Gangsters in Blue

Kelly Thomas was murdered by 6 lowlife police officers last July (more here). As one would expect, they have not all been brought to justice. Only 2 officers have been charged. Manny Ramos has been charged with second degree murder, while Jay Cicinelli has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. This was only after the citizens of Fullerton protested outside the police station weekend after weekend. And of course, the fact Mr. Thomas’ father, Ron Thomas was former Sheriff’s Deputy didn’t hurt.

Keep in mind that if any other gang of 6 assholes had beaten a homeless, mentally ill man to death, they would have all been charged with murder, likely along with gang enhancements. If any other man had smashed a homeless man’s face in while saying, “You see these fists? … They are getting ready to fuck you up,” a first degree murder charge would have been a certainty.

I can also almost guarantee you that if my brother, father, or family member were murdered by police, I would not see an ounce of the justice Kelly Thomas’ family has seen, because I have no law enforcement in my family. If my father or brother had been beaten to a bloody pulp and died, I would have no credibility and would arouse no public sympathy. The public’s response would likely be, “well why did he disobey the officers?” as in the case of most victims of police murder.

This brings me to the irony of a former law enforcement officer being made to suffer the grief of having his son die at the hands of police. This is a man who, if he did his job all those years, presumably dedicated his life to, among other things, extorting people with tickets and fines. If he did his job, he spent a great deal of his time ruining peoples’ lives, causing them to lose their jobs, and breaking up their families through enforcement of drug laws. This is a man who spent his life supporting the Thin Blue Line and engaged in and supported abuse of ordinary people with a violent system that has now unfortunately come back to haunt him in the worst manner possible.

It seems that for many who previously worked in law enforcement, when tragedy strikes them (the hallowed class), it is written off as a recent development, a current trend in corruption, and a problem of badly trained young officers, whereas when they used to work in law enforcement, they did everything ethically, constitutionally, and properly. They rarely stop to consider that perhaps the system was just this bad all along, but they didn’t notice it before because they were the ones wielding power, commanding undeserved respect, and receiving the benefits and protections of the law.

Policing has always involved a monopoly on initiation of violence by a group of uniformed people who collected fines and enforced laws, whether just or not, under the guise of “protecting” others. It has been common knowledge for sometime now that forcible monopolies result in poor customer service and lack of accountability. Thus, when one group of people have an unqualified monopoly over guns, authority, and law enforcement, certain predictable results are bound to happen, and always have happened. Unjust detentions has always occurred. Racial profiling has always occurred. Marginalization and targeting of the poor and those with unfortunate skin tones has always occurred. Police have always enforced evil laws and opposed civil rights.

Qualified immunity for police officers is not a new concept that has developed only in recent years. Useless investigations by “Internal Affairs” is nothing new. Thus, the same system in which Ron Thomas proudly worked, and with which he proudly screwed civilians, is the same system he criticizes now. An interview with Ron Thomas reveals he is completely aware of the flaws in the system. Indeed, he explicitly criticizes the idea of “reasonable force” used by officers, and the manner in which this legal standard is manipulated and executed by law enforcement and the justice system.

So why does Ron Thomas have a problem with how the system deals with “reasonable force” now? His son was murdered essentially for “resisting” officers’ commands and violent subjugation. This happens to innocent people all the time. When the victims do not happen to be the son of a police officer, the public tells the victim’s family members that the victim should simply have followed commands, obeyed the law, or been more respectful in order to avoid being murdered.

One has to wonder whether Ron Thomas had a problem with it every other time a civilian’s family member was murdered in similarly senseless circumstances – for failing to hear an officer’s command, for giving an officer the finger, for defending themselves, or for being rowdy - and whether his perspective has changed in any manner since the death of his son. One has to wonder whether he, like most former police officers, still delusionally believes he was actually “protecting” people in the course of his former profession.

The irony of Kelly Thomas: his father was a cop is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

This post was submitted by a CopBlock.org visitor who choose to remain anonymous. S/he did leave some words of encouragement: “Keep up the good work of exposing corrupt cops. G-d willing America will remain the home of the Free and the Brave.” If we each stop being scared and stand on our conscience, the institutionalized violence done by those who claim to “protect and serve” will cease. – Pete

Corrupt sheriff gets taken down by a 20-year-old is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

This information comes to CopBlock.org via an individual who goes by “Brutalized by Washington DC Police Department”

Why does the New York City police department have such a history of killing unarmed Blacks. Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo and Eleanor Bumpurs are just three.

Now come the tragic killing of Ramarley Graham in his own bathroom. The person who fired the single bullet that took his life was Richard Haste.

Haste and colleagues with the 47th Precinct Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit broke into Graham’s apartment and Haste confronted Graham in the bathroom, supposedly operating on incorrect information – which their own colleagues had confirmed to a supervisor as factual – that Graham had a gun in his waistband.

No gun was found on or around Graham. A grand jury is deciding whether charges against Haste are appropriate.

What is clear is that the actions Haste and his colleagues had observed had no victim.

Graham first came to the attention of NYPD employees because he had existed a storefront where they believed drug sales occurred. Where’s the victim? If an interaction is consensual what right does any other individual have to step between that with coercion?

It was later claimed that two witnesses communicated to NYPD employees that they saw a gun on Graham’s person. The claim that Graham had a gun was then confirmed by two NYPD employees to their supervisor Scott Morris. That flimsy “evidence,” which sounds more from a bad game of telephone than professional police work (is there such a thing?) – was the rationale given by Haste for him taking the life of another person. Even if Graham had a handgun, where’s the victim? Are the double-standards so great that only those wearing badges have the right to have access to tools to defend themselves?

But even before the fatal shot was fired, why were Haste and his colleagues in Graham’s apartment in the first place? What reason did they – strangers to Graham – have to break into this residence? None.

Seems like Haste wanted to do his namesake true and be hasty in his actions. I wonder if any of his colleagues will have the integrity break the thin blue line’s code of silence and actually speak up for what they know is right. Regardless of the internal cover-up and omission that’s sure to happen, those who rallied in support of justice for Graham should internalize the fact that the only way to arrive at a place where badges don’t grant immunity is to cease buying into that bad idea in the first place. Why pay the salaries of those who you know initiate force? Why give them any allegiance?

NYPD war on Blacks? is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

A story that demonstrates double-standards claimed by those with badges submitted by “Accountability.” As s/he noted, “There is are laws…one for police and one for you.” That view will change only when each of us sees that man-made legislation does not equal law. Note how, when an individual officer does wrong and is called-out for it, his colleagues do damage control to protect the image of their violent institution by stating that he “acted independently.” -Pete

Amazing to see Minnesota Police goons on video tape dealing free dope after picking up Minnesota Occupy protesters and driving them to an airport, doping the protestors and then asking them questions and trying to get the protestors to rat on other protestors.

Supposedly done for evaluations for police to be able to pick up people under the influence.

You just have to see the 35 minute video yourself. One dope dealing officer stupidly tells the person who is videotaping him to shut of the camera because he has a wife and kids and does not want any problems.

From the video description:

Video documentation by local activists and independent media shows that police officers and county deputies from across Minnesota have been picking up young people near Peavey Plaza for a training program to recognize drug-impaired drivers. Multiple participants say officers gave them illicit drugs and provided other incentives to take the drugs. The Occupy movement, present at Peavey Plaza since April 7th, appears to be targeted as impaired people are dropped off at the Plaza, and others say they’ve been rewarded for offering to snitch on the movement.

Around the 5-min mark an individual identified as a Filmore County Sheriff deputy has a conversation:

“In this category we’re just doing eval’s. We don’t want people’s names, we don’t want to get anybody in trouble. We’re here to admit you to eval for us. . . If you smoke weed or something like that, we don’t care. We really don’t. . . What we want then is take you for about 45-minutes of testing. Cause we gotta go down to the airport. . . then, after 45-minutes of testing, we bring you right back, drop you right back off. So, that’s what we’re doing. And like I said, we’re, like, I’m not even from here. I’m from Fillmore County. So I’m way south of Rochester.”

This story was picked-up by The Guardian, which noted in part:

Public safety officials in Minnesota have launched a criminal investigation following multiple claims that law enforcement officers got Occupy protesters high on drugs in a program examining the effects of street marijuana.

A state trooper has been placed on leave in connection with the allegations and the program has been suspended. One participant in the program said police got him “high as fuck”.

The story was broken by independent journalists based in Minnesota who began recording officers picking up and returning protesters to a local park where the demonstrators have been camped out. Individuals repeatedly claimed that the police would provide them with marijuana, watch them smoke it, then observe their behavior.

Dan Feidt, an independent journalist with the Occupy movement, says he began noticing the activity two weeks ago. Feidt joined with other independent media outlets – including Rogue Media, Communities United Against Police Brutality, and Twin Cities IndyMedia – in documenting what was going on at the park.

The 35-minute video compiled by the group shows law enforcement officers from nearly a half dozen departments transporting people to and from the park. Numerous anonymous individuals interviewed in the video claim that officers had a practice of picking up people off the street who were under the influence of illegal substances, transporting them to a building at a local airport, then observing their behavior and administering evaluations as part of study.

Minnesota is among 48 states – as well as the District of Columbia and Canada – that participate in a so-called Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE) program, aimed at helping officers learn how to spot impairment and troublesome drivers. The program began in Minnesota in 1991 and requires officers to perform evaluations on volunteers, generally recruited from the community, who are high.

The program does not permit officers to provide drugs to subjects, but that’s exactly what Feidt’s video suggests they did.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota State Patrol claims that there was “no evidence” to support the allegations made in the video but on Wednesday the Minnesota department of public safety issued a press release announcing that it had launched a criminal investigation into claims that a Hutchinson police officer provided marijuana to subject in the drug program. The allegation was made by an officer from another law enforcement agency. The DPS also announced that it was suspending the program.

Feidt says the program is consistent with police behavior he’s observed at Occupy camps around the country and told The Guardian:

What we saw happen in many, many different cities was they would take people that had chemical dependency issues, they would take people that had mental illness issues and that kind of thing and they would basically drop them off at the Occupy site

He hopes the video will call attention to the war on drugs. “For me, the cruel and dehumanizing nature of the war on drugs has been a major issue for a long time,” Feidt said. “There’s public debate about this program that never really happened, so I’m really hoping that we can have a constructive debate and finally wind down this incredibly destructive system.”

Minnesota Cops Smoke-up Occupy Protesters, Then Lie is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Last week a judge for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said that eavesdropping legislation, long used by police and their allies to target those who attempted to document their actions, “likely violates” the First Amendment and ordered that authorities be banned from enforcing it.

As Harvey Grossman, legal director of the ACLU noted:

In order to make the rights of free expression and petition effective, individuals and organizations must be able to freely gather and record information about the conduct of government and their agents – especially the police

This ruling couldn’t be more-timely, considering the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago and the recent passing of Chris Drew, who, along with Michael Allison and Tiawanda Moore, was among the most vocal of individuals pushing back against the unjust legislation.

That doesn’t mean those who film police in Illinois (ranked one of the least-free states) will be free from harassment – as readers of CopBlock know it’s not uncommon for someone wearing a badge to levy ridiculous threats on another person in an attempt to deter them from pointing-out claimed double-standards. But the ruling does mean that the implicit threat of being caged for years simply for filming no longer exists. And that’s a step in the right direction.

The ruling in Illinois is part of a larger trend is toward greater transparency.

Massachussets
In August of 2011 the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals overturned draconian wiretapping legislation that had targeted people like Simon Glik and myself and colleague Ademo Freeman. That ruling essentially communicated that public officials (including police) have no expectation of privacy in the course of their duties.

Maryland
In September of 2010 a judge threw-out a felony wiretapping charge against Anthony Graber, noting thatrecording public events is protected under the First Amendment. Graber had been targeted after posting to YouTube a video of his interaction with Maryland State Police employee Joseph D. Uhler.

For more, check out CopBlock’s War on Cameras Map & the related links above

Illinois Gets With the Times – Lifts Threat of Jail for Filming Police is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Guest post from Hazel with Onlineclasses.org:

If you want to learn more about the history of your city, explore the history of corruption within the city’s police department. Police corruption, which can include kickbacks, shakedowns, and protection of or even direct participation in illegal activities, has been around since the creation of the country’s first police force. Initially, the police were not asked to “serve and protect,” but to mediate between criminal and political kingpins as they fought each other for power. Some may say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. But perhaps understanding the history of city and police corruption can help to provide the vision and leadership for a better future. Here are nine police departments with well-documented corrupt pasts.

1. New York Police Department

   Since its establishment in 1844, corruption has been a fact of police life in New York City. From the very beginning, New York’s underpaid and overworked police officers were expected to serve the needs of the city’s political leaders while collecting money from gang leaders, gamblers, and pimps for the privilege of operating relatively unmolested. Back in 1895, officer Alexander S. Williams, took advantage of his appointment as captain of the city’s 21st Precinct, which included the Tenderloin and Gas House districts, to collect money from criminals, including the madams of several brothels, and make a fortune as a result. Williams, who earned his nickname “Clubber,” once said, “There is more law in the end of a policeman’s nightstick than in a decision of the Supreme Court.” After investigation by two committees, Williams resigned, went into the insurance business, and died a multimillionaire. Who says crime doesn’t pay?

2. New Orleans Police Department

   New Orleans Mayor Landrieu released a hopeful, conciliatory statement in the wake of the sentencing of five New Orleans police officers to several years in prison for their roles in shooting unarmed citizens in the chaotic days that followed Hurricane Katrina. “We now have an opportunity to turn the page and to heal,” Landrieu said. “It is my commitment to the people of New Orleans to rebuild and reform the NOPD.” The first police force in the then-French New Orleans was established in 1803, only to be disbanded due to countless complaints from civilians. Given the history of the NOPD, Landrieu definitely has his work cut out for him.

3. Chicago Police Department

   By the end of the 19th century, the city of Chicago enjoyed the dubious reputation of being a haven for “dangerous classes;” a city that was more like an out-of-control frontier town “with an absence of moral virtue.” The Chicago Police department went without large-scale reform until 1960 when eight police officers from the city’s North Side or Summerdale district were charged with running a large-scale burglary ring. Known as the Summerdale Scandal, the case generated unprecedented media attention, and prompted the creation of a much-needed police superintendent role to oversee and enforce rules and regulations within the department.

4. Los Angeles Police Department

   The 1951 Bloody Christmas Scandal, a real-life scandal that appears in author James Ellroy’s book L.A. Confidential and its film version, involved as many as 50, mostly drunk, police officers who took time out from a Christmas party to beat six prisoners for more than 90 minutes. Since more than 100 people either witnessed or knew of the beatings, the incident became public, and prompted the city’s Mexican community to come forward with more charges of police brutality against citizens. In 1952, a grand jury succeeded in convicting only five of the officers involved, and none of them received a sentence amounting to more than a year in prison. And then there was the Rampart scandal and the Rodney King beating.

5. Miami Police Department

   Miami in the ’80s experienced an “epidemic” of police corruption due in part to the enormous amount of cocaine being smuggled into South Florida from Latin America. A cheap, deadly derivative of the drug known as “crack” would infiltrate other cities throughout the U.S., and transform many once relatively peaceful working class neighborhoods into war zones. Police corruption in Miami reached its height in 1986 when, as a result of an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, more than a dozen officers from the police department faced charges that ranged from drug dealing to murder.

6. Sheriff’s Department, Dallas County, Alabama

   Students of Civil Rights history know that Selma, Ala. was the location of a brutal assault on a group of peaceful marchers led by John Lewis of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and Reverend Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by the Selma Police Department led by Sheriff Jim Clark, as well as state troopers, and recently deputized members of the community. Law enforcement officers used nightsticks, horses, and tear gas to indiscriminately attack the peaceful demonstrators. Televised images of the attack inspired even more support for the Civil Rights movement. Sheriff Clark later lost his bid for reelection, went on to sell mobile homes for a while, and in 1978, was busted for conspiracy to import marijuana.

7. Ahome Municipal Police Force

   Ahome is a municipality in the Mexican state of Sinaola. Just last November, Ahome’s entire Police Department, 32 officers and commanders, were arrested by state police for the department’s connection to two powerful drug cartels. Amazingly, the director of the state police who carried out the arrest, “Chuytoño” Aguilar Iniguez, was at one time one of Mexico’s Attorney General’s most wanted men for his connections to kingpins within the Sinaloa drug cartel. After having fled to Cuba in 2004 while undergoing investigation for corruption, Iniguez was granted a sort of immunity in 2009 by a federal court, and returned to Mexico to profit from, er, whoops, we mean “fight” crime.

8. Philadelphia Police Department

   You know you’ve got a corrupt police department when it comes under the scrutiny of Human Rights Watch. HRW has stated that, “the Philadelphia police department (in terms of) corruption and brutality … has one of the worst reputations of big city police departments in the United States.” In the early 1990s, a group of PPD officers, some known throughout the city as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, conducted a series of unreported raids on crack houses where officers would steal from suspects. The arrest of Mumia Abu-Jamal for the murder of a police officer, and the public outcry at his being sentenced to death (this sentence was recently overturned), brought national attention to the PPD’s reputation for brutality and corruption.

9. Baltimore Police Department

   In March 2012, a Baltimore police officer was sentenced for his part in what is known as the Towing Scandal, a criminal ring that included more than 50 other members of the Baltimore Police Department. Vehicles were towed from accident scenes by a towing and repair company owned by two police officers. Other officers were paid to participate in the scam, which generated hundreds to thousands of dollars for those involved. Accident victims were even encouraged by officers not to talk to their insurance companies.

9 Police Departments With Corrupt Pasts is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Write-up below by Nathan Cox originally posted to Virginia CopBlock:

About a year ago I was pulled over ILLEGALLY by officer Shawn Kelley of the VCU Police Department. He pulled me over because he didn’t like what I had say to him as I drove by him, which was “Stop Harassing People, we pay your paycheck.” To read the original story, updates and to see the video click here.

To give a quick synopsis of what happened though:

I was driving on 7th street headed for I64E when I passed a VCU Police officer who was pulled over to the side of the road. I happened to have a bull-horn in my back seat, so I grabbed it and as I drove by the cop said, “Stop Harassing People, We Pay your Pay Check.” He ended up jumping in his car and coming after me for what I said. The rest is on video He initially issued me a “Obstruction of Justice” charge/ citation, I told him I wanted to see his supervisor and would not sign it until a supervisor came to the scene. After much delay, Kelley finally called his supervisor to the scene. During the 15-20 minutes of waiting for him to come, I could see the officer flipping through books and making at least one phone call while in his car. A FOIA request showed that he actually called up the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to figure out what he could charge me with. The Commonwealth Attorney, or an assistant thereof, told him to change the charge to “Disorderly Conduct”. So the supervisor finally showed up, wasn’t helpful, Kelley issued me a citation for Disorderly Conduct.

My initial court appearance I was found guilty for “being a jerk”. After appealing it, the second Judge, reluctantly dismissed the charge and said my speech was protected under the First Amendment.

So the plan was to file a lawsuit against the VCU Police for illegally pulling me over. My attorney, Tom Roberts got everything ready to file and asked VCU if they wanted to settle out of court. After more than a month of negotiating, they settled out of court on $10,000. Unfortunately, I won’t be seeing any of the money because my legal fees were that much – However it’s still a VICTORY FOR JUSTICE.

I’ve tried getting comments from high ranking officers in the VCU PD, asking if they condone officer Kelley pulling me over, no-one is willing to comment.
I fear no lesson has been learned from this. All I wanted was for the Officer and the Police Department to simply admit he pulled me over for my speech, resulting in an unlawful traffic stop.

This is just one more example, of the Rolodex of examples of Police Officers, abusing their authority and desecrating the oath they took.

To ANY Police reading this: Let this be a warning.. and a lesson learned for you guys in Blue, You may have guns, tasers, batons and other debilitating instruments, but you better think twice about abusing your authority, because more and more people are filming the police. May I remind you police officers reading this post, that YOU are PUBLIC SERVANTS, meaning you’re supposed to work FOR the people, not for the CORRUPT lawmakers & against the people. It IS okay to question orders you are given by your superiors. USE your conscience and common sense. USE discretion when choosing what “laws” to uphold.

Ask yourself, is there a victim? Is someone’s property being violated? Someone’s rights being violated? If there answer is NO, then LEAVE PEOPLE ALONE.

Are you aware that MOST of your actions violate the oath you took? Are you aware that MOST of your actions help prop up and propel he “Police State” this country is living under?

Are you aware that your actions help prop up and propel the Prison Industrial Complex? Are you aware that you RUIN PEOPLE’S LIVES who’ve done NO HARM to ANYONE?

Do you realize that you have become MILITARIZED.. and against your own (American) people at that!? I spent 14 months in Iraq and the way the Police operate here in the U.S is IDENTICAL to how the Military operates (most especially overseas). WAKE UP! and BREAK THE CHAIN OF OBEDIENCE

If you are a cop reading this and are interested in learning more, Check out Any of Sheriff Richard Mack’s Books, and Videos. As well as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Do NOT be afraid to take a stand and set your self apart from the “bad apples”. Police ARE waking up to this message of peace and non-violence, just ask Bradley Jardis, located in New Hampshire.

Feel free to check out my recent speech at an End the Drug War Rally at VCU, on April 20th, 2012, click here.

For more, read the overview of Nathan’s settlement from CBS-6 (WTVR): http://wtvr.com/2012/05/11/holmberg-vcu-pays-10000-for-improper-police-stop/

VA CopBlock Founder Receives $10,000 Settlement Check for Illegal Stop is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

PSOSGT, a frequent commenter on CopBlock.org, submitted the following as a guest post. He didn’t think it would be published but after reading it I thought it would make a good blog, including my responses to his statements. PSOSGT’s statements are block quoted.

I realize this isn’t going to be posted, but I think these two stories shed SOME light as to why police don’t like people behind them, filming or just watching, while dealing someone else. Yes, we use the tired saying of “officer safety” but these are two examples that happened over 2 days that show why police get “jumpy” at times when people walk up to traffic stops, or any other investigation.

Cops can’t read minds. We don’t know if your going to talk, film, watch, or pull out a gun.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/21040-sergeant-david-enzbrenner

Sergeant David Enzbrenner was shot and killed in an unprovoked attack while assisting a code enforcement officer serve a nuisance order at a home near the intersection of 12th. and Division Streets shortly after 4:00 pm.

A person unrelated to the order suddenly approached and opened fire without warning, killing Sergeant Enzbrenner. The man then committed suicide. It is believed the man held a grudge against law enforcement officers because his father was serving a life sentence without parole in Louisiana.

Ah, it says that, “a person unrelated to the order suddenly approached and opened fire.” There was no preventing this, nor is there any one reason as to why this happened, other than some guy wanted to kill this guy. There was no camera involved in this case and a number of things can be distractions, so where do you draw the line? Or why even draw a line? If filming officers makes their job more dangerous then I suggest they stop forcing people to pay their salaries.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/21038-police-officer-i-deriek-w-crouse

Officer Deriek Crouse was shot and killed while making a traffic stop in the parking lot of the university’s Cassell Coliseum, near McComas Hall, at approximately 12:15 pm.

At some point during the stop, a suspect unrelated to the traffic stop approached his unmarked car and shot him once in the head as he sat in his vehicle. The suspect fled on foot to a nearby location on campus and changed clothes. He was located in the university’s I-Lot approximately 45 minutes after the shooting and committed suicide as a Montgomery County deputy attempted to contact him

Again, this seems to be a predetermined event. Maybe this officer was corrupt? Maybe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Maybe, just maybe, this was a good officer who paid the ultimate price for another’s mistake. Officers who die in the line of duty are honored – parade and all – yet when officers kill someone the deceased are criminalized.

Neither of these examples prove PSOSGT’s point, that officer need to be wary of people filming. For one, both officers were preoccupied with enforcing some sort of victimless crime – code enforcement and traffic stop – which could be part of the reason for such hate towards LEO’s. Second,  if someone had been filming they would have caught these murders on video and could have helped hold those responsible. In case it wasn’t justified, like when cops kill innocent people for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

PSOSGT goes on to say,

On a personal level, and I’ve said it before. Showing only 1 side to the story, without context isn’t going to win you any favors, or bonus points with people if you truly want to change how police conduct business.

Everyone has a bias, no matter what they say. It’s natural. If there is a bias, and we show one side of policing, I think it’s obvious by the name – CopBlock.org. Atleast we don’t tell you this is the “No Spin Zone” while we jam our beliefs down your throat. Also, I encourage anyone to look at the other side of the coin, watch COPS, visit PoliceOne.com and research as much as you can about police.

How many LEO’s have ever thought about starting their own police service, without the government’s permission, that actually protects people? Are any officers out there sick of the politics involved with their jobs? Forced to do things they don’t like, told what laws/actions to arrest people for? Wouldn’t it be great to sit at home – or do routine visits to costumers – and wait for someone who actually needs help to call you? Have you ever thought of working for yourself, rather than the man?

I agree with anyone who looks at a call, video, report, or cops actions and says, “that’s fucked up” or disagree with what happened. It’s common. But the vast majority of people out there have NO IDEA what or why an officer acted or reacted in any given situation. I think it’s just as important to see what is put INTO law enforcement, that the result of an officer doing his/her job.

I think alot of us do see what’s put into law enforcement… law, which is simply words on paper that I may or may not agree with and enforce, which means if I don’t like it I’ll be punished. So, enforcement is what happens to those who don’t agree with the laws. And an officer’s job isn’t about what they believe but enforcing laws, even ones they know are bad/unconstitutional.

What do you think? Do cameras distract officers? Were these good examples to back that claim? Are people who aren’t police officers less creditable when discussing police issues? Would you hire a private company to provide you protection services if offered (instead of paying taxes to your local department)?

Why police don’t want you too close. is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

A Riverside, CA District Attorney has announced that police officer Enoch Clark has been charged with three felony counts of assault and one felony count of use of force causing great bodily injury for a routine traffic stop that resulted in permanent damage.

“On Feb. 21, 2012, Clark was on duty, working patrol in the city of Beaumont,” the district attorney said. “During his shift, Clark was involved in a possible driving under the influence investigation. While conducting that investigation, there was an altercation between the officer and a woman he was attempting to handcuff.

“Clark then pulled out a less-than-lethal device issued by his department called a JPX device. This device uses a ‘wafer’ of gun powder to propel a stream of pepper spray . . .  at a speed of more than 400 mph.”

“The minimum distance the device is to be utilized is about five feet with the optimum distance to be used being between six and 16 feet,” according to the
district attorney. “It was determined that Clark fired the JPX at the woman’s face from a distance of about 10 inches. Both of the victim’s eyes were severely injured and it is doubtful she will see again, according to medical reports.

The victim, Monique Hernandez is 30 year old. The incident occurred on February 21, in front of her own home. She apparently disputed with Clark during a routine sobriety check when he shot her.

Hernandez told the press that her deepest regret is that she will never again be able to see her 10-year-old daughter. “My daughter currently is not staying with me right now. She’s staying with my mom, because I can’t take care of her right now. I’ll probably imagine her looking like a 10-year-old all her life – that’s the worst part,” she told reporters on Tuesday.

“The force they used was excessive,” said Hernandez’ attorney. “She had no weapons. She posed no threat. Preliminarily, investigation shows both her eyes are affected. She’s totally blind in one eye.”

Clark has plead not guilty to all four felony counts. He returns to court on May 29th.

Police Officer Blinds a Mother with a JPX Device is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

By DAVY VARA

Why is it that people always refer to the New York City Police Department as the best police department in the country?

The N.Y.P.D. is actually one of the most corrupt police forces in the U.S. The department has a long history of committing some of the most heinous crimes
against innocent citizens. Take, for instance, the 1999 execution of Amadou Diallo, a 23 year old Guinean immigrant who was shot at 41 times by N.Y.P.D. cops Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon, and Kenneth Boss. Diallo, who was unarmed and simply had his wallet in his hand, was hit 19 times. Just over one year later, a jury acquitted all of the cops.

Also, Abner Louima, a 30 year old Haitian immigrant, who suffered severe internal damage when N.Y.P.D. officer Justin Volpe sodomized him with a broomstick in Brooklyn’s 70th precint. Afterwards, Volpe proudly displayed the excrement and blood stained broomstick to his fellow officers as he bragged that he had just “broke a man”. Volpe then threatened to kill Louima and his family members if Louima told anyone. Justin Volpe was later convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Sean Bell, executed by N.Y.P.D. undercover cops on the morning of his wedding day, in Queens. Bell had just left a club with friends when he was confronted by a plain clothes N.Y.P.D. cop who didn’t identify himself. When Bell sped off, the cop fired 50 rounds at Bell’s vehicle, killing Bell and severely injuring his friends. And, even though neither Bell or any of his friends had a gun, the N.Y.P.D. smeared Bell’s character after the incident, and his friends were under investigation instead of the cops!

During last year’s annual West Indian American Day Parade, N.Y.P.D. officers used facebook to post extremely disturbing comments, violating the department’s policy barring officers from making “discourteous or disrespectful remarks” about race or ethnicity. The facebook group, which totalled 1,200 members, posted comments from N.Y.P.D. officers such as Dan Rodney who stated “I say have the parade one more year, and when they all gather, drop a bomb and wipe them all out.”

Other comments from N.Y.P.D. officers included calling people “animals’ and “savages”. The comments on facebook, included references to West Indian and
African-American neighborhoods, and were so offensive that some N.Y.P.D. officers themselves posted warnings to other officers advising them to be careful that Internal Affairs “rats” don’t take notice of the comments. However, many didn’t seem to care, and went on posting comments such as “Let them kill each other”.

In a recent New York Times editorial piece, a strong point is made of the need for a “strong, independent agency to investigate serious complaints about New York City’s police force.” After several corruption cases involving the N.Y.P.D., including seven narcotics officers convicted of planting drugs on people, three officers convicted of robbing a perfume warehouse, eight current N.Y.P.D. officers charged with smuggling guns into the state, and a federal lawsuit accusing the N.Y.P.D. of engaging in racially biased “stop and frisk” incidents, there is serious doubt that the department can do an effective job addressing misconduct and corruption without outside help.

The N.Y.P.D.’s Internal Affairs Bureau, which is responsible for investigating complaints of police misconduct, failed to uncover any of these problems. In fact, they were brought to light by a local district attorney, the F.B.I. and, in one case, a New Jersey police department.

Recently, N.Y.P.D. officers, gathered outside State Supreme Court in the Bronx, for the unsealing of indictments against 16 of their fellow officers, who were arraigned on charges of corruption, after a three-year investigation into the N.Y.P.D.’s fixing of traffic and parking tickets, which in all cost the City of New York, close to $ 2 Million dollars. Officer Jose Ramos, a member of the N.Y.P.D.’s 40th precint, and whose suspicious behavior led to the ticket fixing investigation in the first place, was accused of two dozen crimes, including attempted robbery, attempted grand larceny, transporting what he thought was heroin for drug dealers and revealing the identity of a confidential informant. Ramos is facing up to 50 years in prison.

The officers yelled “Down with the D.A.” and “N.Y.P.D. Commisioner Ray Kelly, is a hypocrite.” Inside, more than 100 off-duty N.Y.P.D. officers lined the courthouse hallways and stood outside the courtroom. The officers prevented members of the news media from filming their colleagues by blocking cameras, grabbing lenses and shoving television camera crews into walls.

The outpouring of angry officers and their behavior was in violation of N.Y.P.D. policy which states “Conduct which brings discredit to the department or conduct in violation of law is unacceptable and will result in disciplinary measures.” Perhaps the best of example of the N.Y.P.D.’s disgusting, unprofessional conduct, despite always being lauded as the best police department in the country, is how at one point, the crowd of at least 350 officers outside the courthouse began chanting “E.B.T.” at people lined up at a benefits center across the street, referring to electronic benefit transfer, the way welfare recipients receive their food stamps and/or cash benefits. A court official who came outside to attempt to calm down the crowd of officers, was insulted with profanities by the N.Y.P.D. cops. The indicted N.Y.P.D. officers came out of the courthouse pumping their fists, as the crowd of their fellow officers burst into cheers. Once the rowdy crowd of N.Y.P.D. cops had cleared, the street was littered with refuse.

Eugene J. O’Donnell, a professor of police studies at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice makes a very powerful and telling point, in referring to the N.Y.P.D. when he said “The Police Department is a very angry work force, and that is something that should concern people, because it translates into hostile interactions with people.”

I don’t know about you, but I find it disgusting and downright deplorable whenever I hear the N.Y.P.D. being referred to as “The best police force in the country”. Are you kidding me?

Davy V.

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Editors note – check out this video created after the actions of some NYPD employees at the 2011 West Indian Day Parade:

NYPD: Badges of Dishonor, Corruption and Murder! is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights