Looks like the OHP takes it on the chin yet again.

[Vashta Nerada]

If your "fed up" response involves tackling a man with a gun, you have made a grave mistake.

Maybe that what them two good old boys was hopin for, reckon?

[TeeDub]

I hope so.  I have a thing against preachers.

[Red Arrow]

Maybe that what them two good old boys was hopin for, reckon?

Huh?  American English please

[Breadburner]

Maybe that what them two good old boys was hopin for, reckon?

That's whats the drunks were lookin for.....And got it.......

[Vashta Nerada]

Bum rush cops....It's a great idea.....!!!

"Bum rush" is the exact phrase the troopers were caught off-camera using when they were deciding on their story.  You must be a clairvoyant.



It only took a month for the video lab to doctor the dashcam video to show what OHP wanted to show.
Had that not been necessary, OHP would have released the video right away without any fancy editing.

The release of the "enhanced" version pretty much guarantees we will never see the raw, unedited videos.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/they-bum-rushed-us-ohp-releases-full-dash-cam-videos/article_1dce0554-fa30-5508-bdbd-eb76abcf6061.html

Other than documenting the troopers rehearsing their story, the edited record is untrustworthy and tainted by the tampering.

[DTowner]

"Bum rush" is the exact phrase the troopers were caught off-camera using when they were deciding on their story.  You must be a clairvoyant.



It only took a month for the video lab to doctor the dashcam video to show what OHP wanted to show.
Had that not been necessary, OHP would have released the video right away without any fancy editing.

The release of the "enhanced" version pretty much guarantees we will never see the raw, unedited videos.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/they-bum-rushed-us-ohp-releases-full-dash-cam-videos/article_1dce0554-fa30-5508-bdbd-eb76abcf6061.html

Other than documenting the troopers rehearsing their story, the edited record is untrustworthy and tainted by the tampering.

The conspiracy loop has been completed when all evidence contrary to your position is shrugged off as simply proof of the greater conspiracy.  Congratulations.

[Vashta Nerada]

That's whats the drunks were lookin for.....And got it.......

The Okmulgee County District Attorney's Office has cleared two Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers of criminal wrongdoing in the May 29 shooting death of a Tulsa man, officials confirmed Thursday.

OHP Capt. Paul Timmons said the office informed him that Troopers Mark Southall and Michael Taylor will not be charged in the death of Nehemiah Fischer, who troopers alleged was seen on dash-cam video attacking Southall in an altercation that stemmed from a stranded-motorist call south of Bixby around 9:25 p.m.

A news release on the case from Okmulgee County District Attorney O.R. Barris states that Taylor was the trooper who fired the fatal shots and that he was justified in doing so because he was protecting Southall from harm.

Fischer, 35, was an assistant pastor at Faith Bible Church in Tulsa.

The medical examiner's report on Fischer's death has not yet been completed.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/okmulgee-county-da-clears-ohp-troopers-in-fatal-shooting-of/article_97bf90d8-e789-5203-ba66-bb1d1d81f80b.html



Why we are not surprised


In Okmulgee County, where the district attorney has been assigned to investigate alleged wrongdoing by the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, records and interviews show a variety of connections between law enforcement and prosecutors over the years as well as potential conflicts.

An investigator for the Okmulgee County district attorney's office is being sued in a case alleging excessive force against a man who was Tased during a 2013 arrest. The same investigator, Gary McCollum, was involved in a botched arrest in 2005 in which Tulsa County Assessor and Reserve Deputy Ken Yazel shot an Okmulgee County man in the buttocks.
http://www.tulsafrontier.com/records-show-links-between-okmulgee-county-glanz/

[Vashta Nerada]

Wild partying that included extramarital sex and several nights of hard drinking at an Oklahoma law enforcement training program has led to the firing of one Highway Patrol trooper and the resignations of two others.

Three other troopers and a female game warden were suspended.  "It's a bad deal," said Oklahoma Highway Patrol Chief Rick Adams.

Some of the troopers were disciplined for excessive drinking while subject to being called out to work, although none were on duty, Adams said. Some were rebuked for sexual activities involving the married game warden, who was the only female student. She is the wife of a trooper who was not at the training session.

Adams likened what happened to an "frat party" or a  company social that got "carried away and went way too far."

"A bunch of young men made a really bad decision, bad choices and they wish they could take them back," he said. "But you can't take some things back."

No criminal charges were sought, The Oklahoman was told.

The inappropriate conduct occurred from May 5-15 at a narcotics assault training program at Camp Gruber put on by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, according to information pieced together by The Oklahoman through interviews and Open Records Act requests.

About 50 law enforcement officers from various agencies participated in the training program, including eight members of the highway patrol's elite tactical team. Six team members have either been disciplined or resigned following a four-month internal investigation. The other two were not involved, Adams said.

Trooper Ricky Ellis received the harshest punishment. Commissioner of Public Safety Michael Thompson sent the trooper his termination notice on Oct. 8, citing several instances of misconduct.

"According to your statements, on the first night, you drank to the point of intoxication, and you had sexual contact with the female student, upstairs in the female barracks, in the female student's bed," the termination notice says.

The trooper admitted he later briefly engaged in "sexual intercourse with the female student in the bathroom/shower area of the barracks," characterizing the encounter as an "accident," the termination notice states.

Trooper Ellis was married at the time and knew the woman was married to another trooper, the document says.

"You admitted that you consumed alcohol nearly every night during the training, and that you drank to the point of intoxication nearly every time you consumed alcohol," the termination notice states. "On at least one of your many intoxicated occasions, you drank alcohol to the point of memory loss resulting in you not being able to recall details of the event."

Ellis, who had been a trooper for three years, plans to appeal his termination, his attorney said.

Another trooper, Matthew Wilczek, was suspended for 13 days without pay for drinking to the point he could not operate a vehicle and recording a video of the same female student "lifting her shirt in front of other troopers" on the opening day of the training session. Wilczek, who has been a trooper for eight years, also was criticized for "sending copies of the video to some other troopers."

A third trooper, William Hayden, received a five-day suspension without pay after admitting he drank alcohol about six times while at the training school, including drinking "to the point of intoxication a couple of times."

"You also admitted that on at least one occasion ... you drank to the point you 'blacked out' and that you could not even remember going to bed," his disciplinary notice states.
Hayden has served three years as a trooper.

Receiving a less severe one-day suspension without pay was trooper Matthew Villines, who admitted that once during the training school he drank to the point that he would not have been able to perform his duties if his tactical team had been called out. Villines has been a trooper for seven years.

The female game warden involved in the scandal, Emily Long, was suspended 15 days without pay and placed on six months probation for "unprofessional conduct, negligence of duty, and conduct unbecoming a public employee," records show.

Long's Aug. 18 disciplinary letter provided no details concerning specific misbehavior that prompted her suspension and Richard Hatcher, director of the wildlife department, declined to elaborate.
"I think appropriate action was taken," Hatcher said.

Long, who has been an employee of the agency for five years, did not return multiple voice mail messages seeking comment.

Troopers Chris West Jr. and Jason Henson resigned Oct. 9 following internal investigations and were not the subject of disciplinary actions.

No public records were available detailing their actions.

West had been a trooper for six years and Henson had served eight years.

About a month after the Camp Gruber training session, Long and her husband became involved in a domestic confrontation at their Stillwater home, in part because of the sexual activity that had occurred at Camp Gruber, according to Trooper Ellis' termination notice. Long's husband called fellow troopers to his home to assist him.

The Oklahoman asked the Department of Public Safety for an incident report, but was told the agency "did not have documents responsive to this request."

Union Attorney Gary James, who represents the disciplined troopers, described them as "good guys" who got caught up in events.

James said the trooper plans to appeal his termination.

Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, said the agency has been conducting the narcotics assault training program annually since 1989.

The program is physically demanding and includes things like rappelling out of helicopters into remote marijuana fields, tracking criminals in the wilderness, treating injuries and identifying and disarming explosive devices around the perimeters of marijuana fields, he said.

"This is the first incident that we've been aware of that had to be investigated. I've been with the agency 20 years.... It's a very regimented school. These guys stay busy from basically the crack of dawn until sometimes late in the evening.

We do everything we can to make sure everybody follows the rules."

State drug agency officials didn't hear that there had been a problem at the event until several weeks after it was over, he said.

"We really didn't have any direct knowledge about what took place other than that there was an incident that the troopers were investigating," Woodward said.

Of the 50 available slots in the program, 40 to 45 are generally filled by Oklahoma state, local and federal law enforcement officials and five to 10 generally come from out of state, he said.

Woodward said this year's program was federally funded through a $150,000 DEA grant, which paid not only the training program, but also supported four, week-long marijuana eradication missions carried out in the state.   http://newsok.com/article/5455815

[heironymouspasparagus]

She is Payne County's first Game Warden.  That whole thing is a shame!

[patric]

She is Payne County's first Game Warden.  That whole thing is a shame!

Almost lost it when the governor said it was necessary because adultery isnt tolerated ...

http://www.fox23.com/videos/news/video-officials-respond-to-ohp-scandal/vDdJrh/

[Conan71]

Sounds like game warden Long might have taken one on the chin.

As far as Governor Mary is concerned, she's pretty predictable, isn't she?

[swake]

Sounds like game warden Long might have taken one on the chin.

man, you stole my joke!
+1

[Vashta Nerada]

MIAMI, Okla. — An Ottawa County man kicked in the head while being arrested during a police encounter in Miami, Oklahoma, that was captured on video has settled his civil rights lawsuit with state and city officials.

Attorneys for Jerry Dean Payne Jr. submitted a court filing Monday that indicated he had settled his portion of the federal lawsuit against the city of Miami and two of its former officers for an undisclosed amount of money.

Payne sued the city of Miami, Miami officers Jeremy Myers and Teresa Lashmet, the state Department of Public Safety and Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Kenny McKee following his arrest.

While the terms of a settlement were confidential, City Manager Dean Kruithof confirmed the city paid "in the neighborhood of $25,000" to an insurance company, an amount that represented the city's deductible for claims arising from legal settlements.
"Just like all cities in Oklahoma, that's why you buy insurance," Kruithof said.

Payne previously reached a $46,500 settlement with the state Department of Public Safety and McKee.

"We were pleased with the settlement and that we can avoid the costs of litigation and just kind of move down the road," attorney Bob Blakemore said.
Otherwise, he said, the plaintiff's side had looked forward to trying the case.

"There was some very serious misconduct on behalf of the officers and the city," Blakemore said. "It was clear that our client's rights had been violated."

The case had been scheduled for trial April 18 in Tulsa federal court.
Payne filed the lawsuit Jan. 28, 2014, following his arrest May 14, 2013, in a casino parking lot.

Prosecutors charged Payne with driving under the influence, obstructing an officer and driving under suspension, only to drop the case five months later, according to court records.

Records filed in connection with the lawsuit indicate that a prosecutor dropped the charge after becoming aware that a video of the arrest existed. The video, taken from a dash-mounted camera in the state trooper's vehicle, depicted Payne's traffic stop and subsequent arrest.

In a deposition she gave in the civil suit, Ottawa County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Ellis-McAffrey said she opted to drop the charges due to discrepancies between the video and the arrest report submitted by Miami police.

"When I reviewed the video, it was wholly and entirely different than any reports I had received about his arrest, about the allegations, about the conduct of Mr. Payne that led to his arrest," Ellis-McAffrey said.

In the dash-cam video, a female police officer approached Payne's truck with her handgun drawn. This was followed by a state trooper pulling Payne out of the truck and putting him on the ground, and a male Miami police officer can be seen running toward Payne and appearing to kick him in the face before falling onto him.

Payne's injuries included broken teeth, a bloody lip, and bumps, bruises and scrapes on his face.


In May 2014, Officer Lashmet was indicted by the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office on complaints of perjury and engaging in a pattern of criminal offenses in connection with Payne's arrest.

Lashmet was accused of making false statements in Payne's probable cause affidavit.

In June 2014, Miami officials confirmed they had fired four police officers associated with Payne's arrest.

City officials declined at the time to identify the officers. However, the lawsuit named Myers and Lashmet as two of the officers involved in the arrest.
In August 2014, Officer Lashmet pleaded no contest to two counts of outraging public decency and engaging in a pattern of criminal offenses. She received a three-year deferred sentence.

[Vashta Nerada]

Even if you dispute the reasoning behind the shooting, giving the troopers bravery medals is self-serving and crass.



OHP gives bravery award to troopers who killed Tulsa Pastor.

Dashcam video shows OHP Troopers Mark Southall's and Michael Taylor taunting brothers Nehemiah and Brandon Fischer before fatally shooting Nehemiah.

A frame grab from an Oklahoma Highway Patrol dash-cam video shows a state trooper pointing a gun in the direction of Nehemiah Fischer and another trooper just before Fischer was shot. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World file

[patric]

Even if you dispute the reasoning behind the shooting, giving the troopers bravery medals is self-serving and crass.


OHP gives bravery award to troopers who killed Tulsa Pastor.

Dashcam video shows OHP Troopers Mark Southall's and Michael Taylor taunting brothers Nehemiah and Brandon Fischer before fatally shooting Nehemiah.

What a classless way to end a tragedy.