Gangsters in Blue

A Collinsville, Illinois, police officer has been charged with four counts of obstruction after pulling over a motorist without cause.

Tillman pulled over Cheryl Helfrich, 50, of Maryville for failure to display any registration and claimed to find a “crack pipe” inside Helfrich’s car. He arrested the woman and the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office charged her with unlawful possession of a controlled substance on Jan. 18.

Then, in March, the woman’s attorney told the state’s attorney that Helfrich did have temporary registration affixed to her car at the time of the stop and asked whether a video or audio recording was made of the incident as it wasn’t mentioned in Tillman’s report, according to a press release from the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Per procedure, the Collinsville police department requires in-car videos to be logged if the end result is a felony charge.

The state’s attorney’s office reviewed the tapes and discovered Helfrich did have a valid temporary registration on her vehicle, even though it is not mentioned in Tillman’s report. His report also did not log any video or audio recording into evidence. The recording, which also showed Helfrich was Tillman’s neighbor, was backed up by the department’s system, according to the release.

The state’s attorney’s office dismissed the felony charge against Helfrich on March 13 and began reviewing Tillman’s actions.

“There is no allegation that the evidence was planted, but because it was an unlawful stop, it would have probably been inadmissible in court,” said Stephanee Smith, spokeswoman for the state’s attorney.

The Collinsville police department suspended Tillman, according to the release.

State’s Attorney Thomas Gibbons commended the Collinsville police for investigating the matter and bringing it to his attention.

It’s nice to see an officer held accountable for an illegal stop, lying about the registration, and for apparently either failing to turn on his dash camera or erasing the video after the fact. But these are pretty serious charges, and seem a bit out of place for jurisdiction known for bad stops and questionable searches.

I thought at first that this might be a reaction to the negative publicity over the Terrance Huff case, but the grand jury investigation began about two weeks before my Huffington Post article on Terrance Huff gave the story some national exposure, and about two months before Huff filed his lawsuit. So the timing doesn’t quite work.

To be fair, Collinsville Police Chief Scott Williams did initially try to fire Officer Michael Reichert, the cop involved in the Terrance Huff case (among others). It was a state appeals court that ordered Reichert back on the force. Williams also then went on to give Reichert awards, has since publicly defended him, and was rather duplicitous with me when I interviewed him. But a little empathy for Williams, here: I’d imagine it’s pretty damned difficult to balance a desire to do the right thing with pushback from a cop-friendly appeals court, with abiding by the terms of a police union contract he didn’t negotiate, with trying to simultaneously maintain morale among, respect from, and authority over the officers in his department.

That isn’t to say I agree with all of Williams’ decisions. I’m only pointing out that generally speaking, even a conscientious, well-intentioned police chief can catch a lot of blowback from a lot of different places when he tries to start holding bad cops accountable.

Just look at what they’re doing to Chief Ken Burton in Columbia, Missouri.

• People really did this?
• Something else to worry about: Worms eating your brain.
• Videos exonerate photographers wrongly charged with crimes in New York, Seattle. Be sure to appreciate those first three paragraphs.
• Walter Olson takes on Nicholas Kristof’s latest crusade: Boycotting alcohol manufacturers because of alcoholism on American Indian reservations.
• Pakistan bans Twitter.
• Congressman from the party of limited government procured millions in earmarks to purchase $17,000 helicopter drip pans from a contractor in his district.
• Before he was taken off the case, a Texas judge was preparing to posthumously exonerate Cameron Todd Willingham.
• Photo of the day (via Brian Tannebaum, via Carlos Miller):

Here’s a bit more on that CPD raid mentioned in the link roundup below.

Three out-of-state men arrested in a Bridgeport apartment raid days before the NATO summit were charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, providing material support for terrorism and possession of an explosive or incendiary device, their attorney and police said early Saturday.

The arrests were the result of a month-long investigation into a group suspected of making Molotov cocktails — crude bombs usually created by filling glass bottles with gasoline, according to law enforcement sources and police records obtained by the Tribune.

But the National Lawyers Guild, which is representing the men, said they were simply NATO protesters who had beer-making equipment when the apartment they were staying at was raided overnight Wednesday.

The men also were in a car that was stopped by police a week ago, leading to a YouTube video of the stop that has prompted protesters to complain Chicago Police were harassing the occupants, said Sarah Gelsomino, a lawyer with the guild.

She called the charges “an attempt to continue this intimidation campaign on activists. Charging these people who are here to peacefully protest against NATO for terrorism, when in reality the police have been terrorizing activists in Chicago, is absolutely outrageous.”

I’ve posted the video below. From the audio, it appears that police pulled the car over for turning around in a “private driveway.” The cops then proceed to tease, harass, and threaten the occupants of the car. At one point, one cop asks a fellow officer if the law permits him to lock up one of the occupants for wearing a bandanna in public. The headline quote is from a cop the video, who is waxing nostalgic for the 1968 DNC riots. You’ll also hear the line, “OK, now we’ll beat your white ass,” which is how one of the cops responded to an accusation of racism.

Back in 2009, Chicago PD sent a bunch of cops to Pittsburgh to help out with security at the G20 summit. While they’re, the got themselves a souvenir by arresting a kid, charging him with BS crimes, then forcing him to pose with them for a trophy photo.

But I still think my favorite story from recent political protests is this t-shirt, which was distributed by the Denver police union during the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

• Interesting article about the ecosystem of the U.S. Senate.
• Department of Energy continued to pay employees travel per diems 14 years after they had permanently relocated to their new job sites. Total payouts amounted to about $1.8 million. (Insert joke about how only the federal government can reduce the cost of health care.)
• Chicago PD preemptively raids an apartment occupied by NATO protesters. Finds a home beer-making kit.
• Here’s more on that police beating of a teenager in Houston.
• Cop attempts to photograph another cop sleeping on the job. Sleeping cop pulls gun on camera-wielding cop.
• Whiskey and sex have certainly been paired before, but never quite like this.
• Federal government recommends that prison staff convicted of sexual assault be terminated. Well, yeah. You would think.

Houston has—or at least had—a group called “Ministers Against Crime,” which teams the city’s clergy up with Houston police officers for a number of crime prevention and police promotion programs. This interview includes a pretty good summary of the group and what it does.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the program. It seems there could be some church/state concerns, particularly when the department starts handing out “badges” to religious leaders (although it isn’t clear if the badges imply any real authority). On the other hand, policing has grown far too reactionary. One of the byproducts of the militarization trend is the “us versus them” mentality it tends to ingrain in cops, even those that don’t serve on SWAT teams or drug task forces. It’s generally a good idea for cops to be more active in the communities they serve. And churches obviously are a pretty important part of many communities.

In any case, the alliance in Houston is breaking down, because Houston police don’t want the ministers they’re working with to criticize them. The fissures started forming when a Houston police officer was recently acquitted on criminal charges after beating a teenager.

Eyewitness News spoke with the coordinator of the group Houston Ministers Against Crimes and he says it’s situations like the Chad Holley case why they are no longer working with the Houston Police Department.

“This is their rule book. They took our group, the Houston Ministers Against Crime, and changed it to PACA (Police and Clergy Alliance),” said the Rev. Robert Jefferson with the Cullen Missionary Baptist Church.

Reverend Jefferson is one of dozens of ministers who are no longer working with HPD. Houston Ministers Against Crime and the police department had a partnership for more than three decades. But just recently, HPD adopted new guidelines for the Police and Clergy Alliance, also called PACA.

“In PACA, you cannot speak out against the city, nor the police department, you cannot associate yourself with people who are speaking out, and you cannot cause any kind of problem in the city as long as you’re carrying a PACA badge,” said Rev. Jefferson.

Wednesday’s verdict in the Chad Holley case, Rev. Jefferson says, is an example as a case he would not be able to discuss under the new guidelines. But since turning in his PACA badge, he spoke openly to us about it.

“Yes, I do feel like they whooped that boy unmercifully and somebody should be punished,” Rev. Jefferson said.

Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland says he has done nothing to curb anyone’s First Amendment rights to speak or say what they want.

“But as a member of PACA, if you are representing PACA, obviously we don’t endorse any political views, and I think that’s proper,” said Chief McClelland.

“It’s saying shut up, muzzle it, don’t say nothing or we take your badge. That’s what it says,” Rev. Jefferson said.

Part of the new PACA guidelines are that members can’t hold a press conference or press briefing to condemn city administration or the Houston Police Department. In addition, members aren’t allowed to represent anyone in any matter adverse to the city or HPD.

If the point of the program was to promote and celebrate Houston’s police officers, I suppose you can’t really fault HPD, here. If the intent was to nurture dialogue and relationships between the department and the city’s churches on crime and policing issues—a far more productive objective—then the new HPD guidelines are obviously counterproductive.

• Interesting contrarian take on gay marriage.
• Puppycide: Family reports identity theft. Cop shows up to take report, kills their 11-year-old lab mix.
• I’d be okay if the first three words of this headline never appeared together again. (Possibly NSFW.)
• Yet another progressive group fighting for transparency in political donations and “getting money out of politics” . . . that refuses to disclose its own donors.
• Headline of the day.
• Louisiana prison has inmates put on the Passion Play. No church/state issues here! More in-depth look at Angola’s surreal “Prison Rodeo” here.
• Horrible story of an artist wrongly accused of raping his own daughters.
• DOJ slaps the Baltimore Police Department for giving its officers vague instructions that don’t adequately protect the right to record. Holder and the DOJ continue to impress on this issue.

• America’s is about to get hit with a massive surge in addiction.
• New Yorkers seem to be exceptionally “furtive.” Especially the black and brown ones.
• Good reporting here on police militarization in Ohio.
• Puppycide. Cops show up at the wrong house, kill the owner’s dog.
• Another look at the ugly federal pardon process.
• Fort Lee, New Jersey has banned texting while walking.
• Your waistline is apparently a threat to U.S. national security.

• L.A. Sheriff’s Department deputies harass, arrest photographer for taking pictures of them.
• All of the police officers in Germany fired just 85 bullets last year.
• Bloomberg accidentally explains why New York’s Stop and Frisk program is unconstitutional.
• No-fly list nabs 18-month-old would-be terrorist.
• Remember how U.S. officials keep saying that the violence in Mexico means we’re “winning” the drug war? We must really be winning the hell out of it.
• Dumb federal law means military dogs more likely to be euthanized after service than adopted.

In Topeka:

Several neighbors in the 1100 block of S.W. Plass Ave. were upset Monday night after a Topeka police officer drew his weapon and shot a dog to death.

“He drew his gun and fired five or six shots,” said neighbor Constantinos Miklas Acton. “He killed that dog dead for no reason.” . . .

A few minutes later, Acton took a break and saw the dog, a German shepherd and border collie mix, galloping playfully toward the officer.

A few seconds later, shots rang out.

“He knew I saw it,” Acton said. “He really got hot under the collar.”

Topeka police Sgt. Jennifer Cross didn’t release the officer’s name Monday night. She did confirm there had been several calls made about a barking dog and another dog possibly loose in the area.

She said the officer tried to make contact with the dog’s owner, and when the dog approached the officer, “he felt in danger.”

“His training is to protect himself,” Cross said.

And in Cheatham County, Tennessee:

A Cheatham County man said deputies gunned down his dog, and then disposed of the body in the most disrespectful way possible.  Now, he wants answers about how it happened.

Brandon Reed said his pit bull, Kojo, disappeared last Tuesday.

“I had a couple dogs show up in my yard, and they were just kinda hanging out, my dog was out, and he was playing with them, and they were laying around and stuff,” he said.  “Evidently, Kojo followed them back to their home.” . . .

“She said she called the police because my dog was there and he was causing some type of trouble, or she felt threatened,” Reed said.

Sheriff John Holder told NewsChannel 5 his deputies shot the dog after arriving on the scene, but said they did so because Kojo was being aggressive.

“My officers saw this dog come toward them, and my officers shot him,” Sheriff Holder said.  “And we’ll take responsibility for shooting the dog, but we would not have shot the dog if he had not shown some kind of aggression.” . . .

“She said, well, when the officers shot the dog, they dragged it into the woods and threw if off the bluff, which is right behind their house,” he said.  “There’s no way I could’ve found it without rappelling.  So I mean, I don’t even know where he is, I didn’t even get to bury him.”

Sheriff Holder insists that his deputies would not go that far.

“We left the dog there with the people who called us, and they said they would destroy the dog, bury the dog, I think is what they said,” said the sheriff.

That never happened, which is why Reed is so upset.

“It was all handled poorly, the whole situation,” he said.  “It’s so disrespectful to Kojo.  And he deserved more.”

NewsChannel 5 spoke to the woman who called 911 on that day.

She did not want to go on camera, but told us the deputies helped them carry Kojo into the woods, and to the top of that 150-foot bluff.

She said they simply placed the body near the edge, though, and somehow, it must have rolled off.

Image courtesy of the @firehat Twitter feed.

• Surprising photos of famous people.
• Another raid gone wrong. Dog dead, federal agents wounded.
• Justice.
• Milwaukee police chief who once said he’d instruct his officers to completely disregard the rule of law, and instead throw people to the ground at gunpoint for exercising their constitutional rights . . . is now facing multiple investigations of his police department for civil rights, excessive force, and sexual assaults.
• The answer is no.
• This article on an accidental police shooting includes all of your usual lack of accountability features: passive voice (“one officer’s gun went off, and the woman was shot.”), no details on the nature of the injury, and refusal to release the officer’s name.
• Headline of the day.
• Runner-up.
• Adam Serwer on the political fight to end indefinite detention.
• Dekalb, Georgia officer who shot a chained dog a few months ago is now under investigation for kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach.