Deaths and Injuries in Police Custody

[Andrea]

Campaign Zero

Over the past two days, we saw video of police officers shooting #AltonSterling, father of five, while he lay on the ground and then #PhilandoCastile during a traffic stop for a broken tail light.

Alton and Philando were the 184th and 185th black people killed by police this year. They should both be alive today.

Urgent action is needed to put in place comprehensive policy solutions to end police violence in our communities. Today we launch a visualization of the local, state, and federal laws that have been enacted since 2014 to address police violence, showing areas where progress has been made and where work still needs to be done to put in place systems and structures that protect our communities from police violence. Here are some of the findings:

At least 60 laws have been enacted in the past two years to address police violence and another 58 bills are currently being considered;
New legislation has been enacted in 28 states, while 9 states are currently considering legislation;
5 states (CA, CT, IL, MD, UT) have enacted legislation addressing three or more Campaign Zero policy categories;
Executive action has been taken at the federal level as well as legislation;
Local ordinances have been passed in many of America's largest cities.

Click here to access the legislation visualization and take action tool.

What You Can Do

Review the new laws that have been put in place in your community and use the Take Action advocacy tool on the page to see how state representatives have voted on these measures and demand they take more meaningful action to end police violence in your state. You can also embed the advocacy tool on your website to encourage more people to hold their representatives accountable for addressing police violence.

In the coming weeks, we will be forming a collective of advocates, policy researchers, and civic technologists to develop new ways to connect more and more people to the information, tools, and networks needed to advance comprehensive policy solutions - at every level of government - to end police violence in America.

If you are a policy researcher, coder/developer, or activist and would like to assist us in the next phase of this project, please reply to this e-mail directly.

// DeRay, Netta, Brittany, & Sam

# of people the police killed in 2015: 1,209
# of people the police have killed to-date in 2016: 599
# of officers charged with a crime for killing someone in 2016: 5

[kittygrrl]

I think the only word that fits what happened in Baton Rouge, murder. The video taken by the store manager, shows exactly how it happened to Alton Sterling. It's unspeakable, despicable violence on a man who was just selling cd's. I can't imagine how painful this must be for his children. His oldest son broke down crying for his daddy to come back during a statement read by his mother. It's heartbreaking. It's wrong. It has to be stopped right now!

We need to get involved in local politics and demand a more diverse police force. No excuses, from the police that they can't find qualified people of color. They are there but there has always existed an undercurrent of racism in our police departments in general so recruiting people of color isn't serious. Police attitudes about policing communities needs to change. Instead of lip service police should turn-in their armored tanks and hum-vees, and get involved in the community they serve and develop relationships with the locals. If that's not your thing, don't go for a career in law enforcement. Not every cop needs to carry a gun. There are other means of controlling a person other then shooting them. They need to retrain the police in general to use lethal force as a LAST resort and not allowed to draw their weapons for a minor offense (ie, selling single cigarettes or cds in front of a store). They need to understand they will go to jail if they make that choice. Police need to have penalities (ie, leave without pay) for using their gun on a citizen, no matter what the reason is. Police really have no penalites associated with using their guns instead of non-lethal methods of subduing an individual and so shoot first and deflect later works. The public wants to feel safe and so they are willing to give police card blanche on shooting whenever they feel it's necessary without the consequences a normal person on the street would face if he uses his gun. Police are not gods and their judgement and attitude can be/is far worse then a person on the street. Yes they have to be cautious, Yes they have to be attentive, but they need to be subjected to the same laws that a regular citizen would be subject to, not protected from prosecution because they are more "special". We do not live in a perfect world and they (the police) are far from perfect.

[Andrea]

N.Y. Attorney General probes video of Delrawn Small being shot by off-duty cop within seconds of approaching officer's car

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ag-probes-video-victim-delrawn-small-punching-off-duty-cop-article-1.2704876

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office is reviewing a damning video that shows a 37-year-old man getting fatally shot by an off-duty cop within seconds of approaching the officer’s car — contradicting earlier accounts that the cop was defending himself, officials said.

The surveillance video, which the attorney general’s office acquired earlier this week, shows Delrawn Small approaching Police Officer Wayne Isaacs’ 2002 Nissan Altima on Atlantic Ave. and Bradford St. in East New York, Brooklyn. The confrontation happened just after midnight July 4.

Small buckled over and grabbed at a passing car within seconds of approaching Issacs’ driver side window. He stumbled off and falls to the ground in between two parked cars.

Moments later, Isaacs, also 37, got out of his car. He tucked what appeared to be a gun under his shirt as he looked at Small’s body, according to the video.

Small’s outraged relatives said Friday night the footage was proof that the killing was not justified.

“The video is as clear as day. That everything they told us from the very beginning was a lie. Was a lie,” Small’s brother Victor Dempsey said. “Every single thing. And I don’t know how to feel now. All I know is my brother was murdered. Point blank period murdered.”

The victim’s sister, Victoria Davis, said she choked back tears watching Small stagger and fall to the ground.

“To just watch him stumble from car to car, knowing that he suffered, knowing that he was afraid, that was hard,” she said. “That’s not a video that I would ever want to see again.

The fatal shooting took place in front of Small’s girlfriend and three kids.

Isaacs, a three-year veteran of the NYPD, was returning home from a 4 p.m.-midnight shift when he allegedly cut off Small’s 2016 Kia, witnesses told police. When the vehicles reached a stoplight, Small exited his car, approached Isaacs’ vehicle, and was shot.

Isaacs told investigators that Small had punched him at least two times before he opened fire.

He remains on active duty as Schneiderman’s office investigates. The NYPD is also conducting a departmental review.

Small’s neighbors were “ecstatic” the video surfaced.

“They tried to paint him out to be some gorilla — like, he jumped out the car to go attack this person not knowing that he was a cop,” said Octavius Sullivan, 36, who has known Small since they were boys.

Attorney Roger Wareham, who is representing Small’s family, said the video was proof Isaacs lied and should be arrested immediately.

“If the cop’s story is obviously false, why haven’t they arrested him?” he asked.

Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man who died after being placed in a chokehold by an undercover detective in 2014, said Friday the video sickened her.

“This video so upsets me. It’s horrible. They lie all the time,” said Carr, as she joined a Black Lives Matter protest in Harlem.

[Andrea]

FBI investigating after cellphone video shows police fatally shooting unarmed man in Fresno

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-video-shooting-dylan-noble-20160707-snap-story.html

Cellphone video showing Fresno police officers shooting an unarmed 19-year-old man lying on the ground at a gas station has sparked protests and prompted the FBI to launch an investigation.

The shooting, which occurred last month but generated debate this week after the video was made public, is the latest in a series of police use-of-force incidents caught on tape.

The video shows Dylan Noble lying on the ground on June 25 as two officers with their guns drawn stand feet away from him. As officers yell “Keep your hands up” and other commands, one shot is fired. Seconds later, a third officer approaches the pair, and another shot rings out. At one point during the video, Noble can be seen raising his arm and saying, “I’ve been shot.”

The witness video does not show the moments just before the fatal shooting. Two shots already had been fired at Noble before the recording began.

Police Chief Jerry Dyer told The Times on Thursday that Noble twice raised his shirt with his left hand and used his right hand to reach under his shirt into his waistband. The officers, he said, feared for their lives.

Officers warned Noble not to reach into his waistband because they believed he was trying to retrieve a firearm, Dyer said.

That’s when an officer fired two shots with his handgun. Those shots, he said, are not depicted in the witness video. The officer then fired another shot. A second officer delivered the fourth and final shot, one round from a shotgun.

The video, Dyer said, doesn’t tell the whole story of the shooting, which lasted about 2 minutes and 20 seconds. It was originally posted Wednesday by the Fresno Bee.

The officers’ body cameras will show exactly what happened, since they were standing 12 to 15 feet away, he said. The department will review the officers’ actions to determine why they fired at Noble while he was on the ground and if there were other options, he said. Officers have to make split-second decisions, Dyer noted.

“There is going to be questions,” he said. “It’s an unfortunate tragedy that occurred in this city.”

The FBI and the U.S. attorney general’s office have agreed to investigate the shooting and will have access to all evidence, Dyer said. The chief said he didn’t want the public to think the police department isn’t “fair and objective” in its handling of the investigation and that FBI oversight would provide more transparency.

“Anytime an unarmed individual is shot, especially when their life is taken, there is a tendency for the public to rush to judgment and come up with their own conclusions,” Dyer said.

The body camera videos, he said, would be released once the district attorney’s office has concluded its investigation. Noble’s family will be allowed to view the videos before they are publicly released, Dyer added.

According to the police department, officers responded to a report of a man walking with a rifle about 3:20 p.m. and observed a black pickup speeding as they searched the area. They tried to stop the truck, but it continued traveling for half a mile. The truck eventually pulled into a Chevron gas station, police said.

The shooting has sparked an online petition demanding that the Fresno Police Department release body camera footage of the incident. The shooting comes amid national outrage over the number of shootings by police involving black men. In this case, Noble was white.

Lt. Burke Farrah said Noble refused to show his hands and tried to conceal one hand behind his back, then in his waistband. Noble, he said, got out of his truck.

Officers repeatedly ordered Noble to show his hands and get on the ground. That’s when Noble turned toward the officers with one hand still behind his back, telling them that “he hated his life,” Farrah said. Police said Noble advanced toward officers, who then fired four shots. Farrah told The Times that Noble did not have a weapon.

Noble was taken to an area hospital and died during surgery.

A large vigil held days after the shooting drew a crowd of officers, who blocked the road for safety, police said.

Fresno residents and friends and family of Noble carried a large Confederate flag as they confronted police, while others posted signs at a memorial that said “Justice for Dylan,” and “White Lives Matter.”

Dylan Noble’s father, Darren Noble, said in a statement that his son did not have emotional or mental problems and that any suggestion he wanted to die is false.

The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave. Dyer declined to release the officers’ names because he said they have been receiving threats on social media. One officer has 20 years’ experience with the department, and the other officer has worked in law enforcement for 17 years, Dyer said.

The Fresno County district attorney’s office has conducted interviews, collected evidence and attended Noble’s autopsy, said Assistant Dist. Atty. Steve Wright. Prosecutors are waiting for the results of toxicology tests, which could take six weeks, before they review the case. A complete investigation will take at least two months, Wright said.

At least one use-of-force expert said the chief’s statement that the shooting sequence lasted more than 2 minutes was odd.

“That would be highly unusual. It’s usually no more than five to 20 seconds between the first and last shot,” said Charles "Sid" Heal, a former Los Angeles County sheriff's commander.

In cases where lethal force was used, “each and every shot must be justified as protecting the public or officers,” Heal said.

Deadly force could be deemed justified if the officers feared for their lives because Noble made repeated furtive movements, refused to show his hands and refused to follow commands, Heal said.

Once Noble was on the ground after the first shots, officers would have had to reassess the threat, Heal said.

The officers will need to explain the last two shots seen in the video, the expert said.

“Why didn’t officers move in after the third shot and restrain him? Fourteen seconds is a long time to wait,” Heal said. “Sometimes we get criticized for handcuffing dead people. But this is why we move in and restrain people.”

Ed Obayashi, another use-of-force expert who consults with county governments throughout California, said that even though the video fails to capture the entire shooting sequence, it does raise questions about whether the officers perceived the same threat.

“We hear a third shot on the video and apparently that officer perceived a threat and then 14 to 16 seconds later there is a discharge of a shotgun at the individual on the ground,” Obayashi said.

“At that time, four or five officers have a direct field of vision of the man on the ground. And yet we have a backup officer with a shotgun firing that fourth shot alone,” Obayashi said. “Usually, four of five officers in the field of vision will all open fire at once,” he said.

[Andrea]

EXCLUSIVE: Judge orders rare phone probe to find video that may show NYPD cops beating mentally ill man

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/judge-orders-rare-phone-probe-fatal-nypd-video-article-1.2703389?cid=bitly

A federal judge has initiated an independent — and what may be an unprecedented — investigation of possible tampering with a cell phone that allegedly contained a video of a fatal confrontation between NYPD cops and an emotionally disturbed man, the Daily News has learned.

Brooklyn Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann ordered the city to hand over the cell phone to Stroz Friedberg, a highly respected cybersecurity firm that she chose, for forensic examination and retrieval of the video.

“If the video does not presently exist on the cell phone, Stroz Friedberg shall attempt to determine whether the video previously existed on the cell phone, and if so, whether and when the video was deleted or the cell phone was subject to any tampering or wiping,” Mann stated in the order.

Sources told The News that the cell phone does not presently contain a video of the June 8, 2015, incident that ended in the death of Mario Ocasio and is the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Mann, the chief magistrate judge for the Eastern District of New York, shocked lawyers for the city and Ocasio’s mother on Wednesday when she announced that forensic findings will remain confidential for the time being, and suggested that the parties pay the $30,000 cost of the analysis.

“No one has ever heard of a judge doing this before,” said a knowledgeable source.

Citing an ongoing police internal investigation, the city had reluctantly provided Mann with four CDs containing data downloaded from the cell phone that belonged to witness Kashif Osagie.

Then last January, the judge ordered the city to deliver the phone itself for independent examination.

The suit contends that the video will show that cops beat Ocasio with batons and that his death was caused, in part, by excessive force.

Cops were summoned to Ocasio’s Bronx apartment by his girlfriend Geneice Lloyd who reported that he was “bugging out,” according to court papers.

His cause of death was cardiac arrest “during excited delirium due to acute intoxication by synthetic cannabinoid (marijuana),” the filings say.

Osagie started recording, then handed off the phone to Lloyd who continued recording what transpired.

Osagie told The News that if his phone does not contain a video of Ocasio being restrained, “it was either altered or deleted.”

The city has called Ocasio’s death tragic, but strongly denied the cops did anything improper.

[Andrea]

Atlanta officer fired after fatally shooting man in Midtown

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/atlanta-officer-fired-after-fatally-shooting-man-in-midtown/396539310

Officer James Burns with Atlanta police was fired more than two weeks after police said he shot and killed a man suspected of breaking into a car in Midtown.

It all unfolded on June 22 in the parking lot of Monroe Place apartments off of Piedmont Road.

Initially, we were told Burns shot and killed a 22-year-old when he attempted to take off in a car. Now, police said that the officer actually had no idea who was in the car and that he had no evidence of car break-ins at the time.

They said when the 34-year-old shot into the vehicle, he violated the department’s policy.

Police said he was fired for using "unnecessary and unreasonable" force in the shooting.

Burns was hired by the department in 2013.

[Andrea]

This article describes how multiple steps in the criminal prosecution system can ruin the life of an innocent person:

BUSTED

https://www.propublica.org/article/common-roadside-drug-test-routinely-produces-false-positives?utm_campaign=comms&utm_source=comms-FB&utm_medium=email&utm_term=cops&utm_content=http s://www.propublica.org/article/common-roadside-drug-test-routinely-produces-false-positives

Amy Albritton can’t remember if her boyfriend signaled when he changed lanes late that August afternoon in 2010. But suddenly the lights on the Houston Police patrol car were flashing behind them, and Anthony Wilson was navigating Albritton’s white Chrysler Concorde to a stop in a strip-mall parking lot. It was an especially unwelcome hassle. Wilson was in Houston to see about an oil-rig job; Albritton, volunteering her car, had come along for what she imagined would be a vacation of sorts. She managed an apartment complex back in Monroe, La., and the younger of her two sons — Landon, 16, who had been disabled from birth by cerebral palsy — was with his father for the week. After five hours of driving through the monotony of flat woodland, the couple had checked into a motel, carted their luggage to the room and returned to the car, too hungry to rest but too drained to seek out anything more than fast food. Now two officers stepped out of their patrol car and approached.

Albritton, 43, had dressed up for the trip — black blouse, turquoise necklace, small silver hoop earrings glinting through her shoulder-length blond hair. Wilson, 28, was more casually dressed, in a white T-shirt and jeans, and wore a strained expression that worried Albritton. One officer asked him for his license and registration. Wilson said he didn’t have a license. The car’s registration showed that it belonged to Albritton.

The officer asked Wilson to step out of the car. Wilson complied. The officer leaned in over the driver’s seat, looked around, then called to his partner; in the report Officer Duc Nguyen later filed, he wrote that he saw a needle in the car’s ceiling lining. Albritton didn’t know what he was talking about. Before she could protest, Officer David Helms had come around to her window and was asking for consent to search the car. If Albritton refused, Helms said, he would call for a drug-sniffing dog. Albritton agreed to the full search and waited nervously outside the car.

Helms spotted a white crumb on the floor. In the report, Nguyen wrote that the officers believed the crumb was crack cocaine. They handcuffed Wilson and Albritton and stood them in front of the patrol car, its lights still flashing. They were on display for rush-hour traffic, criminal suspects sweating through their clothes in the 93-degree heat.

As Nguyen and Helms continued the search, tensions grew. Albritton, shouting over the sound of traffic, tried to explain that they had the wrong idea — at least about her. She had been dating Wilson for only a month; she implored him to admit that if there were drugs, they were his alone. Wilson just shook his head, Albritton now recalls. Fear surging, she shouted that there weren’t any drugs in her car even as she insisted that she didn’t know that Wilson had brought drugs. The search turned up only one other item of interest — a box of BC Powder, an over-the-counter pain reliever. Albritton never saw the needle. The crumb from the floor was all that mattered now.

At the police academy four years earlier, Helms was taught that to make a drug arrest on the street, an officer needed to conduct an elementary chemical test, right then and there. It’s what cops routinely do across the country every day while making thousands upon thousands of drug arrests. Helms popped the trunk of his patrol car, pulled out a small plastic pouch that contained a vial of pink liquid and returned to Albritton. He opened the lid on the vial and dropped a tiny piece of the crumb into the liquid. If the liquid remained pink, that would rule out the presence of cocaine. If it turned blue, then Albritton, as the owner of the car, could become a felony defendant.

Helms waved the vial in front of her face and said, “You’re busted.”

Andrea: Clink the link for the rest of the article

[Andrea]

Body-cam footage shows Georgia cops tased the wrong man within 38 seconds of meeting him

http://theweek.com/speedreads/636190/bodycam-footage-shows-georgia-cops-tased-wrong-man-within-38-seconds-meeting

When several Savannah, Georgia, cops approached 24-year-old Patrick Mumford, they were looking for another African-American man named Michael Clay. And though Mumford identified himself as "Patrick" when asked for his name, body camera footage from the officers involved shows just 38 seconds elapsed from the beginning of the encounter to when one officer says to another, "All right, tase him!"

While Mumford is seen expressing confusion and refusing to stand up to be arrested, he is not armed or actively attacking the police. He is also correct in his protest that there is no warrant against him, a claim he could confidently make because he had just returned from visiting his probation officer. (He is on probation following a first-time arrest for a nonviolent marijuana offense.)

After the officers tase Mumford twice, they check his wallet and discover he was telling the truth about his identity. Though the police begin insisting their actions were predicated by Mumford's refusal to show his ID, the footage indicates they never asked for it before attacking him.

Mumford was charged with misdemeanor obstruction following this confrontation. Though that charge was dismissed, he is still scheduled for a probation revocation hearing which his attorney says could cause him to go to jail, lose his job, and miss college classes.

[Andrea]

Atlanta cop who killed unarmed driver opened fire on car without knowing if suspect was inside: ‘He had no idea who was in the vehicle’

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/atlanta-killed-driver-no-idea-car-article-1.2711661?utm_content=bufferaee35&utm_medium=socia l&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

An Atlanta cop who killed an unarmed black man last month had no idea who was inside the car he shot into, an internal affairs investigation found.

Officer James Burns was fired from the force earlier this month after the June killing of 22-year-old Deravis Caine Rogers. The three-year department veteran did not know if the suspect he was chasing was inside the car and fired at it as it drove away from — not toward — the cop, according to a report released Wednesday.

“He had no idea who was in the vehicle. He had no idea if that was the vehicle he should be concerned with. He just discharged his weapon," Sgt. Warren Pickard told 11 Alive News. “The officer simply acted in a way that we cannot support.”

Georgia’s Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting for any possible criminal violation.

"It's a murder," Deravis Thomas, Rogers’ dad, told the TV station. "It's a murder and we need justice for that. He needs to be indicted and prosecuted."

Burns was called to an apartment complex in northeast Atlanta on June 22 after an off-duty cop reported a suspicious person allegedly breaking into cars in the parking lot, according to a copy of the investigation report obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

As the cop pulled into the parking lot, he spotted a car driving away from the lot. He put on his cruisers’ lights and sirens, and parked in a position to stop the exiting driver.

But the sedan — with Rogers at the wheel — drove past Burns’ squad car. That’s when the officer got out of his car, yelled for the driver to stop and opened fire, the investigation showed.

Burns admitted he didn't know who was inside the car when he opened fire, but insisted he pulled his weapon because the car was racing toward him and he feared for his life.

“I shot at the car who was trying to run me over and kill me,” he told investigators days after the shooting.

But police officials rejected Burns’ claims, and instead said Rogers was trying to drive away from the cop, not toward him. Pickard said evidence, including dash cam videos, showed there was no obvious threat to Burns.

“You did not have reasonable suspicion that the driver of the vehicle engaged in, or was about to engage in, criminal activity,” Atlanta Police Chief George N. Turner wrote in a memo. “Yet rather than allow the driver to drive past you, you exited your vehicle and ultimately prevented the driver from driving away through the use of deadly force.”

Burns was fired on July 1 for using excessive force. Possible criminal charges could come after the state investigation.

[Andrea]

No charges for officers who shot woman in back of patrol car

http://www.myajc.com/news/news/crime-law/no-charges-for-officers-who-shot-woman-in-back-of-/nry6Q/

How did a petite 26-year-old woman, handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser, manage to produce a gun and allegedly fire three bullets at two Atlanta officers, who responded with lethal force?

For more than 14 months, the family of Alexia Christian, fatally shot 10 times on April 30, 2015, waited for answers. Friday, they learned those answers may never be forthcoming following a meeting with Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, who told them there would be no charges brought against officers Jeffrey Cook, 54, and Omar Thyme, 34.

Howard’s conclusion was based on “what was left of the evidence,” said the Christian family’s attorney, Mawuli Davis. Specifically, he noted the lack of any video, even though the shooting took place outside Underground Atlanta’s parking deck, an area blanketed by security cameras.

Though he won’t be bringing a criminal case, Howard was sharply critical of how the arrest was handled.

Christian, he said, slipped her left wrist from the cuffs and fired three shots toward the officers from the back seat. The officers, unscathed, exited the vehicle and ordered her to drop the gun. She responded by aiming the weapon at Thyme, according to Howard. The officers fired five shots each. Christian was mortally wounded.

None of that was captured on video because the back seat camera was turned off. Howard’s investigation “revealed loopholes in the (standard operating procedures), which did not require Atlanta police officers to video back-seat incidents like the Christian shooting,” says a statement from the district attorney’s office.

Howard said he has discussed his findings with Atlanta Police Chief George Turner, who assured him he has “taken steps to correct these problems.”

According to Davis, the biggest issue in the Christian case was the Atlanta Police Department’s belief that it could investigate itself.

“There’s a level of distrust with how law enforcement handles these investigations,” he said.

The APD did handle the investigation into Christian’s death but has since turned over all internal probes to the GBI.

In a statement, the APD said it has not concluded its internal investigation into this incident, “and thus cannot discuss the specific evidence related to the case.”

Cook is on full-duty status, the statement said. Thyme no longer works for Atlanta police.

Christian — who had served more than three years in prison after trying to steal a patrol car, dragging an officer who had been thrown from the vehicle — was arrested on April 30, 2015, after police spotted her in a pickup truck that had been reported stolen earlier that afternoon.

The issue, said Davis, is not the official account but the lack of accountability and transparency. Turner had promised to release the videos but only one was shown to the family, and it was pointing outside, not inside, the cruiser.

While her family didn’t see Christian’s final moments, they heard them. According to Davis, the officers can be heard telling her to drop the gun. Christian can be heard saying she doesn’t have one.

“I just witnessed my daughter’s last breath,” said her mother, Felecia Christian. “It’s not acceptable. APD has done a great disservice to my family.”

Outside of civil litigation, it is unclear what remedy, if any, the Christians have. Requesting a new investigation would likely be futile since, according to Davis, there is little evidence left to probe. He said the cruiser where the shots were fired was placed back into service the following day. The reason: “A shortage of cars,” Davis said.

[genghisfawn]

I work for the children and youth advocate, and we routinely do investigations into children and youth who die or are afflicted with critical injury in youth custody. We recently made a major release around a special investigation around an Indigenous, Deaf youth who died in custody - there are huge systemic issues at work where I live, only with our Indigenous population, they face a lot of the same outcomes as Black people in the States in "conflict" with the law. The report can be read in the link, but please take care and only read if you can care for yourself/feel resilient enough to do so. http://www.saskadvocate.ca/sites/def...015%202016.pdf

[Andrea]

Brian Rice trial: Highest-ranking officer cleared in Freddie Gray death

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/18/us/brian-rice-freddie-gray-verdict/index.html

[Andrea]

2 state troopers arrested following beating caught on tape

http://whdh.com/news/2-state-troopers-arrested-following-beating-caught-on-tape/

Two state troopers involved in the videotaped beating of a man who was apparently surrendering after a 50-mile car chase through Massachusetts and New Hampshire were arrested Tuesday.

Joseph Flynn, 32, of the Massachusetts State Police and Andrew Monaco, 31, of the New Hampshire State Police, were arrested on charges stemming from their use of force in the arrest of Richard Simone Jr. on May 11, New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster said in a statement. Video caught by a TV news helicopter shows Simone appearing to surrender and officers then punching him repeatedly.

Monaco was charged with three counts of simple assault; Flynn was charged with two counts. The charge is a misdemeanor and carries up to a year in jail. But under New Hampshire law, because Monaco and Flynn were on-duty law enforcement officers at the time, each charge is subject to an enhanced penalty of up to five years, the attorney general said.

Both were suspended.

Monaco was released Tuesday on $3,000 personal recognizance bond, and Flynn was released on $2,000 bond. They are scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 13 in Nashua. It’s not known if they have lawyers.

Authorities say Simone refused to stop for police in Holden, Massachusetts, leading them on an hourlong chase with speeds up to 100 mph that ended in Nashua.

Video shows Simone stepping out of his pickup truck, kneeling and placing his hands on the ground as Monaco begins punching Simone on the left side of his head, according to complaints filed against the troopers. Monaco and Flynn then punch Simone repeatedly while he is prone on the ground. Monaco then strikes Simone with his knee multiple times.

Simone later told investigators he was punched, kicked and “kneed” by both troopers and was repeatedly told to “stop resisting” although his arms were behind his back while the attack continued, according to the complaints. Simone told investigators he received three stitches in his ear. Medical records indicate he was diagnosed with possible post-concussive syndrome following the beating.

Simone, who was wanted on multiple warrants, was sent back to jail after being arraigned in Worcester, Massachusetts, on charges including larceny, failure to stop for police and assault with a dangerous weapon. A message was left seeking comment from his lawyer.

[Andrea]

Video Shows Unarmed Black Man Pleading With Arms Raised Before Getting Shot by Police

http://gawker.com/video-shows-unarmed-black-man-pleading-with-arms-raised-1784004594?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=Gaw ker_twitter

On Wednesday, WSVN aired a cell phone video reportedly taken moments before caregiver Charles Kinsey was shot by North Miami police. In it, Kinsey, who survived, can be see lying on the ground with his hands raised, explaining that him and the autistic man he was assisting are unarmed.

“I thought it was a mosquito bite, and when it hit me I had my hands in the air, and I’m thinking I just got shot!” Kinsey told WSVN. “And I’m saying, ‘Sir, why did you shoot me?’ and his words to me were, ‘I don’t know.’”

According to police, officers were dispatched to the scene of the shooting on Monday after getting a 911 call about a man with a gun threatening suicide.

“Arriving officers attempted to negotiate with two men on the scene, one of whom was later identified as suffering from autism,” said North Miami Police in a statement. “At some point during the on-scene negotiation, one of the responding officers discharged his weapon, striking the employee.”

According to WPLG, police later said the autistic man “had something in his hand.” In the video, Kinsey can be heard identifying the object as a toy truck.

After shooting him, Kinsey says police put him in handcuffs.

North Miami Police say the officer who shot Kinsey has been placed on administrative leave, but have not released the officer’s name or said if he will face any charges.

[Andrea]

Charges dismissed for cop who paralyzed innocent grandfather on a stroll

http://boingboing.net/2016/07/19/charges-dismissed-for-cop-who.html

Charges were dismissed for the Madison, Alabama police officer who body slammed a 58-year-old man from India walking on the sidewalk last year. Sureshbhai Patel, who does not understand English, was seriously injured and needed an operation to fuse two vertebrae.

From NBC News:

Hank Sherrod, Patel's attorney, told NBC News in an email that the state's decision to drop the assault charge is deeply troubling, though not entirely surprising.

"This decision illustrates how difficult it is to hold law enforcement officers accountable under the criminal laws for brutal acts that would send an ordinary citizen to jail," he said.

[Former Madison, Ala. police officer Eric Sloan] Parker, 27, still faces a civil lawsuit in connection with the incident. Parker encountered Patel last Feb. 6 while responding to a call of a suspicious black man looking at garages and walking near houses. Patel, in from India to visit his son and grandson, testified that he did not understand English or the officers who confronted him while he was out for a walk.

Nice people around the world gave $209,000 to Mr. Patel's GoFundMe account.

[Andrea]

BODY CAMERA VIDEO: Lawsuit accuses Arkansas police officer of using excessive force on man

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/jul/21/arkansas-police-officer-used-excessive-force-man-l/?latest#/

In a lawsuit filed this week, a white Blytheville police officer is accused of using excessive force against a black man on the Fourth of July, including subduing him repeatedly with a taser as he lay on the ground.

Attorney James W. Harris filed the case Wednesday in Mississippi County Circuit Court on behalf of Chardrick Mitchell, who faces charges of obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and refusal to submit to arrest.

The lawsuit states that on July 4, Mitchell denied his ex-girlfriend re-entry into his apartment to retrieve what she said was clothing left inside, prompting the woman to call police.

A responding officer later ordered that Mitchell allow his ex-girlfriend to get her left-behind belongings and to show his identification — requests that Mitchell “politely refused,” according to the document.

The Blytheville police officer, Stephen Sigman, became increasingly angry and threatened to charge Mitchell with obstruction, Harris said.

The lawsuit accuses Sigman of later using a taser when Mitchell walked toward the apartment's front door, with Sigman telling Mitchell that he was under arrest “either at the moment the [taser] was fired or just as the [taser] was striking Mr. Mitchell in the back.”

"At no time did Mr. Mitchell resist arrest, especially since he had already been [tased] when he was first told he was under arrest, even though he had at that point committed no possible criminal act," the document reads in part.

Harris said the incident was recorded on Sigman’s body camera and that a written report from police does not match the video evidence.

"I am appalled at the actions of Officer Sigman, as well as the inaction of Chief [Ross] Thompson in correcting this officer's gross misconduct," Harris said, adding that Sigman remains on the police force.

A copy of the video footage was not available Thursday afternoon, and a call to the Blytheville Police Department for comment was not immediately returned.

[*Anya*]

Rape Survivor Sues After Texas Authorities Jailed Her For A Month

July 22, 20165:52 PM ET

A rape survivor is suing Texas' Harris County after she was jailed for more than a month and subjected to beatings and "psychological torture."

According to court documents, she had suffered a mental breakdown while testifying against her rapist, and authorities checked her into the general population at Houston's Harris County Jail because they feared she would flee before finishing her testimony.

"Jane Doe found herself hopelessly trapped in a bizarre plot pulled from a Kafka novel," the court documents read. She "was imprisoned in the hellhole of the Harris County Jail for no reason other than being a rape victim who struggles with a mental disability."

The anonymous woman was raped in Houston in 2013, according to court documents, and was cooperating with prosecutors when she suffered a breakdown while testifying in December 2015.

She has bipolar disorder and was admitted to a local hospital for mental health treatment when the judge ordered a recess for the holiday break until January 2016.

According to the documents, authorities were scheduled to be on vacation and "did not want the responsibility of having to monitor Jane Doe's well being or provide victim services to her during the holiday recess."

The complaint alleges that the district attorney's office obtained an order from the Harris County sheriff to take the woman into custody so she would not flee before completing her testimony.

The employee booking her into Harris County Jail identified her as a "defendant in a sexual assault case, rather than the victim." That impacted her treatment from jail staff, as the complaint reads:

"The Harris County Jail psychiatric staff tormented Jane Doe and caused her extreme emotional distress and mental anguish by further defaming her, falsely insisting to her that she was being charged with sexual assault, and refusing to acknowledge her status as an innocent rape victim."

Doe also suffered beatings from other inmates and from a guard, who then requested assault charges to be filed against her "in an attempt to cover up the brutal abuse," according to the complaint.

The complaint also alleges that the jail failed "to provide Jane Doe's prescribed medications."

She eventually testified against her rapist, and a month after she was imprisoned, the district attorney's office dismissed the felony assault case against her and ordered she be released as a material witness.

The Harris County district attorney's office did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment. The Harris County sheriff's office defended its actions in a statement to The Two-Way. "The request for detainment was made by prosecutors at the Harris County District Attorney's Office," it said. "When so ordered by the court, the Sheriff's Office had no authority but to follow the court's order to detain Jane Doe."

The complaint notes that her "rapist was also an inmate in the same facility" and treated more humanely. "Her rapist was not denied medical care, psychologically tortured, brutalized by other inmates, or beaten by jail guards," it reads.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w...er-for-a-month

[Andrea]

Jailer Chokes Inmate to Death on Video But Still Hasn’t Been Charged

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/25/jailer-chokes-inmate-to-death-on-video-but-still-hasn-t-been-charged.html?via=twitter_page

Video obtained by The Daily Beast shows a corrections officer strangling an inmate to death for more than a minute inside an Oklahoma jail.

A state medical examiner ruled that Darius Robinson was killed by “manual compression of the neck” and ruled his death inside the Caddo County jail to be a homicide. The county’s district attorney, Jason Hicks, has yet to bring charges against officer Michael Allen Smith for the April 4 incident, according to attorney Spencer Bryan, who represents Robinson’s family.

Hicks has refused to answer any questions about the case since The Daily Beast first reported on Robinson’s death last month. The DA’s office said Monday it would not discuss grand jury deliberations.

Robinson, a father of seven, was arrested on April 1 on a 2008 warrant for failing to pay child support. Three days later he suffered what a family attorney has called a “manic episode” inside his jail cell. A video released by the jail to the Robinson family’s attorneys shows him waving around a blanket, tearing up pieces of paper, and writhing on the floor.

The video also shows Smith—a civilian corrections officer not trained by state law enforcement—entering Robinson’s cell with fellow jailer Vicki Lyn Richardson. They begin sweeping up pieces of paper with their feet while Robinson slowly moves around the cell before settling on a bench.

While seated, Robinson leans toward Smith, who is standing in front of him. Smith responds by wrapping his forearm under Robinson’s neck while Richardson pepper sprays the inmate and the two men fall to the floor.

Smith then gets on his knees and grips Robinson’s neck with both hands in what is known as a guillotine chokehold. Robinson bucks to break free of the chokehold before he collapses. Richardson pulls Robinson’s hands behind his back and handcuffs him. A third jailer then enters and puts his foot on Robinson’s back.

All this time, Smith has been choking Robinson for more than a minute. Just before 9:46 p.m., he lets go but it was too late for Robinson.

An autopsy found his windpipe had been crushed, the hyoid bone supporting his tongue had been fractured, and the surrounding muscles had been hemorrhaging blood.

Richardson then puts Robinson on his back and rubs his sternum to check if he was conscious. He doesn’t move. Meanwhile, Smith retrieves his hat from the floor and puts it back on.

Richardson performs two chest compressions, checks Robinson’s pulse again, and sends Smith out of the cell. (He returns a moment later with what appears to be a first aid kit.) Smith turns Robinson onto his side and pats his back as he convulses. Richardson puts a towel under Robinson’s head to soak up the foam pouring out of mouth as he suffocates.

By the time paramedics LaRoyce Fanning and Ryan Warren arrive, Robinson has no pulse. Fanning and Warren make five attempts to insert a breathing tube into Robinson’s crushed trachea but do not succeed.

Smith did not tell them he used a chokehold, according to Department of Health documents released earlier this month.

Finally, the paramedics inserted a tube to expand Robinson’s airway but all the life had already been choked out of him.

Undersheriff Spencer Davis allegedly told Ancio Robinson that his brother had “charged” the jailers. Davis told The Daily Beast on Monday that Robinson’s death was “not what anyone wanted” and that Smith and Richardson are on paid administrative leave pending a grand jury’s decision on the matter and a separate state probe.

The Robinson family’s attorneys Bryan and Steven Terrell said they won’t wait for the results of that investigation before suing.

“The jailers choked Darius to death, but he was killed by the justice system in Caddo County,” Bryan said.

[Andrea]

Florida Man Arrested Because Krispy Kreme Glaze Apparently Looks Like Crystal Meth

http://firstwefeast.com/eat/2016/07/florida-man-arrested-krispy-kreme-glaze-looks-like-crystal-meth

Krispy Kreme doughnuts can be addicting. All it takes is watching those perfectly fried rings of dough glide through that waterfall of creamy glaze and we're already jonesing for another fix. And while it's been said that Krispy Kreme is the most "craveable" food chain in America, it appears that buying a box of the company's glazed treats can now get you arrested on drug charges.

According to a report from the Orlando Sentinel, a 64-year-old man named Daniel Rushing was taken into custody last year after police saw what appeared to be four flakes of crystal meth on the floor of his car. The arrest report states that two roadside drug tests were done, and that both came back positive for the narcotic. Weeks later, however, a state crime lab proved that the flakes were, of course, from the glaze of a Krispy Kreme doughnut, and Rushing's name was cleared.

"It was incredible," he said. "It feels scary when you haven't done anything wrong and get arrested....It's just a terrible feeling."

Though the arresting officers may have watched one too many episodes of Breaking Bad—going as far as to strip search their suspect at a county jail—Rushing is as far from Walter White as can be.

On the day of his arrest, Rushing had just taken a sick friend to chemotherapy—a favor he does every Friday—and stopped at a nearby 7-Eleven to pick-up an elderly friend in need of a ride. He was pulled over because he didn't come to a complete stop before exiting the store's parking lot, and because he was driving 12 miles above the speed limit.

"First they tried to say it was crack cocaine," Rushing, who says he's never done a drug in his life, remembered. "It's icing from a doughnut."

After spending 10 hours in jail, and posting a $2,500 bond, Rushing was finally released.

"I got arrested for no reason at all," Rushing said. "I'll never let anyone search my car again."

[Andrea]

Cousin of Slain Baton Rouge Cop Was Wrongly Arrested for the Massacre

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/28/cousin-of-slain-baton-rouge-cop-was-arrested-for-the-massacre.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

On Sunday, July 17, Damarcus Alexander stopped at Walmart so his best friend could buy a white shirt for church.

They left Dallas, Texas, at 4 a.m. bound for Belle Rose, Louisiana, a small town an hour south of Baton Rouge, so his friend could sing at a church. They entered the Walmart outside of Baton Rouge, changed into their church clothes, and continued driving.

They didn’t know it but someone had just called 911 describing two black men entering the store and changing clothes just after Gavin Long shot six law enforcement officers across the river.

One of the three dead was Alexander’s cousin, Montrell Jackson. “He was my big cuz,” Alexander said, adding that their families had vacationed together many times. “He saved me from drowning once.”

When he and his friend were changing at Walmart, Alexander hadn’t heard what had happened to his cousin yet, but a few miles down the road, police stopped their car and it wasn’t for condolences.

“Hey, you were just in the Walmart changing, right?” an officer asked them, according to Alexander. “You know what just happened in Baton Rouge? We already got the guy who did it, but we think that he probably didn’t work alone so we’re looking into you two.” Police said their car fit the description of Long’s car at the scene. (It didn’t.)

Soon after they were pulled over, more than a dozen vehicles with officers from every nearby police department had pulled up. All of them were white.

Fortunately, Alexander had proof that they hadn’t been involved in the shooting, because they had stopped at a gas station over 100 miles west of Baton Rouge to buy coffee and snacks at 8:43 a.m., according to the receipt still in the bag. That was three minutes after Long started shooting.

It wasn’t enough for the officers, who still viewed them as suspects.

Alexander said they were handcuffed and locked in the back of a police car without being read their rights. “When we were detained, we asked for phone calls,” he said. “We were not given phone calls.”

The Louisiana State Police and Baton Rouge Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Instead police confiscated their phones by intimidating them. “They made us sign a consent form,” he said. When Alexander asked questions about this, police began cursing at him. “If he wants to be a dick about it, just put his ass back in the car,” he said a plainclothes officer yelled. “He’ll be here for another four hours” to wait for a court order to search his phone.

They also forced Alexander’s friend to pee in a bottle in the back of a police car.

Meanwhile, Alexander still didn’t know who had been killed, but he had seven family members in Baton Rouge law enforcement, including his father, aunt, and uncle, along with Jackson. He was worried too, and kept asking to call his family.

“I don’t know if one of them was shot and killed,” he said. “I was ignored.” He only found out it was his cousin who had been murdered after police released him around 7 p.m.
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Alexander and his friend were taken to holding cells at a Louisiana State police station in Baton Rouge. By that time, Alexander, a diabetic, said he needed to take his diabetes medicine.

“Get away from the door, little bitch,” Alexander said one jailer yelled at his friend when he knocked on his cell door.

Rather than giving Alexander medicine, he said police called EMS, who just confirmed that his blood sugar was high and he needed medicine soon.

Instead, “for hours they’re bringing me cookies, and peanuts, and crackers, and juice,” Alexander said. “That’s the exact opposite of what I need.” Officers were worried that he was lying about the medicine to commit suicide.

“What if you die in the back of my car?” he said one officer asked him, citing another time where he had an arrestee try to take an entire bottle of pills.

After several hours, Alexander said he became semi-comatose and was taken to Baton Rouge General Hospital.

By this time, police had finally obtained footage from the Alexandria convenience store and realized Alexander hadn’t been involved with the shooting. They released Alexander’s friend from jail to go pick him up from the hospital.

“I felt helpless,” Alexander said when he was pleading for medicine in the cell.

“I’m really thankful that I wasn’t another hashtag,” he said.