The Day Ferguson Cops Were Caught in a Bloody Lie part 2

Springdale police lose liability insurance ...

Springdale (17 miles northeast of Pittsburgh) is losing its police liability insurance because of “too many lawsuits,” borough council President Jason Fry said.

A recent $110,000 settlement with former Cheswick Councilman Jonathan Skedel, a number of pending federal cases against the police department, and rumors of more to come were cited by the company in not renewing the borough's coverage.

http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourallekiskivalley/yourallekiskivalleymore/9420601-74/springdale-police-borough#axzz3rTq4ZOmu

Man Shot By Police Ignites Protests In Minneapolis
Source: WCCO CBS

A Minnesota agency is investigating the shooting by a Minneapolis police officer of a black man suspected in an assault, an incident that prompted protests and led to a community forum with the mayor and police chief Sunday.

Accounts from some witnesses that the man was handcuffed when he was shot sparked outrage. Police said their preliminary investigation shows the man was not handcuffed but the investigation is ongoing.

...

The shooting happened after police said they were called to north Minneapolis at about 12:45 a.m. Sunday for a report of an assault. When they arrived, the man had returned and was interfering with paramedics who were assisting the victim, police said. Officers tried to calm him, but there was a struggle.

At some point, an officer fired at least once, hitting the man, police said. Witnesses told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that there was a big crowd at the scene, and bystanders became agitated as police pushed them back. Some witnesses said police used a chemical irritant on the crowd.

Read more: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/11/15/black-man-shot-by-police-ignites-protests-in-minneapolis/

Kevin Lord arrested: Cop fabricates own shooting, lies about whole incident

http://www.examiner.com/article/kevin-lord-arrested-cop-fabricates-own-shooting-lies-about-whole-incident

November 15, 2015 6:11 AM MST

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Linkedin Google Plus

Commerce City's Police Department has arrested one of their own. Officer Kevin Lord said he'd been shot in the chest during a routine traffic stop early Sunday.
Play
Commerce City's Police Department has arrested one of their own. Officer Kevin Lord said he'd been shot in the chest during a routine traffic stop early Sunday.
on.aol.com

A fabricated story got police officer Kevin Lord arrested. The Commerce City police officer allegedly fabricated a story about being shot during a traffic violation on Nov. 6 in Commerce City, Colo. Lord was bailed out of jail early Saturday on 5,000 bond.

Denver 7 ABC reports that Nov. 13 Lord was arrested after investigators said Lord wasn't actually shot "by a man during a traffic stop as he claimed." Kevin Lord was arrested and charged for "attempt to influence a public official and false reporting," according to 17th Judicial District Attorney Dave Young.

The concocted story was convincing at first given the fact that Lord helped devise a police sketch of the supposed shooting suspect. A $20,000 reward was offered after the drawing was complete. The hope was for someone to identify the man responsible for shooting Officer Lord in the chest during a traffic stop early Sunday.

Fox 31 reports that Officer Kevin Lord is an 8-year veteran with the police department. He alleged that he was shot at close range while making a traffic stop in the 9700 block of Peoria Street. He credited his bullet-proof vest for saving his life.

Several agencies, including the FBI and ATF were involved in the investigation. Commerce City Police Chief Troy Smith expressed disappointment after Kevin Lord was arrested.

Independent autopsy: Hog-tying killed man in custody
Source: Associated Press

Independent autopsy: Hog-tying killed man in custody
Updated 5:43 pm, Wednesday, November 18, 2015

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — An attorney says an independent autopsy shows a Tennessee man died in Mississippi police custody because he was hog-tied for an extended period and not because he took LSD.

Tim Edwards, an attorney for Troy Goode's family, released the results during a press conference Wednesday in Memphis.

The state's autopsy has not been released. DeSoto County District Attorney John Champion told The Commercial Appeal (http://bit.ly/1Qv0lGO ) he didn't know when it would be finished, but that a wait time of 6-8 months wouldn't be unusual.

Edwards says Goode was left hog-tied and on his stomach for an extended period after his July 18 arrest in Southaven. He says the autopsy shows the position gave Goode trouble breathing, and when his heart couldn't compensate, it went into cardiac arrhythmia and killed him.

Dash Cam Proves Alabama Cop Lied When He Shot Man Claiming Man Pointed Gun at Him



Officer Daniel Aguirre of the Birmingham Police Department in Alabama shot a man twice last year, claiming that the suspect pointed a gun at him.

Now newly released dash cam footage refutes that claim.

In fact, authorities refused to release the video for more than a year. It was obtained by AL.com through a confidential source.

Aguirre shot Aubrey Williams after a robbery of a Wells Fargo ATM on April 24, 2014.

The video shows Williams was hands and knees down on the ground when the officer approached, pushing the suspect to the ground. Armed with a gun, the suspect fell back.

That was when Officer Aguirre shot him twice.

However, the video never shows Williams pointing a gun at the officer. But it does show Aguirre kicking Williams’s gun away after the shooting.

The indictments against Williams accuses him of pointing the gun at officers. He was charged with attempted murder on two police officers, and violating the state firearms act.

A second officer on scene had already handcuffed a second suspect who was with Williams.

Additionally, a year after the shooting Aguirre was awarded a Combat Cross Medal for his role in the incident.

But now that the video has been leaked, the department has rescinded that medal, according to Birmingham Police Public Information Officer Lt. Sean Edwards.

Although not shown on the video, Aguirre claims Williams refused verbal commands to drop his weapon. What is also not seen on video is the initial scuffle that broke out when Aguirre first approached Williams.

Emory Anthony, the defense attorney for Williams says:

“There is nothing in the dash-cam video that showed Mr. Williams even pointed a pistol at either of the Birmingham police officers. I just believe the police officer overacted. The dash-cam video exonerates the defendant of any charges of attempted murder, the written statements and one recording of the officer show that they are not telling the truth about the defendant pointing a gun toward each officer”

Story continues below...

The only evidence that prosecutors have regarding the attempted murder charges are the video and the written statements by the officers’ upon the shooting.

Prosecutors even offered Williams a plea deal, but he refused to accept it.

White Ex-Michigan Cop Found Guilty In Beating Of Black Motorist
Source: Reuters



A white former suburban Detroit police officer was found guilty on Thursday of assault and misconduct in office in the beating of a black motorist during a traffic stop caught on video.

A jury in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit found William Melendez, 47, not guilty of a third charge of strangulation from the Jan. 28 incident in Inkster, Michigan.

Melendez could be seen on a video from a police dashboard camera placing Floyd Dent, 58, in a chokehold and punching him in the head several times. It is the latest in a series of incidents across the United States that have fueled a national debate on race and policing.

The jury of eight women and four men, including seven African-Americans, deliberated for nearly five hours, beginning on Wednesday afternoon.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/19/us-michigan-police-guilty-idUSKCN0T82RI20151119#Ty853IudBuTKFi7u.97

After a Paid Suspension for Killing a Man, this Cop Shoots His Neighbor in the Head
Although the deputy initially reported the shooting, he neglected to inform the dispatcher that he had pulled the trigger.
By Andrew Emett / The Free Thought Project
December 7, 2015

Print
Comments

Waverly, OH — After killing his neighbor, an inebriated Pike County sheriff’s deputy was arrested and charged with felony manslaughter for accidentally shooting him in the head. Although the deputy initially reported the shooting, he neglected to inform the dispatcher that he had pulled the trigger.

Around 11:40 p.m. on Thursday, Pike County Deputy Joel Jenkins called the sheriff’s office to report a shooting. Jenkins told dispatchers, “There’s been an accidental discharge at my house. My neighbor, he’s down. You guys are going to have to get here ASAP.”
ADVERTISING


According to Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader, Jenkins was off-duty and handling a firearm that “was not his duty gun” when he shot his neighbor, 40-year-old Jason Brady, in the head. Police pronounced Brady dead at the scene. They also discovered Jenkins was drunk when he killed his neighbor.

Arrested by agents from the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), Jenkins admitted to accidentally shooting his neighbor while showing off the gun. Due to the fact that Jenkins has worked closely with the Attorney General’s office, a special prosecutor and the BCI are conducting the investigation into the shooting. Charged with felony involuntary manslaughter, Jenkins was transported to the Franklin County Jail.

“I believe it is clear Deputy Jenkins had the firearm, he had consumed some intoxicating beverage, and that is why the charge is what it is,” Sheriff Reader stated.

“We are alleging Deputy Jenkins was using a weapon while intoxicated,” announced Pike County prosecutor Rob Junk. “When someone does that and causes a death, that is a felony.”

Jenkins was previously on paid administrative leave for his involvement in the police shooting of 26-year-old Robert Rooker earlier this year. The deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave again pending an investigation into the recent death of his neighbor. Regardless whether this latest incident was an accident or not, Jenkins evidently presents a clear and present danger both in and out of uniform.

Shock Video: Cowardly Cop Kills Man After his Fellow Officer Incapacitated Him With a Taser
The brief video begins with officers surrounding the shirtless man, armed only with a barber’s tool.
By Matt Agorist / The Free Thought Project
December 6, 2015

Print
Comments

Miami Beach, FL — A bystander to a police altercation in Miami Beach captured a dramatic and outright cowardly shooting by Miami Beach Police Saturday morning.

The man who was killed had just held up a bank and was armed with a straight razor, so caution was definitely necessary. However, it was entirely clear that this man did not pose a threat at the time he was shot- especially to the cop in body armor who was armed with an AR-15 rifle.
ADVERTISING


According to the Miami New Times,

The confrontation started about 10:30 this morning when a hold-up alarm at the 1414 Alton Road Bank of America alerted police; the suspect said he was armed with a bomb, the teller told police.

When officers arrived, the suspect ran into a nearby barber shop and grabbed a straight-edge razor, says Det. Kathleen Prieto. “Shots were fired and the subject is deceased,” she says in a statement.

Police have not released the man’s name yet.

The video was shot by Marcellus Johnson, an event photographer based out of Miami, who then uploaded to his Instagram.

The brief video begins with officers surrounding the shirtless man, armed only with a barber’s tool. The female cop, who is clearly the braver of the two officers, logically pulls out her taser and fires. But this is when things immediately go south.

The taser actually worked. The man can be seen seizing up and began to fall backwards. However, falling backwards from a taser was apparently threatening to the armor-clad man armed with an AR-15. So, he fired two quick rounds into the man as he fell to the ground, killing him.

The video below highlights a severe problem with police in America. The adjective ‘Trigger-happy’ doesn’t even begin to describe the sentiment that it takes to shoot a man who is falling to the ground.

Police Chief Gets $260K Golden Parachute After Covering Up His Own Drunken Hit and Run
Drunk driving can be tremendously profitable — as long as the irresponsible part is protected by 'qualified immunity.'
By William N. Grigg / The Free Thought Project
December 9, 2015

Print
Comments

A police chief who was involved in a drunken hit-and-run collision last Spring, then lied and obstructed the investigation, will not only escape criminal charges, but will be given a severance package of $260,000 in accumulated salary and benefits.
Photo Credit: The Free Thought Project

South Bound Brook, NJ — In yet another of the endless illustration of the fact that police and their political cronies constitute the American equivalent of the Soviet nomenklatura, a police chief who was involved in a drunken hit-and-run collision last Spring, then lied and obstructed the investigation, will not only escape criminal charges, butwill be given a severance package of $260,000 in accumulated salary and benefits — which will include a retroactive increase of his 2015 salary to nearly $150,000.

Drunk driving can be tremendously profitable — as long as the irresponsible part is protected by “qualified immunity.”

On December 1, Chief William C. King was allowed to “retire in good standing,” stipulated the official “Agreement and General Release” that was exhumed through the diligence of John Paff, Chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project. Not only will there be no criminal charges against King, but any administrative charges arising from his misconduct were dropped, and he “will be indemnified from all civil actions brought against him so long as he was acting within the scope of his employment….” In other words, tax victims residing within the borough will pay legal costs in the event that King is sued by the owner of the vehicle he damaged during his drunken joyride.

King was allowed to keep his service weapon, holsters, and three ammo magazines. He also received “a retired Chief’s Badge and identification card,” and the Borough agreed to “retain any letters from the [Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office] clearing King of any administrative charges…”

This means he will not only receive stunningly lucrative retirement benefits, but retain his viability to be employed elsewhere as a “peace officer.” King waived his right to continued health insurance coverage as a condition of the settlement, which means that he has an incentive to find another paying gig in the coercive sector.

In April, the South Bound Brook PD received a report that a vehicle matching the description of one owned by Chief King had struck a parked car on South Main Street. When asked by Officer Richard Meinsen a few hours later if he had been involved in the hit-and-run, “the chief drunkenly denied any involvement,” reported NJ Advance Media.

Following up on eyewitness descriptions that matched Chief King’s pickup truck, Meinsen “found the chief’s vehicle backed into his driveway, with damage on the passenger side;” confronted with this evidence, King insisted that “the damage was already there, without elaborating as to how it got there.”

During the investigation, King’s “breath smelled of alcoholic beverages and he appeared to have been drinking,” Meinsen recorded in his official report, no doubt wondering if he was killing his career with every syllable he wrote. Eventually, King was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, and a few weeks later the charges were expanded to include failure to report an accident, careless driving, and improper turning. He wasn’t charged with obstruction, nor was he required to undergo a field sobriety test.

The prosecutor’s perverse generosity toward Chief Kingspared him a potential $5,000 fine and nearly half a year in jail. King also avoided a number of additional fines, fees, penalties, and potential jail time because he wasn’t compelled to undergo a sobriety test.

South Bound Brook has a history of prosecutorial leniency in dealing with police chiefs accused of corruption. King’s predecessor, Chief Kenneth Henderson, was allowed to retire with full pension and benefits — and the expected retroactive salary increase — in 2011 after the prosecutor’s office dropped charges arising from an incident in which heallegedly tipped off a local business owner about an impending raid by the Alcoholic Beverage Control department.

Although Henderson was accused of corrupt administration of his office, the allegations against him — unlike those arising from King’s drunk driving — didn’t involve injury to the person or property of anybody. Both cases, however, involve a member of the privileged brotherhood of official coercion was not only spared the expensive burden a criminal prosecution, but actually rewarded by a system that routinely ruins the lives of common citizens for much less.

5 jail guards convicted of beating inmate after staredown

Michael Balsamo, Associated Press Updated 10:42 pm, Tuesday, June 7, 2016

NEW YORK (AP) — A former chief at the city's notorious Rikers Island jail complex and four of his underlings were convicted of felony charges Tuesday after authorities said they beat an inmate at the chief's behest because the man had stared him down during a search of his cell.

Former Assistant Chief for Security Eliseo Perez and the four officers were convicted of attempted gang assault and other charges in connection with the June 11, 2012, attack on inmate Jahmal Lightfoot.

Perez retired from his position in 2013. The officers — Alfred Rivera, Tobias Parker, Jose Parra and David Rodriguez — remain on modified duty Tuesday, officials said. A sixth officer, Jeffrey Richard, who prosecutors said aided in covering up the attack, was found not guilty.

Prosecutors said the altercation with Lightfoot started when the officers conducted a contraband search, patting down inmates, tossing over mattresses and rifling around cells for prohibited items. They said that during the search Lightfoot locked eyes with Perez. Angered by the stare-down, Perez shouted out to a captain and five officers that Lightfoot "thinks he's tough" and should be beaten, prosecutors said.

Authorities said the guards led Lightfoot into a small cell and then pummeled him so severely he had fractured eye sockets, a broken nose and bruises that left his eyes swollen shut. Prosecutors also alleged the officers, in an effort to explain Lightfoot's injuries, filed false reports claiming Lightfoot had slashed an officer with a sharpened piece of metal.

The judge presiding over the case signed a gag order in February prohibiting lawyers in the case from commenting.

In a statement Tuesday, Norman Seabrook, president of the union that represents rank-and-file correction officers, said the verdict is unfair and unjust.

"Today's verdict is an absolute travesty and yet another example of how Correction Officers are treated differently and disrespected for doing the job they are sworn to do — protect New Yorkers," he said.

City Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte said that he had "zero tolerance for any illegal behavior on the part of staff" and that officers convicted of felonies would be terminated. He said he's confident the correction department is taking the right step toward reforming Rikers.

The trial came just weeks after lawmakers called for the closure of the jail complex. Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, has said those calls are "noble" but that the proposal raises major financial and logistical issues.

___

Follow Michael Balsamo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39238309