Please post all of the completely insane COPWATCH stories here

[charrington]

Hundreds of officers marched in front of the Chicago police headquarters this morning, calling on Supt. Jody Weis to step down and carrying signs that read, "More police No Weis."

The march, which lasted about an hour, comes amid growing rancor between Weis and the union representing rank-and-file officers. Chief among the union's complaints is how manpower in Chicago's 25 police districts has suffered from officers being detailed to other assignments.

"Hey hey, ho ho, Jody Weis has got to go," the officers chanted as they walked back and forth in front of the headquarters building at 35th Street and Michigan Avenue.

Lt. Brent Fidler, 39, a 13-year department veteran, sat on a grassy knoll with his 3-year-old son and 20-month-old daughter holding a sign simply reading, "Resign."

"In the last several years, I've seen a big decline in morale and also a decline in manpower," he said. "And both of those things are directly related to the safety of the police officers on the street and the safety of the citizens of the neighborhood.

"The trend is moving more towards technology and away from the boots on the ground type strategy. We don't even have enough people to observe the technology that we're using."

"The bad guys are losing respect for police because the police are afraid to do their jobs."
Another officer, a 24-year veteran, wore a shirt with a caricature of Mayor Daley as a street criminal and the slogan "Worst Mayor Ever."

"(It) says it all, doesn't it?"asked the officer, who like other officers asked that his name not be used.

The officer complained that politicians and police brass are unconcerned about officer safety-- in particular, district squad cars responding to crimes with only one officer instead of two.

"There are so many one-man cars that there definitely is a safety issue," he said.

Another demonstrator who said she was an 11-year veteran of the police department wore a yellow T-shirt reading: "In case of emergency, run like hell!"

"We don't run away, we go to," she said. "We need true leadership."

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/09/protest-planned-wednesday-as-weis-fop-friction-grows.html

[charrington]

A mentally ill man diagnosed with a bipolar disorder was tasered by two Minneapolis Police officers at a YMCA on Friday. The man was not armed but was struggling with police who had been called to the scene. The taser caused his heart to go into cardiac arrest. He is now in a Minneapolis hospital in critical condition after his heart stopped and he had to resuscitated at least twice:

A Minneapolis man shot by police with a Taser last week during an altercation at the downtown Minneapolis YMCA is on life support and is not expected to survive, a family member said Saturday.David Cornelius Smith, 28, suffered from mental illness, said his uncle, Larry Smith, an attorney from Oak Park, Ill. He remained hospitalized Saturday at Hennepin County Medical Center. Family members believe that police mishandled Thursday’s Tasering incident, Larry Smith said. [...]

“I’m sure the police are trained to handle individuals with mental health issues,” he said. “There are a lot of people with mental health issues in this country, and they don’t get Tased by the police.”

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/09/14/healthy-28-yr-old-tasered-by-cops-has-heart-attack-when-will-police-stop-using-this-lethal-weapon/

[charrington]

A day after a Metropolitan Police Department officer shot and killed a dog during Adams Morgan Day, it's still not entirely clear exactly what happened during the incident.

Scott Fike, a 25-year veteran of the department, shot the dog, named Parrot, after intervening in an altercation between two dogs on 18th Street. Aaron Block, the 25-year old caretaker of the dog and a Dupont Circle resident, said Parrot was "a full 12 to 15 steps away," and was "making no aggressive overtures," according to the Washington Post.

police say the dog was a pit bull, and others say it was a mixed-breed shar pei—a dog that looks like a pit bull to the untrained eye.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2010/09/13/why-did-police-shoot-a-dog-in-adams-morgan/

[Aoss]

So they're not protesting about the accused officer being innocent... their protesting that a investigation is taking place period?

I knew that cops didn't like any kinda investigations on them taking place... but never thought they'd actually say it out in public like this.

Shoulda had some gestapo police show up with the LRAD

[charrington]

So they're not protesting about the accused officer being innocent... their protesting that a investigation is taking place period?

Right.

[charrington]

Former New Orleans Police Officer Jeffrey Lehrmann was sentenced Wednesday to three years in federal prison for his part in the cover-up of the Danziger Bridge shootings, our partners at the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported today.

Lehrmann is one of 11 officers who have been charged in the Sept. 4, 2005 incident, in which police officers opened fire on unarmed civilians, killing two and wounding four others. He was the first of five officers to cooperate with federal investigators.

Lehrmann pleaded guilty in February to concealing a crime, after coming forward and disclosing his role in an extensive cover-up that followed the shootings. According to the bill of information filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, Lehrmann “participated in the creation of false reports" and provided "false information to investigating agents.” He is the first to be sentenced in the case and is expected to testify in the trial of other officers.

ProPublica, the Times-Picayune and PBS Frontline have been investigating the circumstances around the shooting of 10 unarmed civilians by NOPD in the days after Hurricane Katrina. In addition to the Danziger Bridge case, the killings of Henry Glover, Danny Brumfield, and Matthew McDonald, and the shooting of Keenon McCann remain open federal investigations.

In August, in response to ....


http://www.propublica.org/nola/story/lehrmann-sentencing-100922/

[charrington]

See the lady in the picture above? Yeah, that's not make up; her face is actually black and blue. Uh-huh, and yes, those are scars on her shoulder. Lemme ask you something: if this woman was your mother, or sister, and she received those bruises at the hands of another man like she did, how would that make you feel?

Yeah I know, you'd probably be ready to either call the coroner, the "ambalamps", or the police for the man who did this, right? OK, so what if I told you that what you see in the picture above, was the direct result of the actions of a police officer? Would that make you any less, or more angry?

Sure you would want to know just exactly what she did to deserve such a beatdown, right? I mean after all, the cops are not into beating the shit out of people for no reason, right? I mean surely her "crime" and punishment at the hands of a police officer was just, right? Oh, and what was her crime you ask?

NOT WALKING ON THE DAMN SIDEWALK!

Yep, apparently in Shreveport, L....


http://www.rippdemup.com/2010/09/who-knew-walking-down-street-could-be.html

[charrington]

A Franklin County judge sentenced a former deputy sheriff to 20 years in prison yesterday for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl whom he met on the Internet.

“This is best for the protection of the public and any little girls that are out there,” Common Pleas Judge Laurel Beatty said after sentencing Jeffrey A. Fisher.

Fisher, 39, of Sandbrook Lane in Hilliard, was a janitor at Hilliard Darby High School at the time of his arrest in May, but the girl was not a student there.

He pleaded guilty last month to four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one count of attempted illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.

Assistant County Prosecutor Casey Russo called Fisher “a predator who deserves to go to prison.” She said he lured the girl into a relationship by claiming he was 17.

Fisher’s wife and son caught him with the girl at a West Side motel. Investigators said he admitted to four sexual encounters with the girl and to taking nude pictures of her.

“The facts of this case were very disturbing,” Beatty said. “It is unfathomable that someone with a daughter could do this to someone else’s daughter.”

Fisher will be required to register as....

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/09/23/ex-deputy-gets-20-years-for-sex-with-minor.html?sid=101

[charrington]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6dc_1285026569

[charrington]

As expected, police organizations are leading the campaign against Prop 19, which would legalize marijuana in California if passed in November. Since July 13, $88,500 has been contributed to No on Prop 19, $63,500 by police associations,

Here are the contributions, ranked by amount:

$30K - California Police Officers Association, Sacramento, 7/29
$20.5 - California Narcotic Officers Association, Santa Clarita, 7/13
$10K - California Beer & Beverage Distributors, Sacramento, 9/7*
$10K - SA Recycling, Anaheim, 9/9
$7.5K - California Correctional Supervisers Organization, Escalon, 9/20
$5K - California Peace Officers Association, Sacramento, 7/29
$5K - Peace Officers Association of Los Angeles County, 7/29
$5K - Diane Lake, Bakersfield, 9/7
$1K - California District Attorney Investigators Association, San Bernardino, 7/29
$1K - Placer County Deputy Sheriff's Association, Loomis, 9/2
$100 - Christy Brown, Woodside, 7/29

http://www.celebstoner.com/201009164853/news/marijuana-news/cops-pour-56k-into-no-on-prop-19-kitty.html

[charrington]

A police officer is accused of using excessive force while arresting a woman who was attempting to record an excessive force incident with her cell phone. She was dragged backwards by her pony tail, slammed against a police cruiser, and thrown into the police car

When baton-wielding police began to whack Askia Sabur in front of a West Philadelphia Chinese carryout earlier this month, Kimla Robinson whipped out her cell phone to record the incident.

Moments after Robinson, 47, snapped a few shots of the chaotic scene, she claims an officer grabbed her by the ponytail, slammed her against the police cruiser and pushed her into the back seat. She said her forehead smacked into the opposite-side car door.

"I thought they were going to realize they made a mistake but that never happened," she said. Robinson was arrested for disorderly conduct stemming from the Sept. 3 incident on Lansdowne Avenue and Allison Street after, police said, the retired Philadelphia School District counselor failed to leave the scene.

She was also charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly ....

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20100921_She_claims_cops_got_rought_with_her.html

[MonkeyPuppet]

What a crazy asshat.  The cop is lucky the dude in the SUV didn't shoot back... not saying it would have been a good thing, but legally justified.

Thank goodness no one was injured or killed over this cop's apparent lapse in judgment (a.k.a. stupidity).

[charrington]

An end-of-summer Labor Day barbecue turned ugly when Brooklyn cops rushed in, hitting partygoers with batons and dousing them with pepper spray, witnesses told the Daily News.

Some revelers were knocked into a backyard pool during the Sept. 5 melee at an East Flatbush home, witnesses claim.

"The police were grabbing people and beating people who were trying to leave," said Japel Filiaci, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society who attended the shindig.

"I was shocked. When I saw the helicopter overhead, I thought I was in the middle of a made-for-TV movie.

"There was nothing going on to justify this nonsense," Filiaci said.

A group of 10 partygoers plans to file a $50 million lawsuit today against the city and the NYPD, claiming cops overreacted when they shut down the barbecue at Rodney and Kesha Terry's home.

It's an annual party, and many guests were civil servants who came with spouses and children.

One guest suffered a broken leg during the brawl and....

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/20/2010-09-20_cops_attacked_us_at_bbq_suit_claims.html

[charrington]

A female Denver police officer who was on the TV show "American Gladiators" has been accused of brutality.

Abbegayle Dorn and two other unidentified officers are accused of using excessive force in a lawsuit filed in federal court.

Dorn is a fitness model and appeared as a contestant on a 2008 episode of "American Gladiators," a show known for its unusual form of entertaining combat. She faced off against another female Denver officer on the episode.

Dorn is accused of using excessive force at an apartment building in April. The lawsuit filed in Denver Federal Court by a man from India, Rohit Mukerjee, claims that Dorn and two other officers came to the scene of a going away party after a complaint of loud music.

The suit alleges Dorn pinned Mukerhjee up against the door and began to choke him with ....
http://cbs4denver.com/investigates/Lawsuit.Filed.Female.2.1924886.html

[charrington]

Chicago - The family of George Lash, a teenager shot dead by Chicago police on a CTA Red Line train last weekend, has filed a lawsuit against the police department.

"It's terrifying. I don't feel safe. I mean, you can't go out your home or ride the train," Lash¿s stepfather Kenneth Cross said.

Lash's mother filed the lawsuit.

Police said they were called to the train because of trouble, and when they arrived, Lash scuffled with them and pointed a gun at them.

The family said witnesses are telling a much different story.

"All our witness reports now indicate that he was stopped, he was being searched, and ....
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/george-lash-cta-station-chicago-police-lawsuit-20100921

[MonkeyPuppet]

The comments below that article are astoundingly grotesque.

[charrington]

Daniel Daley is recovering at Florida Hospital where he underwent surgery for a broken neck Monday after he was arrested by Officer Travis Lamont late Saturday night. Daley's son, Greg, told WFTV Monday he made it through surgery and is in intensive care.

Police said the war veteran committed a crime when he grabbed Officer Travis Lamont and officials said they will press charges against him.

Not everyone believes the officer did the right thing. Eyewitnesses said Daniel Daley might have stumbled into the officer, but they never saw him grab the officer around the neck, pull back his fist, or threaten to knock down the officer.

Daley was an Army intelligence officer during World War II and also served during Vietnam. Eyewitness Sean Hill said Daley did not draw back to punch the officer. He showed WFTV what happened before the officer threw him to the ground.

"He said, 'I'm not done talking to this cop.' Whether it was alcohol, he stumbled. He's 84 years old; he needs a walker," Hill said.

Hill said he will never forget the sound of Daley's head hitting the pavement.
"Like a watermelon. Pop!" he described.
http://www.wftv.com/news/25075466/detail.html

[charrington]

It's an ignorant world we live in -- seems hopeless when you read comments like that.

[charrington]

This summer the issue of recording on-duty police officers has received a great deal of media attention. Camera-wielding citizens were arrested in Maryland, Illinois, and Massachusetts under interpretations of state wiretapping laws, while others were arrested in New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Florida, and elsewhere based on vaguer charges related to obstructing or interfering with a police officer.

So far Massachusetts is the only state to explicitly uphold a conviction for recording on-duty cops, and Illinois and Massachusetts are the only states where it is clearly illegal. The Illinois law has yet to be considered by the state's Supreme Court, while the Massachusetts law has yet to be upheld by a federal appeals court. Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler recently issued an opinion concluding that arrests for recording cops are based on a misreading of the state's wiretapping statute, but that opinion isn't binding on local prosecutors.

In the remaining 47 states, the law is clearer: It is generally legal to record the police, as long as you don't physically interfere with them. You may be unfairly harassed, questioned, or even arrested, but it's unlikely you will be charged, much less convicted. (These are general observations and should not be treated as legal advice.)

One reason this issue has heated up recently is that the democratization of technology has made it easier than ever for just about anyone to pull out a c....


http://reason.com/archives/2010/09/20/how-to-record-the-cops

[charrington]

The partner of an Anderson police officer who’s been accused of rape won’t be charged in the case.

Shasta County District Attorney Jerry Benito said Monday that officer Matthew Goodwin didn’t do anything illegal, although he may still be punished by his employer and could also be held civilly liable.

“His conduct is not described anywhere in the penal code,” Benito said, adding that his office looked into filing possible accessory-after-the-fact charges against Goodwin.

But to charge that felony count, he said, Goodwin would have to have taken some kind of specific action to conceal the crime.

“Simply keeping a secret is not a crime,” said Benito, adding that Goodwin did not lie to investigators when he was asked about the incident and was forthcoming with them. “Had he lied about it, ....

http://www.redding.com/news/2010/sep/21/no-charges-for-officer-in-rape-case/

[charrington]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-police-break-senior-neck-20100919,0,7478099.story

[charrington]

According to the official account, police approached Lash, who started to fight with the officers and ultimately pointed a gun at them, prompting both officers to open fire.
However,several witnesses contradict that version of events, saying Lash was not holding a gun when he was shot.

"They was kinda like trying to put his hands behind his back, and the lady officer said, 'he has a gun on him,' and that's when she shot him," one witness, who asked not to be identified, told NBC Chicago.
Another witness said the man on the train did indeed have a gun, but got rid of it before officers approached him.

"Once he seen them coming, he did have his gun on him, but he threw it, and then he ran around to the other doorway.  And once he got in the doorway, it was a female officer that fired two shots," the witness said.

Another witness, Natalie Bruce, told the Tribune she was on the train and saw officers put Lash's hands behind his back.

"They seemed like they were patting him down, and they tussled a little bit, but they had him pinned against the wall," she said.

Bruce told the paper she was ordered to leave the train, but heard the shots a moment later from the platform.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/witnesses-contradict-chicago-police-account-of-fatal-shooting-George-T-Lash-on-cta-red-line-train-garfield-station-103237414.html

[Aoss]

Police shouldn't be able to influence legislative activities due to conflict of interest.  We have separation of powers in this country for a reason.  Those executing/enforcing the laws shouldn't be the same ones who make them.

I think officers themselves should be able to donate to whatever they want as they are citizens just like the rest of us... but when you have police & district attorney associations, correctional institutions, etc. influencing legislation that's definitely shady.

[charrington]

You're concerned with the way a death is being handled by the police in your small town of only 1000 people. You go to City Hall to complain. Instead of having your voice be heard, the town Police Chief beats the hell out of you and slams your face into the ground. His assault results in you dislocating your knee, bruising your ribs, and leaves you with a black eye and $1500 in medical bills.

That is exactly what happened to 50 year old Brenda Martin of Le Flore County Florida, according to a NewsOK report:
Martin said she confronted Police Chief Chris Ford in his office that afternoon. He asked her to leave.

As she was leaving, a security camera in town hall captured video of Martin being pushed, her legs quickly swept from beneath her and Ford holding her arms behind her back as he pushes her into the floor.

[Video]http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=32186

[charrington]

Weird .. other people just standing around doing nothing...

The incident resulted in more than $1,500 in medical bills, said Martin, 50. She obtained a video of the ordeal and posted it to YouTube to bring attention to the department.

Martin said she's contesting her July 13 arrest when she went to City Hall to complain about how a police investigation into the death of a Wister resident was being handled.

"You can see exactly how I was treated, but it doesn't even touch on what was done to me emotionally," she said. "I think people need to know how things are being handled here."
Wister is a town of about 1,000 residents in Le Flore County.
What happened
Martin said she confronted Police Chief Chris Ford in his office that afternoon. He asked her to leave. Martin admits she was emotional and upset at the time.
"But it doesn't excuse what happened," she said. "He's a policeman, and he shouldn't have attacked me like that."

As she was leaving, a security camera in town hall captured video of Martin being pushed, her legs quickly swept from beneath her and Ford holding her arms behind her back as he pushes her into the floor.
Martin said she was able to obtain the video after multiple requests to the city.
"I wasn't trying to get away, and I wasn't under arrest," Martin said.


http://newsok.com/wister-woman-contests-arrest-says-chief-used-excessive-force/article/3495447

[MonkeyPuppet]

Police shouldn't be able to influence legislative activities due to conflict of interest.  We have separation of powers in this country for a reason.  Those executing/enforcing the laws shouldn't be the same ones who make them.

I think officers themselves should be able to donate to whatever they want as they are citizens just like the rest of us... but when you have police & district attorney associations, correctional institutions, etc. influencing legislation that's definitely shady.

+1

Lobbying for regulatory changes for the benefit of the association members is one thing, but using the resources of those associations to influence legislation or policy that affects non-members should be outright illegal.

[kushfiend]

+1

Lobbying for regulatory changes for the benefit of the association members is one thing, but using the resources of those associations to influence legislation or policy that affects non-members should be outright illegal.

and while they're at it, why not make it illegal for the police to murder you as well? That would be sweet.

[Aoss]

Out of all the police abuse videos I've seen yet, this one gets me the most angry.  Between that woman being thrown face down to the floor with her arms held behind her back, the onlookers doing nothing, and the lack of justice afterwards... I'm pissed off.

[charrington]

Family members claim they called police for help Wednesday morning, but when officers arrived, they were treated like criminals and an officer shot and killed their family dog. It all unfolded in the 1100 block of Fiji Lane in Landover.

Four-year-old Mercedes, a Rottweiler mix, is the latest dog shot and killed by police in Prince George's County.

Dog owner Sterling Barlow said about Mercedes, "Cold blood... Shot in the head for no reason."

The problem started when owner Sterling Barlow's brother pulled into the family driveway after work early Wednesday morning. The family claims two men immediately approached, armed with a gun and demanding his car. The brother managed to fight them off, ran into the house and came back out firing his gun.

Barlow said, "One grabs me in the head lock and starts punching me in the face."

Mother Dwana Barlow said, "The police officer wouldn't even let me go to the bathroom... and held me hostage in my own house."

While being wrestled to the ground by five different cops, Barlow and witnesses in the neighborhood tell us a female Prince George's County officer shot the dog in the head.

Barlow stated, "While this was going on I said 'please, don't point a gun at my dog.' I begged her. She didn't need to be involved in this. She was in the yard."

But Barlow was arrested and....

http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/09/family-outraged-after-officer-shoots-dog-13692.html

[charrington]

Dog shot by deputies 'protective, not dangerous' Yet another dog shooting- different from above

That's how Donya Williams refers to Kato, the two-and-a-half-year-old Rottweiler who was shot and killed by Prince George's County's Sheriff's Deputies Friday. Williams says she'll never have another dog, because he was the best.

At a news conference in Upper Marlboro, Williams said her dog was protective - but not dangerous - and she's angry the animal was shot.

The Prince George's County Sheriff's Department says the dog was killed during an eviction at a Forest Heights home. Authorities say animal control was notified, but police went into the house before the dog was removed. The dog was shot after charging at two officers and died from its injuries.

Williams says animal control staff should have been allowed to go in with police.

The sheriff's department says they were told the dog was often kept in a basement and was crated. Williams says she did not routinely crate the dog. She also says since the power was out at the home due to last week's thunderstorms, the windows of the home were open, and her dog would have surely barked the moment he heard any knock at the door.

While her dog was protective, Williams says Kato was not aggressive. She feels he was handled differently because of his breed.

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=2023252

[charrington]

One more dog shooting same area - Deputies serving eviction shoot family dog

With everything that's been going on this week with the Bear-Bear shooting by an off-duty federal officer, it should be noted that another officer of the law in Maryland took the life of a dog this week for questionable reasons. In this case out of Prince George's county, it was an officer serving an eviction notice who shot a dog upon entering the home. It's particularly interesting that this story quotes Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo, whose own dogs were killed by police in a wrongful bust...

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/mutts/blog/2010/08/deputies_serving_eviction_shoo.html

[voodo0]

Makes me sick

[charrington]

Latest from Cop Block...
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General
Touching display of affection for cop who beat man shackled to wheelchair
Posted on 23 September 2010 by Dr. Q (4)

In 2005, Randle Miles was stabbed in Chicago. He went to the local hospital for treatment and, when he felt that the staff wasn’t helping him quickly enough, he began to mouth off. The hospital staff called the police who sent officer Bill Cozzi to deal with the dispute. Cozzi decided that the best way to deal with a man who was acting belligerently but posed no physical threat to anyone was to shackle him to a wheelchair, beat him with a small club (a “sap”), and file fraudulent criminal charges against him.

Video from one of the hospital’s surveillance cameras shows the incident:

Initially, Cozzi was going to get off with just a slap on the wrist. His friends in the justice system set him up with a sweet plea deal. He would have to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, but he would only be given 18 months probation and a two year, unpaid suspension from his job. After the two years were up, he’d be given another chance to commit depraved acts of violence under the color of law.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QMLtPCekfM

http://www.copblock.org/977/touching-display-of-affection-for-cop-who-beat-man-shackled-to-wheelchair/

[charrington]

[Editor’s note: This version is updated to indicate that charges against Kenneth Andrew Dixon have not been dropped.]

Officials confirmed they have received the report by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations into the allegations of police brutality against four Loganville police officers following a suicide July 14.

Jeff Smith, chief investigator for the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s office, said he received the report Friday afternoon and would take time to review it before turning it over to District Attorney Danny Porter.

“He will then decide whether to turn it over to a grand jury,” Smith said, adding it was difficult to say how long it would take the grand jury to decide whether charges would be filed against any of the officers.

“The grand jury doesn't reconvene until Sept. 29 and this wouldn’t be the first case they would look at.”

Loganville police Chief Mike McHugh said he was also in receipt of a....
http://waltontribune.com/news/article_8efffe56-c813-11df-a1cd-001cc4c03286.html

[charrington]

George Funti spent three days in jail for possession of a controlled substance he never possessed.

The arrest came more than a month after a state lab report clearing him of any wrongdoing had made its way back into the hands of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Funti said he felt like an animal as he was handcuffed and shackled and shuttled through first the Walton and then the Okaloosa County jails, and now he’s contemplating legal action.

“This was not a mistake, this was neglect,” he said. “Somebody just didn’t care to follow through with the paperwork to keep a man out of jail.”

Okaloosa County Sheriff Ed Spooner is working to get to the bottom of what happened. A couple of weeks ago he ordered an internal investigation into the matter.

Monday, Spooner looked over what Investigator Ron Gay had compiled thus far in the case.

“Based on what has been presented to me, we’re going to continue this investigation,” Spooner said Monday afternoon.

Funti’s brush with the law began ....
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/hands-33080-state-controlled.html

[charrington]

A State Patrol detective sergeant shot and wounded a pregnant woman while serving a search warrant in Spokane Friday.

The officer is with the Quad City Drug Task Force, which was serving a search warrant about 8:15 a.m. at 1405 N. Lincoln, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the shooting.

The woman, who investigators said is 39 weeks pregnant, was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, according to Sgt. Dave Reagan of the sheriff's office.

A woman who identified herself as the victim's mother said the shooting happened as her daughter, who she said was unarmed, was shot through the back window, then pulled out of the window by law enforcement, the woman said.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012991489_womanshot25.html?prmid=obinsource

[charrington]

Video ---

http://www.wthr.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5139261&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

[charrington]

CHARLESTON -- A Mercer County man has filed suit against the West Virginia State Police alleging he was brutalized by one of its officers following an arrest earlier this year.

John G. Wilson named the State Police and Col. Timothy Pack, the State Police superintendant, in a two-count civil rights suit in Kanawha Circuit Court. In his complaint filed on Sept. 3, Wilson, a Bluefield resident, alleges he was beaten by a trooper in May to the point where he was hospitalized for almost two weeks, and had surgery to remove a ruptured organ.

According to this suit, Wilson was arrested by Trooper J.H. Young on May 2. Though the suit does not specify the charges, the criminal complaint Young filed with the Mercer Magistrate Clerk's Office states it was for providing false information, shoplifting and obstructing.

Following his arrest, Wilson alleges Young transported him to the State Police Detachment in Princeton. After he was escorted in a room handcuffed, Wilson says Young, without provocation, struck him in the head.

After being knocked to the ground, Wilson alleges Young picked him up and struck him in the head again causing him to fall onto the top of a nearby desk. After picking him off the desk, Wilson says Young then threw him to the ground where he "began kicking and stomping [him] in the chest, abdomen and groin."

After he finished kicking him, Wilson alleges Young then picked him up and "repeatedly punched him in the ribs and stomach." All the while, Wilson says Young swore at and berated him.

In the midst of this, Wilson alleges he heard another Trooper say to Young "'he's really small, you're going to hurt him.'"

It is unclear if the unidentified trooper's warning had any effect, but Young shortly thereafter cased beating Wilson. After he finished, Wilson alleges Young told him that " 'nothing happened,' " and if he reported the incident he would " 'wake up in intensive care.'"

http://wvrecord.com/news/229914-bluefield-man-accuses-state-police-of-brutality

[charrington]

"Do you expect to see any violence here today?"

"I certainly hope so." --

Narcotics officer Sgt. Stedenko, aka "Hardhat," answers a reporter's question at a drug checkpoint on the U.S.- Mexican border, from the film Up In Smoke.


Sal Agro, a 67-year-old man from Lake Orion, Michigan, died of a heart attack on September 2. Although those responsible for Agro's untimely death will never admit as much, he was the victim of an act of state terrorism carried out a week earlier by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office

Agro, along with his son, helped operate a treatment center in nearby Ferndale called Clinical Relief that provided medical marijuana to physician-approved clients under a 2008 Michigan state law. Sal, who had recently undergone hip surgery, was authorized to grow and use marijuana himself. His wife was authorized both to use marijuana and provide it to others as a caregiver. They had invited local officials to inspect the Clinical Relief facility.


Last June, with at least eight applications pending to open facilities like Clinical Relief, the Ferndale City Council imposed a temporary moratorium on dispensing medical marijuana while it explored new ways to harass the facilities through zoning restrictions. This prompted an objection from Mayor Craig Covey, who pointed out that the medical marijuana clinics would already be covered by existing ordinances. Nor were they likely to be profitable, given the detailed and often self-contradictory regulations inflicted on them under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA), which voters approved by referendum in 2008.

continued....

http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2010/09/no-law-no-warrant-no-problem.html

[Rebelitarian]

Good I hope he sues the Department and wins.