Slain Dallas Cop Might’ve Been A White Supremacist: Still A Hero?

Case in point giujohn

Suit: Galveston officer broke Harris County woman's leg
Source: Houston Chronicle

Suit: Galveston officer broke Harris County woman's leg

Galveston police reinvestigating allegation

By Harvey Rice

Updated 5:53 pm, Thursday, September 15, 2016


GALVESTON – A Harris County woman is accusing a Galveston police officer of breaking her leg by hurling her to the floor and then leaving her there without summoning medical assistance.

The accusation is contained in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed this week on behalf of Kaylie Gentry, 27, a 5-foot-3 nurse at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

. . .

The lawsuit gave the following account of the allegation:

A police officer identified only as Officer Lopez confronted Gentry on Feb. 6 at Tsunami's, a Galveston bar, at about 1:50 a.m. and asked Gentry to leave the bar.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Lawsuit-claims-Galveston-officer-broke-Harris-9225439.php

Cop Crashes Cruiser Near School While Snorting Lines of Xanax

Investigating officers say the deputy could barely stand.
By Kali Holloway / AlterNet
September 13, 2016

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Photo Credit: Image by Shutterstock, Copyright (c) Michael Dechev

A sheriff's deputy in West Virginia has resigned after he was discovered unresponsive, with drug paraphernalia on his person, in a patrol car he wrecked near the entrance of a local middle school.

According to a press release from the Raleigh County Sheriff’s office, deputies got a call about a car crash around 1:30am on August 31. Upon arriving at the scene, the statement reads, “we found that Sgt. Roger Richmond had wrecked a sheriff's cruiser by hitting an embankment” at the entrance of Shady Spring Middle School. Local outlet WSAZ cites court records detailing extensive damage to the car, including a missing front tire and a damaged bumper.

In the driver's seat, according to investigating officers, was Sgt. Richmond, out cold. The Free Thought Project quoted Lt. T.L. Miles, who noted in a criminal complaint that the interior of the car seemed to be dusted with a questionable substance.

“I noted blue powdery residue on the front seat and in the driver-side floor board,” the officer stated in his report. “A short straw was lying between the legs of Richmond. This device is commonly used to ingest crushed pills via the nasal cavity. There was also a dollar bill in the floorboard which has residue on it.”

A local Fox affiliate reports officers said after they woke Richmond up, they noticed he “had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes” and “was unsteady on his feet and needed help to keep him from falling down.” A search of the car turned up four Xanax pills for which Richmond did not have a prescription. A drug screening revealed Xanax in his blood.

The police department press release indicates Richmond “was immediately arrested for DUI first offense and possession of a schedule 4 controlled substance.”

Richmond resigned from his position a few days after his arrest.

“While we recognize that drug addiction reaches all groups and businesses, it is extremely important to understand that no one is above the laws and that the Sheriff's Office will never tolerate any form of criminal action or inappropriate behavior and this incident will remain completely transparent for the general public to see,” the press release from the department concludes.

“This office is deeply saddened by the actions of the former deputy but will take all necessary measures to maintain and keep the trust of the public.”

Kali Holloway is a senior writer and the associate editor of media and culture at AlterNet.

And again, case in point guijohn

Chicago officer charged following video of shots fired at two teens in car




Officer Marco Proano was indicted Thursday on two counts of deprivation of rights after he allegedly used unreasonable force at a traffic stop in 2013

The indictment is the latest blow to a police department that has been under intense scrutiny since last November’s release of a video showing white police officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014. Photograph: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images

A Chicago police officer who was videotaped firing shots that injured two black teenagers inside a car was indicted on federal civil rights charges.

US attorney Zachary Fardon said in a statement that 41-year-old Marco Proano was indicted Thursday on two counts of deprivation of rights after he allegedly used unreasonable force while on duty on 22 December 2013. Each count of the indictment is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Gun violence, unsolved murders put Chicago on course to set grim record
Read more

The release doesn’t detail the allegations but police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that the indictment stems from an incident captured on dashboard camera video that was released last year by a retired judge who had handled a criminal trial involving one of the teenagers.

The video shows the officer firing his handgun multiple times – more than a dozen, according to an attorney for the families that filed a lawsuit – into a car occupied by the two teenagers, who posed no apparent threat. The car had been pulled over for speeding.

Police said at the time that the officer opened fire out of fear that the “occupants who had been in the vehicle were in a position to sustain great bodily harm”. Police also said that a weapon was recovered at the scene. But a family attorney said a pellet gun was recovered and it was never visible or brandished at the officers.

The shooting prompted a lawsuit filed by mothers of three teens in the car and the city agreed to settle the case for $360,000. One of the three teens wasn’t shot but was taken to the ground by an officer, his right eye was injured, according to the lawsuit. The city and the police department secured from a judge a protective order to keep the video from being released by any of the parties in the civil case.

But that order did not prohibit former Cook County Judge Andrew Berman, who had presided over the trial of one of the teens, from releasing the video. After the trial in which the teenager was acquitted of possession of a stolen vehicle and a misdemeanor criminal trespass to a vehicle, Berman released the video.

He turned the video over to the Chicago Reporter magazine in June 2015, telling the Associated Press at the time that he did so because the video “just showed a reckless and callous disregard for human life by somebody who is sworn to serve and protect”.

The indictment marks the first time, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis of police records, that federal law enforcement has brought criminal civil rights charges against any Chicago police officer in a total of 702 shootings over the past 15 years.

The indictment is also the latest blow to a police department that has been under intense scrutiny since last November’s release of a video showing white police officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014.

Since then, Van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder, the US justice department has launched an investigation into the practices of the department, and a county grand jury is considering whether officers at the scene lied in their reports as part of a cover up.

Proano is represented by Daniel Herbert, the attorney representing Van Dyke. Through a publicist, he declined to comment. Fraternal Order of Police president Dean Angelo also declined comment.

Ohio Police Officers Indicted In Killing Of Unarmed Man And Beating Case

The two separate indictments come amid tension over police conduct in Ohio, where a teen with a pellet gun was killed by an officer.
09/16/2016 09:58 pm ET
1.2k

Kim Palmer
Michael Reaves via Getty Images

CLEVELAND - A Cleveland police officer was indicted for negligent homicide in the shooting death of an unarmed black man on Friday and two former officers in nearby East Cleveland were indicted for kidnapping and assault for beating a black man who was under arrest.

The indictments by a Cuyahoga County grand jury came amid increased scrutiny of the use of force by police in Ohio, where an officer in Columbus this week shot and killed a thirteen-year-old who was carrying a pellet gun.

In the Cleveland case, officer Alan Buford, who is black, was indicted for misdemeanor negligent homicide in the 2015 death of unarmed-breaking and entering suspect Brandon Jones, 18, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty said in a statement Friday.

“It is not reasonable for a police officer to use deadly force if he or she does not believe a suspect poses a threat of death or serious bodily harm to the police or the public,” McGinty said.

Prosecutors said Buford and his partner responded to a report of a break-in at a grocery store in Cleveland with guns drawn and confronted Jones, who was carrying a bag of stolen items.

Ohio police in recent years have been the focus of concern over excessive and even lethal force against minority suspects.

In 2014, a white officer in Cleveland shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was carrying a replica gun that shot plastic pellets. The child’s death became a rallying point for the Black Lives Matter movement and was one of a number of deaths that led to nationwide demonstrations against the use of excessive force by police.

In the East Cleveland case, two former officers, Denayne R. Davidson-Dixon and Gerald A. Spencer II, were indicted on three counts of kidnapping, two counts of dereliction of duty and one count each of felonious assault, conspiracy, obstructing official business and interfering with civil rights for the July 2016 beating of Jesse R. Nickerson, a prisoner in their custody.

The two officers are black, as is Nickerson.

According to prosecutors the officers arrested Nickerson and after arguing with him drove to a park near the police station, pulled him from the squad car and assaulted him.

Davidson-Dixon and Spencer were fired shortly after the incident.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Andrew Hay)

Across U.S., Police Officers Violate Confidential Database Rules to Stalk Ex-Lovers, Find Dates and More
A new investigation finds privacy is a real issue.
By Kali Holloway / AlterNet
September 28, 2016

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/across-us-police-officers-violate-confidential-database-rules-stalk-ex-lovers-find

A new Associated Press investigation finds that a troubling number of U.S. police officers have used confidential federal and state databases—which contain sensitive information on civilians, including home addresses, phone numbers birthdates and more—for their own personal use, for purposes that run the gamut from looking up information on potential dates to aiding friends in seeking revenge on their exes.

The investigation, which is based on a national survey of data from state and major city law enforcement agencies, turned up more than 325 cases between 2013 and 2015 when police department employees were suspended, fired or stepped down after database misuse was discovered. Less severe punishments resulted in another 250 cases, from slap-on-the-wrist written reprimands to no disciplinary action at all, and unspecified measures were taken in 90 cases. Since there is no central entity tasked with monitoring and cataloging incidents of database misuse, AP researchers suggest that their numbers likely fall short of capturing the big picture of database abuse in its entirety.
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The stories gathered by AP staffers show cases in which officers or other police staffers showed brazen disregard for the rules in looking up private info for non-work-related matters. They point to the case of a “Mancos, Colorado, marshal [who] asked co-workers to run license plate checks for every white pickup truck they saw because his girlfriend was seeing a man who drove a white pickup.” One officer in Ohio looked up information on the landlord of a female friend, and then went to the landlord's home in the middle of the night to get money the cop said his friend was owed. Another Ohio officer used the database to aid in gathering information on an ex-girlfriend as he stalked her. These cases were rarities, in that they were egregious enough to merit the pursuit of criminal charges against the officers involved.

Perhaps a more typical case involves a Denver, Colorado cop who used crime databases to help with his dating prospects, reaching out to a woman he met in the midst of a rape case investigation. Ars Technica elaborates on the story, pulled from a 142-page Denver Independent Monitor Office report on police abuse of crime databases:

On May 15, 2015, a female hospital employee spoke with a DPD officer who was at the hospital to investigate a reported sexual assault. The female employee was not involved in the investigation, but the officer made ‘‘small talk’’ with her after his interview of the sexual assault victim. At the end of her shift, the female employee returned home and found a voicemail message from the officer on her personal phone. She had not given the officer her phone number, and was upset that he had obtained it (she assumed) by improperly using law enforcement computer systems. During an investigation into the incident, records revealed that the officer had, in fact, used [national and Colorado state] database[s] (and other DPD databases) to obtain her phone number, and the officer ultimately admitted to this conduct.

The report goes on to note that the officer was issued a “written reprimand” for database misuse and was docked two days’ pay for "leaving an unwelcome voice message that upset the female employee.”

While the AP notes that the number of cases indicating police wrongdoing on this front are dwarfed by the voluminous number of daily searches—which tally in the millions—incidents of database misuse are serious issues.

“It's personal. It's your address. It's all your information, it's your Social Security number, it's everything about you," Alexis Dekany, the Ohio woman whose cop ex-boyfriend used database information to stalk her, told the AP. "And when they use it for ill purposes to commit crimes against you—to stalk you, to follow you, to harass you... it just becomes so dangerous."

That sentiment was echoed by Deb Roschen, who previously served as a commissioner in Wabasha County, Minnesota. Roschen, along with 17 others, filed a 2013 federal lawsuit alleging that local government officials and law enforcement personnel “violated the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act and state common law claims for invasion of privacy by querying state driver record databases to obtain statutorily protected confidential information,” according to legal site Law360. Roschen indicated to AP reporters that the database searches were politically motivated, a reaction to her queries about the management of local funds use.

"Now there are people who do not like me that have all my private information... any information that could be used against me,” Roschen, who says a public records request indicated her daughter and spouse were also subject to illegal searches, told the AP. “They could steal my identity, they could sell it to someone. The sense of being vulnerable—there's no fix to that."

In mid-September, seven Oakland, Calif. police officers were charged in connection with a sex scandal involving an underage girl. According to the girl—who is now 19, but was under 18 at the time of the alleged acts—police officers provided her with database-derived information in exchange for sex. The cops, who stand accused of sexual abuse (which is absolutely what it should be called when adult cops have sex with an underage girl), allegedly either paid her or “tipp[ed] her to anti-prostitution stings or [ran] names of people she was curious about through confidential databases,” per SFGate. Three officers have resigned since the scandal first rocked the Bay Area.

In another recent high-profile case, the New York Times reports that former NYPD sergeant Ronald G. Buell “accepted money to tap into restricted law enforcement databases to furnish information to a former officer who was working as an investigator for criminal defense lawyers.” Buell was paid for his illegal searches, and the information he unearthed and passed along. He pleaded guilty this February and now faces up to five years behind bars.

The AP also noted cases driven by police boredom or tabloid interests, such as a Miami-Dade officer who dug up info on several celebrities, including LeBron James, just because.

Numerous investigators, including in Florida and Minnesota, have issued calls for a clampdown on police misuse of criminal database information, and policy changes to ensure adherence to proper protocols. Nicholas Mitchell, the Independent Monitor behind Denver’s exhaustive investigative report, recommends a number of measures, including harsher penalties for those found in violation of federal and state rules on the issue.

“With unprecedented amounts of personal information now available electronically, police departments must not only have clear policies that regulate access to that information, but must also discipline officers who misuse it,” Mitchell told the Times.

The problem of confidential civilian data misuse is not unique to the United States. A report from Big Brother Watch, a U.K.-based civil liberties and privacy rights group, found that between June 2011 and December 2015, approximately 2,300 “data breaches” were committed by law enforcement officers and other police department employees.

“Over 800 members of staff accessed personal information without a policing purpose and information was inappropriately shared with third parties more than 800 times,” the group wrote. “Specific incidents show officers misusing their access to information for financial gain” and other purposes unrelated to work.

Kali Holloway is a senior writer and the associate editor of media and culture at AlterNet.

Mike Eiskant, Former Santa Fe Cop, Accused Of Masturbating In Squad Car While On Duty (VIDEO)
04/10/2012 06:24 pm ET | Updated Apr 11, 2012
2.7k

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/10/mike-eiskant-santa-fe-police-officer-masturbating-squad-car-on-duty_n_1415740.html

David Moye Pop culture journalist, HuffPost Weird News

There’s an old saying: “Beware the long arm of the law.”

To that, we add, “especially when its hand is touching itself in the squad car.”

That’s because a former police sergeant in Santa Fe, N.M., is in a touchy situation after the release of video caught on his own dash cam that suggests he had a graphic sexual conversation with himself and masturbated while on duty.

The video, which was obtained by KOB-TV, just shows the vehicle of former Sgt. Mike Eiskant, but the audio is much steamier.

Eiskant was alone in the vehicle during his audio-erotic encounter and the sound of a zipper is clearly audible. It also appears he is masturbating while looking at a picture of a naked woman on his cell phone and texting.

The video lasts at least 10 minutes and at one especially heated point, he says, “Oh, show me those big beautiful breasts, baby.”

Although only one such video was found in 10 hours of tape obtained by the station, at least one former officer isn’t surprised by the alleged masturbation.

Former officer Shannon Brady told KOB-TV in a follow-up report that Eiskant had a reputation for being a “creeper” and stalking women.

Brady said she even tried to bring a harassment complaint against Eiskant years ago to the Santa Fe police department’s human resource division that was handled by then human resource compliance officer Raymond Rael, who has since been promoted to chief of police.

“They had plenty of opportunities over the course of many years to do something about it and they refused to,” Brady told the station.

The former officer said when she went to file her claim, Rael asked her if she was, “doing this only because of all the rumors against Mike Eiskant stalking women,” and offered mediation with Eiskant which she declined.

Rael told KOB-TV that since he has been chief, he was unaware of other complaints against the former sergeant, who was never disciplined or put on administrative leave. Instead, he was allowed to start cashing in on all of his accumulated leave and will officially retire in November.

“I did not have prior knowledge, and if I did, I would have acted,” Rael said.

Rael also denied knowing why Eiskant was given the badge number 69 when he was promoted to sergeant.

“Is it possible that it is coincidental?” Rael said. “I suppose, but I can’t speak to that issue one way or another.”

Being accused of masturbating in a police squad car would be damaging to most careers, but, amazingly, it may not be the worst accusation against Eiskant, 41.

On Thursday, he entered a plea of no contest before Bernalillo County District Court Judge Reed Sheppard to two counts of attempt to commit a felony (false imprisonment), one count of stalking, two counts of harassment and other charges including larceny and possession of marijuana, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Seven of the charges occurred in 2011 and the counts of false imprisonment, stalking and harassment relate to traffic stops involving female drivers, according to the criminal complaint.

In return for pleading no contest, Eiskant agreed he “will never again become a law enforcement officer anywhere in the United States,” according to a statement from Attorney General Gary King’s office.

Eiskant does not face any jail time, but the attorney general’s agreement states “probation length, at initial sentencing, shall not exceed one year, and may be converted to unsupervised probation, in the discretion of the court, after any mandatory counseling has been completed.”

We often wonder why the good cops don’t do something about bad cops? Is it true that there are in fact more bad cops than good ones? Well this actual event of a good cop doing the right thing exposes the real problem we have today with paid authority figures. Even if they wear uniforms, have badges or swear to an oath the fact is many are nothing more than criminals, liars and frauds who feel their above the law.

http://www.uglyjudge.com/police/florida/miami/officer-fausto-lopez/

Please help by supporting and liking the GOOD COPS facebook page
I support Florida Highway Patrol Officer Donna Jane Watts

October 11, 2011, Miami Police Officer Fausto Lopez, was clocked by state trooper Donna Jane Watts, of the Florida State Highway Patrol, doing 120 mph. A seven minute pursuit after the initial clocking of 120 mph. resulted in Officer Lopez being detained and arrested at gun point by state trooper Watts.

Fausto Lopez, Police Officer Late For Work, Pulled Over After High-Speed Chase: Florida Highway Patrol

Miami police officer Fausto Lopez is accused of driving 120 mph on a turnpike because he was late for his off-duty job working security at a school.

The Florida Highway Patrol says officer Fausto Lopez was arrested at gunpoint after leading police on a brief high-speed chase.

According to a police report, a trooper spotted a patrol car changing lanes in a dangerous manner earlier this month. The report says the patrol car ignored warnings to pull over and led a brief high-speed chase before stopping near Hollywood.

Fausto Lopez, Speeding Miami Police Officer, Fired After Investigation

A speeding Miami Police officer Fausto Lopez was fired Thursday almost a year after he was found driving more than 100 miles per hour.

Officer Fausto Lopez was caught by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper Donna Jane Watts driving 120 miles per hour in October 2011. When he ignored officer’s Donna Watts instructions to pull over, a short high-speed chase ensued. He said he was late to an off-duty job working security at a school.

Officer Fausto Lopez was charged with reckless driving and sentenced to 100 hours of community service and suspended for a month.

The firing follows an investigation into the matter determining that Officer Fausto Lopez’s speeding was grounds for termination.

The investigation found that Fausto Lopez had a “practice and pattern” of speeding: FaustoLopez has reportedly driven more than 90 miles per hour on more than 80 occasions.

An investigation into speeding police officers in South Florida found that Fausto Lopez was the most frequent speeder. In his commute from Coconut Creek to Miami, he regularly drove more faster than 100 miles per hour and only slowed down to “near-legal limits” after the incident with FHP was covered by news.

Speeding Miami Cop Fausto Lopez Wants His Job Back

It’s what happened AFTER it was proven Officer Fausto Lopez was guilty that bothers most people. Cops harassed the good cop not the bad one.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/trooper-sues-100-cops-harassment-pulling-miami-police-officer/#M3la8QmJKubMShFs.99

Trooper sues more than 100 cops for harassment after pulling over Miami police officer

Matt Agorist February 12, 2014 0 Comments

RT.com

Florida Highway Patrol trooper Donna Jane Watts was just doing her job when she pulled over a Miami police officer for topping speeds of 120 mph, but the fallout has been anything but routine: She’s now suing her colleagues for harassment.

According to the Florida-based Sun-Sentinel, Watts has filed a lawsuit against more than 100 police officers and agencies for illegally accessing her personal information and creating a “life-threatening situation.”

Watts claims the harassment by law enforcement began after she pulled over Miami cop FaUsto Lopez in October 2011 for speeding in his patrol car. Traveling well over 100 mph, Lopez was reportedly weaving in and out of lanes so fast it took Watts seven minutes to pull him over even with her lights flashing and sirens blaring.

An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on February 11, 2014 by user@bbc news143An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on February 11, 2014 by user@bbc news143



When Lopez finally pulled aside, Watts made her way to the police vehicle with her gun drawn, handcuffed the Miami officer, and took his weapon.

Lopez was eventually fired for his behavior, but that was just the beginning of the story for Watts. She began receiving phone calls from unknown phone numbers – some of which were prank calls, while others contained threats. The lawsuit alleges that orders for pizza were made in her name without her knowledge, and that multiple police vehicles would linger in front of her house or on her street.

The lawsuit states the situation became so dire that Watts “started to experience physical symptoms to include dry heaves and nausea when performing basic activities such as opening her mailbox, starting her ignition, or when being followed by a law enforcement vehicle for no apparent reason.”



An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on February 11, 2014 by user@bbc news143An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on February 11, 2014 by user@bbc news143



After filing a public records request with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Watts discovered that her personal information was accessed by at least 88 officers from 25 different jurisdictions over a three-month span. Her profile was viewed more than 200 times total – a number that attorney Mirta Desir claims violates the Driver Privacy Protection Act. Under that law, improperly accessing an individuals profile results in a $2,500 fine per violation.

“This is an invasion of privacy,” Desir, who is representing Watts, told the Sun-Sentinel. “Law enforcement does have access to information most residents don’t and with that level of access there should come a certain amount of care. … This is something that is not supposed to be done.”

The various officials and law enforcement agencies have declined to comment on the matter, but they have asked the judge involved to throw out the lawsuit. According to the Associated Press, they believe Congress can only impose a penalty on police officers for selling personal data, not simply for viewing it.

The Department of Justice, however, disagrees, and has filed its own argument stating that multiple courts have upheld Congress’ right to monitor the issue regardless of whether information is sold or not.

“There is value in drivers’ information and a market for it,” Justice Department lawyers said to the AP. “What the defendants fail to recognize is that there is value in drivers’ information whether or not it is actually sold.”

Already, some police agencies have settled the lawsuit with Watts, acknowledging that their employees had broken the law. The city of Margate agreed to pay Watts $10,000 for the incident.

Even so, groups like the National Association of Police Agencies are now looking to change the law itself and remove the $2,500 penalty except for cases in which officers pursue opportunities to make money off personal data.

As for Watts herself, she’s still employed by the FHP, but has been relocated to another county.

Reprinted with permission from RT.com

Florida Highway Patrol trooper Officer Donna Jane Watts was just doing her job when she pulled over a Miami police officer for topping speeds of 120 mph, but the fallout has been anything but routine: She’s now suing her colleagues for harassment.

According to the Florida-based Sun-Sentinel, Watts has filed a lawsuit against more than 100 police officers and agencies for illegally accessing her personal information and creating a “life-threatening situation.”

Watts claims the harassment by law enforcement began after she pulled over Miami officer Fausto Lopez in October 2011 for speeding in his patrol car. Traveling well over 100 mph, Lopez was reportedly weaving in and out of lanes so fast it took Watts seven minutes to pull him over even with her lights flashing and sirens blaring.

With only 2 1/2 months left in 2016, I thought I would point out that there have been more cops killed in the line of duty in 2016 then were killed in 2015.

2015: 39
2016: 45

https://www.odmp.org/search/year?year=2015

https://www.odmp.org/search/year?year=2016

We still have 2 1/2 months left, how many more?

I'm glad to say California has one of the toughest gun laws in the US.

What does that have to do with the number of LEO who have been shot in the line of duty? Consider that 2 Palm Springs LEO were just shot and killed less than 2 weeks ago.

Safe spaces anyone?

For whom? If you ask a feminist males shouldnt have safe spaces. Once again an emotional reaction to a problem where they demand you hand over rights so they can feel better.

I'm glad to vote for the party that doesn't try to violate my rights.

Jailed 96 Days on Bogus Charge: It Is No One's Fault?

By jeff amy, associated press

ACKERMAN, Miss. — Oct 19, 2016, 7:43 AM ET


Pulled over for traffic violations, Jessica Jauch was held for 96 days in a Mississippi jail without seeing a judge, getting a lawyer or having a chance to make bail. She was charged with a felony based on a secretly recorded video that prosecutors finally acknowledged showed her committing no crime.

Only when she finally got a hearing and a lawyer, who persuaded prosecutors to watch the video, did the case fall apart.

Then, the 34-year-old mother sued, alleging violations of her rights to bail, legal representation, a speedy trial and liberty.

But a federal judge dismissed her case against Choctaw County and Sheriff Cloyd Halford last month, ruling that because she had been indicted by a grand jury on the felony drug charge, none of her constitutional and legal rights were violated.

The outcome has flummoxed civil liberties advocates who have been waging legal battles to reform Mississippi's criminal justice system, which provides almost no state funding for public defenders.

"I can't think of a situation where denying someone an appearance before a judge for 96 days after arrest passes constitutional muster," said attorney Cliff Johnson, who has sued Mississippi localities over pretrial detention and high bails for indigent defendants.

Similar lawsuits have been filed across the country. The American Civil Liberties Union is working state by state to force increased funding for public defenders, particularly in places where court-appointed lawyers depend on stingy local governments and court fees to get paid.

"I think each state suffers from the symptoms we see in Mississippi," said Brandon Buskey, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU's Criminal Law Reform Project. "This state just seems to have all of them at the same time."

Pulled over for traffic offenses on April 26, 2012, Jauch was held thereafter because prosecutors relied on the word of an informant who said Jauch sold her eight Xanax pills for $40 in February 2011, according to court papers.

In fact, a Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics video showed Jauch asking to borrow the $40. But Jauch's lawyer in her federal suit, Victor Fleitas, said no one knew that because investigators and prosecutors apparently never watched the video before persuading the grand jury to charge her with selling a controlled substance. And she wasn't arraigned until the next court term in Choctaw County, three months later.

Jauch posted $15,000 bail and was released Aug. 6 after she finally got a lawyer. Once the assistant district attorney watched the video, he immediately agreed to drop the charges, Public Defender Hays Burchfield wrote.

Two local assistant district attorneys did not respond to requests for comment. District Attorney Doug Evans did not return calls and e-mails. Fleitas also declined comment, and Jauch didn't respond to multiple requests for an interview.

Even the county and its sheriff told the federal judge that "Jauch states a plausible case for multiple constitutional deficiencies," but their motion blamed circuit judges and the district attorney.

"It is the court's obligation to afford her an opportunity before the judge," Halford told The Associated Press after the case was dismissed. "In layman's terms, I can't call the court and talk to the judge and tell them I've got somebody and you need to arraign them."

U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock, however, ruled that people in Jauch's situation aren't required to get a court hearing within 48 hours, and that her right to a lawyer was satisfied by the appearance of a public defender at her arraignment, 96 days after her arrest.

"Put simply, the plaintiff was arrested and held on a valid felony grand jury indictment that established the existence of probable cause," Aycock wrote. "Therefore, the Fourth Amendment is not implicated here."

Other federal judges also have considered constitutional challenges to Mississippi's justice system, with mixed results.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves told Lauderdale County officials in July to do more to ensure inmates get representation and speedy trials. In June, Reeves blasted judges statewide for long detentions, even as he reluctantly ruled out damages for a man held 23 months in jail before his charges were dismissed in Hinds County.

Still pending before U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate is a lawsuit by the ACLU and the MacArthur Justice Center accusing Scott County of jailing two inmates illegally without lawyers or grand jury hearings.

"There is no uniform practice in Mississippi that I can identify in terms of getting people in front of a judge in a timely manner, where counsel is identified and appointed, where bail determinations are made on an individualized basis," said Johnson, a MacArthur Center lawyer. "We're a mess right now in Mississippi when it comes to pretrial process in the justice system."

The ACLU also has sued in California, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Utah, following lawsuits elsewhere. No one has sued yet in Mississippi over the state's public defender system but a task force there is studying the issue.

State Public Defender Andre de Gruy's office only handles death penalty cases, appeals and training. But he believes Mississippi law already requires the swift appointment of a public defender for people facing charges that could result in prison. In practice, though, local public defenders typically must wait for a judge to appoint them to a case.

"It's because we have this fractured system where no one ever has to take responsibility," de Gruy said.

Mississippi is considering new rules of criminal procedure; one says people in Jauch's situation "shall be taken without unnecessary delay before a judge." But many of the circuit courts in rural Mississippi sit only twice a year.

"If you look around these counties, people are staying in jail a long time before they see a judge," Burchfield said.

———

Follow Jeff Amy at: http://twitter.com/jeffamy . Read his work at http://bigstory.ap.org/author/jeff-amy .

Former El Cajon Cop on What Went Wrong in the Shooting of Unarmed Black Man

He literally wrote the book on when it’s acceptable for police to shoot. Now he explains why cops need to be held accountable.

By William John Cox / AlterNet
October 15, 2016

The people of the United States have empowered some of their members to enforce their laws and to police their society, but things have gone terribly awry. The police are killing those they are sworn to protect, and are becoming the target of public anger over racial inequality and discrimination. Video images of recent police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota were followed by the mass murder of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, apparently in response to these shootings.

The killing of an unarmed mentally disturbed man last month by El Cajon, Calif. police officers—and the resulting civil disturbances—once again raises the question of the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers. The question involves complicated issues of law and policy, but the decision to shoot must often be made in a nanosecond. With the widespread availability of video cameras, instant playback and social media, the justification for the use of deadly force is being increasingly scrutinized, and the quality of law enforcement policy, training and discretion is frequently found wanting.

The reasonableness of a police shooting decision is determined by what was known to the officer at the moment of the shooting, and whether that decision complied with policy and law. The decision to pull the trigger is made by an individual, but the responsibility for its consequences is shared by the policing agency. Based on experience, professional standards, statutory and constitutional law, and public expectations, police policy and training seeks to minimize the risk of harm to the public while ensuring the right of self-defense.

There are no easy answers, but it is essential that police administrators learn from these encounters and formulate more effective policy and training to guide their officers and to hold them accountable.

Background

My 45-year career in the justice system began in 1962 when I became a police officer in El Cajon. The new chief of police (who was later elected sheriff of San Diego County) was intent on improving the level of professionalism in the department. Proud to be a part of the "new breed," I achieved top honors in the San Diego Police Academy and quickly became president of the Police Officer's Association and later president of the San Diego County organization representing all of its law enforcement officers.

Although El Cajon was a quiet suburb, police work was not without its risk. One of my supervisors, Sergeant Fred Wilson— the only El Cajon police officer ever killed in the line of duty—later died of head injuries he sustained breaking up a fight.

After transferring to the Los Angeles Police Department in 1968, I again achieved top honors in the Police Academy and was assigned to South Central L.A. upon graduation, where policing was more dangerous. My partner and I were once dispatched to a "man with a gun" call only a block away. As we turned the corner, we saw the man directly in front of us in the street, holding a woman by her hair in one hand and a gun in the other. He shot her in the abdomen. He looked up, saw us and began to run between the houses. I drew my revolver and chased after him. He jumped up on a wall and threw his weapon to the other side, but drew another handgun from his waistband as he came back down. Crouched in a firing stance, I yelled at him to drop the second gun and he did. We arrested him, and the woman—his girlfriend—was transported to the hospital.

Later, my tactics were criticized for not having shot the man. In cop terms, it would have been a "good," or justifiable, shooting, but in my mind he was just trying to get rid of his guns, and I had no cause to shoot him.

I was fortunate that day, but two of my friends were not so lucky. Jerry Maddox, with whom I had carpooled to the Police Academy, was shot to death in 1969 by a gang member in East L.A. Jack Coler was one of the FBI agents ambushed and murdered at Wounded Knee in 1975.

Drafting Policy

Upon completion of my probation, I was transferred to L.A. police headquarters where I spent two years researching and writing the department Policy Manual. Subsequently, while attending night law school, I was also assigned to work on the Police Task Force of the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. My job was to write about the role of the police in America and law enforcement policy making. As the author of the LAPD shooting policy, I later testified at the Police Commission hearing into the shooting of Eulia May Love in 1979. When the city attempted to turn off her gas for nonpayment, the recent widow had the payment in her purse as she waved a knife to keep the gas man at bay. Two officers responded and shot her eight times.

The drafting of shooting policy began with the law of justifiable homicide. A police officer can legally kill in three circumstances: self-defense, defense of others, and to prevent the escape of a fleeing felon. Although there have been some minor revisions, the Los Angeles Police Department shooting policy remains the same as originally written. The policy does not limit the right of an officer to shoot in self-defense. It does, however, require that, "Justification for the use of deadly force must be limited to what reasonably appear to be the facts known or perceived by an officer at the time he decides to shoot."

Moreover, policy states that a "reverence for the value of human life shall guide officers in considering the use of deadly force," and it imposes a duty on officers to minimize "the risk of death." The shooting of fleeing felons is limited to those who have caused "serious bodily injury or the use of deadly force where there is a substantial risk" that the felon will "cause death or serious bodily injury to others."

In a section titled "Minimum Use of Force," LAPD officers are told they "should use only the reasonable amount of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective."

These Los Angeles Police Department use-of-force policies generally follow California law, and it may be helpful to consider the known facts of the recent El Cajon police shooting in light of these basic principles. Unlike the Los Angeles Police Department Manual—which is generally available in public libraries—the policies of the El Cajon Police Department are not published. It appears, however, that El Cajon's policies may be based on those of Los Angeles. The ECPD website states that, "The Department serves the people of El Cajon by performing in a professional manner; and it is to the people of this community that the Department is ultimately responsible." Except for the city's name, this mission statement is identical with the definition of the LAPD motto, "To Protect and To Serve" I originally wrote in the Policy Manual.

El Cajon Shooting Facts

On Sept. 27, 2016, the sister of Alfred Olango, a 30-year-old refugee from Uganda, called the El Cajon Police Department seeking help with her brother, who was having an emotional breakdown over the death of his best friend. Two other calls to the department reported that a shirtless man was walking in traffic and acting erratically at the same location. Although located less than two miles from police headquarters, it took officers more than an hour to respond.

Richard Gonsalves, a 21-year veteran officer—who had recently been demoted from sergeant for sexually harassing a female officer—was the first to arrive on the scene in the parking lot of a small strip mall. A surveillance camera shows that he immediately drew his weapon and closely confronted Olango, who continued to pace back and forth with his right hand in his pocket. According to the officer, Olango did not obey repeated orders to remove his hand from his pocket. A second officer arrived and drew his taser weapon instead of his firearm. As Olango's sister approached the scene, Olango suddenly withdrew his hand holding an electronic smoking device from his pocket and extended it toward Officer Gonsalves. He was immediately shot four times by Gonsalves and tased by the other officer. The entire encounter lasted less than one minute.

Tactics

Although the El Cajon Police Department has released the surveillance video and another contemporaneous video made by a bystander's cellphone, the calls to the police and the radio dispatch have not been released. It is essential to know exactly what Olango's sister and other callers told the police dispatcher and what the responding officers were told. One standard question asked of most complainants is whether a person is armed. Although a vape pipe might appear to be a small gun, it matters whether the police were originally informed that the person was waving a gun or smoking a vape pipe. There is also a great difference if the responding officers were told that they were dealing with a mental case or a serious crime such as an armed robbery. Inasmuch as it took more than an hour for the officers to arrive, and the matter was dispatched as a "5150" call regarding a mentally disturbed individual, there is no evidence that a crime of violence was under consideration.

Depending on the information available to Officer Gonsalves, it is questionable whether he should have drawn his gun in the first place. The LAPD shooting policy tells officers they cannot "draw or exhibit a firearm unless the circumstances surrounding the incident create a reasonable belief that it may be necessary to use the firearm" in conformance with written policy. Nor are officers allowed to use deadly force "to protect themselves from assaults which are not likely to have serious results."

Officers are trained to demonstrate "command presence" and to quickly take control of situations. Officers must deliver firm and unambiguous directions—which may in some cases require a loud voice and even profanity. If, however, Officer Gonsalves believed he was dealing with a mental case, he should have been trained as a professional to de-escalate and defuse the situation by speaking in a calm voice and by asking questions, rather than shouting commands. Asking Olango what he had in his pocket, or if he would show his empty hand, is different than a loud order to remove his hand (along with the pocket contents).

It is reasonable to believe that Officer Gonsalves thought he saw a gun in Olango's hand when Olango followed directions and removed his hand and the vape pipe from his pocket. Since the officer already had his gun pointed at Olango, he may have fired instinctively. We will never know, however, what Olango was thinking. It is not unreasonable to believe he was simply showing the officer what he had in his pocket and handing it over. Or, more unlikely, he may have been pretending it was a gun and was trying to commit "suicide by cop."

The video shows that Gonsalves approached Olango to within a few feet and shifted his position several times to maintain close contact as Olango moved about. To de-escalate, rather than inflame situations involving mentally disturbed people, professional officers are trained to maintain a distance or to speak from behind their police vehicle for self protection as they defuse confrontations and consider alternatives. The videos show that Olango's sister had approached to within a few feet behind Officer Gonsalves when he fired four bullets into her brother. Had the officer maintained some distance and emotional reserve, she might have helped resolve the situation. Instead, she cried, "I called for help, I didn't call you to kill him!"

Lessons Learned

Following major police actions, professional administrators engage in an "after action" process. Lessons learned from the analysis are then used to enhance the training of officers to avoid making the same mistakes in the future, and to formulate more effective policies to guide their actions. If the El Cajon Police Department already has similar policies to Los Angeles about when to draw a firearm or to minimize the risk of death or serious injury, and if the officer had received de-escalation training, then the officer should be accountable for his failure to follow policy and training. If found to be unjustified, the killing might also warrant criminal prosecution. If, however, police administrators have failed to promulgate appropriate policies and to provide professional training, they themselves should be accountable.

El Cajon has changed from the white, middle-class bedroom community it was when I patrolled there in the early '60s. The population has doubled, and it has become a gritty, multi-ethnic, working-class community. It is likely the police culture has changed as well, as the department has had six other police shootings in the last five years, including the killing of two women. The present culture may also be indicated by the demotion of Officer Gonsalves, instead of firing him, for sexually harassing a subordinate. Independent of policy and law, police officers among themselves categorize shootings as good or bad in terms of the risk to their own safety and their demonstrated heroism. This was not a "good" shooting of an armed robbery suspect or murderer. To the contrary, it appears to have been an entirely avoidable killing of a mentally disturbed person, whom the officers were sworn to protect.

More complete answers to the complicated questions of why police killings are taking place and what can be done to prevent them requires a deeper consideration of contributing causes than is available in this brief paper. These matters include poverty, a punitive society, the war on drugs, federalization and militarization of the police, regulation of guns, and the professionalization of law enforcement.

Learning from police shootings, such as what occurred in El Cajon, can lead to enlightened solutions and a commitment by the people and their police to achieve a peaceful outcome. A thoughtful response may be more difficult to arrive at, accept and implement than the simplistic commentaries being tossed out during the 24-hour news cycle, but it is essential if peace is to prevail in the nation's communities.

William John Cox is a retired police officer, prosecutor, and public interest lawyer who writes about public policy and political matters. He was the author of the Los Angeles Police Department Policy Manual and the Role of the Police in America for the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. His most recent book is Transforming America: A Voters' Bill of Rights.