Police Brutality mega thread

[I am lizard]

Basically a thread for cases of police brutality or abuse of power by law enforcement. Cases brutality committed by prison officials is also welcomed.



I'll start: http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/freddie-grays-voice
Black guy drug into van and beaten to death. Next time someone shouts "well if [minority] didn't want to be shot they shouldn't have ran away!" post this.


Another intresting case, not really police brutality but still relevant: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/texas-no-knock-swat-raid
A gang of SWAT officers broke into these guys houses and in response he shot them. I'm suprised in neither case the police didn't conveniently find drugs in any of their house.

[Ultimate Paragon]

Are we allowed to discuss police brutality here?  Because in my opinion, the cause of police brutality has more to do with mentality than equipment.  Far too many police officers think like they're in the military.  This, combined with the fact that they think normal rules don't apply to them, leads to a lot of tragic deaths.

[rookie]

I see so many people saying the cause, at least a main cause,  of police brutality is police officers thinking they're in the military or whatever. That is a problem with the cops themselves. Is there anything anywhere to back that? Any kind of study done that they're pointing at when they say these things?

[Askold]

Well, there was that one police station that was called "forward operating base" because they felt that by opening a new station in a troublesome neighborhood is like setting up a military base in a hostile zone.

Related to that is that some police officers in USA are former military veterans who spent their deployment by occupying a hostile country and that does leave a mark on them...

When you add the fact that the police in USA have gotten train loads of stuff from the military, guns, uniforms, even tanks and attack copters the truth is that more and more militarization has creeped into the the police forces and it has started to effect them.

[Barbarella]

There needs to be a huge swath of the population DEMANDING that the Justice Department take action (I'm talking about the American fuzz, mind you). This is getting ridiculous! You even have cops getting off after killing young children! You even have it where the whole thing is unambiguous and on tape! WHAT'S WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Why is it so darn hard to prosecute a cop?! They're not above the law! Why be treated as such?!

And the juries for these cases, have they lost their minds?!!!

And DAMMIT, "Blue Line" or not, it's time for the good cops to stop being kowtowing wimpy wimps and DO SOMETHING! Surely most cops are decent people, right? RIGHT?

When will it end? Surely it'll end and the police will reform....but WHEN?

It's not so much the police brutality that bothers me, it's the fact that these guys commit outright murder and aren't punished. It defies logic.

Now, I find all that high-tech war gizmo stuff is ridiculous but certainly you can still use fancy equipment and still be a human being! If you're too stupid to tell the difference between a citizen & a criminal then you shouldn't be a cop! There needs to be mandatory psychotherapy and background checks. There needs to be accountability for cops who murder! Common sense!

[I am lizard]

Not police Brutality, but very relevant

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/justice-dept-fbi-to-review-use-of-forensic-evidence-in-thousands-of-cases/2012/07/10/gJQAT6DlbW_story.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/04/fbi_s_flawed_forensics_expert_testimony_hair_analysis_bite_marks_fingerprints.html

[I am lizard]

http://mic.com/articles/116216/the-type-of-police-brutality-no-one-is-talking-about?utm_source=policymicTBLR&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=social

[Ultimate Paragon]

There needs to be a huge swath of the population DEMANDING that the Justice Department take action (I'm talking about the American fuzz, mind you). This is getting ridiculous! You even have cops getting off after killing young children! You even have it where the whole thing is unambiguous and on tape! WHAT'S WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Why is it so darn hard to prosecute a cop?! They're not above the law! Why be treated as such?!

And the juries for these cases, have they lost their minds?!!!

And DAMMIT, "Blue Line" or not, it's time for the good cops to stop being kowtowing wimpy wimps and DO SOMETHING! Surely most cops are decent people, right? RIGHT?

When will it end? Surely it'll end and the police will reform....but WHEN?

It's not so much the police brutality that bothers me, it's the fact that these guys commit outright murder and aren't punished. It defies logic.

Now, I find all that high-tech war gizmo stuff is ridiculous but certainly you can still use fancy equipment and still be a human being! If you're too stupid to tell the difference between a citizen & a criminal then you shouldn't be a cop! There needs to be mandatory psychotherapy and background checks. There needs to be accountability for cops who murder! Common sense!

I'd say progress is already being made.  Thanks to 24-Hour news networks, social media, and inexpensive cameras, it's getting harder and harder for the police to sweep incidents under the rug.

And things have already gotten better.  I frequently point to the LAPD as an example, but there are others.  It should be remembered that Michael Slager was fired.  And keep in mind, that was in South Carolina, birthplace of the Confederacy.

[Barbarella]

There needs to be a huge swath of the population DEMANDING that the Justice Department take action (I'm talking about the American fuzz, mind you). This is getting ridiculous! You even have cops getting off after killing young children! You even have it where the whole thing is unambiguous and on tape! WHAT'S WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Why is it so darn hard to prosecute a cop?! They're not above the law! Why be treated as such?!

And the juries for these cases, have they lost their minds?!!!

And DAMMIT, "Blue Line" or not, it's time for the good cops to stop being kowtowing wimpy wimps and DO SOMETHING! Surely most cops are decent people, right? RIGHT?

When will it end? Surely it'll end and the police will reform....but WHEN?

It's not so much the police brutality that bothers me, it's the fact that these guys commit outright murder and aren't punished. It defies logic.

Now, I find all that high-tech war gizmo stuff is ridiculous but certainly you can still use fancy equipment and still be a human being! If you're too stupid to tell the difference between a citizen & a criminal then you shouldn't be a cop! There needs to be mandatory psychotherapy and background checks. There needs to be accountability for cops who murder! Common sense!

I'd say progress is already being made.  Thanks to 24-Hour news networks, social media, and inexpensive cameras, it's getting harder and harder for the police to sweep incidents under the rug.

And things have already gotten better.  I frequently point to the LAPD as an example, but there are others.  It should be remembered that Michael Slager was fired.  And keep in mind, that was in South Carolina, birthplace of the Confederacy.

Good! That Slager guy deserves more but at least he was fired. I agree there is progress but it's so darn slow. At least there's more awareness and a growing movement. Rome wasn't built in a day, after all.

One encouraging trend is that the younger generations tend to be more progressive and most Tealiban types are "up-there" in years. As they slowly bite the big one, perhaps the influence of the Tealiban and the grip of the corporate masters will loosen.

Besides, the Koch brothers are two geezers....I'm sure Lady Death will say "hello" in our lifetime. The successor thing usually involve power struggles and infighting. Often the tyrant's defeat themselves due to their out hubris & sociopathy.

[Askold]

For comparison: Four Swedish police officers are on vacation in USA and as they ride the subway in New York they see a fight. The driver calls for help and the four men stop the fight and hold the suspects down until NYPD arrives.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqdIL7zUCNU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqdIL7zUCNU</a>

They repeatedly make sure that the suspects are ok and try to calm them down but still maintain control over the situation.

[mellenORL]

That is a good benchmark to contrast with what one sees in pretty much every video of US cops in similar situations. The Swedes handled this minor fist fight correctly by staying calm and quietly talking to the subject men.

US cops are trained to use "command voice", a military officer's skill, to intimidate suspects and bystanders with the loudest, most aggressive and dominant tone of voice. And they pull their weapons, whether club, Taser or pistol, immediately. All that does is escalate encounters with suspects, making weapon use or extreme physical force all but inevitable...pretty much as planned.

They are trained and encouraged to be as aggressive and dominant as possible to "assure officer and civilian safety", to "take full command of the scene". All of that is urban war zone-specific military methodology. The only difference notable between US civilian police tactics and that of an occupying military is the uniforms...and even that is rapidly morphing in PDs across the country.

[Sleepy]

We're learning more about Lt. Brian Rice, who arrested Freddie Gray in Baltimore. There are reports from 2012 of his guns being confiscated and him being hospitalized after deputies cited "credible information" and Rice's threats to commit an act (the act has been censored in reports).

The incidents described in the sheriff's report and court records involving Rice's personal problems portray allegations of concerns about self-control and judgment, as Baltimore police and the Justice Department investigate the injuries that Gray, 25, sustained in police custody.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/baltimore-police-officer-arrested-freddie-gray-menta-health-concerns


A big update: The officers involved in Gray's arrest are facing charges for the roles they played in his death.

These charges include — but are not limited to — second-degree murder, manslaughter, misconduct in office and false imprisonment.

Goodson was charged with second-degree depraved heart murder, which indicates a "callous disregard for the value of human life."

...

According to multiple reports, the medical examiner found that the 25-year-old man’s head struck a bolt that jutted out in the back of the police van.

A law enforcement official told the Washington Post that this was not Gray’s only injury, and that his wounds were consistent with those generally seen in car crashes.

Multiple police sources told WJLA that the head wound corresponds with a bolt in the back of the vehicle, and that the impact broke Gray’s neck.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blow while he was in custody, according to the sources.

http://news.yahoo.com/freddie-gray-sustained-fatal-head-injury-in-back-of-police-van--report-124521845.html

[Ultimate Paragon]

A couple updates on the story:

Six officers have been charged in Freddie Gray's death.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/us/freddie-gray-autopsy-report-given-to-baltimore-prosecutors.html?_r=0

On the other hand, a prisoner in the van claims Freddie may have been trying to injure himself:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/prisoner-in-van-said-freddie-gray-was-banging-against-the-walls-during-ride/2015/04/29/56d7da10-eec6-11e4-8666-a1d756d0218e_story.html

[Sleepy]

^ The other van prisoner states those claims to be inaccurate.

But Donta Allen, who identified himself as the man in the van with Gray, told WJZ-TV that the report is inaccurate and that he just heard “a little banging.”

“And they trying to make it seem like I told them that, I made it like Freddie Gray did that to hisself [sic],” Allen said to the station. “Why the f--- would he do that to hisself [sic]?”

http://news.yahoo.com/freddie-gray-sustained-fatal-head-injury-in-back-of-police-van--report-124521845.html

[Ultimate Paragon]

^ The other van prisoner states those claims to be inaccurate.

But Donta Allen, who identified himself as the man in the van with Gray, told WJZ-TV that the report is inaccurate and that he just heard “a little banging.”

“And they trying to make it seem like I told them that, I made it like Freddie Gray did that to hisself [sic],” Allen said to the station. “Why the f--- would he do that to hisself [sic]?”

http://news.yahoo.com/freddie-gray-sustained-fatal-head-injury-in-back-of-police-van--report-124521845.html

Ah, okay then.  My bad.