Convicted former cop admits heroin addiction during arrest

By Kiran Chawla

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -

A former narcotics officer with the Baton Rouge Police Department has been arrested for unauthorized use of a vehicle and crime against the elderly. This arrest comes just four months after being released from prison after he was convicted in 2012 for stealing more than $27,000 from drug investigation evidence.

In April of 2011, evidence from more than half a dozen Baton Rouge drug cases went missing. Officer Michael Thompson was busted for stealing around $27,000 from drug investigations. He told investigators that he stole the money because he was addicted to pain medication and was using the money to buy pills.

Thompson was arrested and charged with malfeasance in office and seven counts of felony theft.

At the time of his first arrest, he had been with the Baton Rouge Police Department for five years. Officials with BRPD say Thompson was fired before he was taken into custody.

In October 2011, a grand jury indicted Thompson on 16 counts of felony theft.

In November 2012, Thompson was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $27,065 in restitution to the city of Baton Rouge. He was also sentenced to be on active supervised probation for three years following his release from prison. The sentence was part of Thompson's negotiated plea agreement.

He pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft that encompassed all of his criminal conduct.

Also during the investigation, it was revealed that several cases had to be dismissed because the evidence was missing.

Thompson was released from jail on July 13, 2014 and was to begin his active supervised probation that would last until 2017.

The former BRPD Narcotics Officer was arrested Friday, Nov. 21, 2014 and charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and crime against the elderly.

"We got a call that he actually took his father's car and apparently without permission, drove to his mom's residence," said Cpl. L'Jean McKneely with BRPD.

According to the arrest report, Thompson sat on his father while he was sitting on the couch and took his car keys from his pocket without permission. Thompson's father told officers his son has a drug problem and wants him arrested so he can be forced to seek help.

Thompson was found in the vehicle in the 200 block of Little John in the vehicle, but his mother was driving him back to his father's house.

Reports say Thompson admitted he did take the keys without permission, but he took them from the coffee table and not from his father's pocket. He told police he took the vehicle because he needed to go see his mother for a problem. Then Thompson also reportedly admitted he is addicted to heroin.

"It's an unfortunate thing, but it's sad to say, it's not uncommon," said Cpl. McKneely. "There are a lot of people out here who are addicted to prescription drugs. They are ruining their families, and their families are seeking to get them help."

Thompson was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. No bond has been set at the time of this report.

Child porn charge gets South Plainfield ex-cop 20 years in prison

Sergio Bichao

SOUTH PLAINFIELD – A former borough police captain was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison after admitting that he asked an underage girl to perform on an online sex cam in exchange for gifts.

Michael Grennier, 52, a borough resident, was retired from the police force at the time that authorities said he commited the crime in February 2013.

Federal authorities charged him with one count of production of child pornography several days after he communicated with the girl over text messages and watched her via his home copmuter as he instructed her on what to do.

Grennier admitted during his guilty plea proceeding that he promised to buy the girl clothes in exchange for her performance.

Grennier has been in jail since he was charged, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a prepared statement Friday.

U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson also sentenced him to lifetime supervised release and he will be required to register as a sex offender on public databases.

Prosecutors appeal ‘Cannibal Cop’ case

By Sarina Trangle

Prosecutors want another go-around with a former Forest Hills police officer, known as the “Cannibal Cop,” who got a judge to toss out his prior conviction on conspiring to kidnap, kill and eat women.

Manhattan Federal Court Judge Paul Gardephe sentenced Gilberto Valle last week to the year behind bars he served during his case and a year of supervised release, during which he must continue mental health treatment, avoid contact with women prosecutors described as targets, stay off any sexual fetish websites and forums and consent to the government using a computer monitor to ensure compliance, according to court documents.

Hours after the judge handed down the sentence, federal prosecutors filed an appeal asking that the jury’s initial conviction of conspiracy to commit kidnapping stand.

A jury found Valle guilty in March 2013 of superseding his authorized access while searching a Federal Bureau of Investigation database for details about women and of conspiring to commit kidnapping.

But this summer, Gardephe granted a request made by Valle’s attorney and overturned the conspiracy conviction while authorizing a new trial on that count.

The FBI began investigating the 30-year-old Forest Hills resident after his wife said she found graphic pornography on his computer and detailed plans to kidnap and torture women.

Agents then found chats and e-mails Valle exchanged with alleged co-conspirators, extensive files on at least five women who prosecutors said he planned to abduct and Internet searches for rope and chloroform.

The cop worked for the NYPD for six years prior to his arrest in 2012.

Gardephe concluded that prosecutors’ use of exchanges between Valle and three alleged co-conspirators in New Jersey, England and India or Pakistan on the sexual fantasy website Dark Fetish Network did not illustrate any concrete steps taken by Valle to plot kidnappings.

“This is a conspiracy that existed solely in cyberspace,” Gardephe wrote in his opinion. “Dates for ‘planned’ kidnappings pass without comment, without discussion, without explanation and with no follow-up. The only plausible explanation for the lack of comment or inquiry about allegedly agreed-upon and scheduled kidnappings is that Valle and the others engaged in these chats understood that no kidnappings would actually take place.”

In their appeal, prosecutors argued Valle actively worked towards the kidnappings by gathering information about where targets lived and worked, offering to mail two of them PBA cards in a bid to earn their trust, meeting one woman for lunch and researching how to incapacitate victims with chloroform.

They contended that Gardephe wanted the government to explain Valle’s communications above and beyond how such communications are typically handled in court, and that an FBI agent had described how the agency determined which of Valle’s exchanges were fantasy and which were not.

“Far from being irrational, the jury’s verdict was well-supported by the record of Valle’s communications, preparations and post-arrest statements, which demonstrated a genuine intent to kidnap,” the appeal read. “Judge Gardephe disagreed.”

Valle’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

Cop to go on trial again

By Eva Knott, Nov. 22, 2014

#Fifty-three-year-old Katherine Ann Heinzel, a former cop who was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, is due in San Diego Superior Court again on Monday, November 24.

#Heinzel is said to have been a nine-year veteran with the Newport Beach police force, trained as an accident investigator. She he was involved in a fatal freeway collision in 2011. She did not testify at her first trial in late 2012, at the conclusion of which she was found guilty of three felonies: causing the death of one man and serious injury to two others.

#In January 2013 she was sentenced to nine years prison, but in July of this year, Heinzel’s conviction was reversed for “instructional error”; the higher court found fault with a jury instruction regarding “gross vehicular manslaughter.”

#In October of this year, Heinzel paid an $8000 fee to have a $100,000-bond posted. She is at liberty while awaiting her new trial, set for March 16.

#Papers in her court file indicate that a previous defense attorney attempted to suppress evidence about blood drawn from Heinzel two hours after the collision. Results showed a .09 blood alcohol content; investigators later estimated her level to be .14 at the time of the fatal collision (.06 higher than the law allows), according to prosecutor Tracy Prior.

#Among the detailed accusations in papers filed on November 7, the prosecutor claims that at 1:50 a.m. on November 19, 2011, Heinzel was driving a white Nissan Altima northbound on I-15 when she ran into the back of a blue 1992 Toyota. The three men in the Toyota all wore seatbelts, had not consumed alcohol, and were heading home to Perris, California, after visiting friends in Coronado. Heinzel later told a CHP officer that she was headed for her home in Winchester, about 30 miles away.

#Investigators estimated Heinzel’s car was traveling between 91 to 101 mph and was straddling two lanes when it rammed the Toyota, reportedly going 58–68 mph. Both vehicles went through a guardrail and over a drop-off at the side of freeway, near the Old Highway 395 exit.

#One of the passengers in the Toyota, Brian Morast, then 20, survived to tell jurors that their car repeatedly flipped front bumper to end bumper; after as many as ten revolutions, their car finally came to rest on its side. Morast suffered traumatic brain injury, two collapsed lungs, five broken ribs, and a spleen injury.

#The other passenger in the Toyota, Kris Walker, then 19, survived a three-inch-deep gash in his head and was able to struggle back up the embankment. While he climbed, he came across Heinzel’s vehicle and saw the woman stuck between her seat and the steering wheel.

#“Mr. Walker pulled defendant out of her burning car,” the prosecutor stated in court papers. “He saved her life, and the defendant’s car then went up in flames.”

#The prosecutor claimed that Heinzel then “took off running” but other witnesses at the scene kept her at the side of the road until police arrived. One witness said that Heinzel kept saying she “had to go” or that she had to go “pick up her mother.”

#When CHP officer Michael Zappia arrived, he reportedly found Heinzel near a guardrail, between some vehicles, and he noticed that she smelled of alcohol.

#“She could not recall any details regarding the collision, where she was coming from, where she was going to, how she got to the scene, or who was travelling with her, if anyone. However, defendant was able to provide identifying information such as her friend’s name and recite her driver’s license number.”

#Heinzel complained of pain and was transported to hospital after about five to seven minutes.

#The driver of the Toyota, Daveionne Kelly, 20, was able to crawl out of his car, but died at the scene.

#Heinzel is expected to be present for a “status conference” before judge Carlos Armour in San Diego’s North County Superior Courthouse on Monday morning, November 24.

Family sues D.C. for $10 Million in Marc Washington case

WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- The family of the 15-year-old girl that D.C. police officer Marc Washington allegedly took half naked photos of is suing the District for 10 million dollars.

Officer Marc Washington was arrested and charged with producing child pornography in December of 2013.

Washington was on duty, in uniform and armed when he went to the home of the 15-year-old asked to speak to her privately, instructed her to remove her shirt and took photos of her, prosecutors said.

The 15-year-old had been reported missing earlier in the day, and Washington told the girl he needed the naked photographs to identify her if she ever ran away again, investigators alleged.

Washington was found dead from an apparent suicide shortly after the charges arose.

"It's been traumatic, as you can imagine this child is 15 years old when this happened, it was against her will, she protested at the time and was nevertheless ordered by Mr. Marc Washington to disrobe and allow him to take these pictures, she didn't understand what was going on but he was an authority figure," Scott Lucas, the attorney representing the 15-year-old's family, told WUSA9.

The teen's parents have filed the lawsuit on her behalf for alleged negligence.

"Negligence on behalf of the city would be in terms of the supervision and the training of Officer Marc Washington, that he had done this," Lucas explained.

When the charges first arose in December Police Chief Cathy Lanier expressed outrage over the allegations against Washington.

"It's devastating for the whole agency, what a lot of people don't realize is that this is a blow to the gun of every good police officer in the Metropolitan Police Department," Lanier said.

In the time since the case originated, the family says the city has not done enough to help the 15-year-old and her family. The family also contends that police have prevented the family from finding out more about Washington's actions while on duty.

WUSA9 reached out the The Metropoiltan Police Department, and was told that they have no comment on the case at this time.

Cop sentenced for having sex with informant

MAYS LANDING – An Egg Harbor City police officer will not have to serve a prison term for using his position to engage in sexual conduct with a female informant.

Steven Hadley received a suspended five-year term when he was sentenced Friday.

Hadley, who served 10 years on the Egg Harbor City force, pleaded guilty in October to official misconduct as part of a plea bargain with Atlantic County prosecutors. In return, they agreed to dismiss four other counts of official misconduct.

The Press of Atlantic City reported the woman with whom Hadley had the sexual relationship became an informant after a drug arrest. From April to May in 2013, she made drug purchases.

Hadley was paralyzed in a car crash that occurred on Sept. 24, 2013, the same day the charges were filed against him. Authorities have said Hadley’s pickup left the Garden State Parkway and struck a tree.

The 32-year-old Port Republic resident spent seven months in the hospital following the crash.

Besides the suspended sentence, Hadley also will forfeit his pension rights and will be barred from holding public employment in the state.

In issuing the sentence, state Superior Court Judge Michael Donio said having Hadley serve a prison term would be a serious injustice. The judge noted the former officer’s medical problems along with his cooperation, guilty plea and public service.

Cop Sentenced for Slaying Wife

November 23, 2014

A Briarwood man has been sentenced to 23 years to life in prison for shooting his wife to death in their home in December of 2011, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Clarence Cash, a 52-year-old retired city police officer, last month was convicted of second-degree murder after a three-week jury trial.

According to trial testimony, Cash repeatedly shot his wife, Tracy Young, 42, an investigator with the state Department of Taxation and Finance, after an argument. Cash, who at the time of his arrest was a per diem federal court officer, shot Young 13 times in her torso and face. Though he fled the scene, Cash surrendered to police the following morning.

“The defendant had spent his life working in law enforcement and knew well the destructive power of firearms. Yet, by his actions, he displayed a total disregard for human life and irreparably shattered his own family by robbing them of a loved one,” said Brown following Cash’s conviction

Former Police Officer Charged with Tampering With Evidence

A former Archbald police officer and school resource officer at Valley View High School is on the other side of the law tonight.

Travis Chamberlain is accused of destroying two cell phones, which may have contained evidence that he was having a relationship with a teenage girl, who may have been a student at the time.

According to the Archbald police chief, Chamberlain had been an officer since September 2009.

He offered to resign last month, well after this investigation was underway.

Prosecutors say the 26-year-old could have faced even more serious charges but in this case the timing and destroyed cell phones would have been critical.

Investigators say Chamberlain wasn't the full-time school resource officer at Valley View High School. He filled in for approximately three months earlier this year when he may have crossed the line.

His arrest has people talking.

"You can't trust anybody and it's a sad, sad thing. I grew up trusting everybody, everybody," Beverly Black of Jermyn said.

According to court documents, Chamberlain is accused of destroying two cell phones that may have contained communication between him and the girl.

"It's a scary thought that the police officers, the people we're putting in the schools to protect the kids, are the ones we're most concerned with," Tom Conserette of Archbald said.

As of right now, Chamberlain has only been charged with one misdemeanor, tampering with physical evidence.

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer McCambridge says Chamberlain "could possibly" have been charged with more serious charges, including felony sex crimes, if they could have established an inappropriate relationship started while the girl was a student.

That's because of a new law that holds employees of a school district to a higher position of power and trust.

Because the cell phones were destroyed, detectives say this investigation was hampered.

"Timing is important in these types of crimes. The content of those messages and/or the timing of them may have shed more light on exactly what was going on between them," McCambridge said.

McCambridge says while the contact may have been legal if it started after graduation, the destruction of the phones raises a red flag and sets a bad example for other school resource officers who are placed in schools to help students.

"The majority of them do the right thing and a good job at it. It's just unfortunate that these ones that do the wrong thing and take the wrong action seem to always rise to the forefront," McCambridge said.

Chamberlain's attorney declined to comment on the case.

If the 26-year-old pleads guilty or is found guilty, that would mean he could no longer be a police officer.

Travis Chamberlain is the brother of Matthew Chamberlain, a former police officer from Wyoming County who recently made headlines for selling an AK-47 out of the back of a patrol vehicle while on duty.

Buffalo police department have shot dead 73 dogs in three years – with one officer alone shooting more than a third

•           Officers opened fire on 92 dogs since start of 2011, killing the vast majority

•           Figure is more than triple that in Cincinnati, a municipality of a similar size

•           Many shootings were in high-intensity raids and search warrant executions

•           Buffalo does not use non-lethal tools, like spray or Tasers, to control dogs

By ANNABEL GROSSMAN FOR MAILONLINE

Buffalo police have opened fire on 92 dogs since the start of 2011, with 73 of the animals dying from their injuries.

Of these deaths, more than a third were carried out by a single officer.

The alarming statistics were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request for use of force incidents on canines within the Buffalo police department.

Many of the shootings occurred during high-intensity raids and search warrant executions when Buffalo Police may legally use their firearms 'if the officer or another person is in the process of being attacked by an animal and is in imminent danger'.

But the request, which was submitted byWGRZ-TV, shows that Buffalo's figures stand at more than triple the number of dog shooting incidents involving police in Cincinnati, which is a municipality of a similar size.

Cincinnati Police provided the news channel with a copy of its use of force records, showing that officers had shot 27 dogs between the start of 2011 and September 2014

The dogs killed by the department include Cindy, a two-year-old pit bull that was shot dead last year when officers raided an apartment on the city's West Side, looking for drugs.

Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda that week launched an internal investigation into Cindy's death, following accusations that the officers had accidentally raided the wrong apartment and should never have confronted the dog in the first place.

Adam Arroyo, an Iraq War veteran, adopted the dog when she was only six months old. He showedWGRZ-TV the remnants of Cindy's chain and toys, as well as bullet holes and blood left behind when the officers fired three times, killing his pet.

'She was friendly,' he told the news channel. 'All the kids in the neighborhood used to come up and pet her. She wasn't a threat.'

In July this year, another incident occurred where Buffalo police shot and killed a pet dog while executing a search warrant, looking for drugs.

During the raid, officers shot dead a 15-month-old pit bull named Rocky, who was described as 'aggressive' in the incident report.

'I pretty much heard the two shots,' said Rocky's owner Ronnie Raiser III, who had just woken in his bedroom when the police entered his home. 'After the first shot, I heard the dog squeal.'

Mr Raiser has filed a formal complaint, alleging excessive force and civil rights violations. He claims the officers raided the property looking for Ecstasy but they only found a small stash of his roommate's marijuana.

'I bawled my eyes out,' he said. 'It's hard. It really is.'

According to the use of force reports obtained by 2 On Your Side, the same police officer involved in the raid of Mr Raiser's home also opened fire on Cindy in 2013.

This single officer shot 26 dogs in a three-and-a-half year span. The reports show that n the years 2011 and 2012 alone, this officer alone killed as many dogs in the line of duty as the entire NYPD.

Buffalo Police Chief of Detectives Dennis Richards told WGRZ-TV that some officers act as the lead for the entry team during raids, which could place certain individuals in position to encounter aggressive dogs more often than others.

'It's a very dangerous job,' he said, 'And per capita, the amount of work that we do, the amount of search warrants executed, the amount of calls answered by individual officers, I think the numbers are what the numbers are.

'Certainly, no officer takes any satisfaction in having to dispatch a dog.'

Unlike other police departments, officers in Buffalo do not use Tasers, spray or other tools to control dogs in a non-lethal manner, and the department does train their officers specifically for canine encounters.

Jim Osorio, a former police officer and an expert on police canine encounters, teaches non-lethal methods for controlling dogs in the line of duty.

Using a live dog, he shows officers how to read dogs' facial expressions, how to approach the animals, and how to use spray, Tasers, batons or other tools to safely fend off a threat.

'I felt the need that police officers need better interaction with dogs on the street,' he said, 'Other than just taking out a gun and shooting them.'

Chief Richards said his department has researched other cities for feedback, and said they would consider using non-lethal tools to contain dogs.

He added: 'It's nothing to be happy about when a dog has to be let go. But, again, we should stress that it's the owners of those dogs. It's the drug dealer that is putting that dog in harm's way.'

Cop shoots brother to death during fight

BY SHARON CHEN

CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Chula Vista Police are investigating a shooting involving a San Diego Police officer who killed his own brother.

The incident occurred in the 300 block of Center Street just before 9:00 a.m. Friday.

“We got a call from neighbors saying someone was stabbed and there might have been a shooting,” said Lt. Fritz Reber, an investigator with the Chula Vista Police Department.

Police arrived to find a man who had been stabbed in the parking lot of Parkwoods Apartments.

“He told them he was an off-duty San Diego police officer,” Reber said. “We have also confirmed that information.”

The police officer then led Chula Vista Police to a second floor apartment where they found the suspect. He had been shot and killed.

“From what we understand there was an argument and some mental history with the suspect,” Reber said. “They were attempting to get him some help.”

The suspect was the officer’s brother. They both lived at the apartment with their parents.

“There was a conflict between the suspect and the mother, and the victim stepped in,” Reber said. “The suspect armed himself with knives and stabbed the off-duty officer and was subsequently shot and killed.”

The officer was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center with four stab wounds.  The brother died at the scene.

“We’re not releasing any other information at this time,” Reber said.

“All I heard was commotion and then a lot of police officers walking around,” said Robert Ledesma, a neighbor.

Ledesma lives upstairs from the family.

“Very nice family,” Ledesma said. “I’ve known them for about 10 years.”

He said as long as he’s known them, there has never been any problems, even with the brother.

“The boy who was shot usually walks his dog around,” Ledesma said.  “As far as I was concerned, he was a nice guy.”

The San Diego Police officer will not face charges.  Investigators said he fired in self-defense and that the incident is nothing but a family tragedy.

“I’m really sorry.  I send all my condolences,” Ledesma said.  “It’s so sad it had to happen with a family like that. It’s a shame.”

Check back for updates on this developing story.

The Perfect-Victim Pitfall

Michael Brown, and Now Eric Garner

At some point between the moment a Missouri grand jury refused to indict a police officer who had shot and killed Michael Brown on a Ferguson street and the moment a New York grand jury refused to indict a police officer who choked and killed Eric Garner on a Staten Island sidewalk — on video, as he struggled to utter the words, “I can’t breathe!” — a counternarrative to this nation’s calls for change has taken shape.

This narrative paints the police as under siege and unfairly maligned while it admonishes — and, in some cases, excoriates — those demanding changes in the wake of the Ferguson shooting. (Those calling for change now include the president of the United States and the United States attorney general, I might add.)

The argument is that this is not a perfect case, because Brown — and, one would assume, now Garner — isn’t a perfect victim and the protesters haven’t all been perfectly civil, so therefore any movement to counter black oppression that flows from the case is inherently flawed. But this is ridiculous and reductive, because it fails to acknowledge that the whole system is imperfect and rife with flaws. We don’t need to identify angels and demons to understand that inequity is hell.

The Mike-or-Eric-as-faces-of-black-oppression arguments swing too wide, and they miss. So does the protesters-as-movement-killers argument.

The responses so far have only partly been specific to a particular case. Much of it is about something larger and more general: racial inequality and criminal justice. People want to be assured of equal application of justice and equal — and appropriate — use of police force, and to know that all lives are equally valued.

The data suggests that, in the nation as a whole, that isn’t so. Racial profiling is real. Disparate treatment of black and brown men by police officers is real. Grotesquely disproportionate numbers of killings of black men by the police are real.

No one denies that police officers have hard jobs, but they volunteer to enter that line of work. There is no draft. So these disparities cannot go unaddressed and uncorrected. To be held in high esteem you must also be held to a higher standard.

And no one denies that high-crime neighborhoods disproportionately overlap with minority neighborhoods. But the intersections don’t stop there. Concentrated poverty plays a consequential role. So does the school-to-prison pipeline. So do the scars of historical oppression. In fact, these and other factors intersect to such a degree that trying to separate any one — most often, the racial one — from the rest is bound to render a flimsy argument based on the fallacy of discrete factors.

Yet people continue to make such arguments, which can usually be distilled to some variation of this: Black dysfunction is mostly or even solely the result of black pathology. This argument is racist at its core because it rests too heavily on choice and too lightly on context. If you scratch it, what oozes out reeks of race-informed cultural decay or even genetic deficiency and predisposition, as if America is not the progenitor — the great-grandmother — of African-American violence.

And yes, racist is the word that we must use. Racism doesn’t require the presence of malice, only the presence of bias and ignorance, willful or otherwise. It doesn’t even require more than one race. There are plenty of members of aggrieved groups who are part of the self-flagellation industrial complex. They make a name (and a profit) saying inflammatory things about their own groups, things that are full of sting but lack context, things that others will say only behind tightly shut doors. These are often people who’ve “made it” and look down their noses with be-more-like-me disdain at those who haven’t, as if success were merely a result of a collection of choices and not also of a confluence of circumstances.

Today, too many people are gun-shy about using the word racism, lest they themselves be called race-baiters. So we are witnessing an assault on the concept of racism, an attempt to erase legitimate discussion and grievance by degrading the language: Eliminate the word and you elude the charge.

By endlessly claiming that the word is overused as an attack, the overuse, through rhetorical sleight of hand, is amplified in the dismissal. The word is snatched from its serious scientific and sociological context and redefined simply as a weapon of argumentation, the hand grenade you toss under the table to blow things up and halt the conversation when things get too “honest” or “uncomfortable.”

But people will not fall for that chicanery. The language will survive. The concept will not be corrupted. Racism is a real thing, not because the “racial grievance industry” refuses to release it, but because society has failed to eradicate it.

Racism is interpersonal and structural; it is current and historical; it is explicit and implicit; it is articulated and silent.

Biases are pervasive, but can also be spectral: moving in and out of consideration with little or no notice, without leaving a trace, even without our own awareness. Sometimes the only way to see bias is in the aggregate, to stop staring so hard at a data point and step back so that you can see the data set. Only then can you detect the trails in the dust. Only then can the data do battle with denial.

I would love to live in a world where that wasn’t the case. Even more, I would love my children to inherit a world where that wasn’t the case, where the margin for error for them was the same as the margin for error for everyone else’s children, where I could rest assured that police treatment would be unbiased. But I don’t. Reality doesn’t bend under the weight of wishes. Truth doesn’t grow dim because we squint.

We must acknowledge — with eyes and minds wide open — the world as it is if we want to change it.

The activism that followed Ferguson and that is likely to be intensified by what happened in New York isn’t about making a martyr of “Big Mike” or “Big E” as much as it is about making the most of a moment, counternarratives notwithstanding.

In this most trying of moments, black men, supported by the people who understand their plight and feel their pain, are saying to the police culture of America, “We can’t breathe!”

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Asheville police officer charged with assaulting w...

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops in America: Asheville police officer charged with assaulting w...: Asheville police officer charged with assaulting woman Local media outlets report that 22-year-old Ethan Taylor Russell was arrested ...

Chicago Cop Indicted For Excessive Force In 2012 Arrest

CHICAGO (CBS) – A Chicago police officer has been indicted on federal charges, accused of using excessive force when he allegedly punched a man during an arrest in 2012, and kicked him while he was handcuffed and lying on the floor face-down.

Aldo Brown, 37, has been charged with one count of violating a victim’s civil rights, and two counts of obstruction of justice. Brown, who has been an officer since 2002, has not yet been scheduled for arraignment.

Federal prosecutors allege Brown and another unnamed officer entered a convenience store on East 76th Street on Sept. 27, 2012, and placed two people in handcuffs. After searching the store, the unnamed officer allegedly removed the handcuffs from one man, and Brown allegedly struck the man several times.

The victim was then handcuffed again, and Brown pulled a gun from the man’s rear pants pocket, according to prosecutors. Brown then allegedly kicked the man while he was lying on his stomach, before Brown and his partner arrested the man.

Brown allegedly falsified a “tactical response report” on the incident, claiming the victim actively resisted, and fled from the officers, and did not indicate Brown punched or kicked the victim.

Prosecutors allege Brown also falsified an arrest report, by claiming he saw a gun in the victim’s poket while interviewing him, then “conducted a [sic] emergency take down.”

The indictment alleges Brown did not see the gun until after he had struck the man several times, and handcuffed him twice.

The second officer was not charged as part of the indictment.

Although the indictment does not identify the second officer, or either of the men who were handcuffed at the convenience store, two brothers sued Brown and Officer George Stacker in October 2012, claiming the officers beat them during that arrest.

Jecque Howard and Paul Neal said they were working in the store when the two officers came in and began handcuffing people.

“I’m getting a gun pointed at me and punched in my face and kicked in my ribs,” said Jecque Howard.

Howard said the officers never even said why they were there. He said Officer George Stacker was the first to approach him.

“He came to the front and said ‘you work here?’, and I said, ‘yes’. He said ‘well not after today, you’re fired,’” explained Howard.

Howard’s brother, Paul Neal, was working outside the South Shore shop for a government cell phone program at the time.

Surveillance footage obtained by the 2 Investigators was at the center of an Independent Police Review Authority investigation at the time.

Lawsuit claim: San Jose cop accused of rape sexually assaulted another woman just months earlier

By Tracey Kaplan

SAN JOSE -- The woman who prosecutors contend was raped by an on-duty San Jose police officer has made an explosive new accusation in a lawsuit, alleging that the cop had sexually assaulted "at least one other woman" just months earlier.

The lawsuit further alleges that the department knew or should have known about his conduct but failed to make sure he was accompanied by a second officer "at all times."

Officer Geoffrey Graves' lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. The woman's attorney also did not respond to requests for more information to support the new accusations, which are described only briefly in the lawsuit.

Earlier this year, Santa Clara County prosecutors charged Graves with raping an undocumented woman in September 2013, whom he first encountered during a disturbance call. The criminal complaint also charges Graves with two counts of felony domestic violence for allegedly injuring his then-girlfriend in incidents unrelated to the alleged rape.

But Graves is not charged with sexually assaulting anyone other than the alleged rape victim.

Assistant District Attorney Terry Harman, who oversees the office's sexual crimes team, declined to comment directly Tuesday on the new accusations, saying it is not the office's practice to discuss civil lawsuits. But Harman did not rule out the possibility of filing new charges, though she also stood by the existing complaint.

"We charged the appropriate crimes based on the evidence known to us," Harman said.

Graves is free on $100,000 bail and has been on paid administrative leave since March.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month, names Graves, the department and city. It seeks an unspecified amount of punitive damages, as well as compensation for loss of earnings, medical costs and attorney's fees, on the grounds that the officer committed sexual assault/battery and violated the woman's civil rights, and the department and city were negligent.

The San Jose City Attorney's Office had objected to the filing, insisting that the alleged rape victim had lost her right to sue because she had filed a financial claim against the city, a mandatory prerequisite to a lawsuit, after the six-month deadline. City Attorney Rick Doyle declined to comment on the contents of the lawsuit, but said the office plans to defend the officer and the department.

But the woman's lawyer, Roger Hecht, argued that his client, who is undocumented and speaks limited English, was too traumatized after being sexually assaulted to file on time and was misled by government officials about her legal rights. A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge then waived the deadline, allowing the suit to proceed.

Graves faces up to eight years in prison if he is convicted. However, experts say prosecutors could add a gun enhancement because he was armed at the time of the alleged sexual assault, potentially extending his maximum sentence to life in prison.

Contact Tracey Kaplan at 408-278-3482. Follow her atTwitter.com/tkaplanreport.

Police Advisory Commission calls for review of arbitration process in cases of dismissed cops

MORGAN ZALOT

AFTER A REVIEW of more than two dozen cases of fired Philadelphia Police officers that showed the majority of them were reinstated, the Police Advisory Commission yesterday called on the city to examine the police arbitration process.

In its inquiry into 26 cases of police officers fired between 2008 and last year for offenses ranging from domestic incidents and retail theft to excessive force and on-duty intoxication, the commission found that 19 of the cops were reinstated by arbitrators, PAC executive director Kelvyn Anderson said during a news conference last night at which the commission released its 2012-13 annual report and announced its recommendation.

"Commissioner [Charles] Ramsey, since he's been here in 2008, has fired on average probably 20 to 23 people every year," Anderson said. "A good number of those folks are brought back to the department through the arbitration process, and what we've tried to find out is why that occurs and what remedies there would be to that process."

Anderson said the commission extensively reviewed the controversial case of reinstated Lt. Jonathan Josey, who was fired after he was captured on video striking a woman during a Puerto Rican Day Parade after-party in North Philadelphia in September 2012.

They chose that case, Anderson said, "primarily because it involved that elephant in the room for all of us now, which is video."

The commission said it plans to explore Pennsylvania's police-officer-certification system as a potential tool to improve the disciplinary process for officers across the state.

Anderson blamed the issues with the arbitration process partially on a lack of consistency in the way the Police Department has meted out discipline.

"They'll hand out one type of discipline to one officer, something else to another officer in a similar situation. When an arbitrator sees that type of discrepancy, it's likely that they're going to overturn that piece of discipline."

He added that when officers are fired without a full investigation into the action in question - as he said the commission believes happened in Josey's case - it paves the way for an arbitrator to reinstate the officer.

"In any case . . . No. 1, you need to be fair to the officers involved because the disciplinary process depends upon fairness on all ends of the spectrum, to citizens certainly, and absolutely to officers," Anderson said. "Clearly, if we're going to take the step of taking an officer's job away, we need to do as thorough an investigation as possible . . . so the outcome is appropriate."

The commission also touched on a number of other issues in its annual report, including:

* Its ongoing attempts to obtain full reports on police-involved shootings, which Anderson said the Police Department has declined to provide citing an ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice into the department's police discharges.

* A proactive review of court-ordered custody exchanges of children that occur at police districts. "If we take the right steps, we can prevent tragedy from occurring," Anderson said of the review.

* Data-driven oversight: Anderson said the commission is working to combine data released by the Police Department, including crime statistics, with complaints of officer misconduct to analyze how the data sets relate.

The commission also included in its annual report a comparison of its budget to those of police-oversight agencies in other cities, including Washington, D.C., Chicago and New York - all of which have budgets well above $1 million annually. Philadelphia's current PAC budget is $282,387.

Commissioners said they support a bill introduced by Councilman Curtis Jones that would establish a permanent commission with an initial budget of $1 million, allowing more staffers and investigators.

Suspended officer faces assault charge

TIMMINS - A suspended TPS officer faces an assault charge following a domestic dispute.

During the morning of Nov. 17, Timmins Police officers responded to a call regarding a domestic incident.

Reports indicated that a physical altercation had occurred between the suspect and his partner during a verbal dispute.

The suspect, a Timmins Police officer, was arrested and charged with assault in relation to this incident.

At the time of the arrest, the officer was under suspension in relation to previous criminal charges.

The officer was released on a promise to appear in court. The court date is scheduled for Dec. 23.

The name of the officer cannot released released by police to avoid identifying the victim.

Philly police suspend officer arrested for threats

The Philadelphia Police Department has suspended a lieutenant after his arrest for allegedly threatening the mother of his children.

Police say Lt. George Holcombe struggled with officers responding to the incident Sunday in the city's Holmesburg neighborhood.

The department on Monday suspended the 42-year-old Holcombe for 30 days with the intent to dismiss. His weapon was also taken.

Police say Holcombe, a 23-year department veteran, threatened the woman during an argument while off-duty.

He's charged with aggravated assault on police, simple assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, terroristic threats, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child.