Friday. They have an April 20 court date for arraignment.
Esserman declined comment Friday.
The swift action against the three officers offers a dramatic contrast to the city’s eventual handling of another case involving officer misbehavior. That one involved a rookie cop, Jason Bandy (also class of 2008), who in 2009 called in sick to work and then went out drinking at the Center Street Lounge. There he got drunk, urinated on the bathroom floor, and refused to leave when staff tried to evict him, police said. Then-Chief James Lewis successfully moved to fire him. Then Lewis left town, and City Hall got him his job back.
Return To Christopher Martin’s
For Officer Kim, the Christopher Martin’s episode contained an ironic turn of events.
On a Wednesday last September, Kim was on duty shortly before 3:30 a.m. when he responded to a burglar alarm at Christopher Martin’s. He arrived to find a man with a hammer, knife, and 2-foot metal bar outside the dining room door. Kim saw that a portion of the door frame had been detached. Kim arrested the man, whom he found had been trying to break in.
Now Kim, who graduated from the police academy in December 2008, himself could be in some trouble.
Click here to read about a cultural event Kim and other Korean-American officers held at Lincoln-Bassett School last November; and here to read about a baseball outing with neighborhood teens in which he and other Newhallville cops participated.

Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.

Fairfax County Police Officer Larry A. Jackson award for false arrest. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality


Study claims NYPD made hundreds of unlawful pot arrests

DANIEL BEEKMAN

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Bronx cops made hundreds of unlawful marijuana arrests and trumped-up charges over a five-month period last year despite a warning from Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, claims a study by the Bronx Defenders.

The study released Friday shows that illegal stops and searches are an “epidemic” in the Bronx, said Robin Steinberg, Bronx Defenders executive director.

Her organization interviewed 518 people apprehended for marijuana possession from May to October 2011 and found that 41% had their rights violated.

In 176 cases, there was no cause for people to be detained, and in 184, the organization concluded that cops "manufactured" misdemeanor charges by forcing people to show their pot.

Nearly all the people arrested for marijuana possession in the Bronx are black and Latino men.

The cases reveal "a policing strategy that overwhelmingly and disproportionately targets young people of color and relies on rampant disregard for the civil rights of the people the NYPD is charged with protecting," the organization said in a statement.

In New York, possession of a small amount of marijuana is only a misdemeanor when the pot is displayed in public. When the substance is concealed, it becomes a violation punishable by a fine - even when an officer pulls the pot out of the defendant's pocket or orders the defendant to pull it out.

NYPD officials said they would not comment because they have not seen the study.

Last September, the commissioner issued an internal order related to arrests for small amounts of pot not in public view.

However, the Marijuana Arrest Project study found that illegal stops and wrongful marijuana arrests actually increased in the month after the order, from 31% to 44% and from 33% to 44%.

People arrested for pot in the Bronx are often handcuffed and jailed for 24 hours. Such arrests can ruin lives because they can lead to a criminal record, eviction, deportation, loss of parental rights, denial of financial aid and loss of employment.

The negative consequences of the arrests hurt the low-income neighborhoods where most of the collars are made, Steinberg said.

Many people arrested for small amounts of marijuana in the Bronx have no prior criminal record and receive adjournments that are eventually dismissed.

Most defendants who fight back plead guilty rather than miss work or school for numerous court dates, said Scott Levy, the Bronx Defenders lawyer who led the study.

Vocal critics of the "stop and frisk" strategy used by the NYPD, including the Bronx Defenders, claim it leads to illegal searches of minority youth.

But proponents such as Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg argue it allows officers to nab people with illegal guns and make high-crime neighborhoods safer.

dbeekman@nydailynews.com



Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.




Fairfax County Police Officer “Crazy Moe” Mohammed Oluwa Jihad on your ass. Fairfax County Police. Police Brutality


Kendrec McDade case is full of layers




Family and friends buried 19-year-old Kendrec McDade on Saturday, but inquiries into the events that led Pasadena police to shoot him are just getting started.

Four probes have been launched, including the Pasadena police's investigation of the March 24 shooting and a civil rights inquiry by the FBI. Separately, McDade's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit last week, accusing police of misconduct during and after the shooting.

McDade was shot on Sunset Avenue by two Pasadena police officers who believed they were chasing two armed robbers. Moments earlier a Pasadena man said he had found two suspects rifling through the contents of his car. That man, Oscar Carrillo, pursued the suspects as they fled on foot, telling a 911 dispatcher they were armed.

Days later, Carrillo admitted he lied about seeing weapons in order to get a more vigorous police response. On March 28 Carrillo was arrested, though he has not been charged in connection with the shooting.

But by then McDade was dead, officers Jeff Newlen and Mathew Griffin were on administrative leave and the case had garnered attention from community leaders who demanded to know why an unarmed teen had died. Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez met with the public and representatives from a variety of civil rights organizations, and called for an investigation by a civilian watchdog group, the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review. Another probe was launched by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's task force that looks into all officer-involved shootings in the region.

But some details have been slow to emerge, and the coroner's report has not been released to the public.

The wrongful-death lawsuit filed Tuesday by McDade's mother, Anya Slaughter, alleges Newlen and Griffin did not identify themselves as police officers or command McDade to stop before opening fire. It states McDade was shot multiple times in the chest but did not die immediately. McDade, who police say was the lookout during the theft from Carrillo's car, tried to speak with the officer, according to the lawsuit, but was handcuffed and left on the street for a prolonged period without receiving first aid.

The family, represented by Beverly Hills civil rights attorney Caree Harper, charges the department made another mistake by having Det. Keith Gomez, who has generated controversy before, lead the investigation.

“This was not a ‘split-second decision,'” states the complaint. “This was an intentional selection of Det. Gomez to investigate, and this reeks of cover-up.”

Harper has sued Pasadena police for civil rights violations in the past, and has named Gomez as a defendant in a prior lawsuit. Gomez's name also came up in the murder trial earlier this year of Clifton Cass, who was convicted of killing his brother outside the Rose Bowl in 2011.

While on the stand, Cass looked directly at Gomez and said, “Everybody says you're a dirty cop, plants evidence and so on and so forth … been under investigation many times. Tell me I'm lying.”

Pasadena officials have not commented on the allegations or the lawsuit, saying their response must come in court. Separately, Lt. Phlunte Riddle noted that several officers are looking into the shooting, and that Det. Jason Van Hecke is playing a lead role in the inquiry.

Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said the agency routinely takes the lead in investigating alleged abuses of citizens' constitutional rights by government figures acting under “the color of law.”

“The opening of an assessment should not be an indication of guilt, but an indication that the evidence will be reviewed to ensure there wasn't a violation of federal civil rights,” she said.

After the FBI does an initial assessment, the Justice Department's civil rights division will determine if a full-blown investigation of the McDade shooting is warranted, Eimiller said.

The Office of Independent Review probe will hark back to the case of Leroy Barnes, who was killed by Pasadena police in 2009. Barnes' family filed a civil rights suit that was dismissed by the trial court and is on appeal, according to Pasadena City Atty. Michele Bagneris. But the office made 14 recommendations for Pasadena police to follow after that incident, according to the group's chief attorney, Mike Gennaco. The agency, which investigates 40 to 50 shootings a year, will determine whether those recommendations were followed by Pasadena police in the McDade case, Gennaco said.

Meanwhile, the fate of Oscar Carrillo, the man who called 911 on March 24, has taken an unexpected turn.

After he confessed that he lied about seeing weapons and was arrested by Pasadena police, federal immigration authorities held him for living in the country without proper documentation. He is now wearing an electronic tracking bracelet and faces deportation after any criminal proceedings in the McDade incident are complete. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has yet to decide whether to charge Carrillo with involuntary manslaughter.

Carrillo's attorney, Andres Bustamante, said it would be a stretch to hold his client accountable for McDade's death when others pulled the trigger.

“The chief had to do some damage control because of the anger from the community and family, and passed some of the responsibility on [to Carrillo],” Bustamante said. “It's hard for me to conceive that the causation of the shooting was Carrillo.”

Speaking through his lawyer, Carrillo had this to say to McDade's family: “I'm very, very sorry for the tragedy that happened to your son; I regret having exaggerated … it never crossed my mind that he would've been killed.”





Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.


This Week’s Capt. Denise Hopson Screw it, it’s the public s money and not mine Award


  

Business owners challenge Altoona, police officials



An Altoona couple filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Altoona and city officials, including the former chief of police and two members of the Altoona Police Department.

Heather and Aaron Bucklin with Bucklin Properties allege they and their two children were victims of police misconduct — involving false accusations of criminal activity, failure to enforce Iowa law, and fabrication or alteration of surveillance video and audio evidence — during Police Chief John Gray’s management in November 2010, according to a court document.

The document states unlawful actions taken by Altoona police officers Louis Miner and Alyssa Wilson Green caused “physical and mental pain and suffering and loss of ability to enjoy life” for Heather and Aaron Bucklin and both of their children, ages 12 and 7 at the time of the incident.

The couple’s attorney, who helped prepare the court document, said he believes he holds sufficient evidence to support the claims.

“Everything you allege needs to be proven, and clearly we think we have the evidence to sustain the claims in the petition,” said Ted Sporer, attorney with Sporer and Flanagan.

This evidence includes video and audio surveillance taken from a police vehicle on Nov. 13, 2010, when Altoona police officers took Aaron and Heather Bucklin into custody on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and interference with official acts. Sporer said the video and audio support the claims in the court document.

The charges resulted from a confrontation with police officers and tenants Tracy Dennis Root and Charlene Ray Root, who were delinquent on rent and other payments due to Bucklin Properties at 209 Eighth St. S.W., Altoona, according to a police report.

Altoona police officers Miner and Wilson Green were called to the Bucklin’s property when an altercation began between Aaron Bucklin and the Roots over intentions to remove property from the Maid-Rite restaurant, managed by the Roots, according to the police report. Bucklin and Sporer said Bucklin Properties possessed a statutory landlord’s lien preventing the Roots from removing any personal property.

The alleged assault occurred after Miner allowed the tenants to remove a filing cabinet from the property while Miner was taking photos of the scene before securing the business until both parties could provide proof of personal property ownership, the report stated. The Roots said the Bucklins attempted to hit them with their SUV, the police report stated.

After the alleged assault, officers physically restrained Aaron Bucklin and pointed a Taser at him before arresting him and Heather Bucklin, according to the police report filed by Miner, who allowed the Roots to load up the filing cabinet after the incident.

Three months later, all assault charges were dropped. The Bucklins’ defense attorney, Matt Lindholm, said this was because a private investigation revealed a witness who was not included in the police report and denied the assault allegations.

“After reviewing those statements, the county attorney decided they could not prove a crime occurred or could not prove their case, and the case was dismissed,” Lindholm said.

But the Bucklins and Sporer say significant damages remain, which prompted the March 14 lawsuit.

The court document includes a list of more than 100 items that were allegedly taken from the property, including freezers, ice machines, a microwave, light fixtures, countertops and “thousands of dollars in food.”

Sporer said the total value of the items is yet to be determined, but exceeds $5,000. He said the ultimate value and restitution will be decided by the court. The Bucklins declined to comment on the case until it develops further.

Jason Palmer, who is representing the city of Altoona, also declined to comment on the allegations against the city.



Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.

Fairfax County Police Officer Amanda Perry award for Safe Driving. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality


Wallingford police sergeant fired over alleged cover up

WALLINGFORD — A police sergeant and 13-year department veteran has been fired over allegations that she tried to cover up misconduct.

Officials said she directed a rookie to embark on a dangerous chase last fall with the operator of a motor scooter and then hid and manipulated cruiser recordings to cover it up.

Police Chief Douglas Dortenzio terminated Linda Lopresto after an investigation into the Sept. 30, 2011 incident revealed she had ordered a rookie officer to follow a scooter operator after a minor traffic violation. According to a termination letter from Dortenzio dated March 6, Lopresto directed the rookie on an “improper and life threatening pursuit,” in the Hall Avenue area, tried to conceal the pursuit by switching and backdating cruiser recordings and lied to investigators.

Lopresto could not be reached for comment.

According to town Personnel Director Terence Sullivan, Lopresto is appealing her termination. Lopresto’s contract allows her a three-step appeal process, Sullivan said. She is being represented by AFSCME Council 15 attorney Richard Gudis, who could not be reached for comment.

If Sullivan upholds Dortenzio’s decision, the matter goes to mediation and arbitration. The last time a police officer was fired was in 2009, Sullivan said.

“The issue is pending at my step,” Sullivan said.

According to Dortenzio, police brass was not aware of the incident until Nov. 30 when another employee who was not involved brought it to management.

Lopresto was assigned to supervise a rookie officer whose cruiser was equipped with a recording system that records both audio and video when the cruiser’s emergency lights are switched on, Dortenzio writes. Management sought the DVD recording for the date of the pursuit. An internal investigator found that, according to the label, Lopresto put the DVD into use on Sept. 22 and it was taken out of service by another sergeant on Oct. 5.

Upon viewing, the investigator found no activity for Sept. 30.

“In short the recording of the pursuit of Sept. 30, as well as any activity for the prior eight days, was missing even though the labeling of the existing DVD’s did not denote any gap in recording dates,” Dortenzio states.

The rookie officer confirmed the motor scooter chase in a Dec. 6 interview and told investigators Lopresto instructed him not to radio the pursuit to the communications center as is required.

Lopresto initially denied that anything unusual happened on Sept. 30 and said Officer Bradley Reed tried to stop a car. When told the pursuit involved a motor scooter and not a car, Lopresto said she told the officer to turn off his lights and siren.

Other details of Lopresto’s account were contradicted, Dortenzio stated and it was later determined that she couldn’t have initiated a new DVD on Sept. 22 because she was out of town on training. Internal investigators determined Lopresto removed the DVD on the same morning as the pursuit and backdated a new one to Sept. 22.

“There is no allowance by policy, nor is there any legitimate purpose for backdating a DVD,” Dortenzio said. “The backdating on Sept. 30 constituted a deliberate concealment of the recording of that date and the prior eight days.”

Lopresto later presented the missing DVD, according to Dortenzio.

Lopresto was represented at a pre-disciplinary conference on March 2 by Sgt. Joseph Cafasso, president of AFSME Council 15, Local 1570. Cafasso could not be reached for comment.

Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.


Fairfax County Police Officer Larry A. Jackson award for false arrest. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality


Greenberg: You can't be arrested for 'disrespect of cop'


Arkansas

Former state Rep. Dan Greenberg of Little Rock, who blogs on a variety of subjects on which we invariably disagree, calls attention to a subject on which we might agree — the Little Rock police arrest of Surgeon General Joe Thompson — complete with physical takedown and handcuffs — in the castle of Thompson's own home for, essentially, being obnoxious.

 Being obnoxious isn't a crime. Greenberg, a lawyer, makes the case that the Little Rock police had no defensible legal ground to arrest Thompson and that Officer Chris Johannes' own account of his action that night supports a civil action against the police for false arrest. Greenberg contends that Arkansas law doesn't allow the arrest of someone on their private property for refusal to provide information (Johannes has said Thompson's refusal to provide an ID triggered the arrest.)

 Greenberg predicts that the charges will "go away" because the city doesn't need the embarrassment of a trial and Thompson would like to settle because he likes his job.
 
While more in agreement with Greenberg than customary, I'm not so sure I'm prepared to agree police will act reasonably and fold on the arrest or that Thompson wouldn't prefer the exoneration that full exposure of events might bring. Greenberg fails to bring in the Stephens Inc. angle. The actions of one of the members of its 45-member roving private security force and his surveillance presence on Thompson's street late one night was THE precipitating event of this farce.



Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.


The Fairfax County Police officer Walter R. Fasci/ Sean McGlone award for sober living. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality


Lantana Police Chief Arrested, Accused of Crashing Into a Cop Car Drunk on Jungle Juice (UPDATE: He's fired.)


Brace yourself -- this one's a story about the Boca Raton Police investigating an unmarked Lantana Police car crashing into an unmarked Palm Beach Sheriff's Office car. There's been a lot of crime stuff on the Pulp lately, but this one gets posted because, according to the police report, Lantana Police Chief Jeffrey Tyson is the one who done did the crashin'.

 Police say it all started when Tyson was sloppy drunk yesterday around 1 in the afternoon, driving around in a Lantana Police-owned Ford Explorer.

He allegedly rear-ended a PBSO vehicle waiting at a red light on Military Trail, then switched lanes and kept driving north. The sheriff's deputy that he bumped then pulled up next to Tyson and told him to pull over, but "the driver had a blank look on his face."

Tyson ended up driving 24 blocks before pulling into a parking lot, where he reportedly said, "What do you want? I only bumped you."

Tyson changed the terminology a bit when Boca Raton officers showed up.

"I tapped him in the ass," Tyson reportedly said when asked about the crash. "No big deal."

Then, a serious case of the confusies. From the report:
Chief Tyson stated he was on Federal Highway on the way home from his doctor. He stated he used to live in Boca Raton and was familiar with the area. When Officer Daly stated the crash did not occur on Federal Highway, Chief Tyson's response was he was on Congress Avenue. Chief Tyson again stated that he was very familiar with Boca Raton. Officer Daly told Chief Tyson that the crash actually occurred on Military Trail. Chief Tyson's response was "I guess so." ...

 While Officer Daly was speaking with Chief Tyson, I was standing approximately two feet in front of him and to the right. I could smell a strong odor of alcoholic beverage from his mouth area while he was speaking.

Shortly after, Tyson was arrested after refusing to take a field sobriety test, and police would later find a metal coffee cup in the car with "a red liquid which smelled like an alcoholic beverage." When he was taken in for booking, Tyson blew a .229 and .234 on the Breathalyzer -- almost four three times the legal limit.

Lantana Commander Sean Scheller has been named acting chief for the time being, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.






The Fairfax County Police officer Walter R. Fasci/ Sean McGlone award for sober living. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality


Cop arrested on drug charges after sting


A GLOUCESTER Township patrol officer was arrested on drug charges after allegedly buying prescription pills from a confidential informant while on duty.

 Tom Eden Jr., 31, was arrested about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday as he left a room at a Howard Johnson Express Inn on Black Horse Pike, where he bought five Percocet pills and two Oxycontin placebos during a police sting, Chief Harry Earle said Wednesday.

 Eden was wearing his uniform and driving a marked township patrol car at the time of his arrest. The seven-year veteran has been suspended without pay with intent to dismiss, Earle said.

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 Eden, who lives in the township, was released on his own recognizance.

 Eden's attorney, Dennis Wixted, was awaiting details on the case. "My client is looking forward to his day in court," he said.

 The charges stemmed from an Internal Affairs investigation that started after a civilian told a township officer that Eden was "illegally purchasing drugs, specifically pills," Earle said.

 Township police worked with the Camden County Prosecutor's Office on the investigation.
 Authorities are investigating whether the pills were for Eden's personal use or for distribution, Earle said.



Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.

The Fairfax County Police officer Walter R. Fasci/ Sean McGlone award for sober living. Fairfax County Police. Police brutality




Ex-Superior police captain won't be criminally charged in perjury case

SUPERIOR, WI (WTAQ) - No criminal charges will be filed against a former police captain in Superior who was suspected of committing perjury.

Douglas County District Attorney Dan Blank said Thursday that a charge against former Captain Chad La Lor would be hard to prove.

Authorities investigated allegations that La Lor lied during a Police and Fire Commission hearing last November about the misconduct of another officer. The captain was asked about a hit and run crash in 2009.

La Lor admitted being drunk when he struck another vehicle, and said there were no previous incidents in which he drove drunk.

Superior Police Chief Charles LaGesse put the captain on leave in January and had Washburn County’s sheriff investigate. And Terry Dryden said he could not find evidence that La Lor committed perjury or any other crime during his testimony.

The Douglas County DA then named Bayfield County’s DA Craig Haukaas as a special prosecutor. Haukaas said the investigation uncovered issues that caused alarm, but he agreed it would be “difficult at best” to support a perjury charge against La Lor.

The captain resigned March 20th, saying his work environment became, “untenable.” Thursday, he said the investigation came to the same conclusion as he did in January – that he never committed perjury.



Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.














Fairfax County Police Officer David Ziants award for kill somebody and the worst thing that happens to you is you get fired.

Cop sued in Fatal Shooting


The homicide of 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain, a black Marine vet shot dead at his home by police in White Plains, New York, last November after he accidentally set off his wearable medical alert device. A previous BB post on the story is here. The victim's son and other advocates have been pressuring authorities to release the name of the officer involved:

Documented in audio recordings, the White Plains police reportedly used a racial slur, burst through Chamberlain’s door, tasered him, then shot him dead. "The last time I actually really saw my father, other than the funeral, was at the hospital, with his eyes wide open, his tongue hanging out his mouth, and two bullet holes in his chest," said Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. "And I’m staring at my father, wondering, 'What happened?'"

The alleged shooter, Officer Anthony Carelli, is due in court later this month in an unrelated 2008 police brutality case. He is accused of being the most brutal of a group of officers who allegedly beat two arrestees of Jordanian descent and called them "rag heads."



Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.







Exclusive: Cop in Fatal Shooting of Ex-Marine Kenneth Chamberlain ID’d, Sued in 2008 Racism Case

In a broadcast exclusive, we reveal the name of the police officer who allegedly killed 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain, the retired African-American Marine who was shot dead in his own home in White Plains, New York, in November after he inadvertently triggered his medical alert pendant. Documented in audio recordings, the White Plains police reportedly used a racial slur, burst through Chamberlain’s door, tasered him, then shot him dead. "The last time I actually really saw my father, other than the funeral, was at the hospital, with his eyes wide open, his tongue hanging out his mouth, and two bullet holes in his chest," said Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. "And I’m staring at my father, wondering, 'What happened?'"

The alleged shooter, Officer Anthony Carelli, is due in court later this month in an unrelated 2008 police brutality case. He is accused of being the most brutal of a group of officers who allegedly beat two arrestees of Jordanian descent and called them "rag heads." We speak to Gus Dimopoulos, attorney for Jerry and Sal Hatter. "We allege that the police officers, while in the custody of the White Plains Police Department back at the station, you know, severely beat Jerry while being restrained by handcuffs. They hit him in the face with a nightstick, they kicked, they punched, they punched him, and then essentially charged him with a crime," Dimopoulos said.

Despite repeated requests from Chamberlain’s family for the name of the officer who killed him, White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong only named Carelli as the shooter this morning, after his name appeared in an article written by Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzalez in the New York Daily News. The White Plains police have refused to say whether Carelli has been disciplined or assigned to desk duty after the fatal shooting of Chamberlain. We get an update on the Chamberlain case from the victim's son, Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr., and his two attorneys, Mayo Bartlett and Abdulwali Muhammad. We also speak with Gus Dimopoulos, a lawyer for the 2008 victims, Jereis Hatter and Salameh Hatter. [includes rush transcript]

Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.









White Plains cop who killed ex-Marine Kenneth Chamberlain faces brutality suit



The White Plains police officer who fatally shot Kenneth Chamberlain in November is one of six city officers going on trial this month in a $10 million federal civil rights lawsuit accusing them of using excessive force during an arrest four years ago.

Jereis Hattar, 27, a Jordanian-American from Yonkers, claims Officer Anthony Carelli hit him in the eye with a baton while he was handcuffed in the booking area of police headquarters early on May 24, 2008. Hattar and his twin brother, Salameh, were arrested that morning outside Black Bear Saloon on Mamaroneck Avenue.

The brothers have accused Carelli and the other officers of beating and kicking them and calling them “ragheads” and other racial slurs.

The officers’ lawyer, Joseph Maria, said there was no police brutality that night, just two brothers who had too much to drink, including one who was hurt in a bar fight before the police arrived.

“He was injured already when (the officers) put him in the car, and then he kept banging his head around in there,” Maria said.

In March 2009, a city judge acquitted the brothers of disorderly conduct charges. Two months later, they sued the officers, the city and the Police Department.

In January, U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti dismissed all of Salameh Hattar’s claims, as well as his brother’s claims against the city, the Police Department and another officer.

In addition to Carelli, the officers facing trial this month are Sgt. John Glynn and Officers Julio Orellana, Sebastian DaCosta, Hector Fuentes and Julio Rivera.

Orellana and Carelli claimed in depositions that, on the ride to the police station, Jereis Hattar repeatedly banged his head against the police car partition. But a doctor is expected to testify for Hattar that his eye injury was inconsistent with hitting his head in such a manner.

Maria insisted he had no idea until Thursday that one of his clients was the officer involved in the fatal shooting in November. He said it would have no bearing on the upcoming trial because details of the shooting would not be admissible and the judge would screen jurors to determine whether they had knowledge of the shooting or had formed an opinion of it.



Chamberlain, an ex-Marine and retired Westchester County correction officer, was killed in his apartment Nov. 19 after police responded to a medical-alert notification.

It was not until this week, as the Westchester District Attorney’s Office is about to present the case to a grand jury, that police publicly identified Carelli as the officer who shot Chamberlain.

Randolph M. McLaughlin, a lawyer for the Chamberlain family, said the lawsuit confirmed their suspicions about Carelli.

“We really wondered all along why this man’s name wasn’t released, and now we know,” he said. “This individual has a pending federal court case against him involving police brutality and includes the use of racial slurs. The police should have known that he had issues and mandated retraining. They apparently did absolutely nothing. So not only did he beat up someone in handcuffs, now he’s killed someone.”

The other family lawyer, Mayo Bartlett, said Carelli’s name “should have been released immediately.”

“My concern is that he was working with no restrictions despite the fact that he’s facing a federal lawsuit on brutality allegations,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett called for police to release the names of all the officers involved in the Chamberlain case

Damon Jones, New York representative for Blacks in Law Enforcement of America, said cover-ups of police brutality in Westchester are “systematic” and he blamed that on District Attorney Janet DiFiore.

He said DiFiore’s decision to prosecute the Hattar brothers was part of a cover-up and that her administration “has never prosecuted any police officer in Westchester County for any cases of police brutality.”

He said she continuously turns over investigations of questionable police actions “back to the police department in question,” and prosecutes the victims.



Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.