Authorities with the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office arrested 35-year-old Ron Christopher “Chris” Crabtree, former Georgetown County Sheriff’s Deputy, this afternoon for Criminal Sexual Conduct 2nd Degree and Lewd Act on a Child.
The investigation began on February 2, 2009 when authorities in Ohio made contact with the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office with sexual assault allegations against Deputy Crabtree. The allegations were received from Ohio authorities because the victim lives in Ohio and the incident allegedly occurred in Pawley’s Island.
Georgetown County Sheriff’s Investigators made a preliminary inquiry into the allegations with the authorities in Ohio and subsequent to the preliminary inquiry; Deputy Crabtree was placed on leave with pay.
Sheriff A. Lane Cribb requested that SLED assist in the investigation. During the course of the investigation, Deputy Crabtree’s employment was terminated.
Crabtree was arrested at the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office after turning himself in and transported to the Georgetown County Detention Center by SLED. Crabtree served with the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office for 2.5 years.
http://www.carolinalive.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=274727
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Detective Michael Cordova Charged with Assault Appears in Court
DENVER
A Denver police officer who was videotaped hitting, kicking and slamming a man's head into the ground during an arrest last April says he's not guilty of assault.
Detective Michael Cordova appeared in court Tuesday to fight two counts of second-degree assault from the arrest on April 4th last year.
The district court judge postponed the disposition and motions hearing in the case one month because Cordova's attorney Marc Colin wants to have an expert analyze the videotape.
The tape was shot by a local sports TV crew on the home opening day of the Colorado Rockies last year outside of Coors Field. It shows the arrest of John Heaney riding his bike past Coors Field and getting into an altercation with Cordova and other officers who were working undercover in a scalping sting.
Before the videotape surfaced, Cordova testified in a court case under oath that Heaney swung and punched at him several times, forcing Cordova to punch back.
Cordova said Heaney "continued to throw wild punches at me, hitting me in the chest area several times forcing me to punch him in the face several times," according to court records and a Denver Police statement.
When he was asked how Heaney's two front teeth were broken, Cordova responded, "I have not a clue."
Heaney was charged with assault in the arrest and was facing prison time when the tape surfaced and was given to 9NEWS.
The tape shows two officers, including Cordova, hitting, kicking and using elbow strikes against Heaney, who does not appear to be resisting. Once on the ground, the videotape shows Cordova grabbing Heaney's ponytail, lifting up his head and slamming it into the ground, breaking his teeth. The sound of the breaking teeth can be heard on the videotape.
Once prosecutors and police were shown the tape, charges were dropped against Heaney and Cordova was charged with assault.
Cordova is out of jail on bond and has been suspended from the police department without pay during his court case.
The case has been continued until April 21st.
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http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=112048&catid=339
A Denver police officer who was videotaped hitting, kicking and slamming a man's head into the ground during an arrest last April says he's not guilty of assault.
Detective Michael Cordova appeared in court Tuesday to fight two counts of second-degree assault from the arrest on April 4th last year.
The district court judge postponed the disposition and motions hearing in the case one month because Cordova's attorney Marc Colin wants to have an expert analyze the videotape.
The tape was shot by a local sports TV crew on the home opening day of the Colorado Rockies last year outside of Coors Field. It shows the arrest of John Heaney riding his bike past Coors Field and getting into an altercation with Cordova and other officers who were working undercover in a scalping sting.
Before the videotape surfaced, Cordova testified in a court case under oath that Heaney swung and punched at him several times, forcing Cordova to punch back.
Cordova said Heaney "continued to throw wild punches at me, hitting me in the chest area several times forcing me to punch him in the face several times," according to court records and a Denver Police statement.
When he was asked how Heaney's two front teeth were broken, Cordova responded, "I have not a clue."
Heaney was charged with assault in the arrest and was facing prison time when the tape surfaced and was given to 9NEWS.
The tape shows two officers, including Cordova, hitting, kicking and using elbow strikes against Heaney, who does not appear to be resisting. Once on the ground, the videotape shows Cordova grabbing Heaney's ponytail, lifting up his head and slamming it into the ground, breaking his teeth. The sound of the breaking teeth can be heard on the videotape.
Once prosecutors and police were shown the tape, charges were dropped against Heaney and Cordova was charged with assault.
Cordova is out of jail on bond and has been suspended from the police department without pay during his court case.
The case has been continued until April 21st.
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http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=112048&catid=339
Guthrie Woman Files Lawsuit Claiming she was Wrongfully Arrested
EDMOND
A Guthrie woman claims she was wrongfully arrested on a traffic stop and taken to the Logan County jail where she was subjected to an improper strip search, court papers show.
Anna Lynn Self, of Guthrie, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma that names the Logan County sheriff and the City of Guthrie as defendants. The suit was filed in January.
On March 23, 2008, Guthrie Police Officer Wes Henry was patrolling when he noticed a green 1999 four-door hardtop Volkswagen with the rear driver’s side brake light out, according to a Guthrie Police Department report.
Henry stopped the car at Noble and Seventh Street. Police ran a warrant check, which showed that Self was wanted on a Logan County warrant.
At about 11:47 p.m., Henry arrested Self for the outstanding warrant and a sergeant transported Self to the jail, where she was booked.
That was the end of the police report narrative.
Allegations
Self claims she was forced to remove all of her clothing and expose her private parts for viewing by “agents” of Logan County, a practice and procedure she states was utilized by the county jail, according to court papers.
The sheriff had authority as the final decision-maker for the jail to institute and condone such practices, that have occurred in a “systematic pattern,” making him liable, the lawsuit states.
Furthermore, the sheriff failed to adequately train, supervise and discipline including those who “acting under color of law and based upon past policy and custom, deprived Plaintiff of her Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, inflicting severe mental and physical anguish, humiliation and degradation, all to her detriment,” the lawsuit claims.
The conduct of personnel involved in the plaintiff’s detention and strip search was “intentional, malicious, willful, wanton and in reckless disregard of Plaintiff’s constitutional rights, and grossly negligent, in that this conduct shocks the conscience and is fundamentally offensive to a civilized society,” the lawsuit states.
Self seeks $250,000 for past and future physical and mental pain and suffering, past and future loss of enjoyment of life, and past and future loss of earnings, according to court papers. She also seeks compensation for costs, interest and attorney’s fees, and such other relief as deemed proper.
David Kirk, Guthrie’s attorney in the lawsuit, said he cannot comment on specifics because the case involves pending litigation. Kirk said he has represented the city in several similar cases in the past and the city usually wins. He said he expects Guthrie to prevail in this matter.
Chris Collins, an attorney for former Logan County Sheriff Randy Richardson, listed as a defendant in the original complaint, declined comment because the case involves pending litigation.
In February, an uncontested motion to substitute party was filed on behalf of Richardson, who left office before the lawsuit was filed.
Court Responses
In court proceedings, Guthrie admits the plaintiff was arrested on a traffic complaint and taken to the county jail, but stated that it lacks sufficient information to either admit or deny any allegation regarding what happened to the plaintiff after she was taken to the jail.
Guthrie denies there was a “false arrest, and that the plaintiff was “subjected to a strip search.” The city denies the allegations stemming from the alleged strip search, and denies that the plaintiff is entitled to the relief she is seeking.
Also in court proceedings, the sheriff denies the allegations listed in the lawsuit.
The plaintiff failed to state a claim against the sheriff in his official capacity for any applicable constitutional violation or remedies, and failed to state a claim under the Fourth, Fifth or 14th amendments, the sheriff’s response states.
The sheriff denied allegations of a “pattern of persistent practices known to and approved by the sheriff, in his official capacity, that would be unconstitutional,” according to court papers.
The sheriff “cannot be held liable for any constitutional violations resulting from the acts of its agents, servants or employees under the doctrine of respondeat superior or vicarious liability.”
The sheriff also states there was probable cause for the plaintiff’s arrest, and that any search was based on a legitimate penal and/or safety and security purpose. Furthermore, the sheriff is exempt from liability under state tort claims law, the sheriff states.
A Guthrie woman claims she was wrongfully arrested on a traffic stop and taken to the Logan County jail where she was subjected to an improper strip search, court papers show.
Anna Lynn Self, of Guthrie, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma that names the Logan County sheriff and the City of Guthrie as defendants. The suit was filed in January.
On March 23, 2008, Guthrie Police Officer Wes Henry was patrolling when he noticed a green 1999 four-door hardtop Volkswagen with the rear driver’s side brake light out, according to a Guthrie Police Department report.
Henry stopped the car at Noble and Seventh Street. Police ran a warrant check, which showed that Self was wanted on a Logan County warrant.
At about 11:47 p.m., Henry arrested Self for the outstanding warrant and a sergeant transported Self to the jail, where she was booked.
That was the end of the police report narrative.
Allegations
Self claims she was forced to remove all of her clothing and expose her private parts for viewing by “agents” of Logan County, a practice and procedure she states was utilized by the county jail, according to court papers.
The sheriff had authority as the final decision-maker for the jail to institute and condone such practices, that have occurred in a “systematic pattern,” making him liable, the lawsuit states.
Furthermore, the sheriff failed to adequately train, supervise and discipline including those who “acting under color of law and based upon past policy and custom, deprived Plaintiff of her Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, inflicting severe mental and physical anguish, humiliation and degradation, all to her detriment,” the lawsuit claims.
The conduct of personnel involved in the plaintiff’s detention and strip search was “intentional, malicious, willful, wanton and in reckless disregard of Plaintiff’s constitutional rights, and grossly negligent, in that this conduct shocks the conscience and is fundamentally offensive to a civilized society,” the lawsuit states.
Self seeks $250,000 for past and future physical and mental pain and suffering, past and future loss of enjoyment of life, and past and future loss of earnings, according to court papers. She also seeks compensation for costs, interest and attorney’s fees, and such other relief as deemed proper.
David Kirk, Guthrie’s attorney in the lawsuit, said he cannot comment on specifics because the case involves pending litigation. Kirk said he has represented the city in several similar cases in the past and the city usually wins. He said he expects Guthrie to prevail in this matter.
Chris Collins, an attorney for former Logan County Sheriff Randy Richardson, listed as a defendant in the original complaint, declined comment because the case involves pending litigation.
In February, an uncontested motion to substitute party was filed on behalf of Richardson, who left office before the lawsuit was filed.
Court Responses
In court proceedings, Guthrie admits the plaintiff was arrested on a traffic complaint and taken to the county jail, but stated that it lacks sufficient information to either admit or deny any allegation regarding what happened to the plaintiff after she was taken to the jail.
Guthrie denies there was a “false arrest, and that the plaintiff was “subjected to a strip search.” The city denies the allegations stemming from the alleged strip search, and denies that the plaintiff is entitled to the relief she is seeking.
Also in court proceedings, the sheriff denies the allegations listed in the lawsuit.
The plaintiff failed to state a claim against the sheriff in his official capacity for any applicable constitutional violation or remedies, and failed to state a claim under the Fourth, Fifth or 14th amendments, the sheriff’s response states.
The sheriff denied allegations of a “pattern of persistent practices known to and approved by the sheriff, in his official capacity, that would be unconstitutional,” according to court papers.
The sheriff “cannot be held liable for any constitutional violations resulting from the acts of its agents, servants or employees under the doctrine of respondeat superior or vicarious liability.”
The sheriff also states there was probable cause for the plaintiff’s arrest, and that any search was based on a legitimate penal and/or safety and security purpose. Furthermore, the sheriff is exempt from liability under state tort claims law, the sheriff states.
Officer John Newman Charged with Indecent Exposure
A Vanderbilt University police officer has been charged with indecent exposure.
A grand jury in Williamson County indicted John B. Newman, 38, last week.
A grand jury in Williamson County indicted John B. Newman, 38, last week.
Newman, who lives on Cavalry Drive in Franklin, is accused of exposing himself to a female while driving on Interstate 65 in Brentwood.
Court records state Newman exposed his genitals to Kacie F. Dunavan on Dec. 17. Dunavan took note of the license plate number on Newman’s vehicle and filed a report with the Brentwood Police Department, according to Capt. Jeff Hughes.
Newman, who holds the rank of commander, was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 15, according to a Vanderbilt University spokeswoman.
“That’s when we were informed about him being under investigation,” said Elizabeth Latt, spokeswoman for the university.
Newman was booked into the Williamson County jail on Friday and released 45 minutes later after posting a $1,000 bond. He is set to appear before a judge for arraignment on March 30.
Newman has been a Vanderbilt police officer since June 24, 2002, according to Latt. He is considered a senior officer. Newman was once reprimanded for getting into a verbal altercation with another officer.
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Officer Thomas Crawford Arrested for Drunk Driving
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio
A Steubenville police officer was arrested on a drunken driving charge this weekend, police said.
According to police reports, Officer Thomas Crawford was off-duty when he ran a red light and crashed into another car at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Estelle Avenue.
Police Chief Bill McCafferty said the city placed Crawford on administrative suspension without pay pending the outcome of the judicial case.
A Steubenville police officer was arrested on a drunken driving charge this weekend, police said.
According to police reports, Officer Thomas Crawford was off-duty when he ran a red light and crashed into another car at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Estelle Avenue.
Police Chief Bill McCafferty said the city placed Crawford on administrative suspension without pay pending the outcome of the judicial case.
Former Officer Hughes Facing Incest & Child Porn Charges
A former Elko police captain facing incest and child pornography charges has been released from jail after a judge reduced his bail.
Court records show Elko District Judge Andrew Puccinelli last week lowered bail for Aaron Hughes from $500,000 to $200,000.
The Elko Daily Free Press reports Hughes posted bail on Friday and was released from a Lander County jail where he was being held.
Under the judge's order, he cannot contact any witnesses in the case or leave Elko County and must live with family.
Hughes was charged in December after police searched his home while investigating unrelated grand larceny charges and seized a computer allegedly containing videos of him engaging in sex with an underage, blood relative.
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Information from: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com
Court records show Elko District Judge Andrew Puccinelli last week lowered bail for Aaron Hughes from $500,000 to $200,000.
The Elko Daily Free Press reports Hughes posted bail on Friday and was released from a Lander County jail where he was being held.
Under the judge's order, he cannot contact any witnesses in the case or leave Elko County and must live with family.
Hughes was charged in December after police searched his home while investigating unrelated grand larceny charges and seized a computer allegedly containing videos of him engaging in sex with an underage, blood relative.
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Information from: Elko Daily Free Press, http://www.elkodaily.com
Deputy Alberta Gilbert Accused of Trying to Intimidate Victim
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.
Orange County Deputy Alberta Gilbert is the subject of an Internal Investigation. She is accused of trying to intimidate a victim in a case against her ex-husband.
Deputy Gilbert’s still lives with her ex-husband, James Gilbert. He is a former State Trooper who was fired last year, after Eyewitness News first exposed the serious allegations against him.
James Gilbert is accused of sending more than 600 text messages to a high school student. Many of them were sexually explicit. He was eventually arrested for soliciting a minor.
Now a month before James Gilbert’s trial, an internal investigation is underway at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, involving Deputy Alberta Gilbert.
The mother of the girl who received all of those inappropriate text messages claimed Deputy Gilbert walked into the Turkey Lake Service Plaza, where the woman works, and tried to intimidate her.
The mother said Deputy Gilbert, while in uniform, called her names and hovered over her while rubbing her sheriff’s office handgun.
We tried to get Gilbert’s side of the story, but no one answered at her house. Now, the Sheriff’s Office is trying to determine if she violated policy.
Gilbert is a DUI and motorcycle Deputy. She’s been with the Sheriff’s Office since 1993. She is still on the job, while the Sheriff’s Office completes its investigation.
Her ex-husband’s trial is scheduled to begin on April 27th.
Orange County Deputy Alberta Gilbert is the subject of an Internal Investigation. She is accused of trying to intimidate a victim in a case against her ex-husband.
Deputy Gilbert’s still lives with her ex-husband, James Gilbert. He is a former State Trooper who was fired last year, after Eyewitness News first exposed the serious allegations against him.
James Gilbert is accused of sending more than 600 text messages to a high school student. Many of them were sexually explicit. He was eventually arrested for soliciting a minor.
Now a month before James Gilbert’s trial, an internal investigation is underway at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, involving Deputy Alberta Gilbert.
The mother of the girl who received all of those inappropriate text messages claimed Deputy Gilbert walked into the Turkey Lake Service Plaza, where the woman works, and tried to intimidate her.
The mother said Deputy Gilbert, while in uniform, called her names and hovered over her while rubbing her sheriff’s office handgun.
We tried to get Gilbert’s side of the story, but no one answered at her house. Now, the Sheriff’s Office is trying to determine if she violated policy.
Gilbert is a DUI and motorcycle Deputy. She’s been with the Sheriff’s Office since 1993. She is still on the job, while the Sheriff’s Office completes its investigation.
Her ex-husband’s trial is scheduled to begin on April 27th.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Officer James Watson Charged with Solicitation of Sodomy
James Watson, 27, a Nashville police officer, was arrested Friday night and charged with one count of solicitation of sodomy.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the Berrien County Sheriff's office received a complaint and turned the matter over to the GBI to investigate.
Watson was not on duty at the time of his arrest.
Officials with the Nashville police department and Sheriff's office declined to comment on this case, saying it is an on-going investigation.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the Berrien County Sheriff's office received a complaint and turned the matter over to the GBI to investigate.
Watson was not on duty at the time of his arrest.
Officials with the Nashville police department and Sheriff's office declined to comment on this case, saying it is an on-going investigation.
Officer Joseph D'Amelio Charged with Drug Trafficking
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer was arrested last night immediately after he and another man received a FedEx package containing hundreds of prescription painkillers, including OxyContin, police said.
Officer Joseph D'Amelio, 38, of East Boston, and Anthony Christallo, 39, of Derry, N.H., face a minimum of 10 years in prison on drug trafficking charges.
Based on FedEx's "internal policies," the company became suspicious of a package addressed to a London Street auto garage in East Boston and notified State Police narcotics detectives. State Police, working in conjunction with Boston police, the Suffolk district attorney's office, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement set up a controlled delivery of the package in an attempt to catch the intended recipients.
According to the district attorney's office, D'Amelio showed up at the garage, Advanced Automotive, shortly after 6 p.m. yesterday to accept the package. He was in a marked MIT police cruiser and wearing his police uniform.
D'Amelio and Christallo were arrested, and the package was seized, along with $12,000. The package reportedly contained 360 OxyContin tablets and an additional quantity of Roxicodone tablets. Roxicodone and OxyContin are brand names for the opioid narcotic painkiller Oxycodone.
The doses in the package are among the strongest available. There was no word on who sent the package.
A spokeswoman for MIT said D'Amelio has been placed on unpaid administrative leave and that the school was cooperating with police.
The men are being held in custody and will be arraigned tomorrow in East Boston District Court.
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http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/03/16/MIT-police-officer-faces-drug/1237201290.html
Officer Joseph D'Amelio, 38, of East Boston, and Anthony Christallo, 39, of Derry, N.H., face a minimum of 10 years in prison on drug trafficking charges.
Based on FedEx's "internal policies," the company became suspicious of a package addressed to a London Street auto garage in East Boston and notified State Police narcotics detectives. State Police, working in conjunction with Boston police, the Suffolk district attorney's office, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement set up a controlled delivery of the package in an attempt to catch the intended recipients.
According to the district attorney's office, D'Amelio showed up at the garage, Advanced Automotive, shortly after 6 p.m. yesterday to accept the package. He was in a marked MIT police cruiser and wearing his police uniform.
D'Amelio and Christallo were arrested, and the package was seized, along with $12,000. The package reportedly contained 360 OxyContin tablets and an additional quantity of Roxicodone tablets. Roxicodone and OxyContin are brand names for the opioid narcotic painkiller Oxycodone.
The doses in the package are among the strongest available. There was no word on who sent the package.
A spokeswoman for MIT said D'Amelio has been placed on unpaid administrative leave and that the school was cooperating with police.
The men are being held in custody and will be arraigned tomorrow in East Boston District Court.
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http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/03/16/MIT-police-officer-faces-drug/1237201290.html
Former Sheriff Bill Keating & 16 others Indicted
MONTAGUE, Texas
For months, perhaps longer, the Montague County Jail was "Animal House" meets Mayberry.
Inside the small brick building across from the courthouse, inmates had the run of the place, having sex with their jailer girlfriends, bringing in recliners, taking drugs and chatting on cell phones supplied by friends or guards, according to authorities. They also disabled some of the surveillance cameras and made weapons out of nails.
The doors to two groups of cells didn't lock, but apparently no one tried to escape — perhaps because they had everything they needed inside.
The jailhouse escapades — some of which date to 2006, according to authorities — have rocked Montague (pronounced mahn-TAYG), a farming and ranching town of several hundred people near the Oklahoma line, about 65 miles northwest of Fort Worth.
There were whispers in the past year about an affair between a female jailer and male inmate, but folks dismissed the rumors as small-town gossip. It was not until late last month, when a Texas grand jury returned a 106-count indictment against the former sheriff and 16 others, that the inmates-gone-wild scandal broke wide open.
The indictment charged Bill Keating, sheriff from 2004 until December, with official oppression and having sex with female inmates. The others indicted include nine guards — seven women and two men — who were charged with various offenses involving sex or drugs and other contraband. Four inmates also were charged.
Local, state and federal authorities are still trying to figure out how this small-town Texas jail was turned into something resembling a frat house.
The new sheriff, Paul Cunningham, said he was stunned while touring the jail for the first time just hours after being sworn into office Jan. 1. He saw partitions made of paper towels that blocked jailers' view into cells, and pills scattered about.
Cunningham, who had not worked for the county before his election in November, immediately ordered the jail closed and moved the nearly 60 inmates to another institution.
"It literally scared me — not for myself but for the employees," Cunningham said. "How somebody kept from being killed was beyond me."
Cunningham, who defeated Keating in the Republican primary last spring, suggested that Keating lost interest in the jail after that and turned his back on the place.
Separately from the indictment, Keating, 62, faces up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in January to charges he coerced a woman into having sex with him by threatening to jail her on drug charges.
Keating's attorney, Mark Daniel, called the latest charges against the former sheriff "kind of silly in the face of the federal investigation, like piling on." He declined further comment.
The investigation began with a tip last fall from inside the jail.
An official received a handwritten letter on notebook paper from an inmate arrested on charges of kidnapping his girlfriend. The inmate, Luke C. Bolton, said they met in 2007 when she was a jail guard and he was behind bars on another charge. He said their sexual relationship started in a jail shower and continued during her late-night visits to his cell.
"I'm just reaching out for help to show (the jailer) is a person who abused her power. She broke the law by having sex with me in cell #16 while I was an inmate. ... Please help me. I am telling the truth. Everybody knows I am," Bolton wrote, offering to take a polygraph.
The former jailer is among those indicted. Bolton remains in jail.
Current employees said they were shocked by the scandal.
"People say, `How could you not know?' Well, it didn't go on during our shift," said Jerrie Reed, who works the day shift. Reed said the then-sheriff sometimes asked to see female inmates privately in his office, but she assumed they were informants. She said none ever seemed upset as she led them shackled to and from Keating's office.
Cunningham said it appears that most of the illegal activities occurred in a certain section of the 100-bed, one-story jail, which has several long corridors that make it difficult for anyone to hear what is going on beyond their immediate areas.
The jail will reopen this week following about $1 million in repairs, needed after years of damage by inmates, Cunningham said. Also, the entire department is getting new uniforms, badges and vehicles.
"I just think this office needs to change the image completely," the new sheriff said. "I think we're well on our way to getting the public's confidence back."
For months, perhaps longer, the Montague County Jail was "Animal House" meets Mayberry.
Inside the small brick building across from the courthouse, inmates had the run of the place, having sex with their jailer girlfriends, bringing in recliners, taking drugs and chatting on cell phones supplied by friends or guards, according to authorities. They also disabled some of the surveillance cameras and made weapons out of nails.
The doors to two groups of cells didn't lock, but apparently no one tried to escape — perhaps because they had everything they needed inside.
The jailhouse escapades — some of which date to 2006, according to authorities — have rocked Montague (pronounced mahn-TAYG), a farming and ranching town of several hundred people near the Oklahoma line, about 65 miles northwest of Fort Worth.
There were whispers in the past year about an affair between a female jailer and male inmate, but folks dismissed the rumors as small-town gossip. It was not until late last month, when a Texas grand jury returned a 106-count indictment against the former sheriff and 16 others, that the inmates-gone-wild scandal broke wide open.
The indictment charged Bill Keating, sheriff from 2004 until December, with official oppression and having sex with female inmates. The others indicted include nine guards — seven women and two men — who were charged with various offenses involving sex or drugs and other contraband. Four inmates also were charged.
Local, state and federal authorities are still trying to figure out how this small-town Texas jail was turned into something resembling a frat house.
The new sheriff, Paul Cunningham, said he was stunned while touring the jail for the first time just hours after being sworn into office Jan. 1. He saw partitions made of paper towels that blocked jailers' view into cells, and pills scattered about.
Cunningham, who had not worked for the county before his election in November, immediately ordered the jail closed and moved the nearly 60 inmates to another institution.
"It literally scared me — not for myself but for the employees," Cunningham said. "How somebody kept from being killed was beyond me."
Cunningham, who defeated Keating in the Republican primary last spring, suggested that Keating lost interest in the jail after that and turned his back on the place.
Separately from the indictment, Keating, 62, faces up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in January to charges he coerced a woman into having sex with him by threatening to jail her on drug charges.
Keating's attorney, Mark Daniel, called the latest charges against the former sheriff "kind of silly in the face of the federal investigation, like piling on." He declined further comment.
The investigation began with a tip last fall from inside the jail.
An official received a handwritten letter on notebook paper from an inmate arrested on charges of kidnapping his girlfriend. The inmate, Luke C. Bolton, said they met in 2007 when she was a jail guard and he was behind bars on another charge. He said their sexual relationship started in a jail shower and continued during her late-night visits to his cell.
"I'm just reaching out for help to show (the jailer) is a person who abused her power. She broke the law by having sex with me in cell #16 while I was an inmate. ... Please help me. I am telling the truth. Everybody knows I am," Bolton wrote, offering to take a polygraph.
The former jailer is among those indicted. Bolton remains in jail.
Current employees said they were shocked by the scandal.
"People say, `How could you not know?' Well, it didn't go on during our shift," said Jerrie Reed, who works the day shift. Reed said the then-sheriff sometimes asked to see female inmates privately in his office, but she assumed they were informants. She said none ever seemed upset as she led them shackled to and from Keating's office.
Cunningham said it appears that most of the illegal activities occurred in a certain section of the 100-bed, one-story jail, which has several long corridors that make it difficult for anyone to hear what is going on beyond their immediate areas.
The jail will reopen this week following about $1 million in repairs, needed after years of damage by inmates, Cunningham said. Also, the entire department is getting new uniforms, badges and vehicles.
"I just think this office needs to change the image completely," the new sheriff said. "I think we're well on our way to getting the public's confidence back."
Lt. Donnie Lowe Arrested for Drunk Driving Pleads Not Guilty
A Seattle police lieutenant who was allowed to supervise a Seattle Police Department security detail at President Obama's inauguration after he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving pleaded not guilty this morning.
Donnie R. Lowe, 42, entered the plea through his attorney, Jeffrey Veitch, in King County District Court in Redmond.
Lowe was cited for driving under the influence Nov. 23 after being stopped on Interstate 5 in South Seattle by a State Patrol trooper.
A blood-alcohol test administered to Lowe about an hour after the stop registered 0.113 percent, above the state's legal limit of 0.08 percent for those over 21, according to a State Patrol report.
Officers convicted of drunken driving can face internal discipline, often a suspension.
A police spokesman previously declined to comment on the arrest.
But the spokesman noted that Lowe began working on the inauguration assignment before the incident and carried out his duty to supervise a 42-member Seattle police detail assisting in the Jan. 20 inaugural in Washington, D.C. Lowe works in the department's Homeland Security Bureau, overseeing planning for special events and disaster management.
Lowe, who was with a passenger, was stopped about 1:45 a.m. after a trooper noticed his car drifting in the lanes, the State Patrol report said.
The trooper recognized an odor of alcohol in the car and saw a glass filled with a dark-colored liquid that smelled of alcohol in the middle drink holder, the report said. Lowe had bloodshot and watery eyes, the trooper wrote.
Lowe's record with the Police Department includes a written reprimand following a June 2006 incident in which he entered a jail cell and made inappropriate physical contact with his son, then 13, who had been arrested for obstructing officers and was handcuffed.
The boy alleged he was punched and pushed against a wall, while Lowe told internal investigators he grabbed the boy by his sweat shirt and pulled him up from a bench in way that was "not gentle," according to police records.
The City Attorney's Office reviewed the case but declined to bring charges, citing proof problems and a parent's right to discipline a child, the records show.
Lowe also received an oral reprimand stemming from a September 2002 incident in which he entered a private home in an attempt to recover nude photographs of a woman he knew from a man who reportedly had been romantically involved with her.
In 2007, a citizen-review-board report cited that case as one of several in which Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske reduced disciplinary findings. The director of the department's Office of Professional Accountability had recommended findings of misuse of authority and violation of rules, regulations and laws, the board said.
Kerlikowske reached a lesser finding, concluding that the officer engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer, the report said.
Kerlikowske has come under scrutiny in recent years for softening officer discipline.
Donnie R. Lowe, 42, entered the plea through his attorney, Jeffrey Veitch, in King County District Court in Redmond.
Lowe was cited for driving under the influence Nov. 23 after being stopped on Interstate 5 in South Seattle by a State Patrol trooper.
A blood-alcohol test administered to Lowe about an hour after the stop registered 0.113 percent, above the state's legal limit of 0.08 percent for those over 21, according to a State Patrol report.
Officers convicted of drunken driving can face internal discipline, often a suspension.
A police spokesman previously declined to comment on the arrest.
But the spokesman noted that Lowe began working on the inauguration assignment before the incident and carried out his duty to supervise a 42-member Seattle police detail assisting in the Jan. 20 inaugural in Washington, D.C. Lowe works in the department's Homeland Security Bureau, overseeing planning for special events and disaster management.
Lowe, who was with a passenger, was stopped about 1:45 a.m. after a trooper noticed his car drifting in the lanes, the State Patrol report said.
The trooper recognized an odor of alcohol in the car and saw a glass filled with a dark-colored liquid that smelled of alcohol in the middle drink holder, the report said. Lowe had bloodshot and watery eyes, the trooper wrote.
Lowe's record with the Police Department includes a written reprimand following a June 2006 incident in which he entered a jail cell and made inappropriate physical contact with his son, then 13, who had been arrested for obstructing officers and was handcuffed.
The boy alleged he was punched and pushed against a wall, while Lowe told internal investigators he grabbed the boy by his sweat shirt and pulled him up from a bench in way that was "not gentle," according to police records.
The City Attorney's Office reviewed the case but declined to bring charges, citing proof problems and a parent's right to discipline a child, the records show.
Lowe also received an oral reprimand stemming from a September 2002 incident in which he entered a private home in an attempt to recover nude photographs of a woman he knew from a man who reportedly had been romantically involved with her.
In 2007, a citizen-review-board report cited that case as one of several in which Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske reduced disciplinary findings. The director of the department's Office of Professional Accountability had recommended findings of misuse of authority and violation of rules, regulations and laws, the board said.
Kerlikowske reached a lesser finding, concluding that the officer engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer, the report said.
Kerlikowske has come under scrutiny in recent years for softening officer discipline.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Deputy Flips of Public
HAMLIN, W.Va.
The 2009 edition of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department calendar is the talk of the town after some say one of the deputies was giving the finger to the camera.
It looks like one deputy is sending the wrong message with his finger. The deputy right next to him also appears to be trying to make the same gesture, but he doesn't commit.
"I honestly don't think it was intentional for anyone of the guys. Both of them have been good friends of mine," said Lincoln County Sheriff Jerry Bowman.
But, he ordered both men to collect all of the calendars from the community and cover up the fingers in question with black markers.
"We gathered up all the calendars, we brought (the calendars) back in and these two guys on their time corrected it with the Sharpie," said Bowman. They blacked out part of their fingers and redistributed."
400 calendars were printed and distributed, so it wasn't easy for the deputies to find all of them and make the corrections.
"I guarantee the next picture it will be a little more scrutinized," said Bowman. "I don't think this will happen again."
Sheriff Bowman says he'll look over next year's picture carefully to make sure it's perfect before it goes to print.
Officer Jeffrey Fowler Arrested for Drunk Driving
A Dallas police officer was arrested on Saturday for intoxication assault, police said.
Officer Jeffrey Fowler, who was assigned to the Northwest Patrol Division, was off duty, when he was involved in a two-vehicle accident at Midway Road and Bonham Street.
Investigating officers determined Officer Fowler was drunk and arrested him.
A passenger in the Officer Fowler's vehicle was seriously injured and taken to Parkland Hospital.
No other individuals were injured.
Officer Fowler has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Officer Robert Szoyka Arrested for Domestic Battery Holds his Head in Shame
Wednesday night, police officer Robert Szoyka, was arrested by Indian River County Sheriff's Office for domestic battery on his wife. His wife claimed that he punched her and sat on her head during an argument.
Szoyka, 44, is a law enforcement officer for the North Palm Beach Police Department and was named 'Officer of the Month' last November.
In his mugshot, you can see a gloved hand appearing to be holding his head up.
Szoyka was released on $500 bail.
________________
Other Information:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/mar/13/north-palm-beach-law-enforcement-officer-accused-p/
Squad-Car Video Shows Different Story then What Officer Joe Parker tells
One night last summer Raymond Bell was pulled over by a Chicago cop and arrested for driving under the influence. Officer Joe D. Parker, a 23-year veteran, reported that upon getting out of his car, Bell was stinking of alcohol, lurching and unable to walk a straight line or stand on one foot.
An officer with his stellar record would normally prevail against a DUI suspect. But in this case, Bell had something on his side: a video camera mounted on the dashboard of Parker's squad car that told a radically different story.
Far from revealing a staggering drunk, reported the Chicago Sun-Times, the video "showed Bell appearing to be perfectly balanced," passing the sobriety tests that Parker administered—and being refused when he asked to take a Breathalyzer. Prosecutors watched the video and promptly dismissed the case. They are now considering charges against Parker.
That episode raises the question: Nine years into the 21st Century, why isn't every squad car in America equipped with a dashboard video camera? Why do we persist in relying on the slippery, self-interested, incomplete and unverified accounts of opposing participants when we have the means to see the truth with our own eyes?
In this instance, the innocent man was lucky to be stopped by a cop driving a video-armed vehicle. The odds are against it, since only 11 percent of the Chicago Police Department's cars have cameras for recording traffic stops. Though the department is planning to use federal stimulus money to double that number and the mayor has said he wants cameras installed in the remaining vehicles "as quickly as possible," no one is radiating a sense of haste.
Why not? The department says the main obstacle is money. Equipping another 300 cars, as the city plans, will require $2.1 million. So making them standard on the rest would cost about $13 million.
But that shouldn't be an insurmountable obstacle. The Illinois State Police, with a fleet of nearly 1,100 vehicles, have managed to install cameras in more than 900.
Spending $13 million looks extravagant only until you compare it to the cost of losing lawsuits over police misconduct. From 2005 through the middle of 2008, says the Chicago Reader, the city paid out $155 million in police cases. Dashboard cameras don't have to prevent many million-dollar judgments to be a bargain.
The cops—at least the good ones, who are presumably the majority—have as much reason to want these recordings as the accused. The best defense against a phony charge of police brutality is a video showing exactly what the officer said and did. A suspect who is visibly inebriated or violent will have a hard time refuting the camera's testimony in court.
Yet Chicago has dragged its feet, and it's not alone. After the 1991 Rodney King beating, a commission recommended that the Los Angeles Police Department mount cameras in its squad cars. It installed some but soon got rid of them.
A federal monitor proposed the idea again in 2005, but the police chief, The Los Angeles Times reported, "said he saw it as a long-term project." Last year—17 years later—the LAPD finally decided to equip some vehicles.
Contrast that with Mayor Richard Daley's enthusiasm for other types of video. Chicago now has some 2,250 surveillance cameras to detect criminal conduct in public places. By 2016, Daley promised last month, Chicago will have one on every corner.
The city has also installed red-light cameras at some 132 intersections, with another 330 planned.
So what exactly is different about those cameras? Well, they are trained on the citizenry, not on the police. What's sauce for the goose seems to be regarded as a dubious liquid substance when proposed for the gander. The city is less eager to capture video evidence if it may expose wrongdoing by its own law enforcement agents.
But the rest of us might want to keep unsleeping electronic eyes on the people with guns and badges. A city with a good police department can gain a lot from squad-car video cameras. A city with a bad one can gain even more.
An officer with his stellar record would normally prevail against a DUI suspect. But in this case, Bell had something on his side: a video camera mounted on the dashboard of Parker's squad car that told a radically different story.
Far from revealing a staggering drunk, reported the Chicago Sun-Times, the video "showed Bell appearing to be perfectly balanced," passing the sobriety tests that Parker administered—and being refused when he asked to take a Breathalyzer. Prosecutors watched the video and promptly dismissed the case. They are now considering charges against Parker.
That episode raises the question: Nine years into the 21st Century, why isn't every squad car in America equipped with a dashboard video camera? Why do we persist in relying on the slippery, self-interested, incomplete and unverified accounts of opposing participants when we have the means to see the truth with our own eyes?
In this instance, the innocent man was lucky to be stopped by a cop driving a video-armed vehicle. The odds are against it, since only 11 percent of the Chicago Police Department's cars have cameras for recording traffic stops. Though the department is planning to use federal stimulus money to double that number and the mayor has said he wants cameras installed in the remaining vehicles "as quickly as possible," no one is radiating a sense of haste.
Why not? The department says the main obstacle is money. Equipping another 300 cars, as the city plans, will require $2.1 million. So making them standard on the rest would cost about $13 million.
But that shouldn't be an insurmountable obstacle. The Illinois State Police, with a fleet of nearly 1,100 vehicles, have managed to install cameras in more than 900.
Spending $13 million looks extravagant only until you compare it to the cost of losing lawsuits over police misconduct. From 2005 through the middle of 2008, says the Chicago Reader, the city paid out $155 million in police cases. Dashboard cameras don't have to prevent many million-dollar judgments to be a bargain.
The cops—at least the good ones, who are presumably the majority—have as much reason to want these recordings as the accused. The best defense against a phony charge of police brutality is a video showing exactly what the officer said and did. A suspect who is visibly inebriated or violent will have a hard time refuting the camera's testimony in court.
Yet Chicago has dragged its feet, and it's not alone. After the 1991 Rodney King beating, a commission recommended that the Los Angeles Police Department mount cameras in its squad cars. It installed some but soon got rid of them.
A federal monitor proposed the idea again in 2005, but the police chief, The Los Angeles Times reported, "said he saw it as a long-term project." Last year—17 years later—the LAPD finally decided to equip some vehicles.
Contrast that with Mayor Richard Daley's enthusiasm for other types of video. Chicago now has some 2,250 surveillance cameras to detect criminal conduct in public places. By 2016, Daley promised last month, Chicago will have one on every corner.
The city has also installed red-light cameras at some 132 intersections, with another 330 planned.
So what exactly is different about those cameras? Well, they are trained on the citizenry, not on the police. What's sauce for the goose seems to be regarded as a dubious liquid substance when proposed for the gander. The city is less eager to capture video evidence if it may expose wrongdoing by its own law enforcement agents.
But the rest of us might want to keep unsleeping electronic eyes on the people with guns and badges. A city with a good police department can gain a lot from squad-car video cameras. A city with a bad one can gain even more.
Taser Death of Robert Welch Being Investigated
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office views Tasers as safe and effective weapons. But Joe Welch Jr., a South County resident, has a very different view.
Welch’s son, Robert Lee Welch, 40, died Feb. 28 after MCSO deputies Tasered him several times when they were called to Joe Welch’s home in the 6500 block of Golden Oaks Drive, south of Texas 242.
Preliminary autopsy results did not determine the cause of death for Robert Welch, whose heart stopped after he was Tasered, Joe Welch said. Toxicology results have not been finalized, MCSO Lt. Bill Bucks said, but results of tests on the data from the Taser used should be in early next week.
Robert Welch, according to a 9-1-1 recording the MCSO released to The Courier Wednesday, was staggering around his home naked and in a daze, his stepmother told a dispatcher on the recording. He also was pushing his father, who has a pacemaker and defibrillator.
Deputies used a Taser on Robert Welch because he was “standoffish and pushing,” Bucks said.
“He was acting pretty much the way he was when the mother made the call,” he said.
But Joe Welch said his son presented no danger.
“No one in this house was in any danger at any time,” he said. “We were trying to get help for Robert, not for us. Their main concern was that Robert was pushing on me.
“We didn’t want the deputies; we called for an ambulance.”
Four deputies arrived at the home, Bucks said, and all four were put on paid administrative leave for three days, which is standard policy. The four deputies are back on regular patrol duty, he said.
Janell Welch, Joe Welch’s wife, made the 9-1-1 call around 7 a.m. She first spoke with an EMS call taker.
“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “Our son came in around 11 last night. ... He’s been staggering around since 5 this morning. He’s buck naked. I don’t know what he’s on. He won’t talk, and he doesn’t make any sense.”
The call taker asked whether Robert Welch was violent or had a weapon, and Janell Welch said “No” to both questions.
“Is this a suicide attempt?” the call taker asked.
“I have no idea. I wouldn’t doubt it,” Janell Welch said.
The EMS calltaker then got an MCSO call taker on the line, who asked Janell Welch what drugs Robert Welch had taken.
“I have no idea,” she said. “None at all.”
A few seconds later, Janell Welch yelled at Robert Welch.
“Robert, stop! You’re going to hurt your daddy!” she said.
“No, he’s going to hurt me,” Robert Welch said. “Get out of the way!”
Seconds later, Janell Welch called out to her daughter.
“Make sure he doesn’t hurt your dad,” she said. “He’s pushing really hard on him.”
The MCSO call taker then asked Janell Welch why she said it might be a suicide attempt.
“His girlfriend kicked him out last night,” she said. “He’s always threatening to do that.”
Janell Welch then said Robert Welch is diabetic, and also that Joe Welch has Type II diabetes and serious heart trouble.
“With that (unintelligible) going off, no one can touch him,” she said.
When Janell Welch asked why the ambulance hadn’t arrived, the MCSO call taker said EMS would not go to the scene until the MCSO officers arrived.
“With him being violent ...” the calltaker began to say.
“He’s not violent,” Janell Welch said. “He’s walking around in a daze.”
Deputies arrived 15 minutes and 45 seconds after Janell Welch called 9-1-1, and the call ended five seconds later.
MCSO Taser Use
MCSO deputies were involved in 694 use-of-force incidents from the beginning of 2006 through June 30, 2008, according to MCSO statistics provided to The Villager newspaper for a previous story. For the 122 incidents involving Tasers, the devices were considered effective 105 times, an 86 percent success ratio. By comparison, pepper spray was found effective in 76 percent of the incidents, and batons were effective 25 percent of the time.
Tasers were discharged 168 times in the 122 incidents. At least eight incidents involved multiple five-second shock cycles, including one in which a person received nine cycles. More than half of the 92 discharges did not include documentation on how many times a person was shocked.
MCSO also documented nine instances in which a person was reported injured by a Taser. Over the same time period, deputies were injured 43 times during use-of-force incidents, and 29 deputies were taken to the hospital.
About 90 percent of all MCSO deputies carry Tasers, and the department is aiming for 100 percent, said Lt. Ralph Smith, MCSO training coordinator.
Taser Training and Effects
Everyone who carries a Taser is trained to standards from Taser Internation, the stun-gun manufacturer, he said. All deputies get an initial eight-hour training, which includes being Tasered. Deputies must be re-certified every year but aren’t required to be Tasered during recertification.
“We don’t use Taser cartridges; we use training cartridges that shoot alligator clips,” he said. “If we discharged the actual Taser charge, it would cost too much.
“It’s 100 percent the same effect.”
Each five-second Taser charge carries 50,000 volts, which cannot be turned down, Smith said. The charge cannot be reduced to less than five seconds.
“It doesn’t affect you the same way electricity does,” he said.
The advantages of a Taser is that it gives deputies an option other than a lethal weapon, or duty guns, Smith said.
“It’s one of the best weapons you can arm yourself with,” he said. “It’s a very, very good tool, but it does not take the place of the duty weapon. Our thought here is safety first for the deputies and for citizens.
“If you can use a Taser in place of a weapon, you haven’t killed someone.”
Joe Welch’s Take on Tasers
Joe Welch insists his son wasn’t forcefully pushing anyone when he was Tasered.
“He didn’t hurt anybody. He’s 180 pounds, and these guys looked like linebackers from Green Bay,” he said. “They Tasered him six times, and he (a deputy) stood his foot on Robert’s neck.”
When paramedics arrived, Robert Welch had no pulse, and the paramedics were unable to revive him, Joe Welch said. He was taken to St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Joe Welch, who won’t say whether he plans to take legal action against MCSO, believes Tasers should be “taken away” from law enforcement.
“It’s a bad idea to give Tasers to everyone in the force,” he said. “They screwed up and they knew it.
“They Tasered my son to death. When they hear from me, God’s going to come with me.”
To hear the Feb. 28 9-1-1 call by Janell Welch in its entirety, go to www.thecourier-online.com.
911 Tape
Welch’s son, Robert Lee Welch, 40, died Feb. 28 after MCSO deputies Tasered him several times when they were called to Joe Welch’s home in the 6500 block of Golden Oaks Drive, south of Texas 242.
Preliminary autopsy results did not determine the cause of death for Robert Welch, whose heart stopped after he was Tasered, Joe Welch said. Toxicology results have not been finalized, MCSO Lt. Bill Bucks said, but results of tests on the data from the Taser used should be in early next week.
Robert Welch, according to a 9-1-1 recording the MCSO released to The Courier Wednesday, was staggering around his home naked and in a daze, his stepmother told a dispatcher on the recording. He also was pushing his father, who has a pacemaker and defibrillator.
Deputies used a Taser on Robert Welch because he was “standoffish and pushing,” Bucks said.
“He was acting pretty much the way he was when the mother made the call,” he said.
But Joe Welch said his son presented no danger.
“No one in this house was in any danger at any time,” he said. “We were trying to get help for Robert, not for us. Their main concern was that Robert was pushing on me.
“We didn’t want the deputies; we called for an ambulance.”
Four deputies arrived at the home, Bucks said, and all four were put on paid administrative leave for three days, which is standard policy. The four deputies are back on regular patrol duty, he said.
Janell Welch, Joe Welch’s wife, made the 9-1-1 call around 7 a.m. She first spoke with an EMS call taker.
“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “Our son came in around 11 last night. ... He’s been staggering around since 5 this morning. He’s buck naked. I don’t know what he’s on. He won’t talk, and he doesn’t make any sense.”
The call taker asked whether Robert Welch was violent or had a weapon, and Janell Welch said “No” to both questions.
“Is this a suicide attempt?” the call taker asked.
“I have no idea. I wouldn’t doubt it,” Janell Welch said.
The EMS calltaker then got an MCSO call taker on the line, who asked Janell Welch what drugs Robert Welch had taken.
“I have no idea,” she said. “None at all.”
A few seconds later, Janell Welch yelled at Robert Welch.
“Robert, stop! You’re going to hurt your daddy!” she said.
“No, he’s going to hurt me,” Robert Welch said. “Get out of the way!”
Seconds later, Janell Welch called out to her daughter.
“Make sure he doesn’t hurt your dad,” she said. “He’s pushing really hard on him.”
The MCSO call taker then asked Janell Welch why she said it might be a suicide attempt.
“His girlfriend kicked him out last night,” she said. “He’s always threatening to do that.”
Janell Welch then said Robert Welch is diabetic, and also that Joe Welch has Type II diabetes and serious heart trouble.
“With that (unintelligible) going off, no one can touch him,” she said.
When Janell Welch asked why the ambulance hadn’t arrived, the MCSO call taker said EMS would not go to the scene until the MCSO officers arrived.
“With him being violent ...” the calltaker began to say.
“He’s not violent,” Janell Welch said. “He’s walking around in a daze.”
Deputies arrived 15 minutes and 45 seconds after Janell Welch called 9-1-1, and the call ended five seconds later.
MCSO Taser Use
MCSO deputies were involved in 694 use-of-force incidents from the beginning of 2006 through June 30, 2008, according to MCSO statistics provided to The Villager newspaper for a previous story. For the 122 incidents involving Tasers, the devices were considered effective 105 times, an 86 percent success ratio. By comparison, pepper spray was found effective in 76 percent of the incidents, and batons were effective 25 percent of the time.
Tasers were discharged 168 times in the 122 incidents. At least eight incidents involved multiple five-second shock cycles, including one in which a person received nine cycles. More than half of the 92 discharges did not include documentation on how many times a person was shocked.
MCSO also documented nine instances in which a person was reported injured by a Taser. Over the same time period, deputies were injured 43 times during use-of-force incidents, and 29 deputies were taken to the hospital.
About 90 percent of all MCSO deputies carry Tasers, and the department is aiming for 100 percent, said Lt. Ralph Smith, MCSO training coordinator.
Taser Training and Effects
Everyone who carries a Taser is trained to standards from Taser Internation, the stun-gun manufacturer, he said. All deputies get an initial eight-hour training, which includes being Tasered. Deputies must be re-certified every year but aren’t required to be Tasered during recertification.
“We don’t use Taser cartridges; we use training cartridges that shoot alligator clips,” he said. “If we discharged the actual Taser charge, it would cost too much.
“It’s 100 percent the same effect.”
Each five-second Taser charge carries 50,000 volts, which cannot be turned down, Smith said. The charge cannot be reduced to less than five seconds.
“It doesn’t affect you the same way electricity does,” he said.
The advantages of a Taser is that it gives deputies an option other than a lethal weapon, or duty guns, Smith said.
“It’s one of the best weapons you can arm yourself with,” he said. “It’s a very, very good tool, but it does not take the place of the duty weapon. Our thought here is safety first for the deputies and for citizens.
“If you can use a Taser in place of a weapon, you haven’t killed someone.”
Joe Welch’s Take on Tasers
Joe Welch insists his son wasn’t forcefully pushing anyone when he was Tasered.
“He didn’t hurt anybody. He’s 180 pounds, and these guys looked like linebackers from Green Bay,” he said. “They Tasered him six times, and he (a deputy) stood his foot on Robert’s neck.”
When paramedics arrived, Robert Welch had no pulse, and the paramedics were unable to revive him, Joe Welch said. He was taken to St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Joe Welch, who won’t say whether he plans to take legal action against MCSO, believes Tasers should be “taken away” from law enforcement.
“It’s a bad idea to give Tasers to everyone in the force,” he said. “They screwed up and they knew it.
“They Tasered my son to death. When they hear from me, God’s going to come with me.”
To hear the Feb. 28 9-1-1 call by Janell Welch in its entirety, go to www.thecourier-online.com.
911 Tape
Officer Michaelyn Culligan Charged with OWI Still on Duty
MANITOWOC
A Manitowoc police officer who was sitting on the board of directors for the Wisconsin D.A.R.E. Officers Association when she was arrested earlier this month for drunken driving remains on duty, Manitowoc Police Chief Tony Dick said today.
Michaelyn Culligan, 40, was picked up around 9:30 p.m. March 2 in Two Rivers after her car got stuck in a snow bank at Mishicot Road and 44th Street, Manitowoc County Sheriff Rob Hermann said. Because her husband, Timothy Culligan, is a patrol officer with the Two Rivers Police Department, the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department was called in to handle the arrest.
To avoid any further conflicts of interest, the woman was transported to the Calumet County Jail. Hermann said today that he doesn’t have access to records showing Culligan’s blood alcohol content at the time of her arrest.
“Obviously this is a sad day for Manitowoc — for the citizens and also the other officers,” Dick said. “This is not the conduct that we would expect from one of our officers.”
Culligan works on the second-shift patrol division and was serving as a D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer for the Manitowoc Police Department at the time of her arrest. She remains on duty at the department while an internal investigation takes place, Dick said, but has been relieved of her D.A.R.E. duties. She also resigned from her post on the state D.A.R.E. board, he said.
“We’re going to let due process take it’s course, but until that happens there’s just no way that we feel that she could have legitimacy standing up in the front of a classroom teaching D.A.R.E.,” Dick said. “We don’t have any reports that lead us to believe this rises to the level where she shouldn’t be working at this point.”
If Culligan is convicted of drunken driving, Dick said that charge will be taken into consideration along with the results of the internal investigation to determine any disciplinary action. The department doesn’t have specific policies laying out punishment for officers convicted of operating while intoxicated.
“Our policy is more dealing with the general misbehaving,” he said. “We look at a lot of different things in general — more so than the criminal aspect or the violation of an ordinance would look at. In a case like this, we have to look at extenuating circumstances and we also have to look at what is right for the employer and the employee.”
Similar cases around the state have resulted in anything from a few days off work to officers quitting as a result of the investigation, Dick said. He declined to speculate on Culligan’s situation.
“When the internal investigation is done, we’ll take a look at all the factors … and put her on the right track,” he said. “She’ll be offered all the assistance that an employer would give an employee under similar circumstances.”
In the state of Wisconsin, a first-offense OWI conviction does not include jail time, but comes with a $150 to $300 fine, six- to nine-month license suspension and an alcohol assessment. An occupational driver’s license can be issued immediately, meaning Culligan legally could continue working as a patrol officer, even if convicted.
Culligan has been with the department since 1998.
“She’s a good officer — she did a lot to help our community through the years that she’s been here,” Dick said. “It’s just an unfortunate experience for her and also for all the officers. She’s a human being, and people make mistakes. I don’t think anyone feels worse than she does right now for what has happened.”
Officer Jasper White Junior Charged with Domestic Violence
ALLENDALE, S.C.
SLED agents put an Allendale Police Officer in jail and charged him with criminal domestic violence.
Jasper White Junior is accused of criminal domestic violence from an incident that happened on Hay Street between him and the victim, his wife, in September of 2008.
According to SLED, White had a physical fight with his wife where he allegedly hit her in the face with his fist, causing visible injury to her eye. He's also accused of forcibly removing her from his car. The victim says she then pushed him away and removed a gun from his console because she "was fearful he was going to do bodily harm to me or kill me."
White was arrested and released on his own personal recognizance.
SLED agents put an Allendale Police Officer in jail and charged him with criminal domestic violence.
Jasper White Junior is accused of criminal domestic violence from an incident that happened on Hay Street between him and the victim, his wife, in September of 2008.
According to SLED, White had a physical fight with his wife where he allegedly hit her in the face with his fist, causing visible injury to her eye. He's also accused of forcibly removing her from his car. The victim says she then pushed him away and removed a gun from his console because she "was fearful he was going to do bodily harm to me or kill me."
White was arrested and released on his own personal recognizance.
Two Houston Residents Arrested for saying Fuck
Movie actors say it on screen. Some artists put it in their songs.
But using the “F-word” in public places is starting to get Houston-area residents handcuffed or arrested.
For the second time within the past eight months, a person using the word during private conversations in public places — once at a Wal-Mart in La Marque and then at a Mexican restaurant in Galveston — have been taken into custody and cited for disorderly conduct.
While the word is vulgar, disrespectful and in poor taste, constitutional scholars such at T. Gerald Treece, an associate dean at the South Texas College of Law, believe “criminalizing” the word is a violation of free speech.
Such a word has to “excite violence or an immediate disruption, where people feel they are forced to leave or not participate in an activity” before police action would be warranted, he said.
State law says the use of abusive, indecent, profane or vulgar language in a public place, which causes an “immediate breach of peace,” meets the definition of disorderly conduct.
Officer makes the call
Abraham Urquizo, 35, a visitor from Jamaica, N.Y., was arrested this week at Salsa’s Mexican and Seafood Restaurant on Seawall Boulevard in Galveston after twice using the word to berate his girlfriend, officials said.
A Galveston police officer overhead the conversation in which Urquizo was reported to have said, “I can’t believe you’re so (expletive deleted) stupid” which was followed by “what the (expletive deleted) were you thinking.”
The officer, eating his dinner nearby, took Urquizo outside to caution him about his speech , said Galveston police spokesman, Lt. D.J. Alvarez. The restaurant’s manager then stated the use of the word had offended him and asked the officer to do something, Alvarez said.
The officer arrested Urquizo on a charge of disorderly conduct.
Urquizo could not be reached for comment, but he has since pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor offense. The judge assessed his punishment as the hours he had already spent in jail prior to the pleading.
“Rather than arrest the customer, the appropriate response would have been for the manager to ask him to leave the premises. That was within the manager’s rights” said Treece, the law school dean. “But the government should not make the call.”
Out of batteries
However, he said citizens often “want to get on with their lives and don’t fight it,” although the La Marque case is headed for trial on May 1.
In this case, 28-year-old Kathryn “Kristi” Fridge, went to a Wal-Mart on Aug. 4 to buy batteries before Tropical Storm Edouard arrived.
After finding the battery shelf empty, she told the Chronicle that she turned to her mother and remarked, “They’re all (expletive deleted) gone!”
Capt. Alfred Decker, a La Marque assistant fire marshal who also is a certified peace officer, overheard the conversation.
He came from around the corner to tell her, “You need to watch your mouth,” she said.
When she told him it was a private conversation and none of his business, she said he ordered her outside so that he could retrieve his citation book and ticket her for disorderly conduct.
La Marque Fire Chief Todd Zacheri said Fridge had created a scene by cursing the officer and everyone else present, causing a “huge group” to gather.
But using the “F-word” in public places is starting to get Houston-area residents handcuffed or arrested.
For the second time within the past eight months, a person using the word during private conversations in public places — once at a Wal-Mart in La Marque and then at a Mexican restaurant in Galveston — have been taken into custody and cited for disorderly conduct.
While the word is vulgar, disrespectful and in poor taste, constitutional scholars such at T. Gerald Treece, an associate dean at the South Texas College of Law, believe “criminalizing” the word is a violation of free speech.
Such a word has to “excite violence or an immediate disruption, where people feel they are forced to leave or not participate in an activity” before police action would be warranted, he said.
State law says the use of abusive, indecent, profane or vulgar language in a public place, which causes an “immediate breach of peace,” meets the definition of disorderly conduct.
Officer makes the call
Abraham Urquizo, 35, a visitor from Jamaica, N.Y., was arrested this week at Salsa’s Mexican and Seafood Restaurant on Seawall Boulevard in Galveston after twice using the word to berate his girlfriend, officials said.
A Galveston police officer overhead the conversation in which Urquizo was reported to have said, “I can’t believe you’re so (expletive deleted) stupid” which was followed by “what the (expletive deleted) were you thinking.”
The officer, eating his dinner nearby, took Urquizo outside to caution him about his speech , said Galveston police spokesman, Lt. D.J. Alvarez. The restaurant’s manager then stated the use of the word had offended him and asked the officer to do something, Alvarez said.
The officer arrested Urquizo on a charge of disorderly conduct.
Urquizo could not be reached for comment, but he has since pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor offense. The judge assessed his punishment as the hours he had already spent in jail prior to the pleading.
“Rather than arrest the customer, the appropriate response would have been for the manager to ask him to leave the premises. That was within the manager’s rights” said Treece, the law school dean. “But the government should not make the call.”
Out of batteries
However, he said citizens often “want to get on with their lives and don’t fight it,” although the La Marque case is headed for trial on May 1.
In this case, 28-year-old Kathryn “Kristi” Fridge, went to a Wal-Mart on Aug. 4 to buy batteries before Tropical Storm Edouard arrived.
After finding the battery shelf empty, she told the Chronicle that she turned to her mother and remarked, “They’re all (expletive deleted) gone!”
Capt. Alfred Decker, a La Marque assistant fire marshal who also is a certified peace officer, overheard the conversation.
He came from around the corner to tell her, “You need to watch your mouth,” she said.
When she told him it was a private conversation and none of his business, she said he ordered her outside so that he could retrieve his citation book and ticket her for disorderly conduct.
La Marque Fire Chief Todd Zacheri said Fridge had created a scene by cursing the officer and everyone else present, causing a “huge group” to gather.
Former Officer Anthony Doyle Recieves 12 Year Sentence for Racketeering
CHICAGO
A former police officer accused of providing information on gangland investigations to a reputed mob boss and being a "sleeper agent" for organized crime was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in federal prison for racketeering.
"You picked the wrong people to try to help," U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel told Anthony Doyle, who was convicted in 2007 along with three mobsters and an alleged henchman in the landmark Operation Family Secrets trial.
Unlike three of his co-defendants, though, the 64-year-old former officer was not held responsible for any of 18 murders outlined in the indictment. But prosecutors said that even before he joined the force, Doyle collected debts for Frank Calabrese Sr., a convicted loan shark and one of the five men prosecuted in the city's biggest organized crime trial in decades.
The case had focused on an alleged conspiracy spanning decades that included gambling, loan sharking, extortion and a series of gangland murders as the mob brought down real or suspected witnesses.
During the trial, prosecutors showed tapes of Doyle briefing the imprisoned Calabrese on the progress of a homicide investigation. Calabrese was also heard in a recording saying that Doyle would remove evidence in the murder probe.
Doyle testified at the trial that what Calabrese said in their prison conversation struck him as "gibberish" but he pretended to understand and go along because "I don't want to be a chumbalone, an idiot."
Defense attorney Ralph E. Meczyk, in pleading for leniency, said his client "wasn't a chumbalone, but he was a chum." He said Doyle had foolishly befriended Calabrese but now realizes he blundered in helping a man who was "the epitome of evil."
Meczyk also pointed to times as a policeman that Doyle had disarmed dangerous criminals, arrested a cop killer and led six people out of a burning building.
"He was a truly heroic and stellar and exemplary police officer — he took guns off the street," Meczyk told the judge.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney T. Markus Funk told Zagel that such claims were "actually quite difficult to take seriously."
"This man is a disgrace, and to come here and say he was a stellar police officer, a man of good deeds, is an outrage," Funk said.
Only one Family Secrets defendant, Nicholas Calabrese, remains to be sentenced on March 26. Zagel has already sentenced Frank Calabrese to life and reputed mobster Paul Schiro to 20 years. Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo was sentenced to life for serving as the mob leader and for the murder of a government witness in a union pension fraud case.
________________
More Information:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/mob/1473629,w-family-secrets-mob-case-ex-cop-031209.article
A former police officer accused of providing information on gangland investigations to a reputed mob boss and being a "sleeper agent" for organized crime was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in federal prison for racketeering.
"You picked the wrong people to try to help," U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel told Anthony Doyle, who was convicted in 2007 along with three mobsters and an alleged henchman in the landmark Operation Family Secrets trial.
Unlike three of his co-defendants, though, the 64-year-old former officer was not held responsible for any of 18 murders outlined in the indictment. But prosecutors said that even before he joined the force, Doyle collected debts for Frank Calabrese Sr., a convicted loan shark and one of the five men prosecuted in the city's biggest organized crime trial in decades.
The case had focused on an alleged conspiracy spanning decades that included gambling, loan sharking, extortion and a series of gangland murders as the mob brought down real or suspected witnesses.
During the trial, prosecutors showed tapes of Doyle briefing the imprisoned Calabrese on the progress of a homicide investigation. Calabrese was also heard in a recording saying that Doyle would remove evidence in the murder probe.
Doyle testified at the trial that what Calabrese said in their prison conversation struck him as "gibberish" but he pretended to understand and go along because "I don't want to be a chumbalone, an idiot."
Defense attorney Ralph E. Meczyk, in pleading for leniency, said his client "wasn't a chumbalone, but he was a chum." He said Doyle had foolishly befriended Calabrese but now realizes he blundered in helping a man who was "the epitome of evil."
Meczyk also pointed to times as a policeman that Doyle had disarmed dangerous criminals, arrested a cop killer and led six people out of a burning building.
"He was a truly heroic and stellar and exemplary police officer — he took guns off the street," Meczyk told the judge.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney T. Markus Funk told Zagel that such claims were "actually quite difficult to take seriously."
"This man is a disgrace, and to come here and say he was a stellar police officer, a man of good deeds, is an outrage," Funk said.
Only one Family Secrets defendant, Nicholas Calabrese, remains to be sentenced on March 26. Zagel has already sentenced Frank Calabrese to life and reputed mobster Paul Schiro to 20 years. Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo was sentenced to life for serving as the mob leader and for the murder of a government witness in a union pension fraud case.
________________
More Information:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/mob/1473629,w-family-secrets-mob-case-ex-cop-031209.article
Justice Department Launches Investigation into Officer Involved Shootings
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the Inglewood Police Department in the wake of several officer-involved shootings of unarmed suspects and other incidents in which the agency has been accused of using excessive force.
A Justice Department spokeswoman described the investigation as a "pattern or practice" inquiry into the Police Department that is being handled by the federal agency's civil rights division in Washington.
The probe marks the second ongoing investigation into the department, which was the focus of community protests last year when officers shot and killed four people -- three of them unarmed -- in the span of four months. The L.A. County Office of Independent Review, which monitors the Sheriff's Department, began probing the Police Department's tactics last year at the request of the city.
The announcement also comes less than three months after a Times investigation found that Inglewood police officers repeatedly resorted to physical or deadly force in the last several years against suspects who were unarmed or accused of minor offenses.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who was among several politicians who called for an outside investigation into possible police misconduct, said she was gratified by the Justice Department's decision.
"I have been extremely concerned about the alarming number of police-involved shootings in Inglewood," she said in a statement Thursday.
City officials said federal investigators plan to examine past procedures and tactics involving force used by Inglewood officers.
"We will cooperate completely in all aspects of this investigation," Inglewood Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said in a statement. "We have been at work for months in implementing reforms aimed at improving how our officers go about their jobs."
The Justice Department alerted the city by letter Wednesday afternoon that the agency was beginning a review of the department, Lt. Mike McBride said.
The purpose of such reviews is to ensure proper management and oversight at police departments and, if needed, to bring federal lawsuits to pressure local authorities into reforming their operations.
The L.A. County district attorney's office is also reviewing each of the shootings for possible criminal charges against the officers -- as it does for all police shootings in the county that result in injuries or death.
Since 2003, Inglewood police have shot and killed 11 people, five of them unarmed, according to law enforcement records reviewed by The Times. Among them was Jule Dexter.
Dexter was shot in the back and the head in June 2005 after being detained for drinking in public. The officer who fired the shots said Dexter was slow to obey an order to remove his hands from his pockets and appeared to fumble with what the officer feared was a weapon.
But witnesses said Dexter, 27, was shot as he reached to pull up his slipping pants. The city paid $725,000 to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Dexter's family. The officer was suspended for 16 days.
That shooting, along with others, prompted some officers to complain about the department's policy on when to shoot and about a lack of training.
In addition, the department has been criticized over its use of electric stun guns. The Times found that two Inglewood officers were involved in shooting unarmed suspects with Tasers four times in five weeks.
Waters called on the Justice Department to intervene after the Aug. 31 killing of Eddie Felix Franco, a 56-year-old homeless man who had a realistic-looking toy gun in his waistband. Authorities said officers fired at least 47 rounds at Franco when he appeared to reach for the gun. A nearby motorist was struck and grazed in the head by one of the bullets.
Franco was the fourth person killed in as many months. The others were:
* Michael Byoune, 19, who was killed on Mother's Day, May 11, after he went to a hamburger stand with friends. Police officials said officers believed they had come under fire when they killed Byoune and wounded his two friends. None of the men were armed.
* Ruben Walton Ortega, 23, an alleged gang member who was shot and killed July 1 by an officer who said Ortega reached into his waistband as he ran from police. He was unarmed. Last week, prosecutors concluded that the officer "honestly believed he was in imminent danger" when he opened fire.
* Kevin Wicks, 38, a postal worker who was killed inside his home July 21 when police said he raised a gun at Officer Brian Ragan, who was responding to a report of a family disturbance in Wicks' apartment complex. Ragan was also one of two officers involved in Byoune's shooting and remains on paid leave, McBride said.
Inglewood Councilman Daniel Tabor said he believed the Justice Department would find that the city had taken swift measures to reform police training after last year's shootings.
About 70% of the agency's 191 officers have been enrolled in a 120-hour training program to improve tactics, according to the department.
Adrianne Sears, chairwoman of the Inglewood Citizen Police Oversight Commission, said she hoped that the Justice Department's investigation would "help to restore the public's trust in our department."
A Justice Department spokeswoman described the investigation as a "pattern or practice" inquiry into the Police Department that is being handled by the federal agency's civil rights division in Washington.
The probe marks the second ongoing investigation into the department, which was the focus of community protests last year when officers shot and killed four people -- three of them unarmed -- in the span of four months. The L.A. County Office of Independent Review, which monitors the Sheriff's Department, began probing the Police Department's tactics last year at the request of the city.
The announcement also comes less than three months after a Times investigation found that Inglewood police officers repeatedly resorted to physical or deadly force in the last several years against suspects who were unarmed or accused of minor offenses.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who was among several politicians who called for an outside investigation into possible police misconduct, said she was gratified by the Justice Department's decision.
"I have been extremely concerned about the alarming number of police-involved shootings in Inglewood," she said in a statement Thursday.
City officials said federal investigators plan to examine past procedures and tactics involving force used by Inglewood officers.
"We will cooperate completely in all aspects of this investigation," Inglewood Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said in a statement. "We have been at work for months in implementing reforms aimed at improving how our officers go about their jobs."
The Justice Department alerted the city by letter Wednesday afternoon that the agency was beginning a review of the department, Lt. Mike McBride said.
The purpose of such reviews is to ensure proper management and oversight at police departments and, if needed, to bring federal lawsuits to pressure local authorities into reforming their operations.
The L.A. County district attorney's office is also reviewing each of the shootings for possible criminal charges against the officers -- as it does for all police shootings in the county that result in injuries or death.
Since 2003, Inglewood police have shot and killed 11 people, five of them unarmed, according to law enforcement records reviewed by The Times. Among them was Jule Dexter.
Dexter was shot in the back and the head in June 2005 after being detained for drinking in public. The officer who fired the shots said Dexter was slow to obey an order to remove his hands from his pockets and appeared to fumble with what the officer feared was a weapon.
But witnesses said Dexter, 27, was shot as he reached to pull up his slipping pants. The city paid $725,000 to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Dexter's family. The officer was suspended for 16 days.
That shooting, along with others, prompted some officers to complain about the department's policy on when to shoot and about a lack of training.
In addition, the department has been criticized over its use of electric stun guns. The Times found that two Inglewood officers were involved in shooting unarmed suspects with Tasers four times in five weeks.
Waters called on the Justice Department to intervene after the Aug. 31 killing of Eddie Felix Franco, a 56-year-old homeless man who had a realistic-looking toy gun in his waistband. Authorities said officers fired at least 47 rounds at Franco when he appeared to reach for the gun. A nearby motorist was struck and grazed in the head by one of the bullets.
Franco was the fourth person killed in as many months. The others were:
* Michael Byoune, 19, who was killed on Mother's Day, May 11, after he went to a hamburger stand with friends. Police officials said officers believed they had come under fire when they killed Byoune and wounded his two friends. None of the men were armed.
* Ruben Walton Ortega, 23, an alleged gang member who was shot and killed July 1 by an officer who said Ortega reached into his waistband as he ran from police. He was unarmed. Last week, prosecutors concluded that the officer "honestly believed he was in imminent danger" when he opened fire.
* Kevin Wicks, 38, a postal worker who was killed inside his home July 21 when police said he raised a gun at Officer Brian Ragan, who was responding to a report of a family disturbance in Wicks' apartment complex. Ragan was also one of two officers involved in Byoune's shooting and remains on paid leave, McBride said.
Inglewood Councilman Daniel Tabor said he believed the Justice Department would find that the city had taken swift measures to reform police training after last year's shootings.
About 70% of the agency's 191 officers have been enrolled in a 120-hour training program to improve tactics, according to the department.
Adrianne Sears, chairwoman of the Inglewood Citizen Police Oversight Commission, said she hoped that the Justice Department's investigation would "help to restore the public's trust in our department."
Officer Scott Campbell Pleads Guilty to Filing False Income Tax Return
A Chicago police officer charged in a towing scandal pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false income tax return.
Grand Central District Officer Scott Campbell was accused of scheming to have his 1996 Volkswagen Passat towed so he could pretend it had been stolen. Campbell allegedly filed a false insurance claim and was paid about $4,000.
He pleaded guilty to failing to report the $4,000 payout on his 2007 federal income tax return. He faces up to 6 months in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 26.
Campbell has been relieved of his police powers and assigned to desk duty, said Chicago Police Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti.
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Grand Central District Officer Scott Campbell was accused of scheming to have his 1996 Volkswagen Passat towed so he could pretend it had been stolen. Campbell allegedly filed a false insurance claim and was paid about $4,000.
He pleaded guilty to failing to report the $4,000 payout on his 2007 federal income tax return. He faces up to 6 months in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 26.
Campbell has been relieved of his police powers and assigned to desk duty, said Chicago Police Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti.
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Officer John Passman Accused of Battery & Interference
BATON ROUGE, La.
An off-duty Baton Rouge Police officer was issued a misdemeanor summons after a fellow officer accused him of battery and interference.
Sgt. Charles Polozola responded to a call from a bar manager that 28-year-old Officer John Passman, who was off duty and in plain clothes, and two other men were drunk and causing problems early Thursday.
The men agreed to leave, but minutes later Polozola saw one of them entering another bar and when Polozola tried to detain the man, Passman allegedly interfered by grabbing Polozola from behind and pulling him away.
Passman was arrested and issued a summons for battery on a police officer and interfering with a police officer. He has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
An off-duty Baton Rouge Police officer was issued a misdemeanor summons after a fellow officer accused him of battery and interference.
Sgt. Charles Polozola responded to a call from a bar manager that 28-year-old Officer John Passman, who was off duty and in plain clothes, and two other men were drunk and causing problems early Thursday.
The men agreed to leave, but minutes later Polozola saw one of them entering another bar and when Polozola tried to detain the man, Passman allegedly interfered by grabbing Polozola from behind and pulling him away.
Passman was arrested and issued a summons for battery on a police officer and interfering with a police officer. He has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
Corrections Officer James Howard Accused of Sexually Assaulting Prisoners
MILWAUKEE
An officer at the Milwaukee County House of Corrections is accused of sexually assaulting two female prisoners in their cells.
The complaint filed yesterday charges 28-year-old James Howard with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of an inmate by a correctional officer and two counts of third-degree sexual assault.
Both of the women are being held in custody while awaiting trial in felony cases.
They told authorities the assaults happened last Saturday. In both cases, they alleged the officer first approached the cell and slid a suggestive note under the door, then returned a short time later and committed the assault.
A preliminary hearing for Howard is scheduled next Thursday.
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Information and Video:
http://www.wsaw.com/daybreak/headlines/41203672.html
An officer at the Milwaukee County House of Corrections is accused of sexually assaulting two female prisoners in their cells.
The complaint filed yesterday charges 28-year-old James Howard with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of an inmate by a correctional officer and two counts of third-degree sexual assault.
Both of the women are being held in custody while awaiting trial in felony cases.
They told authorities the assaults happened last Saturday. In both cases, they alleged the officer first approached the cell and slid a suggestive note under the door, then returned a short time later and committed the assault.
A preliminary hearing for Howard is scheduled next Thursday.
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Information and Video:
http://www.wsaw.com/daybreak/headlines/41203672.html
Manhattan Man Accuses Police of Beating him Until his Bladder Burst
The Manhattan man who accused Ocean Beach police of beating him so badly his bladder burst didn't contest Friday under cross-examination defense claims that he had a dozen or more drinks that night and hurled profanity at police before he was injured.
The department's former acting chief, George Hesse, 39, of East Islip, has been charged with attacking Sam Gilberd, 36, on Aug. 28, 2005, after the marketing executive kicked a door on his way out of the police station.
Hesse's lawyer, William Keahon of Islandia, cross-examined Gilberd Friday in a Riverhead courtroom and asked him if he had any memory of becoming profanely belligerent with police after he was ticketed, including shouting epithets at an officer.
"I don't recall saying that," Gilberd said after Keahon repeated the quote in question. "I don't really use language like that."
If someone says you did under oath, are they lying? Keahon pressed.
"If there's somebody that says I used language like that, I must have said it," Gilberd replied quietly.
During several hours of cross-examination, Gilberd said there were many details of the evening he did not recall. Among them was the moment he tossed a glass on the ground outside a bar - the event that spurred a bouncer to take Gilberd to the village's police station to receive the littering summons.
After Gilberd pocketed the ticket, both sides say he kicked the police station's front door as he left.
Officers pulled him back inside, where prosecutors said Hesse punched Gilberd in the face, stomped his abdomen with a work boot and left him on the ground unconscious.
Prosecutors said another officer, Arnold Hardman, 53, of St. James, failed to seek medical attention for Gilberd and lied to first responders about the extent of his injuries. Hardman is charged with unlawful imprisonment, conspiracy and other charges. Hesse faces first-degree assault, gang assault and other charges.
Lawyers for both defendants say Gilberd's bladder ruptured because of a fall.
Keahon spent much of yesterday's cross-examination aggressively pursuing a running tally of drinks he said Gilberd consumed that evening, saying evidence indicated the witness must have had "a minimum of 12 to 18 drinks."
"I don't recall, sir," Gilberd replied.
"Are you in a position to deny it?" Keahon said.
Gilberd admitted he was not.
________________
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-licop146068684mar14,0,2404217.story
The department's former acting chief, George Hesse, 39, of East Islip, has been charged with attacking Sam Gilberd, 36, on Aug. 28, 2005, after the marketing executive kicked a door on his way out of the police station.
Hesse's lawyer, William Keahon of Islandia, cross-examined Gilberd Friday in a Riverhead courtroom and asked him if he had any memory of becoming profanely belligerent with police after he was ticketed, including shouting epithets at an officer.
"I don't recall saying that," Gilberd said after Keahon repeated the quote in question. "I don't really use language like that."
If someone says you did under oath, are they lying? Keahon pressed.
"If there's somebody that says I used language like that, I must have said it," Gilberd replied quietly.
During several hours of cross-examination, Gilberd said there were many details of the evening he did not recall. Among them was the moment he tossed a glass on the ground outside a bar - the event that spurred a bouncer to take Gilberd to the village's police station to receive the littering summons.
After Gilberd pocketed the ticket, both sides say he kicked the police station's front door as he left.
Officers pulled him back inside, where prosecutors said Hesse punched Gilberd in the face, stomped his abdomen with a work boot and left him on the ground unconscious.
Prosecutors said another officer, Arnold Hardman, 53, of St. James, failed to seek medical attention for Gilberd and lied to first responders about the extent of his injuries. Hardman is charged with unlawful imprisonment, conspiracy and other charges. Hesse faces first-degree assault, gang assault and other charges.
Lawyers for both defendants say Gilberd's bladder ruptured because of a fall.
Keahon spent much of yesterday's cross-examination aggressively pursuing a running tally of drinks he said Gilberd consumed that evening, saying evidence indicated the witness must have had "a minimum of 12 to 18 drinks."
"I don't recall, sir," Gilberd replied.
"Are you in a position to deny it?" Keahon said.
Gilberd admitted he was not.
________________
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-licop146068684mar14,0,2404217.story
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Officer Scott Taylor Fired after being Investigated for Beating Police Dog
Scott Taylor, the University of Nevada, Reno police officer who has been under investigation for claims of police abuse and for allegedly beating his assigned police dog, no longer works at UNR, spokeswoman Jane Tors said today.
“He is no longer an employee,” she said. “He was notified of this (Wednesday).”
Tors said she is prohibited from discussing whether Taylor was fired or why he no longer works at UNR because, by law, it is a confidential personnel matter.
Neither Taylor or his attorney could be reached for comment.
When contacted Wednesday about reports Taylor had been fired, Tors said the university had taken action that dealt with Taylor and that the action was based on “an internal matter and not the dog, which would still be within the purview of the Attorney General’s office.”
UNR Police Chief Adam Garcia had put Taylor on paid leave last month pending an internal investigation after a complaint of police abuse was made against him Feb. 3.
“It was a complaint against his inappropriate conduct with a citizen while on duty,” Garcia had said.
In an earlier complaint filed in January with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA said Taylor had been accused of beating his K-9 patrol dog, a male German shepherd name Niko, to the point that the dog defecated on the floor at the university’s police station.
Garcia turned that investigation over to the Attorney General’s office.
Michael Langton, Taylor’s attorney, has stated that his client maintains he is innocent.
Langton said Taylor had explained that the dog defecated on the floor at the UNR police station not out of fear, but because the animal was ill, and that Taylor took him to a veterinarian after the incident.
Garcia said that after PETA contacted him Jan. 29 about the complaint, he had Niko taken away from Taylor and brought to a Reno veterinarian to be examined and kept, pending the outcome of the Attorney General’s investigation.
University officials have said that the initial assessment by the veterinarian who examined Niko found “no overt signs of abuse or trauma.”
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http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/mar/12/officer-accused-of-beating-dog-no-longer-at-unr/
“He is no longer an employee,” she said. “He was notified of this (Wednesday).”
Tors said she is prohibited from discussing whether Taylor was fired or why he no longer works at UNR because, by law, it is a confidential personnel matter.
Neither Taylor or his attorney could be reached for comment.
When contacted Wednesday about reports Taylor had been fired, Tors said the university had taken action that dealt with Taylor and that the action was based on “an internal matter and not the dog, which would still be within the purview of the Attorney General’s office.”
UNR Police Chief Adam Garcia had put Taylor on paid leave last month pending an internal investigation after a complaint of police abuse was made against him Feb. 3.
“It was a complaint against his inappropriate conduct with a citizen while on duty,” Garcia had said.
In an earlier complaint filed in January with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA said Taylor had been accused of beating his K-9 patrol dog, a male German shepherd name Niko, to the point that the dog defecated on the floor at the university’s police station.
Garcia turned that investigation over to the Attorney General’s office.
Michael Langton, Taylor’s attorney, has stated that his client maintains he is innocent.
Langton said Taylor had explained that the dog defecated on the floor at the UNR police station not out of fear, but because the animal was ill, and that Taylor took him to a veterinarian after the incident.
Garcia said that after PETA contacted him Jan. 29 about the complaint, he had Niko taken away from Taylor and brought to a Reno veterinarian to be examined and kept, pending the outcome of the Attorney General’s investigation.
University officials have said that the initial assessment by the veterinarian who examined Niko found “no overt signs of abuse or trauma.”
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http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/mar/12/officer-accused-of-beating-dog-no-longer-at-unr/
Officer Justin White Charged with Theft by Fraud
A Shreveport police officer is free on $5,184 bond after being booked into Caddo Correctional Center today on a charge of felony theft by fraud.
Officer Justin Matthew White, 27, also is on paid administrative leave from the Police Department, police Cpl. Bill Goodin said.
White is accused of falsely reporting his all-terrain vehicle as stolen to Blanchard police in June and collecting $7,012 from the insurance claim he filed, Cindy Chadwick, a Caddo sheriff’s office spokeswoman, said.
He and a friend, who is wanted by the sheriff’s office, traded the ATV to a Bossier City business for automotive work, according to Chadwick. White blew the ATV’s motor and could not afford to fix it.
“It was really just by accident this was discovered,” she said.
Bossier City police are working a similar case involving an ATV and were checking the ATV for their case Monday and it turned out to be the one that was allegedly stolen from White’s Blanchard property, Chadwick said.
BCPD contacted the Caddo sheriff’s office, and the obtained warrants for both White and his friend’s arrest on a charge of felony theft by fraud. The friend’s name was not release as he has not yet been arrested.
Shreveport police supervisors turned White over to the sheriff’s office Thursday after being notified the parish had a warrant for his arrest, Goodin said.
White was booked into Caddo Correctional at 4:48 p.m. today, according to booking records.
Police Chief Henry Whitehorn has relieved White of all duties pending an internal investigation. “I will not tolerate misconduct on the part of our officers,” the police chief said.
White has been employed by the Police Department for four years.
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http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090312/NEWS03/90312033
Operation Shattered Innocence Nabs Two Probation Officers
Law enforcement statewide made two more arrests Thursday and seized more computers in the wrap up of a statewide sweep to gather up those who sent and received pornographic images of children.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said 103 computers have now been seized and 25 people arrested over three days, including two private probation officers and at least two juveniles.
On Tuesday, local, state and federal officers spanned out across the state, executing 44 search warrants that were based on the findings of a three-month-long investigation, “Operation Shattered Innocence.”
The GBI, which coordinated the operation, was still gathering information from all the law enforcement agencies involved Thursday but the agency had some information on who was arrested and what has been found so far.
One of the probation officers charged with felony sexual exploitation of children was Christopher Lee Tucker of Hazelhurst, who turned himself in to the Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday morning.
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Information: http://www.ajc.com/gwinnett/content/metro/stories/2009/03/12/child_porn_georgia.html
Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said 103 computers have now been seized and 25 people arrested over three days, including two private probation officers and at least two juveniles.
On Tuesday, local, state and federal officers spanned out across the state, executing 44 search warrants that were based on the findings of a three-month-long investigation, “Operation Shattered Innocence.”
The GBI, which coordinated the operation, was still gathering information from all the law enforcement agencies involved Thursday but the agency had some information on who was arrested and what has been found so far.
One of the probation officers charged with felony sexual exploitation of children was Christopher Lee Tucker of Hazelhurst, who turned himself in to the Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday morning.
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Information: http://www.ajc.com/gwinnett/content/metro/stories/2009/03/12/child_porn_georgia.html
Death by Taser
Millions of people were stunned and outraged by the videos that showed Oakland BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) cop Johannes Mehserle draw his gun and kill Oscar Grant. Mehserle quit his job 7 days after the killing to avoid giving any statement about what happened or why he did it. Now Mehserle’s lawyers are working hard to offer a plausible explanation to exonerate the cop for the killing. They say that contrary to what people might think, Mehserle had “no criminal intent” when he fired his gun into Grant’s back at point-blank range. They back up this outrageous statement by explaining their theory that this cop “may have mistakenly deployed his pistol rather than his taser” and did not mean to kill Oscar. He just meant to tase him.
Meanwhile, a little more than a month after Oscar Grant was killed in Oakland, another young man was killed by police taser, 40 miles away in San Jose. His name was Richard Lua, and police killed him in front of his own garage, during a “routine patrol.” Police murder has become so “routine” that many times an explanation is offered only as an afterthought. Like Oscar Grant, Richard Lua leaves behind a young daughter and a grieving, outraged family.
Taser use is so routine in San Jose that Lua’s is the 6th death by police taser there just since 2005. Death by police taser is on the increase, and in California these deaths are not even counted as part of the state attorney general’s official tally of “police involved homicides,” which numbers over 100 every year. Neither are deaths from police chokeholds or from asphyxiation through being maced or hog-tied. All of these weapons and methods are part of an ugly panorama of police brutality that is entrenched and endemic and an indispensable part of the function of police in this society.
Amnesty International reported in 2004 that the organization was “concerned by the growing number of fatalities involving police tasers. Since 2001, more than 70 people are reported to have died in the USA and Canada after being struck by M26 or X26 tasers, with the numbers rising each year.” In 2005, the ACLU issued a report saying that “Since 1999, at least 148 people in the United States and Canada have died after encounters with police who shocked them with Tasers.” A website put up by family and friends of Richard Bagnell, a Canadian man who died after being tasered, now lists 397 people killed in North America. And at least 8 people have been killed by tasers in only the first two months of 2009.
Ev’ry time I hear the crack of the whip
My blood runs cold
I remember on the slave ship
How they brutalized our very souls
—Bob Marley, “Slave Driver”
Tasers have replaced the slave driver’s whip and the prison guard’s cattle prod as one of the high-tech control device used by more than 12,000 police departments and in prisons worldwide.
Taser International claims that its products are a less lethal weapon than guns or even batons, and that tasers are "changing the world and saving lives everyday." But the new tasers deliver a staggering 50,000 volts of electricity. These electro-shock weapons can be used in “stun mode” or with darts. When in “dart” mode, the shocks cause total “momentary neuro-muscular incapacitation” (source: University of California, San Francisco press release), while the stun mode inflicts intense localized pain. Tasers are used extensively around the world, including in Iraq, most notoriously by the same U.S. military brigade accused of "sadistic, blatant and wanton" abuse in Abu Ghraib.
Along with guns, sticks, pepper spray and the choke-hold, tasers are part of an arsenal of weapons employed against the people to inflict terror and pain and even death. And, unlike firing his gun, in most places a cop needs only the slightest excuse to justify using his taser.
In the U.S., far from being used only on supposedly “violent suspects” the Amnesty International study says that tasers are often used against "passive resisters"—people who refuse to comply with police commands but do not interfere with an officer and pose no physical threat. Police use tasers on people who “mouth off,” or people who are distressed or mentally ill and who are not suspected of a crime. Amnesty reported that “at least 1,000 U.S. jails and prisons have adopted the new generation M26 or X26 Tasers, where they are deployed in both dart projectile and stun mode.” Amnesty documents cases of pregnant women having miscarriages after being tasered.
Children
In 2006 millions of people reacted with shock at a brutal taser attack on a student in the UCLA library, but a less-known outrage is that there are hundreds of reported cases where cops have used taser guns on children. In Arizona a 13 year old was tased for throwing a book in a public library. In another Arizona case, a 9-year-old runaway girl who was sitting in the back of a police car, handcuffed, was tased because she was "screaming, kicking and flailing, and would not listen." Would not listen? The youngest reported victim of police tasing was in Miami, a boy who was only 6 years old. He was in the vice principal’s office where he had broken a picture frame, and was waving a piece of glass around. His outraged mother told CNN, "If there's three officers, it's nothing to tell a 6‑year‑old holding a glass, if you feel threatened, 'Hey, here's a piece of candy, hey, here's a toy. Let the glass go."
Taser Confusion
While some media have jumped on the taser confusion bandwagon and trotted out various “experts” to talk about how stressed out Mehserle must have been to mistake a taser for his gun, others have ridiculed this idea as preposterous and marshalled the cold facts. The X26 taser issued to BART cops is a plastic device that weighs only 7 ounces. The Sig Sauer that Mehserle shot Grant with is made of metal, weighing 30 ounces unloaded—more than 4 times as much as the taser. The taser was holstered on the opposite side as Mehserle’s gun, and looks and feels completely different.
But another question needs to be asked. Before he was shot, Oscar Grant was detained, lying on his stomach, with his hands behind his back and with an officer’s foot on his neck. What excuse was there to even tase the 22 year old? Perhaps Officer Mehserle only meant to torture him?
The ACLU and Amnesty International are not alone in condemning tasers. In 2007 the U.N. Committee Against Torture said the use of tasers could constitute a form of torture. This cruel punishment, a brutality carried out by police for the slightest offense, without charges or trial, is increasingly a part of American injustice and part of an international epidemic of state-sponsored violence and murder.
The outcome of the murder trial of Mehserle has great significance. If the cop happens to “mistake” his gun for a taser and kills that person, and if this cop is then judged in court to be devoid of “criminal intent,” then what is to stop any cop from killing anyone at any time for any reason? If intending to use an electro-shock weapon on a person lying face down with his hands behind his back can be categorized as following correct police procedure, then it will exonerate police brutality. What kind of legal precedent will that set and how much of this can people tolerate? Enough is enough.
Meanwhile, a little more than a month after Oscar Grant was killed in Oakland, another young man was killed by police taser, 40 miles away in San Jose. His name was Richard Lua, and police killed him in front of his own garage, during a “routine patrol.” Police murder has become so “routine” that many times an explanation is offered only as an afterthought. Like Oscar Grant, Richard Lua leaves behind a young daughter and a grieving, outraged family.
Taser use is so routine in San Jose that Lua’s is the 6th death by police taser there just since 2005. Death by police taser is on the increase, and in California these deaths are not even counted as part of the state attorney general’s official tally of “police involved homicides,” which numbers over 100 every year. Neither are deaths from police chokeholds or from asphyxiation through being maced or hog-tied. All of these weapons and methods are part of an ugly panorama of police brutality that is entrenched and endemic and an indispensable part of the function of police in this society.
Amnesty International reported in 2004 that the organization was “concerned by the growing number of fatalities involving police tasers. Since 2001, more than 70 people are reported to have died in the USA and Canada after being struck by M26 or X26 tasers, with the numbers rising each year.” In 2005, the ACLU issued a report saying that “Since 1999, at least 148 people in the United States and Canada have died after encounters with police who shocked them with Tasers.” A website put up by family and friends of Richard Bagnell, a Canadian man who died after being tasered, now lists 397 people killed in North America. And at least 8 people have been killed by tasers in only the first two months of 2009.
Ev’ry time I hear the crack of the whip
My blood runs cold
I remember on the slave ship
How they brutalized our very souls
—Bob Marley, “Slave Driver”
Tasers have replaced the slave driver’s whip and the prison guard’s cattle prod as one of the high-tech control device used by more than 12,000 police departments and in prisons worldwide.
Taser International claims that its products are a less lethal weapon than guns or even batons, and that tasers are "changing the world and saving lives everyday." But the new tasers deliver a staggering 50,000 volts of electricity. These electro-shock weapons can be used in “stun mode” or with darts. When in “dart” mode, the shocks cause total “momentary neuro-muscular incapacitation” (source: University of California, San Francisco press release), while the stun mode inflicts intense localized pain. Tasers are used extensively around the world, including in Iraq, most notoriously by the same U.S. military brigade accused of "sadistic, blatant and wanton" abuse in Abu Ghraib.
Along with guns, sticks, pepper spray and the choke-hold, tasers are part of an arsenal of weapons employed against the people to inflict terror and pain and even death. And, unlike firing his gun, in most places a cop needs only the slightest excuse to justify using his taser.
In the U.S., far from being used only on supposedly “violent suspects” the Amnesty International study says that tasers are often used against "passive resisters"—people who refuse to comply with police commands but do not interfere with an officer and pose no physical threat. Police use tasers on people who “mouth off,” or people who are distressed or mentally ill and who are not suspected of a crime. Amnesty reported that “at least 1,000 U.S. jails and prisons have adopted the new generation M26 or X26 Tasers, where they are deployed in both dart projectile and stun mode.” Amnesty documents cases of pregnant women having miscarriages after being tasered.
Children
In 2006 millions of people reacted with shock at a brutal taser attack on a student in the UCLA library, but a less-known outrage is that there are hundreds of reported cases where cops have used taser guns on children. In Arizona a 13 year old was tased for throwing a book in a public library. In another Arizona case, a 9-year-old runaway girl who was sitting in the back of a police car, handcuffed, was tased because she was "screaming, kicking and flailing, and would not listen." Would not listen? The youngest reported victim of police tasing was in Miami, a boy who was only 6 years old. He was in the vice principal’s office where he had broken a picture frame, and was waving a piece of glass around. His outraged mother told CNN, "If there's three officers, it's nothing to tell a 6‑year‑old holding a glass, if you feel threatened, 'Hey, here's a piece of candy, hey, here's a toy. Let the glass go."
Taser Confusion
While some media have jumped on the taser confusion bandwagon and trotted out various “experts” to talk about how stressed out Mehserle must have been to mistake a taser for his gun, others have ridiculed this idea as preposterous and marshalled the cold facts. The X26 taser issued to BART cops is a plastic device that weighs only 7 ounces. The Sig Sauer that Mehserle shot Grant with is made of metal, weighing 30 ounces unloaded—more than 4 times as much as the taser. The taser was holstered on the opposite side as Mehserle’s gun, and looks and feels completely different.
But another question needs to be asked. Before he was shot, Oscar Grant was detained, lying on his stomach, with his hands behind his back and with an officer’s foot on his neck. What excuse was there to even tase the 22 year old? Perhaps Officer Mehserle only meant to torture him?
The ACLU and Amnesty International are not alone in condemning tasers. In 2007 the U.N. Committee Against Torture said the use of tasers could constitute a form of torture. This cruel punishment, a brutality carried out by police for the slightest offense, without charges or trial, is increasingly a part of American injustice and part of an international epidemic of state-sponsored violence and murder.
The outcome of the murder trial of Mehserle has great significance. If the cop happens to “mistake” his gun for a taser and kills that person, and if this cop is then judged in court to be devoid of “criminal intent,” then what is to stop any cop from killing anyone at any time for any reason? If intending to use an electro-shock weapon on a person lying face down with his hands behind his back can be categorized as following correct police procedure, then it will exonerate police brutality. What kind of legal precedent will that set and how much of this can people tolerate? Enough is enough.
Officer Justin White Charged with Felony Theft
A Shreveport police officer was arrested today on charges he falsely reported an ATV stolen in order to collect insurance on it.
Officer Justin White was suspended from the Police Department after Caddo sheriff's detectives obtained a warrant charging him with felony theft.
Caddo sheriff's detectives said White's four-wheeler blew the motor. Rather than pay to have it fixed, White had a friend get rid of it, then reported it stolen and collected $7,012 in insurance, detectives said.
The four-wheeler was found in Bossier City. Investigators said White's friend swapped it for repair work on his truck.
The friend faces fraud charges, authorities said. He had not been arrested late this afternoon.
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