Gangsters in Blue

By Davy V.

A Rochester, NY Police officer, driving ‘K9-3″ cruiser, left his partner “Hawk”, inside the hot Durango SUV for over an hour, on Monday, as he went to an appointment, inside an air conditioned doctor’s office, behind the Calkins Corporate Park office complex, off Red Creek Drive in Henrietta, NY, arriving at approximately 1:25 p.m., and leaving around 2:45 p.m.

Although the rear windows in the police SUV were down, leaving the cages to allow some air to flow in, and the front windows were rolled down a bit, the vehicle was parked under direct sunlight, with no shade whatsoever.

Patients and staff walking by the RPD SUV were startled when “Hawk”, a beautiful German Shepherd greeted them with loud barking

There are actually two disturbing stories here.

First, this officer’s behavior show yet another example of Rochester Police officers misusing taxpayer dollars, in this case, driving outside the RPD’s jurisdiction, to another town, for personal reasons.

Second, leaving an innocent dog in a hot vehicle, for over an hour, with no shade, albeit, windows down.

A call to dispatch confirmed RPD K9-3 unit was “on duty”, and the dispatcher said they had no knowledge the officer was out in Henrietta.

CALL ROCHESTER, NY POLICE CHIEF JAMES SHEPPARD (585) 428-7033

Follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/davyvara

Rochester, NY Taxpayer Dollars at Work: RPD officer Leaves his K-9 Partner “Hawk” in Hot Vehicle for over an Hour, While he goes to Doctor’s Appointment is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

From Facebook Page – Police State USA: Land of the Checkpoints comes this chilling video of  cops berating a harmless individual. The info states the video is out of Durham. This video comes from Durham in CA. Here is a link to the recent findings by the PD according to The Star

These types of interactions with police have occurred millions of times. Thanks to the the surveillance camera in this case, and many times the risks assumed by folks like you and me holding a cellphone, we are starting to expose what we’ve been allowing these people to get away with for so long.

Please, always film police.

(Video) “I hurt people, and then I make their cocaine f—ing appear,” is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Rochester, NY Police cruiser E-67 and City Parking Enforcementparked on same side of street, as children’s family membersthey ticketed. Photo by Davy V.

By Davy V.

At least a half a dozen family members of Rochester elementary school children attending the annual Nick Zona Track Meet at East High School on Thursday May 16th, walked back to their cars to find  parking tickets under their windshield wipers.

Now, it would be hypocritical of me to in any way, shape or form condone parking illegally, especially since I regularly expose law enforcement officials parked illegally.

However, it was more the show of force, on behalf of Rochester Police officers who obviously had nothing better to do in a city riddled with real crime, than to ticket cars of family members attending their children’s field day, that just rubs me the wrong way.

The event, is named after the late Nick Zona, the former Health and Physical Education Director for the City School District.

The track meet helps students learn the importance of hard work, cooperation, teamwork and sportsmanship.

Approximately 25-30 cars parked on Culver Rd., right in front of the East High School grandstand, and family members were already sitting down in the stands, when an announcement came over the PA system telling people that they had to move their vehicles, and find parking elsewhere.

Rochester, NY Police officer and parking enforcement employee harassing elementary school children’s family members.Photo by Davy V.

This caused dozens of people to hurry and move their vehicles, and rush back in order not to miss their children’s participation in the track meet.

A woman at Jeffrey Ellis Carl Cabinetmakers, located on the corner of Culver Rd. and Leighton Ave., and directly across the street from the East High School bleacher stands, called 911 to report that several vehicles were parked on the wrong side of Leighton Ave.

Interestingly enough, the photo at the top right, shows the classic example of ‘Do as I say, not as I do’, a Rochester, NY Police cruiser, and a City of Rochester, NY Parking Enforcement vehicle can be seen parked on the same side of the street as the cars they ticketed!

This could all have been avoided, if the Rochester City School District had planned in advance, to accommodate family members, being able to park their vehicles, without being ticketed.

Rochester, NY Police officer in cruiser E-51has nothing better to do, than to harass family membersattending children’s track meet.Photo by Davy V.

“This is the first time in four years that I have gotten this information, this is supposed to be a positive event”, said Carlos Cotto, Rochester City School District executive director of health, physical education, and athletics.

“There should have been announcements before people parked, so they wouldn’t have had to move their cars after they had already settled in”, Cotto said to me, before adding, “I put a call in to Chief Sheppard, because he has always been supportive of this event.”

“Supportive”?

How sad that the Rochester, NY Police department, would show up in force like they did, to an event named in honor of a School district employee, and all for parking violations.

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Rochester, NY Police Department and City Parking Enforcement Show Up in Full Force to Ticket Elementary School Children’s Family Members at Track Meet! is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

By Davy V.

Last month when “The Amazing Spiderman 2″ began its first day of filming in downtown Rochester, I took my two sons and my niece, before school.

Hoping to beat any crowds, we arrived early, and after parking, walked down West Main Street.

Seeing, the film’s production crew beginning to set up, and noticing barriers and yellow tape, I asked a Rochester Police officer who was standing on a nearby sidewalk, what a safe place would be for my children and I to stand.

As soon as I asked the officer, he took one look at me, and asked me “What’s your name?”, as he looked at my press pass for Minority Reporter Media Group, the publisher for two local publications I write for, and then said “I’m not talking to you!”, and walked away, violating the RPD’s own Code of Ethics, by allowing personal feelings and prejudices, interfere with him doing his job.

Fast forward almost three weeks, and Gwen, a retired U.S. Postal worker contacts me with a disturbing story, involving a Rochester Police officer, and a young man.

“I normally don’t go out too late, but I did tonight. As I was returning home from a trip to Wal-Mart, a couple of young men came over to me and told me an RPD officer spit on one one of them. The young man pointed the officer out and I walked over to where the officer was, sitting in his car, and I saw his name, it was Ortiz, and the car was W-58″, she said.

The incident occurred just blocks away from where Benny Warr, a 52 year old disabled, one-legged amputee was assaulted by Rochester Police officers as he waited for city bus near the intersection of Jefferson Ave. and Bartlett St.

According to Gwen, the youth in the neighborhood are too afraid to speak for fear of retaliation by RPD officer Ortiz and his fellow RPD officers.

After I got off the phone with Gwen, I placed a call to 911 and asked for a supervisor from RPD west side to return my call.

Approximately 15 minutes later, Rochester, NY Police Sgt. Zimmerman called me back, and I described to him the conversation I had with the woman.

I asked Sgt. Zimmerman if officer Ortiz was in fact on duty, and driving RPD cruiser W-58.

A short time later, Sgt. Zimmerman, called me back, and confirmed that indeed, officer Ortiz was on duty at the time of the incident, and was driving cruiser W-58.

A check with the City of Rochester payroll information for Rochester Police officers shows that there is a Richard Ortiz employed by the RPD.

On my way to meet Gwen, I remembered something she told me when she initially called me.

In describing the officer, Gwen said he was heavy set and bald.

I immediately thought of the Latino officer downtown, in the incident on the morning of the first day of filming for the Spiderman movie.

Since Gwen had said that she walked up to the officer’s cruiser, and saw him up close as she made note of the ‘W-58′ plate, I thought I’d show her a photo of the officer downtown.

“That’s him!, that’s Ortiz!”, Gwen said, before adding, “Something has to be done, I mean he didn’t just spit on a child, he hacked up phlegm, and then spit it on a child, that is unacceptable, we need to get him out of here.”

Follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/davyvara

Woman Identifies Rochester, NY Police officer Richard Ortiz after Seeing his Photo; “He didn’t just spit on a child, he hacked up phlegm, then spit it on a child.” is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS – George Carlin (Video) is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Submitted by Elizabeth Renter

The NYPD makes no bones about their tactic. They call it crime prevention, we call it racist violation of constitutional rights. But their “stop-and-frisk” tactics have declined for the first time in several years, raising the question – is the NYPD ready to give up this practice of criminalizing people based solely on their location and likely their race?

According to the Wall Street Journal, stop-and-frisks are down over 50 percent for the first quarter of 2013, when compared with 2012. It comes at an interesting time, as the city is facing a federal lawsuit for their employment of these practices.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of several people who were victims of the stops. In case you’re unaware of the tactic, a stop-and-frisk is when a cop sees you in a high-crime neighborhood and uses this, paired with any other loose justification, to assume you may have committed or may be about to commit a crime. The officer then detains you on the street and may frisk you or pat you down.

The stop-and-frisk approach is largely used by rookies operating in the Operation Impact program, which sends a large amount of uniformed officers into high crime neighborhoods to sort of make their presence known. If the stops were made because there was good evidence of an impending crime, it might not be so bad. But officers are using the mere reputation of neighborhood and things like clothing or loitering as evidence to justify a search. As you well may imagine, they are doing it en masse to black and Latino men.

In 2002, for instance, 85 percent of those stopped were Latino or black, and 90 percent were released without criminal charge or arrest. What does that mean? That 90 percent had done nothing wrong. This is the crux of the lawsuit. So, why are stop-and-frisks down? Ask the NYPD and they will tell you it’s a staffing issue or a training situation. Still, the lawsuit certainly can’t be ignored, and there’s a good chance that the department is quietly backing off.

Most interesting about the drop in stop-and-frisks, however, is that it comes at the same time as a drop in crime rates. Crime in the city is down 2.7 percent during the first quarter of 2013, and murders are down 30 percent. What this says is that stop-and-frisks may not have the amazing impact that the city wants you to believe. In fact, it seems, the dropping crime rate has nothing to do with the use of stop-and-frisk tactics.

So, if stop-and-frisk does not reduce crime, what does it do?

Generally, stopping people without solid justification and doing so in significantly racially-disproportionate numbers does nothing but widen the rift between a community and the police. It does nothing but justify the bitter distrust held by many people within the city. From the NYPD’s perspective, it likely serves to keep people “in their place.”

This post was originally blogged on AQuestionofJustice.com, the personal justice blog of freelance writer Elizabeth Renter. You can contact Ms. Renter through her blog or her website: www.ElizabeththeWriter.com

A Question of Justice: NYPD ‘Stop-and-Frisks’ Down First Quarter of 2013 is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

In an incident reminiscent of the Kelly Thomas tragedy, an unarmed Bakersfield man was killed during an attempted arrest by local law enforcement.

Kern County Sheriff’s deputies were investigating David Sal Silva for public intoxication. In total, nine officers of the Kern County Sheriff’s department and the California Highway Patrol beat Silva to death, as they claimed he resisted arrest. Several witnesses apparently captured footage of the beating on their cell phones. But, the cell phones were confiscated by deputies as evidence.

The Kern County Sheriff’s department released the following names of involved officers:

Ryan Greer
Tanner Miller
Jeffrey Kelly
Luis Almanza
Brian Brock
David Stephens

The CHP has not released the names of its officers involved in the arrest. More details here.

Bakersfield Man Dies During Arrest, Eye Witness Video Footage Confiscated is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

By Davy V.

Although the video is just over a year old, it’s still very much relevant when it comes to showing the Rochester, NY Police department’s history of abusing citizens, and, very disturbing to watch.

The video starts off with a young, pregnant woman being restrained by three Rochester Police officers in front a Chili Avenue grocery store.

An RPD officer then yells at the young woman’s mother “I don’t care how old she is!”

While it is not clear what led up to the incident, what is clear is what happens at the 30 second mark of the video.

Shortly after a voice off camera is heard telling the woman’s mother “They’re not supposed to be doing that to your daughter!”, a Rochester Police officer is seen kneeing the young woman in her stomach.

One would think that the last thing Rochester, NY Police officers would be taught in the police academy, would be to assault a pregnant woman, especially by delivering a blow to her womb, where her unborn fetus is growing, REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION.

Apparently, RPD officers are taught to do whatever they have to do, to restrain an individual, even kneeing a pregnant woman.

After all, what can you expect from a police force, and a Chief, who condones assaulting a disabled man in a motorized wheelchair, like Rochester Police officers did to Rochester, NY resident Benny Warr last week.

CONTACT ROCHESTER, NY POLICE CHIEF JAMES SHEPPARD (585) 428-7033

ROCHESTER, NY MAYOR THOMAS RICHARDS (585) 428-7045

Follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/davyvara

Video Shows Rochester, NY Police officer Kneeing Pregnant Young Woman is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

By Davy V.

In February, I exposed Rochester, NY Police officer Melanie Rivera misusing taxpayer dollars by goofing off inside her police cruiser with her best friend who she takes on ride-alongs.

Rivera seemed more interested in wasting taxpayer dollars by taking photos of her and her friend, the posting them on Instagram, than she is in upholding her oath to “protect and serve.”.

Fast forward less than three months later, an interesting photo has popped up on the Internet of a tattooed woman sitting in the driver’s seat of a Rochester Police cruiser, with the caption “Real Gs steal police cars n don’t give a FUCK!” (CLICK ON PHOTO AT TOP RIGHT TO SEE FULL IMAGE.)

In the photo, the woman, Laura Anzalone-Byers, a tattoo artist at Extreme Graphix Tattoo in Rochester, NY, is seen giving the camera the middle finger.

The photo is yet another example of Rochester, NY Police officers misusing taxpayer resources by engaging in inappropriate and unprofessional behavior, in this case the person who sent me the photo, said that the woman’s “cop best friend was hanging out wasting tax payer money on the job letting friends pose in his car.”

Like I always say, there you have it Rochester, NY, your hard earned, taxpayer dollars at work.

Follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/davyvara

Rochester, NY Police officer Allows Woman to Pose Behind the Wheel of RPD Cruiser in a Photo with the Caption “Real Gs steal cop cars n don’t give a FUCK!” is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

By Davy V.

Just when I think the Rochester, NY Police department can’t sink any lower, they manage outdo themselves!

A video recently posted on YouTube shows a very disturbing incident.

Two Rochester, NY Police officers are seen assaulting Benny Warr, a disabled man in a motorized wheelchair, who was waiting for the bus near the intersection of Jefferson Ave. and Bartlett St. on Wednesday May 1st.

Although the video is shot in an upright position, limiting the shot to 1/3, and is not the best quality, it’s clear that Warr did nothing to warrant this use of force.

At one point in the video an RPD officers grab Warr, lifting him off his wheelchair, and throwing him onto the sidewalk.

The woman who recorded the video, Shakur Muhammed, can then be heard saying “Stop, why is you kicking him?”, as a third Rochester Police officer arrives on scene.

At another point in the video, an RPD officer is seen pushing Warr’s wheelchair out of the way, and then placing his body weight on Warr’s arms as he appears to be pushing down on the disabled man.

In another part of the video, Muhammed makes a comment that one of the RPD officers assaulting the disabled man has been harassing neighborhood residents and is mad because he was punched in the face earlier.

This is interesting, as it shows that the RPD officer may be assaulting the disabled man as a way to get his frustrations out over a completely unrelated incident, that has nothing to do with the disabled man.

Towards the end of the 2 minute and 50 second video, RPD officers are seen staring down a group of bystanders which includes Muhammed, the woman recording the video.

An RPD officer is then seen waving his arms, as he tells people “Let’s go, let’s go, come on, go!”, obviously upset that their assault of a disabled man had been recorded on video.

This is typical behavior of the thugs with badges which make up the Rochester, NY Police department.

Warr was taken to the hospital and given an appearance ticket, for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Jefferson Avenue residents say it is not uncommon for Rochester Police officers to assault innocent people.

Ever since Rochester, NY Police Chief James Sheppard announced Operation Cool Down last year, saying that his officers would stop citizens if they don’t have a bell on their bikes, I said that all Sheppard was doing, was giving his already rogue, racist officers, a ‘free pass’ to abuse innocent citizens, just like they did to this disabled man.

Next thing you know, RPD Chief Sheppard will say that Benny Warr’s wheelchair didn’t have a bell on it.

CONTACT ROCHESTER, NY POLICE CHIEF JAMES SHEPPARD (585) 428-7033

ROCHESTER, NY MAYOR THOMAS RICHARDS (585) 428-7045

Follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/davyvara

Rochester, NY Police officers Assault Disabled Man in Motorized Wheelchair is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights