Police Misconduct Newswatch!
November 19, 2009 - There’s a lot going on this week, so I figure it’s a good time to do a quick review of what’s been in the news recently. Anyway, here are a few of the stories that are getting some attention this week.
Walls of Jericho… Still Crumbling
Let’s start in Jericho, Arkansas… again… er, ok, maybe we should start with a review because this place is a mess:
- It all started when police shot the unarmed assistant fire chief in back during in-court argument over a traffic ticket.
- Then the entire fire department quits in protest when said fire chief is arrested over the incident but the cop who shot him in the back is cleared.
- Numerous complaints of corruption from residents, visitors, and people who don’t even pass through town of overly-aggressive speed traps where cops demand cash on the spot, up to $200 for 2-3mph over the limit.
- But nobody knows where the money from this speed-trap town goes though, especially when the repo men take a cruiser back for non-payment while it’s officers chow down in a waffle house.
- Well, now it seems like residents are fed up with the corruption and have asked a county judge what they can do about it… the solution? Either vote in a new mayor or get 51% of residents to sign a petition to revoke the town charter, effectively dissolving the town and reincorporating it into the county, which would effectively rid the town of all the leeches in one swift kick. Residents appear to be trying for the quicker approach with the petition.
What’s Next, Tasering Toddlers?
Elsewhere in Arkansas, Ozark to be exact, the now-infamous police officer who tasered a 10-year-old girl in the back after the girl’s sadistic mother goaded him to for the girl’s refusal to take a shower before bed has been given a paid vacation while the mayor tries to find someone… anyone… Bueller?.. from outside the department who would investigate the incident.
So far the feds and the state have refused to investigate because, well, they say there’s nothing to investigate because the officer followed the department’s policy that permits officers to taser anyone of any age for any act of resistance. God help any toddlers that cross paths with that officer.
While the latest news suggests the officer could face charges, nothing can come of it since he followed departmental policy and, since he followed policy, he gets qualified immunity. The worst he gets is a paid vacation.
Over at the always-great Simple Justice, a debate is brewing with some defending the officer in comments by suggesting that maybe the 10-yr-old deserved a good tasering, maybe she was “the Devil”… perhaps missing the finer point that even the manufacturers of the taser, who’s once vociferous cries that electrocuting people with a taser was as safe as throwing kittens at them have grown ever more quiet, recommend against tasing children. No matter how bad an unarmed 10-year-old girl can thrash about, could she really have been that much of a threat to the officer that risking her life with electrocution was justified?
…or are those defending the officer really just arguing that “street justice” via a taser to the backs of small children is all right by them?
Abbatement?
In Chicago Illinois, good old Anthony Abbate, the guy who savagely beat up a bartender on camera and got probation for it, is still a cop. Well, at least until the civil review board there makes a decision on whether or not to fire him for his felony conviction in that case. During the hearing it appears that he “plead the fifth” against self-incrimination nearly 100 times by refusing to answer apparently incriminating questions like “can you please state your name?”
Hard to have faith in a police disciplinary system that takes months to fire a cop with a felony conviction… huh?
Better Late Than Never?
I’m sure most of you recall Dolton Illinois police officer Christopher Lloyd? You know, the one shown on video beating up a child with learning disabilities for not tucking in a shirt in the middle of school? The one who was later found in an Indiana jail charged with sexually assaulting a woman when that school story broke?
Well, if you remember that, you might also recall that before he was Dolton’s problem, he was Robbins Illinois problem when he gunned down his ex-wife’s husband with 17 rounds but wasn’t charged because Chicago police didn’t investigate on Lloyd’s word it was self-defense?
Ah, well, seems that the Cook County state’s attorney is finally opening up an investigation into the shooting years after that incident while the cities of Chicago and Robbins both face down a civil suit filed by the man’s widow. But, in the meantime, watch out because this guy was recently released on bail.
Stay safe out there, people.
Over at the always-great Simple Justice, a debate is brewing with some defending the officer in comments by suggesting that maybe the 10-yr-old deserved a good tasering, maybe she was “the Devil”… perhaps missing the finer point that even the manufacturers of the taser, who’s once vociferous cries that electrocuting people with a taser was as safe as throwing kittens at them have grown ever more quiet, recommend against tasing children. No matter how bad an unarmed 10-year-old girl can thrash about, could she really have been that much of a threat to the officer that risking her life with electrocution was justified?
…or are those defending the officer really just arguing that “street justice” via a taser to the backs of small children is all right by them?
Abbatement?
In Chicago Illinois, good old Anthony Abbate, the guy who savagely beat up a bartender on camera and got probation for it, is still a cop. Well, at least until the civil review board there makes a decision on whether or not to fire him for his felony conviction in that case. During the hearing it appears that he “plead the fifth” against self-incrimination nearly 100 times by refusing to answer apparently incriminating questions like “can you please state your name?”
Hard to have faith in a police disciplinary system that takes months to fire a cop with a felony conviction… huh?
Better Late Than Never?
I’m sure most of you recall Dolton Illinois police officer Christopher Lloyd? You know, the one shown on video beating up a child with learning disabilities for not tucking in a shirt in the middle of school? The one who was later found in an Indiana jail charged with sexually assaulting a woman when that school story broke?
Well, if you remember that, you might also recall that before he was Dolton’s problem, he was Robbins Illinois problem when he gunned down his ex-wife’s husband with 17 rounds but wasn’t charged because Chicago police didn’t investigate on Lloyd’s word it was self-defense?
Ah, well, seems that the Cook County state’s attorney is finally opening up an investigation into the shooting years after that incident while the cities of Chicago and Robbins both face down a civil suit filed by the man’s widow. But, in the meantime, watch out because this guy was recently released on bail.
Stay safe out there, people.
