Please post all of the completely insane COPWATCH stories here

[Kilika]

The problem with complaining about the censorship is the same as over at Prison Planet Forum or here for that matter; it's a private website that can exercise the right to not post, or delete information.

It's just like you don't have the right to stand in somebody elses house and scream stuff the homeowner doesn't want to hear. The homeowner can "delete" the screamer and has every right to. Same with the websites. It's their site and they can post or not post what they want.

They COULD tell the governments to take a jump, but we know they won't because governments are who allow them to exist as a business, so their hands are tied, they either conform to government demands, or no doubt they won't be in business for long.

[ClockwerkNinja]

Please help this video get out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AJ4KPIm-vE

[JustOne]

Cowardly police...

Nice find...

[Jordan]

U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford verbally lashed the Fullerton Police Department in its handing of allegation by sexual misconduct of an officer, calling the police department actions as “shocking” in its failure to take serious steps to preserve and act on evidence.

Officer Albert Rincon is accused of a pattern of detaining women and using the detention to make sexual propositions or even grope women. Notably, he not only routinely failed to call for a female officer for pat-down, as required “whenever practical” under city policy, but actively shut off his digital audio recorder. On the later issue, Guiford wrote, “This is different than simply forgetting to switch it on. This means that Rincon chose to leave no audio recording of the arrest.”

Nevertheless, the Fullerton district attorney found the allegations without proof beyond a reasonable doubt despite seven women alleging abuse. Prosecutors insisted that there was evidence that the women had spoken with each other about their allegations. However, Guilford called the city’s handling of the situation “weak” and “shocking” and noted that the officer was just required to go through pat-down training.


http://jonathanturley.org/2011/10/03/federal-judge-criticizes-lack-of-response-of-california-police-department-to-allegations-of-sexual-abuse-by-officer/

[Jordan]

Mike, a 17 year old Junior at West High School in Manchester, NH, recently discovered CopBlock.org, thanks to the arrest of the Chalking 8, and not a moment to soon. Yesterday, while coming into the high school cafeteria, Mike noticed his friend was being questioned by the school police officer – Det. Murphy – and decides to film. In the mist of being grilled by another school official who states, “it’s illegal to film” Murphy provides the misguided administrator an exact example why filming police is important – oh, and it’s not illegal at all.

http://youtu.be/j_uaC-0pXPs

What’s more scary? Knowing cops are willing to slam a young man’s head off a table for saying f**k? Or taking their sister’s handbag? Or hearing teachers tell students that it’s against the law to film police interactions? Something courts have ruled time and time again is a constitutionally protected right? As well as the most logical conclusion you can come to when men with guns and a badge are around.

Whether you agree or disagree, call the Manchester, NH police department and let them know your thoughts:
351 Chestnut Street
Manchester, NH 03101-2294
(603) 668-8711

West High School
9 Notre Dame Ave
Manchester, NH 03102
(603) 624-6384



http://www.copblock.org/8754/manchh/

[Jordan]

Cop's admit: We slap fake drug charges on innocent people to reach quotas.



Former Detective Stephen Anderson, seen here in 2009, is testifying under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors.


A former NYPD narcotics detective snared in a corruption scandal testified it was common practice to fabricate drug charges against innocent people to meet arrest quotas.

The bombshell testimony from Stephen Anderson is the first public account of the twisted culture behind the false arrests in the Brooklyn South and Queens narc squads, which led to the arrests of eight cops and a massive shakeup.

Anderson, testifying under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, was busted for planting cocaine, a practice known as "flaking," on four men in a Queens bar in 2008 to help out fellow cop Henry Tavarez, whose buy-and-bust activity had been low.

"Tavarez was ... was worried about getting sent back [to patrol] and, you know, the supervisors getting on his case," he recounted at the corruption trial of Brooklyn South narcotics Detective Jason Arbeeny.

"I had decided to give him [Tavarez] the drugs to help him out so that he could say he had a buy," Anderson testified last week in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

He made clear he wasn't about to pass off the two legit arrests he had made in the bar to Tavarez.

"As a detective, you still have a number to reach while you are in the narcotics division," he said.

NYPD officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Anderson worked in the Queens and Brooklyn South narcotics squads and was called to the stand at Arbeeny's bench trial to show the illegal conduct wasn't limited to a single squad.

"Did you observe with some frequency this ... practice which is taking someone who was seemingly not guilty of a crime and laying the drugs on them?" Justice Gustin Reichbach asked Anderson.

"Yes, multiple times," he replied.

The judge pressed Anderson on whether he ever gave a thought to the damage he was inflicting on the innocent.

"It was something I was seeing a lot of, whether it was from supervisors or undercovers and even investigators," he said.

"It's almost like you have no emotion with it, that they attach the bodies to it, they're going to be out of jail tomorrow anyway; nothing is going to happen to them anyway."

The city paid $300,000 to settle a false arrest suit by Jose Colon and his brother Maximo, who were falsely arrested by Anderson and Tavarez. A surveillance tape inside the bar showed they had been framed.

A federal judge presiding over the suit said the NYPD's plagued by "widespread falsification" by arresting officers.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/10/13/2011-10-13_excop_we_fabricated_drug_raps_for_quotas.html

[donnay]

Imagine my shock to read this news---NOT!

A good reason to show people how Prohibition doesn't work.  Legalizing drugs would stop a good portion of this corruption over night.

[Overcast]

Imagine my shock to read this news---NOT!

A good reason to show people how Prohibition doesn't work.  Legalizing drugs would stop a good portion of this corruption over night.

So if they are found guilty - shouldn't the jurisdiction have to overturn ALL drug convictions then? At least, those the the officers involved... and they should reimburse the fines levied and have to pay those who served time.

[Jordan]

So if they are found guilty - shouldn't the jurisdiction have to overturn ALL drug convictions then? At least, those the the officers involved... and they should reimburse the fines levied and have to pay those who served time.

I think they are suppose to but as you know that will never happen. This is why the entire system must be removed, there is no fairness, justice or law of rule in any of it.

[Jordan]

A Penn Hills woman claims in a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday that a Vandergrift constable and a Penn Hills police officer violated her civil rights during a May 18 incident at her home.

Erika Slusar, 25, says in the lawsuit that constable Alan Harff came to her house to arrest her boyfriend, who doesn't live there, for failing to pay traffic fines. Harff broke down the door to her sun room and searched the house without a warrant, the lawsuit says.

Officer Bernard J. Sestili Jr. witnessed the illegal entry and search but did nothing, according to the lawsuit. After Slusar filed a complaint with the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, Sestili charged her with hindering the apprehension of another person, obstruction and disorderly conduct, the lawsuit says.

Harff and Sestili couldn't be reached for comment.


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_761828.html

[Jordan]

The ACLU of Southern California on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Glendale Unified administrators and three law enforcement agencies, alleging that officers illegally detained, searched and interrogated roughly 55 Latino high school students in what they called “a textbook case of racial profiling.”

The Hoover High School students, who were allegedly rounded up at lunch on Sept. 24, 2010, and detained for at least an hour in two separate classrooms, were intimidated and frisked by Glendale and Los Angeles police officers, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

At a news conference Thursday in South Glendale, ACLU representatives said the students were asked for personal information, including addresses and telephone numbers, interrogated about any scars, tattoos and gang affiliations, and “repeatedly threatened” by police.

Students subjected to the searches called the experience terrifying.

“I told my mom I didn’t want to go back to school,” said Karen Lopez, 16, now a junior at Hoover High. “It was just scary.”

In addition to a handful of school district officials, the lawsuit, filed on behalf of several Hoover High School families, names the Los Angeles and Glendale police departments and the L.A. County Probation Department and seeks unspecified damages.

“The school officials and police had no evidence that the students were doing anything illegal or breaking any school rules at the times they were rounded up,” ACLU attorney David Sapp said. “The facts in this case also make it clear that these students were targeted because they are Latino.”

Glendale Unified spokesman Steven Frasher defended the operation, describing it as an educational effort to deter students from falling into gangs.

“The fact of the matter is, student safety is our utmost concern at all times,” Frasher said. “The allegation of racial profiling is ridiculous. We are going to try and do all we can to protect any student we fear is going to be at risk for being sucked into a criminal lifestyle.”

Representatives for the Glendale and Los Angeles police departments did not respond to requests for comment, nor did the county probation department.

The ACLU in March filed claims with Glendale Unified on behalf of several of the targeted students, seeking $25,000 each for damages, including extreme anxiety and emotional distress, exacerbating asthma and humiliation. The school board voted to reject those claims in May.

Frasher said the operation was conducted after Hoover High School officials and probation officers noticed gang activity among students who sat in a specific area on campus during non-class time.

Some incoming students, Frasher said, “seemed to be getting sucked into some activities, or looking up to kids who were on probation.”

School and law enforcement officials wanted to give those students a taste of where gang activity can lead, Frasher said, adding that relationships and grades at Hoover High School improved after the effort.

In addition to unspecified financial damages, the students and their attorneys are demanding that all information collected during the Hoover operation be destroyed, and that the district and law enforcement agencies promise that it will never happen again.

“It is not illegal to be a Latino teenager,” Sapp said. “This is a textbook case of racial profiling, and it is all the more offensive because they terrorized and threatened students while they were detained.”

http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-1014-lawsuit,0,917386.story

[Jordan]

BERKELEY SPRINGS - A Morgan County man shot twice by a Morgan County sheriff's deputy last year has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the officer and the Morgan County Commission.

Deputy S.A. Place was exonerated of criminal wrongdoing following a West Virginia State Police investigation into the Oct. 6, 2010, shooting that injured plaintiff Ulysses Everett.

Everett's suit alleges Place used excessive force when he fired twice through his front door. One of the bullets entered Everett's hip and the second entered his abdomen. Place was responding to a 911 call regarding a domestic disturbance between Everett and his spouse. When Place arrived, he ordered Everett to come out of the house with his hands showing, but Everett said he closed the door because he saw the officer's K-9 running toward him.

Place allegedly tried to kick the door in before firing shots through it.

In a written statement about the shooting, Place stated that he noticed handguns sitting on a table inside the house while attempting to force entry prior to the actual shooting, the suit states.

That portion of Place's statement was used by the investigating state trooper to exonerate Place with regard to the shooting, the suit alleges.

Everett's attorney, John Bryan, argues in the suit that Place never mentioned seeing any guns in conversations he says were captured on a cruiser-mounted camera following the shooting.

"As soon as I gave the order for him to open the door and let me see his hands he came to the door. As soon as he opened the door, he stuck his head out and looked at me and closed the door again. I went back up to try to get the door open. I couldn't see anything. He was pushing the door closed. Somebody said shoot. It was either shoot me, or shoot him. It could have been him because it was muffled," Place allegedly said.

According to a copy of the lawsuit filed earlier this month, while en route to Everett's residence, Place allegedly was advised by Morgan County Dispatch that Everett's spouse was no longer at the residence.

When Place arrived, he approached the home's recessed front entrance, holding his handgun in his right hand and the leash of his K-9 in the other.

While crouching and peering into the entrance area to Everett's home, at the end of which is the man's front door, Place announced that he was with the sheriff's department and ordered Everett to come to the door. When Everett opened it, Place said, "Let me see your hands, let me see your hands," the suit states.

Everett then shut the door. After Place allegedly kicked the door while shouting "let me see your hands," the suit claims Place fired two shots from his handgun through the door, striking Everett.

Place called for an ambulance and began trying to help Everett before going outside to his police cruiser to retrieve a first-aid kit. Bryan says the audio from the officer's cruiser camera recorded police conversations after the shooting.

"He saw me and he went back in - I couldn't see anything - Tony was walking up hollering shoot," Place allegedly said.

As Place made the statement, another deputy allegedly responded, "I didn't say to shoot," the lawsuit states.

The officers continued to help Everett when an unidentified officer allegedly walked up to Place and asked him what happened.

After hearing Place's account, the unidentified officer then allegedly said, "Well, we (saw) a handgun sitting right there on the - there's three of them sitting right there."

A state trooper approached Place and allegedly said "the dude had two, three f------ guns laying right there."

Place allegedly later stated, "I know I heard shoot; and it was either shoot him or shoot me and I heard it twice and that's when I shot, but I don't know who said it because it was muffled," the suit states.

A trooper later allegedly said, "I don't know if it is a good thing for somebody once they have been involved in a shooting to make a statement right away because (there's) pros and cons to it. ... Are you recording anything?"

Place allegedly replied, "Yes, I haven't turned it off," referring to his dash cam.

Everett was taken by ambulance to a helicopter and was airlifted to Winchester Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery. The suit alleges Everett has undergone an extensive period of rehabilitation and additional surgery, including a hip replacement.

Everett is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

http://journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/569039/Man-shot-by-police-files-federal---.html

[Jordan]

Recent independent eyewitness testimony reveals that the Los Angeles County Jail, the nation’s largest with over 17,000 inmates, continues to be plagued by brutal assaults upon its inmates by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which operates the jail.

The jail has a long, documented history of such abuse. Deputies are usually initially assigned to jail duty when they join the department. There they are immersed in a culture of sadistic and arbitrary treatment of prisoners, in order to anesthetize them to any compunctions they might have about using force.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) initially sued Los Angeles County in 1975 in federal court, charging that the conditions that inmates were subjected to in the jail violated the prohibition in the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution against cruel and unusual punishment. Those conditions included overcrowding, systematic assaults on inmates by sheriff’s deputies, and inadequate medical care.

In 1978, following a 17-day trial, and unannounced jail inspections by the federal judge, the court granted an injunction ordering the county to implement improvements in jail conditions, including conditions of overcrowding, inadequate exercise, and lack of clean clothing and telephone access.

The court case was reopened in 1984. Since then the jail conditions have been continually litigated in federal court. The court has appointed various parties and experts to monitor conditions within the jail.

Despite such checks, these systematic problems have only intensified. In December the ACLU asked the federal court to order a new trial in the case based on “an escalating crisis of deputy violence, abuse, and inmate suicides.”

The observations of one of the jail monitors in particular precipitated the latest revelations of deputy brutality. ACLU monitor Esther Lim reported that in January while she was working in the jail talking to another inmate, she saw two deputies beating inmate James Parker. Lim said the deputies continued to beat Parker even though he seemed unconscious and was not fighting back. According to Lim, Parker “looked like a mannequin that was being used as a punching bag.” Lim did not believe the deputies knew she was there, so they continued to pummel Parker and used a stun gun on the inmate’s limp body.

On September 28, 2011, the ACLU submitted to the court 70 sworn declarations detailing deputy abuse of inmates, including statements from Lim, two chaplains and Hollywood producer Scott Budnick, who had worked at the jail for five years as a volunteer teaching writing.

The Sheriff’s Department has recently also had to acknowledge the existence within its ranks of gang-like groups with such names as the Grim Reapers, the Vikings, the Little Devils and the 3000s. Members have distinctive tattoos, use gang-like signs to identify themselves, and use distinctive code words.

The 3000s consist of a group of deputies who work on the 3rd floor of the jail, and sport “3000” tattoos. This is the floor of the jail that has recorded the most use-of-force incidents. In March of this year Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca fired six of its members. Their firings, however, had nothing to do with their abuse of inmates. Instead they were terminated for assaulting, during a sheriff’s Christmas party, two other deputies who complained about their work performance.

Several months ago the FBI began its own investigation into the ongoing abuse at the jail. According to Sheriff Baca, the FBI utilized an inmate as an informant and helped the inmate to unlawfully obtain a cell phone so he could communicate with the FBI. According to Baca, the informant volunteered that he knew of a deputy willing to smuggle contraband (cell phones) into the jail for cash. The FBI provided $1,500 for the inmate to pay the deputy for a phone. Later, the FBI showed up at the deputy’s home in an attempt to make him an informant.

This operation collapsed when the inmate’s cell phone was discovered, along with his notes detailing his involvement in the FBI investigation. The deputy who provided the phone to the inmate was suspended and thereafter resigned.

Instead of addressing the numerous complaints of abuse by his deputies, Sheriff Baca, incensed that the FBI had not notified him of their investigation, initially sent his investigators to the home of the lead FBI agent, ostensibly to investigate him for the crime of unlawfully providing an inmate with a cell phone.

Baca’s effort to cover up abuse by his deputies is only the latest example of the Sheriff’s Department’s long history of covering up such abuse and protecting the deputies involved whenever it is exposed.

The Sheriff’s Department even went so far as charge James Parker, the inmate who was observed by monitor Esther Lim as he was being brutally beaten by deputies, with assaulting the deputies. The Los Angeles County district attorney, instead of charging the deputies with assault, then prosecuted Parker.

A jury on September 28, 2011 was unable to reach a verdict in the case. But a majority voted to acquit Parker of three counts of battery and resisting arrest. The hung jury was a blow to the Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Parker’s attorney Damon Hobdy said, “The allegations are made up and this man didn’t do what they said he did. To cover it up, they put those charges on him.”

The public outcry over Baca’s efforts to dismiss and cover up the blatant abuse by his deputies caused him on October 10, 2011 to announce the creation of a special jail investigations task force consisting of 35 full-time investigators to reexamine old allegations of abuse, including the dozens presented by the ACLU.

As with similar “commissions” and “special investigations” that have been convened by various policies agencies to investigate itself, this one too can be expected to cover up and minimize the brutal methods that are an institutional policy of the Los Angels County Sheriff’s Department.

The ongoing and longstanding police terror within the Los Angeles County Jail is not atypical of the methods used by the police against the more than 2 million people incarcerated in jails and prisons throughout the United States. With the economic crisis intensifying class conflicts, the ruling class is being compelled to deploy ever-increasing violence against its most oppressed victims.


http://wsws.org/articles/2011/oct2011/jail-o14.shtml

[Jordan]

There is strong evidence that a policewoman who shot a mentally disturbed man in the back in 2009 accidentally used her gun instead of her Taser, a coroner has found.

Adam Salter was shot and killed in the kitchen of his Lakemba home in November 2009 after police responded to a call that the 36-year-old was stabbing himself with a knife.

The shooter, Sergeant Sheree Bissett, and NSW Police claimed that Mr Salter was threatening another officer with a knife and that lethal force was her only option.

But the inquest into Mr Salter's death learnt that Sergeant Bissett shouted "Taser, Taser, Taser" before firing her gun, and Deputy State Coroner Scott Mitchell has found that it was more than likely Sergeant Bissett had made a terrible mistake.

Describing the police response as "an utter failure", Mr Mitchell said: "There is a very strong flavour of confusion and mistake and, given her cry of 'Taser, Taser Taser', I think it is more likely than not that Sergeant Bissett mistakenly chose her Glock, having intended to employ her Taser.

"Police killed the person they were supposed to be helping.

"They forgot to remove or to secure the knife from the sink.

"They removed from the kitchen the very person, his father, most likely to be able to contain him.

"They left Adam Salter in the care of a young and inexperienced and ... ineffective and unresponsive officer."

Mr Mitchell told the Coroners Court in Glebe it was more than likely that, far from representing a threat to police, Mr Salter posed a threat only to himself.

Despite this, "without any proper warning or challenge, Sergeant Bissett fired the fatal shot".

Mr Mitchell also slammed the internal police investigation that followed the shooting.

He said the critical incident investigation report, written by Detective Inspector Russell Oxford of the NSW Homicide Squad, was "seriously flawed".

He said the investigation report "provided the commissioner with a very unreliable view of the circumstance of Adam Salter's death and will have failed to persuade the community that the circumstances surrounding Adam Salter’s death were investigated scrupulously and fairly".

Mr Mitchell did not make any recommendations and said he would not refer the matter to the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

However, he left this option open for the family.

Outside the court Mr Salter's father, Adrian Salter, said the family were still considering whether or not they would pursue the matter with the PIC.

"What’s important to us is that Adam's life was taken unexpectedly, tragically and unnecessarily," he told reporters.

"I think that what happened was a tragic mistake and wouldn't have happened had the police not been carrying guns."

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/police-response-an-utter-failure-coroner-finds-20111014-1lo17.html

[Georgiacopguy]

I would hate to point out to that father, given the loss he has suffered, but to demand the police be disarmed is also to demand that civilians be disarmed. Because their sole argument will be that they cannot be disarmed due to a populace which still possesses firearms. Disarming police is certainly not the solution, nor is disarming civilians. Training the police, requiring greater levels of education and professionalism from the police is another method. But taking the activist stance of disarming the police is a slippery slope.

[Constitutionary]

All the while gearing up speed-traps around colleges and bars hoping to find drugs on those who have a traffic citation... and if you are black in certain parts of NY, there's no ticket issued it is right off to jail.

[Freeski]

There was also that cabal of judges in the south who were convicting kids to fill up the private prison.

This is why Jefferson said every generation needs a revolution to put things back and to remind the PTB that we are vigilant guardians of our freedom.

[Constitutionary]

You wonder why NY is so full of lawyers ?

These Law & Order shows make me sick the way they act like these investigators are just out for truth and justice.  The truth is it is all a quotas game to them.

One time a cop threatened to put me in jail, tho I was at work and had 2 supervisors who could alibi me and the fact that what happened was in another county at the time.

Justice my @$$ !!!

[Freeski]

You wonder why NY is so full of lawyers ?

These Law & Order shows make me sick the way they act like these investigators are just out for truth and justice.  The truth is it is all a quotas game to them.

One time a cop threatened to put me in jail, tho I was at work and had 2 supervisors who could alibi me and the fact that what happened was in another county at the time.

Justice my @$$ !!!

Yep, it's an enormous scam in almost every aspect.

To this day, the best analogies I've seen are the concept behind the original Matrix movie, and They Live.

It truly boggles the mind how powerful the indoctrination really is. What does it take to get people to just look, see and think for themselves? That's all it takes!

[Overcast]

You wonder why NY is so full of lawyers ?

These Law & Order shows make me sick the way they act like these investigators are just out for truth and justice.  The truth is it is all a quotas game to them.

One time a cop threatened to put me in jail, tho I was at work and had 2 supervisors who could alibi me and the fact that what happened was in another county at the time.

Justice my @$$ !!!

Indeed - they just define 'Justice' different than we do. For them, it's all about money, money, money, and acquaintances. You need to either be rich, a member of the good ol' boys club or both.

[Overcast]

There is strong evidence that a policewoman who shot a mentally disturbed man in the back in 2009 accidentally used her gun instead of her Taser, a coroner has found.

Adam Salter was shot and killed in the kitchen of his Lakemba home in November 2009 after police responded to a call that the 36-year-old was stabbing himself with a knife.

Hell, she should have just let him kill himself - same result here. It was only a waste of gas with her going there.

[Overcast]

Perhaps they could start administering Zyklon-B and then just burning the bodies. I'm sure the companies that still exist that had a hand in this, would be all for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zyklon_B

[WLGarrison]

I'm a retired public defender, and most of the cops & prosecutors I worked with didn't care about guilt or innocence.  They only cared about wins & loses, and locking someone up was a win.  I represented a man with size 12 feet; he was charged with burglarizing a liquor store by kicking in the back door.  The door had a size 8 footprint.  Despite this evidence the cops & prosecutor wanted him to go to jail.  I wasn't able to get the case dismissed until we were at trial and I held up the man's shoe.

[Overcast]

I'm a retired public defender, and most of the cops & prosecutors I worked with didn't care about guilt or innocence.  They only cared about wins & loses, and locking someone up was a win.  I represented a man with size 12 feet; he was charged with burglarizing a liquor store by kicking in the back door.  The door had a size 8 footprint.  Despite this evidence the cops & prosecutor wanted him to go to jail.  I wasn't able to get the case dismissed until we were at trial and I held up the man's shoe.

But the interesting part about that is - that means the REAL guilty party gets to walk free and further terrorize people. So those in the 'Justice System' with that attitude - have no one to cry with when it's their own family being victimized.

Because, eventually - even for them, it WILL come to nest at home. It's going to continue to get so bad... and once the economy really collapses; this house of cards will come tumbling down. I hope their quotas mean something to them at that point.

I know at least one judge in recent recollection has been shot, violence against police is skyrocketing - but then they are busting the wrong people; so the problems will only get worse. Now, I suspect the guy who was wrongfully charged; is likely a criminal now too.

Luckily, for us; once the whole system does come crashing down due to corruption, lazy justice, and the like; some supposed 'Savior' will arise to free us all and make things oh so happy for 7 years or so...

[Jordan]

Chicago - A father is accusing a Chicago Police Lieutenant of dropping his 4-month-old baby boy.

Chaz Byars said the police officer provoked the incident at an Auburn-Gresham restaurant last Tuesday. He said witnesses were shocked; and the Independent Police Review Authority is now investigating his charge of police brutality.

According to the baby's father and other witnesses, the officer burst into the neighborhood restaurant to investigate reports of shots fired in the area. He began interrogating one man and the father came to the man's defense. That's when the trouble started.

At just 4-months-old, clinging to his blanket, this baby boy is clueless about the commotion surrounding his fall three days ago.

“He grabbed my child's car seat and my child fell out and hit his head,” Byars said. “What went through my mind is what goes through any parent's mind who sees their 4-month-old child hit his head on a table. Disbelief, shock, I think I was angry, I had a lot of emotions going on.”

The 29-year-old Byars said the scare of his life happened when he watched his son plummet toward the ground.

Byars said he was arrested moments after he spoke up and interrupted the lieutenant from harassing another young man at Maxwell's Charcoaled Grill, which has been in business for 15 years.

“He said it was my fault that he dropped my child even though I was handcuffed,” Byars said. “They have no right to do this.”

Owner Omar Sweis said the after the incident, the lieutenant returned to the restaurant later that evening.

“Then he went around, opened this door, went in my office, searching for the cameras, he tried to get the cameras out of my office with no warrant, no nothing, just opened and walked in,” Sweis said. “He and a couple of more cops. They tried to mess with [my system] to see if there's a tape.”

"We have received an allegation of misconduct related to that incident and we do have an active investigation into the matter," IPRA's Chief Administrator Illana Rosenzweig said in a statement.

“I was told that an ambulance treated my child at the scene even though I never saw an ambulance before pulling off,” Byars said. “The doctor said it's a wait and see situation because his bones are still forming in his head, at this age and this development of this stage of being four months old, the brain is still developing but on the surface he looks fine, that's a blessing, I'm thankful to God that he is.”

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/chas-byars-chicago-police-department-lieutenant-accused-of-cauring-harm-to-infant-20111014

[Freeski]

I'm a retired public defender, and most of the cops & prosecutors I worked with didn't care about guilt or innocence.  They only cared about wins & loses, and locking someone up was a win.  I represented a man with size 12 feet; he was charged with burglarizing a liquor store by kicking in the back door.  The door had a size 8 footprint.  Despite this evidence the cops & prosecutor wanted him to go to jail.  I wasn't able to get the case dismissed until we were at trial and I held up the man's shoe.

Prosecutors are paid for by me, you and every other taxpayer, so why do we fund them at all? They simply can't be trusted and corruption is inevitable in any such system. Are we so insane that we fund our own enslavement? Follow the fricking money!

We need the smallest governments possible!

[Jordan]

[Satyagraha]

Jordan - that looks photoshopped to me.
What's the source link?

[Jordan]

newsvine - I just ripped the link. Which is on imgur.com

[Dig]

Crowd manipulation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowd_manipulation

Crowd manipulation is the intentional use of techniques based on the principles of crowd psychology to engage, control, or influence the desires of a crowd in order to direct its behavior toward a specific action.[1] This practice is common to politics and business and can facilitate the approval or disapproval or indifference to a person, policy, or product. The ethical use of crowd manipulation is debatable and depends on such factors as the intention of and the means used by the manipulator, as well as the ends achieved.

Crowd manipulation differs from propaganda although they may reinforce one another to produce a desired result. If propaganda is “the consistent, enduring effort to create or shape events to influence the relations of the public to an enterprise, idea or group”,[2] crowd manipulation is the relatively brief call to action once the seeds of propaganda (i.e. more specifically “pre-propaganda”[3]) are sown and the public is organized into a crowd. The propagandist appeals to the masses, even if compartmentalized, whereas the crowd manipulator appeals to a segment of the masses assembled into a crowd in real time. In situations such as a national emergency, however, a crowd manipulator may leverage mass media to address the masses in real time as if speaking to a crowd.[4]

Crowd manipulation also differs from crowd control, which serves a security function. Local authorities use crowd-control methods to contain and defuse crowds and to prevent and respond to unruly and unlawful acts such as rioting and looting.[5]
Function and morality

A sensationalized portrayal of the Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770): Such images were used to breed discontent and foster unity among the American colonists against the British crown prior to the American War of Independence.

The crowd manipulator engages, controls, or influences crowds without the use of physical force, although his goal may be to instigate the use of force by the crowd or by local authorities. Prior to the American War of Independence, Samuel Adams provided Bostonians with “elaborate costumes, props, and musical instruments to lead protest songs in harborside demonstrations and parades through Boston’s streets.” If such crowds provoked British authorities to violence, as they did during the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, Adams would write, produce, and disperse sensationalized accounts of the incidents to stir discontent and create unity among the American colonies.[6]

Crowd manipulation may be classified as a tool of soft power, which is "the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments".[7] Harvard professor Joseph Nye coined the term in the 1980s, although he did not create the concept. The techniques used to win the minds of crowds were examined and developed notably by Quintilian in his training book, Institutio oratoria and by Aristotle in Rhetoric. Known origins of crowd manipulation go as far back as the 5th century BC, where litigants in Syracuse sought to improve their persuasiveness in court.[8][9]

The verb "manipulate" can convey negativity, but it does not have to do so. According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, for example, to “manipulate” means “to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage.”[10] This definition allows, then, for the artful and honest use of control for one’s advantage. Moreover, the actions of a crowd need not be criminal in nature. Nineteenth-century social scientist Gustave Le Bon wrote:“   It is crowds rather than isolated individuals that may be induced to run the risk of death to secure the triumph of a creed or an idea, that may be fired with enthusiasm for glory and honour, that are led on--almost without bread and without arms, as in the age of the Crusades--to deliver the tomb of Christ from the infidel, or, as in [1793], to defend the fatherland. Such heroism is without doubt somewhat unconscious, but it is of such heroism that history is made. Were peoples only to be credited with the great actions performed in cold blood, the annals of the world would register but few of them.[11]"


Edward Bernays, the so-called “Father of Public Relations”, believed that public manipulation was not only moral, but a necessity. He argued that “a small, invisible government who understands the mental processes and social patterns of the masses, rules public opinion by consent.” This is necessary for the division of labor and to prevent chaos and confusion. “The voice of the people expresses the mind of the people, and that mind is made up for it by the group leaders in whom it believes and by those persons who understand the manipulation of public opinion”, wrote Bernays.[12]

Others argue that some techniques are not inherently evil, but instead are philosophically neutral vehicles. Lifelong political activist and former Ronald Reagan White House staffer Morton C. Blackwell explained in a speech titled, “People, Parties, and Power”:“Being right in the sense of being correct is not sufficient to win. Political technology determines political success. Learn how to organize and how to communicate. Most political technology is philosophically neutral. You owe it to your philosophy to study how to win.[13]   ”

In brief, manipulators with different ideologies can employ successfully the same techniques to achieve ends that may be good or bad. Crowd manipulation techniques offers individuals and groups a philosophically neutral means to maximize the effect of their messages.

In order to manipulate a crowd, one should first understand what is meant by a crowd, as well as the principles that govern its behavior.
Crowds and their behavior

The word “crowd”, according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, refers to both “a large number of persons especially when collected together” (as in a crowded shopping mall) and “a group of people having something in common [as in a habit, interest, or occupation].”[14] Philosopher G.A. Tawny defined a crowd as “a numerous collection of people who face a concrete situation together and are more or less aware of their bodily existence as a group. Their facing the situation together is due to common interests and the existence of common circumstances which give a single direction to their thoughts and actions.” Tawney discussed in his work “The Nature of Crowds” two main types of crowds:“Crowds may be classified according to the degree of definiteness and constancy of this consciousness. When it is very definite and constant the crowd may be called homogeneous, and when not so definite and constant, heterogeneous. All mobs belong to the homogeneous class, but not all homogeneous crowds are mobs. … Whether a given crowd belong to the one group or the other may be a debatable question, and the same crowd may imperceptibly pass from one to the other.[15]”

In a 2001 study, the Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Studies at Pennsylvania State University defined a crowd more specifically as “a gathering of a multitude of individuals and small groups that have temporarily assembled. These small groups are usually comprised of friends, family members, or acquaintances.”

A crowd may display behavior that differs from the individuals who compose it. Several theories have emerged in the 19th century and early 20th century to explain this phenomenon. These collective works contribute to the “classic theory” of crowd psychology. In 1968, however, social scientist Dr. Carl Couch of the University of Liverpool refuted many of the stereotypes associated with crowd behavior as described by classic theory. His criticisms are supported widely in the psychology community but are still being incorporated as a “modern theory” into psychological texts.[16] A modern model, based on the “individualistic” concept of crowd behavior developed by Floyd Allport in 1924, is the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM).[17]

Classic theory

French philosopher and historian Hippolyte Taine provided in the wake of the Franco Prussian War of 1871 the first modern account of crowd psychology. Gustave Le Bon developed this framework in his 1895 book, Psychologie des Foules. He proposed that French crowds during the 19th century were essentially excitable, irrational mobs easily influenced by wrongdoers.[18] He postulated that the heterogeneous elements which make up this type of crowd essentially form a new being, a chemical reaction of sorts in which the crowd's properties change. He wrote:“Under certain given circumstances, and only under those circumstances, an agglomeration of men presents new characteristics very different from those of the individuals composing it. The sentiments and ideas of all the persons in the gathering take one and the same direction, and their conscious personality vanishes. A collective mind is formed, doubtless transitory, but presenting very clearly defined characteristics.”


Le Bon observed several characteristics of what he called the ”organized" or “psychological" crowd, including:

submergence or the disappearance of a conscious personality and the appearance of an unconscious personality (aka “mental unity”). This process is aided by sentiments of invincible power and anonymity which allow one to yield to instincts which he would have kept under restraint (i.e. Individuality is weakened and the unconscious "gains the upper hand");

contagion ("In a crowd every sentiment and act is contagious, and contagious to such a degree that an individual readily sacrifices his personal interest to the collective interest."); and

suggestibility as the result of a hypnotic state. "All feelings and thoughts are bent in the direction determined by the hypnotizer" and the crowd tends to turn these thoughts into acts.[11]

In sum, the classic theory contends that:

“[Crowds] are unified masses whose behaviors can be categorized as active, expressive, acquisitive or hostile.”

“[Crowd] participants [are] given to spontaneity, irrationality, loss of self-control, and a sense of anonymity.”[19]
Modern theory

Critics of the classic theory contend that it is seriously flawed in that it decontextualises crowd behavior, lacks sustainable empirical support, is biased, and ignores the influence of policing measures on the behavior of the crowd.[20]

In 1968, Dr. Carl J. Couch examined and refuted many classic-theory stereotypes in his article, “Collective Behavior: An Examination of Some Stereotypes.” Since then, other social scientists have validated much of his critique. Knowledge from these studies of crowd psychology indicate that:

"Crowds are not homogeneous entities” but are composed “of a minority of individuals and a majority of small groups of people who are acquainted with one another.”

"Crowd participants are [neither] unanimous in their motivation” nor to one another. Participants “seldom act in unison, and if they do, that action does not last long.”

"Crowds do not cripple individual cognition” and “are not uniquely distinguished by violence or disorderly actions.”

"Individual attitudes and personality characteristics”, as well as “socioeconomic, demographic and political variables are poor predictors of riot intensity and individual participation.”

According to the aforementioned 2001 study conducted by Penn State University’s Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies, crowds undergo a process that has a “beginning, middle, and ending phase.” Specifically:

The assembling process

This phase includes the temporary assembly of individuals for a specific amount of time. Evidence suggests that assembly occurs most frequently by means of an “organized mobilization method” but can also occur by “impromptu process” such as word of mouth by non-official organizers.

The temporary gathering

In this phase, individuals are assembled and participate in both individual and “collective actions.” Rarely do all individuals in a crowd participate, and those who do participate do so by choice. Participation furthermore appears to vary based on the type and purpose of the gathering, with religious services experiencing “greater participation” (i.e. 80-90%).

The dispersing process

In the final phase, the crowd’s participants disperse from a “common location” to “one or more alternate locations.”

A “riot” occurs when “one or more individuals within a gathering engage in violence against person or property.” According to U.S. and European research data from 1830 to 1930 and from the 1960 to the present, “less than 10 percent of protest demonstrations have involved violence against person or property”, with the “celebration riot” as the most frequent type of riot in the United States.[21]
Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM)

A modern model has also been developed by Steve Reicher, John Drury, and Dr Clifford Stott[22] which contrasts significantly from the “classic theory” of crowd behavior. According to Dr. Clifford Stott of the University of Liverpool:“The ESIM has at its basis the proposition that a component part of the self concept determining human social behaviour derives from psychological membership of particular social categories (i.e., an identity of a unique individual), crowd participants also have a range of social identities which can become salient within the psychological system referred to as the ‘self.’ Collective action becomes possible when a particular social identity is simultaneously salient and therefore shared among crowd participants.”

Stott’s final point differs from the “submergence” quality of crowds proposed by Le Bon, in which the individual’s consciousness gives way to the unconsciousness of the crowd. ESIM also considers the affect of policing on the behavior of the crowd. It warns that “the indiscriminate use of force would create a redefined sense of unity in the crowd in terms of the illegitimacy of and opposition to the actions of the police.” This could essentially draw the crowd into conflict despite the initial hesitancy of the individuals in the crowd.[23]
Planning and technique

Crowd manipulation involves several elements, including: context analysis, site selection, propaganda, authority, and delivery.
Context analysis

Soldiers of the California National Guard patrol the streets of Los Angeles in response to street rioting.

History suggests that the socioeconomic and political context and location influence dramatically the potential for crowd manipulation. Such time periods in America included:

Prelude to the American Revolution (1763–1775), when Britain imposed heavy taxes and various restrictions upon its thirteen North American colonies.;[24]

Roaring Twenties (1920–1929), when the advent of mass production made it possible for everyday citizens to purchase previously considered luxury items at affordable prices. Businesses that utilized assembly-line manufacturing were challenged to sell large numbers of identical products;[25]

The Great Depression (1929–1939), when a devastating stock market crash disrupted the American economy, caused widespread unemployment; and

The Cold War (1945–1989), when Americans faced the threat of nuclear war and participated in the Korean War, the greatly unpopular Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Internationally, time periods conducive to crowd manipulation included the Interwar Period (i.e. following the collapse of the Austria-Hungarian, Russian, Ottoman, and German empires) and Post-World War II (i.e. decolonization and collapse of the British, German, French, and Japanese empires).[26] The prelude to the collapse of the Soviet Union provided ample opportunity for messages of encouragement. The Solidarity Movement began in the 1970s thanks in part to courageous leaders like Lech Walesa and U.S. Information Agency programming.[27] In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan capitalized on the sentiments of the West Berliners as well as the freedom-starved East Berliners to demand that Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev “tear down” the Berlin Wall.[28] During the 2008 presidential elections, candidate Barack Obama capitalized on the sentiments of many American voters frustrated predominantly by the recent economic downturn and the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His simple messages of "Hope", "Change", and "Yes We Can" were adopted quickly and chanted by his supporters during his political rallies.[29]

Historical context and events may also encourage unruly behavior. Such examples include the:

1968 Columbia, SC Civil Rights Protest;

1992 London Poll Tax Protest; and

1992 1992 L.A. Riots (sparked by the acquittal of police officers involved in the assault of Rodney King).[30]

In order to capitalize fully upon historical context, it is essential to conduct a thorough audience analysis to understand the desires, fears, concerns, and biases of the target crowd. This may be done through scientific studies, focus groups, and polls.[25]

U.S. President Ronald Reagan giving a speech at the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Federal Republic of Germany. June 12, 1987.
Site selection

Where a crowd assembles also provides opportunities to manipulate thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Location, weather, lighting, sound, and even the shape of an arena all influence a crowd's willingness to participate.

Symbolic and tangible backdrops like the Brandenburg Gate, used by Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton in 1963, 1987, and 1994, respectively, can evoke emotions before the crowd manipulator opens his or her mouth to speak.[31][32] George W. Bush’s “Bullhorn Address” at Ground Zero following the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center is another example of how venue can amplify a message. In response to a rescue worker’s shout, “I can’t hear you”, President Bush shouted back, “I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” The crowd erupted in cheers and patriotic chants.[33]
Propaganda
 
Edward Bernays, "Father of Public Relations", c.1923.

The crowd manipulator and the propagandist may work together to achieve greater results than they would individually. According to Edward Bernays, the propagandist must prepare his target group to think about and anticipate a message before it is delivered. Messages themselves must be tested in advance since a message that is ineffective is worse than no message at all.[34] Social scientist Jacques Ellul called this sort of activity “pre-propaganda”, and it is essential if the main message is to be effective. Ellul wrote in Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes:“   Direct propaganda, aimed at modifying opinions and attitudes, must be preceded by propaganda that is sociological in character, slow, general, seeking to create a climate, an atmosphere of favorable preliminary attitudes. No direct propaganda can be effective without pre-propaganda, which, without direct or noticeable aggression, is limited to creating ambiguities, reducing prejudices, and spreading images, apparently without purpose. …

Sociological propaganda can be compared to plowing, direct propaganda to sowing; you cannot do the one without doing the other first.[35]”

Bernays expedited this process by identifying and contracting those who most influence public opinion (key experts, celebrities, existing supporters, interlacing groups, etc.).

After the mind of the crowd is plowed and the seeds of propaganda are sown, a crowd manipulator may prepare to harvest his crop.[34]
Authority

The manipulator may be an orator, a group, a musician, an athlete, or some other person who moves a crowd to the point of agreement before he makes a specific call to action. Aristotle believed that the ethos, or credibility, of the manipulator contributes to his persuasiveness.

Prestige is a form of “domination exercised on our mind by an individual, a work, or an idea.” The manipulator with great prestige paralyses the critical faculty of his crowd and commands respect and awe. Authority flows from prestige, which can be generated by “acquired prestige” (e.g. job title, uniform, judge’s robe) and “personal prestige” (i.e. inner strength). Personal prestige is like that of the “tamer of a wild beast” who could easily devour him. Success is the most important factor affecting personal prestige. Le Bon wrote, “From the minute prestige is called into question, it ceases to be prestige.” Thus, it would behoove the manipulator to prevent this discussion and to maintain a distance from the crowd lest his faults undermine his prestige.[36]
Delivery

The manipulator’s ability to sway a crowd depends especially on his visual, vocal, and verbal delivery. Below is advice from two famous statesmen, Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler, who made personal commitments to become master rhetoricians.
 
Winston Churchill in Durban in the British Cape Colony in 1899. Delivering a speech after escaping from a South African prisoners' of war camp.

At 22, Winston Churchill documented his conclusions about speaking to crowds. He titled it “The Scaffolding of Rhetoric” and it outlined what he believed to be the essentials of any effective speech. Among these essentials are:

“Correctness of diction”, or proper word choice to convey the exact meaning of the orator;

“Rhythm”, or a speech’s sound appeal through “long, rolling and sonorous” sentences;

“Accumulation of argument”, or the orator’s “rapid succession of waves of sound and vivid pictures” to bring the crowd to a thundering ascent;

“Analogy”, or the linking of the unknown to the familiar; and

“Wild extravagance”, or the use of expressions, however extreme, which embody the feelings of the orator and his audience.[37]

Still frames of Adolf Hitler during a speech show his use of emotion and body language to convey his message.

Adolf Hitler believed he could apply the lessons of propaganda he learned painfully from the Allies during World War I and apply those lessons to benefit Germany thereafter. The following points offer helpful insight into his thinking behind his on-stage performances:

Appeal to the masses: “[Propaganda] must be addressed always and exclusively to the masses”, rather than the “scientifically trained intelligentsia.”

Target the emotions: “[Propaganda] must be aimed at the emotions and only to a very limited degree at the so-called intellect.”

Keep your message simple: “It is a mistake to make propaganda many-sided…The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous.”

Prepare your audience for the worst-case scenario: “[Prepare] the individual soldier for the terrors of war, and thus [help] to preserve him from disappointments. After this, the most terrible weapon that was used against him seemed only to confirm what his propagandists had told him; it likewise reinforced his faith in the truth of his government's assertions, while on the other hand it increased his rage and hatred against the vile enemy.”

Make no half statements: “…emphasize the one right which it has set out to argue for. Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth, in so far as it favors the enemy, and then set it before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly.”

Repeat your message constantly: “[Propagandist technique] must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.”[38][39] (Le Bon believed that messages that are affirmed and repeated are often perceived as truth and spread by means of contagion. “Man, like animals, has a natural tendency to imitation. Imitation is a necessity for him, provided always that the imitation is quite easy”, wrote Le Bon.[40] In his 1881 essay “L’Homme et Societes”, he wrote “It is by examples not by arguments that crowds are guided.” He stressed that in order to influence, one must not be too far removed his audience nor his example unattainable by them. If it is, his influence will be nil.[41]
Applications
Politics

The political process provides ample opportunity to utilize crowd-manipulation techniques to foster support for candidates and policy. From campaign rallies to town-hall debates to declarations of war, statesmen have historically used crowd manipulation to convey their messages. Public opinion polls, such as those conducted by the Pew Research Center and www.RealClearPolitics.com provide statesmen and aspiring statesmen with approval ratings, and wedge issues.
Business

Ever since the advent of mass production, businesses and corporations have used crowd manipulation to sell their products. Advertising serves as propaganda to prepare a future crowd to absorb and accept a particular message. Edward Bernays believed that particular advertisements are more effective if they create an environment which encourages the purchase of certain products. Instead of marketing the features of a piano, sell prospective customers the idea of a music room.[42]

The entertainment industry makes exceptional use of crowd manipulation to excite fans and boost ticket sales. Not only does it promote assembly through the mass media, it also uses rhetorical techniques to engage crowds, thereby enhancing their experience. At Penn State University-University Park, for example, PSU Athletics uses the Nittany Lion mascot to ignite crowds of more than 100,000 students, alumni, and other visitors to Beaver Stadium. Among the techniques used are cues for one side of the stadium to chant "We are..." while the other side responds, "Penn State!" These and other chants make Beaver Stadium a formidable venue for visiting teams who struggle to call their plays because of the noise.[43] World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) employs crowd manipulation techniques to excite its crowds as well. It makes particular use of the polarizing personalities and prestige of its wrestlers to draw out the emotions of its audiences. The practice is similar to that of the ancient Roman gladiators, whose lives depended upon their ability to not only fight but also to win crowds.[44] High levels of enthusiasm are maintained using lights, sounds, images, and crowd participation. According to Hulk Hogan in his autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring, “You didn’t have to be a great wrestler, you just had to draw the crowd into the match. You had to be totally aware, and really in the moment, and paying attention to the mood of the crowd.”[45]
Flash mobs

A flash mob is a spontaneous gathering of individuals, usually organized in advance through electronic means, that performs a specific, usually peculiar action and then disperses. These actions are often bizarre or comical—as in a massive pillow fight, ad-hoc musical, or synchronized dance. Bystanders are usually left in awe and/or shock.

The concept of a flash mob is relatively new when compared to traditional forms of crowd manipulation. Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine, is credited with the concept. He organized his first flash mob in a Macy’s department store in 2003.[46] The use of flash mobs as a tool of political warfare may take the form of a massive walkout during a political speech, the disruption of political rally, or even as a means to reorganize a crowd after it has been dispersed by crowd control. A first glance, a flash mob may appear to be the spontaneous undoing of crowd manipulation (i.e. the turning of a crowd against its manipulator). On September 8, 2009, for example, choreographer Michael Gracey organized—with the help of T-Mobile cell phones and approximately twenty instructors—a 20,000+-person flash mob to surprise Oprah Winfrey during her 24th Season Kick-Off event. Following Oprah's introduction, the Black-Eyed Peas performed their musical hit "I Gotta Feeling". As the song progressed, the synchronized dance began with a single, female dancer up front and spread from person to person until the entire crowd became involved. A surprised and elated Oprah found that there was another crowd manipulator besides her and her musical guests at work. [1] Gracey and others have been able to organize and manipulate such large crowds with the help of electronic devices and social networks.[47] But one does not need to be a professional choreographer to conduct such an operation. On February 13, 2009, for example, a 22-year-old Facebook user organized a flash mob which temporarily shut down London’s Liverpool Street station.[48]
See also
Brainwashing
Collective behavior
Collective narcissism
Deception
Emotional contagion
Focus group
Group emotion
Group think
Oratory
Persuasion
Political warfare
Public diplomacy
Psychological manipulation
Psychological warfare
Social influence
References
^ Adam Curtis, "The Century of the Self" (documentary), British Broadcasting Cooperation (United Kingdom: BBC4, 2002). [BBC published a webpage for this documentary, which is available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/century_of_the_self.shtml].
^ Edward L. Bernays and Mark Crispin Miller, Propaganda (Brooklyn, NY: Ig Publishing, 2004): 52.
^ Jacques Ellul, Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965): 15.
^ Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, Kindle Edition, Book I, Chapter 1 (Ego Books, 2008).
^ John M. Kenny, Clark McPhail, et al, "Crowd Behavior, Crowd Control, and the Use of Non-Lethal Weapons”, The Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies, The Pennsylvania State University (2001): 4-11.
^ J. Michael Waller, “The American Way of Propaganda”, White Paper No. 1, Version 2.4, The Institute of World Politics (2006): 4. [an electronic copy of this article is available online at: http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/pmt/exhibits/2621/AmericanWayofPropaganda2.4.pdf
^ Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, (Cambridge, MA: PublicAffairs, 2005): ix.
^ Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric, translated with an introduction by H.C. Lawson-Tencred (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2004): 1-13.
^ Cheryl Glean, Rhetoric Retold: Regendering the Tradition from Antiquity through the Reniassance (Illinois: SIU Press, 1997): 33, 60.
^ ”manipulate” in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (2010), Retrieved March 24, 2010, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manipulate.
^ a b Le Bon, Book I, Chapter 1.
^ Bernays, 109.
^ Morton C. Blackwell, “People, Parties, and Power”, Adapted from a speech to the Council for National Policy on February 10, 1990. [Available on the Leadership Institute website: http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/resources/files/People_Parties_&_Power.pdf]
^ ”crowd” in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (2010) Retrieved March 24, 2010, from http://www.merriam webster.com/dictionary/crowd.
^ G. A. Tawney, “The Nature of Crowds”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 2(10) (October 15, 1905): 332.
^ Kenny, et al., 13.
^ John Drury, Paul Hutchinson, and Clifford Stout, “‘Hooligans abroad? Inter-Group Dynamics, Social Identity and Participation in Collective ‘Disorder’ at the 1998 World Cup Finals”, British Journal of Social Psychology, 40 (Great Britain: The British Psychological Society, 2001): 359-360.
^ Clifford Stott, “Crowd Psychology & Public Order Policing: An Overview of Scientific Theory and Evidence”, Liverpool School of Psychology, University of Liverpool (2009): 4. An electronic version is available online at: http://www.liv.ac.uk/psychology/staff/CStott/HMIC%20Report%20Crowd%20Psychology%20-%20Final%20Submission%20Draft%20(14-9).pdf.
^ Kenny, et al., 12.
^ Stott, 12.
^ Kenny, 12-20.
^ Drury, J., Reicher, S. & Stott, C. (2003) Transforming the boundaries of collective identity: From the ‘local’ anti-road campaign to ‘global’ resistance? Social Movement Studies, 2, 191-212
^ Stott.
^ Waller, 1-4.
^ a b Curtis.
^ Paul Johnson, Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Nineties (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. , 2001): 11-44; 231-2; 435, 489, 495-543, 582, 614, 632, 685, 757, 768.
^ Wilson P. Dizard, Jr., Inventing Public Diplomacy: The Story of the U.S. Information Agency (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004): 204.
^ Smith-Davies Publishing, Speeches that Changed the World (London: Smith-Davies Publishing Ltd, 2005): 197-201.
^ David E. Campbell, “Public Opinion and the 2008 Presidential Election” in Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier and Steven E. Schier, The American Elections of 2008 (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009): 99-116.
^ Kenny, et al.
^ John Poreba, "Speeches at the Brandenburg Gate: Public Diplomacy Through Political Oratory," StrategicDefense.net, 2010. http://www.strategicdefense.net/brandenburg-gate.html
^ Melissa Eddy, “Obama to speak near Berlin's Brandenburg Gate” Associated Press, July 20, 2008.
^ American Rhetoric, “George W. Bush, Bullhorn Address to Ground Zero Rescue Workers”, American Rhetoric, http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911groundzerobullhorn.htm.
^ a b Bernays, 52.
^ Ellul, 15.
^ Le Bon, Book II, Chapter 3.
^ Winston S. Churchill, “The Scaffolding of Rhetoric”, in Randolph S. Churchill, Companion Volume 1, pt. 2, to Youth: 1874-1900, vol. 1 of the Official Biography of Winston Spencer Churchill (London: Heinmann, 1967): 816-21.
^ Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, trans. Ralph Manheim (Mariner Books, 1998): 176-186.
^ John Poreba, "Tongue of Fury, Tongue of Fire: Oratory in the Rise of Hitler and Churchill," StrategicDefense.net, 2010, http://www.strategicdefense.net/oratory-churchill-hitler.html.
^ Le Bon, Book II, Chapter 4.
^ Gustave Le Bon, “L’Homme et Societes”, vol. II. (1881): 116.”
^ Bernays, 19-20.
^ J. Douglas Toma, Football U.: Spectator Sports in the Life of the American University (University of Michigan Press, 2003): 51-2.
^ Rachael Hanel, Gladiators (Mankato, MN: The Creative Company, 2007): 24.
^ Hulk Hogan and Mark Dagostino, My Life Outside the Ring (New York, NY: Macmillan, 2009): 119-120.
^ Anjali Athavaley, "Students Unleash A Pillow Fight On Manhattan", Wall Street Journal (April 15, 2008)
^ "Oprah's Kickoff Party Flash Mob Dance", Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/11/oprahs-kickoff-party-flas_n_283298.html, September 11, 2009.
^ "Facebook flashmob shuts down station", www.CNN.com, http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/09/uk.station.flashmob/index.html, February 19, 2009.
Recommended reading
Alinsky, Saul. Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals. Vintage Books, 1989.
Bernays, Edward L., and Mark Crispin Miller. Propaganda. Brooklyn, NY: Ig Publishing, 2004.
Curtis, Adam. "The Century of the Self" (documentary). British Broadcasting Cooperation, UK, 2002.
Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. New York, NY: Random House, Inc., Vintage Books, 1973.
Humes, James C. The Sir Winston Method: The Five Secrets of Speaking the Language of Leadership. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991.
Johnson, Paul. Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Nineties. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. , 2001.
Lasswell, Harold. Propaganda Technique in World War I. Cambridge, MA: The M.I.T. Press, 1971.
Smith, Jr., Paul A. On Political War. Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 1989.

[Jordan]

Jordan - that looks photoshopped to me.
What's the source link?

I'm not an expert in PS but I don't see any splicing or sides that don't fit in PS when I enlarge it like with the BP oil photos. Maybe there is an expert here that can? That photo isn't from OWS so I doubt it's soros. Could be fabricated but I don't know. I'll ask the author /OP.

[Jordan]

His original comment: "I'd just like to point out that this happened in Brazil." Much todo about nothing.

[Satyagraha]

Thanks to Brocke for digging into this...

From Brocke:

The image does not look photoshopped in the area of the officers hand holding the mace. There is a strange optical illusion or visual anomaly where the combination of the direction that the officer is looking and the direction the mace can is pointed are not in common as well as the fact that the actual spray jet from the can is at a strange angle down from the perpendicular of the can. These three things together trigger an automatic recognition response that there is something not quite right with the image. Humans are really good at recognizing trajectories and distances and when they don't look right. I think it is just a strange angle and circumstance that presents a image that looks slightly wrong. My impression is that the officer casually walked by and sprayed the child over his shoulder (dick) just to be spiteful.

It would be helpful if there was a source and reference to go with it.

With the info that the pic was from Brazil, Brocke responded with this info:

Ahh, the Brazil clue helped.

During a protest in the metropolitan area of Rio De Janeiro police officer Bruno Schorcht pepper sprayed innocent protesters and even women and children! It was caught on photos and camera so the evidence is clear enough. He was spraying the pepper spray directly into the eyes of waiter Rezende Gustavo Barreto that now has to use sunglasses even at night because it’s so inflamed and damaged. The police officer got departed immediately by the general commander of the Military Police, Colonel Mario Sergio Duarte.

The protest was about hundreds of people that lost their homes during the rain period last year in Niteroi, that refused to pay the rent and failed to receive the benefit of $400 which led to a big demonstration.







http://www.policebrutality.info/2011/04/police-officer-pepper-spray-women-and-children.html

So that sonofabitch was a predator; spraying people randomly with pepper spray.

[Jordan]

Video:


As hundreds of "Occupy Wall Street" protesters marched to the Manhattan District Attorney's office on Tuesday to demand prosecution of alleged police brutality against demonstrators, a police officer who was seen on video using pepper spray on a protester last month was found to have violated city guidelines.

Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, seen above, was seen using pepper spray on a crowd during a demonstration on September 24.

An NYPD investigation has found that Bologna violated the department's rules on pepper spray use, and he will lose 10 paid vacation days.

Bologna can challenge the ruling, according to sources, and can have an administrative trial.

President Roy Richter of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association said in a statement on Tuesday, "Deputy Inspector Bologna is disappointed at the results of the Department investigation. His actions prevented further injury and escalation of tumultuous conduct. To date, this conduct has not been portrayed in its true context."

Ron Kuby, the lawyer for the woman who was sprayed, said the punishment did not go far enough.

“He needs a lot of vacation. He needs to go to a place very quiet, far away, for a very long time," Kuby said. "He's supposed to be there in an advisory capacity, to ensure that the young patrol officers aren't doing what in fact the deputy inspectors are doing."

Another video shows that during a Friday demonstration, a ranking police officer punched a protester in the face.

Police said the protester tried to elbow the officer in the face and someone sprayed an unknown substance, hitting the officer on the head.

Police Officer Who Used Pepper Spray On Protesters To Lose 10 Vacation Days
Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested over the past month, and protesters marching to the office of Manhattan district attorney on Tuesday wanted a change in the New York City Police Department's policies.

"We would like the NYPD to be investigated for all the attacks that have been happening during this occupation," said one marcher.

"End police brutality and recognize other people who are suffering a lot and not to punish them for that," said another.

The district attorney offered no comment on the alleged incidents on Tuesday but said his office will examine each arrest case separately.

"We take every case that comes to our office individually and look at it as an individual matter," said Vane. "We've received about 500 arrests from the NYPD to date, roughly speaking. And each of those cases will receive that review process."

No arrests took place during the march on Vance's office.

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/149156/police-officer-who-used-pepper-spray-on-protesters-to-lose-10-vacation-days

[Jordan]

The 21 MP-5 submachine guns and a dozen Colt 45 automatic pistols were taken from a locked container inside the Kennedy Building on San Pedro Street, police officials said.

The location — which formerly housed clothing firms before it was donated to the LAPD several years ago — is considered a secure site, Deputy Chief Michael Downing told the Associated Press.


While the weapons had been modified to fire training ammunition, the concern is that they could easily be converted back to fire live rounds.

“These guns can’t be used with regular ammunition unless they’re significantly modified back,” said LAPD Commander Andy Smith.

With the proper fittings, the MP-5  can fire live ammo at 600 rounds minute — potentially putting heavy firepower into criminal hands.

A second administrative investigation is also underway as to why the weapons were stored in a location with no alarms or security cameras.

“We always do an internal investigation whenever anything like this occurs, and we’ll have our investigators look at it from top to bottom,” said Smith.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/10/17/submachine-guns-pistols-stolen-from-lapd-swat-training-site/

[Jordan]

As the number of OWS arrests nears 1,000, instances of police brutality continue to pile up. Now all of America is seeing the result of police militarization.
As the number of Occupy Wall Street arrests nears 1,000, instances of police brutality continue to pile up. Felix Rivera-Pitre was punched in the face in New York during a march through the city’s financial district; Ryan Hadar was dragged out of the street by his thumbs at Occupy San Francisco; and at Occupy Boston, members of Veterans for Peace were shoved to the ground and dragged away for chanting and peacefully occupying a local park.

These efforts to intimidate the protesters are symptoms of three decades of policies that have militarized civilian law enforcement. Sgt. Shamar Thomas, a U.S. marine at the Occupy Wall Street protests, was so appalled by the behavior of the NYPD that he loudly confronted a group of 30 officers, shouting at them:

    "This is not a war zone. These are unarmed people. It does not make you tough to hurt these people. If you want to go fight, go to Iraq or Afghanistan. Stop hurting these people, man, why y’all doing this to our people? Why are y’all gearing up like this is war? There are no bullets flying out here."

Police repression in America is hardly new. Low-income neighborhoods, communities of color and political activists have always had to deal with unneccassary shows of force by some police officers. Thanks to a populist uprising threatening a status quo that benefits the top tier of American society to the detriment of the bottom 99 percent, many Americans for the first time are witnessing the U.S. police state in action.

As Occupation Spreads, So Does the Police State

A clear pattern has emerged in the response to occupations throughout the country, from San Francisco to Denver, involving midnight raids by heavily armed paramilitary units of riot police deployed to enforce park curfews.

Protesters at Occupy San Francisco are familiar with the routine. They have endured multiple late-night police raids on their encampment in Justin Herman Plaza, the most brutal of which took place Sunday, Oct. 16. Minutes before midnight and with the approval of Mayor Ed Lee (who is currently running for reelection and claims to be supportive of the movement's overall message), 70 police officers decked out in full riot gear marched into the encampment to enforce a 10pm curfew. They dismantled tents, tarps, the medical station and the kitchen, along with some personal belongings, all of which were loaded onto Department of Public Works trucks.

Some 200 protesters resisted peacefully, locking arms to prevent the police invasion, which was met with a frighteningly violent response. According to the San Francisco Bay Guardian, one protester received a lengthy beat-down for duct-taping his body to a pole inside the camp. The police allegedly "ripped him off the pole, threw him to the ground and struck him in the head and ribs. When he left by ambulance a few hours later, he appeared to be convulsing or seizing," reported the Bay Guardian.

Protesters using their bodies to block the DPW trucks from leaving were dragged out of the street, some by their fingers and thumbs. Those who locked arms to form a human chain were pulled apart and thrown onto the sidewalk. 

Ryan Hadar, 19, described his experience to the Guardian: “They bent back my thumbs, trying to pry me away from the people I was locking arms with. When I asked if they were trying to break my thumbs [one officer] replied, ‘Only if I have to.’ Then they dragged me to the sidewalk by my index finger. I asked if they were trying to break my finger, and this time they replied, ‘Yes.’"

After destroying the campsite, sending one activist to the hospital and arresting at least five protesters, the police departed from the scene around 1:40am.

Days earlier, an eerily similar situation unfolded at Occupy Denver. Just as Zuccotti Park was celebrating victory over Mayor Bloomberg's failed eviction attempt last Friday, Denver's occupation of Lincoln Park was being dismantled at the request of Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. With the combined efforts of the Colorado State Patrol and Denver Police, two dozen protesters were arrested and charged with unlawful conduct on public land.

Two weeks ago, protesters at Occupy Boston in Dewey Park faced police suppression in a late-night raid that led to 129 arrests and multiple injuries involving several members of Veterans for Peace. According to the Associated Press, nine protesters occupying Sacramento's Cesar Chavez Park were arrested late Wednesday night for failing to leave the park after closing, bringing the total of Occupy Sacramento arrests to 67.

The authorities justify these late-night raids as necessary to enforce park curfews. Yet, even during the day, the mere presence of heavily armed riot police inevitably results in some police action that baffles the mind. For example, Debra Lynn Peardon was arrested for opening her umbrella while seated, a violation of a new city ban on the use of umbrellas as makeshift structures regardless of the weather.

Peaceful Arrests In Chicago

With the blessing of Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Police Department arrested 175 protesters last weekend for refusing to leave Grant Park, the site of Occupy Chicago, citing a violation of the park's curfew. As reported by Joe Macaré of In These Times, protesters showered praise on the Chicago Police Department for showing restraint by arresting them "One by one, and by all accounts as peacefully as possible," in stark contrast to the violent arrests experienced at other occupations.

But the jailing of peaceful protesters is wrong, even when carried out free of beatings and pepper spray. This was epitomized by the arrest of Princeton University professor and civil rights activist Cornel West on the steps outside the Supreme Court, where it is illegal to hold a political sign. A ban on political protest outside the halls of the highest court in the country is an ironic symbol of how little regard is given to the First Amendment of the constitution.

Inevitable Outcomes of Militarized Law Enforcement

Occupy Wall Street has revealed to the country and the world an American police state apparatus that rivals most standing armies in both weaponry and magnitude. 

Nowhere is this more clear than in New York City, where a perimeter of metal barricades surrounds and even follows protesters from Zuccotti Square on their daily marches. Nick Turse recently documented the extent of the NYPD's mini-police state for AlterNet:

    I counted seven squad cars, two full-size police vans, one police minivan and one, to lapse into political incorrectness, “paddy wagon.”

    Later in the morning, the total count had increased to 16 police vehicles, in addition to a number of unmarked cars, most of which proved to belong to police officers, too.

    Across Broadway and up Liberty Street, the security forces maintained a reserve contingent of 11 police cars, five police vans, and one paddy wagon from precincts all over the city: the 1st, 5th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 20th, 83rd, 94th (Brooklyn!), as well as the Fleet Services Division which oversees the NYPD’s inventory of cars.

This level of overwhelming police presence, along with the disproportionate and combative force directed at peaceful, unarmed protesters, alarms Americans previously unaware of the increasingly militaristic nature of American law enforcement.

http://www.alternet.org/story/152812/why_are_police_attacking_peaceful_protesters_how_ows_has_exposed_the_militarization_of_us_law_enforcement

[Jordan]

Newton Police Chief Matthew Cummings will head to Israel on Saturday to take part in a 10-day antiterrorism training program in a trip led and paid for by the Anti-Defamation League.

Cummings will travel with several other senior high ranking law enforcement and public safety officials from Massachusetts and the northeast region to different sites in Israel where terrorist attacks have occurred.

“We will talk to the people that have dealt with it, the police captains, the generals that have handled it,” said Cummings.

Other officials on the trip include Paul Fitzgerald, superintendent of the Boston Police Department; Steven Carl, chief of the Framingham Police Department; Richard McLaughlin, chief of the Belmont Police Department; and Edward Amodeo, major for the Massachusetts State Police.

Officials are participating from departments in New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York. A public safety representative from Massachusetts General Hospital, the FBI, the Eastern States Civil Rights Council and the Italian National Police will also take part.

The program will teach the attendees what to look for when spotting a terrorist attack, how to clear up the attack, and how to prevent it from happening again. “Hopefully we will pick something up from the pros who deal with this all the time,” Cummings said.

Cummings does not feel Newton is a potential target for a terrorist attack, but feels the city’s threat is more homegrown, such as the recent suspected terrorist Rezwan Ferdaus of Ashland.

“The homegrown terrorists are the people we have to worry about, not Al Qaeda themselves coming over and trying to take a plane over and do something crazy.”

Learning the training is something Cummings feels is very helpful for the city and can benefit the department. “In the age that we live in, it is always helpful to know this,” he said. “We have a community that worries about this type of thing. We just want to be ready when we have to be.”

Cummings said Newton police does or has done security plans for high profile events such as the Boston Marathon and the Democratic National Convention. “We have to plan for serious incidents even though they don’t happen,” he said. “But when you are doing something in you’re community that the world is looking at, like the Marathon, we want to be ready.”

This is the first time Cummings has traveled to Israel. The northeast regional trip to Israel has occurred nearly once a year for the past several years, said Derrek Shulman, head of the Northeast Region of the Anti-Defamation League.

Shulman said the trip is being funded by money from private donors.

Aaron Goldman, Newton's citizen assistance officer, said the city is not paying for any part of the trip.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/newton/2011/10/newton_police_chief_heads_to_i.html?comments=all

[Jordan]

On the night of October 20, 2010, Angel Enrique and Jesus Antonio were in bed in their small, two-bedroom apartment in the Clairmont complex in Nashville. The doors and windows were all shut and locked. Suddenly there was a loud banging at the door and voices shouting "Police!" and "Policia!" When no one answered, the agents tried to force the door open. Scared, Jesus hid in a closet. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began hitting objects against the bedroom windows, trying to break in. Without a search warrant and without consent, the ICE agents eventually knocked in the front door and shattered a window, shouting racial slurs and storming into the bedrooms, holding guns to their heads. When asked if they had a warrant, one agent reportedly said, "We don't need a warrant, we're ICE," and, gesturing to his genitals, "the warrant is coming out of my balls."The Fourth Amendment strictly prohibits warrantless intrusions into private homes and the Constitution's protections apply to both citizens and non-citizens alike. In the absence of a judicially authorized warrant, there must be voluntary and knowing consent; ICE officers forcing themselves into someone's home does not constitute consent.

The ACLU and ACLU of Tennessee this week filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of fifteen residents of the apartment complex who were subjected to this large-scale, warrantless raid by ICE agents and Metro Nashville police officers.

Among the plaintiffs are U.S. citizens, including a child detained and interrogated while playing soccer on the playground simply because of the color of his skin. Looking Latino and speaking Spanish is not enough to justify probable cause for questioning and arresting a person. Another plaintiff was carted away in handcuffs in front of his frightened and crying children.

Unfortunately, the Clairmont raid is not an isolated incident. As the Department of Homeland Security and its enforcement arm, ICE, expand their aggressive immigration enforcement policies, all too often the constitutional rights afforded to everyone living in the United States are violated. Even as ICE carries out its mission, it must act in accordance with the law and in a manner that is humane.

http://www.aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/we-dont-need-warrant-were-ice

[Jordan]

Witnesses Say Santa Barbara Police Officer Used ‘Excessive Force’ During Traffic Stop

Bystanders watch alleged beating, Tasering in Gelson's parking lot; SBPD vows investigation of incident


Ellen and John Hunter were walking home from dinner at Harry’s Plaza Café on Friday night when they witnessed a Santa Barbara police officer use what they described Saturday as excessive use of force during a traffic stop in the Loreto Plaza parking lot. (Valorie Smith / Noozhawk photo)

Curiosity about a police traffic stop in the parking lot of Loreto Plaza on Friday night turned to horror for bystanders who watched as a Santa Barbara police officer allegedly beat and Tasered the motorist involved.

A police spokesman told Noozhawk on Saturday that the incident would be reviewed.

According to several witnesses with whom Noozhawk spoke Saturday, the incident occurred about 9:40 p.m. Friday in the parking lot in front of Gelson’s Market, 3305 State St.

Ellen and John Hunter had just finished dinner at Harry’s Plaza Café and were walking back to their nearby San Roque home when they saw a police car, its lights flashing, follow a truck into the lot from Las Positas Road.

Suspecting that the stop might be for a DUI, the couple paused about 30 feet away and watched as the driver slowly stepped out of his vehicle. Ellen Hunter said the officer called to the man to get back into the truck, but the driver, who she said was “possibly intoxicated,” didn’t appear to understand.

As the driver moved back toward his vehicle, she said the officer ordered him to get down on the ground.

“The driver began to get down slowly, as he was clearly not sure what was going on,” she said.

When the officer yelled again, the man was already on his hands and knees on the pavement.

“Out of nowhere, the officer began to punch the driver in the head several times with his fist and pushed him down flat to the ground,” said Hunter, who added that the officer continued to yell at the man to “stop resisting arrest.”

Another witness, Jeff Restivo, said the driver repeatedly yelled, “I’m not resisting! Why are you hitting me?” and kept asking the police officer what he wanted him to do.

Restivo said the officer punched the man “two or three times” in the kidney area and then stood over him and “punched him four or five times in the face — hard.” He said witnesses could hear the blows clearly from about 20 feet away.

Then, the witnesses told Noozhawk, the officer took out his Taser and zapped the man in the back.

“The guy tried to scoot away and the cop kept Tasering him,” said Restivo, who was heading into Harry’s with his wife when the incident occurred.

Restivo and the Hunters said about a dozen people had gathered near the scene and were pleading with the officer to stop striking and Tasering the man, who they said was not resisting the officer and was neither aggressive nor belligerent.

“What are you doing?! He’s not doing anything!” they said they yelled, but they added that the officer just kept repeating his command to “Stop resisting.”

By that point, they said, the man was crying out for help from bystanders, who had moved to within about 10 feet of the pair.

“Please help me, please help me,” he called out to them.

Ellen Hunter called 9-1-1 and, moments later, additional police cars arrived on the scene. A second officer helped handcuff the driver, whom the witnesses described as a white man who looked to be in his 30s.

Ellen Hunter said another police officer took witness statements but appeared to be challenging their accounts.

“He said the incident probably wasn’t a minute and a half like we said, and probably not 15 punches or as many Tases as we said,” said Hunter, who along with Restivo stood by their accounts that the man was Tasered at least 10 times.

They said officers did not respond to requests for information on what the man was alleged to have done. Ellen Hunter said she and her husband regretted not having the presence of mind to videotape the incident but she said they could not believe what they were observing.

Police Lt. James Pfleging, who was the incident commander Friday evening, spoke with Noozhawk on Saturday afternoon. Pfleging left the office around 9 p.m. Friday, before the incident occurred, and said he was unaware of what happened. He said he had not yet read the incident report or talked with the officers involved. The primary officer’s identity was not disclosed.

After reviewing the accounts from Noozhawk witnesses, Pfleging said he needed to talk with the command staff about the accusations to determine how to proceed.

“It’s something we take very seriously,” he said. “We would never want something like this to happen with one of our officers.”

On Saturday, the Hunters said they remained shaken by what they saw and “sick to their stomach about it.”

“This was excessive force right in front of our eyes in Santa Barbara,” Ellen Hunter said. “There was no way we were going to walk away and act like we didn’t see it.

“Officers like this make it hard for the majority of the other officers to do their jobs. This is wrong.”

Restivo agreed.

“Everyone who witnessed it said it was just brutal,” he said. “I’ve been involved in martial arts and it was hard to watch. At worst, maybe the guy was not listening very well, but the officer’s response seemed to be way out of control.”

No other details of the incident were available from police Saturday. Pfleging encouraged anyone with more information to contact him at 805.897.2300.

http://www.noozhawk.com/article/102311_santa_barbara_police_incident/

[Jordan]

Suspected drunken drivers who refuse a breath test in Bexar County are now subject to a mandatory blood draw every day of the year under a dramatic expansion of a “no refusal” policy that had been limited to weekends, officials announced.

“I think we're making history today,” District Attorney Susan Reed said at a news conference Monday. “We are now the largest metro area in Texas to have an absolute no-refusal policy.”

A $1.4 million grant from the Texas Department of Transportation will bolster enforcement efforts by the San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, but officers from virtually all local law enforcement agencies will be able to get warrants and have blood tested for driving-while-intoxicated cases.

Officials credited the weekend policy for a sharp drop in the number of intoxication manslaughter cases so far this year. In both 2009 and 2010, the period from January through September saw 13 such cases filed. This year, the number dropped to six.

Jennifer Northway, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving-South Texas, said the reduction shows what can be accomplished when agencies work together.

“I look forward to coming back in 2012 and saying that we are fatality-free,” she said.

Reed said the TxDOT grant will cover the policy's expenses for a year and that she hoped the city and county would incorporate money in future budgets to continue it.

Police Chief William McManus said, “It sends a strong message to everyone out there that if you come to Bexar County, you're not going to get off on a technicality.”

Reed began the policy on Memorial Day weekend in 2008, continued it on major holiday weekends and secured law enforcement's cooperation to expand it in January to cover all weekends from 5 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday.

The bulk of the grant will go to the SAPD and the Sheriff's Office, which received $556,482 and $524,837 respectively, for their DWI selective traffic enforcement programs.

The money to pay for blood testing services handled by the Bexar County medical examiner's office will come from $180,000 received by the district attorney's office.

The MADD affiliate will get $150,000 to run its Take the Wheel educational program.

Both the SAPD and the Sheriff's Office will use the money to pay patrol officers overtime to look for suspects.

The sheriff's portion of the money will also target speeding, which typically goes hand in hand with drunken driving, “and that's double trouble,” Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz said.

Officers made 6,951 arrests for DWI in 2010 in Bexar County and have made 5,024 so far this year, according to statistics from the district attorney's office.

On weekends this year, officers have made full use of mandatory blood draws — blood samples were obtained in 1,989 cases this year, with more than half of them, 1,043, under warrants obtained with the no-refusal policy. The rest were already required by law or obtained with the suspect's consent.

Mandatory blood draws have been criticized by some defense lawyers and civil libertarians. Jamie Balagia, an attorney with a DWI defense practice here who has styled himself the “DWI Dude” in advertisements, said Monday that the policy was a “ridiculous trampling of our Constitution.”

Blood samples are already mandatory when someone is killed or in other circumstances, he said, so the extended policy impacts “boilerplate DWIs” with “no significant aggravating circumstances.”

“I don't drink, but I might drink an O'Doule's (a nonalcoholic brew) that smells like beer, so if I spill some on my shirt and my eyes are always red because I have allergies, and a policeman stops me because I have a defective license plate (and) I have a knee injury and I cannot pass agility tests ... that is enough to arrest me, take me to jail and take my blood with a warrant,” Balagia said.

“None of that is proof of intoxication. But the judge will rubber-stamp the warrant and take my blood because I did not give them evidence,” he said. “That is un-American.”

McManus and others have called drunken driving a major public safety problem here, and police have devoted attention to tracking its geography and deploying officers and new equipment to “hot spots” in the city.

But when such cases go to trial, there has been a 50 percent acquittal rate for defendants who refused breath tests and were not compelled to provide a blood sample, Reed said. She referred to a TV crime drama in calling it the result of a “CSI effect” on juries that want to see hard evidence.

“Fifty percent — that's a huge number. Our juries are going to know that we are bringing them the evidence,” Reed said.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/No-refusal-DWI-policy-expands-to-every-day-2233631.php