Paterson weighs $200K settlement in police brutality case involving go-go dancer

 Municipal officials have reached a tentative settlement in the lawsuit that a go-go dancer filed against Paterson earlier this year after a city police officer allegedly slammed the handcuffed woman to the floor in a holding cell at headquarters. The incident was taped by a police headquarters surveillance camera.

Among other six-figure settlements in the past three years were:

$710,000 for a lawsuit filed by a woman who said a police officer forced her to perform oral sex on him while she was in custody at police headquarters.

$400,000 for two lawsuits filed by men who said they were beaten by police wen they tried to collect a reward for returning a firefighter’s lost cell phone.

Green Bay pays man $20,000 in police brutality settlement

The City of Green Bay has agreed to pay $20,000 to settle a police brutality case. Anthony Basler, 34, accused officers of using batons, shackles and bodily force to injure his head, face, neck and other parts of his body in a 2010 incident inside his apartment.

Basler was charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and pepper-spraying officers. But the Brown County district attorney's office later dropped the charges

Second Galesville officer suspended, demoted

The second cop accused of misconduct will be suspended, demoted and receive a pay cut, the judge assigned to the case announced Wednesday.

“There is substantial and credible evidence to terminate officer John Kamrowski,” judge Benjamin Proctor wrote in his ruling, but he should not be because of his “long and credible service.”

The case involving Kamrowski and officer James Brudos, who resigned last week, dragged on for a year — during which both officers were on paid leave, costing the city nearly $100,000 — and was based on several allegations of insubordination and other misconduct.

Kamrowski was accused of seven instances of misconduct, and Brudos was accused of 10 after an independent investigation into their actions in recent years. The accusations include repeated violations of city policies, refusal to follow orders or cooperate with superiors, overstepping authority and other offenses.

Windermere cop: I 'was told to stop vehicles based on the color of the driver's skin'

A Windermere cop named Alejandro Rivera is charged with conducting racially based traffic stopped used the term "Bravo vehicle" to describe cars driven by black motorists, another officer told prosecutors in documents released Friday.

Rivera said his field-training officer, Jason Darnell, told him to pull someone over because he was driving a "Bravo vehicle," court documents show.

When Rivera asked what that meant, Darnell replied, ""Bravo stands for 'black, stop it,' "

"I was told to stop vehicles based on the color of the driver's skin and some preconceived notions I guess he had of race," Rivera said.

Rivera said he made three such stops that month under pressure from Darnell and wrote speeding tickets even though the in-car radar was turned off, records show.

Darnell was charged in April with official misconduct and making threats against a public servant. Windermere police are investigating Officer Ryan Miller, who has been suspended but not been charged.

FBI informant payments derail sentencing hearing for 'best cop money can buy'

Donald Abraham Solomon, the former police chief in Washington County who called himself "the best cop money can buy" won a reprieve from sentencing on extortion charges when his attorney suggested that the key informant had been bought for even more. Solomon admitted to taking around $8,800 from an FBI agent he thought was a drug dealer in return for standing guard over two meetings and supplying two Tasers.

Chicago cop to be sentenced in gang case

 Antonio Martinez, a Chicago cop who pleaded guilty to committing armed robberies for a street gang could be sentenced to 12 years in prison. He admitted committing armed robberies for the gang in Illinois and northwest Indiana. Another  Chicago cop, Alex Guerrero, was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Guerrero also admitted committing armed robberies for the Latin Kings.

Galveston Police Seized Wrong Phone in Attempt to Destroy Evidence of Brutality, Lawsuit Claims

The city of Galveston, Texas is facing a lawsuit from Jarrett Anthony Neu over an allegation of police brutality that includes cops seizing the wrong cellphone.

Neu claims that Galveston police arrested him at 4:45 p.m. on March 11, without a warrant, at a Galveston apartment complex. He claims they lied about it in the police report. He claims they subjected him not only to threats, intimidation, insult and humiliation, but severe and cruel physical abuse and punishment by both physical beating and the repeated unnecessary and unwarranted deployment of a less-than-lethal Taser weapon on plaintiff. Plaintiff, who suffers from a pre-existing cardiac ailment, suffered permanent and debilitating injuries as well as permanent disfigurement and scarring at the hands of these police officers. During this police administered beating, officers realized that a citizen was filming the beating via cell phone and the officer's involved without a legal reason seized (the wrong) cell phone. Counsel for plaintiff has the cell phone that recorded the beating. The conduct of defendant violated plaintiff's rights under the 1st, 4th, 8th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution."

Courthouse News notes it’s the first time they’ve reported a claim that police took a wrong cellphone while trying to seize video evidence of brutality, a growing trend with the rise of phone cameras.

Cop Accidentally Shot and killed Hofstra Student

A Nassau County cop accidentally shot a Hofstra University student Friday morning as a robbery suspect held her in front of his body and tried to back out of a house. Seven bullets struck the suspect, identified by police as Dalton Smith, 30 years old, killing him, One bullet struck the student, Andrea Rebello, 21, in the head.

Tisbury Officer Facing Criminal Charges

Kelly R. Kershaw, a Tisbury Mass. Cop is facing several charges in Edgartown district court after allegedly interfering with firefighters trying to fight a dryer fire at her home.

According to documents filed in court, the Tisbury fire department responded to a dryer fire at Kershaw’s home. Kershaw showed signs of intoxication and was concerned about her pet chicken. She was repeatedly asked her to leave the fire scene. “Officer Kershaw was acting in [an] extremely aggressive manner towards us as we informed her that she had to leave the area,” Kershaw allegedly screamed and swore at the officers. “I informed her that she had to leave the yard now and she again yelled and threatened to kill me,” he wrote, adding that he knew that she was a sworn police officer with a valid license to carry firearms. Officer Marathas said that at one point, Officer Kershaw swung at him and hit him on his left forearm. 

Lakewood cop already convicted on federal charges for stealing donations

Skeeter Manos, a Lakewood cop already convicted on federal charges for stealing donations from a fallen officers’ fund has admitted to identity theft and forgery in a Pierce County superior court. He tried to cover up the theft of $159,000 from a fund established after four Lakewood cops who were killed in a coffee shop on Nov. 29, 2009.

City of Portland to pay $35,000 to settle civil lawsuit alleging false arrest, battery during anti-police march

The City of Portland would pay $35,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a man who was injured during a March 2010 anti-police protest, under an ordinance that will go before city commissioners Wednesday. The encounter, captured on television footage, resulted in injuries to Clifford Richardson. He was treated at OHSU Hospital after his head and face struck the pavement during a scuffle with an officer, according to city records. 

Hearing waived for D.C. officer accused in cocaine ring

 Washington, D.C. cop Jared Weinberg charged with laundering money for a California-to-Pittsburgh cocaine ring was released on his own recognizance.  Weinberg was arrested at his precinct on a complaint filed by federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh. He is charged with conspiracy to commit money-laundering for the drug ring, believed to have sold as much as four tons of cocaine between 2000 and 2009.