ACLU unveils smartphone app for recording and reporting police misconduct

The Mobile Justice app, which can be downloaded free from the ACLU of Missouri website, has several capabilities:

A "record" feature allows citizens to capture a police interaction and send the file instantly to the ACLU.

A "witness" feature sends out a location alert to others, enabling them to come to the scene and observe.

A 'report' feature makes it easy to send an incident report to the ACLU.

The app also has a section informing citizens on their rights during police stops.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY • People who feel their rights are being violated by police will be able to record and instantly send a video of it to the ACLU using a new smartphone app available here.

It also permits the user to summon others to the scene to observe, to file an instant complaint to the ACLU and to review constitutional rights.

Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Missouri, said Thursday the idea is to help ensure that police stops are conducted properly — and to provide evidence for court if they’re not.

“We know most police are very consistent in doing their jobs properly,” Mittman said at a press conference. “But for those few bad apples, this puts them on notice.”

He said complaints of police harassment have spiked significantly since the shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, and resulting protests. But the underlying issues aren’t new, he said, citing an annual state report that suggests some police forces stop a disproportionate number of blacks.

“This is a problem throughout our country that we all know about,” he said.

His organization joined ACLU affiliates in three other states — Mississippi, Oregon and Nebraska — in the app’s roll-out. It is currently available only for Android phones, with plans to offer it ultimately for iPhones as well.

Mittman said instant transmission of the video means an officer cannot just seize a phone and delete it. But he urged people to obey if police order them to stop recording.

In a statement reacting to the ACLU’s announcement, St. Louis County Police Sgt. Brian Schellman said his agency “agrees with the ACLU that everyone should know what their rights are when interacting with police, and this app is another way for them to do so.”

Ferguson and St. Louis police did not respond to requests for comment.

This is the same technology the ACLU used to address concerns of racial profiling in stop-and-frisk policing in New York. The ACLU said that app has been downloaded more than 30,000 times since its release in 2012. In the same time period, he said, street stops by police declined by more than half.

Mittman said the announcement’s timing is unrelated to an impending decision from a St. Louis County grand jury on whether to issue any charges against Wilson. But if protests do erupt, as many have suggested, he said he expects the new app to get heavy use.

Based on an ACLU suit, a judge recently ordered the Missouri Highway Patrol and St. Louis County police to stop arresting people who do not keep moving during demonstrations. On Wednesday, the city of Ferguson agreed not to enforce the so-called “five-second rule.”

The “failure to disperse” charge authorities used applies “at the scene of an unlawful assembly, or at the scene of a riot.” The ACLU argued that police were using it to quell free speech.

“These violations of constitutional rights must stop,” Mittman said.

The ACLU earlier reached a federal court agreement with the same agencies over the right to record police interactions. That suit was on behalf of a journalist with the Argus Media Group who was ordered over a loudspeaker to stop filming Ferguson protests.

The agreement says public events may be recorded “without abridgement unless it obstructs the activity or threatens the safety of others, or physically interferes with the ability of law enforcement officers to perform their duties.”

Many of the demonstrators have used live streaming video and Twitter from their phones as a way to organize, communicate and keep pressure on authorities.

Julia Ho, of Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, a grass-roots group, said any tool that helps connect protesters to legal advocacy is a plus.

“We definitely fully support all the efforts of the ACLU, and more specifically, any tool that allows grass-roots organizing to occur around police brutality,” she said.

They are not the only ones to grasp the power of video. St. Louis County police have been spotted recording the protests.

“Filming is a way our department can hold everyone on scene accountable, police and citizens,” Schellman said. “Oftentimes, videos used, such as Vine, are shown in quick clips, with no context. Filming interactions between police and citizens helps us put then entire scope of a contact between police and citizens in context.”

Miami Springs cop resigns after fraud arrest

BY THEO KARANTSALIS

A veteran Miami Springs police officer who once served as union representative has quietly resigned from the force after authorities accused him of fraudulently billing his city-issued medical insurance.

While on active duty, Oscar Garcia, 43, was arrested last year and charged with two counts of insurance fraud and one count of grand theft. He submitted his resignation to the city last month.

Garcia’s case is expected to be resolved once he pays back restitution.

During a court hearing Tuesday, Garcia declined to comment. His lawyer did not return repeated calls for comment.

“I have enjoyed 17 years as an employee with this great city and will always cherish,” he wrote in his resignation letter. “I will continue to have lifelong friendships with all of you, however, this time, I have goals and plans that no longer allow me to continue my journey and I must move on.”

His arrest was unusual for a department of 40 sworn officers in the the small city just north of Miami International Airport. Garcia had been a representative for the Police Benevolent Association and was particularly vocal during contract negotiations in 2012.

His legal troubles stem from paperwork he filled out in October 2010.

According to an arrest warrant, Garcia filled out an Aetna health insurance form, listing a woman named Rosario Noa as his wife, and her daughter as his stepdaughter.

“Wife kept maiden name,” he wrote on the form, according to authorities.

Noa later gave birth to Garcia's son — a pregnancy for which Aetna paid $14,313.54 in medical bills. The company also paid out several hundred dollars in other claims.

But according to North Miami police, which investigated, Garcia was actually still married to another woman: Olga Garcia, whom he had never divorced because of disagreements over child custody.

Noa, Garcia admitted the city, was his live-in girlfriend and he mistakenly believed he could list her and her daughter as dependents.

Miami Springs later determined that it had wrongfully paid over $6,500 for Noa and her daughter because they were never eligible for coverage through the city.

Police: Fla. officer shot cop girlfriend in head, killed himself

No criminal charges will be filed against Sgt. Amy Young in the shooting death of her boyfriend, Officer Luis Monroig, who shot her and then himself

By Jessica Lipscomb, Ryan Mills

Naples Daily News

NAPLES, Fla. — No criminal charges will be filed against Naples police Sgt. Amy Young in the shooting death of her boyfriend, Officer Luis "Dave" Monroig, the State Attorney's Office announced October 30.

Monroig was fatally shot July 9 during a domestic dispute at Young's Estero home. Young was shot in the face but survived.

 Officer involved in fatal cop couple shooting to get gun backOfficer involved in fatal cop shooting still in ICUFla. cop couple's dispute leaves 1 dead, 1 wounded "After our review of the investigation and consideration of applicable Florida law, we have determined that no charges will be filed in this matter," State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Samantha Syoen said in a statement.

Monroig shot Young then killed himself, a State Attorney's Office investigation found. Still, investigators said "why he fired the shot that wounded Young is unknown."

From early on, Young's attorney, Donald Day, has said Young committed no crime.

"We found out about the investigation earlier today, but of course it was no surprise to us because we knew what happened," he said Thursday.

A three-page memo gives the following account of the hours leading up to the shooting:

On Tuesday, July 8, Young returned to her home in the Lakes of Estero community after a night out with friends. A witness told the Lee County Sheriff's Office that Young had driven home and appeared to be intoxicated.

Upon Young's return, she and Monroig were involved in an altercation in the front yard. It's unclear from reports if the altercation was verbal or physical.

Both Young and Monroig had been drinking. Young tested positive for alcohol and benzodiazepine, which can be found in anxiety medications, and Monroig had been drinking while at home.

Young said as the argument escalated, she was pushed to the ground, hit her head and passed out. After regaining consciousness, Young said Monroig was still upset with her. She said she became afraid and grabbed her police-issued gun from the nightstand.

Young said Monroig yelled, "Really, Amy!" and sometime after that, shots were fired. Young could not recall how she was shot but remembered waking up on the bedroom floor next to Monroig, who was dead.

Young eventually was able to drag herself out of the bedroom and out the front door, where she was found by her daughter, who called 911. Six of the couple's children from previous marriages were at the home that night.

Investigators found that Monroig, who was left handed, had gunshot residue on his left hand and suffered a gunshot wound to the left side of his head. Dr. Robert Pfalzgraf, the Lee County medical examiner, ruled the death a suicide.

A crime scene investigation found Young was shot on the left side of her head, with the wound showing a downward trajectory from above her left ear to her chin.

Monroig's police-issued Walther PPS 40-caliber semi-automatic firearm was the only weapon in the home that had been fired that night, investigators said.

Records show Monroig had been secretly recording his phone calls, including those the night of July 8. State Attorney's officials said they could not release the recordings because of Florida law but said it was clear "that Monroig sounded angry and became increasingly irate as time passed."

Had Monroig lived, there was evidence that could have led to an attempted murder charge, according to the Sheriff's Office. In light of his death, the case has been closed.

Young allowed herself to be interviewed only once before invoking her right to an attorney. After that, she refused requests for interviews and for walk-throughs of the crime scene, according to reports.

After her first statement, Young was "medically incapacitated" and still recovering from the shooting, Day said.

"We didn't feel it was appropriate to have her give a second statement," he said. "She'd already given a full statement and fully cooperated."

But Ray Bass, an attorney representing Monroig's ex-wife Nina Diaz-Monroig, said he found it concerning that Young refused to be interviewed more than once.

"I do know this: When someone stops involvement with a police investigation, that's a red flag," he said. "Whether that person has a lawyer or not, it's a red flag, and that flag's still waving as far as I can tell."

 Bass raised the possibility that Monroig fired his weapon in self-defense, stressing the State Attorney's conclusion that it was unclear why Young was shot.

Bass, a former Collier County Sheriff's Office investigator, said he was unable to get in touch with Diaz-Monroig October 30. Attempts to reach Diaz-Monroig for comment at her Marco Island home were unsuccessful.

No one answered the door October 30 at Young's Estero house. Neighbors said Young has been back in her home for a couple of months.

"She still feels terribly about this," Day said. "They lived together as a family and she's worried about what impact this will have on the children."

Naples Mayor John Sorey said it has not been good having a cloud of suspicion hanging over Young for the better part of four months.

But he said he respects the Sheriff's Office's and the State Attorney's Office's process.

"I would have liked to have it a lot sooner to get this behind us, but it is what it is," Sorey said.

He said he is concerned about allegations in the report that Young had been drinking and driving before the shooting.

"Obviously we don't have as a society any tolerance for drinking and driving," Sorey said. "Hopefully the hospital did a blood alcohol analysis."

Day said the witness's depiction of Young driving while intoxicated is inaccurate. Any medications found in her system were legally prescribed, he said.

Naples Police Chief Tom Weschler reviewed the State Attorney's Office memo and said he stands behind the Sheriff's Office investigation, although he had not seen a full report.

"The next step for us will be to actually get a copy of the report and review that," he said. "We'll be looking to see if there are any administrative issues in that report that need to be addressed."

Young remains on leave from the department. Weschler said he hasn't spoken to her since before the shooting. The city's human resources department is continuing with its fitness for duty examination, he said.

Day said he expects Young will be fully reinstated.

"There were a lot of negative things said and people jumped to a lot of conclusions, but it turns out she was in fact the victim here," Day said.

The announcement is an opportunity for the department and its officers to start putting the shooting behind them, Weschler said.

"There's no win in this," he said. "It's all about the families and their hopefully having the ability to move forward."

Saratoga County sheriff's officer suspended over video;

By Don Lehman

A video posted online that appeared to show a Saratoga County sheriff’s officer slap a person he had stopped has led to suspension of the officer and a criminal investigation, police said early Saturday.

The video shows the officer, Sgt. Shawn Glans, cursing at the person he was speaking with, and the sound of what the videotaper alleges was a slap can be heard. Officers had spotted a rifle in the back of the parked car, according to the video.

The incident took place during an interview early Friday at the Route 9 Walmart in Halfmoon, according to Post-Star media partners WNYT-TV Newschannel 13. Deputies responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle, and found a car in a business’s parking lot with the rifle in the back seat.

Glans and another officer questioned two young men who they saw walk to the car, and a confrontation ensued when the owner refused to give police access to the vehicle.

“It is disturbing,” Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo said of the situation Saturday. “The minute we heard about it, we began an investigation. We’re going to be upfront about it and deal with it.”

The one-minute, 25-second video begins when, it appears, a male individual starts recording as Glans is demanding to search the unidentified person’s vehicle.

“Ok, then it shouldn’t be an issue for us to look,” said Glans.

“But it is. It’s just not right that you just want to search my car,” the person said to the officer.

The end of his sentence was interrupted by Glans, who said, “We’ll get a (expletive) search warrant.”

The person said OK, and Glans asked if that’s what he wanted to do.

“If that’s the route you want to take, but there’s no reason you have to search my car. There’s just no need for it,” said the person. He then said he was not in his car and asked Glans why he wouldn’t want to search his house.

Glans sighed, “(Expletive) idiot.” Glans turned away briefly, turned back and said, ”Let me see your (expletive) keys.”

As the person asked why and said, “You can’t do that,” the camera angle tilted down slightly.

Glans’ face was then not visible, but his lower torso remained in the shot. He is seen raising his arms while asking, “You want to (expletive) resist?”

Glans’ body moved, aligning with a loud slap that is heard, and again asked, “You want to (expletive) resist?”

Keys can be heard as they are apparently tossed. “Search the (expletive) car,” Glans said.

The camera angle returned to show Glans’ face. His breathing appeared slightly labored.

“I really don’t want to stand out here in the middle of the (expletive) rain, said Glans.

“Neither do I,” said the person.

“So if you have nothing to hide in there, we’re just going to check and be on our (expletive) merry way,” Glans said. The person could be heard saying, all right during that exchange.

“Understand, (expletive)?” Glans asked, while pointing at the person.

The camera operator commented, “That was intense.”

“You like that, eh,” asked Glans. “I can get a lot more intense.”

When a comment was made, “Can you slap me around?” Glans replied, “I’ll rip off your (expletive) head and (expletive) down your neck.”

The camera next turned toward the operator, who looked at the camera and said, “Oh my god.” The video ends a moment after.

Glans has been suspended without pay pending a police investigation and disciplinary action of Glans’ conduct, which began after the video was posted on the Internet. Zurlo said a person who saw the video online contacted the Sheriff’s Office on Friday night.

No criminal complaint or charges have been filed,

but Zurlo said the investigation was ongoing and interviews were being conducted Saturday. He said a decision on a possible criminal prosecution is likely in a day or two.

A slap without an injury could lead to a second-degree harassment charge, which is a non-criminal violation.

“The Sheriff’s Office takes matters such as this very seriously, and we do not in any way condone anything less than professional behavior from our members,” Chief Deputy Richard Castle wrote in a news release. “We wish to thank the members of the community who brought this to light and cooperated fully with the investigation.”

The internal personnel investigation is ongoing.

Neither the other deputy nor civilian were identified in the release, which also stated no additional information will be released until the investigation is concluded. Zurlo said the Sheriff’s Office is not releasing the officer’s name because personnel issues are not public, but he acknowledged the officer is a sergeant.

Glans also works part-time for South Glens Falls Police Department.

Glans, according to a Daily Gazette article, was found responsible for a March 1996 on-duty vehicle accident that left a man paralyzed and blind. Saratoga County and the town of Wilton settled a lawsuit with the man for an undisclosed amount after a $60 million suit was filed.

SF police corruption trial expected to start next week

Jury selection was completed in federal court Monday in the corruption trial of two San Francisco police officers accused of stealing money and property during searches in 2009.

Opening statements and testimony in the trial of Sgt. Ian Furminger, 48, of Pleasant Hill and Officer Edmond Robles, 47, of Danville are expected to begin Nov. 10 before the jury in the court of U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco.

The officers were all part of plainclothes investigation teams whose alleged misdeeds in searches conducted at single-room-occupancy hotels in the Mission and Tenderloin and on Sixth Street -- including allegedly searching rooms without warrants -- were captured on video revealed by the Public Defender's Office in 2011.

A third defendant, former Officer Reynaldo Vargas, 46, of Palm Desert, pleaded guilty before Breyer to four felony counts Oct. 28 and agreed to testify against the other two men.

Following that plea bargain, prosecutors obtained a revised and expanded grand jury indictment against Furminger and Robles on Oct. 30.

The officers were originally charged in a six-count indictment in February. The revised indictment contains nine counts, including new charges of using wire communications to commit fraud and depriving the people of San Francisco of the officers' honest services.

Both Furminger and Robles are charged with eight counts and the ninth charge accuses Furminger alone of extorting property from an individual identified by the initials S.S. in 2011 and 2012.

The other eight counts include two counts of wire fraud, two counts of honest services fraud, conspiracy against civil rights, conspiracy to commit theft from a federally funded program, theft and conspiracy to distribute drugs.

A previous charge of selling marijuana was dropped from the revised indictment against Furminger and Robles.

The theft-conspiracy count adds new examples of alleged thefts during searches.

In addition to an earlier allegation that the officers stole a $500 Apple gift card during an apartment search in March 2009, the revised conspiracy count also alleges that either Robles or both Robles and Furminger joined Vargas in stealing money during four other searches in Newark and San Francisco between May and November 2009.

After stealing the money, the officers "split it among themselves" each time, the indictment alleges.

The counts each carry maximum sentences ranging from three to 10 years in prison, if the officers are convicted.

Vargas pleaded guilty before Breyer last week to charges in the original indictment of conspiracy to distribute drugs, distribution of marijuana, conspiracy to commit theft, and theft of more than $5,000 worth of property from a federally funded program.

A sentencing date has not been set.

Birmingham Police Department terminates officer charged with child sex abuse, rape in Alabaster

By Jon Reed |  

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A Birmingham police officer who faces child sex abuse and rape charges in Alabaster has been terminated from the police department.

Joshua Herbinger was terminated from the Birmingham Police Department effective Friday, according to Lt. Sean Edwards.

Herbinger, 29, was arrested Oct. 9 and charged with sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old after a young female reported the abuse to the School Resource Officer at her school. Alabaster police said Herbinger is not related to the victim.

He was arrested again Monday by Alabaster police and charged in the rape of an adult woman. He was charged with first-degree rape, and police said he wasn't in any kind of relationship with the victim.

Herbinger was a crime scene technician and a nine-year veteran of the Birmingham Police Department.

Alabaster police said Tuesday that the investigation is ongoing and anyone with information can call Det. Andrew Pounds at 205-663-7401.

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops

Crawford officer arrested amid allegations of indecency with a child

Crawford officer arrested amid allegations of indecency with a child By OLIVIA MESSER omesser@wacotrib.com 

A Crawford police officer was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Texas Rangers after an investigation determined he may have had inappropriate sexual contact with a minor, an affidavit states.

Officer William “Bill” Byrom, 28, was arrested on a warrant alleging indecency with a child sexual contact with a juvenile under the age of 17.

The affidavit states Crawford police Chief Clayton Bruton began investigating the alleged incidents on his own, including an interview with the victim, before asking the Texas Rangers to step in Friday.

It is unclear what prompted Bruton to look into the allegations or when they surfaced.

Mayor Brent Meyer said he was informed of the investigation Oct. 22, and Byrom was put on paid leave the next day.

According to the affidavit, Byrom admitted during an interview with a Ranger that he had placed his hands under the victim’s shirt at least once.

The victim underwent forensic interviews at the Waco Child Advocacy Center, and she said such incidents occurred at least four or five times from 2013 through September 2014, the document shows.

Meyer said a decision about Byrom’s employment will be made at a city council executive session at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Byrom was released from McLennan County Jail on a $20,000 bond Tuesday evening

Gerry Hyland sucks, throw him out of office

More video of dog being shot by Racine police

By John Cuoco

Racine - CBS 58 obtained new video of a dog being shot by Racine Police on Saturday.

The video is from a security camera from a neighbor.

Similar to the cell phone video CBS 58 first showed you from Saturday, you can see the dog run outside and then it falls down to the ground.

There is no audio on this clip, unlike in the cell phone video.

On Sunday, a group of about a dozen upset over the dog being shot stood outside the Racine Police Department.

They were demanding that something be done in the case.

This situation stems from a tactical situation on Saturday.

An argument between neighbors in Racine lead to the standoff situation off of 17th and Russet.

Kim Polk said her neighbor came over and his dog defecated in her yard. She asked him to pick it up and he kicked it to the street. She said her neighbor later told her he would shot her dog with a bow and arrow. According to Polk, the neighbor also threatened her husband with a machete.

Police arrived on the scene and the man barricaded himself to the home.

Racine police said they are certainly reviewing the incident, as we do with all tactical situations.

They hope to release more information on Monday.

Jerry "Opps Deary" Hyland

Fairfax County will NEVER have this, our political leaders are afraid of the Police

Ford Police Cruisers Now Tattle When Cops Drive Like Jerks
 
By Alexander George

Everyone’s seen a cop driving like a jerk: Double parking and blocking traffic. Cruising down the highway way beyond the speed limit, with no suspect to run down. Blatantly texting while driving. Pulling the old turn-on-the-siren-just-long-enough-to-run-the-red-light trick. And for anyone who’s fantasized about making a citizen’s arrest of one of their city’s finest, police departments soon will be able to track how their cops are driving, and when they’re behaving badly.

Ford has created a way for law enforcement bosses to see where their subordinates go and track how they’re driving. Fifty Los Angeles Police Department cruisers have been outfitted with transmitters that send officers’ driving information to their supervisors, and can even tell if the boys in blue are wearing seat belts. The system is a joint effort by Ford and California software firm Telogis, and designed for the Police Interceptor models of the Explorer and Taurus. The idea is that accountability will lead to better and safer driving behavior. Auto insurance companies have been doing the same thing for years.

“From a business standpoint, these are expensive vehicles with expensive employees driving them,” says Bryan Vila, a professor and researcher at Washington State University. He also spent 17 years as an officer, including nine with the LA County sheriff. “When they crash, they’re also more likely to kill bystanders and civilians, so there’s a public safety side. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the LAPD implementing this.”

Police organizations have been ramping up education about the risks of driving fast, but Vila, having spent time with a badge and gun, understands the urge to ignore those lessons. “If you’re a young cop and someone gives you a fast car to drive, there’s a lot of temptation to do it,” Vila says. “Whether its safe, or not, and whether it’s legal, or not.”

Ford Telematics for Law Enforcement lets police departments see if their officers are giving in to those temptations. The system knows if the light bar is turned on, and measures the speed of the car against the limit. It looks for hard braking and sudden acceleration. It sees when the car spins and when the anti-lock braking system is engaged. Unlike conventional black boxes for cars, it can transmit data in real-time. And if the airbags deploy, dispatchers will see it and know to send backup immediately.


There are safety advantages for cops, too. Car crashes kill dozens of officers annually, but most California police don’t wear seat belts, according to a recent study. That may be because they find it uncomfortable while wearing other gear, they think it can prevent them from reaching their gun, or they may find it annoying given how often they get into and out of their cars. If the higher-ups want to enforce the use of seat belts, having info on who’s buckled up is a big help.

“With officers, you’re talking about a culture,” says Detective Meghan Aguilar, who’s been at the LAPD for 18 years, and whose title makes her one of the aforementioned higher-ups. “When I started it was much more common for police to not wear their seatbelt. You’re fighting a misperception that [wearing a seat belt] slows you down exiting the vehicle, pursuing a suspect.”

This type of monitoring uses technology to give supervisors eyes where they couldn’t see before. The basic principle is that being watched will prompt officers to follow the rules. “If there’s equipment that allows me to monitor that, without having to be in front of every vehicle,” Aguilar says, “there’s a good chance that behavior is going to be modified.”

That doesn’t mean every cop likes the idea of being watched over. “There’s a distinction between encouraging and active real-time monitoring that’s going to your supervisor,” says Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations. “It almost sounds like they’re trolling for violations.”

Professor Vila says this type of monitoring, used along side education about the consequences of driving irresponsibly, will be effective, and for that reason, a moral imperative. “How do you say, ‘No, I don’t want to be safer,’” he says. “There isn’t a responsible way to defend that.”

Ford hasn’t announced what the factory-installed system costs, but it should be available next year. It’s an advantage for the company, which, three years after discontinuing the Crown Victoria, competes with Chrysler and GM to provide vehicles to the nation’s police departments. If Ford can link its name to an exclusive technology like this, it could have an edge. Depending on how the LAPD’s test goes, Ford’s tech could end up in more of the 1,800 police vehicles driven by the city’s 10,000-strong police force.



Foust is done...now we toss out her Majesty Gerry "Opps deary" Hyland the killer cops best friend,

Foust is done...now we toss out her Majesty Gerry "Opps deary" Hyland the killer cops best friend

Delay in Shooting Investigation Decried
Supervisors urge action by U.S. attorney.

John Geer, standing in his doorway, minutes before he was shot by a Fairfax County Police officer. Photo courtesy of Michael Lieberman
By Tim Peterson
#The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors decided they’ve exercised enough patience with U.S. Attorney Dana Boente’s office. Now more than 13 months after Fairfax County police shot and killed John Geer, standing unarmed in the doorway of his Springfield home, Board chairman Sharon Bulova addressed the silence from Boente.
#In a letter to Boente, dated Sept. 19 and released last week, Bulova acknowledged the U.S. attorney’s office has had the Geer case since January 2014.
#“Since the shooting occurred,” Bulova said in the letter, “our citizens have regularly contacted various members of the board to communicate their concern and at times displeasure that the criminal investigation into this incident has not yet been completed.”
#After the shooting on Aug. 29, 2013, the initial investigation by the Fairfax County Police Department was handed off to Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Raymond Morrogh. Several months and a pair of conflicts of interest — cited by Morrogh — later, the case was transferred to Boente’s office.
#Fairfax County Police have yet to release any information to the Geer family or the public regarding details of the shooting or their own internal investigation. The U.S. Department of Justice been just as forthcoming.
#“The board, however, would like to express to you the importance of a resolution of this matter,” Bulova wrote in the letter, “as that will go a long way towards allowing our citizens to have faith in the process by which police shooting incidents are investigated.”
#In an Oct. 10 response, a spokesman from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said they have no additional comment in light of Bulova’s letter.
#John Geer’s father Don recently penned a letter of his own, not to Boente but to Nicholas Beltrante, executive director and founder of the Virginia Citizens Coalition for Police Accountability (CCPA). Beltrante was inspired to begin petitioning the Board of Supervisors to appoint a citizens’ police oversight board after the 2010 police shooting of David Masters.
#“We have now spent 13 frustrating months trying to acquire information as to who, why, etc. John was killed,” Don Geer said in the letter. “The Police Department policy of investigating a case, then hiding behind internal rules to avoid releasing information while working to exonerate the shooter is unacceptable. This does not provide justice for the victim, satisfaction for the public or closure for the family.”
#Don Geer summarized his account of what happened to his son, and the timeline that followed.
#“Therefore,” his letter continued, “I fully support the appointment of a Citizens Complaint Review Board that would report to the county Board of Supervisors to provide transparency and accountability for the actions of the Police Department.”
#Last month, Geer family lawyer Michael Lieberman filed a $12 million wrongful death and gross negligence suit against the Fairfax County Police Department.
#For more information on the Citizens Coalition for Police Accountability, visit www.virginiaccpa.com.

Foust is done...now we toss out her Majesty Gerry "Opps deary" Hyland the killer cops best friend

Report: Philly Paid Out $40 Million for Police Misconduct

Number “dwarfs” four other mid-sized cities combined.

MuckRock, an investigative website that specializes in open-records requests, says Philadelphia has paid more than $40 million to settle nearly 600 police misconduct suits since 2009.

Sound like a lot? The folks at MuckRock think so.

 “The numbers dwarf comparable statistics in other major cities for which MuckRock obtained the same data,” MuckRock reported. “For example, the cities of Indianapolis, San Francisco, San Jose, and Austin settled or lost a combined 122 police misconduct cases — compared to 586 cases in Philadelphia.”

We’re not sure if that’s a valid comparison; Philadelphia is roughly 600,000 residents bigger than San Jose, the biggest city on that list. On the other hand, thank God we’re not New York, either, which paid $428 million — 10 times as much as Philly — during the same time period.

In its records request for Philly, MuckRock reports: “We determined that 1,223 …  cases represented police misconduct lawsuits. Of those, the city settled 584 and lost two, roughly 48 percent, at an average of $69,401 per lawsuit.” The two biggest settlements, for $2.5 million apiece, involved police-involved shootings. There were also two racial profiling settlements, for $14,500 apiece.

What’s cool? MuckRock invites you to download the spreadsheet of lawsuits and see if you can turn up any patterns the public should know about.

Foust is done...now we toss out her Majesty Gerry "Opps deary" Hyland,, the killer cops best friend

Paws up, don’t shoot: Activists say cops shooting dogs is a problem

Protest march on state Capitol planned for October 25

By Raheem F. Hosseini

Law-enforcement agencies don’t actually use dogs in target practice, but activists say better training is needed to stop the inadvertent killing of animals during police action.

Jayme Kathleen Francis was drowsing off in her bedroom one evening last spring, when a swarm of cops mistook her duplex for the scene of a fight and entered.

Wrapped in her arms was Copper, a 6-year-old boxer who liked to dance on his hind legs and wave his nub in the air. Informed of the officers’ presence, Francis roused from her sleep to put her dog into the backyard before dealing with the confusion. He never made it that far.

As Copper padded a few feet in front of her, Francis heard a loud crack and saw what looked like crimson glitter wisp through the air.

A veteran Modesto Police Department officer had fired a bullet into Copper’s face.

The dog would later die on a veterinarian’s table, another four-legged victim of a police shooting—something critics say is a needlessly routine occurrence.

“Once I looked into it, I realized how common it was,” Francis told SN&R. “It turned my stomach.”

A nationwide animal rights group with a chapter based in Sacramento, called Freeze Don’t Shoot-California, is hoping to tap into that disgust during an October 25 march on the state Capitol. Francis will be among the speakers calling for reform in officer training and accountability.

There are no solid estimates on how many pets are injured or killed each year by peace officers. In the past six years, 22 dogs have been shot by sheriff’s department personnel in the unincorporated areas of Sacramento County, though none this year. Sheriff’s departments in El Dorado and Yolo counties didn’t respond to requests for data. The Elk Grove Police department said it doesn’t track how many animals officers shoot.

Then again, agencies aren’t required to report how many humans they shoot, to say nothing of four-legged casualties. In lieu of a dead dog database, pissed-off owners have turned to social media to share their grisly accounts and online media reports.

In May of last year, a California Highway Patrol officer killed two huskies—one of them accidentally—after receiving reports of wolves attacking a deer and running into people’s yards in Carmichael, news outlets reported. The canines’ owner had been searching for his pets for two days, and says they escaped his apartment while chasing an intruder but weren’t violent.

In November 2012, an officer with the Sacramento Police Department’s SWAT team shot a dog that reportedly charged while serving a search warrant at home in Del Paso Heights.

In May of that same year, another Sacramento police officer shot and killed two dogs after entering a backyard in the Oak Park neighborhood to investigate a drug case. Police say the dogs charged the officer, but a neighbor said she didn’t believe one of the hounds to be aggressive, reported CBS Sacramento.

Animal activists aren’t ready to say that cops are shooting more dogs than before. But they do believe these encounters are avoidable and sometimes unprompted.

“I don’t want to be a victim of an officer cutting across my property or getting the wrong address and destroying my pets because they don’t know any other means of confronting a dog,” said Rae Kelly, a Sacramento dog owner and the statewide organizer for Freeze Don’t Shoot, which began nationally in June.

Policy makers have finally gotten the message.

Earlier this year, state Senator Ron Calderon introduced a bill to require canine training for officers, but it’s unlikely to advance because of the author’s unrelated court troubles. The state agency that writes the rulebook for cops is already developing its own pet-centric training curriculum, however.

Representatives of the state Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training said they met in August with members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles to discuss creating a four-hour block of instruction. According to a monthly POST report, the training would help officers better assess the family dogs they encounter, “and correspondingly modify their own actions based on the relational needs of the dog.”

The Citrus Heights Police Department, which has operated its own animal control division the last few years, has already developed non-lethal contingencies for confronting dogs during warrant searches and other operations. One of the most effective—and least deadly—methods, it turns out, is a fire extinguisher. “A lot of times, that scares the dog or will deter it,” said Sgt. Mike Wells, a department spokesman. “We absolutely don’t want to be shooting a dog.”

As a result, Citrus Heights police have only shot one dog in the department’s eight-year existence.

In the case of Copper, Modesto police acknowledge they entered the wrong duplex. According to a police incident summary, officers entered through a sliding glass door after announcing their presence. They say a suspicious male retreated to the back while refusing to identify himself.

“While trying to get to the male, an officer was confronted by an aggressive dog,” the summary reads. “The male was asked to take control of the dog. The dog continued to chase the officer. The dog was shot by the officer.”

Francis contends otherwise. As she led Copper toward the backyard’s glass-panel door, she said she heard a man’s voice call out, “Dog! Dog!” And then the gunshot. She said there were several signs that animals resided there—including leashes near the front porch, an unlocked security screen that provided a clear view into the residence and a literal sign by the door saying there were dogs inside. “They had to walk through their potty area,” she added.

Francis consulted a lawyer a few months later, but didn’t pursue it. “It’s not going to bring my Copper back.”

Her daughter did file an official complaint with the Modesto Police Department. In a response letter dated August 13, 2013, police Chief Galen Carroll wrote that the involved officer was “exonerated” of wrongdoing following “an extensive investigation.”

Francis said no one interviewed her or any of the other people inside her home who witnessed the shooting.

Citing pending litigation, Modesto police spokeswoman Heather Graves declined to release details of the investigation. “I can say, however, that our hearts go out to the family for their loss, as we understand pets are often a member of the family,” she wrote in an email.

The incident left its troubling imprint. Francis finds herself wondering whether police deliberately entered her home to kill the dog she referred to as her “grandson.” She also worries about the special-needs son who witnessed the bloody aftermath and has been unable to process the loss.

“Now he will absolutely … hate cops,” Francis said of her 10-year-old.

Cop Gets Teeny-Tiny Pay Cut for Shooting This Pup to Death

And that might be the only disciplinary action Officer David Kelley faces after he gunned down Arfee, a 2-year-old pup, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Author: Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

An Idaho cop who gunned down an adorable dog, claiming he was a vicious pit bull, still has his badge and a weapon but is earning a little less cash on the beat each week.

Coeur d’Alene Police Officer David Kelley had his hourly pay slashed by $3.15 to $31.02 on Oct. 1, nearly three months after the veteran cop shot and killed Arfee, a 2-year-old black Lab, while investigating a suspicious vehicle.

The seemingly senseless slaying received national attention and prompted protests and two official reviews of the incident—each finding that Kelley violated his department’s deadly force policies. But as calls for Kelley’s resignation intensified over the summer, the department remained silent on what disciplinary action, if any, the officer would face.  “The dog was aggressively barking and growling and its mouth was within inches of my face,” Officer David Kelley recalled before shooting Arfee, a 2-year-old black Lab, in the chest. “I had the split second thought that this dog is going to bite me."

The 10 percent pay cut appears to be the full extent of Kelley’s punishment and was revealed only after the Coeur d’Alene Press, the area’s daily newspaper, filed a freedom of information request. When the paper asked Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White about the wage reduction, the top cop was characteristically dismissive.

“Are you still beating that dead horse?” White told the Press, before saying he was prohibited from discussing employee discipline.

The incident happened on July 9, when the officer and his partner had walked up to a van belonging to Arfee’s owner after a caller reported a suspicious vehicle in the area. Kelley approached the van, which matched the caller’s description, with his gun drawn. Inside was the dog, which at the sight of the officer tried to stick his head out a cracked window.

“The dog was aggressively barking and growling, and its mouth was within inches of my face,” Kelley recalled in a police report. “I had the split second thought that this dog is going to bite me.”

Spooked, Kelley fired a single shot into the poor pup’s chest. Mortally wounded, Arfee scampered to the back of the van and died. Unable to locate Arfee’s owner, Craig Jones, the officers then removed the dog’s body from the vehicle.

Jones would later return from a having coffee to find his window shot out, a note on his windshield and a bunch of blood in his van. But there was no Arfee, who was mistakenly identified as a pit bull by authorities in the following weeks. “It crushes me know the way he died,” Jones later told KXLY. “It’s a savage thing.”

As outrage grew and more than 2,000 people joined a Facebook group called Justice for Arfee to demand accountability for the incident, White remained conciliatory.

“This event has shaken confidence in our police department,” he said in September. “But the relationship between our community and our department will ultimately be strengthened as a direct result of how we respond to the situation.”

That’s yet to happen.

On Tuesday, attorneys for Jones filed a $350,000 lawsuit against the city of Coeur d’Alene.