Please post all of the completely insane COPWATCH stories here

[charrington]

This should be government policy across the board.

Seems odd to have to say that doesn't it?

[charrington]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhclgMxDgZE

[charrington]

They always tell you not to believe what you clearly have seen.

That was not a full view of everything, police departments across the country say. You don't know the danger that existed out there.

It would be a joke by now if it did not work.

Denver police Officer Devin Sparks clearly beat the stuffing out of a 23-year-old man on a downtown street corner in full view of the department's own video camera. For lying about it, Sparks and Cpl. Randy Murr got as punishment a lousy three days without pay.

Mayor John Hickenlooper on Monday said he has asked the FBI to review what happened. I say good luck with that.

He should instead have had newly minted Manager of Safety Ron Perea flattened on his carpet as he repeatedly screamed "Three days?" while making Perea tell him why he should keep his job.

Michael DeHerrera on the videotape was so clearly victimized that it prompted independent monitor Richard Rosenthal, in a rarity of all rarities for him, to publicly announce Sparks and Murr should have been fired for trying to cover it all up.

Perea, not yet two months into the job of overseeing the police, fire and sheriff's departments, in a statement explained his punishment decision this way:

"The video, however, does not tell the entire story . . ."

It is excuse-making as old as portable videotape itself, the self-same defense used by the Los Angeles police officers who stood trial for beating Rodney King.

It worked then, the defense attorneys thoroughly convincing jurors not to believe their own eyes. And the city burned. Fifty people died.

Old news, you say?


http://www.denverpost.com/billjohnson/ci_15810329

[charrington]

MARLIN, FALLS COUNTY - A former Central Texas police officer is reportedly on suicide watch after he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday for choking a teenager during a traffic stop last year.

Jack Comeaux, former police officer from Rosebud, about 25 miles east of Temple, choked that teen during a traffic stop in January of 2009.

Comeaux was one of the people who took the stand Thursday afternoon at the Falls County Courthouse, the same place where he was tried and convicted in May of this year.

Jack Comeaux was convicted of Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Bodily Injury.

The first-degree felony charge carried a possible sentence of anywhere from 5 to 99 years or life in prison.

The state asked for Comeaux to be sentenced to 20 years, but the 82nd Judicial Court Judge Robert Stem ordered him to serve 15.

While District Attorney Jody Gilliam painted Comeaux as an out-of-control gypsy cop, a number of elected officials and lawmen made the case Thursday to place Comeaux on probation.

Gilliam said Comeaux showed no remorse for his actions, and said that probation was out of the question.

"Hopefully the judge's sentence sent a strong message to the public that we will not tolerate this type of behavior from law enforcement directed at them, and likewise hopefully it sent a message to law enforcement as well," Gilliam said.

Comeaux himself took the stand late in the afternoon, and became choked up with emotion as he spoke about that night, telling 82nd District Court Judge Robert Stem that as a law officer "I'm supposed to deal more level-headed than I did, and I didn't do that very well."



http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12972709

[charrington]

Well all know Iowa is a drug capital ---  I'm pretty sure sometime soon they will have breast groping stops .. but only to be sure your wife or girl friend isn't carrying explosives.

[charrington]

http://neighbors.denverpost.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=10826

[charrington]

In the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina, an order circulated among New Orleans police authorizing officers to shoot looters, according to present and former members of the department.

It's not clear how broadly the order was communicated. Some officers who heard it say they refused to carry it out. Others say they understood it as a fundamental change in the standards on deadly force, which allow police to fire only to protect themselves or others from what appears to be an imminent physical threat.

The accounts of orders to "shoot looters," "take back the city," or "do what you have to do" are fragmentary. It remains unclear who originated them or whether they were heard by any of the officers involved in shooting 11 civilians in the days after Katrina. Thus far, no officers implicated in shootings have used the order as an explanation for their actions. Only one of the people shot by police – Henry Glover – was allegedly stealing goods at the time he was shot.

Still, current and former officers said the police orders – taken together with tough talk from top public officials broadcast over the airwaves -- contributed to an atmosphere of confusion about how much force could be used to combat looting.

In one instance captured on a grainy videotape shot by a member of the force, a police captain relayed the instructions at morning roll call to cops preparing for the day's patrols.

"We have authority by martial law to shoot looters," Captain James Scott told a few dozen officers in a portion of the tape viewed by reporters. Scott, then the commander of the 1st district, is now captain of the special operations division.

Another police captain, Harry Mendoza, told federal prosecutors last month that he was ordered by Warren Riley, then the department's second-in-command, to "take the city back and shoot looters." A lieutenant who worked for Mendoza, Mike Cahn III, said he remembered the scene similarly and would testify about it under oath if asked.

Mendoza and Cahn said in separate interviews that Riley made the remarks at a meeting at Harrah's casino, where police had established a command post. Mendoza quoted Riley as saying: "If you can sleep with it, do it," according to a document prepared by prosecutors and provided to lawyers defending police officers recently charged with federal offenses.

Riley categorically denied telling officers they could shoot looters. "I didn't say anything like that. I heard rumors that someone else said that. But I certainly didn't say that, no."

"I may have said we need to take control of the city," Riley said. "That may have happened."

Riley also questioned the credibility of Mendoza, whom he fired in 2006 for alleged neglect of duties. Mendoza has since been reinstated; Riley has retired.

Scott declined comment but said through his attorney that a fuller version of the videotape places his remarks in a different context. But he would not disclose what else he said that day or characterize more completely what he meant.

The officer who shot the video, Lt. Sandra Simpson, would not permit reporters to see the complete recording. New Orleans police officials have said that they do not consider the tape a public record and that it is thus up to Simpson whether to allow the tape to be viewed.

Scott's address came at a moment of widespread confusion over whether authorities had imposed martial law, a phrase used by then-Mayor Ray Nagin on the radio. In fact, martial law does not exist under Louisiana's constitution. But experts in police training said the use of those words by politicians and in news reports may have fueled perceptions that the rules had changed.

http://www.propublica.org/nola/story/nopd-order-to-shoot-looters-hurricane-katrina/

[charrington]

When you're a tech journalist, you learn some tricks for getting the news out of meatspace and onto the Internet as fast as humanly possible. Pictures in particular have always been a challenge, and although technological advances have made uploading them easier over the years, it's still impossible to have pictures you take with your DSLR transmitted immediately and automatically to the internet. Or is it?

In this article, we'll share out top secret industry secret method, which lets you use two cool gadgets together to automatically upload your photos as you take them, no matter where you are.

In order to pull this off, you’re going to need the following items:




Seeing all this stuff laid out may seem a little daunting, but the basic idea is simple: the Eye-Fi is a special SD card that has a Wi-Fi antenna and a processor inside that allows it to automatically upload pictures, over a Wi-Fi network, to an online service. The mobile hotspot generates a Wi-Fi network anywhere, using a 3G signal.

To begin, you're going to want to configure your wireless hotspot to work in conjunction with your mobile PC. To set up your mobile hotspot, simply plug the device into the USB port in your computer, and follow the on-screen prompts for a quick installation of your mobile hotspot Access Manager.


Configuring your mobile hotspot isn't that hard hard, but you will need to enter a few pieces of basic information including an SSID and Network Key to allow access from any mobile device.  Once you've configured your settings and are given an IP address, simply punch that into the URL bar of your favorite browser to gain access to your mobile hotspot's settings menu.


Luckily, the default formatted settings should work just fine for what you're looking to do, though keep this window open somewhere on your desktop in-case you're having trouble--some minor hiccups could affect your data transfer, but we'll touch more on this a little later.  Now that your laptop/netbook is configured to run from your mobile hotspot, it's time to configure your Eye-Fi card, which is a strikingly similar process to configuring your Mi-Fi.

Pop your SD card into your computer (if it's a laptop, there's a good chance you've got a built in slot, if not, you'll need an external SD card reader).  If it's the very first time you're using your Eye-Fi card, your computer should default you to the Eye-Fi Manager Software download screen.  If your card has been used before or previously configured, check out the download page here. 



Your Eye-Fi Manager is a web based interface that will allow you to customize your available network connections and map other potential cloud based pages to 'forward' your photos to.  Configure your Eye-Fi card to work with your mobile hotspot by clicking on Wireless Networks in your Settings tab, and selecting your mi-fi.


The Photo Destination tab will allow you to choose from one (or multiple) of many social networking sites like Flickr, Facebook and Picassa to function as a repository for any and all images you take while your Eye-Fi card is in the camera.


Once you've chosen which website you'd like to send your photos out to, you're ready to pop your Eye-Fi card into your camera, and begin shooting.  Keep in mind, your camera must be on for the images to transfer (so don't turn it off immediately after snapping a shot and expect to find it online), and we recommend keeping your mobile hot spot in your pocket for if you plan on moving around a lot. Upload speed is good, as long as you're in an area with good 3G coverage.

The service we used, Flickr, took a bit longer to receive the images (five minutes or so), though that's still a lot better than the amount of time it would take to find a Wi-Fi access point, transfer the pictures to your computer, and upload them.

Some Quick Tips For First Time Users:

Keep your camera on while using Eye-Fi:  Turning your camera off between taking pictures will disrupt the data flow.  Most cameras (especially point and shoots) will automatically turn themselves off after a set period of time, though this can often be disabled in the settings menu.  This helps segue into our next point...

Bring extra batteries:  If you plan on importing all of the pictures you take from an event, and your camera has to remain on the whole time, chances are you're going to need a spare battery or two.  Pack accordingly.

WEP/WPA Security Settings:  By default the MiFi runs WPA security which the Eye-Fi should work fine with. Our Mi-Fi was tweaked to run WEP which is compatible with more devices. In the interest of full disclosure, if you want to also run WEP on your Eye-Fi and MiFi, you'll need to access the MiFi's hidden configuration page. To do this, connect a notebook to the MiFi using a wireless connection. Fire up a browser and go to http://192.168.1.1/adv802.html. From there, you can tweak several hidden features in the MiFi.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/how-tos/how_automatically_upload_pictures_internet_you_take_them

[charrington]

Denver police ‘Beat the Crowds’ T-shirt no laughing matter, protesters charge

Protest groups are demanding Denver police halt the sale and discipline anyone responsible for the creation of a “commemorative” DNC T-shirt distributed to officers featuring a baseball-bat wielding cop and the slogan “WE GET UP EARLY to BEAT the Crowds 2008 DNC.”

The T-shirt “makes a mockery” of the Denver Police Department’s Law Enforcement Code of Ethics and should be condemned, a statement from the Recreate 68 group said Thursday afternoon.
The group called for an investigation into the T-shirt and asked officials to “discipline” those involved. In addition, the group demanded that “police training regarding civil liberties be reevaluated, because it clearly has not achieved its intended effect.”



The black T-shirt — which also displays a 68 with a slash through it, a reference to demonstrators’ intentions to bring the spirit of the 1968 Democratic National Convention to Denver — has been available for sale since the week after the convention at the office of the Denver Police Protective Association, a union representing most of Denver’s 1,400 police officers, according to DPPA employees.
Nearly 2,000 of the shirts have been distributed, a DPPA employee said Thursday afternoon, and 100 more are on order. The shirt was given away to Denver Police Department officers and has been sold to officers from other departments for $10.

Denver Det. Nick Rogers, vice president of the police union, told the Rocky Mountain News on Thursday he hadn’t received any complaints about the shirts and said it’s common for Denver police to produce commemorative T-shirts after big events.

During the DNC, police arrested 154 protesters. On Tuesday, the Denver District Attorney declined to prosecute a Denver officer caught on videotape shoving a Code Pink demonstrator to the ground with his riot baton during the DNC.

From the Recreate 68 statement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfISlq1gzK8


http://coloradoindependent.com/9276/denver-police-beat-the-crowds-t-shirt-no-laughing-matter-protesters-charge

[charrington]

Man wakes up in a hospital after a car accident with the wrong bracelet marking him for cancer surgery. Gets beat by security when he tries to leave.


UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (CN) - A man who was hurt in a car crash but was misidentified as a cancer patient claims security guards at Prince George's Hospital beat him up when he tried to leave the hospital to avoid chest surgery he didn't need - "to have a potentially cancerous mass removed from his chest." He adds that one guard repeatedly called him "bitch" as he roughed him up.

     Joseph Wheeler says a June 23 car accident put him in the hospital, which is owned by Dimensions Health Corporation. When he woke up hungry on June 24 and asked a nurse for food, she told him he couldn't eat because he was scheduled for surgery, Wheeler claims in Prince George's County Court.
     Wheeler says the nurse checked his identification bracelet and told him the surgery was "to have a potentially cancerous mass removed from his chest."

     Wheeler says his ID bracelet "contained a name that was different from Mr. Wheeler's, appeared to be that of a woman, and had a birth date that was 13 years prior to his own."

     The complaint continues: "Mr. Wheeler, still in serious pain from the car accident and subsequent treatment from injuries sustained, was starting to fear for his safety as the hospital had misidentified him and he was being prepped to go into a surgery that he knew nothing about.

     "At this point, Mr. Wheeler's wife, Felicia Ann Wheeler, came into the room to see her husband. Mr. Wheeler immediately told Mrs. Wheeler about what was taking place. The Wheelers decided that it was in their best interest to leave Prince George's Hospital Center and seek medical care for Mr. Wheeler elsewhere."
     Mrs. Wheeler confirmed with nurses outside her husband's room that he was scheduled for cancer surgery, and when she told the nurses that she and her husband were leaving, "an argument ensued."
     According to the increasingly bizarre complaint, Mr. Wheeler, "hearing the argument, took out his I/V, got out of the hospital bed, put his clothes on, and started to walk out of the room. He was bleeding from the spot on his hand where that I/V had been connected.

     "Mrs. Wheeler and the nurse met Mr. Wheeler at the door. The nurse told Mr. Wheeler that he was not allowed to leave. She put a bandage on Mr. Wheeler's hand to stop the bleeding from the I/V spot, and then yelled for security.

     "Mr. Wheeler, now bandaged and clothed, began to walk toward the exit of the floor while his wife gathered the rest of his belongings. As he moved toward the exit, two large men in security uniforms moved quickly toward Mr. Wheeler."

     These men, defendants William Reese and Donovan Scott, worked for the hospital and/or defendant Broadway Services, according to the complaint. The Wheelers say the two security guards were "immediately hostile."
     "Defendant Scott harshly asked, 'Where do you think you're going?' Mr. Wheeler told both Reese and Scott that his business was finished at the hospital and that he was on his way out," the complaint states.
     "In the moments immediately following this exchange, defendant Scott began to appear angry and upset with Mr. Wheeler. He began to use profanity directed at Mr. Wheeler about getting back to Wheeler's 'damn room.'

     "At this point the two officers put on black padded gloves in front of Mr. Wheeler and defendant Scott started to hit his fist against his own hand and moved closer in proximity to Wheeler's face. Defendant Scott appeared angry and agitated."

     Wheeler, "in fear for his safety," tried to reason with the guards.
     "He told the officers that he had been in a serious car accident and suffered from multiple injuries to the torso and shoulders. Wheeler also told the officers that he was retired from the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office and that he knew that the security officers had no right or authority to detain him. Wheeler stated that he wanted to leave."

     At that point, Wheeler says, Scott grabbed him and shoved him "hard from behind into the adjacent wall and metal railing," hurting his ribs.

     The complaint continues: "Mr. Wheeler, in serious pain and feeling like he was going to black out, fell to floor. Defendant Scott stood over him and yelled, 'Get off the floor bitch! This game is over!'
     "Defendant Scott continued, 'I don't care who you think you are, this is my camp, you listen to what I got to say!' The vocal officer then grabbed Mr. Wheeler and pulled him up off of the ground as Wheeler pleaded with the officer to stop hurting him.

     "At this point the defendant Reese said to the vocal officer, 'Man, ease up on him. He might really be hurt.' Defendant Scott replied, 'Hell no, he don't come up in here and be telling us what the f**k to do!'"
     As the two guards "escorted" him back to his room, "Scott accused Wheeler of attempting to push the second officer down a flight of stairs," and "continued to shout expletives at Wheeler," according to the complaint.

     Wheeler says the men took him to the hospital security office, where an unidentified lieutenant questioned him.

     "After Mr. Wheeler explained what had happened, the lieutenant looked at Wheeler's hospital-provided identification bracelet and acknowledged that Wheeler had been misidentified," Wheeler says.

     But that was not the end of the conflict. Wheeler says the lieutenant became agitated when he would not return the incorrect bracelet, and ordered the security guards to stop him from leaving.

     He says a plainclothes hospital employee, a woman he identifies as an "administrator ... intervened in the conversation" and after he explained the situation, said she would make sure he "would have his own private room and any type of drug he wanted, just to name the pain killer."

     Wheeler says he and his wife chose to leave the hospital, but when he tried to leave with the incorrect ID bracelet, one of the security guards "charged Wheeler, again calling Wheeler 'bitch,' and shoved him against...



http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/08/25/29858.htm

[EvadingGrid]

Since when was admission to Hospital a gaol/jail sentance ?

What is the world coming too ?

[charrington]

Since when was admission to Hospital a gaol/jail sentance ?

What is the world coming too ?

Crazy story eh? I hope the poor guy gets his money from them.

[charrington]

Chicago police Lt. John Andrews knew that he was nudging a hornet's nest when he posted an essay on his personal blog criticizing the Police Department as beleaguered by a manpower shortage, low morale and public perceptions of rising crime.

Last week, he finally got stung.

The 25-year police veteran, who works as a watch commander at the West Side Harrison District, was notified that he was being investigated by the Internal Affairs Division for bringing "discredit" to the department for comments in his 3,072-word essay, decrying everything from internal cronyism and public apathy to emboldened criminals and pay disparities.



http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-police-officer-blog-20100825,0,1041713.story

[charrington]

An NYPD cop whose wife called 911 for help against a gang of thugs says he was brutally beaten by baton-wielding fellow officers who stormed his Queens home.

Larry Jackson suffered a broken right hand and multiple bruises from kicks and billy-club blows he said he got from the men in blue called to his home when a gunman menaced guests at his daughter's birthday party.

"To get my butt beat like that was unnecessary," said the six-year veteran assigned to the 110th Precinct. "We called the police, and this is what happened to me."

"I'm shocked, angry and disappointed," said the 6-foot-3, 300-pound Jackson.

Prosecutors and the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau are probing his claims.

His hand in a cast, he met with the Daily News on Wednesday and lifted his shirt to show the scars from Sunday's early morning confrontation. Jackson, who is black, said the excessive force by the cops, who were white, might have been racially motivated.



"They didn't treat me like a house-owner calling for help," he said. "Everyone who lives in the 113th Precinct is not a perp."

Investigators from IAB took a DNA sample from Jackson on Wednesday and told his lawyer, Eric Sanders, it was for testing against the cops' batons, which have been confiscated.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Jackson "was injured as a result of a dispute at the party." A spokeswoman did not return a call for further comment.

Jackson's wife, Charlene, made a 911 call around 1:15 a.m. Sunday as her unarmed husband faced down thugs armed with a gun and bats who showed up as partygoers started leaving his home in Rochdale.




http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/26/2010-08-26_sez_wife_called_for_help_vs_thugs_then_fellow_officers_stormed_house_clubbed_him.html

[Georgiacopguy]

Odds are he will be treated like persona non Grata around his precinct since he spoke to the media and IA. They will find a reason to fire him, or suspend him. Victimized twice or more for being black while calling 911.

[Femacamper]

The police state eats its young.

[charrington]

Odds are he will be treated like persona non Grata around his precinct since he spoke to the media and IA. They will find a reason to fire him, or suspend him. Victimized twice or more for being black while calling 911.

sounds about right.

[charrington]

Woman Charged For Watching Arrest From Own Front Porch .. Gibson was not the only bystander watching the action on the street. She was the only one holding up a cell-phone video camera.



The resisting-arrest conviction last week of Felicia Gibson has left a lot of people wondering. Can a person be charged with resisting arrest while observing a traffic stop from his or her own front porch?

Salisbury Police Officer Mark Hunter thought so, and last week District Court Judge Beth Dixon agreed. Because Gibson did not at first comply when the officer told her and others to go inside, the judge found Gibson guilty of resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer.

Gibson was not the only bystander watching the action on the street. She was the only one holding up a cell-phone video camera. But court testimony never indicated that Hunter told her to stop the camera; he just told her to go inside.

Asked to explain the charge of resisting arrest, Salisbury Police Chief Rorie Collins provided general comments. He was not discussing the specifics of the Gibson case.

Post: What is “resisting arrest” or “resist, delay, obstruct an officer” in the performance of his/her duties?

Collins: “These are basically the same charge. Some call the charge simply “resisting arrest,” and some call it by its longer and more official title. This crime can be found in the North Carolina General Statutes under chapter 14, subsection 223 (G.S. 14-223).

“This crime is considered a Class 2 misdemeanor and involves:

“Any person who shall willfully and unlawfully resist, delay, or obstruct a public officer in discharging or attempting to discharge a duty of his office.

“Obviously, this charge is rather broad and can encompass many different types of actions that are designed to, or serves to hinder a law enforcement officer as he/she performs their duties.

“This charge is most commonly used in situations where a person who is being arrested refuses to cooperate and either passively or aggressively resists an arrest or tries to run away.

“Another very common situation in which this charge is used involves instances when an officer is conducting an investigation and the individuals with whom he/she is dealing provide a false identity when required to identify themselves.

“As you can imagine, there are also many other circumstances in which this charge would be appropriate.”

Post: If the police stop someone in a car in front of my house, do I have the right to stand in my yard or on my porch and watch?

Collins: “The answer to this question is not quite as clear cut as the first. The short and quick answer is, ‘yes,’ in general, you do have that right!


http://www.salisburypost.com/Opinion/082610-edit-resisting-arrest-qcd

[charrington]

The judge who held the resisting arrest conviction needs to be scrutinized further. It is obvious to any person who understands the basics of the constitution that as long as someone is not actively inteferring in police making an arrest, that does not constitute "obstruction of justice".

This is the best one I've seen in a long time... Panem et circenses.

[Aoss]

This is what happens when judges and DA's are judged upon how many convictions they get.  You get people getting arrested for eating a french fry on the subway, people going to prison for selling tulips, and this.

It shoudn't surprise anyone that increasingly, prisons are being privatized.  Guess what they lobby for?  More convictions and longer sentences.

But nobody cares until it affects them.

[charrington]

But nobody cares until it affects them.

That .... is truth.

[charrington]

The Indianapolis police are being sued by a man claiming that cops pulled him over, dragged him and his passenger out of the car and detained them at gunpoint while they conducted an illegal search of their vehicle… then let them go without charges.


Indianapolis - An Indianapolis man is filing suit against the Metro Police Department and the City of Indianapolis over a July 2009 incident.

James Campbell's lawsuit alleges US constitutional claims of illegal search and seizure and excessive force, as well as state law claims for false arrest and battery. The incident happened on July 14, 2009.

According to the lawsuit, IMPD officers followed Campbell's car to his home, forcibly removed him and a passenger from the vehicle at gunpoint, placed face down on the ground, handcuffed while guns were still pointed at them, then searched and questioned.

The officers told Campbell they were looking for suspects after shots had been fired. He was allowed to stand up, but was still kept in handcuffs. Eventually the handcuffs were removed and the officers left the scene.

Campbell got in touch with an ...


http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=13049040

[Freeski]

resist, delay, or obstruct a public officer

She did none of the above, unless watching is considered a delaying tactic.

[Damascus]

Judges that don't uphold the constitution shoud be tried for treason! There seems to be nothing honorable about our lords nowadays.

[Femacamper]

This is seriously f**ked up. . .

[Damascus]

This sh$t never ends! It seems my state is competing heavily in the tyranny Olympics. WOOO HOOO!! Go Indiana beat some more people senseless and we could have the gold!

[Freeski]

Judges that don't uphold the constitution shoud be tried for treason!

Absolutely! And, all government workers (esp. cops/military) should be students of the Constitution. An understanding of liberty should be a job requirement! We pay these twits to harass us, why?

[charrington]

It's everywhere ... Oklahoma might be the worst. 

[charrington]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhghavBii98

[charrington]

Ok Damascus you're right ...Indy is the worst.

[charrington]

A Southwest City Missouri police officer has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after an investigation that found he shot a man in the head during a chase over a traffic violation when the man wasn’t presenting a threat that justified deadly force


PINEVILLE, MO. — A Southwest City police officer has been charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of a man following a traffic stop earlier this year.

The McDonald County prosecutor filed the charge against Brian G. Massa, 34, today, according to court documents. Massa’s shooting of Bobby L. Stacy, 26, has been the subject of an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol for several months.

Stacy was in a stolen Chevrolet Suburban shortly before 2 a.m. on March 28 when Massa chased him down Frye Road out of Southwest City. Massa, according to court documents, sought to pull over Stacy for a traffic violation.

The SUV ran off the road about a half-mile east of town and wound up high-centered on a foot-high abutment of a box-culvert bridge with a bullet in the driver’s head.

The patrol investigator, Sgt.
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x1333311742/Southwest-City-officer-charged-with-involuntary-manslaughter-in-shooting-death

[charrington]

Absolutely! And, all government workers (esp. cops/military) should be students of the Constitution. An understanding of liberty should be a job requirement! We pay these twits to harass us, why?

If laws only applied to them as well as everyone else.

[charrington]

The Two-Party Police State: Shocking and Extraordinary Police Violence in Wake of Katrina Neither Out of the Ordinary Nor Surprising




Five years after hurricane Katrina nearly wiped New Orleans off the map, PBS's Frontline has partnered with Pro Publica and reporters from the New Orleans Times-Picayune to produce a disturbing investigation and expose of the violence perpetrated by police against civilians in the aftermath of the disaster. Pro Publica writes, "After Katrina, New Orleans Police Shot Frequently and Asked Few Questions." From Frontline's introductory article:

    Beginning with the death of Henry Glover -- a case that has resulted in the indictment of five New Orleans police officers by a federal grand jury -- Law & Disorder digs deep into a number of incidents in which police shot civilians. It raises new questions about the actions of police officers -- and their command structure -- in the aftermath of the catastrophe.

The most infamous case documents the incident on Danziger Bridge, in which police opened fire on unarmed civilians, shooting six and killing two. Apologists of the state allege that state, city and police officials were reacting to reports of looting, rape and murder, justifying the government's brutality as a reasonable response the very breakdown of civil order as such. Though it would have been unconstitutional to...

http://politeaparty.blogspot.com/2010/08/two-party-police-state-shocking-and.html

[Freeski]

If laws only applied to them as well as everyone else.

Ah, but they do apply to them, do they not? No stealing and killing and raping... that sort of thing. We just don't BUST them when they do it. And why not? Excellent question!

[charrington]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idO07rk5YVY

[charrington]

Ah, but they do apply to them, do they not? No stealing and killing and raping... that sort of thing. We just don't BUST them when they do it. And why not? Excellent question!

No actually I don't think they do apply to them - I know politicians don't have the same laws citizens have.

[charrington]

SAN JOSE -- A San Jose man who had tried to kill himself with a nail gun was shot and killed by police Sunday morning after he confronted three officers while holding a knife, police officials said.

Police were called to a home on Wong Court about 9:15 a.m. by a woman who said her estranged 42-year-old husband had tried to commit suicide with a nail gun, said San Jose Police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/29/MNSE1F5ITI.DTL&feed=rss.news

[charrington]

Two sisters are suing the NYPD, saying Staten Island-based plainclothes detectives stopped, handcuffed and arrested them - simply because they got lost on the way to an engagement party.

"We had never experienced anything like this," said Bracha. "We were treated like criminals for no reason."

The women asked that their faces not be shown, and that they be identified only by their middle names in this article.

Bracha, 26, received a master's in social work from New York University in June.

Miriam, 23, got a nursing degree this year from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

At the time of the July 7, 2009, incident, the women were living with their parents in Suffern, Rockland County.

They were in a rental car - Bracha was at the wheel - and lost on Willowbrook Road on Staten Island about 9:30 p.m. when they asked a passerby for directions.

"He said, 'You're just around the corner,'" Bracha said. "Turn around and you'll be right there.'"

After turning around in an apartment complex driveway, Bracha had stopped the car at a stop sign when an older-model car pulled up behind them. A man got out and knocked on the driver's side window.

"He said, 'Where you guys going?'" Bracha said. "We said we were on the way to a party on Willowbrook Road, but we're not sure where it is."

Miriam said the man reached in the car over Bracha and snatched a sheet of directions she was carrying out of her hands.

"Why would someone do that?" she said. "We started getting nervous."

Bracha said the intersection was too heavily trafficked for her to drive off.

The man then pulled a badge from under his shirt, said he was NYPD and asked for her license and registration, Bracha said.

Bracha said she asked the man if she could use her phone to call 911 and verify that he was indeed a police officer.

"We were two women alone; it was late at night," she said. "But he said absolutely not, snatched my phone and threw it in the car. Then he opened the door, pulled me out and handcuffed my hands behind me."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2010/08/30/2010-08-30_sisters_to_sue_nypd_over_si_arrests.html

[Nailer]

its against the law to kill yourself , so the cops will kill you for free if you have someone call them for you..

cops : paid killers

[charrington]

its against the law to kill yourself , so the cops will kill you for free if you have someone call them for you..

cops : paid killers

That's an odd law .. it's against the law to kill yourself. Stop me? Whats the penalty? I guess it's death? lol.
Crazy ...