Police misconduct 2

[heironymouspasparagus]

Arizona state law, discharge of a weapon into the air is a class six felony, regardless of intent. also known as Shannon's Law

http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/13/03107.htm

Also known as Shannon's Law:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2015/01/30/tragedy-father-led-crusade-shannons-law/22570107/

This was on top of the four or five felonies he had already committed that day.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/creative-or-excessive-cops-ramming-gunman-sparks-debate-n342281

As weird as Arizona is at times, they sure do take that seriously.

[cannon_fodder]

I love victim blaming by police. Hey look, we HAD to run this guy over because he broke into a car earlier? We had to shoot Eric Harris because he sold a gun illegally. We had to kill Michael Brown because he stole a cigar from a gas station. We had to suffocate the guy in NY because he sold loose cigarettes before.

The fact is, none of that has anything to do with the subsequent actions of police. The previous behavior certainly caused the police to engage the suspect, but it did not escalate the confrontation to violence (to be fair, in the Brown incident, the investigation suggested Brown escalated it and suffered the consequences - a fact that was not known when they released the video of his prior wrong doing. Just as the TCSO did yesterday).

The guy that was run down appears to either be a pure lowlife, on drugs, in a mental health episode, or a combination thereof. In all honesty, society would probably be better off if we just purged him and those like him. But that is NOT the job of the police.

A class 6 felony in Arizona is a misdemeanor in Oklahoma. It is 6 months to one year in jail. It can be heightened or reduced based on facts and or repeat nature - reduced to misdemeanor, or 3 months to 5.75 years (third aggregated offense).

Nothing indicated in his crime spree shows a need to run the man down in the street. It is simply intended to convince the public that he has no value and thus no rights. That is incorrect.

(PS. Thank you for the info on Arizona law and the details)

[Ed W]

It plays well in the movies when police play judge, jury, and executioner, but in real life not so much. We have many who believe the courts are too lenient on criminals, however, and they seem to desire that "take no prisoners" approach to law enforcement.

[DolfanBob]

These power crazy idiots will never learn.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3052640/The-moment-male-cop-knocked-DWI-suspect-unconscious-slams-ground-move.html

[Jammie]

The mystery in Baltimore is just appalling and it's just odd that no security cameras seemed to pick anything up since they'd been working recently. Bet they'd have worked if a crime would've been committed by a civilian. Any ideas what happened in that van? Was the driver the same one who'd been involved in the previous incident where a man ended up dying two days after taking a ride with her?

Did anyone see the CNN interview with the spokesman? I couldn't tell if he was running for office and trying to sell how compassionate he is or if he was giving a press conference concerning a murder.

Just browsing through newspapers this morning and watched a horrible short video that was in the Tampa Bay Times. I found the same one on You tube, but more in depth and am just trying to work up the courage to watch it. I USED to respect law enforcement, but that's changing fast.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+pasco+cop+shoots+dog&FORM=VIRE8#view=detail&mid=8FF4FE887FA22CC606918FF4FE887FA22CC60691

For me, this ranks right up there with a recent story I'd read in that same area. It was about young people who'd been in a sort of reformed school and many went missing, never to be found. The truth is now coming out that they'd been fed to the pigs. If anyone wants the link, I can try to find it.

[Jammie]

It plays well in the movies when police play judge, jury, and executioner, but in real life not so much. We have many who believe the courts are too lenient on criminals, however, and they seem to desire that "take no prisoners" approach to law enforcement.

Well said! We had a discussion about that recently and were confused by all of the recent shootings since crime stats are actually dropping. There was a recent interview where someone who'd been victimized in the past (a black man from Baltimore) said that things are better then they were in the 1970s, but we still have a long way to go. I can't imagine what all kind of horrors were done before video cameras, cell phones, 24 hr. news channels, etc. Maybe ignorance was bliss, but things would never change if people aren't aware of all of these awful incidents.

[patric]

The mystery in Baltimore is just appalling and it's just odd that no security cameras seemed to pick anything up since they'd been working recently. Bet they'd have worked if a crime would've been committed by a civilian. Any ideas what happened in that van? Was the driver the same one who'd been involved in the previous incident where a man ended up dying two days after taking a ride with her?

Moore and several residents living near the scene of Gray's arrest were highly skeptical that none of the eight cameras along the streets where Gray was apprehended and re-restrained had footage of the arrest.
They had him folded up like he was a crab or a piece of origami. He was all bent up. - Kevin Moore, a witness to Freddie Gray's arrest

"If I were to commit a crime they would have every angle," he said. "It doesn't make any sense that these cameras work, but when the police do something, they don't."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-gray-video-moore-20150423-story.html


Dashcams and body cams seem to loose their objective value after they have been at the lab for a week or two being enhanced.

[Jammie]

Moore and several residents living near the scene of Gray's arrest were highly skeptical that none of the eight cameras along the streets where Gray was apprehended and re-restrained had footage of the arrest.
They had him folded up like he was a crab or a piece of origami. He was all bent up. - Kevin Moore, a witness to Freddie Gray's arrest

"If I were to commit a crime they would have every angle," he said. "It doesn't make any sense that these cameras work, but when the police do something, they don't."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-gray-video-moore-20150423-story.html


Dashcams and body cams seem to loose their objective value after they have been at the lab for a week or two being enhanced.

That's it! That's the exact interview that I was referring to. Still amazing and sad to realize that the good guys are often the bad guys.

[Vashta Nerada]

Two more:

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A prosecutor said Friday that he intends to make public a video of a police officer fatally shooting an unarmed man in the back as he lay face down.
Police say the video from the stun gun of Hummelstown police Officer Lisa Mearkle shows her shooting 59-year-old David Kassick twice after a Feb. 2 arrest for expired inspection and emissions stickers.
Mearkle's lawyers have said she acted in self-defense and was concerned that Kassick may have been reaching for a weapon. She is suspended without pay from the police force.
Authorities say Mearkle shocked Kassick four times with a stun gun, equipped with a video camera, before shooting him twice, four seconds apart, as he lay face down.



WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida deputy's shooting of an unarmed man is under renewed scrutiny after the emergence of video.
Palm Beach County Deputy Adams Lin was cleared of any wrongdoing in the 2013 shooting of 22-year-old Dontrell Stephens. He said he believed Stephens was reaching for a gun and only fired shots after the man failed to comply with commands to raise his hands. But new video shows the only object in Stephens' hand was a cellphone and no commands are heard from Lin.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/new-video-raises-questions-in-2013-florida-police-shooting/2015/04/24/bb992ce0-eae5-11e4-8581-633c536add4b_story.html

[patric]

OHP investigates itself for last nights shooting.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol say the suspect didn't feel like stopping at the check point.  So, a short chase ensued.
The driver ended up pulling over, but he wasn't done.
OHP say the suspect got out of his vehicle and brandished a firearm.
"The trooper felt like his life was in danger and basically shot the suspect," OHP said.
http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/suspect-gets-fatally-shot-trooper/nk3dc/

Sounds very casual, but the clock is ticking on the dashcam.

[Jammie]

Just awful things being done by law enforcement. At least things are finally coming to light.

I have no new story, but heard something confusing today while listening to a follow up on the story in Baltimore. Evidently law enforcement killing a civilian is now phrased as, "Making a mistake." Isn't that just as low as when a politicians lies and say, "I misspoke"?

I guess they "Misspoke" in Baltimore when they said none of the cameras in the area were working because today they're showing pics from them.

[Vashta Nerada]

Just awful things being done by law enforcement. At least things are finally coming to light.

I have no new story, but heard something confusing today while listening to a follow up on the story in Baltimore. Evidently law enforcement killing a civilian is now phrased as, "Making a mistake." Isn't that just as low as when a politicians lies and say, "I misspoke"?

I guess they "Misspoke" in Baltimore when they said none of the cameras in the area were working because today they're showing pics from them.

Its hard to imagine the inhumanity and pure evil that some just call "policing."

Moore said he found his friend handcuffed, "screaming for his life," and planted face down on the ground with one Baltimore bicycle police officer's knee on his neck and the other bicycle officer bending his legs backward so that Gray's heels were in his back .
"They had him folded up like he was a crab or a piece of origami. He was all bent up," Moore said.
"He said 'I can't breathe. I need a pump,' and they ignored him," Moore said. Gray had asthma and Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez confirmed at a press conference on Monday that Gray asked for his inhaler.
Moore said, "The police yelled 'stop resisting,' but there was no resistance. He couldn't move."

Remember the police unions whipping up hysteria after two NYPD were shot?  How many lives have been traded for that so far?

[Vashta Nerada]

Oklahoma Highway Patrol say the suspect didn't feel like stopping at the check point.  So, a short chase ensued.
The driver ended up pulling over, but he wasn't done.
OHP say the suspect got out of his vehicle and brandished a firearm.
"The trooper felt like his life was in danger and basically shot the suspect," OHP said.
http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/suspect-gets-fatally-shot-trooper/nk3dc/

As passé as the OHPs attitude towards a "routine" shooting is the KRMG reporters flippant attitude towards the taking of a life.

[heironymouspasparagus]

As passé as the OHPs attitude towards a "routine" shooting is the KRMG reporters flippant attitude towards the taking of a life.

You are kidding, right??  It's KRMG...(Faux News).  You know what it is.  Would never expect anything different.


They do very good weather coverage...

[Vashta Nerada]

That's it! That's the exact interview that I was referring to. Still amazing and sad to realize that the good guys are often the bad guys.

BALTIMORE (AP) — A photo editor for a Baltimore newspaper says he was beaten by police at a protest over the death of Freddie Gray.
J.M. Giordano, who works at the City Paper, says Baltimore police "swarmed over" him and hit him repeatedly. A video posted to the newspaper's website Sunday shows at least two police officers in riot gear hitting and kicking Giordano as the person filming screams, "He's a photographer! He's press!"

The 41-year-old Giordano says his head hit the ground during the beating, which he says only stopped when someone pulled him out of the fray.
Sait Serkan Gurbuz, a photographer with Reuters, says police detained him as he shot pictures of the scuffle. Reuters says Gurbuz was cited with failure to obey orders.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/26/baltimore-journalist-beaten-protest_n_7148030.html



"(Gurbuz) was wearing his press credentials, was on a public sidewalk, and the events were happening in plain view," Reuters said.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/state-and-regional/the-latest-photographer-says-police-beat-him-during-protest/article_c6bb62fe-b959-5153-98df-4c9fecb1b722.html


Mr. Gray was arrested on April 12 after making eye contact with a police lieutenant and then fleeing, according to the police account. He was tackled by police officers, who held him down and handcuffed him before dragging him to a police van. A bystander recorded the arrest on video using his cellphone. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/us/baltimore-crowd-swells-in-protest-of-freddie-grays-death.html?_r=0