Deaths and Injuries in Police Custody

[Andrea]

Portland Police Chief Placed on Leave After Forgetting to Mention He Accidentally Shot a Guy

http://gawker.com/portland-police-chief-placed-on-leave-after-forgetting-1778541625?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_twitter& utm_source=gawker_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

On Tuesday, the police chief of Oregon’s largest city was placed on paid leave after allegedly misleading an investigator about a hunting accident last month.

According to The Oregonian, Portland Police Chief Larry O’Dea failed to tell a responding officer he accidentally fired the shot that hit a friend in the back, instead suggesting the victim shot himself:

O’Dea didn’t identify himself as Portland’s chief or even as a police officer when he was questioned by the deputy who responded April 21 to a 911 call outside Fields, [Harney County] Sheriff Dave Ward said in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive.

O’Dea and some of his companions at the scene steered the deputy into believing the shooting was a “self-inflicted’’ accident, Ward said.

“We need our Police Bureau operating at its best, and our officers can’t do that when there’s turmoil and confusion surrounding their leader,” wrote Hales. “I am awaiting the outcome of internal and external investigations before commenting about the incident, and urge all Portlanders to do the same.”“I do know it didn’t happen the way it was originally portrayed,” he said.

According to Sheriff Ward, investigators only learned O’Dea was involved when they interviewed the victim almost a month later.

“The victim made it pretty clear he didn’t shoot himself,’’ said Ward. “The victim knew who shot him.’’

While the shooting occurred in April, O’Dea did not inform the public about the incident until reporters asked him about it last week. Portland Mayor Charlie Hales—who was out of town attending a White House conference on gun violence prevention—announced O’Dea’s leave of absence in a prepared statement.

“We need our Police Bureau operating at its best, and our officers can’t do that when there’s turmoil and confusion surrounding their leader,” wrote Hales. “I am awaiting the outcome of internal and external investigations before commenting about the incident, and urge all Portlanders to do the same.”

[Andrea]

Middle school student charged with larceny for taking free carton of milk

http://blavity.com/middle-school-student-charged-larceny-taking-free-carton-milk/

Ryan Turk, a Virginia middle school student, was handcuffed and suspended from school over a 65-cent carton of milk.

Turk is a part of Graham Park Middle School’s free lunch program and returned to the line to get his milk, which he said he’d forgotten. When he went back, a police officer accused him of stealing. Turk was handcuffed, taken to the principal’s office and searched for drugs, his mother said.

Police say Turk became disorderly, which is why he was cuffed. Turk admitted to pulling back. His mother said the officer let the situation get out of hand over 65-cents.

Shamise Turk told CBS News 6, “I’m angry, I’m frustrated, I’m mad. It just went too far. They are charging him with larceny, which I don’t have no understanding as to why he is being charged with larceny when he was entitled to that milk from the beginning.”

The teen is charged with larceny and a school spokesperson said he is suspended for theft, being disrespectful and using his cell phone in school.

“The need for disciplinary action is determined by how a student behaves throughout any given incident,” the school spokesperson said. “An appeals process is in place to ensure the fairness of any disciplinary action.”

[Andrea]

EXCLUSIVE: City Hall Held Secret Meeting To Get Story Straight On Laquan

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160526/downtown/exclusive-city-hall-held-secret-meeting-get-story-straight-on-laquan

“Get your story straight.”

Cops will tell you that phrase is code, part of the “Thin Blue Line” code of silence in the Police Department, that signals an expectation to fall in line with an agreed upon narrative of an event regardless of what actually happened.

Apparently, getting your story straight is not a practice unique to the Chicago Police Department.

A few days after Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Dec. 9 publicly acknowledged that a code of silence exists within the Police Department, his top aides called a secret meeting at City Hall.

The goal: To make sure everybody — top police brass, Chicago Police Board president Lori Lightfoot and members of the Independent Police Review Authority, the independent agency charged with investigating police misconduct — had their story straight, so to speak, before being grilled by aldermen at a City Council joint hearing of Human Relations and Public safety committees in the wake of the Laquan McDonald shooting, DNAinfo Chicago has learned.

In a Dec. 13 email, top Emanuel-aide Janey Rountree told former acting police Supt. John Escalante, members of the police command staff and others to cancel their own “prep session” for the joint hearing and instead attend a roundtable meeting at City Hall.

“I think it will be really important for CPD to be in the same prep session as IPRA and the Police Board President so everyone has the same information,” Rountree wrote in the email obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

“I know this conflicts with an internal CPD prep session, so I hope it’s not too much trouble to reschedule yours.”

Rountree’s email also laid out a tentative plan for which members of the Police Department would address questions from aldermen at the hearing. The email, sent weeks before Emanuel removed Escalante as temporary top cop, did not mention Escalante by name.

“Right now, the plan is for Chief [Eugene] Williams and Chief [Eddie L.] Welch to speak for CPD,” according to the email, which also includes a list of questions police brass should be prepared to answer.

“You should review these and decide who else you’ll need in the room, particularly the General Counsel and maybe [Deputy Chief of Support Services] Jonathan Lewin. I think we have some flexibility as to who is testifying,” Rountree wrote.

On Dec. 15, Emanuel’s press secretary Adam Collins followed up with Escalante by emailing him a few things “that came up in our prep yesterday” that included expected questions and answers that were written in first-person that read more like a script than a suggestion.

If Escalante were to get asked “Is there a code of silence in CPD?” Collins offered the top cop exact lines he should say that did not answer the question:

“ – I’ve been part of CPD for more than 29 years, and I’ve been honored to serve with some of the finest men and women I know. I’m sure each of you could share incredible stories about officers in your wards and in your communities who have dedicated themselves to making our city a better place to live.
- But we also need to be honest that in an organization of our size there will be some who break the rules, and unfortunately some who break the law.
- When that happens, those people need to be held accountable.
- And if and when anyone tries to hide information from investigators – they need to be held accountable.
- We have those rules on the books. It’s called Rule 14.
- And we need to uphold it.”

How should Escalante answer if he was asked when Mayor Emanuel found out about the Laquan McDonald shooting?

“A: I have no idea.” Collins wrote in the email.

What if Escalante were to be asked, “Who briefs the Mayor on police-involved shootings?”

Collins wrote: “A: We haven’t had one since I became Superintendent and I couldn’t speak to what Superintendent McCarthy may have done around these instances.”

Escalante, who now serves as the Police Department’s second in command, did not testify before the joint committee until "supper time," eight hours after it began when just 12 aldermen were present, WBEZ's Natalie Moore reported at that time.

At the hearing Escalante read from a written copy of remarks that started, "Good morning," the radio station reported.

Asked about the City Hall script for the hearing, Escalante said, "It’s not uncommon for the police department — similar to other city department and agencies — to work with the Mayor’s office on city announcements and events. As they are hired to do, communications staff regularly provide city officials — including police leadership — with recommendations and pointers on a wide range of topics."

Collins, who was recently promoted as Emanuel’s top spokesman, said the emails show "basic routine interaction" between the mayor's office and city agencies.

"Nothing in here questions the independence of IPRA or the Police Board in any, shape or form. Neither our office nor CPD is involved in IPRA's independent investigative work. All this shows is the basic routine interaction between Mayoral liaisons and city agencies. It is common for the Mayor's office ... to hold prep meetings for agency heads before scheduled committee hearings to ensure that those expected to testify are prepared to answer any and all questions that may be asked by Aldermen during the hearing," Collins said.

"You’d expect nothing less because this type of routine preparation ensures that those testifying are able to provide the Aldermen and the public with full and complete information."

City Council got "spun"

Even after the City Hall prep session and follow-up Q&A scripts, the City Council joint hearing on Dec. 15 turned into a marathon session that the Tribune described as a display of “political posturing” and Ald. Danny Solis (25th) called “a waste of time.”

When Solis on Wednesday learned of the City Hall “prep session” before the joint hearing, the veteran alderman said he remains frustrated by the lack of action being taken to fix the city’s “problem” with the police code of silence and the efforts taken to keep aldermen from getting specifics about the state of the Police Department.

“I think we were definitely spun during that hearing in December. I hope that is still not happening now,” Solis said.

“We have a problem. The cat is out of the bag. We have to figure out how to deal with it. We have got to change at our level. The mayor has responsibility and the City Council has responsibility and the police union has a responsibility to come up with solutions.”

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said he wouldn’t have been surprised by the Emanuel administration's “prep session” if it was just for the Police Department.

After all, "they typically hand out talking points to aldermen telling them what to ask. You can tell because you see some [aldermen] reading something they haven't seen before that's written in language that's not how they usually speak," he said.

But the inclusion of IPRA members and the Police Board boss — who were described in Rountree’s email as part of “all people testifying for the city” — in a City Hall roundtable orchestrated by the Emanuel administration doesn’t seem right to the North Side ward boss.

“I think around the city people see the word ‘independent’ in an agency’s name and they think it’s some other entity; not one that it’s run by a mayoral appointee getting directives directly from [Emanuel’s} 5th Floor office,” Waguespack said.

“I’m not surprised they tried to get everyone lined up to answer the same way especially with the situation so heated. You can understand when it’s a matter of legal review on a controversial situation but this goes way beyond that. It’s political maneuvering and manipulation. That’s [Emanuel’s] M.O. He choreographs everything. When they do that instead of letting people answer honestly they just dig the hole deeper.”

"Was there a cover up?"

Ald. John Arena (45th) said the emails obtained by DNAinfo Chicago show that the Emanuel administration, while being very careful with its messaging related to the Laquan McDonald shooting, "still hasn't leveled with us about what they knew and when they knew it about Laquan. We're still sitting here scratching our heads when it comes to that question."

"Was there a cover-up here? That still needs to be answered. What they knew and how much they knew are the most important questions hanging out there. For me, reading [the emails] adds to that fundamental question that needs to be answered at some point."

The City Hall emails obtained by DNAinfo Chicago shed additional light on how much control the Emanuel administration wields on the day-to-day operations of the Police Department, which is currently the subject of a U.S. Justice Department probe.

The Justice Department investigation, however, has been limited to the policies and practices of the Police Department and, as far as anyone knows, has not been expanded to include City Hall.

Not yet, anyway.

In December, I laid out why the feds should do just that, explaining that Chicago’s mayor “historically sits atop an elaborate pyramid of power designed by the Democratic Machine that cynics will tell you was constructed to preserve a publicly accepted level of crookedness locals refer to, sometimes lovingly, as 'The Chicago Way.'”

An outsider might think Chicago’s top cop runs the Police Department, but it’s Chicago’s mayor who is the real boss. The mayor hires the police superintendent, sets the police budget and, as former police Supt. Garry McCarthy will tell you, calls almost every day for briefings on department doings.

Emanuel’s Corporation Counsel Steve Patton, City Hall's top lawyer, is the guy who negotiates the police union contract that includes provisions that for generations have helped crooked cops escape punishment for misconduct.

And when an officer gets accused of misconduct, Patton is the guy who defends officers in court, sometimes by settling civil lawsuits that have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Then there’s the City Hall spin machine that Collins' email appears to show at least attempts to control over almost every word that comes out the top cop's mouth.

Arena stopped short of calling on the feds to take their investigation to City Hall. Instead, the Northwest Side alderman and staunch mayoral critic said he trusts the Justice Department will do what's right.

"The fact that the Department of Justice is investigating is important. That's not an investigation that's easy to subvert. If the Justice Department has a sense that there's more to this they are going to, on their own volition, expand their investigation," he said. "They need to do their work and follow the leads where they go."

Arena clarified his stand by pointing to the words the City Hall Spin Machine had scripted for Escalante in December.

"It's like how they coached Escalante on how to answer about whether there's a code of silence in the police department: If someone breaks the rules they need to be held accountable. If the Department of Justice finds that their investigation leads to the administration they will track down and accordingly hold people accountable," Arena said.

"They won't be held back by any local politics or federal politics and follow the scent where it takes them. When that happens, we'll get the answers."

[Andrea]

Lawsuit says man beaten unconscious in jail, held on misdemeanor

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Lawsuit-says-man-beaten-in-jail-7949531.php?cmpid=twitter-mobile

A 28-year-old Houston man whose father is a deputy constable claims in a lawsuit filed Friday that he was beaten unconscious by two jailers at the Harris County jail after being arrested on a minor trespassing charge.

Michael Alaniz was denied medical treatment for more than a day and was eventually diagnosed with a concussion and a broken nose, according to the lawsuit.

The two deputy sheriffs are not identified in the lawsuit, which notes that Alaniz knows only a physical description of the two men.

Alaniz was arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge after going to the Metropolis & Extravaganza night club on Richmond Avenue on Oct. 23, 2015. The suit says that Alaniz's friend began acting erratic, and that Alaniz was handcuffed by an off-duty sheriff's deputy when he did not leave promptly. He was then placed under arrest by officers with the Houston Police Department.

The problems began after the Houston police officer left him at the jail and he began to be processed by the two deputies, according to the suit.

He was strip-searched publicly in an area where he could be seen by both male and female inmates, and said the jailers ignored his protests, the suit says.

He was then taken to a holding cell, where he said the two jailers slammed him to the ground and beat him repeatedly until he lost consciousness. The suit said that one of the deputies later apologized for the injuries, saying, "he was sorry, but that when told to do so, you have to do your strip search."

He later asked repeatedly for medical treatment but was not seen by medical personnel until 36 hours later. He was prescribed ibuprofen.

After being released from the jail on Oct. 27, Alaniz was taken to Ben Taub Hospital where he was diagnosed with a broken nose and concussion, the suit says.

The suit, filed by attorney Allen H. Zwernemann, seeks undisclosed damages.

[Andrea]

Jury Awards $22M To Man Who Says Cleveland Cop Kept Him In Closet For Days

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ju...cleveland-jail

A jury has awarded $22 million to a man who says he was brutally beaten by an East Cleveland police detective, locked in a storage closet with no toilet for four days and given nothing to eat or drink except for a carton of milk.

The Cleveland jury deliberated for a day before finding for Arnold Black, 48, of East Cleveland, in a three-day civil trial. Relatives testified that Black suffers from physical and emotional problems from the beating and had to undergo surgery to remove dried blood on his brain.

In a strange twist, the trial was held without attorneys representing East Cleveland. City Law Director Willa Hemmons, when contacted Wednesday by The Associated Press, said she wasn't aware that a trial had been held.

She said the trial should have been stopped because of an appeal she had filed with the Ohio Supreme Court and any verdict should be void. A local appeals court twice refused to hear appeals filed by Hemmons on rulings made by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John Sutula that excluded evidence and witnesses the city had hoped to present at trial. Sutula couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Black's attorney, Bobby DiCello, said the judge ordered the trial to proceed because all the parties had been notified.

An East Cleveland police detective said at trial that he had asked a patrol officer to stop Black's truck on April 28, 2012, because he believed there was a kilogram of cocaine inside, said Black's attorney, DiCello said.

When no drugs were found, detective Randy Hicks began punching Black in the face and head and patrol officer Jonathan O'Leary held Black upright so that Hicks could continue the beating, Black testified.

Black also testified that the officers put him in the storage closet to hide the severity of his injuries. Black said an East Cleveland jail guard gave him a carton of milk on his second day of confinement and let him use a cellphone to call his girlfriend, who had been searching for him.

Police took Black to the Cuyahoga County Jail on May 2, 2012, and he quickly was freed on bond.

Hicks testified at the civil trial that Police Chief Ralph Spotts confronted him several days after Black's arrest and forced him to resign. Hicks also testified that Spotts encouraged a culture of violence within the East Cleveland Police Department.

The jury award includes $10 million in compensatory damage against East Cleveland, Hicks, O'Leary and Spotts. It awarded Black $11 million in punitive damages against Spotts and $1 million against O'Leary.

No publicly listed telephone numbers were available for Hicks, Spotts or O'Leary. All have left the East Cleveland Police Department.

East Cleveland provided none of the evidence that DiCello said he requested, including police reports, Hicks' personnel file or footage from O'Leary's dashboard camera that he said would have shown the arrest and beating of Black.

Black was indicted by a grand jury on drug possession, criminal tools and tampering with evidence charges. An assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor asked that the case be dismissed in July 2012 because East Cleveland police failed to provide any evidence to support the charges. DiCello said that while Hicks was forced to resign, O'Leary was never punished.

It's unclear how cash-strapped East Cleveland could pay Black anything as officials there consider filing the state's first-ever municipal bankruptcy and explore a merger with neighboring Cleveland.

[Andrea]

Plainclothes officer who killed Florida church drummer is charged with manslaughter, attempted murder

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/06/01/plainclothes-officer-who-killed-florida-church-drummer-charged-with-manslaughter-attempted-murder/

Florida prosecutors announced Wednesday that a grand jury indicted former Palm Beach Gardens police officer Nouman Raja on charges of manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm for the shooting death of 31-year-old Corey Jones.

The charges come seven months after Jones, a well-known area musician, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Oct. 18, 2015, while he waited for a tow truck after his car broke down on an Interstate 95 off-ramp. Jones was armed at the time with a weapon he had purchased legally just three days earlier when he was approached by Raja, a plainclothes officer in an unmarked car.

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced Wednesday that a grand jury concluded Raja’s use of force was unjustified. Documents released Wednesday allege that Raja never identified himself to Jones as a police officer as he drove up to the stranded motorist, yelled commands and then opened fire.

“The grand jury today found that the use of force by Mr. Raja was unjustified,” Aronberg said. “Mr. Raja has been arrested and taken into custody.”

After the shooting, Palm Beach police officials said that Raja believed he was investigating an abandoned vehicle when he was suddenly confronted by an armed man. However, for the months that the case has been under investigation, it has remained unclear whether Raja announced himself as an officer or what other words were exchanged between the men prior to the shooting.

Charging documents released Wednesday by prosecutors state that: According to an audio recording of the interaction, at no point did Raja identify himself to Jones as a police officer; he was not wearing his tactical vest identifying himself as a police officer; and Raja’s vehicle was not immediately distinguishable as a police vehicle. Prosecutors say Raja drove his unmarked van the wrong way down the interstate off-ramp in order to confront Jones about 3:15 a.m.

“A reasonable person can only assume the thoughts and concerns Corey Jones was experiencing as he saw the van approaching him at that hour of the morning,” prosecutors wrote in the charging documents. “Raja stopped his van at a perpendicular angle directly in front of Jones’s vehicle. … At no time during the recording did Raja say he was a police officer.”

According to the transcript included in the charging documents, Raja asked Jones several times if he was “good,” before transitioning to demanding he put his hands in the air.

Raja: You good?

Jones: I’m good.

Raja: Really?

Jones: Yeah, I’m good.

Raja: Really?

Jones: Yeah.

Raja: Get your f—ing hands up! Get your f—ing hands up!

Jones: Hold on!

Raja: Get your f—ing hands up! Drop!

Then, according to the documents, Raja fired three shots in rapid succession, prompting an AT&T call center operator who had been on the phone with Jones as he waited for the tow truck to exclaim “Oh my gosh!” Then, 10 seconds later, Raja fired three more shots.

Prosecutors say that Raja then called 911, about 30 seconds after firing his last round.

“I came out, I saw him come out with a handgun,” Raja told the 911 dispatcher. “I gave him commands, I identified myself, and he turned, pointed the gun at me and started running. I shot him.”

When other officers arrived at the scene, they found Jones’s body about 192 feet away from his car. Jones’s gun was found between him and the car, about 72 feet away from the vehicle.

Jones was one of 990 people fatally shot by police officers in 2015, according to a Washington Post database tracking such incidents. Raja becomes just the 12th officer charged in connection to a fatal police shooting that occurred in 2015, and is the only officer charged in connection to a shooting in which the person killed was allegedly armed.

Jones’s family, in a statement issued through the law firm of civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, praised the prosecutor’s decision to bring charges.

“We were relieved to learn that officer Nouman Raja, who senselessly killed Corey Jones, was arrested earlier today and will face criminal charges for his reckless act. While we understand that nothing can bring back our son, brother and friend, this arrest sends a message that this conduct will not be tolerated from members of law enforcement,” the statement said. “Our goal now as a family is to ensure that this never happens to another innocent citizen. In spite of this news, our hearts are heavy. We lost a wonderful soul. But rather than focus on the reprehensible actions of one police officer, today we choose to celebrate Corey’s life.”

Rep. Patrick E. Murphy (D-Fla.), who has introduced body camera and police data collection legislation in response to Jones’s death, also praised the decision to bring charges against Raja.

“Today’s indictment of former officer Nouman Raja demonstrates that no one is above the law,” Murphy said in a statement. “It is also an important step forward for our community to begin to heal and to restore trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. While nothing will bring Corey back, I hope today’s action brings some peace to his loved ones as we continue to honor his life by working together to prevent future tragedies such as this.”

[Andrea]

Video release of police shootings, incidents marks seismic shift in Chicago's secrecy

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-police-videos-met-20160603-story.html

The Emanuel administration posted evidence online Friday morning from more than 100 pending investigations of police shootings and other incidents, marking a watershed moment for a city that fought for decades to keep videos in excessive force cases hidden from the public.

The document dump comes more than six months after video of a Chicago police officer shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times changed the landscape for the embattled Police Department.

As many as half of the 100 cases still under investigation by the city's police oversight agency include dashcam videos, surveillance footage and audio, including a handful deemed "sensitive" because they depict citizens being beaten or shot, city officials said.

The move marks the official rollout of a new policy to release video of shootings by police within 60 days of most incidents — an unprecedented shift toward transparency that even longtime critics of the secrecy of the Police Department have praised as an important step.

"I think this is a big thing," said Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor who has studied police misconduct. "We are experiencing a sea change, and lots of credit should go around for that."

Andrea: Click link for rest of long article that includes police misconduct examples

[*Anya*]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Jury Awards $22M To Man Who Says Cleveland Cop Kept Him In Closet For Days

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ju...cleveland-jail

A jury has awarded $22 million to a man who says he was brutally beaten by an East Cleveland police detective, locked in a storage closet with no toilet for four days and given nothing to eat or drink except for a carton of milk.

The Cleveland jury deliberated for a day before finding for Arnold Black, 48, of East Cleveland, in a three-day civil trial. Relatives testified that Black suffers from physical and emotional problems from the beating and had to undergo surgery to remove dried blood on his brain.

In a strange twist, the trial was held without attorneys representing East Cleveland. City Law Director Willa Hemmons, when contacted Wednesday by The Associated Press, said she wasn't aware that a trial had been held.

She said the trial should have been stopped because of an appeal she had filed with the Ohio Supreme Court and any verdict should be void. A local appeals court twice refused to hear appeals filed by Hemmons on rulings made by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John Sutula that excluded evidence and witnesses the city had hoped to present at trial. Sutula couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Black's attorney, Bobby DiCello, said the judge ordered the trial to proceed because all the parties had been notified.

An East Cleveland police detective said at trial that he had asked a patrol officer to stop Black's truck on April 28, 2012, because he believed there was a kilogram of cocaine inside, said Black's attorney, DiCello said.

When no drugs were found, detective Randy Hicks began punching Black in the face and head and patrol officer Jonathan O'Leary held Black upright so that Hicks could continue the beating, Black testified.

Black also testified that the officers put him in the storage closet to hide the severity of his injuries. Black said an East Cleveland jail guard gave him a carton of milk on his second day of confinement and let him use a cellphone to call his girlfriend, who had been searching for him.

Police took Black to the Cuyahoga County Jail on May 2, 2012, and he quickly was freed on bond.

Hicks testified at the civil trial that Police Chief Ralph Spotts confronted him several days after Black's arrest and forced him to resign. Hicks also testified that Spotts encouraged a culture of violence within the East Cleveland Police Department.

The jury award includes $10 million in compensatory damage against East Cleveland, Hicks, O'Leary and Spotts. It awarded Black $11 million in punitive damages against Spotts and $1 million against O'Leary.

No publicly listed telephone numbers were available for Hicks, Spotts or O'Leary. All have left the East Cleveland Police Department.

East Cleveland provided none of the evidence that DiCello said he requested, including police reports, Hicks' personnel file or footage from O'Leary's dashboard camera that he said would have shown the arrest and beating of Black.

Black was indicted by a grand jury on drug possession, criminal tools and tampering with evidence charges. An assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor asked that the case be dismissed in July 2012 because East Cleveland police failed to provide any evidence to support the charges. DiCello said that while Hicks was forced to resign, O'Leary was never punished.

It's unclear how cash-strapped East Cleveland could pay Black anything as officials there consider filing the state's first-ever municipal bankruptcy and explore a merger with neighboring Cleveland.

Every time that I think I could not possibly read anything more outrageous than the travesty I had read about previously: there is yet another one even more horribly unbelievable but true!

What the living fuck is going on with the police in this country??

[Andrea]

SEE IT: Infamous NYPD sergeant points gun at man recording her, then busts into apartment and arrests him

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/nypd-sergeant-aims-gun-man-recording-illegal-search-article-1.2661248?cid=bitly

An NYPD sergeant is facing disciplinary action for pointing her department-issued gun at a Brooklyn man who was recording her with his cell phone, the Daily News has learned.

Sgt. Diana Pichardo then confronted the man, David Rivera, called him a "motherf-----," and snatched the phone from his hand — which was all captured on a recording.

Rivera, who was arrested on a slew of felony charges which the Brooklyn district attorney's office declined to prosecute, reported the shocking incident to the Civilian Complaint Review Board. The CCRB substantiated Rivera's allegations that Pichardo pointed her gun at him, abused her authority by searching his apartment without a warrant, and spoke discourteously to him.

Rivera's video, which he shared with The News, is the second video to surface recently which depicts an NYPD cop pointing a firearm at someone merely holding a phone. Harlem cop Risel Martinez was stripped of his gun and badge last month after he was caught on camera menacing onlookers and punching a man recording him.

"I think many police officers fear the camera and attempt to stop the recording because they're concerned it's going to be used against them," said lawyer Jason Leventhal who plans to file a lawsuit on Rivera's behalf this week in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Andrea: Click link for rest of article