Police

Crime, Police, Police Brutality, Police Misconduct

5 Dead Since 2008

Iberia Parish Jail

Iberia Parish (La.) Sheriff Louis Ackal was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy and deprivation of civil rights in relation to multiple alleged beatings of detainees in the parish jail’s chapel.

Several deputies who pleaded guilty to charges related to the abuse of prisoners testified that Ackal and one of his most senior officers, Lt. Col. Gerald Savoy (who was also indicted), ordered a number of men to be taken to the chapel, where there were no security cameras, and “take care” of them.

Via Louisiana Sheriff Indicted Over Jailhouse Chapel Beatings of Detainees @ Hit & Run : Reason.com

Crime, Police

Walked

According to an investigation by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, federal prosecutors turned down 12,703 out of 13,233 total complaints against cops between 1995 and 2015.

The newspaper looked at data from nearly 3 million U.S. Justice Department records related to how the department’s 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices handled civil rights cases referred to them by the FBI and opened on their own.

Via Cops Not Charged In 96 Percent Of Federal Rights Violation Cases @ Cop Block.

Lawsuits, Police, Police Brutality, Police Misconduct

Police Misconduct Worst of February

“So for February we have selected the reported misconduct of Officer Matt Rush from Champaign, Illinois. Last month Precious Jackson filed a lawsuit against Rush and his employer for excessive force when Rush arrested her.  According to the lawsuit, Rush’s actions caused Jackson to lose her unborn baby.  Jackson also says that she begged to…

Crime, Police, Police Brutality, Police Misconduct

LAPD Officers Charged With Repeatedly Raping Women While on Duty 

“Two veteran Los Angeles Police Department officers who worked as partners assigned to the Hollywood Division have been charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting four women, often while the pair was on duty, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced today. James Nichols (dob 2/4/72) and Luis Valenzuela (5/11/72) are scheduled to be arraigned on…

Police, Police Brutality, Police Misconduct

Cops Ask for Help to Stop Killing People

Last year, American police killed between 1,200 and 1,300 people, depending on which database one looks at. Compare that to two people shot in the last decade by Scottish police.

There are some obvious differences between the United States and the Scotland. For instance, the U.S. has a far larger population of more than 300 million people — and nearly as many guns in circulation, Sky News points out. While police in the United Kingdom are generally unarmed, American police are.

Still, many of the people killed by police last year were unarmed, Sky News reports, while some were armed with objects like knifes or rocks. In an effort to seek a resolution to the issue of lethal force, American police visited Scottish officers to see what they could learn.

Chuck Wexler, a former hostage negotiator for the Boston Police Department, explained how American police would likely respond when dealing with someone holding a rock.

“You’re going to kill someone for throwing a rock. That’s what you’re gonna do,” Wexler explained. “How would society over here think about you shooting someone with a rock? They would not accept it.”

Via American police ask Scottish cops to teach them how to stop killing people @ Raw Story.

Conservatives, Police, Police Brutality, Police Misconduct

The Right’s selective views on gov’t efficiency and integrity

Kevin Williamson over at National Review has an article that asks a lot of good questions about how conservatives seem to have a double-standard when it comes to government corruption when it comes to the police:

Is it really so difficult to believe that there is widespread wrongdoing, and widespread lying about it, among U.S. law-enforcement agencies, particularly those in big, Democrat-run cities infamous for the corruption of their other municipal institutions? Why do conservatives find it so plausible — obvious, even — that the IRS and the EPA and the Atlanta public schools are corrupt and self-serving, but somehow believe that the Baltimore police department isn’t?

Via National Review: The Right is deluding itself about law enforcement @ Campaign for Liberty.

Police, Police Brutality

Uncooperative from the Top

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Police Chief Greg Suhr refuse to fully cooperate with the district attorney’s efforts to investigate police misconduct and bias, even as they claim to be committed to transparency and accountability in the wake of the killing of Mario Woods, according to a scathing letter written to the mayor by District Attorney George Gascón.

Via S.F. D.A. says mayor, chief uncooperative in police misconduct probe @ SFGate.

Police, Race

Racial Profiling on Florida Roadways

The numbers speak for themselves.

  • Black motorists were stopped and cited for seat belt offenses four times more often than white motorists by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office in 2011 — almost double the statewide racial disparity for that year.
  • In 2014, Black motorists were stopped and cited for seat belt offensesthree times more often than white motorists by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 2.8 times more often than white motorists by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and 1.9 times more oftenthan white motorists by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. (The 2014 statewide racial disparity was 1.9.)

Via New Evidence of Racial Profiling on Florida Roadways @ American Civil Liberties Union.