The LEO thread

[billy.pilgrim]

Better target than Wendy's.

but they would have all been shot or arrested

[O Really]

Wait, so you've got a guy drunk enough to be asleep in the driveway, registers .10 on the breathalyzer, you've got him out of the car enough for the breathalyzer and a field sobriety test, you've got at least two ostensibly sober cops there, and they can't manage to get the guy cuffed and stuffed into their car without tasering/shooting him? He grabbed the cop's taser and ran? How does that even happen in this circumstance?

[Vrede too]

Better target than Wendy's.

but they would have all been shot or arrested

Yeah, that is a drawback , but it doesn't make burning Wendy's okay as an alternative. I favor creative, effective protest.

[Vrede too]

Wait, so you've got a guy drunk enough to be asleep in the driveway, registers .10 on the breathalyzer, you've got him out of the car enough for the breathalyzer and a field sobriety test, you've got at least two ostensibly sober cops there, and they can't manage to get the guy cuffed and stuffed into their car without tasering/shooting him? He grabbed the cop's taser and ran? How does that even happen in this circumstance?

The victim was better rested?

I doubt that I'll ever watch all of the video, but it looks like he just out-wrestled them. One was hampered by trying to pull his taser rather than sticking with using his muscles. What it all says about their relative size, strength, conditioning and technique, idk, but .10 ain't all that drunk, especially if one is a regular drinker.

[billy.pilgrim]

Wait, so you've got a guy drunk enough to be asleep in the driveway, registers .10 on the breathalyzer, you've got him out of the car enough for the breathalyzer and a field sobriety test, you've got at least two ostensibly sober cops there, and they can't manage to get the guy cuffed and stuffed into their car without tasering/shooting him? He grabbed the cop's taser and ran? How does that even happen in this circumstance?

The victim was better rested?

I doubt that I'll ever watch all of the video, but it looks like he just out-wrestled them. One was hampered by trying to pull his taser rather than sticking with using his muscles. What it all says about their relative size, strength, conditioning and technique, idk, but .10 ain't all that drunk, especially if one is a regular drinker.

have you ever waited in a Wendy's drive thru?


I'm not sure that .1 is even close to drunk, unless you ask MADD or happen to be black.

Its another of those laws where the penalty is out of proportion to the crime and can be easily used against minorities.

[O Really]

..., but .10 ain't all that drunk, especially if one is a regular drinker.

No, and a person at that level can certainly get obnoxious and rowdy, but in the context that he had fallen asleep in the driveway? And there are cops running around loose in "HotLanta" that don't know how to manage an obnoxious rowdy drunk without shooting him? I think that's part of the larger problem of authoritarian cop culture. It's been a while, and I don't know what they're like now, but at the Mardi Gras' and JazzFests I went to, there were thousands of obnoxious rowdy drunks and as far as I know, nobody got shot/killed by the police. And that was with one of the most corrupt police forces around. Shouldn't "How to manage obnoxious rowdy drunks" be a required course in first-year cop school?

[Vrede too]

Don't get me wrong.
For whatever reasons, the cops obviously failed in subduing the victim.
There was zero excuse for using deadly force. They had all of his info, probably still had his license, they knew he wasn't wanted, and they had his car which they'd already determined wasn't stolen. Where was he going to escape to over a DUI and minor resisting?

[Vrede too]

Who is Rayshard Brooks, 27-year-old black man killed by Atlanta police?

[GoCubsGo]

Don't get me wrong.
For whatever reasons, the cops obviously failed in subduing the victim.
There was zero excuse for using deadly force. They had all of his info, probably still had his license, they knew he wasn't wanted, and they had his car which they'd already determined wasn't stolen. Where was he going to escape to over a DUI and minor resisting?

The guy was drunk and passed out. How far was he going to run until caught?? Two blocks maybe?

[billy.pilgrim]

Don't get me wrong.
For whatever reasons, the cops obviously failed in subduing the victim.
There was zero excuse for using deadly force. They had all of his info, probably still had his license, they knew he wasn't wanted, and they had his car which they'd already determined wasn't stolen. Where was he going to escape to over a DUI and minor resisting?

The guy was drunk and passed out. How far was he going to run until caught?? Two blocks maybe?

They had his car.
If their body cameras were working, they had his picture.

Let him run home and send someone around to pick him up later

[GoCubsGo]

Don't get me wrong.
For whatever reasons, the cops obviously failed in subduing the victim.
There was zero excuse for using deadly force. They had all of his info, probably still had his license, they knew he wasn't wanted, and they had his car which they'd already determined wasn't stolen. Where was he going to escape to over a DUI and minor resisting?

The guy was drunk and passed out. How far was he going to run until caught?? Two blocks maybe?

They had his car.
If their body cameras were working, they had his picture.

Let him run home and send someone around to pick him up later

And deadly force was needed because he grabbed a one shot tazer with a range of six feet?

[Vrede too]

And deadly force was needed because he grabbed a one shot tazer with a range of six feet?

I Wiki-ed 10 feet for police models and someone else said 15 feet. Just FYI, it doesn't change your point a bit.

Chilling New Footage Shows Police Officer Ignoring Pleas To Help George Floyd
Officer Tou Thao does not respond or react to a group of people demanding that he help George Floyd, who was later pronounced dead.

... The footage posted by Ben Crump showed Thao ignoring repeated calls from bystanders to intervene and help Floyd, to check his pulse and to stop the assault. Thao does not.

“You just killed that man,” someone yelled at the officer.

The video, which is graphic, was posted to Crump’s Instagram account here.

... Minneapolis has a “duty to intervene” law on the books requiring officers to take action to stop the inappropriate use of force. Since the slaying, Chauvin, Thao and two other officers have been fired and are all facing criminal charges.

I'd like to think that I would have dodged Thao and tackled Chauvin, but idk.

[Vrede too]

one Floriduh country has the answer to police misconduct.

more specifically focused on the hardships endured by those poor pigs who committed such egregious attacks on civilians that they lost their jobs, Brevard county says, send us your worse, we'll hire 'em, plus we have lots of old people for you to push down.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/08/us/breva ... index.html

Not exactly.

... On Saturday, the Brevard County chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police posted a message on Facebook addressed to the "Buffalo 57" and "Atlanta 6," saying that it was "hiring."

... Both posts have since been deleted and the Brevard County F.O.P did not return CNN's request for comment.

But in comments to Florida Today, Brevard County F.O.P. President Bert Gamin claimed responsibility for the post regarding the Buffalo and Atlanta police officers and defended them....

Gamin, according to his LinkedIn page, has been a lieutenant with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office for 26 years, but Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey distanced his office from the union.

"The 'Brevard County F.O.P.' page and organization has no official affiliation with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and was not authorized in any capacity by me or our agency to recruit or comment on our behalf!!" Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a statement posted to the sheriff's office's Facebook page.

Ivey added that the comments made by the union were "extremely distasteful and insensitive" to "critical issues that are occurring across our country," and that his office "does not condone" the content in any way.

Tod Goodyear, spokesman for the sheriff's office, told CNN that the department is currently trying to determine whether Gamin violated any policies.

"Although we find the comments he made disturbing, there are still some protections provided by the constitution on free speech," Goodyear said. "If there was a violation of policy, I'm sure it will be dealt with." ...

But close. In any case, it's a bunch of pigs holding themselves above the law.

Actually, there's a huge difference between a single pig and an entire "Floriduh country [sic]".

Update:

President of police union chapter in Florida suspended after 'despicable' Facebook post

Suspended from his position with the sheriff's office, not from the union AFAIK.

[Vrede too]

State Trooper under investigation for texting nude photos from phone of woman he arrested

... According to a search warrant application filed by the BCA, the unidentified woman said 36 year-old Trooper Albert Kuehne seized her iPhone during a DUI arrest and when she got the phone back, three nude photos of herself had been sent to a number she did not recognize.

Despite initially denying the allegation, the warrant says Kuehne later admitted to sending the nude photos to his personal cell phone....

Minneapolis defense attorney Bruce Rivers, who is not involved in the case, says the trooper could face a felony charge of "unauthorized access" or a number of other violations, including nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images.

... Rivers says the woman could have grounds for a civil rights lawsuit.

"For the officer to even be able to access her phone, even under a lawful arrest, he'd have to go get a search warrant to look in that phone," Rivers said. "Right now, it's a very difficult time to be a police officer. And for you to be a police officer abusing your position right now is not a position I'd like a client of mine to be in."

Leaving aside the facts that he's a creep and a liar, what an idiot!

[GoCubsGo]

State Trooper under investigation for texting nude photos from phone of woman he arrested

... According to a search warrant application filed by the BCA, the unidentified woman said 36 year-old Trooper Albert Kuehne seized her iPhone during a DUI arrest and when she got the phone back, three nude photos of herself had been sent to a number she did not recognize.

Despite initially denying the allegation, the warrant says Kuehne later admitted to sending the nude photos to his personal cell phone....

Minneapolis defense attorney Bruce Rivers, who is not involved in the case, says the trooper could face a felony charge of "unauthorized access" or a number of other violations, including nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images.

... Rivers says the woman could have grounds for a civil rights lawsuit.

"For the officer to even be able to access her phone, even under a lawful arrest, he'd have to go get a search warrant to look in that phone," Rivers said. "Right now, it's a very difficult time to be a police officer. And for you to be a police officer abusing your position right now is not a position I'd like a client of mine to be in."

Leaving aside the facts that he's a creep and a liar, what an idiot!

Yeah he should have cut her a deal for the nudies for not arresting her like any normal pervert.

[Vrede too]

Yeah he should have cut her a deal for the nudies for not arresting her like any normal pervert.

I think non-arrest usually "costs" more, if you know what I mean.

The article doesn't say, but I'll bet her charges are dropped. No way will the DA put the perv on the stand. So, she got a bargain.

[Vrede too]

... but .10 ain't all that drunk, especially if one is a regular drinker.

No, and a person at that level can certainly get obnoxious and rowdy, but in the context that he had fallen asleep in the driveway? And there are cops running around loose in "HotLanta" that don't know how to manage an obnoxious rowdy drunk without shooting him? I think that's part of the larger problem of authoritarian cop culture. It's been a while, and I don't know what they're like now, but at the Mardi Gras and JazzFests I went to, there were thousands of obnoxious rowdy drunks and as far as I know, nobody got shot/killed by the police. And that was with one of the most corrupt police forces around. Shouldn't "How to manage obnoxious rowdy drunks" be a required course in first-year cop school?

Officer who shot Rayshard Brooks charged with felony murder

The Atlanta officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in the back after the fleeing man pointed a stun gun in his direction will be charged with felony murder and 10 other charges, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Garrett Rolfe kicked Brooks while he lay on the ground and the officer with him, Devin Brosnan, stood on Brooks' shoulder as he struggled for life after a confrontation Friday night, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said at a news conference.

“Mr Brooks was running away at the time the shot was fired," Howard said.

Brosnan, who is being charged with aggravated assault, is cooperating with prosecutors in the case and has given testimony as a state's witness, according to Howard, who said it's the first time in 40 such cases where an officer has come forward to do this.

Rolfe had already been fired after he fatally shot Brooks, 27, on Friday night. Brosnan, who will be charged with aggravated assault and other crimes, had been placed on administrative leave....

[Vrede too]

Louisville police is firing officer Brett Hankison involved in Breonna Taylor shooting

Mayor Greg Fischer announced Friday that Louisville Metro Police is initiating termination of officer Brett Hankison, one of three officers to fire weapons at Breonna Taylor's apartment, killing her.

Taylor, 26, was shot by officers at her apartment on March 13 as they entered to serve a no-knock warrant. Her boyfriend thought officers were intruders and fired a shot as they entered. Taylor was shot eight times in the ensuing gunfire from officers.

Hankison is accused by the department's interim chief, Robert Schroeder, of "blindly" firing 10 rounds into Taylor's apartment, creating a substantial danger of death and serious injury.

"I find your conduct a shock to the conscience," Schroeder wrote in a Friday letter to Hankison laying out the charges against him. "I am alarmed and stunned you used deadly force in this fashion."

"The result of your action seriously impedes the Department's goal of providing the citizens of our city with the most professional law enforcement agency possible. I cannot tolerate this type of conduct by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department," he added. "Your conduct demands your termination."

The other two officers who fired their weapons at Taylor's apartment — Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove — have been placed on administrative reassignment....

Hankison in recent weeks also has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women in viral social media posts. The allegations are similar, saying that he offered intoxicated women a ride home from bars before sexually assaulting them.

A spokeswoman for LMPD said last week that the department was "looking into the allegations."

Sam Aguiar, a Louisville-based attorney for Taylor's family, said Friday about Hankison's firing: "It's about damn time."

... Taylor died in the ensuing gunfire, hit at least eight times. No drugs were recovered from her apartment.

After more than 3 months, one murdering cop down, 2 to go. Then, charge all 3.

[Vrede too]

Maybe you have insight. Unions should and do support their members with legal assistance, etc. However, I'm unaware of any besides police unions that take such an aggressive role in publicly defending bad behavior. Why is this?

I do indeed have insight. Police believe, with some justification, that they are vulnerable to random and frivolous complaints by citizens, and that the city doesn't support them adequately because of politics, lawsuits, etc. They feel misunderstood and underappreciated. They think their bosses (in the city councils) don't understand their job or their challenges. They don't like getting thrown under the bus when a jury acquits somebody they caught because of improper collection of evidence (for example), nevermind that the evidence collection really was improper. So they get this defensive attitude and think nobody understands them but each other and they have to protect each other regardless. So because a lot of the bad behaviour is publicized, the union spins the situation its own way. Most other unions aren't representing members whose wrongdoings are on the front page. The union's view is that it is their job to protect the member and to assure that s/he gets treated legally and fairly, guilty or not, and if they don't' take an aggressive approach, their guy will be railroaded. A look at the record overall, of course, would show that more often than not, a cop will get treated way better than any other employee doing similar stuff. The union would say that's because they're doing a good job.

BTW, the reason serious police reform has been difficult to accomplish is that cops also vote. And police unions are good at getting out the vote. So if a mayor or council members sit too hard on the cops' neck, they'll loudly and vigorously oppose them next election. All politicians want the police and fire vote. On numerous occasions in negotiations, the cops have said, for example, "we want some tanks" and I and the rest of the negotiating team say "nope, we're not buying you any tanks, but we'll get you some new cars." Union says "OK" but really still wants tanks. We think it's settled, then the mayor calls us in to discuss negotiations. He say, the cops really want some tanks. We say, we covered that and it's settled. Mayor says, maybe we should buy them some tanks, or at least one tank. We say we'd really rather not open that topic back up again. Mayor says, well we're going to budget to buy them a tank. So now, they're getting a tank, and didn't have to give up anything for it because we've already committed to the new cars. And then when the contract is settled, the mayor wants to know what the costs for the police department went up so much if we're such hotshot negotiators.

It'll be interesting to see what happens, fershure.

Here we go:

Seattle police union expelled from large labor group

The largest labor group in the Seattle area has expelled the city's police union, saying the guild representing officers failed to address racism within its ranks.

The vote Wednesday night by the King County Labor Council to exclude the Seattle Police Officers Guild comes after weeks of protests in the city over police brutality and racism following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

It's also significant as the labor council is politically influential. Local elected leaders are reluctant to go against the umbrella group of more than 150 unions and 100,000 workers.

“Any union that is part of our labor council needs to be actively working to dismantle racism in their institution and society at large,” the labor council said on Twitter after the vote. The police union “has failed to do that work" and is no longer part of the council, the labor alliance said.

“At this point, I just can’t justify to our members, ones who are staffing the medical tents and getting gassed" by the Seattle Police Department and having the Seattle Police Officers Guild at the table, “using our unity as a shield to justify contracts that go against our principles and mission," said Jane Hopkins, a registered nurse and executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.

The Seattle City Council on Monday voted unanimously to bar police from using tear gas, pepper spray and several other crowd-control devices after officers repeatedly used them on mostly peaceful demonstrators.

The 9-0 vote came amid frustration with the Seattle Police Department, which used tear gas to disperse protesters in the city’s densest neighborhood, Capitol Hill, just days after Mayor Jenny Durkan and Chief Carmen Best promised not to do so....

Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County said in a statement Thursday that it stands with the labor council in demanding acknowledgement and addressing of institutionalized racism in Seattle policing, and that police accountability be included in contract negotiations.

The organization said it has demanded a seat at the negotiating table and that the mayor has responded by putting those police contract negotiations on hold until there is a plan for community representation.

[Vrede too]

McIntosh County, Georgia (SE coast) sheriff’s deputy:

Article

… The original poster, Ann, also shared the phone number of that particular McDonald’s restaurant at the Love’s Travel Stop in Richmond Hill, Ga. “Come on America. We are better than this,” she wrote.
But many of the tens of thousands of comments beneath the video have taken a less supportive tone. In fact, some viewers claimed they were going to call the restaurant to demand raises for the workers who had to “deal with Officer Karen” instead.

Some pointed out that Talbert had no idea what was going on inside the kitchen or restaurant while her order was being prepared. “She thinks fast food workers have time to delay her order intentionally as if they aren’t constantly being micromanaged, or that they can even keep track of who had a single egg McMuffin,” wrote one….

Still others just made fun of the clip, which led to terms such as “Officer Karen” and “McMuffin” trending on Twitter on Wednesday morning. “Karen” has become a slang term for the stereotype of an entitled, privilege white woman….

Tweets:

Imagine the worst oppression you’ve ever felt is McDonald’s making you wait 10 minutes for a McMuffin

The officers who killed Brianna Taylor still haven't been arrested and this officer karen is upset over a McMuffin

everyone in the comments are so mad this poor woman had to wait a few extra minutes for her mcmuffin just wait till we tell them how long black people have been waiting for equality

You can weep over an Egg McMuffin or you can carry a gun but you can't do both.

this person.....having a mental breakdown over a mcmuffin... is allowed to carry a pistol everyday and use it whenever they deem it necessary

Comments:

Serious mental health screening is needed for that job.

I went through the drive thru once and they forgot my fries. But I didn’t cry and film myself and post it online for sympathy

I can't breathe and you are worried you can't eat a breakfast sandwich!

Hilarious!!! A white woman feels like she’s been treated differently because she wears a uniform. Maybe this incident gives her a tiny perspective of what it’s like to have black skin in America.