10 California Deputies Get Paid Vacation After Brutally Beating Suspect As News Crew Films Incident

Ten Deputies Suspended After Beating A Suspect In California

 

 

 

 

 

 

” Ten sheriff’s deputies in Southern California have been put on leave after several of them were shown on video kicking and punching a man following a 2½-hour chase involving a stolen horse.

  San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said Friday that the video “disturbed and troubled” him and appeared to show an excessive use of force.

  McMahon announced the action after 30-year-old Francis Pusok was arrested Thursday by deputies in a violent encounter filmed by a KNBC-TV helicopter. Pusok fled by car and then on the horse, traveling several miles while deputies chased him on foot after trying to serve a search warrant in an identity-theft investigation.

  The Los Angeles Times reports: “During the beating, which involved as many as 11 deputies and lasted for about two minutes, Pusok was kicked and kneed about a dozen times and punched more than two dozen times, according to the video.” “

 

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Daily Video 1.7.15

Malcom Gladwell – Excessive Force

 

 

 

Published on Jan 4, 2015

” From his book “What The Dog Saw,” Malcolm Gladwell reveals what was learned from the Rodney King investigation on excessive force by police. http://www.LibertyPen.com “

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Unarmed Houston Man Gunned Down By Cops During Illegal Lane Change Stop

Police: Man Shot During Traffic Stop In Southwest Houston

 

 

 

 

” Two police officers opened fire on an apparently unarmed man during a traffic stop in southwest Houston Friday night, allegedly shooting him three times for not following commands.

  HPD officers pulled over the car the man was a riding in for an illegal lane change around 9:30 p.m. on Buffalo Speedway near West Fuqua.

  According to authorities, the male passenger — identified by family as 38-year-old Michael Paul Walker — failed to obey orders and started to reach under his car seat.

” They saw the doors open up, one of the officers gave repeated verbal commands to stay inside the vehicle, then the officer went to brace the door to keep him (the passenger) inside,” said Houston Police Department spokesman Victor Senties. “At one point he had his arm all the way under the seat, right up to the elbow, as if he was trying to grab something … The officer gave him commands to show his hands … at that point the officer was in fear of his life and that of his partner.”

  The officer fired at the man. Initial reports suggest that Walker then got out of the car and was walking around the parking lot of a convenience store before he was shot again.

  Walker was shot three times total — twice in the legs and once on his side, according to his mother, Laura Walker. He was taken to Ben Taub Hospital, where he was said to be in serious but stable condition.

  The shooting was witnessed by several party-goers from the Mystique Lounge and patrons in line at the nearby BBQ food truck.”

 

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California Cop Faces Termination For NOT Using Excessive Force On Suicidal Student

CSU Monterey Bay Officer Investigated For Not Using Stun Gun

 

 

 

 

” A CSU Monterey Bay police officer was given a notice of termination this week for choosing not to use a stun gun on a student in need of medical treatment following a suicide attempt in February, the officer’s union said Thursday.

  The Statewide University Police Association declined to name the officer. A local police chief said the officer could have done more to assist in a crisis, but in a statement, the student’s father praised the officer’s actions.

“ With the current public impression and distrust of law enforcement, I think we need to see more officers that choose to conduct themselves peacefully and professionally,” said the CSUMB student’s father, whom the union also did not name.

  The decision to possibly terminate the officer for not using excessive force comes after two grand juries in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York found no criminality in the actions of two white police officers for the killing of two unarmed black men.

  Although the union says the officer, who is a 20-year law enforcement veteran, was using “civilized methods to resolve a situation” with an injured and noncompliant suicidal victim, Marina police officers who assisted in the call say he “never engaged” in the “highly agitated situation.”

  Marina Police Chief Edmundo Rodriguez said officers arrived at the scene to find a bloody room and an agitated victim in need of medical aid. The victim’s sweater, Rodriguez said, appeared to have been burned in an attempt to light himself on fire. A knife and hammer were also in the room, but the student was not holding the weapons when officers responded, Rodriguez said. “

 

    This disturbing episode goes a long way in describing the culture of violence that is perpetuated by police departments across the country . Here we have an officer who used his best judgement to not aggravate an already tragic situation and after twenty years of faithful service faces the axe for not escalating the level of violence that those not on the scene deemed necessary . 

 

Matt Agorist at The Free Thought Project:

 

” This incident highlights the sick and twisted state of today’s police force. Darren Wilson shot and killed an unarmed teenager, and was not fired. Officer Daniel Pantaleo of the NYPD, placed Eric Garner in a chokehold, a maneuver which has been prohibited by the department since 1993, eventually killing the man. The entire incident was caught on video and Pantaleo was not fired.

  This campus officer chose to use non-violence to try and resolve a situation, instead of killing or maiming a person, and he is being fired for it.

Precedent set: Killing a person – all is well.  Not using violence to resolve a situation – fired. Let that sink in. “

 

 

    It would appear that today’s law enforcement emphasis is based entirely on protection of the officers and their safety and the public’s safety must take a backseat to that . There is nothing heroic in that . This officer deserves to be honored , not terminated , but in today’s police culture that would be setting a dangerous precedent . 

Read more here and here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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West Virginia Cops Accused Of Video Tampering Following Shooting Death Of Mentally Impaired Man

Lawsuit Says Police Altered Video In West Virginia Shooting

 

 

 

 

 

” Police in a West Virginia city altered video evidence in the death of a mentally ill black man who was shot and killed last year during a confrontation with officers, a lawyer for the victim’s family said on Thursday.

  Sherman L. Lambert Sr., an attorney representing the estate of Wayne A. Jones, filed a legal motion on Wednesday in a $200 million lawsuit against five Martinsburg police officers. The lawsuit accuses the officers of using excessive force in the March 2013 shooting.

  The officers were cleared of wrongdoing in a report from West Virginia State Police investigators in April. Last October, a grand jury found their actions to be justified.

“ We question the authenticity of the DVD police provided,” Lambert said. “One of the main issues in the case was whether police used excessive force.”

  The lawsuit, filed on behalf of family members in June 2013, will go to trial on Oct. 28 in the U.S. District Court of Northern Virginia.

Jones, a 50-year-old who took schizophrenia medication, was shot by officers 23 times, according to the autopsy report. “

 

 

Reuters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ferguson Tragedy: Police Militarization On Display

From RT America

 

 

 

 

Published on Aug 14, 2014

” The police shooting and killing of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown has made Ferguson, MO known worldwide as citizens continue defying heavily armed police to protect their rights. Although the details of the initial incident remain murky, the tragedy has thrust the issues of racial disparity, police militarization and media portrayals of minorities into the mainstream’s attention, and no one knows what will happen next. RT’s Manila Chan takes a look at the now historic series of events.”

 

 

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Martial Law Comes To America

13 Photos From The Protests In Ferguson, Missouri, You Won’t Believe Happened In The United States Of America

” Protests entered their fifth and most tense day in Ferguson, Missouri, in response to a police officer on Saturday fatally shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, and it’s hard to look at the photos and believe the scene is in the United States.

  From heavily armed SWAT officers aiming rifles at unarmed civilians to the use of intimidating armored vehicles — it looks less small-town U.S.A. and more like Egypt’s Tahrir Square during the Arab Spring. The behavior of police is similar — albeit less deadly — in the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and a deafening loudspeaker meant to break up the demonstration officers had declared “no longer peaceful.”

  Various live streams showed a defiant but mostly peaceful crowd chanting and singing songs. But some protesters have indeed been seen, as St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s David Carson tweeted, throwing rocks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails.”

Business Insider

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“Investigative Stop” By LAPD Results In Death Of Another Young Black Man

LAPD Shoots, Kills Black Man During ‘Investigative Stop’

 

 

 

 

 

” The Los Angeles Police Department shot and killed a black man in South L.A. on Monday.

  Police conducted an “investigative stop” in the Newton area around 8:20 p.m., according to a news release from the LAPD. “During the stop a struggle ensued, which resulted in an officer-involved-shooting. It is unknown if the suspect has any gang affiliations,” the release continues. “The suspect was transported to a local hospital and after lifesaving efforts he succumbed to his injuries.”

  A woman claiming to be the deceased man’s mother called KTLA and identified the man as Ezell Ford. Tritobia Ford said her son was lying on the ground and complying with the officers when he was shot three times. 

  An unnamed man who claimed to be Ezell Ford’s cousin also spoke with KTLA.

“ They laid him out and for whatever reason, they shot him in the back, knowing mentally, he has complications. Every officer in this area, from the Newton Division, knows that — that this child has mental problems,” he said. “The excessive force … there was no purpose for it. The multiple shootings in the back while he’s laying down? No. Then when the mom comes, they don’t try to console her … they pull the billy clubs out.”

 

Huff Post

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Boone County Deputy Guns Down 19 Year-Old Samantha Ramsey At Field Party

Remembering Sam And Asking Why

 

 

 

 

 

 

” Samantha Ramsey leaned over to her former high school classmate and said, “We’re best friends and always will be.” Those would be the last words Ramsey would tell her longtime friend Amanda Johnson.

  An hour later, Ramsey, 19, of Covington was shot and killed by a Boone County Sheriff’s deputy early Saturday in a chaotic scene. Deputies were responding as dozens of young people were trying to leave a field party in the 6000 block of River Road.

  Johnson was one of about 160 people who blocked River Road just west of Tanner Road for about an hour Sunday night as they gathered to remember their Ramsey, whom they knew by her childhood nickname, Sam.”

 

 

This young lady was killed by a deputy at a block party and whose only “crime” seems to have been panic .

 

 

” Ramsey died at St. Elizabeth Healthcare Florence after suffering four gunshot wounds. Authorities said Boone County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Brockman discharged his weapon through the windshield of Ramsey’s car after she accelerated the vehicle instead of stopping as ordered.

  Deputies said the vehicle struck Brockman, who landed on the hood of the car, but witness Chelsey Pendleton, 20, of Ludlow disputes that.

  Pendleton, who was a backseat passenger in Ramsey’s car, said the deputy jumped on the hood from the side of the car.

” The cop was in the wrong,” she said. “I was there. I was in the back seat. That was unnecessary force. He had no right to do that.”

  Pendleton also disputed deputies’ claims that Ramsey accelerated her vehicle.

” That was dead body weight on the gas pedal after she was shot,” Pendleton said.”

 

 

 

Cinncinnati.com has more on the vigil , while the Daily Mail has much more on the shooting itself .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Half Of Albuquerque Police Oversight Commission Members Quit

Letter: ‘I Cannot Continue To Pretend Or Deceive The Members Of Our Community’

 

 

 

 

” Just days after the U.S. Department of Justice announced the results of an investigation into the Albuquerque Police Department, three members of the Police Oversight Commission are quitting.

  In their resignation letters to Mayor Richard Berry, Richard Shine, Jennifer Barela and Jonathan Siegel said they’re resigning because the civilian commission has no teeth.

“ The city attorney’s office addressed the POC on April 10, 2014, and stated that we have no power to decide against the APD Chief or against the independent review officer’s findings regarding citizens’ complaints,” reads Siegel’s letter. “I cannot continue to pretend or deceive the members of our community into believing that our city has any real civilian oversight.” “

KOAT has the details

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Justice Dept Issues Damning Report On Albuquerque PD Excessive Force

Department Of Justice Investigation Confirms Albuquerque Police ‘Executing’ Citizens

 

 

 

 

 

” Residents of Albuquerque, New Mexico are marching on the police department Saturday to demand retribution against the city’s mayor and police chief for their role in the police force’s documented “execution” of citizens.

  The march comes after the Department of Justice slammed the Albuquerque Police Department for their frequent use of excessive and lethal force in a damning report released on Thursday.

  Though, according to advocates, abuse by local law enforcement has been systemic for years, calls for increased scrutiny of the APD were amplified following the police shooting death of James Boyd, a homeless man suffering from mental illness, on March 16.

  Advocates welcomed the DOJ’s findings, saying the report was “spot on” in terms of identifying the root causes of this behavior, such as the “aggressive culture of the department” and the way in which “force is prioritized in training.”

  However, according to David Correia, an organizer with the Task Force for Public Safety who has been working with families of victims of APD violence, the DOJ’s inclusion of Mayor Richard J. Berry and police chief Gorden Eden in the negotiations for the consent decree, which will dictate how those recommendations will be implemented, is a “non-starter” for the community groups.

The Justice Department investigation, launched in November 2012, found:

APD officers too frequently use deadly force against people who pose a minimal threat and in situations where the conduct of the officers heightens the danger and contributes to the need to use force;

APD officers use less lethal force, including electronic controlled weapons, on people who are passively resisting, non-threatening, observably unable to comply with orders or pose only a minimal threat to the officers; and

Encounters between APD officers and persons with mental illness and in crisis too frequently result in a use of force or a higher level of force than necessary.”

Story continues

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Cops Who Beat & Tased Deaf Man For Trying To Sign Face Lawsuit

Innocent Man Beaten And Tasered By California Police For Signaling He Is Deaf

 

 

” A California man was allegedly beaten and tasered multiple times by four police officers while attempting to signal that he was deaf. Now, he’s suing local law enforcement.

  The suit was filed on behalf of Jonathan Meister by the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, and claims police used excessive force and violated Meister’s civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

  The incident took place on February 13, when Meister visited a friend to pick up snowboarding equipment that was stored in his home. Suspecting a burglary, a neighbor called out to the man, who didn’t respond because he cannot hear.

  When two officers arrived at the scene shortly after, Meister reportedly put his boxes down and tried to use hand gestures to tell them he was deaf. As he approached police, though, the officers supposedly grabbed his hands, turned him around, and attempted to handcuff him.

“ Because he is deaf, Mr. Meister depends on using his hands while facing a person to communicate,” the lawsuit states, according to a local publication called the Daily Breeze. “The officers’ sudden aggression, which both caused pain and interfered with his ability to communicate, caused Mr. Meister reflexively to pull his hands away, hop back over the fence and step toward the gate … to create some space so that he could communicate.” “

 

Continue reading

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Girl Reduced To Vegetative State By Cop’s Tasing Over Traffic Tickets Succumbs To Her Injuries

Cop Tases Handcuffed Girl Repeatedly Until She Becomes Vegetative, Dies

 

 

 

 

 

 

” A 20-yr-old girl’s family has filed a lawsuit against a cop after their daughter was left in a brain-dead, vegetative state until she died.

  Officer Cole, who was known as “Trigger Happy Trooper,” can be seen on dashcam video Tasing the girl until she passed into a vegetative state (footage below).

  She clearly posed no threat to the officer, but he continued to Tase her anyway.

  She was in handcuffs at the time.

  Once he Tased her in her back, she fell to the pavement and became paralyzed.

  She said, “I can’t get up.”

  The officer sneered, “I don’t want you to get up,” and continued to send high voltage electricity into her limp body until she entered into brain-death.

  After surviving in a vegetative state for some time, she finally died, leaving behind her family and community.”

 

    Officer Cole is also the defendant in another lawsuit for excessive force after being cleared by his peers for shooting an innocent cemetery owner last year for an alleged “property crime”  and a minister in 2001 for a broken tail light. No wonder he is known as the “trigger-happy trooper” . 

Read more at Filming Cops

 

 

 

 

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Cell Phone Video Shows Man’s Hands Held High As Deputy Guns Him Down

Cell Phone Video Contradicts Sheriff’s Version Of Deputy-Involved Killing

 

 

 

 

 

” An Arizona deputy shot and killed a man claiming he was reaching for a gun, but a cell phone video shows the man had raised his hands in the air.

  However, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu insists the man should have been killed much earlier because he wasn’t complying with their orders.

  But obviously Babeu is trying to spin the story after the cell phone video contradicted their earlier rendition of the facts.

According to CBS5:

  A witness shot the video on a cell phone. It shows the final moments of the standoff, when deputies were ordering Manuel Longoria to surrender. The deputies had their weapons drawn and fired five bean bag rounds at the suspect, in addition to Taser rounds.”

Read the rest at PINAC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lawsuit Alleges Chicago PD Fired On Carful Of Unarmed Kids

Chicago Cops Shot Kids, Mothers Say

 

 

” Chicago police opened fire on a car full of kids and wounded two of them “without provocation, cause or justification of any kind,” two mothers claim in court.
   Catherine Waller and Abena Andoh sued Chicago, its police Officers J.E. Morlock and K.W. Flaherty, and other unknown officers on behalf of Waller’s son D.B., and Andoh’s son D.H.
   The mothers claim Morlock and Flaherty stopped a car containing their kids and “several other minors” three days before Christmas last year, on the South Side.
   Two passengers fled.
  “Seconds later, one or more of the defendant officers opened fire on the remaining occupants of the vehicle, which included D.B and D.H.,” according to the complaint.
  “Defendant officers shot more than a dozen rounds into the vehicle filled with minors without provocation, cause or justification of any kind.
  “That is, no weapon was brandished nor was there any act of violence or aggression directed at or toward defendant officers. “

 

From Courthouse News Service

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Man Shot By Cop In His Own Home Sues Police Dept

Man Shot By Officer Sues West Sacramento Police Department

 

Click Picture For Video

 

 

” When police officers responded to a domestic disturbance call at a West Sacramento home in July 2012, homeowner Kevin Hughey said he was shot by one of the officers who was out of control.

” I realized someone was actually kicking in the door,” Hughey explained.

  Hughey said even though the heated discussion between he and his wife had de-escalated, a West Sacramento police officer forced his way into the their home.

” I stepped back to get out of the way of the door as it flung open,” Hughey said. “I immediately saw an officer with his gun drawn. I started to put my hands up and before I could even move, he shot me.” “

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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More State-Sponsored Brutality … Skokie Police Style

Surveillance Video Shows Cop Hurling Woman Face First Into Concrete Cell, Woman Now Suing Skokie, Illinois Police Department

” Earlier this month, an Illinois woman filed suit against LaSalle County, alleging she was aggressively stripped search by three male deputies and a female in the jail after a DUI arrest and left naked in a cell. This week, her attorney said he has five more women who have come forward with similar complaints.

Now, a separate lawsuit against the Skokie Police Department in Illinois was filed by a Chicago woman, Cassandra Feuerstein, alleging the use of excessive force after her DUI arrest. Surveillance video shows the 110-pound woman talking to an officer off-screen, then walking out of the cell, followed by two cops, and about 30 seconds later being thrown head first toward a concrete bench in her cell, causing bleeding. Feuerstein’s lawyer says she required reconstructive surgery and a titanium plate in her cheek. “

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Massive Manhunt on for Ex-Cop Accused of Killing