Panel recommends broad changes to police practices in Fairfax County

Only in government worker-think Fairfax County would it be determined that the best way to fix a malfunctioning arm of government is to apply MORE GOVERNMENT.

So anyway, this is what’s going to happen in the year ahead.

Sharon “Show me the money!” Bulova will appointment people who have shown her the money, to the police board.

Eventually the board will dissolve because THEY HAVE NOT WORKED ANYWHERE IN AMERICA.

Look, people, this is not difficult. We don’t need more government to solve the police problem.

What we can do is;

Make the idiots wear body cameras and place the result of the film in the on a public site, that way the idiots won’t “accidently destroy” the film that will send one of them to jail.

Fire the police chief. The poor boy is fucking clueless and never ever again hire another chief from within the rank of the police department.   

Require the cops to attain a BA in any field at all within the first seven years of being hired. Pay for their courses, but require it.

Cut their almost half a billion dollar budget and give the money to the school system.

Panel recommends broad changes to police practices in Fairfax County

By Justin Jouvenal and Antonio Olivo October 14  

A panel examining the practices of the Fairfax County Police Department following the shooting of an unarmed Springfield man has recommended broad changes, including greater transparency, more measured use-of-force policies and a civilian review panel.

The recommendations are contained in the 197-page final report of the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission, which has spent the past six months looking at how the department deploys force, trains its officers and communicates with the public.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors created the 70-member commission in March after the controversial slaying of John Geer in 2013 by a Fairfax County officer, who was responding to a domestic disturbance at Geer’s Springfield home.

The case caused an outcry because Geer was unarmed and the investigation into his death stretched on for more than a year before the department released detailed information about the shooting and identified the officer involved. Geer’s family went to court to break the logjam, and the officer was indicted on a murder charge and is awaiting trial.

Michael Hershman, the Ad Hoc commission chairman, said all of the recommendations were approved unanimously by the panel, which was comprised of police, politicians, family members of victims of police shootings, and academics.

“What impressed me most about the operations, about the commission, was the hard work and the inclusiveness of the people involved — not only the commissioners, but also the citizens who joined in the effort at the subcommittee level,” Hershman said. “Just six months ago, there were those who would have wagered that there was no way under the sun that we would reach unanimity in our findings.”

The panel may be fully behind the recommendations, but the ideas must be taken up by the Board of Supervisors beginning Oct. 20. Some may prove politically unpalatable to county leaders and rank-and-file officers.

The recommendations that probably will produce the most friction are to create an independent police auditor to ensure that internal investigations of police use-of-force cases are impartial, and a citizens review panel to field complaints from the public about abuse of authority or serious misconduct by police.

Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. called the recommendations “well-done community input” and said the department had begun implementing some ideas that tracked with changes it was undertaking.

Roessler said he supported the idea of creating an auditor, but said he was withholding judgment on a citizens review panel. Roessler said he wanted to see how the idea would be fleshed out before making up his mind.

Others were less equivocal.

Fairfax Police Benevolent Association President Joseph Woloszyn said the idea was unworkable in its current form. The panel would consist of seven citizens chosen for their backgrounds, which could include law enforcement experience, diversity and community standing.

“They want people on there who may have no law enforcement experience,” Woloszyn said. “I can’t be on a panel for engineers or journalists. If you are going to have something like that, you have to have people who have law enforcement background and who understand when the use of force is authorized.”

Fairfax County Supervisor John C. Cook (R-Braddock) said he supports creating an independent auditor’s position and a citizens complaint panel.

“How that’s structured is, I think, something we probably need to have a conversation about in a way that includes the community, as well as asking the police to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t,” Cook said of the citizens panel.

When it comes to communicating with the public, the commission recommended a policy of “maximum disclosure, minimum delay” for the department. The commission called for sharing the names of officers involved in shootings within a week, unless there are extenuating circumstances, and making available all video of an incident upon a Freedom of Information Act request.

Roessler said he has begun work on another recommendation — hiring a civilian to run the department’s public information office. He said he hoped to have someone hired within the next three months.

Other recommendations included increasing the diversity of the police force, creating teams of specially trained officers to deal with the mentally ill, and creating a special docket within the court system to handle their cases.

The commission also said the department should shift its philosophy on use of force — or, as it said, “maintain an appropriate balance between an officer’s role as a guardian/warrior or peacemaker/fighter” and suggested that all officers wear body cameras. The latter idea was something the department is working toward.

Mike Curtis, the founder of the police watchdog group Northern Virginia Cop Block, applauded most of the commission’s recommendations, but said he was skeptical that the will exists among Fairfax County’s elected leaders and police brass to make the reforms stick.

“The wheels are already turning to keep their feet from being held to the fire,” Curtis said.

Antonio covers government, politics and other regional issues in Fairfax County. He worked in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago before joining the Post in September of 2013.

Fairfax County: Police Commission Calls for Auditor, Civilian Review Board

Unanimous recommendations head to supervisors in wake of John Geer shooting, transparency missteps.

By Tim Peterson

#After six months of meetings, the Ad Hoc commission created by Board of Supervisors chairman Sharon Bulova to review police practices has concluded its primary work. Chair of the commission’s Independent Oversight and Investigations subcommittee Jack Johnson presented that group’s final recommendations to the full commission on Oct. 8.

#The subcommittee unanimously favored creating an Independent Police Auditor position that would “report directly to the Board of Supervisors and would provide oversight in cases of police use of force that lead to serious injury or death, including officer involved shootings,” Johnson’s letter to commission chairman Michael Hershman said.

#The report also calls for establishing a seven-member Civilian Review Panel for cases of alleged police misconduct. The panelists are meant to work with the new auditor “as to serious use of force cases so that the panel can provide its views to the Board of Supervisors and the Chief of Police as to policy and practices changes that may be warranted,” Johnson said in the letter.

#“Oversight provides a meaningful voice or forum for the public and forms a crucial bridge between the public and the police,” Johnson continued. “Increased transparency, trust, and communication between the police and the public can lead to greater community cooperation in achieving the ultimate goal of decreased crime and increased public safety.”

#It was the last full meeting of the ad hoc commission, and in addition to hearing from the independent oversight committee, the commission voted unanimously to support the recommendations of all five subcommittees and to forward the recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. Recommendations from the Mental Health Subcommittee call for an overhaul of how the criminal justice system responds to people in mental health crisis.

#Commission chairman Hershman is scheduled to present the group’s recommendations to the Board of Supervisors at its Oct. 20 regular meeting.

#“It is Chairman Bulova’s intention to move to accept the report and refer it to staff for discussion at the Public Safety Committee scheduled for Oct. 27 at 3 p.m,” said Bulova’s chief of staff Clayton Medford.

#The Board of Supervisors launched the Fairfax County Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission in response to public concern over the shooting death of John Geer by a Fairfax County police officer. On Aug. 17, 2015, former Fairfax County Police officer Adam Torres was charged with the second-degree murder of Geer, who was shot dead in the doorway to his own own home on Aug. 29, 2013 after police were called in a domestic dispute. Torres was fired in July 2015, almost two years later.

#The commission has been meeting since March as a full commission and five subcommittees. Areas of focus by committee include Use of Force; Communications; Mental Health; Recruitment, Diversity and Vetting; and Independent Investigations and Oversight.

#The final report from the Ad Hoc commission is available online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/chairman/pdf/adhoc-final-10.8.15.pdf.

Let's boycott the police union Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 77 ...what the fuck, why not?

Police union head calls for boycotting local pumpkin patch over a #BlackLivesMatter sign

Brad Carruthers in his best ill fitting suit

The head of a Fairfax County police union called for a boycott of a popular pumpkin patch because a “Black Lives Matter” sign was displayed in the window of a home nearby. [...]

In the initial [Facebook] message, Carruthers posted a photo of the sign and wrote that displaying it was a “slap in the face” to the Fairfax County police.

“When Black Lives Matter emerged, it was a small group trying to do the right thing,” Carruthers said in an interview. “The fact of the matter is it seemed like that movement got hijacked toward anti-police sentiments.”

The post has since been deleted, but this premise that the Black Lives Matter movement is "anti-police," as opposed to a civil rights movement that doesn't want unarmed black Americans getting shot, is a position that can only be held if you believe that not shooting unarmed black Americans constitutes being "anti-police." At the very least, that's a position of ignorance, but far more often (e.g. Fox News) it's utterly predictable racism.

The same people that think black Americans are getting "free stuff," or that yes indeedy unarmed black Americans count as super-dangerous and "armed" simply by the virtue of having limbs, or that a black child walking down the street with a toy gun is an obvious reason to panic even while we huff and puff and celebrate the brave patriotic scruffy white unhinged people that wander the streets with their real weapons just to show other Americans that hell yeah, they're allowed to carry weapons—if you already have believed every other racist thing that someone, somewhere has shoveled your way then you of course are willing to believe that Black Lives Matter is not a good and noble civil rights effort along the lines promoted by the inspirational Martin Luther King, Jr., but instead is a violence-minded and subversive anti-authority effort, like the ones promoted by that sketchy troublemaker Martin Luther King, Jr.

What do you see, when you look out on the crowds of black American faces with their signs? For too many Americans, they see only what they are primed to see. Or what they have always seen.

There is a good ending to this story, or at least a better one than you might have expected. The post came down, though only after receiving outrage from many and a sturdy defending from others, people who scuttled out of their holes convinced that Black Lives Matters has been "calling for police deaths" and for whom no amount of saying otherwise would ever do. 

The family that owns the pumpkin patch and in whose home the sign was displayed in wrote a damn fine response defending and explaining the Black Lives Matter movement.

Police Bully Family Farm Over ‘Black Lives Matter’ Sign

The police union at the Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 77 called for a boycott of the family business, according to local WUSA.

By M. David for Counter Current News and

S. Wooten

Virginia police couldn’t believe a local family farm would have the audacity to post a “black lives matter” sign on their window. Far from just a statement, the phrase has come to indicate support not just for the idea that black lives matter just like all other lives, but also for the wave of police accountability protests by the activist group by the same name.

The police union at the Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 77 called for a boycott of the family business, according to local WUSA.

But the call against Cox Farms backfired dramatically.

First of all, the sign was posted in the window of one of the family farm’s private homes. But even this personal expression of support for police accountability activism was too much for the local cops.

The Fairfax FOP referred to the sign as “disturbing and disappointing” in their Facebook post. Backlash and public outcry later led them to remove the post.

“This is a time in which law enforcement is the target for criticism for almost everything they do and officers are constantly questioned by the public and the media without the benefit of all the facts,” the FOP post read. “The presence of this sign at Cox’s Farms helps perpetuate this kind of behavior and judgment. I know you have heard it about a million times but the truth is that ‘All Lives Matter.’”

The community rallied behind Cox Farms which is known and loved by the community as a place to pick pumpkins and take autumn taking tractor rides.

But the police said that the business should be boycotted because of their “baseless criticism” of the police.

Gina Cox, the owner of Cox Farms, said they have the right to post whatever signs they want on their home or place of business.

“It’s her private property and she can put up any political sign she wants to in her yard,” she explained to local WUSA. “We treasure our relationship with our local police force, it’s not anything against them at all.”

Now, residents are accusing the police department of bullying and intimidation.

“The Facebook post they made, which was removed because of the unprecedented public outrage towards their attempt to bully a local landmark and beloved destination, further reinforces the lack of trust in the Fairfax County Police Department,” a local Cop Block community activist Mike Curtis, told the station.

The FOP president, Brad Carruthers, said said that they backed off of the family because it was the “wiser course of action.”

“The phrase ‘black lives matter,’ which was initially associated with the positive intentions of creating better connections within communities and encouraging education and dialogue on issues of race, has unfortunately also been used more recently to incite violence against law enforcement officers, which is why it has negative connotations for us,” Caruthers stated. “My hope is that the situation will improve and we will forge better bonds and a better partnership within our communities.”

But Black Lives Matter activist Erika Totten said to WUSA. “It’s not an attack on individual officers; it’s a movement to highlight the structural oppression Black people face in this country. When Black men, women and children are dying in the street at the hands of a law enforcement officer every 28 hours, when most of the people incarcerated are there for non violent crimes, when a Black boy can be assaulted for using the ATM and for making gentrifies uncomfortable, how can we not begin the conversation on how to eradicate racial bias in our criminal justice system.”

Police union head calls for boycott of pumpkin patch over 'Black Lives Matter' sign

By Justin Jouvenal October 15 

The head of a Fairfax County police union called for a boycott of a popular pumpkin patch because a “Black Lives Matter” sign was displayed in the window of a home nearby.

Brad Carruthers, president of Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 77, said he would not patronize Centreville’s Cox Farms and urged others to do the same in a lengthy message posted on the union's Facebook page on Tuesday. Carruthers has since removed the post, writing that its intent was misrepresented and some of the dozens of angry comments that were left on it were inflammatory.

In the initial message, Carruthers posted a photo of the sign and wrote that displaying it was a “slap in the face” to the Fairfax County police.

“When Black Lives Matter emerged, it was a small group trying to do the right thing,” Carruthers said in an interview. “The fact of the matter is it seemed like that movement got hijacked toward anti-police sentiments.”

Carruthers added he felt some Black Lives Matter activists had helped foment violence toward police officers across the country.

Mike Curtis, the founder of police watchdog group Northern Virginia Cop Block, blasted Carruthers’s call for a boycott and circulated the Facebook post.

“I think they use things like this to create a false war on cops,” Curtis said. “They want to create the impression they are under attack from everyone. Cox Farms works hand-in-hand with the police.”

Erika Totten, a Black Lives Matter activist in D.C., said she views the post as an effort at “intimidation and control.” She said she also thought it was “odd” for Carruthers to focus on a small business.

The owners of Cox Farms issued a statement about the boycott on Thursday.

“We have always believed that we had a very positive relationship with our local police department,” the family wrote on Facebook. “We have contracted FCPD officers to provide security for our festival for over a decade. We have supported their fundraising efforts, donated to their Police Unity tour, employed their children, and offered discounts to officers on our Public Servants Weekends. Neither our family nor our business is anti-cop, and we are absolutely anti-violence, against anyone. For this reason, we were especially surprised that the FOP and so many local officers jumped on the call to boycott our business and make such hateful accusations against us via social media.”

Carruthers wrote in the initial Facebook post that an off-duty Fairfax County police officer had noticed the sign when he was at the farm with his family. Carruthers called the sign “disturbing and disappointing.”

“This is a time in which law enforcement is the target for criticism for almost everything they do and officers are constantly questioned by the public and the media without the benefit of all the facts,” the Facebook post read. “The presence of this sign at Cox’s Farm helps perpetuate this kind of behavior and judgment. I know you have heard it all about a million times but the truth is that ‘All Lives Matter.’ ”

Carruthers finished by writing: “I hope you will join me and my police family and make a choice to go somewhere else to enjoy your family fun this fall, where you will not be confronted by such baseless criticism and judgment.”

Carruthers wrote that the sign was displayed in the window of one of the farm's management buildings, but a comment posted from the Cox Farms Facebook account said the building was a private residence of one of the farm’s owners and was not on the farm’s property.

The post drew strong reactions from hundreds of commenters on Facebook.

“Thanks for being completely out of touch with the rest of society,” one person wrote.

Others defended Carruthers. “I agree with this police department — you can't have it both ways,” another wrote. “You can't expect extra help from your local police and post propaganda from a group calling for police deaths.BOYCOTT COX FARM. There are plenty of other places to take your kids that are a good example.”

Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said Carruthers had the right to free speech, but was not speaking on behalf of the department.

“I'm a neighbor of Cox Farms,” Roessler said. “That sign does not offend me. The sanctity of human life is paramount in our profession.”

 

Why don't we have this in Fairfax County?

RIGHT TO KNOW ACT

Legislation to Prevent Discriminatory & Abusive Policing and

Improve Communication & Accountability Between NYPD and New Yorkers

About the Legislation 

The Right To Know Act is a legislative package that aims to protect the civil and human rights of New Yorkers while promoting communication, transparency and accountability in everyday interactions between the NYPD and the public.  New Yorkers want to live in a safe city where the police treat all residents with dignity and respect, and where police are not considered to be above the law.

The Right To Know Act includes the following legislation:

 Requiring NYPD officers to identify themselves (Intro 182)

New Yorkers should have the right to know the identity of police officers that interact with them, and the reason for law enforcement activity that prompts those interactions.  Intro 182 would:

•           Require officers to identify themselves and provide the officer's name, rank, command and a phone number for the Civilian Complaint Review Board at the end of police encounters that do not result in an arrest or summons.

•           Require officers to provide the specific reason for their law enforcement activity (e.g. vehicle search, stop-and-frisk)

All too often, New Yorkers have no idea why they’re being questioned, stopped or searched by a police officer.  NYPD policy already requires that officers provide their name, rank, shield number and command when asked.  However, in many instances, officers do not identify themselves to members of the public and many individuals report fear of asking for the identity of an officer for fear of retaliation.  Research suggests that in the absence of anonymity, officers are less likely to engage in abusive or discourteous behavior. New Yorkers should have the right to know the identity of police officers that interact with them.

 Similar laws exist in other jurisdictions and the U.S. Department of Justice has made adoption of similar policies a requirement in consent decrees entered into with the City of New Orleans and the Puerto Rico Police Department.

 Protecting New Yorkers against unconstitutional searches (Intro 541)

New Yorkers should have the right to know that under the US constitution, searches without any legal basis (such as probable cause or a warrant) do not have to be agreed to, and they should have the assurance that this right will be respected and upheld by police. Intro 541 would:

•           End the practice of the NYPD deceiving New Yorkers into consenting to unnecessary and unjustified searches

•           Require officers to explain that a person has the right to refuse a search when there is no legal justification for a search

•           Require officers to obtain objective proof that an individual gave informed and voluntary consent to a search, when there is no legal justification for the search

NYPD officers routinely conduct searches without legal justification other than an individual’s assumed “consent”.  Too often, that is achieved by misleading New Yorkers into giving “consent” by simply ordering them to empty their pockets or open up their bags, without informing them that they do not have to agree. Most New Yorkers are unaware that they have the right to refuse such “consent” searches when the officer has no warrant, probable cause to believe they committed a crime, or other legal justification. The rights of New Yorkers to provide informed and voluntary consent to searches, and to decline such consent when there is no legal justification, should be protected.

 Similar laws exist in other jurisdictions and the U.S. Department of Justice has made adoption of similar policies a requirement in consent decrees entered into with the City of New Orleans and the Puerto Rico Police Department. Some states have banned consent searches altogether due to their racially discriminatory impact.

Oh bullshit, Sharon

This commission was  a way for Sharon Show me the money Bulova, and her cronies that we keep electing to the board of supervisors, to do nothing about the Punk-predictors on the Fairfax County Police force and the police problems in general while looking like they actually did something…why do you think she put the media on the commission?

This is government worker think at its best.

Again…again….again…this is a simple problem and can be resolved in just a few steps;

Put body cameras on the cops.  The cops aren’t very bright and as result they do stupid things and make dumb life decisions….like becoming cops, smart people don’t work as policemen, that’s not my fault, its just the way it is. Put body cameras on them will reduce everything that’s wrong with the Fairfax County Police because, generally, they’ll stop doing stupid things.

Make the body camera tapes available to the public.

Force the county to insure each cop. When a cop has too many complaints against him or her, the insurance company will pull their bond and they won’t be able to work and we get rid of bad cops.

We pay these clowns twice what their worth. It’s our dime. Force them to get a bachelor’s degree in something….anything….within five years of being hired by us to work on OUR police department.  

Fire the idiot chief of police and never hire another chief from within the ranks of OUR police department again.

Cut their budget. Do they really need almost half billion dollars year?

Draft report on Fairfax police practices calls for culture of transparency

 Review Commission began its work developing recommendations about the county’s police

The commission came about after the death of John Geer of Springfield in 2013. An unarmed Geer was shot by Officer Adam Torres while standing on his doorstep. A special grand jury recently indicted Torres on a second-degree murder charge.

A final report, which includes nearly 40 pages of recommendations, will be presented to the County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 20. The board will then hold public hearings on it before it decides on implementing any, some or all of the recommendations.

The commission — established by Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors — is made up of current and former members of law enforcement, county officials and community members, among others.

It’s really been a huge amount of work in a relatively short period of time, Bulova said.

Topics commissioners reviewed included communications, recruitment, independent oversight and investigations, use of force, as well as mental health and crisis intervention training.

The final report calls for a culture of transparency at the police department. Recommendations also encourage the use of body cameras for police officers and training for more police officers that may respond to situation involving a person suffering from mental illness.

Geer’s death raised questions about how well the police department is able to police itself.  The department drew further criticism after it took 18 months to release any information about the investigation into the shooting.

The commission is calling for independent oversight of police shooting investigations in which a person is badly hurt or killed. The final report is expected recommend that the Board of Supervisors to create and staff the Office of Independent Police Auditor, which will look into investigations involving officers. The report also calls for a Civilian Review Panel, which can review internal affairs investigations of alleged abuse of authority or serious misconduct by officers.

I think it’s affordable, I think it’s all very doable and I think that’s going to be important in getting it passed through the board of supervisors, said Jeff Stewart of the recommendations. Stewart witnessed the shooting of Geer, who was his friend.

Some in attendance expressed concern that board wouldn’t adopt many of the recommendations.

I would never create a commission like this without intending to follow through on their recommendations, Bulova said.

Michael Hershman, the commission’s chairman, says he is hopeful but says getting the recommendations implemented will be the biggest hurdle.

We want to make sure that the changes that we recommend are actually implemented and then are sustainable regardless of who the leadership is in the future, said Hershman.

WE DON'T WANT TO THANK THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES FOR UNDERWRITING THE COP KLAN RALLY THIS SUMMER, YOU MADE A BAD SITUATION WORSE.

THANKS FOR NOTHING 

And the Fairfax County Cops get away with it once again

A video posted 15 second video online of a Fairfax County cop using a stun gun during an arrest has triggered an internal inquiry into the cop’s use of force. The Fairfax County Police investigated the cop and …wait for it…..found him innocent of any wrong doing!

 ‘This is a very, very short snippet of information.  We don’t know everything that led up to the event.  We don’t know everything that happened after,” says Fairfax County Police 2nd Lt. Brooke Wright in a stupid statement….in other words there is a reason to stun gun a man for no reason at all.  

The cop hasn’t been identified of course nor will he ever be.

Elton Cansler stole a pair of cheap sunglasses from a bank. The bank called the police. 

The cops saw Cansler hanging around a 7-11 across from the bank. The cop drove up to Cansler and reported that “Cansler immediately put his hands in his front pockets.” No one else saw that except the cop.

The cop, according to witness, was highly agitated and nervous and screamed at Cansler to remove his hands from his front pockets and asked him if he taken the sunglasses.

Cansler took his hands out of his pockets and said that he had taken the sunglasses.

So, so far, the young man, took some sunglasses, walked across the street and stood around, followed the cop’s orders and admitted he had committed a crime.

The cops says he saw a knife clipped, in full view, on Canslers pant pocket.

The knife was not hidden.

Cansler compiled with the angry cop.

Cansler did not try to flee.

The cop asked where the sunglasses were and Cansler told him and tried to move to get the sunglasses…the cop told him not to move but Cansler reached into his back pocket and handed over the sunglasses.

After that point the cop version of reality and what several witnesses saw vary greatly.

The cop says Cansler resisted his efforts to be handcuffed. Witness say the cop gave a series of conflicting orders to the man.

As the film shows, Canslers had his back to cop as he was commanded to do and the cop tasered to the ground…over a pair of sunglasses

Remarkably Cansler AND NOT THE COP was arrested for assault.

 The videographer told the Washington Post that he watched the man walking down the sidewalk; then a cop “pulled up, blocked his way.” So he got his cell phone and starting filming, returning to the scene just as the cop took out his Taser. Another cop forced him to stop taping the interaction. Afterward, he posted it on Facebook.

In the witness’ opinion, there didn’t appear to be any immediate reason for the cop to use his stun gun on this man, telling Fox 5 “He told him to turn around. He turned around he complied. And boom he popped out his Taser and he shot at him …”

Another witness said “A gentleman just happened to be walking down the sidewalk and the cop pulls up in front of him and tells him to turn over. And as soon as he has his back turned toward him, he Tasers him. He didn’t see it coming. He did not try to run or nothing. That was wrong. How the police, unless he was wanted. But if he was wanted, the guy didn’t have to Taser him like he did.”

Video Shows Fairfax County Officer Using Stun Gun, People Question Use o...

disarming the cops

About half of the cops in the US joined the police out of Dominate Father-Penis envy issues and having official sanction to carry a gun does a lot for them in dealing with those issues. These are the thugs who shoot people, with a reason and without a reason. Take away their guns and this type of loon will stop applying to the police. Here’s some ways to do that.   

Alternatives to Bullets

From liquids that smell like dead animals to high-temperature heat rays, the present and future of non-lethal weapons.

By ELI HAGER

In the wake of recent high-profile police shootings, manufacturers of non-lethal weapons have seized on the opportunity to sell devices they say might have saved the lives of Michael Brown, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice, and many others. Companies with names like Micron Products, Alternative Ballistics, and Bruzer Less Lethal International are now a part of the decades-old field of less-lethal weapons — also called “compliance” or “pacification” devices — offering everything from bullets that don’t penetrate to devices that slow bullets down.

“I just looked out there and there wasn’t anything that really would have been practical and useful in a tense one-on-one situation like in Ferguson,” says Christian Ellis, the CEO of Alternative Ballistics, which tried to sell one such device to the Ferguson police department. “That’s why we got into this business.”

Police officers, for their part, already have less-lethal tools on their belts — nightsticks, pepper spray, and TASERs — and some feel that the additional options are not much more useful despite their variety and complexity. “It’s like comparing phone plans,” says Sid Heal, former commander in the L.A.P.D. and an expert on less-lethal force.

Whatever the future holds for these alternatives, police departments already have, in recent years, added a few gentler tools to their arsenals. Below, an inventory of some of those tools, as well as a look at what might flood the market soon.

Bean Bags

A sock-shaped pouch filled with lead, silicone, or rubber balls, fired from a shotgun. The pouch expands in the air for wider impact.

Approximate cost: $4.50 to $6.50 per round.

When it’s most useful: Anytime a person is "noncompliant" but far away and "not yet a direct threat," says Steve Ijames, the police chief in Republic, Mo. and an expert on less-lethal force.

Effect on target: Pain, muscle spasms, and temporary immobility, but no penetration of the skin.

Why it’s appealing: It’s inexpensive.

Potential downsides: Unless a shotgun containing bean bags is adequately marked in a different color (usually orange), it can easily be confused with a shotgun loaded with real shells, which police call "cross-contamination" and has repeatedly causeddeaths, according to the National Institute of Justice. Even if the correct gun is used, there is a risk of serious or deadly injury if the bean bag is fired at the head — and it’s difficult to avoid hitting the head, face, throat, or center of the chest "when a person is twisting or running around," says Heal.

Where it’s used: Different versions of bean bags have existed for over three decades, and are perhaps the most widely-used non-lethal weapon outside of the TASER, pepper spray, and nightstick. As the technology has evolved (from a flatter, squarer bag that was inaccurate as a projectile and sometimes failed to expand properly mid-air), it has become significantly less dangerous.

Blunt-Impact Projectiles

Plastic bullets (37 mm or 40 mm) capped with gel, silicone, or foam, fired from a single-shot gas launcher or giant revolver. The bullets are designed to flatten upon impact. They can also be filled with pepper spray or liquids that smell like fecal matter, rotten eggs, or dead animals, to further repel the suspect.

Approximate cost: $350 to $1200 for the gun, $25 per round.

When it’s most useful: Subduing a potentially violent suspect from a distance, and when the officer has time to get a large, specialized weapon out of the trunk.

Effect on target: Severe, blunt pain.

Why it’s appealing: The projectiles have a soft, wide surface of impact and should not be able to pierce through skin or injure internal organs.

Potential downsides: Very expensive and only useful at long range; also liable to cause serious or deadly injury if fired at the head, neck, or chest.

Where it’s used: The newest version has already been purchased by at least 16 law-enforcement agencies, including the SWAT teams in L.A. County and Sacramento.

Pepperballs

Small (.68-inch), round, plastic balls filled with synthetic capsaicin powder, the active ingredient in chili peppers. A paintball-style gun rapidly fires the balls, which explode after hitting any surface, releasing the powder.

Approximate cost: $150 to $300 for a paintball gun or $250 to $500 for a brand-name PepperBall gun; $3 to $5 per round.

When it’s most useful: Indoors (including in jails and other correctional situations), when the officer can aim at walls and ceilings to release the pepper powder.

Effect on target: Puffy, watery, stinging eyes; runny nose; difficulty breathing; and coughing.

Why it’s appealing: One of the few alternatives that doesn't need to make direct contact with the target — police can shoot it anywhere nearby, and the effect of the capsaicin powder will be the same. However, cops’ training and instincts often cause them to aim for "center mass," says Heal. According to Ijames, the pepperballs "beg a shot to the upper body, because the officer wants to make sure the suspect gets the worst of the pepper."

Potential downsides: The round shape of a pepperball is relatively unstable as it flies through the air, and because of "trajectory degradation," it is not nearly as accurate as a sleek, pointed bullet.

Where it’s used: Most famously used in 1999 during the “Battle of Seattle” anti-WTO riots. In 2004, the Boston Police Department accidentally killed a 21-year-old college student who was celebrating the Red Sox's World Series victory — by firing a pepperball at her eye.

“The Alternative”

An orange metal attachment that an officer can quickly clip onto the barrel of his handgun before firing a shot. The clip-on “catches” the bullet — like an airbag — making it fly about one-fifth as fast.

Approximate cost: $45 per unit.

When it’s most useful: Anytime an officer needs to fire his regular service weapon but does not want the shot to be deadly, and has time to attach this device.

Effect on target: Instead of penetrating and potentially killing the suspect, the slowed-down bullet only knocks him down. “But it might break ribs and it feels like getting hit in the chest with a hammer,” says Ellis, the CEO of the company that manufactures the product.

Why it’s appealing: The Alternative is a compact device that is relatively easy to incorporate into everyday use. The officer can take the clip-on from his belt and attach it to his handgun.

Potential downsides: According to Heal, one “weapons platform” should deliver only one type of force — either lethal or non-lethal. Combining the two on the same gun, he says, is inherently dangerous: What if the officer instinctively “double-taps” (pulls the trigger twice), as most police are trained to do? The result would be the firing of a lethal round right after the non-lethal one has already been discharged.

Where it’s used: A month after the shooting of Michael Brown, the assistant chief of Ferguson's police department took to Google, searching for a less-lethal option for cops. He came up with The Alternative, but after a group of experts sent a letter saying how dangerous they believed the device was, Ferguson has stopped considering it.

“The XREP”

Manufactured until 2012 by TASER International, the XREP is essentially a long-range, wireless version of the traditional TASER, firing plastic shells that each contain sharpened electrodes, a battery, a transmitter, and a microprocessor. When a shell hits the suspect, the electrodes are released and pierce through clothes and skin, releasing up to 50,000 volts of electricity for 20 seconds.

Approximate cost: Over $1,000 for the launcher, $100 per round.

When it’s most useful: For incapacitating people from a distance.

Effect on target: Muscles contract uncontrollably, causing the person to freeze and fall to the ground. And if the person attempts to pull out the electrodes, a circuit is created, spreading the effect.

Why it’s appealing: Like a TASER, the XREP can effectively subdue a person who is suicidal or under the influence of drugs, or otherwise has a high threshold for pain. And unlike a TASER, the XREP can be fired from a distance.

Potential downsides: The XREP’s high cost is its main downside. But, like TASER products, it could be dangerous: According to a 2013 report by Amnesty International, the TASER has caused more than 500 deaths in the United States since 2001.

Where it’s been used: TASER discontinued the XREP back in 2012, because it was expensive and “departments just weren’t buying it,” says TASER spokesperson Steve Tuttle. But several police departments around the country still have the XREP, and few use it occasionally. It was used in March by cops in Albuquerque, N.M., against a mentally-ill person.

“ML-12” Less-Lethal Launcher

A two-shot pistol that shoots most types of less-lethal ammunition (bean bags, pepper rounds, rubber balls, flares, etc.).

When it’s most useful: Close or hand-to-hand confrontations, at traffic stops, in small rooms.

Approximate cost: $549 for the launcher and holster, $4 to $7 per round.

Effect on target: Depends on the type of round.

Why it’s appealing: This is a weapon that the officer can wear on his/her belt and have on hand in any situation.

Potential downsides: It only fires two shots, and two-thirds of use-of-force encounters require an officer to fire more than twice, according to the National Institute of Justice.

Where it’s used: Tommy Teach, the founder of Bruzer Less Lethal International, the company that markets the ML-12, says it has been purchased by over a hundred "small, rural police departments — who prefer it to the TASER because of its lower cost."

“Active Denial System”

Designed by the military, the ADS, also known as the “pain ray,” is shaped like a satellite dish and shoots an invisible, 95 GHz wave of heat at the suspect — similar to the waves inside a microwave.

How it would be used: To stop, deter, and force the retreat of a person who is approaching too aggressively.

Effect on target: Heats the skin to 130° Fahrenheit in under two seconds, causing excruciating, quickly unbearable pain.

Why it’s appealing: The ADS has been thoroughly researched by the Department of Defense, and after 13,000 tests on human subjects, there have been only two serious injuries and no lasting side effects, according to the Pentagon.

Potential downsides: The ADS is very large; the existing model is designed to be mounted on top of a humvee or military-sized vehicle. Police would need a much smaller version with less range but greater portability (and one that doesn’t take half a day to boot up). The ACLU has also called the ADS a torture device.

Status: Available to the military in Afghanistan for deterring individuals who were getting too close to U.S. troops, the ADS was considered for use at the Pitchess Detention Center in Los Angeles County to disrupt assaults and fights. The National Institute of Justice has long considered developing a smaller, handheld version — to be used by law enforcement.