Tag: police state

How Effective Are Police?

A 2020 paper published in the Alabama Law Review and written by Shima Baughman, professor of law at the University of Utah, puts paid to the illusion that cops solve crimes.

TV cops solve crimes. Real cops, not so much.

From the Abstract (emphasis added):

In recent years, the national conversation in criminal justice has centered on police. Are police using excessive force? Should they be monitored more closely? … The implied core question across these national debates is whether police are effective at their jobs. Yet we have not explored how effective police are or determined how best to measure police effectiveness.

This article endeavors to measure how effectively police perform at their core function — solving crime. The metric most commonly used to measure police effectiveness at crime solving is a “clearance rate”: the proportion of reported crimes for which police arrest a person and refer them for prosecution. But clearance rates are inadequate for many reasons, including the fact that they are highly manipulable. 

This Article therefore provides a set of new metrics that have never been used systematically to study police effectiveness — referred to as “criminal accountability” metrics. Criminal accountability examines the full course of a crime to determine whether police detect and ultimately resolve committed crime. Taking into account the prevalence and the number of crimes police solve, the proportion of crimes solved in America is dramatically lower than we realize. Only with a clearer conversation, rooted in accurate data about the effectiveness of the American police system, can we attempt a path toward increased criminal accountability and public safety.

She goes on to note that “the scholarly discussion has focused on how police are doing crime solving: With too much force? With the right monitoring? With proper technology? These discussions assume that police are solving crimes. The prior scholarship has also tackled police performance in specific arenas but has not examined how to measure whether police are effective at their jobs.”

The goal of the paper, then, is to answer the question, “What is the best way to determine police effectiveness?”

As the Abstract notes, using “clearance rates” is misleading. Clearance rate is defined as “the proportion of reported crime for which police arrest a person and refer them for prosecution.” Part of the problem with this metric is the amount of data it misses. For example:

How many individuals are victims of a crime but failed to report it to police? How often do police arrest the right people? Which crimes are police most likely to make arrests for? How many police clearances result in a conviction? How many crimes did police not make arrests for but resolved in other ways? None of this information is tracked [by the “clearance rate” metric].

The paper concludes that police, indeed, are remarkably ineffective at solving crime, their supposed primary function.

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Cop Shoots Homeless Man Until He Collapses, Shoots Him Again on the Ground to Finish Him Off

Chilling video was released this week showing several officers surrounding a homeless man before one officer dumps seven rounds into him, continuing to shoot him even after he fell to the ground — ensuring his execution.

The incident unfolded on Jan. 3 as police responded to a 911 call from a resident claiming the man was on top of his fence. When officers arrived, they found the unnamed homeless man sitting on the ground, leaning back against the fence. Moments later, the man would be filled with bullet holes.

According to a press release from the Phoenix police department, the man was simply accused of looking over a resident’s fence.

This incident occurred in the area of 35th Avenue and Broadway Road when Phoenix Police received a call about a man trying to enter a residential back yard. The caller described a man on top of his backyard fence who became angry when the caller confronted him.

Multiple officers were dispatched to the area. After talking with the caller, the officers were directed to the alleyway behind the house. Three officers found a man in the alley matching the description given. The man had a pair of scissors in his right hand.

As the video shows, the officers interviewed the caller who informed them that the man merely looked over his fence and never entered his yard. No crime had been committed as ‘becoming angry’ is not illegal. Nevertheless, officers surrounded the man like he was wanted for murder.

When the first officer saw the scissors, he immediately brandished his pistol and began ordering the man to drop the scissors. The man, who was clearly in need of mental health care, did not respond to the commands.

The man then stood up as two officers deployed their tasers. Unfortunately, the tasers had little to no effect on the man who then took a step toward the officers only to be filled with bullet holes. The police statement described the incident as follows:

The officers order the man, in both English and Spanish, to drop the scissors. When the man did not respond to their commands, two officers deployed their tasers. The taser deployments had little effect. The man then advanced towards the officers with the scissors still in his hand. That is when the officer-involved shooting occurred.

It is important to note the difference in the level of the description given to the entire scenario versus the part where the officer killed the man. Nowhere in their statement did they mention that the officer shot the man six times as he collapsed to the ground. Nowhere in the police statement does it mention that another shot was fired into the man’s body a full 3 seconds after he had been lying on the ground.

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Two retired Met Police officers are charged with child porn offences after serving chief inspector was found dead before he could also be charged

Two retired Metropolitan Police officers have been charged with child sex offences as part of an investigation into a serving Met chief inspector who was found dead before he could also be charged.

In a statement, the Met said the charges followed a ‘lengthy and complex’ investigation into Richard Watkinson, 49, who was a serving Met Chief Inspector for neighbourhoods policing at the West Area Command Unit.

He was found dead in Buckinghamshire on Thursday, January 12, the same day he was due to answer bail to be charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent photos of a child, voyeurism and two counts of misconduct in public office.

The Crown Prosecution Service had authorised charges against him.

His death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious and an inquest has opened and adjourned.

Met officers found Watkinson’s body having attended the address following welfare concerns.

He had been suspended from duty following his arrest in July 2021.

Jack Addis, 63, of no fixed address but from Perthshire, Scotland, and Jeremy Laxton, 62, from Lincolnshire, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, February 9.

Addis has been charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children. He was arrested in November 2021.

Laxton has been charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent photos of a child, possession of prohibited images of a child, possession of extreme pornographic images and intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence (misconduct in public office). He was arrested in September 2021.

They both left the force over a decade ago.

The alleged offences took place between January 1, 2018 and September 20, 2021.

Commander Jon Savell, said: ‘Chief Inspector Watkinson was facing extremely serious and concerning charges, as the result of a painstaking and thorough police investigation.

‘Before this matter came to light, we had no previous information about these allegations or to indicate the officer posed any risk to the public.

‘He had not faced any other criminal or conduct matters during his Met career.

‘He had been suspended from duty since his arrest.

‘Two other men were also arrested during the course of the investigation and have been charged, their matters will now progress through the courts.’

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Antifa protesters in Atlanta are calling for ‘Night of Rage’ against cops after shooting near training facility dubbed ‘Cop City’ left one man dead and a state trooper injured

Violent Antifa protectors are calling for a ‘Night of Rage’ against police officers after a raid of ‘Cop City’ left an activist dead and a state trooper injured.

Georgia State Patrol troopers swooped on the autonomous zone at the site of the future $90million Atlanta Public Safety Training Center in a ‘clearing operation’ on Wednesday.

In a press conference, Georgia Bureau of Investigations director Michael Register confirmed that the shooting was in self-defense, with the protestor opening fire ‘without warning’ at the trooper.

But activists are now calling for a ‘Night of Rage’ and bloodshed against the police following the shooting – threatening to enact ‘reciprocal violence’ against the authorities.

In a statement posted on social media, the Scenes from the Atlanta Forest account said: ‘A call for retaliation. Consider this a call for reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies.

‘On Friday, January 20th, wherever you are, you are invited to participate in a night of rage in order to honor the memory of our fallen comrade.’

The protestors, who call themselves forest defenders, are claiming that the police have ‘murdered’ one of their own and are demanding ‘action’.

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China proposes making “dissemination of false information” a crime in UN treaty

A new international convention on cybercrime is being negotiated at the United Nations (UN) meeting in Vienna, Austria, and China has proposed the criminalization of the “dissemination of false information.”

The proposal seems like an attempt by China to legitimize its internet controls and is likely going to be contested by Western countries, even though many of them have been copying parts of China’s playbook in recent times.

There is already an existing international convention on cybercrime that was signed in 2001. However, it was not a UN treaty and it has not been signed by Russia, China, Brazil, and India, which are some of the largest countries in the world.

In the ongoing negotiations on the new treaty, the proposals that have been suggested have been put into two categories; those with wide support and those that are contested. Proposals on controlling online content have generally fallen into the contested category and have not been part of immediate discussions.

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They Fell Behind on Their Property Taxes. So the Government Sold Their Homes—and Kept the Profits.

Geraldine Tyler is a 94-year-old woman spending the twilight of her life in retirement, as 94-year-olds typically do. But there isn’t much that’s typical about it.

Tyler has spent the last several years fighting the government from an assisted living facility after falling $2,300 behind on her property taxes. No one disputes that she owed a debt. What is in dispute is if the government acted constitutionally when, to collect that debt, it seized her home, sold it, and kept the profit.

If that sounds like robbery, it’s because, in some sense, it is. But it’s currently legal in at least 12 states across the country, so long as the government is doing the robbing.

In 2010, Tyler moved out of her Minneapolis condo, which she owned, in response to a series of local incidents that made her feel unsafe. That included a nearby shooting. She relocated to an apartment in a different neighborhood but struggled to afford both her rent and the property taxes on her condo, accruing that $2,300 sum.

The vast majority of what Tyler ended up owing, however, was not the property tax itself. It was the additional $13,000 in penalties, interests, and fees added by the government, upping her total to about $15,000—more than a 550 percent increase.

She didn’t have the $2,300, much less the $15,000. So the state foreclosed on the condo and sold it to satisfy the debt. That’s to be expected. What Tyler didn’t expect: After selling the property for $40,000, the government pocketed the remaining $25,000 instead of putting it back in Tyler’s hands. This despite no party claiming she owed anywhere near a $40,000 debt.

What the state took had little to do with the amount of debt itself. Had Tyler’s condo been valued at, say, $300,000, it would have proceeded the same way. The government would have just been quite a bit richer.

Which is what happened to Tawanda Hall of Oakland County, Michigan, when she, too, accrued a property tax debt. Hall, who lived in the house with her husband and children, set up a payment plan with the local authorities. She eventually fell $900 behind schedule. The total bill—after penalties, interests, and fees—came out to $22,642.

Not unlike Tyler, the government then seized the home, sold it to collect the debt, and kept the profit. Unlike Tyler, the Halls’ home was worth more than $300,000.

The state kept the change. It totaled more than $286,000.

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To gain total medical control the New Zealand Government is waging war against the use of Natural Health Products

Just before Christmas our Government introduced the Therapeutic Products Bill for its first reading. Public consultation is being rushed through the summer holidays here in the southern hemisphere and closes on 15 February. The Bill contains 423 pages of dense provisions with countless cross references. I am not sure whether any Members of Parliament actually read it before voting for its acceptance or whether the public could stand to do so. You can view my video summary of its draconian provisions below.

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12-year-olds could get vaccinated without parental consent under bill proposed in Connecticut

Connecticut state Rep. Kevin Ryan has introduced a bill that would enable kids aged 12 and up to be vaccinated without parental permission.

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: That the general statutes be amended to allow a child twelve years of age or older to receive a vaccination with the consent of such child’s parent or guardian,” the text of the measure reads.

Connecticut House Minority Leader Rep. Vinnie Candelora described the proposal as “very disturbing.”

State Rep. Holly Cheeseman pushed back against the proposal, raising the prospect of a scenario in which a person’s child experiences “an adverse reaction” but the parent does not know what has happened to the child.

“Minors under the age of 18 cannot be vaccinated by a healthcare provider without parental consent,” according to portal.ct.gov. But the proposal put forward by Ryan would rob parents of this authority.

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Lockdowns Were Counterterrorism, Not Public Health 

As previously reported, in the United States, the Covid pandemic response was designed and led by the national security branches of government, not by any public health agency or official. 

Furthermore, we do not have a public record of what the national security pandemic plan actually stated. 

So what? You might ask. Why should we care if Covid policy was determined by the National Security Council (NSC) instead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)? What’s so bad about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) taking over as lead federal agency for pandemic response, replacing Health and Human Services (HHS)?

National security is about protecting us from threats of war and terrorism

The answer to these questions is, in short, that the national security pandemic response plans, devised under the rubric of biodefense, are aimed at countering bioterrorism attacks. They focus on preventing hostile actors from obtaining bioweapons, surveilling for potential bioweapons use, and developing medical countermeasures. 

According to the World Health Organization, “biological and toxin weapons are either microorganisms like virus, bacteria or fungi, or toxic substances produced by living organisms that are produced and released deliberately to cause disease and death in humans, animals or plants.” 

In the rare event of an actual bioweapons attack – the biodefense strategy can be summarized as quarantine-until-vaccine: keep individuals as isolated from the bioweapon as possible, for as long as necessary, until you have an effective medical countermeasure (medicine/vaccine). 

Bioterrorism response plans – under the broader umbrella of counterterrorism – are not designed to incorporate the complicated nuances of public health principles, which balance the need to protect individuals from a pathogen with the need to keep society as functional as possible to maintain overall well-being. 

If counterterrorism measures are deployed against a public health threat, it is thus not surprising to witness massive disruptions to society, and harms to public health – as we have seen with the Covid-19 pandemic response.

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Washington Bill Would Legalize Psilocybin Despite Federal Prohibition

A bill filed in the Washington State Senate would legalize the use of psilocybin, setting the stage to nullify federal prohibition of the same in practice and effect.

A coalition of senators led by Sen. Jesse Salomon (D) filed Senate Bill 5263 (SB5263) on Jan. 11. The legislation would amend existing state law by allowing the use of psilocybin for adults over the age of 21. The bill would establish an advisory board for the purposes of a 2-year program development period, ultimately leading to the licensing and regulation of psilocybin manufacturing and sales.

Psilocybin, often referred to as “magic mushrooms,” is a hallucinogenic compound found in certain mushrooms. A number of studies have shown psilocybin to be effective in the treatment of depression, PTSD, chronic pain and addiction. For instance, a Johns Hopkins study found that “psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.”

Efforts to legalize psilocybin in Washington State follow a successful ballot measure that decriminalized a number of drugs, including heroin and cocaine in Oregon. In 2022, Colorado voters passed a ballot measure decriminalizing several naturally occurring psychedelic substances. At least 14 cities including Detroit, Michigan have decriminalized “magic mushrooms.”

Psychedelic decriminalization and legalization efforts at the state and local levels are moving forward despite the federal government’s prohibition of psilocybin and other psychedelic substances.

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