Gangsters in Blue

“OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: THIS PROPOSAL IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM DENIGRATES OFFICERS OF OTHER RACES. ITS INTENT IN TO REPAIR BLACK MALE/BLACK POLICE RELATIONS AS A PRECURSOR TO REPARING BLACK MALE/POLICE RELATIONS PERIOD.”

Inner city America should have long ago hosted a different kind of civil rights march: brothers and badges dialoguing and then patrolling to reduce crime and quality of life issues.

This absence has two main reasons: racism and apathy.

Bias in city halls and chiefs offices insure such teamups will be rare. White officials still can’t quite see us as concerned citizens who’d take to the streets to uphold law and order like Caucasian peers.

The other charge of racism comes from Black men who feel ALL police are racist and ANY attempt to unite with them assists White supremacy. Brothers with this perspective can’t get around seeing law enforcement as THE enemy- period!

Apathy afflicts officer and citizen alike when it comes to inner city crime. Beaten down by entrenched negativism both feel there’s no hope in these zip codes… and thus no reason to try improving conditions.

They shrug their shoulders; hunker down and navigate a human wasteland growing worse by daily.

Brothers & Badges was a thought experiment I did to rid the Black male/police dynamic of burdensome historic baggage. Approaching it anew mean the following: Seeing high crime and no rapport as opportunities to unite the two critical elements, Black males and police, needed to solve the problem.

Brothers & Badges means at long last Black boys and men delete seeing ourselves as outcasts and decide to stride forth as Americans petitioning local government to join us as we secure neighborhoods; businesses; worship sites and other threatened infrastructure.

Bringing brothers and badges together denies thugs current cultural safe harbor in the Hood. Whom can we blame for not fighting to unite against America’s greatest domestic public safety threat taking place in our families and social networks?

This is a civil rights march that should have happened generations ago.

Submitted by NADRA ENZI “AKA CAPT BLACK,” who has promoted Black male/Black cop unity his entire life. He’s also the founder of Good Citizens Supporting Good Cops and various police appreciation efforts.

Also published at:

http://www.bookerrising.net/2012/01/nadra-enzi-op-ed-brothers-badges.html#disqus_thread

http://moveonup.ning.com/profiles/blogs/brothers-badges-together

Brothers & Badges Together! is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Recently a few of my friends were arrested for trespassing on public property, sounds silly right? What’s also silly is the comment I got from one of the arresting Cheshire County Sheriffs. See edited video above or raw video below.

It’s sad to hear so many officers say things are fine and believe those who have issue with government services – like myself – should move to another (governed) land.

What do you think? Are activists over reacting or do the police really freak you out? Should people move to save their neighborhoods or move and create new ones?

Feel free to write a response via CopBlock.org’s submission tab. Simply click here.

Videos featured in edited video:

Couch Enforcer

Marijuana Arrests at Keene Pumpkin Festival

Liberty Activist Pays Property Tax in $1 Bills

Inside the Mind of a Cheshire County Sheriff is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

January 27th, about 200 students in Montreal were protesting on the Government’s plan to hike up university tuition in front of the offices of the Ministry of Education, were peacefully protesting, standing still holding up a red banner and just staying put not making any aggressive moves to police when suddenly, one hothead thug police officer decided to zero in on a student and beat him. That same officer later later in the video then pushed harshly a female student to the ground.

The video was posting and went viral and now Montreal police are opening an internal investigation following complaints after the publication of a video on YouTube that clearly shows police brutality.

In the video (see above from about 0:36 to 0:43) the police thug strikes a protester with about three punches to the abdomen, pushing the students back about five times.

The language spoken is french since Montreal is 50% French within the Provence (similar to a state) of Quebec, 85 % are French Canadians.

The students in question did not appear to be seriously hurt and did not make any attempt to fight back or defend themselves.

The police lied by explaining that they reacted after the students circled the police in an threatening attempt to prevent them from clearing the area.

Montreal police investigating brutality claims

Montreal police are investigating allegations of police brutality after footage of an officer hitting a protester surfaced on the internet Friday.

The video, shot during a protest against university tuition hikes on Jan. 27, shows a police officer approach a protester and strike him in the stomach using the butt end of his baton. The officer proceeds to shove the young man several times as protesters yell for him to stop.

“What we saw was pretty simple,” event organizer Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois told La Presse. “We have a police who walked up to someone and hit him while this person was simply holding a banner.”

Read more here from Montreal Gazette:

- Accountability

If you'd like a CopBlock.org Power Post - as seen above - contact us.

Montreal police caught brutalizing students is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Article by Ali Winston with research by Jacob Crawford

One of the most indelible images of the Occupy movement to date is that of Marine veteran Scott Olsen being carried away from a skirmish line of riot police at 14th Street and Broadway on October 25 in Oakland. Stunned and bleeding from an ugly gash on his forehead, the 24-year-old Wisconsin native had been struck in the head by an unknown projectile during the first salvo of tear gas, flash-bang grenades, and less-than-lethal munitions fired at hundreds of Occupy Oakland supporters facing off against Oakland police and several other Bay Area law enforcement agencies called in on mutual aid.

Video from the tear gas-soaked night of the 25th shows a prone Olsen lying in front of metal barricades and police in riot gear. As several protesters ran to Olsen’s aid, someone from the cluster of police appears to lob a flash-bang grenade into the crowd gathered around the young veteran. The stun grenade explodes amid a cloud of tear gas and deafening noise, scattering Olsen’s rescuers.

The footage of the flash-bang grenade exploding practically on top of Olsen and his rescuers, as well as dramatic video of a stunned and bloody Olsen being carried away from the intersection, went viral within hours, propelling Occupy Oakland to international attention and setting the stage for the November 2nd General Strike.

In the weeks and months afterward, rumors and accusations flew about the identity of the officer who fired the projectile that wounded Olsen, and the one who threw the concussion grenade on top of him. Rumors circulated on the Internet that either a San Francisco sheriff’s deputy or an officer from the Palo Alto Police Department was responsible. Members of Anonymous even went so far as to publish pictures and the personal information of a San Francisco sheriff’s deputy they believe tossed the stun grenade at Olsen.

But an extensive review of video footage and Oakland Police Department records by this reporter indicates that Robert Roche, an acting sergeant in the Oakland Police Department and member of OPD’s “Tango Teams,” threw the flash-bang at Olsen and his rescuers. It’s also not the first time that Roche’s actions have come under scrutiny. Police records show that Roche had previously killed three people in the line of duty.

In one clip of footage shot on October 25 by KTVU, the camera zooms in on a helmeted, gas-mask wearing officer in OPD insignia pointing a shotgun at the crowd. Olsen’s inert body is also visible in front of the barriers. Another video clip shows the same officer training his shotgun on the crowd, lowering the firearm as a crowd gathers around Olsen, and stepping back behind a line of San Francisco sheriff’s deputies on the barricade line. A grenade is then tossed at Olsen’s body as rescuers arrive.

According to former San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey and Sergeant Kara Apple, a Palo Alto Police spokeswoman, officers from neither agency were equipped with less-than-lethal shotguns or flash-bang grenades that night. A list of OPD crowd-control munitions published by Al Jazeera last year includes the Remington .357 shotgun and two types of CS or pepper spray-loaded blast grenades.

Two stripes and a star, OPD’s insignia for acting sergeants, are visible on the officer’s left sleeve. In both clips, the officer is holding his shotgun with his right hand on the trigger, his helmet visor is up and the numbers “35″ are visible on his helmet. According to an OPD roster of the three-digit helmet numbers assigned to individual officers and the personnel detail for October 25, Officer Robert Roche is the only one with a helmet number beginning with “35″ who was assigned to a Tango Team that night. Roche’s helmet number that night was “357,” according to OPD records.

Three attorneys who reviewed the two clips mentioned above concur that the shotgun-wielding officer is the same in both clips. “From the positioning of that officer in the line and his weapon, it appears it was likely the same cop who tossed the grenade at the medics trying to help Scott Olsen,” said R. Michael Flynn, president of the San Francisco Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. Jim Chanin, one of the two attorneys who have overseen OPD’s federal consent decree since 2003, concurred. “His movements and appearance strongly suggest that it’s the same officer that threw the grenade,” Chanin said. Chanin also observed that the officer’s helmet number began with “35.”

Rachel Lederman, another NLG-affiliated attorney, also believes the officer is the same and identifiable by the “35″ on his helmet. Lederman characterized the officer’s actions as “illegal” and “evil.” Tossing a flash-bang grenade into a crowd and at a wounded person is “not only improper under [OPD's] crowd control policy — the guy should be fired,” Lederman said.

Sergeant Chris Bolton, chief of staff to Police Chief Howard Jordan, said the investigation into the Olsen incident is ongoing. “Any known or alleged uses of force against Mr. Olsen are assigned to an independent investigator,” Bolton said in a statement. “Based on available video, photographs, and reports, the department has identified several officers that they are subjects of those open investigations.” Bolton added, however, that “no investigative findings or discipline have been announced or imposed.”

Roche is a rifle officer who has also served in gang enforcement units. He has been involved in three fatal shootings during his career. In 2006, he fatally shot seventeen-year-old Ronald Brazier after the teenager fired on Roche and two other officers. In 2007, Roche shot and killed an unarmed Jeremiah Dye in a crawlspace under an East Oakland house. Dye had run from police after his cousin shot and wounded an OPD officer during a traffic stop. In March 2008, fifteen-year-old Jose Buenrostro was shot to death by Roche and two other officers while in possession of a sawed-off rifle on 79th Avenue in East Oakland. Buenrostro’s family received a $500,000 wrongful death settlement from the City of Oakland in 2010, even though police claimed that Buenrostro pointed the weapon at them. Buenrostro’s family contended that he did not threaten the officers.

Alameda County District Attorney’s Office records indicate that Roche was cleared of criminal conduct in both the Brazier and Dye shootings.
Roche and Sergeant Ronald Holmgren, who supervised Tango Team 2 during the October 25 crowd control actions, were not assigned to the Tango detail on the evening of the November 2 General Strike, according to Oakland Police Department records. However, Roche was photographed on the street during the January 28 confrontation with Occupy Oakland protesters, shotgun in hand.
OPD’s “Tango teams,” or tactical teams, have been at the heart of some of the most intense clashes of the Occupy Oakland movement (see “Oakland Used Violent Cops Against Occupy,” 12/21/2012, “). Aside from the Olsen incident, video from the evening of the November 2 General Strike shows an unidentified OPD officer wearing a rucksack emblazoned with “Tango Team” striking US Army veteran Kayvan Sabeghi with a baton. Sabeghi was later hospitalized for a ruptured spleen.

Video by Jacob Crawford with the assistance of Ali Winston and Emma Armtstrong

Join the forum discussion on this post

Oakland Cop Identified in Scott Olsen Incident is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

I was spending some time watching a para-military action by Waukesha police when some cop decided it was his business as to what I was doing outside the, “crime scene perimeter.” There was a mental illness issue down the street and allegedly the man owned a gun.

Why use common sense and compassion when you can use machine guns, battering rams, and aggression. Nobody was injured in this incident and of course the man didn’t shoot anyone inside or outside the house. At least they didn’t beat any innocent people like they did with Mark Schroeder in 2010 and then delete the dash cam videos (requested as evidence) after watching them 20 some times.

The SUV cop may want to take a refresher driving course. Hits the curb and cone in one shot. Perhaps a sobriety test was in order.

Please Film police! Get them used to it and keep them in check.

- fromjanesville2waukesha

This post was submitted using CopBlock.org’s submit tab. CopBlock.org is decentralized, it’s merely a network to share police related stories/ideas, and we encourage anyone and everyone to share them here.

Waukesha police Tell Us To Go Home And Watch TV… is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

There are so many disturbing things brought up in this video. First is the news reporter’s emphasis that neither suspect had a criminal record. Would it have made a difference if the suspects did have a criminal record?

Secondly, at approx 2:50 the reporter sits down with a Seattle Police Sergeant who is obviously there to just downplay the situation. His comment that the incident had been investigated by their department’s internal “professionalism board” and that the citizens need to place more trust the police to take care of the problem. Really? Too much trust is exactly why we are in this situation.

Finally, the most disturbing portion is at the end when the reporter reveals the thousands of dash cam videos that are missing. This is just another illustration of how cops aren’t there to protect you or your rights and also another illustration of why you should go out of your way to film the police at every available opportunity. The police have a much harder time trying to “lose” your video.

From Komo News reporter Tracy Vedder:

Josh Lawson and Christopher Franklin filed a claim against the city Monday for excessive force and wrongful arrest.

The two were arrested at gunpoint on November 16, 2010 and said the incident changed their lives forever.

“I thought I was gonna die,” Lawson said about that night.

Franklin said it was “the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced.”

Both men said they suffered facial bruises and swelling after one was kicked and the other man-handled into the pavement while being arrested. But then listen to what an officer says on an audio recording after he takes the two to holding cells: “Well, you’re going to jail for robbery that’s all.”

You then hear Franklin ask, “for robbery?” And the officer responds, “Yeah, I’m gonna make stuff up.”

Franklin believed him.

“He showed me that he has the power to do whatever he wanted that night,” he said. “He has a badge, and all we can do is nothing.”

Read entire story here.

This post was sent in via CopBlock.org’s submission tab, it was edited by Ademo.

Seattle Cops Caught Threatening To Make Up Evidence is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

The Houston Police department might have just won the award for most hypocritical police force in the nation. According to “A Texas Badge in Question“:

The Houston Police Department has been accused of a number of things, brutality, corruption, misconduct…

And now there is another deficiency on the table — low scores whenever it comes to solving burglary and theft cases. In fact, the problem is so wide-spread, KPRC-TV in Houston has taken a closer look and the statistics are disturbing.

HPD records show between January and October of last year the department’s Burglary and Theft division “received” more than 100,000 cases. Of those cases, HPD records show only about 11 percent were solved.

“Did you actually speak to any detective on your cases?” asked Local 2 Investigator Robert Arnold. “I’ve never spoken to a detective on my case,” one victim answered. She told Local 2 her home was burglarized twice. 

Her sense of frustration is shared by many Local 2 spoke with and said they never spoke to a detective about their case. HPD records show out of the cases received by the burglary and theft division between January and October of last year, only approximately 8 percent were assigned to a detective.

“It was suggested I check pawn shops,” the woman said.

Seems the taxpayers of Houston have a decision to make. Keep paying the guys who do nothing to catch criminals or stop paying them. Folks have already tried filming the Houston police, but according to a blog published on A Texas Badge in Question in 2011:

Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland went on the defensive Thursday during a meeting with local journalists, saying officers have made recent traffic stops in which residents leave their vehicles to take pictures or shoot video — encounters he says could endanger officers and that have increased following the release of the Chad Holley beating footage.

“Officers are telling me that they’re being provoked,” the chief said. “Even when they try to write a simple traffic ticket, people are jumping out with cell phone cameras scanning their badge numbers and their nametags. And I’ve asked them to remain calm and treat people with respect and dignity.”

When will the police understand that filming them is nothing personal, it’s – filming – a right. No one has an expectation of privacy while in public and public officials, working for all of us, have no privacy whatsoever on the job. More so, I hope the police officers who see the harm government regulation (control) has brought their profession. I hope they make the right choice and stop working for the government. All police officers have a skill, protecting others, and could provide it better without the governments involvement.

Just think, 92% of people who have been robbed in Houston haven’t spoken to a detective, that’s alot of people. If each person gave a current LEO in Houston $50 to help them – no promises (same deal the government gives) – they’d make more than they do working for the City. Plus, they’d only have to focus on each customer (not every single person, which is impossible) and not all the other government control jobs.

Houston Police Department A Texas Size Disgrace is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

It is important that those of you who have been affected by law enforcement in a negative way understand that the long term emotional distress can wreak havoc on your lives. I am a victim. I currently suffer from PTSD, chronic anxiety attacks, and borderline agoraphobia. I live sun up to sun down in fear. I have a horrible sense of self worthlessness. I do not leave my home. I do not socialize. My sense of TRUST has been destroyed on so many levels. I was once a fun loving social being with many friends. NOT ANYMORE. Cops have taken something from me they have stolen my ability to trust. When one is violated by someone of authority the consequences can be life altering.

I am sharing this website [see below] that I found in hopes that it may help those of you suffering from the same symptoms or those INFLICTING the ABUSE to understand the impact of POLICE BRUTALITY PLEASE STOP VICTIMIZING people especially when they are rendered defensless IT IS NOT NECESSARY. Bullying is NOT allowed in our SCHOOLS and it most CERTAINLY should not be tolerated on the streets especially by authority we are suppose to be able to depend on. You know who you are. STOP STOP STOP you are destroying lives.

Police Brutality: The Impact on Victims

Defined as unmerited, excessive and aggressive abuse, police brutality is a phenomenon that causes irreparable harm to its victims. The abuse may be physical or psychological, and the victims can feel the effects of this abuse for a lifetime. These effects include not only physical wounds, but also psychological ones. In some cases, the community also experiences the impact of police brutality on its victims.

Read more: Police Brutality: The Impact on the Victims | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/about_6647581_police-brutality_-impact-victims.html#ixzz1mPVngNGn

- Angel

This guest blog was send to CopBlock.org via the submission tab. Please considering sharing your stories, ideas and videos of police issues here as well.

If you'd like a CopBlock.org Power Post - as seen above - contact us.

The Long term effects of Police Brutality is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Originally posted at Courthouse News:

(CN) – A depressed Army reservist who made a phone call for help says dozens of police responded by surrounding his home and arresting him, vandalizing and searching his place without a warrant, seizing his dog and killing his tropical fish.

Matthew Corrigan, who lives alone with his dog, sued the District of Columbia in D.C. Federal Court.

Confronted with a massive police presence after his plea for help, Corrigan says, he denied officers permission to enter his house, but they entered and trashed it anyway, saying, “I don’t have time to play this constitutional bullshit!”

Corrigan says the debacle started on Feb. 2, 2010.

“Corrigan telephoned what he believed to be the ‘Military’s Emotional Support Hotline’ because he was depressed and had not slept for several days,” the complaint states.

“The number Corrigan called was in fact the National Suicide Hotline. When he stated that he was a veteran, he was asked if he had firearms, to which he said yes. He said nothing about being suicidal or using a firearm or threatening anyone. After a short conversation, Corrigan hung up, turned off the phone, took prescribed sleeping medication, and went to bed.

“At approximately 4 a.m. in the morning of Feb. 3, 2010, Corrigan awoke because he heard his name being called over a bullhorn. There were floodlights outside his front and back doors and an estimated 8 police officers in the back yard and 20 in the front yard.

“Corrigan turned on his phone and found that Officer Fischer of the 5th District was calling him, asking him to come out, which he did at about 4:50 a.m., locking the door behind him. He was handcuffed and put in the back of a SWAT truck.

“When Officer John Doe I (upon information and belief, Officer John Doe I is Lieutenant Robert Glover) asked Corrigan for the key to his apartment, he informed the officer: ‘There is no way I am giving you consent to enter my place.’ Officer John Doe I stated: ‘I don’t have time to play this constitutional bullshit!’ and ordered that Officers John Does II-V, members of the Emergency Response Team (ERT), enter the apartment.” (Parentheses in complaint).

Corrigan says police took him to a VA hospital, broke his front door and entered his apartment without a warrant, where they confiscated his guns, vandalized his place and took his dog to an animal shelter.

“Although the officers had no information that there were explosives in Corrigan’s home and the home had been secured, John Does VI-X, the Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team, entered Corrigan’s home without a warrant and searched for explosives,” the complaint states. “The EOD team opened closed containers and used X-ray equipment to search closed containers.

“After the initial warrantless search, the EOD team brought in a dog to search for firearms.

“During the search of Corrigan’s home, John Does II-XV seized three firearms and numerous rounds of ammunition for those firearms and others. The three firearms were a rifle, which was unloaded and trigger-locked in a locked hard-side container under his bed, a hand gun which was in a hard case in a drawer in the closet, and another handgun which was in a zipped bag on the shelf at the bottom of a clothes rack (pillows and blankets were on top and next to the bag). The locked cases were taken but the broken latches were left on the floor. The ammunition was stored in a sealed plastic crate and the rest was in boxes, in their original packing, in a milk crate, which was stored under a sleeping bag in a utility closet.

“Corrigan’s eyeglasses were broken and thrown in a corner.” (Parentheses in complaint).

Corrigan says he spent three days in the VA hospital, because “having weapons pointed at him upon leaving his apartment triggered his PTSD hyper-vigilance and caused irregular heartbeat.”

After he was released from the hospital and determined not to be a suicide risk, Corrigan says, police arrested him and put him in jail, where he remained for almost 2 weeks.

“When Corrigan returned to his apartment 16 days after being seized, he found that John Does I-XV had left the front door unlocked and unsecured, had left the electric stove on, had cut open every zipped bag, had dumped every box and drawer, had broken locked boxes from under the bed and the closet, and emptied shelves into piles in each room. All his tropical fish in his 150 gallon aquarium were dead.”

Corrigan seeks more than $500,000 in damages for constitutional violations.

He is represented by Richard Gardiner, of Fairfax, Va.

Call for Help Leads to Arrest and Property Damage is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

It’s been a terrible few weeks for the residents of East Haven, Connecticut. The town has been the center of a scandal around four police officials who have been alleged to abuse their law enforcement power to harass and denigrate the rights of certain members of the city’s Latino community. The case has received national media scrutiny, with new allegations and details emerging every day.

Sources report that the alleged actions of three officers and the president of the police union in New Haven are under investigation by the FBI, which has looked into the city before for similar charges of policed misconduct. The allegations assert that the officers knowingly tried to restrict and infringe upon the rights of certain Latino citizens of the city in a direct misuse of their powers as law enforcement officials. These abuses were played out either in false arrests, needlessly aggressive behavior, or intimidating tactics used by the police to undermine the rights of New Haven citizens.

It’s an unfortunate case for many reasons. For one, the case reminds us that police brutality and officers’ abuses of their powers is still a very real threat to U.S. citizens. Though the subject has received more attention in the wake of violet police reactions to the various Occupy movements throughout the country, the national media has mostly glazed over the details of these cases in favor of more buzz worthy stories. With 24/7 presidential race coverage and a poor U.S. economy as the hot-button topics of the season, it’s hard to find substantial reporting on any other issue.

Perhaps one of the reasons why this case is still slightly prominent in the media spotlight is due to the East Haven Mayor’s poor response to the allegations in the case. Mayor Joseph Maturo was asked how he felt about the case recently, to which he replied “I might have tacos when I get home. I’m not quite sure yet.” Mayor Maturo’s comments seem to reflect the “who cares” attitude that pervades these stories of police brutality, especially when they target minority communities. The worst part about his comments aren’t even the comments themselves, it’s that they’ve distracted from the important story of police brutality that people need to hear. It should also be noted that the Mayor immediately apologized after uttering his comment, but the damage had been done.

The New Haven case is a sober reminder that some police are wrongly abusing the citizens they swore to protect, flaunting their power at people who have no means of protection. More disturbingly, these police officers have the protection of high city officials willing to defend them from persecution (and in
the New Haven Mayor’s case, a willingness to degrade the victims of the allegations). It’s a dire situation, but one that can be redressed if enough people pay attention to the crimes.

What do you think of the New Haven case? Do you know of any cases similar to it?

- Jacelyn Thomas

Byline: This is a guest post from Jacelyn Thomas. Jacelyn writes about identity theft protection for IdentityTheft.net. She can be reached at: jacelyn.thomas @ gmail.com.

Lessons from the ongoing East Haven, CT Police Abuse Scandal is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights