Gangsters in Blue

Reader Steven Haver points to two stories from yesterday’s Reading Eagle that apparently ran on opposing pages:

The first story is about Jeffrey Madeira, who was convicted and served time for taking explicit photos of a then-17-year-old woman. The woman is now his wife. Madeira failed to notify local authorities when he moved, as he’s required to do as a registrant on Pennsylvania’s sex offender list. After he was convicted of the failure to notify, a judge went “easy” on Madeira, sentencing him to one to three years in prison. An appeals court overruled, and said the judge was mandated by law to sentence Madeira to a minimum of three additional years in prison.

The other story is about Jason Wink, a police officer who was fired after wagging his penis at a superior and in front of another officer. I’m not familiar with Pennsylvania law, but I would think that exposing yourself to co-workers in an office environment would qualify as some sort of crime, likely a sex offense. But Wink was never charged, only fired. This week, an arbitrator ruled Wink must be reinstated with full back pay and seniority. Despite the fact that Wink had prior disciplinary problems, the arbitrator found that “officials did not meet the progressive disciplinary guidelines, which involve a series of verbal and written warnings.” Apparently, the first and possibly second penis-waggings are free.

I’ll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions about what these two cases say about proportionality, justice, and equal administration of the law.

Santa Monica city council looks to ban exercise in city parks.

Baltimore man slays burglar with Samurai sword. But can he slice bread with it?

Manhattan has a new district attorney for the first time in a generation. Scott Greenfield likes him. That’s a pretty good sign.

Cretinous Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) trying to bring back law denying all federal higher ed aid to anyone convicted of a drug crime, including possession. Congress votes on the measure today.

Some states changing witness ID procedures after spate of wrongful convictions. More need to.

Louisiana appellate court says cop caught on tape beating man after Hurricane Katrina can return to the force.

Reprinted Verbatim from
Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages

Independent criticism of MPD kept silent, unless MPD agrees

​
An opinion by an Assistant City Attorney two years ago made it illegal to tell the public when an information independent review board found MPD officers had engaged in misconduct, according to a story in the University of Minnesota's student newspaper.

The information can only be released if an officer is disciplined by the department, explained Lee Reid, manager of the Minneapolis Civilian Police Review Authority board. That does not often happen, according to the story. Police have alleged in the past that this is because the independent board's decisions are often not well-founded.

Two years ago, the Minneapolis Civilian Police Review Authority, an independent body charged with investigating citizen complaints of police misconduct, held a meeting. Here's what happened, according to Andrew Mannix of MN Daily:

About halfway through, then-Assistant City Attorney Lisa Needham explained the contents of an inter-office memo she sent out earlier that day: Her office had reinterpreted state data laws. As of that day the Authority could no longer release to the public that they sustained a complaint, meaning they sent it off to the police chief with a recommendation for discipline.

Some Authority members protested the ruling, alleging that it was made under pressure from the Minneapolis Police Federation.

Current and former members say the inability to release this information to the public severely cripples the Authority's ability to perform effective civilian oversight of Minneapolis police.

Twenty-one months after the meeting , a community watchdog group led by a University of Minnesota employee sued the city for violating state data laws . A Hennepin County judge ruled on the case earlier this month, siding mostly with the city, and an appeal is in the works.

Last year, a citizen group filed a lawsuit over the ruling, but the judge agreed with the city attorney. The case has been appealed.

Detective Jeremy Hendricks. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Las Vegas, Nevada. Here in Vegas, Jeremy Hendricks, a cop working for the Las Vegas city government’s police force, shot John Paul Hambleton in the back while Hambleton was running away. Hendricks was questioning Hambleton (who was 32) about an alleged sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl; Hambleton decided to leave. Hambleton was not under arrest; he was not accused of a violent crime; he also was completely unarmed. But Detective Jeremy Hendricks wasn’t done with him, and, seeing how running away from a cop is apparently treated as a capital offense in this country, Hendricks started out by tasering Hambleton twice. Then he tried to force Hambleton down on the ground. Hambleton managed to get away Hendricks’ taser, and then started to run away again, so Detective Jeremy Hendricks shot him in the back. Hendricks claimed in court that Hambleton turned around and pointed the taser at him. If so, nobody else who saw what happened — not Hendricks’s own partner, not four non-cop witnesses who watched what was happening — ever saw Hambleton turn around or point the taser at Detective Jeremy Hendricks. But thanks to the magic split second, which absolves all sins and justifies all cop shootings in the eyes of the Law, somehow, this supposedly belligerent Suspect Individual who supposedly was threatening Detective Jeremy Hendricks’ sacred hide with a taser shock, ended up getting shot in the back anyway. Oops.

If you tore off chasing after someone, and then shot him in the back and killed him, allegedly in order to avoid the alleged threat of a less lethal taser shock, which threat, if it even existed, was solely the product of a confrontation that you yourself had created and escalated, then you would probably be in jail for years. Of course, Detective Jeremy Hendricks is a cop, working for the local government’s police force, so the local government’s coroner’s inquest ruled last month that he was justified in shooting a fleeing suspect in the back.

This is pretty incredible.

Head of the WWE resigns to pursue the one profession more theatrical, fake, and absurd than professional wrestling.

Cadre of realist foreign policy experts urge Obama to reconsider war in Afghanistan.

Richard Epstein offers well-argued, sensible reasons to oppose Cass Sunstein. Most of those opposing him to this point have offered neither.

Two Georgia cops arrested for filing false police report, sentenced to jail time on weekends, allowed to continue working as cops during the week.

Supreme Court may hear challenge to state laws banning sex toys. UCLA law prof and blogosphere legal guru Eugene Volokh believes the laws will likely be upheld.

Dan and Jennie read Atlas Shrugged.

By Eddie G.Griffin, BASG

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

On May 4, 2009, the Fort Worth chapters of the Southern Leadership Conference (SCLC), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and the community-based Carver Heights East Association, convened a joint press conference and prayer vigil outside City Hall for the families of Michael Jacobs, Jr., Noah Lopez, and Carolyn Daniels.

These families were interviewed by WFAA New 8 TV. (See Prayers for end to Taser use by police, reference http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=358374&shu=1)

Friday, August 28, 2009

World Renowned Medical Examiner Ruled Taser Death: Homicide

UPDATE: The Michael Jacobs Case

Friday, August 28, 2009

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports reads: “Fort Worth Taser Death Ruled Homicide”.

FORT WORTH — The Tarrant County medical examiner ruled Thursday that the death of a mentally ill man in April who was shocked twice by a Taser stun gun wielded by a Fort Worth police officer was a homicide.

It was the fourth time that a person shocked by a Taser has died in Fort Worth police custody since the department started using the devices in 2001, according to the Police Department.

But the death of Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, is the first that Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani has ruled to be a homicide.

Read more of this article by Eddie Griffin (BASG) at
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/2009/05/taser-fight-in-fort-worth.html

By Eddie G.Griffin, BASG

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

On May 4, 2009, the Fort Worth chapters of the Southern Leadership Conference (SCLC), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and the community-based Carver Heights East Association, convened a joint press conference and prayer vigil outside City Hall for the families of Michael Jacobs, Jr., Noah Lopez, and Carolyn Daniels.

These families were interviewed by WFAA New 8 TV. (See Prayers for end to Taser use by police, reference http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=358374&shu=1)

Friday, August 28, 2009

World Renowned Medical Examiner Ruled Taser Death: Homicide

UPDATE: The Michael Jacobs Case

Friday, August 28, 2009

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports reads: “Fort Worth Taser Death Ruled Homicide”.

FORT WORTH — The Tarrant County medical examiner ruled Thursday that the death of a mentally ill man in April who was shocked twice by a Taser stun gun wielded by a Fort Worth police officer was a homicide.

It was the fourth time that a person shocked by a Taser has died in Fort Worth police custody since the department started using the devices in 2001, according to the Police Department.

But the death of Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, is the first that Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani has ruled to be a homicide.

Read more of this article by Eddie Griffin (BASG) at
http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/2009/05/taser-fight-in-fort-worth.html

Earlier today, I posted about Josh Wexler, the New Orleans pianist and Agitator reader who stood up to a bullying cop last January. Wexler posted an updated in the comments section that’s worth its own post:

After the incident, my attorney and I wrote a letter to the DA, Leon Cannizaro, asking him to investigate the matter. His office wrote back declining to investigate, saying the matter would more appropriately be handled by the Public Integrity Bureau (which investigates police misconduct, but is run by the NOPD, not an independent commission).

I was strongly dissuaded from filing a complaint with the PIB by my attorney, Sam Dalton. Sam, who is the most experienced civil rights lawyer in Louisiana, told me that there was no way the PIB would discipline the officer and that they often treated complainants very shabbily.

However, Rich Webster of City Business Journal wrote the above article which led to the PIB very politely taking my complaint. I was told that the investigation would take up to a month to complete. In the intervening time, my seat belt ticket was thrown out before trial (the ADA issued a “nole prosequi”). But, after a month I did not receive the promised report on the outcome of the investigation.

I spent several days on the phone, getting the run around from various PIB and NOPD members. However, at one point I got to speak with the officer who actually performed the investigation. He told me that the cop (Torres) told a different story than mine and that his recommendation was to find the complaint “false” (or some thing equivalent to “false”- he could have recommended a finding of “unsupported” which would have meant there just wasn’t enough evidence to find the claim “supported). The investigator also told me that if he were the officer in question, he might well have arrested me for interfering with investigation/arrest of the pedestrian (I want to say here that I never got closer than 7 or 8 ft from the officer when he was holding the pedestrian).

I still haven’t received a report on the final PIB police findings, so I don’t know what the final outcome was. I think it’s safe to assume that—if they bothered to finish processing it at all—they dismissed the complaint.

Thanks to Mr. Balko for the thoughtful post and to the commentators for the overwhelming support here. And, thanks for the many nice comments about my testicles. However, it really wasn’t as “ballsy” as you might think. It happened in broad daylight with plenty of potential witnesses around. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have gotten out of my car. And when the cop started threatening me, I shut up and handed over my license and registration instead of risking going to jail (and worse) with any further provocation.

I have added the Qik application to my phone, after Balko alluded to it in a recent post. I wish I had it that day to make a record of the officer’s misconduct. Hopefully, apps like Qik will allow folks to better protect themselves and others from police abuse in the future.

If your cell phone takes video, Qik is a great ap to have handy.

Even without having looked at them, I suspect 2008 crime statistics will show an increase in "hate" (envy, low self-esteem, jealousy, fear, auto-homophobia, self-loathing and self-hate) crimes.

By Packratt, Injustice Everywhere blog, on September 15th, 2009

The US DOJ and FBI released their Unified Crime Reporting “Crime in the United States” 2008 statistics on Monday so it seems like I have to update the comparison data I use to determine how US general population crime rates stack up against law enforcement crime rates as determined by our NPMSRP.

Look here at the FBI Hate Crime Statistics. Take a look at the "hate" (envy, low self-esteem, jealousy, fear, auto-homophobia, self-loathing and self-hate, color , gender, religion and sexual orientation-aroused) crime statistics and tell me if my hunch is correct.

Agitator reader Josh Wexler sends along this story about, well, Josh Wexler.

Josh Wexler, a 30-year-old piano player, said he saw a New Orleans police officer run a stop sign and strike a pedestrian with his car in the French Quarter at 12:45 p.m. Jan. 29.

When the pedestrian raised his hands as if to say, “What are you doing?” the officer rushed out of his vehicle and “angrily” grabbed the startled man, Wexler said.

The officer in question, William Torres, reportedly forced the pedestrian to place his hands on the hood of his squad car and reached for his handcuffs as if to arrest him.

Wexler, who was driving behind the police officer, decided to intervene.

He got out of his vehicle and told the officer he saw him run the stop sign and hit the pedestrian. Wexler told Torres he had no right to arrest the man.

At this point, Torres reportedly allowed the pedestrian to go free, directed his attention to Wexler and asked, “Do you want a ticket?”

“A ticket for what?” Wexler said. “I didn’t do anything.”

“It’s a simple question. Yes or no. Do you want a ticket?” Torres reportedly responded.

Wexler said he told the officer he had nothing more to say and walked back to his car where he wrote down Torres’ name and badge number.

Torres followed him.

“You want to write down my name? I’ll show you I can write too. Give me your license, insurance, and registration. I know who to harass,” Torres reportedly said.

Wexler provided Torres with the information but refused to answer further questions.

“If you don’t answer my questions, you are going to jail,” Torres reportedly threatened.

Eventually, Torres wrote Wexler a ticket for failure to wear a seat belt and left the scene.

A woman who works in the area at the time of the incident verified Wexler’s account to CityBusiness but refused to provide her name for fear of police retaliation.

Wexler has since filed a complaint and sent an accompanying letter to the DA’s office.

Good on him. Took some guts.