Tag: police accountability

Cops Use Phony Diagnoses To Explain Away Stun Gun Deaths

A small change in wording by medical examiners could have a big impact on how deaths in police custody are reported. In March, the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) said “excited delirium” should not be cited as a cause of death.

“Instead,” the organization said, “NAME endorses that the underlying cause, natural or unnatural (to include trauma), for the delirious state be determined (if possible) and used for death certification.” While that guidance is not legally binding, it further undermines the concept of excited delirium, which proponents describe as a state of wild agitation or distress, often resulting from illicit drug use, that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest. NAME now joins the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association in not recognizing excited delirium as a cause of death.

The controversial term was popularized in the 1980s by a Miami forensic pathologist who was study sudden deaths of cocaine users, most of them in police custody. Nearly all “excited delirium” victims die after being tased or physically restrained by police. Since 2000, a 2017 Reuters investigation found, excited delirium had been linked to at least 276 deaths following the use of a stun gun, which suggested that electrocution, not excitement or agitation, was largely responsible.

The diagnosis has been used in other scenarios to clear police or other state actors. In 2019, three Aurora, Colorado, police officers accosted 23-year-old Elijah McClain as he was walking home from a convenience store and violently restrained him. McClain died after two paramedics diagnosed him with excited delirium and forcibly injected him with an overdose of ketamine, a powerful sedative. From January 2019 through September 2020, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office found, Aurora paramedics injected people with ketamine 22 times in response to what they perceived as excited delirium.

Keep reading

Justice Department Finds ‘Deeply Disturbing’ and Illegal Policing in Minneapolis

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced today that a Justice Department investigation found that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) engaged in “deeply disturbing” and illegal policing that violated the constitutional rights of residents.

A report by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division concluded that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) used unreasonable and excessive force, discriminated against black and Native American residents, and retaliated against reporters and citizens who recorded the police, violating their First Amendment rights.

The investigation was launched in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, and Garland said it uncovered the systemic problems that led to Floyd’s murder.

“George Floyd’s death had an irrevocable impact on his family, on the Minneapolis community, on our country, and on the world,” Garland said in a press conference. “The patterns and practices of conduct the Justice Department observed during our investigation are deeply disturbing. They erode the community’s trust in law enforcement. And they made what happened to George Floyd possible.”

The City of Minneapolis cooperated with the Justice Department, and the report notes that it has already taken several steps to reform its practices. City officials and the Justice Department have reached a tentative agreement to enter into a court-enforced settlement, known as a “consent decree,” to fix remaining issues.

Still, the report offers withering criticism of MPD’s use-of-force practices, finding that officers unreasonably and gratuitously used bodily force, Tasers, pepper spray, and firearms, including on minors and suspects who were compliant or handcuffed.

In one instance, an MPD officer tased a man who was filming him while a DOJ investigator was riding along in the squad car. The report also notes a 2017 incident where an officer fatally shot a woman who approached his squad car and “spooked” him. The woman had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in a nearby alley.

The report found MPD also routinely violated the First Amendment rights of people who criticized, protested, or recorded them, including credentialed media.

Keep reading

Men accused of mutilating corpse won’t face trial, a casualty of Antioch police scandal

Contra Costa County prosecutors have dismissed felony charges against two men accused of mutilating a woman’s corpse — the latest case to be fouled by a racist text message scandal that rocked the Antioch Police Department.

Ashton Montalvo and Deangelo Boone were arrested and charged in October 2022 with arson and mutilation after the burned body of Mykaella Sharlman, 25, was found near a hiking trail in Antioch.

Sharlman’s autopsy ruled out homicide, but Montalvo and Boone were charged with setting Sharlman’s body on fire and putting it in a garbage can, according to the Mercury News in San Jose.

Sharlman‘s death was attributed to a fentanyl overdose, according to Bay Area television station KNTV.

In April, the Mercury News reported on an FBI and county prosecutor’s office investigation into the Antioch Police Department that revealed dozens of officers had been sending racist and homophobic messages to one another for years, using anti-Black slurs and other derogatory terms.

The report sent shock waves through the department, with more than 40 officers implicated in the scandal.

The case against Montalvo and Boone “relied heavily” on investigations by several Antioch police officers who were associated with the racist texts, the Contra Costa County district attorney’s office said last week in a statement.

The officers were not identified.

Keep reading

Taxpayers Shell Out $45 Million After Man Paralyzed As Cops Slam Brakes in Police Van, Sending Him Flying

On June 19, 2022, Randy Cox was arrested for an alleged gun charge. Moments later, he would be paralyzed from the waist down — his treatment reminiscent of Freddie Gray, who was killed by police during a similar ride.

This week, the City of New Haven announced that the taxpayers of Connecticut will pay $45 million to settle a lawsuit with Cox.

News 8 reports that they spoke with the sister of Richard “Randy” Cox, who remains focused on getting Cox the care he needs. The money from the settlement will undoubtedly help.

“If a situation like this happens again, hopefully, others won’t stand around and watch,” LaToya Boomer said, quoting her brother.

“He appreciates the mayor and the police chief for keeping their word and holding everyone accountable,” Boomer said.

The accountability Boomer is referring to happened last November when the officers involved were charged.

In November, five New Haven police officers were charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons — all misdemeanors. The officers were given a $25,000 bond. The officers involved are Officer Oscar Diaz, Sgt. Betsy Segui, Officer Ronald Pressley, Officer Jocelyn Lavandier, and Officer Luis Rivera.

Two of the officers involved were fired, while two others will learn their fate at a Board of Police Commissioners meeting later this month. A fifth officer retired following the incident.

“We need to be transparent and accountable. Period,” said New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson. “You cannot treat people the way that Mr. Cox was treated.”

Keep reading

Are Police Inherently Less Competent Than Citizens?

Qualified immunity says some people should be held to a lower legal standard than everyone else under Anglo-American common law, mostly government officials in their formal duties—but also stock holders for decisions made by their companies. The idea behind it is that stockholders and government officials generally don’t have management control over policy decisions and usually shouldn’t be held responsible for those general policies.

Qualified immunity for police is fundamentally different. It says that police aren’t responsible enough to be held to the high legal standard which we hold other citizen-amateurs in the exact same situations.

Consider the duel case of a police officer and a citizen with a concealed-carry license coming upon a woman being raped in an alley. Qualified immunity holds the police officer to a lower legal standard than the citizen in any intervention to stop the ongoing rape.

The argument for granting police qualified immunity from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits is that they have to face deadly situations often, sometimes on a daily basis, whereas other citizens may only face the same split-second, life-threatening decision once or twice in a lifetime.

I’ve always found this to be a strange argument. Why is it that the more experience they have, the less competent a policeman becomes? In what other profession does a person become less competent as they gain more experience? Do carpenters become less competent with experience? Engineers? Doctors? Politicians?

Okay, you’ve got me there on that last one.

But it seems only when dealing with government employees does someone in a profession become less efficient and less competent as they obtain more experience.

Keep reading

Parents Of Christian Glass Getting $19 Million Settlement

The family of a man from Colorado who was shot and killed by a deputy last year will be awarded a $19 million settlement, marking the largest payout of its kind in the state’s history.

The incident occurred in Silver Plume on June 11 when 22-year-old Christian Glass, a resident of Boulder, contacted 911 for assistance after his SUV became stuck in a rock pile.

Based on body camera footage and an autopsy report provided by the family’s legal representatives, it was observed that Glass appeared to be holding a knife at the time of the shooting. Despite nearly 70 minutes of negotiations and requests, Glass refused to exit his Honda Pilot, resulting in him being shot five times.

On Tuesday, his parents, Sally and Simon Glass, reached a multi-million dollar settlement with Clear Creek County, the state of Colorado, the city of Georgetown, and the town of Idaho Springs.

This settlement represents the largest amount awarded for a police-related killing in the history of Colorado. As part of the agreement, Clear Creek County has committed to establishing a public park in memory of Glass. Additionally, they will establish a dedicated crisis response team by January 1 of the following year. The state of Colorado will also implement changes in training for law enforcement agencies, which will include the development of a virtual reality scenario focused on de-escalation, designed to reflect the circumstances surrounding Christian Glass’s tragic death.

Keep reading

NYPD reportedly stood by, failed to help Chinatown woman as homeless man stabbed her to death in her own home

In a recently filed lawsuit by the family of 35-year-old Christina Yuna Lee, the Chinatown woman who was killed early in the morning on February 13, 2022 by a homeless man who followed her into her apartment, the victim’s family alleged that two NYPD officers heard her screams “for at least five minutes” and did nothing.

The New York Post reports that two unidentified cops dispatched out of the 5th Precinct responded to Lee’s 911 phone call, which she made while being attacked, and the cops responded within four minutes, “heard Ms. Lee screaming for help” but “failed to gain entry to Ms. Lee’s apartment until Ms. Lee had been stabbed more than 40 times by her attacker and succumbed to her injuries,” according to the lawsuit. 

According to the lawsuit, made against the city and the NYPD, the cops allegedly spoke to the killer “through the closed door of Ms. Lee’s apartment” and “Despite having reason to believe Ms. Lee’s life was in imminent danger, (the officers) failed to gain entry to Ms. Lee’s apartment or otherwise provide her with any potentially life-saving police or medical assistance at that time.”

The lawsuit, filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court, is seeking unspecified damages.

The victim’s aunt, Boksun Lee, said in the court filing that the cops did not enter her niece’s apartment until after she died.

Christina Yuna Lee, a digital producer originally from New Jersey, entered her Chrystie Street apartment around 4:20 am that morning and was allegedly followed by 25-year-old Assamad Nash, a homeless man out on bail for previous alleged violent crimes and who had been convicted of petty larceny and robbery. Nash has been charged with murder for Lee’s killing.

Keep reading

Taxpayers Shell Out $400K After School Cops Beat the Hell Out of a Child Then Framed Him

Another chilling incident showcasing the deeply entrenched culture of abuse and deceit within the American law enforcement mixture with public education has come to light. Riverside County taxpayers were forced to make amends in the amount of $400,000 to Daniel Silvas, the father of a 13-year-old boy who was allegedly assaulted and falsely accused of resisting arrest by sheriff’s deputies in 2018.

The boy, a freshman at San Jacinto High School at the time of the incident, faced a harrowing ordeal on only his second day at school. It began when he was singled out by security officer Jesus Peraza under the pretense of a suspicion of impending trouble, a suspicion that attorney Jerry Steering, representing the boy, ties back to fights at the school the previous day.

The boy, aware of his innocence, chose to protest and walk away from the confrontation, a decision that triggered a chain of events culminating in an alleged assault and subsequent framing. The school’s resource deputy Derrick Bunn and the security officer followed him in what the lawsuit describes as an “intimidating” manner. The situation escalated when the boy asked the two to stop tailing him, leading to Deputy Bunn reportedly shoving the boy to the ground.

What followed was a spectacle of police brutality, with Bunn repeatedly screaming expletives at the minor while beating him. Not wanting to miss out on the sadistic beating of a child, Deputy Timothy Dunlap joined the fray. Despite video evidence that contradicted their claims, the deputies and Peraza maintained that the boy had taken a fighting stance and cursed at them.

Keep reading

DHS Official Gets Life for Using His Federal Authority to Rape, Abuse, and Then Silence Women Victims

In a chilling example of a trusted government official abusing his power to carry out his depravity, a disgraced special agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was sentenced to life in federal prison for sexually assaulting two women and leveraging his official position to prevent them from reporting his violent conduct. John Jacob Olivas, 48, of Riverside, California, was found guilty of three counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and sentenced to life in prison this week.

It is worth noting that while HSI had individuals like Olivas in their ranks raping women and silencing them, Homeland Security was busy referring to people who questioned the COVID lockdowns as “domestic terrorists.” This disturbing irony highlights the immense power and authority that comes with law enforcement positions and their ability to demonize the innocent while hell unfolds within their ranks.

Olivas sought out a position of authority and used it to prey on women, violating their constitutional rights while abusing them sexually. According to victim testimony, he made it clear to his victims that the police would not be responsive to any report they made about him due to his status as a federal agent. He even threatened them with retaliation, such as making them “disappear,” having their children taken away, and getting them arrested on fake criminal charges.

One victim testified that Olivas tried to rape her “after making it clear to her that the police would not be responsive to any report she would make about Olivas because he was ‘above a cop,’ and ‘untouchable’ and ‘invisible’ to police” because of his federal position, the U.S. attorney’s office statement said.

Keep reading

Video showed cop trying to stop his partner from killing a man. Police investigators never even asked about the footage.

In the spring of 2019, two New York City Police Department officers entered the Bronx apartment of Kawaski Trawick. The 32-year-old personal trainer and dancer had called 911 after locking himself out.

But 112 seconds after their arrival, footage showed, one of the officers shot and killed Trawick, despite the officer’s more-experienced partner repeatedly telling him not to use force.

When an internal investigation later cleared the officers — saying “no wrongdoing was found” — the NYPD offered no explanation for its reasoning. But records obtained by ProPublica can now reveal how the department came to that conclusion.

Investigators never explored key exchanges between the two officers in the run-up to the shooting. They also never followed up with the officers when their accounts contradicted the video evidence.

“Any conversation between you and your partner?” the head of the investigative unit asked Officer Herbert Davis hours after the shooting.

“No,” Davis answered.

That wasn’t true.

After arriving at Trawick’s apartment and finding him holding a stick and a bread knife, body-worn camera footage shows that Davis, who is Black, told his less-experienced white partner, Officer Brendan Thompson, not to use his Taser. “Don’t, don’t, don’t,” he said, motioning for Thompson to step back.

Thompson fired his Taser anyway, causing Trawick to become enraged, and Davis then tried to stop Thompson from shooting Trawick. “No, no, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,” Davis said, before briefly pushing Thompson’s gun down.

The investigators had access to all that footage. They never asked either officer about it.

ProPublica obtained the NYPD’s full internal investigation, including audio of interviews with both officers, via a Freedom of Information Law request.

Keep reading