Durham city council to discuss excessive force complaint
By Tamara Gibbs
DURHAM (WTVD) --
Durham city leaders are set to
review a controversial report that accuses its police force of racial
profiling.
It comes as the department
defends itself against an excessive force complaint that was caught on police
dash cam video.
John Hill accused the officer
of using excessive force after he was thrown to the ground and arrested for
allegedly running a red light on his bike last September. The charges were
later dropped.
The department released the
video just days before the city council reviews a list of recommendations for
policy changes.
A report stemming from several
public hearings accuses Durham police of racial bias and profiling during
traffic stops and searches.
Hill's attorney says this video
is an example of those concerns.
"If you look at the video,
you'll see that after they have manhandled Mr. Hill, they search his bag, and
the law prohibits police from searching a bag if a person is already taken into
custody," said attorney Scott Holmes. "So, they violated his rights
not only when they attacked him and threw him to the ground, but when they
searched his bag without a warrant."
Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez,
however, says what you see is a trained officer dealing with a man who was
verbally abusive and aggressive. Police say Hill tried to touch the officer.
"What's being pretty much
promoted is that the officer did something wrong when, in fact, he did a
textbook maneuver in order to secure and take into custody an individual,"
said Lopez.
ABC11 asked Durham's Police
Chief whether there was an alternative to the maneuver used by the officer.
"When you have three
seconds, you only think of one way and you take that route to be as safe as you
can," Lopez responded. "If you look at the video, notice the amount
of traffic. Anything could've happened if the officer hadn't acted
quickly."
The city council will take up
the report at its work session Thursday.
Transparency lacking for police misconduct cases in Missouri
BY KELLY COHEN
The Missouri Peace Officers Standards and
Training agency, or POST, reviews misconduct...
Missouri state probes into
police wrongdoing need to be made public, according to an investigation by
KYTV-Channel 3 News in Springfield.
The news station learned of two
confidential settlements by the city of Branson, both after allegations of
wrongdoing involving the same police officer.
The officer still holds a valid
state police license to this day, the KYTV investigation shows.
In the state of Missouri, one
needs a license to provide most professional services. And it can immediately
be taken away for major gross negligence.
Police officers have to abide
by this law, too, as they can lose their state licenses after an investigation
into their conduct.
The Missouri Peace Officers
Standards and Training agency, or POST, reviews misconduct allegations to see
whether police officers should retain their state licenses.
Chicago man files suit against city, officers after alleged police brutality
By Sarah Schulte
Allizon Brooks, 40, has filed
suit against the City of Chicago and some police officers after alleging that
he was the victim of police brutality during an incident in 2013.
Brooks, a Chicago resident,
said he was beaten by Chicago police on Jan. 18, 2013, after he stopped by an
Englewood convenience store to buy ice.
"It was real kind of
chaotic when I walked into the store," Brooks said.
What Brooks didn't know is that
he walked into the store minutes after a shooting took place outside. One of
the victims was brought into the store by his friends. Police showed up a short
time later.
Brooks said he was trying to
help the owner calm people down when an officer pushed him, and Brooks said
words were exchanged.
"He grabbed me by the neck
and a lot of officers came around and started punching me, they slammed me into
the ground, a lot of guys were kicking me," Brooks said.
Brooks said he was arrested and
charged with assaulting the same officer that is seen grabbing Brooks by the
neck in the tape. His arrest report says Brooks was preventing other officers
from entering the scene, which Brooks and his lawyer say the videotape proves
is not true.
Brooks was taken to the 7th District
police station, where he remained handcuffed for several hours.
"They wouldn't allow me to
use the restroom even though I asked them multiple times," he said.
The charges against Brooks were
eventually dropped because the officers never showed up at court. Brooks is now
filing suit against the city and five officers.
"The officials' actions
were totally unjustified, considering the situation," said Marc Mayer,
Brooks' attorney.
Brooks said the beating
resulted in temporary hearing loss, a concussion and he has been diagnosed with
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The City of Chicago's law
department did not respond to calls.
Salon Manager Alleges Police Brutality
Video that includes
racially-charged comments from a Chicago police officer to a salon manager is
part of a lawsuit filed against the department last week.
The surveillance video from the
Copper Tan and Spa, on the 1000 block of North Milwaukee in the city's Noble
Square neighborhood, was recorded July 31 of last year, according to a
timestamp on the footage. It was released to NBC 5 on Monday.
The incident stemmed from a
reported raid on the business after an undercover officer was allegedly offered
a sex act by a massage therapist. In the video, officers are seen entering the
spa and attempting to detain the salon's manager, Jianqing "Jessica" Klyzek.
"You’re not f******
American," one police officer is heard on the video yelling to Klyzek.
"I’ll put you in a UPS box and send you back to wherever the f*** you came
from."
"I’m a citizen, OK?"
Klyzek responded.
"No you’re not! No, you’re
not a citizen! No, you’re not! No, you’re not! You’re here on our borrowed
time," the officer said. "So mind your f****** business before I shut
this whole f****** place down. And I’ll take this place and then whoever owns
it will f****** kill you because they don’t care about you, OK? I’ll take this
building. You’ll be dead and your family will be dead."
Klyzek's lawyer, Torreya
Hamilton, says her client was also physically abused.
"One of the police
officers strikes her in the head from behind while she's handcuffed behind her
back and subdued," Hamilton said. "They are treating her like she is
less than a human being."
Klyzek was twice charged with
aggravated battery to the officers but the charges were dropped both times, the
Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The federal lawsuit said
officers in the video could be seen attempting to locate the footage recorded
by the camera but were unable to because it was recorded off-site.
Police spokesman Adam Collins
issued the following statement Monday.
"The alleged conduct and
comments are reprehensible and completely intolerable in our police department.
We have codes of conduct that apply to officers and if the allegations are
proven accurate, appropriate action will be taken."
One dead after protesters riot against police brutality in Salinas, California
Just one day after two officers
in Salinas, California, fatally shot a suspected robber, another man was shot
and killed Wednesday night as protests against the quick trigger fingers of
local police took place nearby.
According to CBS San Francisco,
between 300 and 500 protesters gathered near Del Monte Avenue in Salinas to
voice their opposition to what they see as excessive force by police.
Currently, it’s unclear what circumstances led up to the deadly confrontation,
but an already emotional protest turned violent afterwards, and police with
riot gear were called in to respond at the scene.
In the midst of the violence, a
police officer was also hospitalized after being hit in the head with a heavy
object – either a brick or a bottle – as he was performing CPR on the shooting
victim.
One man was also arrested,
local KION News reported. Accused of “harassing” a K-9 and rounding up others
to “taunt” police, 26-year-old Diego Garcia was charged with inciting a riot
and resisting arrest.
Tuesday’s incident marked the
second time in about two weeks that an individual had been killed at the hands
of law enforcement, and the third time this year.
As RT reported previously, a
female resident called police on Tuesday afternoon to report an attempted
break-in. The woman claimed the man involved was also trying to kill her dog
and had exposed himself to her. When police arrived at the scene, however, the
man was on another street and was carrying gardening shears. As police
confronted him, they said he began acting strangely.
"Officers end up talking
to this individual, trying to find out what he's doing and what the situation
was based upon the original 911 call," Salinas Police Cmdr. Vince Maiorana
said. "This individual started to wave the gardening shears at the
officers. We tried to deploy a Taser; the Taser did not work and as the officers
tried to detain this individual, this individual pulled the gardening shears
and actually attacked the officers with the gardening shears.
"In response, the
officers, fearing for their personal safety, shot this individual and he is now
deceased."
Witnesses disagreed with this
version of events, though. Video of the event surfaced as well, with the female
college student behind the camera saying the man looked like he was trying to
back away from the officers the entire time.
In the wake of the shooting,
police also stated the suspected robber was drinking heavily beforehand. They
said the previous two shootings also involved individuals who were intoxicated
at the time.
This detail did not seem to
change the minds of many protesters on Wednesday, one of whom told local KSBW
that alcohol use should not justify excessive and lethal police force.
“So basically if you’re drunk
here in Salinas you run the risk of getting shot by police and it just shows
the lack of training ... that they have to resort to lethal force all the time
and kill civilians,” protester Ralph Garcia said. “That’s not right, we’re not
going to allow this.”
While people gathered in person
to demand answers, a petition written by Cesara Chavez was also posted online
at Change.org. Currently, it has garnered about 2,000 signatures.
"The East Salinas
community is in need of clarity and answers in the wake of a series of police
shootings in our neighborhood streets,” it reads. “There has been a historic
practice seen in law enforcement that targets boys and young men of color in
cities across California, and we have watched it unfold over the past two weeks
on our own streets.
"It is critical our law
enforcement officials are transparent in their actions, held accountable for
their behavior, and properly trained to provide culturally responsive and
socially conscious patrol and procedural practices to ensure the trust, safety,
and communication needed to successfully serve in the best interest of our
community. East Salinas and the broad community deserve dignity and
answers."
Responding to the outrage shown
by local residents, Maiorana said that investigations are underway.
"We completely understand
that there is genuine concern and questions that need to be answered. We want
to be able to come forth with all the facts,” he told KSBW. "It's a
horrible situation when you have lost of life. We take investigations seriously
no matter who is involved, so I just hope people don't rush to judgment."
To fight police brutality, Albuquerque police promote cop who burned off man's ear
In a controversial move
following protests against deadly force by police in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
the department has promoted a commander previously accused of burning off part
of homeless man's ear with a taser.
The announcement came Thursday,
with the Associated Press reporting that Albuquerque Police Department Chief
Gordon Eden said the promotion of both Timothy Gonterman and Anthony Montano
would help the force implement reforms outlined by the Department of Justice.
As RT reported previously,
police in the area have come under fire for using excessive force in situations
where it was deemed unnecessary. In a report on law enforcement's behavior, the
Justice Department reviewed 20 fatal shootings between 2009 and 2013,
concluding that most of the fatalities were unnecessary and that “systematic
change” was needed moving forward.
Although a federal jury found
Gonterman and two other officers used excessive force when they used a stun gun
on a homeless man in 2002 – the man was awarded $300,000 for suffering from
second- and third-degree burns – Eden said the officer has
“demonstrated the strong
leadership skills necessary for us to move ahead with DOJ reform
requirements."
Gonterman also issued a
statement regarding the stun gun incident, saying he made a mistake and that
his experience since then will allow him to effectively train officers in the
future.
"It was a mistake, and I
have learned from that mistake. I have taken responsibility for it," he
said, according to the AP. "Since that time, I have become a use of force
instructor and a less lethal technology instructor to train officers to use the
minimal amount of force necessary to make an arrest. I am also trained in
crisis intervention."
However, for some Albuquerque
police critics, such as University of Mexico professor David Correia, the
promotion was “really troubling.”
"I think the promotion of
Gonterman and his troubled history is the real evidence of what Albuquerque
police is about," he told the AP, adding that protesters needed to put
even more pressure on law enforcement in light of the news.
Police behavior in Albuquerque
was thrust into the spotlight in March when police in the Foothills area
confronted a homeless man who was camping at the base of a mountain. As the
event unfolded, police fatally shot the man in the back. Notably, the Foothills
area fell under the jurisdiction of Gonterman, though the AP stated it is
unclear whether he or anyone under his command was involved in the
confrontation.
Although there had been tension
between police and local residents for years, the shooting triggered a large
protest at City Hall, where protesters flooded the building and demanded more
oversight over law enforcement. Soon afterwards, Mayor Richard Barry introduced
legislation that would allow for more oversight, and the Justice Department
opened its own investigation into the issue.
Since that DOJ report was
issued, police have fatally shot one person: a 19-year-old woman who allegedly
pointed a gun at an officer. The death marked the third one in five weeks at
the hands of Albuquerque police.
Neighbors demand action in alleged police brutality incident
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. – Neighbors
in Clayton County are rallying around a man who claims he's a victim of police
brutality.
As 11Alive reported earlier
this week, video taken by a neighbor shows 69-year-old Dhoruba Bin-Wahad being
questioned by Clayton County police officers. The video appears to show one of
the officers grabbing Wahad by his wrist and slamming him to the ground. Wahad
claims he was the victim of police brutality on his own front porch.
At a rally held Thursday in the
shadow of the Clayton County Police Department, dozens of people gathered as
numerous speaks fired verbal shots at the department's leader and his officers.
They demanded that Clayton County Police Chief Greg Porter take action against
the officers seen on the video.
"What we were witness to
was assault and battery. If he had slapped and thrown police to the ground, he
would be in jail today," one speaker said.
Wahad spoke directly to his
supporters.
"I was not out of
control," he said. "I was not a flight risk. I was not cussing them
out, and let's assume that I did cuss them out. Let's assume that I was
verbally uncooperative. Let's just assume all those things. Does that justify
me being slammed on the ground while I'm sitting there after being
searched?"
According to the incident
report, police came to Wahad's house when a neighbor called 911 after mistaking
Wahad for a burglar. The report describes Wahad as agitated and argumentative.
The department says it is
investigating the incident and cannot comment any further.
Meanwhile, some of the
Thursday's rally organizers say they want to meet with the police chief himself
and they have plans of returning to the department Friday morning with plans of
making that happen.
Victims of police brutality face circuitous path through legal system
Victims of police brutality
face circuitous path through legal system By WALLACE McKELVEY Staff Writer
Winston Bailey contested the
charges of obstruction and resisting arrest he faced after an Atlantic City
police officer allegedly mistook him for another suspect.
He’s had his day in court.
More than ten times.
Without resolution.
“I don’t have the money for all
this stuff,” he said. “But I can’t just let somebody do this to me. I’m doing
it on my own because I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Those who claim police
brutality face a circuitous path through the legal system as they either defend
against criminal charges or pursue civil claims. Many are set up to fail due to
the realities of navigating the state’s legal system, said Alexander Shalom,
senior staff attorney for the ACLU of New Jersey.
“People held in jail for a long
time understand that the quickest way to get out is to plead,” Shalom said.
“That’s not what we want in the criminal justice system. We don’t want to
punish the faintest of heart.”
'The whole system was against
us'
Similarly, most defense
attorneys say they’ve advised clients to take guilty pleas based on an honest
assessment of their chances in court. A guilty plea may make civil cases more
difficult to win, but not in all cases.
“Even though things were
looking good on our side, I was told there was an 80 percent conviction rate,”
said Tiffany Baez, who alleges she was assaulted by police in an Atlantic City
nightclub. “The whole system was against us from the start.”
Baez said her guilty plea meant
six months of pre-trial intervention and a small fine. Considering the
potential jail time and the resulting disruption to her life, she said, it wasn’t
a choice at all.
Bailey said he wouldn’t have
come this far without a supportive employer who allows him to leave work to
appear in court and friends who helped him mount his legal defense. His boss
bought him a car so he could make the trip out to Egg Harbor City, he said.
Not the same for officers
Although the odds appear to be
against defendants who claim police misconduct, most say that isn’t true of
police officers when they face charges of their own outside the Internal
Affairs system.
According to the Internal
Affairs statistics obtained through the Open Public Records Act, Atlantic City
officers have had other criminal charges sustained in 3 of 27 instances in the
last five years.
Baez said her criminal
complaint against the officer in her case hasn’t gone to court after more than
a year, her IA complaint has not been decided and Baez’s attorney has advised
her not to press the issue until her pre-trial intervention program was
complete.
Even those who are able to
mount a vigorous defense can have a difficult time working their way through
the courts.
Steve Scheffler, David Connor
Castellani’s criminal attorney, said defendants who claim police brutality can
see their cases take months and even years to wind through the legal system.
“I’ve represented individuals
in similar circumstances,” he said. “A lot of times, they don’t end well for
the common citizen.”
Criminal cases vs. civil cases
If criminal proceedings can be
an arduous process, civil cases are worse. While the outcomes seem to favor
plaintiffs who claim civil rights violations – at least 13 cases involving
Atlantic City police have been settled for about $1.4 million in recent years –
it can take many years for such claims to work through the system.
The rate at which such cases
have been settled hasn’t changed significantly since before the city began
pursuing a policy of vigorously contesting civil cases. Between 2002 and 2007,
Atlantic City paid nearly $1.2 million in legal fees and settlements in at
least 13 cases claiming excessive force, according to data obtained via OPRA
requests. Those settlements include one alleged incident of domestic violence
by an officer, in which the plaintiff claimed a prior IA complaint was ignored.
Unheard voices, low payouts
Not all plaintiffs have the
wherewithal to even begin that process. That’s not necessarily because of the
expense involved, as lawyers typically work on a contingency fee basis in which
they agree to take a percentage of the eventual award.
“If you’re a poor person with a
very compelling or lucrative case, you can usually find a lawyer who will take
it,” Shalom said. “But knowing which attorney to talk to and when to talk to
them is a different matter. And then there are time limits for filing the case.
It takes a savvy person.”
And not all civil rights cases
are equal.
“If police are systematically
harassing a group of people but not beating them up — so no hospital records —
it’s unlikely those people will get a large pay day,” he said. “Traditionally,
incidents of misconduct far outpace lawsuits filed.”
One recent example was a case
the ACLU was involved with in Camden. Police there had been planting drugs on
suspects to secure convictions; a number of plaintiffs — 87 by the time the
suit was settled last year — joined the suit.
“This was a very large settlement,
$3.5 million when all was said and done, but individual clients didn’t walk
away with lots of money,” Shalom said.
Proving 'a culture of
misconduct'
Aside from eyewitness testimony
and video, attorneys in civil cases typically have to prove a culture of
misconduct in police departments. That involves procuring discipline files,
Internal Affairs reports, performance evaluations and training logs. Attorneys
say municipalities fight to keep these documents from the plaintiffs and, when
they are released, are often restricted from public dissemination.
One example of this came in
December in the ongoing case of Matthew Groark, who alleged two Atlantic City
police officers assaulted him at a night club in Atlantic City. The city’s
attorney argued that the involved officer’s Internal Affairs records were not
relevant to the case, but a judge ruled they were.
One of the officers in the
Groark suit, Sterling Wheaten, has already had a partial version of his
Internal Affairs file released as evidence in another pending case. That
document, which was not heavily redacted, provides a rare glimpse inside the
city’s Internal Affairs process. Wheaten is named in Castellani’s pending civil
case.
According to the file, 21
complaints were lodged against Wheaten over a three-year period between 2008
and 2011, including two from then-Chief John Mooney and Henry White, the
current chief.
Simon Worrall, whose son
Nicholas filed the lawsuit that exposed Wheaten’s Internal Affairs file, said
their attorney had difficulty obtaining evidence. The younger Worrall alleged
he was assaulted at a night club over Labor Day weekend in 2010.
“When we launched the lawsuit,
the video tapes all disappeared,” he said. “The camera wasn’t working between
midnight and 2 a.m. That’s complete hooey.”
Mercer Sheriff's officer indicted in connection with pepper spray incident
By Penny Ray
TRENTON - A Mercer County
Sheriff’s Officer who was suspended without pay last year for allegedly pepper
spraying a woman in the face while she was handcuffed has been indicted in
connection with the case.
Sergeant Sean Lavin, 43, of
Hamilton, was indicted May 15 on three counts of official misconduct and one
count of tampering with public records.
Earlier this year, The
Trentonian broke the story that Lavin pepper sprayed a woman in the face while
she was handcuffed behind her back, and then falsified documents related to the
incident.
The incident occurred around
8:30 p.m. on Dec. 6, after several Mercer County sheriff’s officers were
dispatched to the Sun National Bank Center to assist arena staff with a group
of people who were acting confrontational while entering the Life in Color
paint party.
At some point during the
incident, prosecutors say, the woman and several others were detained.
Prosecutors are unsure which officer detained who, but while the woman was
handcuffed, Lavin allegedly pepper sprayed her in the face. The sheriff’s
office then received information about the incident, which prompted an
investigation by Internal Affairs.
Then, on Dec. 10, Lavin
allegedly filed a false police report and attempted to convince subordinate
officers to file false police reports regarding arrests made at that event as
well. Two days later, Lavin was charged with official misconduct.
Lavin, who is a Hamilton
resident employed by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office since July 2000,
remains suspended without pay. There is no scheduled court date at this time.
If convicted, Lavin faces a
penalty of five to ten years in prison for the second-degree crimes of official
misconduct. And he faces a penalty of three to five years in prison for the
third-degree crime of tampering with public records.
Editorial: Nassau police need more than cop-only oversight
The idea that a new
use-of-force policy and Deadly Force Review Board stocked entirely with Nassau
top cops are going to be enough to restore the public's trust in the Nassau
County Police Department is almost as unbelievable as the fact that the
department didn't already have such a panel.
Such a board, composed of
top-ranking cops, is standard in departments as large as Nassau's, so it ought
to have one. But the department is going to need a whole lot more than just
that panel.
The Nassau department's
problems are as much about its leadership as about some of the 2,200
rank-and-file cops on the street, not just because police culture is created
from the top down, but because some of the department's past leaders have
committed inappropriate, and even criminal, acts.
Commissioner Thomas Dale was
forced to resign after he had a young man, Randy White, pulled off a county bus
and arrested at the behest of Gary Melius, a powerful friend who was helping
the re-election campaign of County Executive Edward Mangano. It was Melius who
recommended Dale to Mangano.
Three other high-ranking cops
were convicted of abusing their positions to keep a police benefactor's son out
of jail.
And an investigation is
continuing over gun permits amid allegations that the department issued
licenses to people who should not have had them, including at least one
politically connected applicant with a history of domestic violence issues.
What's needed, in addition to
the new oversight from department leaders, is a second panel, a civilian review
board, that can hear, investigate and report on complaints ranging from deadly
force incidents to more everyday occurrences.
Unfortunately, the department's
shortcomings now can only truly be measured in the taxpayer dollars the county
pays out in damages after it loses lawsuits. Victims win monetary judgments
with regularity. And nothing seems to get any better.
White, who was the center of
the Dale fiasco, is now suing the department.
The family of Andrea Rebello,
the Hofstra student killed by a police officer during a robbery and
hostage-taking by an ex-convict, is suing too, claiming the county and police
are negligent in training and supervising officers and dispatchers. The suit
also claims the department is negligent because of its history of finding that
every police-involved shooting since at least 2006 has been justified.
And the latest case could come
from Kyle Howell of Westbury. The Nassau district attorney dropped assault and
other charges against Howell this week after he produced a video of the cops
beating him. Now Howell's allegations and the video are likely to be reviewed
by a grand jury to determine whether charges should be brought against the
officers.
A review board composed only of
department leaders can make every case a nest of conflicts. It's not enough.
The department also needs a panel composed of outsiders; such boards are fairly
common.
Embarrassed by Dale's
resignation in December, Mangano promised a national search for a fresh face
who would be a disciplinarian. That search has gone nowhere. Mangano needs to
find a police commissioner who can lead the culture change, one who won't be
afraid of the department being reviewed by those who don't wear a badge.
Buffalo Common Council Wants to reinstate Police Oversight Committee
BUFFALO, NY-- Following a
recent incident involving two Buffalo Police officers, the Buffalo Common
Council wants to reinstate the Police Oversight Committee.
Common Council President Darius
Pridgen proposed the resolution on Thursday.
The oversight committee would
review NYS laws and NYS Liquor Authority and training measures to make sure the
Buffalo Police Department is in compliance.
Two Buffalo Police officers
were suspended without pay following an assault at a local bar that seriously
injured a veteran.
The suspension stems from an
incident earlier this month when Jeffrey Basil, the manager of Molly's Pub,
allegedly shoved William Sager down a flight of stairs at the bar critically
injuring Sager.
Sager was out for drinks with a
friend of his, Don Hall.
Another source close to the
investigation tells Scott Brown that Basil, the bar manager, pulled the bar's
security tape and when he did at least one of the off-duty officers was there
with him.
The fact could potentially
result in the off duty officer being charged with tampering with evidence.
Cop On "Modified Assignment" After Allegedly Shoving Handcuffed Boy Through Window
Last week, a 14-year-old boy
was arrested after allegedly assaulting someone in the Bronx. While Javier
Payne was in custody, a police officer allegedly threw him—while handcuffed—
through a glass shop window because Javier resisted arrest. Now, the police
officer has been stripped of his gun and badge.
The Daily News reports,
"Sgt. Eliezer Pabon of the 48th Precinct was placed on modified assignment
early Friday after investigators from the Internal Affairs Bureau reviewed a
video of the May 17 incident, law enforcement sources said... 'It seems the
sergeant overreacted,' a source said. The video shows Pabon shoving Javier
Payne from behind, causing the boy to plunge forward and strike the window of
the Hookah Spot on Arthur Ave. with his head, shattering the glass, the sources
said."
Police nabbed Javier with a
friend because an assault victim had ID'd them as his attackers. The boy was
apparently bleeding profusely, and paramedics argued with police to remove the
handcuffs so he could be treated.
According to Juvenile Justice
Information Exchange, Javier's face suffered lacerations while his chest was
sliced open and his lung was punctured:
Initially, EMS did not rush to
the scene because when the officers put the call over they did not indicate
that there was a pediatric emergency, a source familiar with the incident said.
Instead they used a protocol normally used for drunks... One of the paramedics
had to hold the boys chest wound closed while they rushed him to Jacobi Medical
Center. Medical experts said it may have saved Payne’s life.
His mother says Javier weighs
89 pounds. Javier, who was allegedly shackled to his hospital bed, was
interviewed by NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau.
Lawyer Sanford Rubenstein told
the News, "There is no excuse whatsoever for a police officer to smash a
14-year-old boy’s head through a plate-glass window."
Temple police officer to appeal suspension
DEBORAH McKEON
TEMPLE — A Temple police
officer who had been placed on indefinite suspension will appeal his suspension
in a public hearing Wednesday through May 30, City Secretary Lacy Borgeson said
Thursday.
The time for Daniel Amaya’s
hearing has not yet been determined.
Amaya and Officer Jeremy Bales
were both indefinitely suspended in connection with an incident at Wal-Mart in
Temple on May 18, 2013. Lorenzo Martinez, then 15, was waiting in a car for his
girlfriend in the parking lot when he saw what looked like an arrest happening
in the store.
He
went in to watch and, when he was ready to leave, was stopped by officers who
then handcuffed him and threw him to the ground. Lorenzo was allegedly slammed
to the ground a second time, reinjuring the arm he’d already told officers was
hurting, after he refused to clean up a place on the floor where he’d spit.
The
boy was allegedly pulled back and forth over the area until the area was wiped
up and then jerked up by the same arm, which made a popping sound, Martinez
said. His mother took him to Scott & White Hospital emergency room and
doctors confirmed he had a broken collarbone.
Martinez’s mother, Elsa, filed
a complaint May 21, 2013, alleging the officers broke her son’s collarbone and
falsely arrested him.
After a joint Texas Ranger and
Temple Police Department investigation, a Bell County grand jury no billed the
case. At that point, an internal investigation by Temple Police Department
began.
The report showed Amaya was
indefinitely suspended Nov. 13 for allegedly violating Civil Service Commission
Rule 51.02, which names the grounds for disciplinary suspensions.
Those grounds listed in Police
Chief Gary Smith’s memorandum to Amaya were:
Neglect of duty, including
bringing discredit to the department.
Acts showing lack of good moral
character, including violation of a state or federal statute.
Conduct prejudicial to good
order.
Violation of any applicable
fire or police department rule or special order, the city of Temple personnel
policies and procedures manual, city charter or any ordinance of the city of
Temple.
Specific violations mentioned
were the failure to activate the in-car camera or pocket recorder as required
by general orders, unnecessary use of force and failure to photograph Martinez’s
injury, draft a memo detailing the incident and to forward both documents to
his supervisor.
“Based on the reasons stated
above, I conclude that you are unable to follow the department’s rules and that
any previous intermediate disciplinary measures have been ineffective. It is,
therefore, in the best interest of the Temple Police Department and the
community that we are sworn to protect that you be indefinitely suspended from
service as a police officer,” Smith wrote.
Deputy City Attorney Nan
Rodriguez will represent the Temple Police Department and Brad Heilman, an
Austin attorney with Keel & Nassour LLP, will represent Amaya.
The hearing for Bales has not
yet been scheduled, Borgeson said. Bales’ attorney and the city attorneys are
in the process of selecting a hearing examiner.
David Fernandez Jr., the
attorney handling Martinez’s civil lawsuit against Amaya and Bales, said
Martinez hasn’t been called yet to testify at the hearing.
Amaya’s hearing will be open to
the public, but cameras or any other recording devices will not be allowed in
the room.
Police officer charged with using excessive force on patient
A now former police officer
stationed at at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital has been charged with using
excessive force on a patient.
Jamal Hogan, 41, of East
Orange, was indicted Tuesday after an investigation into his actions on March
6, 2013, when he was a sergeant with the Department of Human Services police.
The investigation revealed that
while responding to an incident in his official capacity as a police officer,
Hogan allegedly used excessive force with his officially-issued police baton
upon a patient at Greystone and subsequently tried to hinder the investigation
into his actions, according to a press release from Acting Morris County
Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp.
A complaint filed in the case
states that Hogan struck the patient in the back of the head with his baton
“without justification.”
The alleged strike caused “pain
and injury” to the patient but the extent of injury was not detailed in the
complaint. ASP batons, normally expandable, are police-issued tools for
subduing people under appropriate circumstances.
A spokeswoman for the Human
Services Department said that Hogan was hired in December 2003 but has been
terminated from his $77,108-a-year position.
Officers involved in Molly’s incident are suspended without pay
By Lou Michel
The Buffalo Police Department
has suspended without pay the two officers involved in the Molly’s incident
that led to serious injuries to an active Guardsman.
Earlier this morning, a City
Court judge dismissed the criminal trespass charge lodged against the friend of
William C. Sager Jr., the severely injured Air Guardsman, when the friend
refused to leave the scene in front of Molly’s bar in the early morning of May
11.
Defense attorney Thomas P.
Hurley described the criminal trespass complaint against Donald Hall, 29, of
Buffalo as “a joke of a charge.”
The complaint was made by
Robert E. Eloff, one of two off-duty officers working security at Molly’s that
night.
“My client watched his friend
bleeding from the ears and nose and almost die,” Hurley said. “My client stayed
with the victim and when the police arrived, he tried to tell them what
happened and make sure an ambulance was on the way. He was instead arrested for
criminal trespass.”
In shedding some light on what
occurred inside Molly’s on the 3100 block of Main Street early May 11, Hurley
said that Hall was drinking at the bar with Sager and turned away briefly.
Hurley said when Hall looked toward the stairs, he saw Sager “falling down the
stairs with his eyes closed and unconscious, and then cracking his head open.”
Hurley said that Hall and Sager
were minding their own business and there had been no previous confrontation.
“From my conversation with the
witnesses, there was nothing to provoke this,” Hurley said of the assault on
Sager.
A Channel 4 reporter asked
Hurley whether the incident occurred after Sager went to thank Basil for buying
a round of drinks at the bar. Hurley declined to comment.
Hurley said that Hall called
911 and refused to leave his friend’s side and because of that, was placed
under arrest.
Court paperwork shows that
off-duty police officer Eloff was the complainant in the trespass charge. Eloff
and off-duty officer Adam O’Shei had been working private security for Molly’s
that night.
“Sitting in the patrol car, my
client watched a murder almost happen, his friend almost died,” Hurley said.
Hall will now be interviewed by assistant district attorney Christopher
Belling, the Buffalo Police Department’s homicide squad and the Department’s
Internal Affairs Division.
After Hall’s arrest, he was
taken to the Erie County Holding Center, but homicide detectives later had him
released on an appearance ticket, Hurley said, adding that the detectives “did
the right thing.”
Hurley also said that the
district attorney’s office demonstrated a reasoned approach after reviewing the
circumstances of the trespass charge and seeking its dismissal. He credited
Belling for making that happen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)