Police Behavior and What To Do About It

[AnBr]

Off-Duty Officer Instinctively Reaches To Turn Off Body Cam During Argument With Wife

[LFC]

The Uvalde PD teamed up with Three-Percenter style biker gangs to provide security (push back on and threaten reporters) at children's funerals. WTF is going on down there?

The Uvalde Police Department reportedly asked biker groups to keep journalists in line during funeral for a victim of last week's mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.

At least three biker groups were among roughly 100 mourners gathered outside Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary on Thursday for the funeral of 10-year-old Eliahana Torres, one of 19 children killed in the shooting, according to the Houston Chronicle. Uvalde police officers and members of the biker groups reportedly threatened to arrest journalists if they left a designated area across the street from the mortuary. It was not clear whether any attempts were made to leave the area.

Some of the bikers also "physically obstructed cameras within those designated areas and followed reporters," while demanding that journalists "stay on the sidewalk," according to the Chronicle. A member of the biker club Guardians of the Children reportedly said that they had been asked to attend the funeral by Uvalde police. Other biker groups in attendance were said to include the Thin Blue Line LEMC and the Marines MC.

[AnBr]

[LFC]

Another black male gunned down by police when he followed instructions. The officer is playing the victim in court. It's another case of "I'm scared! [BANG!!!]".

Noah Ball, the Chicago cop who shot and grievously injured an unarmed 13-year-old Black boy with his hands up last month, mistook the teen’s cellphone for a gun, according to an attorney representing the officer.

“Ball had no cover, he had no concealment—he had to make a split-second decision,” Timothy Grace told The Daily Beast in an interview on Tuesday night.

“Now my poor client is in a position that—now he has to live with this, where he had to shoot a 13-year-old,” he added.

But an attorney for the family of the teen—referred to only as “AG” in a federal lawsuit against the city and the officer, whose identity The Daily Beast is reporting for the first time—say they have reviewed video evidence, and that it tells a different story.

On May 18, the boy was pursued on foot by officers to a Marathon gas station on North Cicero Avenue in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. AG had fled from the passenger side of a car after cops stopped the vehicle, which was suspected of being involved in a carjacking the previous day.

According to surveillance video previously obtained by The Daily Beast, after racing into the parking lot and raising his hands, the boy turned to the right towards the pursuing officers. In a split second, he was gunned down.

That made him the latest teenager to be shot by the notoriously troubled police force behind a wide array of high-profile shootings of young men and boys of color in recent years. And while he survived the encounter, “AG” may never walk again, according to Andrew M. Stroth, a lawyer representing the teen and his family.

The video obtained by The Daily Beast—from a security camera aimed from across the parking lot—is the clearest view of the incident that has been released to the public. The video shows AG’s hands clearly raised, but it was not clear whether the boy held a cellphone in his hand.

An eyewitness previously told a local ABC affiliate that cops had told AG to put his hands up, and that he had followed instructions. “I got it all on my phone—his hands were up. He didn’t have a gun. They shot him for no reason,” they said.

For his part, weeks before shooting the unarmed teen, Officer Ball was lauded by the city’s largest police union for helping arrest an alleged murderer.

Grace, his attorney, suggested his client was in fear for his life when he opened fire.

[LFC]

The sickness continues in the Uvalde PD. I guess one way to overcome national scorn is to harass the parent whose child could have died due your inaction. Must make them feel big and manly.

A mom who rescued her kids from the Uvalde school massacre says she’s now being harassed at her home by local police. On the day of the shooting last month—which left 19 children and two teachers dead—Angeli Rose Gomez was handcuffed by police as she tried to enter the school as armed cops disastrously waited to go in themselves. After pretending to comply with officers’ instructions to calm down, Gomez’s handcuffs were removed, allowing her an opportunity to enter the building. Now she says she’s received harassment from local law enforcement in the wake of the incident. “The other night we were exercising and we had a cop parked at the corner like, flickering us with his headlights,” Gomez said in a TV interview. She added that she’s had to separate from her children as a result of the harassment, “just so my sons don’t feel like they have to watch cops passing by, stopping, parking.”

[goldenvalley]

Jun 27, 2022 16:46:04 GMT LFC said:

The sickness continues in the Uvalde PD. I guess one way to overcome national scorn is to harass the parent whose child could have died due your inaction. Must make them feel big and manly.

A mom who rescued her kids from the Uvalde school massacre says she’s now being harassed at her home by local police. On the day of the shooting last month—which left 19 children and two teachers dead—Angeli Rose Gomez was handcuffed by police as she tried to enter the school as armed cops disastrously waited to go in themselves. After pretending to comply with officers’ instructions to calm down, Gomez’s handcuffs were removed, allowing her an opportunity to enter the building. Now she says she’s received harassment from local law enforcement in the wake of the incident. “The other night we were exercising and we had a cop parked at the corner like, flickering us with his headlights,” Gomez said in a TV interview. She added that she’s had to separate from her children as a result of the harassment, “just so my sons don’t feel like they have to watch cops passing by, stopping, parking.”

Good grief, did this town look for potential cops from a list of those with the sickest psychological profiles?  They probably will work for cheap because no other police force will hire them.

[LFC]

The mayor of Uvalde is asking Greg Abbott to address the cover-up by Uvalde PD. This is a shit-show.

Don McLaughlin, the mayor of Uvalde, Texas, is calling on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to address what McLaughlin called a “cover-up” by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) amid scrutiny over law enforcement’s failure to respond to the Robb Elementary School shooting.

McLaughlin told CNN Tuesday that he was writing to Abbott to share his concerns about the DPS’ investigation into the failed response to the massacre, during which more than a dozen children were killed inside two classrooms as multiple armed officers stood outside the hallway and the school building for more than an hour.

“I’m not confident, 100 percent, in DPS because I think it’s a cover-up,” McLaughlin said.

The mayor pointed specifically at DPS Director Steven McCraw, who repeatedly offered conflicting timelines for the attack, fueling already boiling criticism of law enforcement’s lack of transparency in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“McGraw’s covering up for maybe his agencies,” McLaughlin claimed.

The Uvalde leader explained that his growing distrust of the DPS’ investigation is what led him to ask the Justice Department to open its own investigation, which is currently underway.

“I lost confidence because the narrative changed from DPS so many times, and when we asked questions, we weren’t getting answers,” he said.

[LFC]

The officer who murdered Tamir Rice is now the sole police officer for Tioga, PA. W...T...F? This man should be in prison for what he did and instead he's just shunted off to a smaller town. Of course it's part of Pennsyltucky where they may not think what he did was really all that bad.

A borough police department in north central Pennsylvania recently hired Timothy Loehmann, the Cleveland police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, according to the Williamsport Sun-Gazette and other media.

Tioga Borough officials confirmed the hire Wednesday, the story said.

Loehmann was sworn in at the borough council meeting Tuesday evening following a unanimous vote. Local media were told it was Timothy Lochmann who was hired, but borough president Steve Hazlett said Wednesday on social media that the last name of the new hire was Loehmann.

Tioga Borough is located in Tioga County, about 7 miles south of the New York State line.

Mayor David Wilcox told the Sun-Gazette that although he swore Loehmann in and oversees the police department, he was not allowed to see the applications for the officer position and had no clue who this person was when he swore him in, the news outlet reported.

Loehmann is the lone officer in the borough, which has a population of around 700.

A protest over the hiring was planned for 6 p.m today, the story said citing social media.

[LFC]

That didn't last long.

The former Cleveland police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 was hired as the sole police officer for Tioga, Pennsylvania, a small town with a population of around 700 people, but resigned this Thursday just hours after news media reported on his hiring, Cleveland.com reports.

Tioga mayor David Wilcox said he was unaware of Timothy Loehmann's background when he was hired. According to ABC5, protesters express their displeasure with Loehmann's hiring.

"I was not allowed to take his resume or look into his background," the mayor said.

“I was under the impression that there was a thorough background check into him, that he didn’t have any issues,” Wilcox said Wednesday.

“I found it strange that someone would move here all the way from Cleveland, Ohio, for $18 an hour. But I heard that he wanted to get away from it all and come here to hunt and fish.”

“While it is welcome news that Loehmann won’t be inflicting himself on the people of Tioga, the officials of that town need to be held accountable for their atrociously poor judgment,” said Subodh Chandra, the attorney for the Rice family.

[LFC]

These people are sick and out of control.

An Ohio medical examiner revealed on Friday that Jayland Walker—a 25-year-old Black man who was unarmed when he was killed by Akron police last month—was shot more than 40 times by cops.

Dr. Lisa Kohler, the Summit County medical examiner, said Walker had 41 entry wounds and another five graze wounds, with “several very devastating injuries that would cause death.”

On June 27, Walker died in a hail of gunfire after fleeing police, who initially tried to stop him for an alleged traffic violation. At some point in the car chase, Walker allegedly fired a gunshot, but he was ultimately unarmed when he got out of his vehicle and ran from cops on foot, Police Chief Stephen Mylett has said. Eight officers, all of whom are currently on paid leave, opened fire on Walker, sparking widespread outrage and massive protests across Akron. The NAACP has also called for the Department of Justice to launch a civil rights probe.

[pnwguy]

Jul 15, 2022 16:50:34 GMT LFC said:

These people are sick and out of control.

You are referring to these CRIMINALS who law enforcement must deal with every day, right?  If they don't follow orders, or have too much melanin clouding their thinking, we have no other option but to put them down, for the sake of public safety.  If he had gotten away from us, an unarmed black man would have been wandering the streets.  Don't white women have the right to be outside in their neighborhoods without THAT threat?

</snark>

[LFC]

Federal agents are desperate to hide their brutality because it might blow back on them. Aaaawwwww. You were real f***in' tough beating helpless, unarmed people and now you're scared? Man up, bitches. You can always stand your ground.

Federal agents accused of targeting, mocking and, in some instances, brutalizing Latino workers at a Grainger County slaughterhouse claim their lives will be endangered by the public release of video from the controversial raid, court records show.

Although the video is currently under seal, an investigation by the Tennessee Lookout reveals the footage appears to show a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent putting his boot on the neck of a Latino worker who was facedown on the floor with his hands behind his back and keeping it there for 24 seconds.

That same agent — U.S. Department of Homeland Security Agent John Witsell — punched another Latino worker in the head without provocation in the same April 2018 raid at the Southeastern Provision slaughterhouse in Grainger County, court records show.

In both instances, Witsell’s fellow federal agents agreed in deposition testimony reviewed by the Tennessee Lookout that his actions constituted excessive force.

Attorneys for Witsell and dozens of other agents involved in the raid are asking a federal judge to bar the public release of the video footage and any mention in the court record of what the video depicts.

“Filing the video and (workers’ attorneys’) inflammatory remarks in the public record has the potential to prejudice potential jurors, provoke retaliation and place the agents … at personal risk,” attorneys for the accused agents wrote in a motion filed last week in U.S. District Court.

“Publicizing the video and (workers’ attorneys’) disputed and inflammatory description of it has the potential to subject the individually-named officers to violence or threats of violence in an already tense environment,” the motion continues. “The duties performed by DHS agents are dangerous enough without being subjected to provocative statements that, intentionally or unintentionally, invite condemnation and potential retaliation.”

Agents insisted under oath before now-retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton they only intended to seek records supporting tax evasion charges against the slaughterhouse owner in the April 2018 raid. Instead, court records show, the agents for months had been planning what turned out to be the largest workplace immigration raid in Tennessee in more than a decade.

[jackd]

Videos are helping to change behavior but it's a long slog.

[LFC]

Crazy, irresponsible people with guns, also known as the Denver PD.

Pressed for answers on how five people were injured this week after officers allegedly “randomly” fired into a late-night crowd outside a bar, the Denver Police Department has said the injuries may have been caused by “debris” or “shrapnel” and not direct gunfire.

That was the response of Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen, who on Monday was questioned by reporters about why so little information has been released to the public about the bizarre incident.

The shooting took place in the early hours of Sunday morning, when police officers responding to a disturbance outside a Denver bar fired at a suspect, identified as Jordan Waddy, who they said was “reaching into his waistband” for what they thought was a firearm.

In detailing the incident later that night, police acknowledged in a statement that five other people were also injured, but they offered no details on the bystanders’ injuries.

At the same time, however, witnesses claimed they had seen officers “randomly shoot into a crowd of people.”

“It was definitely a little traumatic to see that go down,” one man who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Denver 7 News. “I heard maybe six or seven shots. I look to my left and I saw a girl who was hit on the thigh and it hit an artery and she was gushing out blood.”

The man accused officers of failing to “assess the situation” before opening fire in a crowded area.

Police said they recovered a pistol at the scene, but that Waddy did not apparently fire it.

The police chief now says more information may be available by Wednesday, as he said investigators were still working to get to the bottom of what happened.

[LFC]

Welcome to the police state in ... San Francisco?

When San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was ousted from office in a recall election last month, his deep-pocketed opponents painted a picture of a weak prosecutor with soft-on-crime policies catering to the social justice set.

Just weeks later, local officials have lurched in a dramatically new direction, advancing a sprawling surveillance program that would tap into private cameras across the city.

Under the latest policy proposed by a newly emboldened police department—and backed by Mayor London Breed and the new DA’s office—cops would be able to watch residents in real time during a “significant event with public safety concerns,” and as part of “investigations” relating to both “active misdemeanors” as well as felonies.

The cameras available for access would include those with a variety of both low- and high-level capabilities. Everything from commercial to private doorbell cameras could ultimately be employed to keep tabs on possible crimes.

What could go wrong?

[jackd]

Presumably all the vision fields are outdoors. If so, most courts hold there are no privacy expectations. What's the objection to police use of such cameras?

[LFC]

Jul 21, 2022 20:31:04 GMT jackd said:

Presumably all the vision fields are outdoors. If so, most courts hold there are no privacy expectations. What's the objection to police use of such cameras?

I didn't say it was illegal. My expectation is that if every step everybody makes outside of their home is monitored by the police then it will be abused. And as we've seen when police make mistakes it's not unusual that they manufacture a crime to cover their asses. Let's just say I'm not a believer in benevolent, even handed law enforcement.

[Bact PhD]

Holy. F***ing. Shit.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/02/rape-kit-evidence-destruction-police/

Gretchen Van Winkle was transfixed as the hit Netflix series “Unbelievable” played across her TV screen in 2019. The dramatized version of a true story of one woman’s rape and betrayal by police was so similar it could have been hers.

Just like the protagonist, Van Winkle was sexually assaulted in her apartment by a knife-wielding intruder, who bound and gagged her. Van Winkle remembered the same kinds of searing questions lobbed at her, as detectives accused the woman on screen of making up her assault.
“Unbelievable” ends with a measure of justice: A partial DNA match helps identify the victim’s rapist and proves she was telling the truth all along. That moment had eluded Van Winkle for more than two decades.
Van Winkle had already asked Virginia authorities to take a fresh look at her 1995 assault case, and now she pressed for new DNA testing. But any hope of an “Unbelievable”-style ending was soon dashed by a stunning series of calls and texts from a Fairfax County police cold-case detective.

Van Winkle’s rape kit had been destroyed, in what police officials later concluded was a violation of department policy. So had the knife, her bloody bedsheets and the clothes she wore when she was attacked. In fact, police said detectives scoured the property room and found every bit of physical evidence in her case was gone.

Then the detective wrote in a text that she had discovered more missing evidence in another old case. Van Winkle responded in disbelief: “Wow. This has left me kind of speechless.”

“Me too,” the detective punched out.

The lengthy piece goes on in disgusting detail how much invalidation went on. Of course, the likelihood of this POS detective seeing any consequences is roughly zero.

[LFC]

Soooo, covering up for somebody or covering up for incompetence? I'd lean to the former if they took that much trouble.

[Bact PhD]

Aug 3, 2022 13:31:01 GMT LFC said:

Soooo, covering up for somebody or covering up for incompetence? I'd lean to the former if they took that much trouble.

The former thought was one of the first things that crossed my mind. Alternatively, it struck me that the POS could be one of thing who believe there’s not *really* such a thing as rape, since (you know) all women are really sl*TS asking for it.

[Bact PhD]

Aug 3, 2022 13:44:22 GMT Bact PhD said:

Aug 3, 2022 13:31:01 GMT LFC said:

Soooo, covering up for somebody or covering up for incompetence? I'd lean to the former if they took that much trouble.

The former thought was one of the first things that crossed my mind. Alternatively, it struck me that the POS could be one of thing who believe there’s not *really* such a thing as rape, since (you know) all women are really sl*ts asking for it.

[andydp]

Aug 3, 2022 13:44:22 GMT Bact PhD said:

Aug 3, 2022 13:31:01 GMT LFC said:

Soooo, covering up for somebody or covering up for incompetence? I'd lean to the former if they took that much trouble.

The former thought was one of the first things that crossed my mind. Alternatively, it struck me that the POS could be one of thing who believe there’s not *really* such a thing as rape, since (you know) all women are really sl*TS asking for it.

Sadly the history of "unprocessed" "backlogged" or "lost" rape kits has been going on for decades.

[LFC]

Open racism among the Sacramento PD. How nice.

Four Asian American residents in Sacramento are suing Siskiyou County, and its sheriff over alleged racism. In the Aug. 3 lawsuit, the plaintiffs accuse Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue and other county officials of “a sweeping campaign to harass and intimidate Hmong and other Asian Americans,” including an unwarranted number of traffic stops. The lawsuit alleges Asian Americans were involved in nearly 30 percent of traffic stops, even though they only make up about 2 percent of the adult population in the area, and were 25 times more likely to be searched than their white counterparts. The lawsuit also claims that Asian Americans have a lack of access to water and are being wrongly targeted for cannabis cultivation. The lawsuit states that the treatment from county officials made it “difficult or impossible for Asian Americans to live and travel peacefully in Siskiyou County.”

[LFC]

WTF is wrong with these types of officers? They're too violent and incapable of self-control to even own a gun much less be a police officer. PDs need to flush these people and flush them fast.

A sergeant in the Chicago Police Department has been removed from duty and arrested on a felony battery charge weeks after a video showing him kneeling on a Puerto Rican teen’s back went viral, authorities say.

Michael Vitellaro turned himself over to police on Thursday in Park Ridge, a Chicago suburb, the department said in a news release. The former sergeant also faces a charge of official misconduct.

Vitellaro’s arrest followed a frustrating six weeks for the parents of 14-year-old Josh Nieves, as they fought to raise awareness of the incident through a petition that garnered more than 1,500 signatures by Thursday afternoon and regular updates to Facebook.

Video of the incident went viral on Fourth of July weekend. It showed Vitellaro pinning Nieves down with his knee squarely in the teen’s back outside a Starbucks. Surrounding the two were Nieves’ friends, who argued with Vitellaro until the 49-year-old begrudgingly let the teen go.

The teen’s mother, Nicole Nieves, described what led up to the incident in a string of social media posts in July. She said her son, who already had a bike of his own, moved an abandoned bike that was blocking the sidewalk outside the Starbucks. Vitellaro spotted her son with the bike and—despite being off-duty and out of Chicago police’s jurisdiction—rushed to grab Nieves wrist and “slammed” him to the ground, believing he was trying to swipe the bike.

“Get your hands off of him,” Nieves’ friends can be heard saying in the video.

Nicole Nieves said video of the incident shows that her son’s shoe flew off while he was being taken down. She says the video also shows the bike that Nieves owned right next to him, suggesting he had no need to steal a bike.

“No shoes, knee in his back, gasping for breath, arms locked - being pinned down by a white, unidentified, off-duty Chicago police officer,” she wrote in a post.

Nieves was eventually freed without injury, but his mom says he was shaken up after the incident.

“One minute, you’re cooking dinner… the next, you’re getting a call from your 14-year-old son, stumbling over his words through hysterical tears, saying, ‘Mom, please come pick me up,’” Nieves wrote.

[pnwguy]

Aug 19, 2022 16:34:26 GMT LFC said:

WTF is wrong with these types of officers? 

Antifa and the Deep State are recruiting 14 year olds.  You have to assume they are dangerous thieves until you can beat a confession out of them.