tagged w/ excessive force
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Though the search engine giant did not comply with those specific requests, a bigger concern is over how Google chooses which requests for "removal of content" it decides to honor, and which ones they refuse. After all, the report also shows that the company "complied" with 63% requests for content removal, and over 90% of "requests for user data."
http://veracitystew.com/2011/10/31/google-police-want-brutality-videos-removed/Though the search engine giant did not comply with those specific requests, a bigger... more
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After a growing public and media outcry against the brutal excessive force by Oakland police, Mayor Jean Quan, who authorized the use of force, has backed down and promises "minimal police presence" in dealing with protesters. The Mayor's announcement came while friends were celebrating that injured Iraqi veteran Scott Olsen's condition had been upgraded to "fair."
http://veracitystew.com/2011/10/27/occupy-oakland-mayor-quan-backs-down-iraqi-vet-in-fair-condition/After a growing public and media outcry against the brutal excessive force by Oakland... more
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The video images of unarmed and penned female protesters being intentionally maced by NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna during last week's "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations have caused a growing public demand for an investigation, and now that a second video has surfaced showing the same officer "getting trigger-happy with the spray, just moments after the first incident," the police commission has no choice but to act...or will they?
http://veracitystew.com/2011/09/28/nypd-under-fire-for-macing-after-second-video-surfaces-video/The video images of unarmed and penned female protesters being intentionally maced by... more
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CityBeat Cincy-Laura Harrell remembers vividly the time she first met David “Bones” Hebert, the man who would become her close friend and, eventually, her roommate. It was nearly 14 years ago in Clifton Heights, when she visited friends at their Ohio Avenue apartment and Hebert lived in the small space below.
“He really made an impression on me,” Harrell says. “He was a sweetheart. He was a very warm, loving person.”
The years of companionship, though, came to an abrupt end on the morning of April 18. While Harrell was getting ready for the day around 8:30 a.m., her 9-year-old daughter told her that there was a Duke Energy worker on the front porch of her Northside home with a clipboard. When Harrell checked outside, she learned it actually was a Cincinnati Police detective, who informed her that Hebert had been shot and killed by an officer a few hours earlier.
Hebert, 40, was a lanky, tattooed neighborhood fixture and local musician who had played in several Rock and Punk bands in the 1990s including Ratfuel, AMF and Shoot the Gift. Many others grew to know him during his long stint as a cook at The Comet bar.
After living in Portland for a brief period, Hebert had returned to his hometown of New Orleans before making his way back to Cincinnati about six months ago. While working part-time jobs at Melt and Northslice Pizza, he had just moved in with Harrell about three weeks before the shooting.
The incident, which occurred shortly after 3 a.m. in Northside near the corner of Chase and Georgia avenues, was prompted by a 911 call made by Jason Weller. Phoning from his basement apartment on Virginia Avenue, an apparently intoxicated Weller told the dispatcher in slurred speech that he had been socializing with Hebert and a female companion when Hebert allegedly “robbed him” and attacked him with “a big-ass pirate sword,” according to a tape of the call released by police.
After the dispatcher repeatedly asked a rambling Weller whether he needed medical attention, he replied that he only had a small cut on his hand.
Police caught up with Hebert about 10 minutes later on Chase Avenue, five blocks from Weller’s apartment, walking with the female companion and his dog, Shady. What happened in the next few minutes is murky and open to debate.
At a press conference on the day after the shooting, acting Police Chief Richard Janke said Hebert was shot after he twice refused to remove his hand from his right pocket, then suddenly took a knife from the pocket and took a step toward two officers. That’s when a third officer, Sgt. Andrew Mitchell, pulled out his gun and shot Hebert twice in the chest. (A fourth officer also was present at the scene.)
Janke said Mitchell acted appropriately because Hebert had “a deadly weapon.”
But that account raises numerous questions for Harrell and other of Hebert’s friends. Moreover, it differs sharply from comments made to some of them by Hebert’s female companion at the scene that night. The woman, whose name hasn’t been released by police, has retained a Blue Ash attorney and declined any public comment.
Hebert’s friends said Weller, Hebert and the woman were partying at Weller’s apartment when Weller made an unwelcome sexual advance on her, and an altercation occurred after Hebert pushed him away. Hebert and the woman were on their way home when confronted by police.
Further, friends wonder why two officers standing much closer to Hebert — Lawrence Johnson and Nicolini Stavale — didn’t draw their weapons but Mitchell did. Mitchell has a history of using force against suspects.
Since joining the department in 2006, Mitchell fired his gun at a burglary suspect wielding a BB gun in Westwood, hitting him in the arm and hand; and used a Taser on a high school student who he mistakenly believed was a robbery suspect. Also, a man filed an excessive force complaint against Mitchell for grabbing his wrist at the Bengals stadium, an allegation that wasn’t substantiated.
Additionally, the description of Hebert’s knife continues to change. Originally described as a large Bowie knife, it was later referred to as a switchblade with a 7-inch blade, then a 6-inch blade.
In fact, several friends say Hebert showed them the rusty knife he had begun carrying after an acquaintance gave it to him as a gift a few weeks ago.
If Hebert was lunging at officers, as police have said, friends wonder why the knife ended up about 25 feet behind him, shattering the window in a house before landing upright in a yard. The trajectory suggests he was trying to throw it away, they add.
“The picture being painted that he was a knife-wielding thief who lunged at police are not true,” says Lisa Wurster. “We believe our friend was murdered and it’s being covered up.”
Tellingly, friends say, Janke has refused to divulge how close the officers were to Hebert. They say the companion told them it was about two feet. Moving so close suggests that the other two officers didn’t feel threatened.
Police confiscated Hebert’s van from Harrell’s driveway, but told Hebert’s parents they took it at Harrell’s request, which she says is untrue.
Janke’s press conference defending Mitchell angers Hebert’s friends. The Police Department has asked them for patience and to reserve judgment until the investigations are complete, but that’s not being reciprocated.
“The statements made that morning do not reflect reservation of judgment or neutrality,” says Rob Linneman. “It affects public opinion … Bones is innocent until proven guilty.”
Three separate investigations are underway, one each by the department’s Criminal Investigation and Internal Investigation sections, and by the Citizen Complaint Authority.
Police have released video taken from cruiser cameras but the footage just depicts officers driving to the scene and the shooting’s aftermath. That’s because the cameras only activate while a cruiser’s lights and sirens are on, police said.
Al Gerhardstein, a prominent civil rights attorney who helped negotiate dozens of police reforms in 2001-03, says that policy should change.
“Every time there is an encounter with a citizen, if the capacity is there, it should be videotaped,” he said, adding some departments use cameras attached to officers’ shirts.
Harrell and many others in Hebert’s extended circle of friends already have held a fundraiser and a vigil in his memory, as well as appearing before City Council pleading for a thorough, independent investigation of what transpired under cover of darkness.
“I want to get to the truth and see policies changed so this doesn’t happen again,” Harrell says. “That’s all we can do. We can’t bring him back.”
( I am a friend of Bones and the girl told us she was being harassed (by you know who...)typical here in this dirty old town and thats what they leave out why she has not made a statement and has aquirred an attorney in this dirty old town it's the wise choice ,... sadly the truth has been edited , again. no matter what we do this is Cincy's finest...?!)-figgdimensionCityBeat Cincy-Laura Harrell remembers vividly the time she first met David... more
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San Ramon, CA: 19 year old 125 lbs, unarmed man was beaten, tasered twice, collapsed lung, eye hemorrhaged, fractured ribs - even after he was face down on the ground surrendering.San Ramon, CA: 19 year old 125 lbs, unarmed man was beaten, tasered twice, collapsed... more
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YouTube-AmericanDissent
(from the original creator) .... "BoilingFrogs"
Check them out @
http://www.myspace.com/boilingfrogs101
http://blogs.myspace.com/boilingfrogs101
This was sent to me by way of a message. It was written by an ex-cop shortly after he saw my blog. What follows is a very honest, insightful and terrifying message as he touches on the police perspective and the militarization of the police (which was largely excused as necessary by the War on Drugs).
..........
"When I was a "police officer" back in the early '70s the transformation was just starting to take place from a mentality of a public servant working for the citizens to "law enforcement". The first I noticed of it was when the police departments started preferential hiring of ex-military people returning from Viet Nam. They started introducing military tactics into the department, including the first S.W.A.T. team. They quit referring to people on the street as citizens and started calling them "civilians", or more commonly "assholes".
"They looked for opportunities to use their new toys provided from "federal assistance" monies in the war on drugs. They changed the uniforms from the blue-suited cop with an 8-sided hat with a shield on front to a set of black or navy fatigues and a ball cap. They started shaving their heads and pumping iron. They gave up on the idea that they put themselves in the line of fire to protect and serve the public and took on a combat marine attitude of protect their own above all else. I've known them to murder cop-killers in the street, but have a could-care-less attitude when a civilian is killed."
"I was lied to, lied about and set up when I tried to expose some crooked cops. Things since 1975 have not gotten better. The thugs in uniform now consider themselves to be government agents of a totalitarian regime with limitless authority to enforce the will of the government on all civilian assholes. There are obviously exceptions to that rule, but those would never try to stand in the way of the thugs."
"Sorry, but talk show hosts I have heard that say we don't have to worry about tyranny in this "nation" because our troops would never turn their guns on "Americans". They are wrong. They have never read history. They don't realize the training and brainwashing that takes place in the military now and in the para-military police forces - especially the federales. Just wait until big-O gets his Civilian National Security Force in place and all the local wanna-be LEOs join in with them."
"Buy ammo and remember to aim for the head or neck."YouTube-AmericanDissent
(from the original creator) .... "BoilingFrogs"... more
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The use of Tasers has become increasingly controversial over the last year, following high-profile cases such as the Tasering of a 10-year-old girl who had refused to take a shower and video of a 72-year-old great-grandmother who was Tasered following a driving offense. Now a federal appeals court in San Francisco has set down new rules for when police officers are allowed to use Tasers. In particular, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Tasers can’t be used simply to force a non-violent person to bend to an officer’s will. The court’s reason was that Taser’s X26 stun gun inflicts more pain than other “non-lethal” options.The use of Tasers has become increasingly controversial over the last year, following... more
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UPDATED: Suspect dies while in BCSO custody; http://www.newsherald.com/news/grande-79800-deputies-officials.html
A man who was tased by Bay County Sheriff’s deputies choked to death on a “large bag of marijuana,” sheriff’s officials said Friday morning. Part of the incident was caught on tape.
Authorities said Andrew Grande, 23, of 219 Placido Place, was running away from deputies at the Executive Inn on Front Beach Road after they responded to a physical disturbance there at about 2 a.m. Friday., according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. The deputies made contact with a female victim, Crystal Amber Cronnon, 22, of 103 Dana Way, who identified Grande as the person who assaulted her.
When deputies confronted Grande, they were able to place one handcuff on his wrist and during the struggle they “observed Grande attempting to place something in his mouth.”
Grande managed to free himself from the deputies and stood up, and that’s when he was tased, officials said in a news release. Grande then pulled the stun gun probes out of his body, the release said.
Some portion of the incident was caught on film by a camera crew working for the cable network Tru TV. The crew was doing a ridealong with the deputies, McKeithen said.UPDATED: Suspect dies while in BCSO custody;... more
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A group of San Jose police officers are on the other side of the law, after using what some experts call "excessive force" on an unarmed San Jose student after responding to a roommate dispute.A group of San Jose police officers are on the other side of the law, after using what... more
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According to the local Fox affiliate, "the man then crashed his bicycle and fell into the path of the officer's patrol car."
One witness who spoke to the press indicated that the Taser may have caused the cyclist to fall of his bike. The News Journal reports:
“The man on the bike was on the sidewalk, boogeying down, trying to get away,” [witness Jamison] Boler said. “The policeman fired a Taser out the window. The guy (on the bike) made a U-turn and ditched the bicycle and kind of did a somersault on the ground. Not two seconds later, the cop car just ran over him,” Boler said. “The cop ran up on the curb and hopped out of the car and said, ‘Where are you at?’ The guy was still underneath his car. You can still see his red shoe sticking out.”
Another witness, David Taylor, 25, said the male, who appeared to be a teenager, was dragged after being stuck beneath the police car. “The kid fell off the bike (after being shocked with a stun gun) and then was stumbling because of the momentum,” Taylor said. “It was probably about 10 to 15 feet that the man was drug.”
The police car came to a stop about 35 feet from the male’s bicycle. The man remained pinned beneath the car for more than three hours before the car was removed and his body was taken away.According to the local Fox affiliate, "the man then crashed his bicycle and fell... more
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You can't be too careful with those guys face down on the ground and their hands behind their head... they might spontaneously combust or something.
Like I've said in the past, we need a system that will make this go away for good!You can't be too careful with those guys face down on the ground and their hands... more
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KSirys
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added this
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2 years ago
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Tasers aren't 'nonlethal'; they've killed hundreds. With younger people being especially vulnerable to the Taser's shock, the risks could be very deadly.
The state with the most recorded Taser deaths was California, with 55. Florida ranked second, with 52.
"They are used to protect students and faculties," he said, as well as police officers hired to patrol school grounds.
Just weeks into the 2009-2010 school year, at least one report has surfaced of a student being tased on school grounds. In Topeka, Kan., a teenager at Capital City School was sent to the hospital after being tased, reportedly after "attacking" a school police officer while a Topeka police officer handcuffed him. (According to local media, the student "was being suspended for violating school rules.")Tasers aren't 'nonlethal'; they've killed hundreds. With younger... more
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An Oklahoma trooper accused of using excessive force while stopping and arresting a paramedic will receive a five-day suspension without pay for his actions, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol announced Wednesday.
This trooper getting off with only a 5-day suspension when he clearly has anger issues is just outrageous. A cop that abuses or misuses authority needs to be dealt with a lot harsher than that.An Oklahoma trooper accused of using excessive force while stopping and arresting a... more
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hcice
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added this
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2 years ago
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A fourteen year old was shot in the head by Tucumcari Police Chief Roger Hatcher, and has recently been released from an Albuquerque hospital after receiving several staples and stitches. The girl's mother brought her to the police station so that they could help her with an argument about the girl's cell phone. Apparently she had been, "sexting" and the mother thought the police could handle her better. Handle her they did after the girl ran out of the police station. Police Chief Hatcher ran after her, finally catching up to her at a park. The girl slowed down, but became scared after Hatcher yelled at her to stop and threatened force with the taser. She started to run again.
"Hatcher said he attempted to catch up to the girl by foot was unable to do so and believes he had no choice but to fire a Taser dart to stop her."
The girl's parents are very upset. Apparently, the girl already suffered from epilepsy, and now is having balance problems. She is also unable to climb steps.A fourteen year old was shot in the head by Tucumcari Police Chief Roger Hatcher, and... more
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An attorney for the family of a 16-year-old boy by shot by a sheriff's deputy in Compton says the teen did not brandish a weapon and posed no threat.
Attorney John E. Sweeney told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that Avery Cody Jr. initially complied with officers demands to stop and put his hands on the car, but ran for an unknown reason and was shot in the back.
Sheriff's Detective Steve Blagg said only that Cody had a loaded handgun when he was shot by a deputy Sunday. He would not respond to Sweeney's comments and said the shooting is still under investigation.
Cody was a high school student at Zinsmeyer Academy in Long Beach, Sweeney said. He had just finished eating with a friend at McDonald's when he was shot.An attorney for the family of a 16-year-old boy by shot by a sheriff's deputy in... more
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