It’s a sad state of affairs when a ninja can’t even successfully rob a dry cleaning store.

More sad photos of Detroit.

The story behind the fabulously precise hack of Time magazine’s “most influential people” poll.

This just seems like a really bad idea, doesn’t it?

Bulldog beauty pageant.

Two St. Louis cops accused of lying on multiple search warrant affidavits.

The video above shows Erie, Pennsylvania police officer James Cousins II mocking a homicide victim and the reaction of the victim’s mother upon her arrival at the crime scene. Cousins was off-duty and drinking at a bar when the video was taken. The video was later posted to YouTube.

It’s pretty tasteless. But to be honest, I’m not sure it’s really much to get upset about. Cops do have stressful jobs, and I’m not about to begrudge them the right to blow off steam around friends when they’re off-duty, though Cousins’ boasting about punching and Tasering a suspect in another case, also depicted in the video, is more problematic.

That said, it was pretty dumb of him to go as he did on while he was being recorded. And like anyone else who gets caught saying something stupid on camera, he should have to pay the personal and professional consequences for what he said.

But Cousins is a police officer, and he and his colleagues have the power to intimidate people who expose their mistakes. The real outrage in this story is what happened next.

Once the video was posted to YouTube, internal affairs investigator Jim DeDionisio went to confront the man who posted the video, and brought Cousins with him. Thinking they had found the man, they confronted him at his job on a construction site (it turns out that the guy’s brother actually posted the video). The man says DeDionisio then threatened to prosecute him for violating federal wiretapping laws. If true, that’s a preposterous attempt at intimidation. Erie police officials then apparently tried to get the local district attorney to order YouTube to remove the video. To the prosecutor’s credit, he refused.

So you have a police officer making inappropriate, insensitive comments about a murder victim and his mother in a video that eventually gets posted to YouTube. The immediate reaction from the Erie Police Department is to launch an investigation, but not into the officer’s conduct, but to find the identity of the person who posted the video. Their next step is to bring the officer depicted in the video to intimidate the man they believe posted it. And they top it off with a bogus threat and failed effort to have the video removed from the Internet.

Pretty deplorable behavior all around.

Here’s a passage from a recent article in the L.A. Times, which is supposedly about a growing problem with alcohol-related offenses by L.A. county sheriff’s deputies. (Actually, what’s growing is the number of police reports of offenses by deputies, not necessarily the number of offenses actually committed. It used to be that L.A. cops would hardly ever report it when they encountered one of their gang brothers drunk and doing something dangerous. Professional courtesy and all that. What’s changed is that the department got some bad P.R. a few years back when a drunken cop started waving his gun around and got his cousin shot. So now they are actually starting to put these things on the books.)

Michael Gennaco, the head of the [County of Los Angeles Office of Independent Review], said alcohol-related arrests have nearly tripled since 2004. Alcohol-related incidents in 2009 are at the same pace as last year, he said.

[…] Gennaco’s report also cited two cases in which deputies drew their guns after coming out of bars. In one case, a deputy followed a bar hostess to her car, flashed his badge, told her he’d like to molest her and kissed her on the neck. He displayed his handgun before kissing her again, according to the report. The deputy pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace and was suspended for 15 days, the report said.

—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times (2009-04-16): Alcohol a growing problem in the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, report says

Actually, the newspaper’s summary is kinder to the cop than he deserves. Here’s the full account from the OIR’s full report:

A deputy met a few friends at a bar and struck up a conversation with the bar’s hostess. At approximately 1:30 a.m., the hostess left work. The deputy saw the hostess crossing the street toward a parking garage and offered to walk her to her car.

The hostess declined the offer and encouraged the deputy to rejoin his friends. He then told the hostess that he was a cop. As the hostess continued to walk away from the deputy, he showed her his Department identification card. As the deputy continued to follow her to the dark secluded parking garage, she became increasingly nervous and scared.

As they entered the parking garage, the deputy turned to the hostess and said, You’re young and beautiful, and you probably get this all the time, but I’d really like to molest you. But I’m too nice. The hostess became even more fearful. The deputy then requested a kiss from the hostess, which she declined. The deputy then placed his right hand at the center of the hostess’ back, leaned over and kissed her neck. She moved her head away and told the deputy a second time that he did not have to walk her to her car. He responded that it was okay.

Inside the parking garage, the deputy stated again, Yeah, I’d really like to molest you, but I’m too nice. Then, the deputy asked her whether it looked like he had a gun on him. The hostess replied, That’s creepy. The deputy then asked the hostess whether she wanted to see it—and even though the hostess told him no—the deputy reached into his pant pocket, removed a black semi-automatic handgun and showed it to her. As she neared her car, the hostess thanked the deputy for walking with her and said goodbye. The deputy then moved closer to her and while still holding the handgun in his right hand, kissed her again on the neck. The hostess quickly got into her car and drove out of the parking garage. While she drove off, the hostess saw the deputy standing in the same spot, holding the gun and looking around.

The hostess reported the incident to a local police agency. The case was investigated and presented to a City Attorney’s office. The deputy was ultimately charged with one count of battery. Rather than proceed to trial, the deputy pled nolo contendere to an amended charge of disturbing the peace/causing loud noise. After the criminal conviction, the Department administratively investigated the incident and found that the deputy had violated Department policies. The Department suspended the deputy without pay for 15 days.

—County of Los Angeles Office of Independent Review (April 2009): Seventh Annual Report

Of course, the real problem here has more or less nothing to do with alcohol. The problem has to do with a set of legal privileges, a police culture, and an institutional environment where this male deputy could realistically expect that even if he chased a woman trying to get away from him, told her that he’d like to molest her, intimidated her by brandishing his physical advantages and his legal authority, and then forced unwanted sexual contact on her, while she repeatedly said No — and even if he then brandished his gun and forced unwanted sexual contact on her again, even as she continued to say No and tried to get away from the predatory creep — that, after all this had come to light, he’d have no problem staying on at his job, or continuing to carry the badge and the gun that he so eagerly showed off as tools of sexual coercion, and that he would in fact face no personal consequences at all for terrorizing and sexually assaulting a woman, above and beyond pleading out on a misdemeanor nuisance charge, and being given a two week vacation from his job.

The L.A. county sheriff’s office doesn’t have a drinking problem. It has a power problem, and the reason for the problem has a lot to do with the fact that if a deputy turns out to be a creep who abuses his position of power — including male deputies who turn out to get off on using their weapons and their position of power to harass, intimidate, and sexually assault women — there will be no serious attempt to hold them accountable for anything that they may do.

See also:

• GT 2007-12-02: Men in Uniform
• GT 2008-02-26: Cops are here to protect you. (#2)
• GT 2008-03-10: Rapists on patrol (#2)
• GT 2007-12-21: Rapists on patrol

The color-aroused electrocution of Black Americans not charged with any crime continues, as a 24 year-old mentally retarded Forth Worth man is shocked to death by police at his home. The AfroSpear's Rev. Kyev Tatum calls it a wrongful death. The Fort Worth Start Telegram reports:

According to police reports, on March 11 Grand Valley State University sophomore Derek Kopp sold an undercover police officer 3.3 grams of marijuana for $60. The police then raided Kopp’s apartment, at which point Deputy Ryan Huizenga mistook Kopp shielding his eyes from a police flashlight for brandishing a weapon, and shot the unarmed Kopp in the chest. The bullet pierced Kopp’s liver, broke a rib, and punctured one of Kopp’s lungs.

Apparently, a bullet in the chest and time in the intensive care unit wasn’t punishment enough for selling three grams of pot. This week, a Michigan judge issued an arrest warrant for Kopp on the charge of delivery of marijuana. He’ll be arraigned on Monday.

The U.S. police's electrocution spree continues unabated, with a child shocked to death after driving with expired license plates, says the Washington Post.

The Associated Press
Friday, April 10, 2009; 6:06 PM

DETROIT -- A 15-year-old has died after he was Tasered by police following a traffic stop and short foot chase that began just north of Detroit.

Warren Deputy Police Commissioner Jere Green says the teen was Tasered Friday while struggling with officers inside an abandoned Detroit house. He later was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The house was about a half-mile from where Warren police stopped a vehicle for having an expired license plate. The teen was one of three people in the vehicle. The other two were taken into custody.

The death is under investigation. An autopsy is scheduled Saturday.

(Via a private correspondent.)

A couple weeks ago, a government gang in Youngstown, Ohio were chasing some freelance competitors. The suspect young men got out of their car and ran away on foot. One of them ran into Moses and Darcel Gilmore’s house (not, actually, his house, or his family’s; just a nearby house he could get into) and then he ran down into the basement. Three cops charged into the house after him without knocking and without a warrant. When they tried to charge down into basement after him, a 42 pound Akita puppy named Diva, who belonged to the owners of the house, came on up the stairs. (It was trained to expect to be let outside when the basement door opened.) Officer Ryan Laatsch decided to take this as being approached … in an aggressive manner. You might think, especially given that the teenager they were chasing was trapped in a basement and not going anywhere, that three heavily armed, professionally-trained grown-ass men might figure out a way to get around or to calm or to restrain or just to back away from a 42 pound 7 month old puppy so that nobody gets hurt. But, well, Officer Ryan Laatsch was already waving his gun around at the time, so instead he fired off 12 shots into the dog’s body. Then, apparently, he got up close and fired a 13^th shot into the dog’s head at point blank range, in order to confirm the kill.

The teenager ran down the basement stairs to hide. When officers opened the basement door from the kitchen, the dog approached Officer [Ryan] Laatsch in an aggressive manner, the police report states.

There were three officers in the house.

Officer Laatsch, who already had service weapon drawn due to the circumstances of the situation, shot approximately five to six times striking the dog … then shot the dog approximately five to six more times …then shot the dog one more time directly in the top of his head from only a few inches away, the report stated.

—Katie Seminara, The Vindicator (2009-04-14): Youngstown police shoot aggressive dog 13 times

Police Chief Jimmy Hughes has defended this on the grounds that Officer Ryan Laatsch fired until the dog ceased to attack (it never started) and in fear for his life and the lives of the other officers (apparently not so afraid that it kept him from getting up close enough to shoot the puppy in the head at point-blank range after he’d already emptied 12 rounds into her body). Police Chief Jimmy Hughes also [doesn’t] know if restitution is in order at this time, because, after all, if the Servants and Protectors were busy saving their own skins from a 7 month old puppy, expecting even an Oops, our bad would really be a bit much.

See also:

• GT 2007-11-30: Oops. Our bad.
• GT 2009-02-23: The Metro Police Beat

Without having personally reviewed the facts in the case below, it does seem to me appropriate that US Congressional Staff use their good offices to investigate. Members of the public and news media can call the telephone number listed below for additional documents and the press packet:


Dr. E. Faye Williams is asking BWFO4Change to call Senator Harry Reid's office in Nevada, at 702/388-5020, to ask him to help liberate Nevada resident and entertainer Trina Johnson, who is imprisoned in Suriname, South America.

Trina is wrongly imprisoned for something her promoter did. She's a professional impersonator and her contract explains that she was an impersonator. Yet, the promoter sold her as the real "Toni Braxton" and later skipped out with the money from the sale of show tickets, and left her in the country. Trina was arrested and has been in jail for 2 months. And, we have learned a South American prison is a cold, lonely and awful place!

Trina is a resident of Nevada--entertainment capital of the world and that's why Senator Reid should lead the effort to get her--a U.S. Citizen out!.

Please send this to the media. Ask them to talk about the case and raise questions about what the U.S. is doing to help bring Trina home. See attached info. Her contract clearly says she is an "Impersonator"--not Toni Braxton herself.

Whenever anything happens with White girls or women, it's all over the media, as it should be, and the country's resources are delivered to do everything possible to resolve the matter. Let's make it happen for our little sister. Dr. E. Faye Williams has read all of the documents and determined that Trina is not the crook--it's the person who set her up and skipped out on her. Please make the call. Remember, it's West Coast time (3 hours different from ET.)

Share this with friends and ask them to help in any way they can. If you personally know a Congressional Black Caucus Member or staffer, call them, too. If you have ideas on what we can do, share with Dr. Williams--contact information below.

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
National Chair
National Congress of Black Women, Inc.
1251 4th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024
202/678-6788
Web: Info@nationalcongressbw.org

Courtesy of the Pentagon’s surplus program.

And frankly, it looks like that’s the last thing they need.

Hey, Dems. Here’s a policy proposal for you: How about ending these Pentagon giveaways to local police departments? This stuff was designed for the battlefield. It has no place on America’s streets, being used against American citizens.

Oops.

James and Sheila Slaughter said that when they answered the door of their home in San Luis, Ariz., on a July afternoon last year, they were surprised to find five armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers strapped into bulky bulletproof vests accusing them of harboring an illegal immigrant.

“Is this ‘Candid Camera’?” Mrs. Slaughter recalled asking.

That irritated the lead officer, her husband said Tuesday. “He said: ‘No, it isn’t “Candid Camera.” You need to step back into the middle of the room.’ ”

The couple said they complied, and the officers prepared to search their home. Mr. Slaughter, a six-foot, 285-pound former Marine, said he then told them, “Look fellas, do you guys realize that I’m a U.S. Customs K-9 officer at the San Luis land port?”

“The lead officer’s eyes got about as big and round as silver dollars, and the three guys who were standing just inside the door went straight outside,” said Mr. Slaughter, 51, who with a Labrador retriever, Whitey, searches cars at the Mexican border for narcotics. “They left without saying a word. They knew they messed up.”…

Mr. Slaughter, whose family lives on East 26th Street, said he learned later that the illegal immigrant sought by the officers lived on East 26th Place. He recognized the immigrant’s name from junk mail that accidentally came to the Slaughter home.

The officers, Mr. Slaughter said, should have checked the name on property records, “or they could have watched me walk out of my house every day wearing my uniform.”

“They bullied their way into my house — the same organization that I work for, doing 16-hour shifts,” Mr. Slaughter said. “I bleed red, white and blue. I serve my country, and then they do this to me?”

The Slaughters are suing each of the five officers for $500,000.