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Mathew Ajibade had been acting strangely shortly before Savannah, Ga., police officers arrested him on suspicion of hitting his girlfriend outside a convenience store last New Year’s Day.

Officers said he was combative, so after booking the 21-year-old Wells Fargo bank employee into the Chatham County Detention Center, a sheriff’s deputy Tasered Ajibade’s abdominal area after he was handcuffed with his ankles bound. They left him in an isolation cell and didn’t check on him for at least 90 minutes, in violation of department policy. When they did, he was dead.

Mathew Ajibade, 21, was handcuffed with his ankles bound when he was Tasered in the abdomen by police in Georgia. Ajibade, who was bipolar and was arrested on suspicion of hitting his girlfriend, was later found dead in an isolation cell. (Family Photo)
Ajibade is one of at least 48 people who have died in the United States since January — about one death a week — in incidents in which police used Tasers, according to a Washington Post examination of scores of police, court and autopsy records.

The link between the use of Tasers and the 48 deaths this year is unclear. At least one of the deaths occurred when an incapacitated person fell and hit his head. Other factors mentioned among the causes of death were excited delirium, methamphetamine or PCP intoxication, hypertensive heart disease, coronary artery disease, and cocaine toxicity. Twelve of the 26 cases in which The Post was able to obtain autopsy reports or cause-of-death information mentioned a Taser along with other factors.

More than half of the 48 suffered from mental illness or had illegal drugs in their system at the time. At least 10 were Tasered while handcuffed or shackled. Only one was female. Nearly 55 percent of the people who died were minorities. The Ajibade case was the only one that resulted in officers being indicted.

Deaths after Taser usage by police are relatively rare, accounting for a fraction of the people who die during or after encounters with officers, according to a comprehensive study by the National Institute of Justice. Research shows that when used correctly, the devices are generally safe and prevent injuries to both police officers and civilians. But when Tasers are used excessively or if officers don’t follow department policy or product guidelines, the risk of injury or death can increase, according to company product warnings and police experts.

About this story: At least 48 people have died in the United States since January — about one death a week — in incidents in which police used Tasers, according to a Washington Post examination of police, court and autopsy records. The link between the use of Tasers and the deaths is unclear. At least one of the deaths occurred when an incapacitated person fell and hit his head. Other factors mentioned among the causes of death were excited delirium, methamphetamine or PCP intoxication, hypertensive heart disease, coronary artery disease, and cocaine toxicity. Twelve of the 26 cases in which The Post was able to obtain autopsy reports or cause of death information mentioned a Taser along with other factors. The Post is compiling a database of all fatal shootings nationwide by officers in the line of duty in 2015, available at wapo.st/police-shootings.
Tasers are best known for their ability to incapacitate individuals while used in “probe mode,” when they fire two barbs that deliver an electric current along wires, causing the muscles to lock up. When placed against a person’s body in “drive stun” mode, as happened in the Ajibade case, Tasers do not incapacitate but cause localized pain that can be used to control dangerous individuals. Pain compliance, police call it.

At least nine of the 48 cases this year involved individuals who were Tasered in the drive-stun mode.

Taser International has issued product warnings to law enforcement about drive-stunning, noting the need for caution and restraint when using the technique on people with mental illnesses.

“Drive-stun use may not be effective on emotionally disturbed persons or others who may not respond to pain due to a mind-body disconnect,” the company warned in 2013. “Avoid using repeated drive-stuns on such individuals if compliance is not achieved.”

Chatham County Sheriff’s Office policy prohibits deputies from drive-stunning someone who is restrained, according to Sheriff Al St. Lawrence, who said he fired or forced out 16 people after the Ajibade incident.

The deputy who drive-stunned Ajibade, Jason Kenny, was indicted in June along with another deputy and a nurse. Kenny was acquitted last month of manslaughter and assault, but found guilty of cruelty to an inmate by using excessive force. The other deputy was convicted of public records fraud and perjury, and the nurse was convicted of making a false statement to a state agent. Kenny was sentenced to one month in jail and three years’ probation. Neither Kenny nor his attorney, Willie Yancey Jr., returned several phone calls seeking comment.

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Christopher Kohrs, a San Francisco police officer known affectionately on social media as the “Hot Cop of the Castro,” was arrested early Sunday morning after he allegedly plowed into two men in the city’s North Beach neighborhood and ran off.

Kohrs, 38, was off duty and driving westbound in his 2009 Dodge Charger on Broadway near Montgomery Street when he slammed into the victims, who were crossing the street around 2:20 a.m., police said. The driver ditched the car at the scene and ran away. Police found that the Charger was registered to Kohrs.

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A former city councilman who won summary judgment after a police chief threatened to arrest him for criticizing a public official has settled with the police chief and the Northern California City of Cotati.

George Barich, who describes himself as a former newspaper editor, attended an April 2014 City Council meeting where he called city Planning Commissioner Neil Hancock a “liar,” to which Hancock retorted, “You’re the liar,” according to Barich’s January lawsuit in Federal Court.

Barich, a former city councilman, told Courthouse News on Friday that despite Hancock’s contradicting report, the exchange was civilized, and he did not exhibit any expressions of physical aggression, but was nonetheless stopped by Cotati Police Chief Michael Parish after the meeting.

“When the meeting was over, I walked by Neil (Hancock) and called him a liar again, and he said ‘No, you are the one who is a liar,'” Barich said. “Everyone was leaving, but Chief Parish said, ‘George, hold it!’ and told me to go outside. When we got out there, he told me he would arrest me if I tried to record him with my phone. Then he told me if I ever called anyone from the city a liar during or after a council meeting again, he’d arrest me. He asked me, ‘Do you understand me?’ and I said, ‘I understand, but I don’t agree with you.'”

Barich’s lawsuit against Parish and the City of Cotati alleged violations of the Civil Rights Act and the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

“Parish’s unlawful threats to arrest plaintiff were not constitutionally protected speech on an issue of public interest,” according to the Jan. 24 complaint. “Parish does not have a First Amendment right to arrest, or threaten to arrest, a citizen without probable cause and in retaliation for that citizen’s expressing criticism of government and/or in retaliation for gathering information about what public officials do on public property and recording matters of public interest.”

Barich filed a motion for partial summary judgment on Sept. 9, and the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment nine days later.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled that there is no question that Parish violated Barich’s civil rights.

“At the time of Chief Parish’s conduct, Barich had a clearly established First Amendment right to record a police officer on public property,” Chhabria wrote in an Oct. 20 order. “Nevertheless, Chief Parish told Barich that, if he exercised his First Amendment right, he would be arrested. Chief Parish made this threat to deter Barich from recording him, and a reasonable person of ordinary firmness would in fact be deterred by this threat of arrest. For these reasons, Barich is entitled to summary judgment against Chief Parish on this claim.”

He added that since Parish is a “policymaker” for the city “Barich is also entitled to summary judgment against the city.”

Chhabria, however, found too many factual disputes about the circumstances surrounding the verbal exchanges between Barich and Hancock, and denied summary judgment on Barich’s claim that Parish violated his civil rights by threatening him for calling a city official a liar.

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A Los Angeles city councilwoman just proposed one of the most chilling uses of license plate scanners ever.

As an ostensible means of deterring prostitution, Nury Martinez, of the LA city council, wants to scan every single license plate, make a list, and mail out a shame letter to every person who drives through an arbitrary area deemed a prostitution zone.

You read that right. For merely driving through a designated area, Martinez proposes publicly shaming any and every motorist by scanning their license plate.

Martinez told CBS Los Angeles, “If you aren’t soliciting, you have no reason to worry about finding one of these letters in your mailbox. But if you are, these letters will discourage you from returning. Soliciting for sex in our neighborhoods is not OK.”

The idea is so Orwellian, so fascist even, that the police themselves have deemed it unconstitutional.

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In the last week alone - November 20th through November 27th 2015 - in at least two separate incidents police officers opened fire inside of a school in order to kill a dog. These incidents occurred at Montevideo Middle School in Minnesota on 11-20 and Sacajawea Junior High School in Lewiston, Idaho on 11-23. During both incidents the animals involved caused no serious injury to students or staff and the entire school was forced into an emergency lockdown. At Sacajawea Junior High School, the dog who caused the crisis was apparently well known to a number of the students at the school - so well known that the dog's shooting resulted in a protest march in his honor just days after the shooting. Police claimed they shot the dog at Sacajawea Junior High only after the dog failed to respond to verbal commands.

The dog, Mister Chang, is deaf (he survived, but lost a leg).

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What do you suppose that looked like?

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Disabled vet keeps getting parking tickets despite city policy that says handicapped cars don't have to pay meters.

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A Richland County Sheriff's deputy shot and killed a family's dog Tuesday while searching the wrong house for a possibly suicidal woman.

The deputies were dispatched to the 3100 block of Lucas Perrysville Road for an attempted suicide Tuesday morning. They were told a woman had called the suicide hotline and said she was going to try to hang herself with an extension cord, but it broke.

When police arrived at the home, they said a dog could be heard barking in the residence. Police knocked on the door, but no one answered. When they asked dispatchers how they knew this was the correct address of where the call came from, they were told the call was traced to that address. Highway Patrol had dispatchers conduct a location search on where the phone number came from and the address on Lucas Perrysville Road showed up.

Police said they found an unlocked side door and entered the home. One officer involved said he had his Taser out in case the dog in the home was aggressive. Officers announced that they were in the building multiple times, but no one answered.

When one of the officers made it to the second floor of the residence, the dog was spotted. Police said the dog began to growl and seemed aggressive. Police asked dispatchers to contact the dog warden to be contacted, but were told he was not able to be reached at that time.

According to a police report, one of the officers said he attempted to secure the dog in a bedroom. He had his Taser ready in case the dog charged at him. The dog, last identified as 9-month-old Zeus, began to growl and show its teeth. When the officer walked toward a bathroom in the home, he said the dog charged him.

The dog was shot three times and eventually laid down on a child's bed where he died.

The home actually belongs to Tiffany McGregor, who has lived there with her husband, three kids and their dog Zeus for the last six months.

"We buried him on our land," McGregor said. "He was a good dog. Never vicious, just a big baby."

McGregor said the family got the 9-month-old Bull Mastiff to look after their young children when they moved out of the city.

"I feel like he was scared to death," she said tearfully. "He protected us but we couldn't be here to protect him."

Deputies said the woman who called the suicide hotline was never found. The McGregor's home was listed as one of her former addresses, but she does not currently live there and the family does not know her.

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Chief Cheryl Wilson has remained on administrative leave for the last two and a half months after a kerfuffle with city leadership over an inquiry into an officer’s use of force." The officer that used the stun gun is still a Lieutenant with Lancaster PD.

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Jack Yantis, an Idaho rancher killed by two sheriff’s deputies under unclear circumstances on Nov. 1, is not. Or, at least, not yet. On Thursday, the FBI announced that it is investigating Yantis’s shooting.

“ISP [Idaho State Police] will be thorough, the FBI will be thorough,” U.S. Attorney for Idaho Wendy Olson said, as the Idaho Statesman reported. “The attorney general’s office will carefully review the evidence, we’ll carefully review the evidence, and decisions will be made. … That does take a period of time to do and get right.”

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“They opened up with their pistols and their M16s … before Jack got there,” Paradis said. “That’s an inhumane deal. … This is a 2-ton Angus bull that’s pissed off, he’s hurt and psychotic. … It was blazing down there and it sounded like World War III on this bull, because they got him charging at everyone again.”

It was unclear, however, if Keiford was dead. Yantis’s wife Donna brought him a .204-caliber rifle to finish the job. Yantis prepared to fire. Just another day on the open range.

Then, things went tragically wrong. Though how the altercation began isn’t clear, one of the deputies grabbed the scope of Yantis’s rifle and pushed him. The rifle may have gone off. That’s when the deputies opened fire on Yantis, who died at the scene.

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The OIG found that the DEA’s policy for confidential sources, which was approved by the Criminal Division in 2004, differs in several significant respects from the Attorney General’s Guidelines Regarding the Use of Confidential Informants (AG Guidelines), which is DOJ’s overarching policy regarding component use of confidential sources. The use of high-level and privileged or media-affliated sources—such as individuals who are part of drug trafficking organization leadership, as well as lawyers, doctors, or journalists—can pose an increased risk to the public and can have unique legal implications for DOJ. For this reason, the AG Guidelines require special approval before these individuals may be used as a source. Yet, the OIG found that the DEA’s Confidential Source Program has no similar requirement, resulting in insufficient oversight.

In addition, the OIG reported that DEA policy and practices are not in line with the AG Guidelines’ requirements for reviewing, approving, and revoking confidential sources’ authorization to conduct Otherwise Illegal Activity (OIA). The effects of inadequate oversight of OIA by confidential sources could prove detrimental to DEA operations and liability, and could create unforeseen consequences. For instance, confidential sources could engage in illegal activity that has not been adequately considered, or could overstep their boundaries with a mistaken belief that the DEA has sanctioned any illegal activities in which they participate.

Further, contrary to its own policy, the DEA did not always review its continued use of long- term confidential sources and, when it did, the reviews were neither timely nor rigorous. The OIG found that between 2003 and 2009, the DEA used over 240 long-term confidential sources without rigorous review, often devoting an average of less than 1 minute per source to consider the appropriateness of the source’s continued use. In addition, in most instances the DEA continued to use these sources without obtaining the required DOJ concurrence.

This created a significant risk that improper relationships between government handlers and sources could be allowed to continue over many years, potentially resulting in the divulging of sensitive information or other adverse consequences for the government.

In addition, the DEA confidential source policy does not include any specific guidance regarding the use of DEA licensees as con dential sources. DOJ guidance emphasizes the need for controls to ensure that no licensee is led to believe that the continued validity of their license is predicated on their status as a confidential source, yet the OIG found that the DEA’s con dential source policy does not specifically address the recruitment, establishment, or use of sources who have been issued a DEA-provided controlled substance registration number.

Finally, the OIG found that the DEA provided Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) benefits to confidential sources without adequate processes in place for reviewing the claims and determining eligibility for these benefits. The OIG estimated that, in just the 1 year period from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014, the DEA paid 17 confidential sources or their dependents FECA benefits totaling approximately $1.034 million. The audit also found that the DEA inappropriately continued using and paying confidential sources who were also receiving full disability benefits through FECA, and that the DEA had not adequately considered the implications of awarding such benefits on the disclosure obligations of federal prosecutors and had not consulted DOJ about the issue.

The report notes that the audit was seriously delayed by instances of uncooperativeness from the DEA, including a empts to prohibit the OIG’s observation of confidential source file reviews and delays, for months at a time, in providing the OIG with requested confidential source information and documentation. In each instance, the matters were resolved only after the Inspector General elevated them to the DEA Administrator. As a result, over 1 year after initiating this review, the OIG has only been able to conduct a limited review of the DEA’s Confidential Source Program. The OIG is continuing its audit to more fully assess the DEA’s management and oversight of its confidential sources.

The OIG made seven recommendations to the DEA to improve the policies and management of its Confidential Source Program. The DEA agreed with all of the recommendations...

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The political fallout from the Laquan McDonald shooting continues Monday as Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was ordered held on a bond of $1.5 million for the killing of the Chicago teenager. Now, some Chicago politicians are calling for the resignation of Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.

The calls for Alvarez to resign come from within her own party and include the powerful voice of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

"I think the way in which she's run the office is disgraceful," Preckwinkle said.

Preckwinkle joined the chorus demanding the resignation of Anita Alvarez, the Cook County state's attorney who took over 13 months to decide to charge Van Dyke in the Laquan McDonald murder. Earlier, the county board president demanded the city fire Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy for his handling of the same case.

"Changing the leadership at the state's attorney's office is very important at this time and that's why I'm supporting Kim Foxx for state's attorney," Preckwinkle said.

"I am encouraged that the county is paying attention to this race," said Kim Foxx, candidate for state's attorney.

Foxx is Preckwinkle's former chief of staff, who was endorsed months ago by the president in next year's Democratic primary.

Alvarez - who says the charging delay was caused by her office's cooperation with federal investigators - emailed Monday: "I will not be bullied by politicians who do not have a full understanding of the facts of the investigation."

"It's clear to me that there's been a cover-up," said Cook County Board Cmsr. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.

Meanwhile, a half dozen Latino politicians joined the call for the resignation of Alvarez, Cook County's first Latina state's attorney.

"We're not giving anyone a pass," Garcia said.

"Over a year it took her to come to the conclusion that this individual needed to be indicted," said Ald. Riccardo Munoz, 22nd Ward.

Last summer, Cook County Democrats decided not to endorse the two-term incumbent Alvarez. Some committeemen alleged she is reluctant to prosecute police or politically-connected suspects.

"If I were Anita Alvarez, I would resign," said Donna More, a candidate for state's attorney.

Attorney Donna More met the deadline to file petitions to become a third candidate in the Democratic primary race. She is a former state and federal prosecutor.

"The reason that I'm running is to restore people's faith in this office," More said.

The 2016 primary election will be held on March 15, 2016. As mentioned earlier, the Democratic Party has not endorsed a candidate for state's attorney leaving this a wide-open race where the Laquan McDonald case will be a centerpiece issue.

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Man catches wild horse running down the street, calls police. Police respond, ignore the horse, demand ID.

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50 people were arrested this week, in connection with a drug smuggling operation, where prescription opiates were transported into a Florida state prison, with the help of prison employees. In total, nine corrections officers were arrested in the operation, which lasted over 11 months and included multiple other arrests along the way.

The investigation was called “Operation Checkered Flag,” and it began late last year when local police were tipped off about drugs flowing into Bradford County prisons. Back in June, two conspirators that were thought to be at the head of the drug ring were arrested, both of them were corrections officers. Officer Dylan Oral Hilliard of Lawtey and Maj. Charles Gregory “Chicken Hawk” Combs were each arrested in June, but the smuggling operations still continued.

Deeper into the investigation, police discovered that it was a much larger scheme taking place, involving multiple other corrections officers.

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John Livingston was killed by police in Harnett County, North Carolina on the deck of his trailer. Police had an old address, wrong suspect and killed Mr. Livingston after being told to leave because they had no search warrant. Tim Black breaks down this story for people who love freedom and want their rights back!

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Chase’s fiancée told his parents that he may have smoked “Spice”—also known as “synthetic marijuana”—before they had left on the five-day trip, which may have been the cause of the episode.

Chase’s father described what happened next:

“We got him in the car and we took off on I-85. Chase’s fiancée was driving and Chase was lying in the back with me. He had his head on my lap. He acted like he didn’t know where we were going. And then he jumped up and started a disturbance in the car.”

They pulled over, and Chase’s mother dialed 9-1-1, but the father told her to hang up, thinking things were under control. After driving again for a few more minutes, Chase “got more violent,” and they pulled over again and his mother again called 9-1-1.

“We were fighting, screaming, trying to calm him down. It was pretty horrendous in the car,” his father said. “His fiancée jumped back to try to calm him down and she actually got bit. My wife told me just to hit him or something to try to get her arm loose. He let loose of the arm and the officers showed up.”

When the three deputies arrived, “they reached across me trying to get the handcuffs on him. I got out of the car and they told me to go back by the ambulance.” Still in the vehicle, Chase’s mother says she heard one deputy tell Chase, “We’re going to shoot you.” She said, “Don’t shoot him, don’t shoot him,” his father added. The deputy reportedly responded by saying, “I have to protect myself.” Deputies then instructed everyone else to exit the vehicle. During the ensuing struggle, Chase was tased repeatedly. “More officers kept coming and we think they kept tasing him,” Chase’s father said. “They were treating him like a rabid dog.”

During the struggle, the police kept EMTs back, saying the situation was not safe. Chase’s parents maintain that the deputies were never in danger, that their son was not armed, and that if the deputies felt threatened they could have just stepped away and closed the vehicle doors. Instead, the father says, the officers “just went nuts.”

“He was seat-belted in; he couldn’t get out. And they couldn’t just let him be and let him calm down,” the father said, adding, “They treated my son like a piece of meat.”

Eventually, Chase’s fiancée and parents watched as deputies grabbed Chase’s arms and pulled him from the vehicle.

“They dragged him out of the car like a dead dog. His head hit the ground. He was done. There was no movement, no nothing. We were screaming, ‘They killed him.’”

The deputies wouldn’t let the family go to him; then kept the parents and fiancée in a patrol car, keeping them for a time to be interviewed before allowing them to go to the hospital where Chase was being taken. Finally, at the Piedmont Newnan Hospital, when they said who they were there to see, they were led to a room by a security guard. “He said, ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’” according to Chase’s father. Mary Ann, Chase’s mother, said that when she was talking to a deputy, “I can’t remember what I asked him. All he answered was: ‘We had to protect ourselves.’”

The incident is being investigated, and while we may not know exactly what happened unless the footage from the bodycams worn by the deputies is publicly released, it is hard to imagine why multiple armed police officers could not subdue an unarmed man, who was already handcuffed and trapped in a vehicle without killing him.

According to his father, Chase “was a very strong kid, but laying down in the seat belt … come on. With three guys on you? Come on. And to keep pushing the taser in you? Come on.”

While we may not yet have the footage of this killing, we do know that this is one more case of an unarmed man ending up dead, with cops saying they feared for their safety. If only they showed a similar concern for the safety of those of us who don’t wear badges and uniforms, maybe less innocent citizens would end up dead at the hands of crazed and cowardly killer cops.

This is the second case in just a short time frame of cops killing a man during a mental breakdown with tasers.

Multiple videos were released in November of 46-year-old Linwood “Ray” Lambert, who was killed by tasers. In a just a few minutes, three cops would hit Lambert with their tasers a total 20 times, according to the device reports issued by Taser International.

For a total of 87 seconds, Lambert had 50,000 volts running through his body — a level capable of inflicting serious injury or death, according to federal guidelines.

As was the case with Chase Sherman, one hour after the police showed up, Lambert was pronounced dead.

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The officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Ohio has delivered his first public account of the killing, over a year after the incident occurred, arguing his actions were justified as he was engaged in an “active shooter situation” and believed Tamir was 18 years old.

Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann told grand jurors he shot because Tamir pulled a gun – which turned out to be a pellet gun – from his waistband. “The suspect had a gun, had been threatening others with the weapon and had not obeyed our command to show us his hands,” he said.

Tamir Rice family lawyers call reports into fatal shooting 'preposterous'

Loehmann fatally shot Tamir, who was black, within two seconds of arriving at a local park on 22 November last year, after a 911 caller reported that there was a juvenile in the area with a weapon that was “probably fake”. The full details of the call were not passed on to the officers, according to other accounts released by Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty.

A Cuyahoga County grand jury is currently considering whether to bring charges against Loehmann, 27, and his partner, 47-year-old Frank Garmback, both of whom are white. Garmback was the driver of the patrol car on the day of the shooting.

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Loehmann said he told Tamir to raise his hands repeatedly as the boy was “reaching into his waistband” before the officer opened fire and had exited his patrol cruiser because he had been trained that “the cruiser is a coffin”.

“I observed the suspect pulling the gun out of waistband and his elbow coming up,” Loehmann wrote in his submission, dated 30 November 2015.

He continued: “With his hands pulling the gun out and his elbow coming up, I knew it was a gun and it was coming out … the threat to my partner and myself was real and active”.

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On Tuesday, Rice family lawyers described the prosecutor’s decision to allow the officer’s unsworn statements before the grand jury as “a stunning irregularity”.

“No regular target of a criminal investigation would be afforded this opportunity,” the group said in a statement.

In Garmback’s statement, he concedes that the patrol car had slid along the ground and “did not stop where and when I intended”.

The steady release of evidence presented to the grand jury, including three expert testimonies that concluded the shooting was justified, has been staunchly criticised by Tamir’s parents and protesters in Cleveland, who argue that the drip feed of information is designed to prepare the public for a non-indictment.

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A police officer who held a gun to a man’s head, apparently to impress his friends, was convicted Wednesday of first-degree assault and misconduct in office.After Officer Jenchesky Santiago’s conviction, the Prince George’s County police chief condemned the officer’s actions and said he was recommending that the department fire him.

The police department also released a cellphone video of the May 2014 incident, which showed Santiago holding the gun close to the man’s forehead and shouting, “I dare you to [expletive] fight me, son.

”William Cunningham, the victim, said Wednesday that he still thinks every day about the terrifying traffic stop beside his front lawn . “I thought I was going to die right there,” he said. “I just thought it was over.

”He complained to the police department shortly after the episode, and the department alerted the state’s attorney’s office.“I’m thankful justice was served,” Cunningham said Wednesday.

At the time of the confrontation, Santiago had two friends from New Jersey riding with him in his police car, although he was not authorized to bring along visitors.“We think, unfortunately, what happened is that he was showing off for his friends,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks.

The encounter began when Cunningham’s cousin stopped at Cunningham’s Bowie home to drop him off. The men talked in the car briefly before Santiago pulled up beside them in a cruiser.

Also brooks said that Santiago repeatedly asked the men what they were doing there, even after they explained that Cunningham lived in the house.

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A startling courthouse security video leaked by a government whistleblower records the illegal 2009 assault and arrest of indigent, disabled pro per litigant and family court reform activist Robert Saunders. During a March 9, 2009 court hearing, Judge Matthew Gary ordered the self-represented Saunders arrested and jailed for contempt of court. Two outside, independent judges who later reviewed the incident determined that both the contempt charge and arrest were illegal.

One of the two reviewing judges also issued an order removing Gary from the case for bias and violating state contempt law. The new video leak appears to reinforce the review findings, showing Saunders sitting passively at the courtroom counsel table until a painful "control hold" is applied to his arm by a deputy sheriff. When Saunders reacts to the pain, a wrestling match ensues until additional deputies arrive to subdue and apply handcuffs to the illegally arrested victim. The pro per is then shuffled off to the county jail through a rear exit in the courtroom. Saunders is 5' 8" tall, weighs 162 pounds, relies on a cane to walk, and, at the time of the arrest, was 57-years-old, according to the police report from the incident.

Judge Matthew J. Gary has a long, documented history of bias and abuse of authority against financially disadvantaged litigants who cannot afford an attorney and are forced to represent themselves in court. A right-wing ideologue, Gary also reportedly despises what he refers to as the "entitlement mentality" of indigent court users who obtain fee waiver orders, which allow them to file court documents without paying filing fees. Most pro per litigants rely on fee waivers to ensure their access to the court.

The California Commission on Judicial Performance and Director Victoria B. Henley have not disciplined or otherwise held Gary accountable for the misconduct against Saunders.

The illegal arrest was witnessed by attorneys Richard Sokol (left foreground), and Elaine Van Beveren (off camera). Both attorneys also serve as temporary judges in the same court and under California law were required to report the misconduct by Judge Gary. Neither attorney reported the misconduct, and in subsequent proceedings in the same case before a different judge lied about the incident, portraying Saunders as being at fault. The State Bar of California and Chief Trial Counsel Jayne Kim have not disciplined or otherwise held either attorney accountable for the violations of state law.

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A Brooklyn man is suing the NYPD after he claims he was illegally stopped-and-frisked by NYPD officers last summer—and when he went to take a photo of their license plate, they ran him over.

Hashim Haynes, 26, was walking to his home on Elton Street in East New York around 9:20 p.m. on Aug. 21st when two cop cars stopped him. He says they frisked him without telling him why. Then when they got back into their vehicles, Haynes got in front of one car to take the photo, and the officer behind the wheel rammed into him; while he was on the ground, a cop searched through his pockets again.

You can see everything play out, including the moment the cop car slams into Haynes, in the surveillance video below.

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The former Live Oak Police Department sergeant facing a federal charge for child pornography tried to have another officer destroy evidence, according to recently released court documents.

Former Live Oak Police Department Sgt. Kyle Adam Kirby, 35, arrested Oct. 28 after the FBI found child pornography on his patrol car computer, directed a fellow officer to delete all of his files off another work computer for him, according to a Nov. 25 statement from the prosecution.

After the FBI executed a search warrant on his home on Oct. 22, Kirby told the officer that his Internet access had been hacked, which resulted in him being investigated.

Federal prosecutor D. Rodney Brown stated in court documents that the officer “indicated he felt that Kirby was honest with him until he contacted him on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 25.”

That is when Brown said Kirby directed the officer to drive to the LOPD and delete all his files off of a common-use computer at the station because he didn’t want law enforcement looking at his “business.”

Kirby also asked the officer to bring a document shredder to his home following the deletion of the files, claiming he had mail to shred.

The officer didn’t comply, but went to the LOPD computer and began looking at various files and reportedly found an image of a young child whose identity the officer might have known, court documents state.

Though the photo itself was non-explicit, given the circumstances, the officer informed LOPD Chief Buddy Williams, who alerted the FBI, according to court documents.

Kirby was indicted by a grand jury on Nov. 5, and he pleaded not guilty on Nov. 9. The government had asked for and was granted a motion to have Kirby remain detained pending trial.

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A Pitt County deputy sheriff and school resource officer just admitted that he used his job to get away with child molestation and sexual assault. But that didn’t stop him from only receiving probation after pleading guilty in a Pitt County courtroom this week.

Deputy Justin Dickinson worked at the local sheriff’s department and as a student resource officer at the Farmville Central High School. That’s where he was arrested for multiple child sex charges back in March.

According to court documents, the victim was a 15-year-old student at the high school back in 2011 when the assaults occurred.

That abuse continued for years to follow…

District Attorney Kimberly Robb explains that Deputy Dickinson even videotaped the first sex act between himself and the minor. This occurred in the back of his patrol car.

The deputy showed the footage to another person who then reported it.

The original charges against the former deputy were felony sexual offense with a student, felony statutory rape of a person, and indecent liberties with a child.

Even though Deputy Dickinson admits he used his position as a law enforcement officer to get away with his crimes, as part of a plea deal with the prosecutor’s office, he only had to plead guilty to the indecent liberties charge.

Did he get special treatment? You tell us. The judge only gave him a 13 to 16 month suspended sentence. As far as an active sentence? He only got four months with 36 months probation.

He was already released this week for time served.

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...According to a news release from the TBI, Arnold has been charged with four counts of theft over $10,000, 55 counts of official misconduct, nine counts of theft over $1,000, one count of forgery, one count of theft of $500 or more, one count of attempted theft of $1,000 or more, two counts of attempted theft of $10,000 or more, one count of conspiracy to obtain a controlled substance by fraud, and 39 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud...

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A self-described “free-range” mom who lives in a gated apartment complex in Sacramento faces up to six months of jail time for letting her 4-year-old son play alone in the complex playground 120 feet from her front door. She was charged after two neighbors watched the boy, Tomahawk Hendren, playing by himself at the playground and then went outside to ask him to go home. When he said he wasn’t done playing they called the cops, and Child Protective Services took over, reports Fox 40. Sonya Hendren’s attorney says it’s now up to the prosecution to prove that Hendren willfully put her son in danger to proceed with the child endangerment and neglect charges.

While she was initially arrested for felony child endangerment and neglect, Hendren’s charges have been reduced to misdemeanors and she has been offered a reduced sentence of 30 days in jail and one year probation, but she rejected the offer and now faces a maximum penalty of six months in jail and three years probation, reports People.

“I just thought she would get a warning,” says one of the neighbors who called CPS, adding, “I’m not mad she has to do things now to teach her, because what if someone did take him?” For her part, Hendren says, “of course I love him, I do everything for him. I breastfed for 28 months. I cloth-diapered, you know, obviously I’m avoiding helicopter parenting.” Meanwhile Tomahawk, an “outdoors” boy, says, “I love her like 20 times—maybe a thousand.”

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Jackie Neal of the San Antonio PD, has been on paid vacation for the last year and a half for accusations of crimes that his chief referred to as “unthinkable.” After evidencelinked him to this vile crime, he’s still been receiving his over-deserved salary of $62,556.00.

Neal, 40, was in full uniform, in a marked squad car and on-duty when he made a traffic stop on a Friday morning in November of 2013. He then proceeded to sexually assault a 19-year-old woman, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

He forced the young woman to bend over, with her face in the rear seat of the police car. He pulled her pants and underwear down to her ankles and sexually assaulted her, according to the complaint. At that point, Neal admonished her that if she told anyone, he would know where to find her and drove off, leaving her standing there.

Thursday night, Neal was shot in the neck by an unnamed female assailant. He is currently in critical condition.

​While the name of the woman in custody has not yet been released, police suggested that the incident was linked to the earlier rape allegations, says News4SanAntonio.

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A Sergeant with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office turned himself in on Wednesday after he was accused of raping a fellow officer, a crime which his buddies on the force reportedly tried to cover up.

KREM reported that Sergeant Gordon Ennis was being held on suspicion of Rape 2nd Degree after an investigation by the sheriff’s office determined that there was probable cause to charge him.

According to court documents, the victim told detectives that she was “very intoxicated” when she passed out in a guest bedroom following a party.When she woke up, she found Ennis sexually assaulting her, the documents stated. She also stated that she heard Ennis say he needed to go home after she woke up.

Authorities said that Ennis cut his finger nails to destroy DNA evidence. But authorities said that Ennis was currently cooperating and had agreed to provide a DNA sample.Officer Doug Strosahl, who hosted the party, was accused of tampering with evidence. He has not been charged with a crime, but officials said that he could still face disciplinary action.

Sergeant John Gately was also thought to have tipped Ennis off about the investigation. He is expected to be charged with Rendering Criminal Assistance 1st Degree and Obstructing a Law Enforcement Officer.

Gately is the head of the local police union.Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich told KREM that the “victim is very strong, and has great resolve to see this through to the end.”

“We would not have turned this case in requesting charges if we did not believe that this case actually happened,” the sheriff said.

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The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has declined to file charges against a former California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer caught on video savagely beating a woman walking along the side of the Santa Monica Freeway in July 2014. Earlier this month, the district attorney’s office stated that the case was still under review more than one year after the officer, Daniel Andrew, had resigned from the CHP and approximately 13 months after interviewing the victim in the case, Marlene Pinnock.

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A former Bridgeport police officer who claimed someone left a racist memo on police letterhead in his mailbox at headquarters in February admitted to writing the letter himself and has been charged with filing a false report, according to police.

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Two whistleblower lawsuits claim to have exposed what a panel of appellate judges say is a “blue wall of police silence" in the borough Police Department, including a private meeting at a garbage dump that the court said “smacks of an illegal police cover up."

The judges recently reinstated one of the lawsuits after a lower court dismissed it. The borough recently settled the other lawsuit for $527,500.

The borough agreed to pay retired police Lt. Kevin Pierson that amount to settle his whistleblower lawsuit that claimed he was harassed and forced out of the department after he told the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office about a colleague’s alleged wrongdoing, according to court papers. The borough and Police Department admitted no wrongdoing in settling the case.

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The delegate’s suit identifies him only by the initials T.D. However, Pierson in his lawsuit, identified the officer who interceded on his behalf as Thomas Dennehy, state delegate of the Policemen's Benevolent Association, Local 251.

Pierson, in his lawsuit, claims he found out in 2008 that then-Sgt. David Scrivanic had put "a device on his home water pipes to divert water for his personal use without charge."

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Pierson reported the allegations about Scrivanic to the Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor’s Office investigated the allegations and directed the Tinton Falls Police Department to bring a “major disciplinary action’’ against Scrivanic, Pierson’s lawsuit said.

“David Scrivanic was not criminally charged by our office," Charles Webster, spokesman of the Prosecutor’s Office, said when asked about the outcome of the investigation.

What ensued was an investigation to find out who brought the matter to the Prosecutor’s Office in the first place.

“The chief prompted (internal affairs) to conduct an investigation to locate who revealed the sergeant’s water diversion activities, even though it was clear the sergeant’s conduct was unlawful," the appellate judges said in the PBA delegate’s case.

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An investigation of the incident by Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey resulted in a ruling that Deputy Ford’s attack was “justified” because of profane and provocative language used by the detainee, Kyle Askins, and because he stood up when approached by the enraged deputy.

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Askins “popped up off the bench,” Ford related during the inquiry. “I didn’t tell him to get up. I didn’t give him an order. He popped up off the bench in an aggressive manner. His body was tense, and his face, and then, based off his previous threats about what he was going to do to me, I felt threatened and I defended myself with … a strike that we are taught in the Academy to defend ourselves against threats.”

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A few minutes after that phone call, the SUV Bendetta was driving was blind-sided at an intersection by a vehicle operated by a man named Scott Abbott. She apparently didn’t see Abbott’s car. For his part, Abbott was driving well above the speed limit, and didn’t have time to avoid the fatal crash. Brenda was flown to a nearby hospital, where she died as a result of her injuries.

Criminal homicide charges have been filed as a result of Bendetta's death. The suspect was not Pennsylvania State Trooper Scott Abbott, the man who killed her, but 23-year-old Jonathan Switch, the individual Abbott was pursuing. Abbott joined the chase after Switch – who had been driving with a suspended license – fled from a traffic stop.

Gary Miller referred to his wife’s death as the result of a “senseless … high-speed chase.” Given that the troopers were engaging in tax collection, rather than the pursuit of a suspected violent felon, a better description of their actions would be “criminally irresponsible.”

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Shirley Brown said in a lawsuit filed in 2011 that Cleveland police had pulled over her son on New Years Eve for allegedly driving without his headlights on – and then ordered him out of his vehicle.

The lawsuit maintained that Brown was elbowed in the back of the neck during a pat down before he ran across the street and turned to face his attackers in a nonthreatening manner.

After an officer deployed his stun-gun on him, police said Brown again fled and then aggressively resisted when several cops attempted to subdue him while deploying Tasers.

As officers got control of the situation and handcuffed the man, a police radio recorded Brown repeatedly telling the cops he could not breathe. One of the officers can be heard responding on the recording, “Who gives a fuck?” before Brown went into cardiac arrest, became unresponsive, and died.

Multiple witnesses maintain that the cops are liars and that Brown’s headlights were on. In addition, Brown family attorney Al Gerhardstein has called the officers’ version of events “classic circumstantial evidence.”

The Sixth Circuit is now considering an appeal by the cops after a federal judge refused to grant them immunity on the claim that they were deliberately indifferent to Brown’s medical condition.

Cleveland city attorney John Bacevice Jr. said Friday during the proceedings that the eyewitnesses who claimed Brown’s lights were on had not come out of their home until the officers had already made the stop, and asserted that Brown likely turned them on after being pulled over.

Bacevice also argued that lower courts should not have heard the deliberate-indifference claim because it was not pleaded in the original legal complaint by Brown’s mother.

In response, Judge Karen Nelson Moore asked if Shirley Brown was willing to amend her claims if the court ruled against her on that basis, and Bavevice said that move would be “wholly unfair” because it “would basically give the plaintiffs a do-over.”

Bacevice maintained that, “Brown did not show serious medical need until the officers could hear the sirens of the EMS,” and that the phrase, “I can’t breathe,” did not constitute serious medical need because, “Brown was viciously fighting off the officers for several minutes after making the statements.”

“These [police officers] are not doctors,” Bacevice said. “They are not nurses. They did the best they could.”

Gerhardstein said the cops “are on the hook because they saw [the situation] developing,” and that the incident may have had a different outcome had the EMS been informed of the severity of the situation.

He said that when the emergency responders arrived, Brown was hunched on the curb and “propped up on one of the officer’s legs.” The attorney told the three judge panel on Friday that the case should be decided by a jury.

Gerhardstein also asserted that the city is liable for Brown’s death because of department policy that trains cops to fire their Tasers at suspects chests. No timetable has been set for the Appeals Court decision.

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So began a tense, hourslong hostage standoff that ended in the arrest of the suspect and, separately, the fatal shooting by police of Funk .... Funk was fleeing the scene Saturday when he was shot, the lawyer said, though police say they opened fire only after a man refused to drop the gun he was holding.

An officer wearing protective armor also was shot in the helmet and injured when authorities entered the business in an attempt to rescue the hostages, Neenah Police Chief Kevin Wilkinson told reporters. The officer was treated at a hospital and released. It wasn't immediately clear who shot the officer.

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A.J. Daoust was minding his own business, hadn’t caused harm to anyone, and simply wanted a quick meal when he was targeted by Alberta’s finest as an easy mark for extortion.

As Daoust was waiting in line at a Tim Horton’s Drive-thru in Beaumont, he received a text message, naturally he replied. Sitting in a drive-thru and texting, even to the most staunch anti-distracted driving advocates, is considered entirely harmless as you are most likely stopped while doing so.

However, according to a Beaumont cop, Daoust was placing the entire planet in danger when he sent out that digital message.

“I was just sitting there and I got a text, I replied to it….” said Daoust. But when he lifted up that phone, he broke the law.

According to the law, the use of a cellphone is prohibited on ‘any’ thoroughfare, public or private that the public is ordinarily entitled to use for the passage of vehicles.

So, after he paid for his food, an officer came knocking at Daoust’s window and told him to pull over. He was then issued a $287 ticket for distracted driving — while in a drive thru.

“To me, this is ridiculous. It’s just kind of heavy-handed,” said Daoust, and he’s right.

No one likes a distracted driver, and, indeed, they are a danger on the roadways. However, texting while in the drive-thru lane is entirely benign, even the officer knows this.

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The witness is one of 13 black women who have accused Daniel Holtzclaw, 28, a former Oklahoma City police officer, of sexually assaulting them while on duty. Holtzclaw faces 36 counts, including sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy and rape. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

As she spoke to the court two weeks ago about her alleged rape, the woman wore an orange uniform, her hands and feet in shackles, as she herself was currently jailed on a drug charge.

It was hard not to see the moment as symbolic. The 13 women who came forward -- many of whom have criminal records and substance abuse problems -- have faced attacks on their credibility during the course of the trial. Because of their histories, it seemed they were on trial as much as Holtzclaw.

As the case draws to a close, a picture has emerged of a predator who allegedly targeted the most vulnerable women in society using the power of the badge. Holtzclaw would stop the women in his patrol car, often when they were walking alone. He'd search them for drugs and run criminal background checks to see if they had a record, or were wanted on a warrant. Then, they said, he would force them into sex, threatening them with arrest if they didn’t comply.

One woman alleged that she was handcuffed to a hospital bed, high on PCP, when Holtzclaw forced her to perform oral sex on him. Another woman testified that Holtzclaw ran her name and found out she had city warrants, and then drove her to an abandoned school and raped her.

Another victim explained to the court that she didn’t tell anyone about Holtzclaw's alleged abuse because she’d "never been on the right side of the law." The last woman to testify, who was only 17 at the time of her alleged rape, summarized the group sentiment with one salient and heartbreaking question: "What kind of police do you call on the police?"

The alleged assaults occurred over a period of seven months. The investigation into Holtzclaw was triggered after one victim, who has been identified by local media as a 57-year-old grandmother, went to the police and reported a sexual assault.

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A clearly confused and racist Georgia cop was caught on dashcam telling a driver during a traffic stop, “I don’t care about your people,” and then threatening him.

On November, 16, officer Maurice Lawson of the Cobb County police department pulled over 33-year-old middle school teacher, Brian Baker for allegedly speeding.

During the stop, three officers would surround Baker’s car to issue him a citation.

After Baker received the citation, he merely asked officer Lawson if he could leave, to which Lawson replied, “Leave. Go away. Go to Fulton County. I don’t care about your people, man, go.”

When Baker questioned the officer’s remarks, Lawson threatened him by saying, “Do you want to step out of the car and talk to me?”

“Why do you need me to step out of the car?” Baker asks.

“Go back to Fulton County, sir.”

Whether he knew it or now, Baker

Baker then drove off, at which point Lawson vented to his fellow officers about how people who don’t immediately prostrate themselves before his almighty badge, anger him. “I lose my cool, man, every time. Why do I got to deal with (stuff) like that? This is the f**king America we live in, ain’t it?”

Lawson’s admitted inability to keep his cool should, without a doubt, be grounds for losing a job in which he carries the state’s authority to use violence against others, and a gun to enact said violence. However, when he actually loses his cool on video by making blatantly bigoted remarks and subsequent threats, there should be no question as to whether or not he should keep his badge.

But, as in most cases, Lawson was not fired, nor was he even suspended. He was merely transferred to another precinct, “Pending and Investigation.”

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Pike County Deputy Joel Jenkins has been charged with felony involuntary manslaughter after he says he accidentally shot and killed his neighbor.

According to Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader, at about 11:40 p.m., Thursday, dispatchers received a call from Jenkins, who was off duty at the time, saying his gun had accidentally discharged and had shot his neighbor, 40-year-old Jason Brady, in the head.

Reader said Jenkins had been drinking alcohol when he fired the handgun that was not his duty weapon.

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In August of 2014, Rebecca M. Sotherland, a police officer formerly employed for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, was videotaped tazering a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe 17 times while he laid unresponsive on the ground on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Sotherland was indicted by a federal grand jury only days after the brutal incident and charged with violating the constitutional rights of 33-year-old Jeff Eagle Bull, by repeatedly using her Taser on him.

The federal trial for the indicted former officer began earlier this week. If found guilty, Sotherland faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The video footage shows Eagle Bull screaming in pain as he lay on the ground repeatedly being shocked with electricity by the officer. Never during the encounter did the man make any aggressive moves. Throughout the incident, he only lays on the ground writhing in pain screaming as he is being brutalized.

It’s obvious from the video footage that Sotherland wasn’t using the stun gun as a means of defense, as the man can be seen lying helplessly on the ground in handcuffs. She was using it as a means of sadistic punishment in an attempt to motivate him to get into her police cruiser.

Sotherland repeatedly yells at the helpless man to get in the car, eventually threatening that, “It’s gonna get you again,” referring to the 50,000 volts of electricity delivered by the tazer.

The disgraced cop continues screaming, “Hurry up! Get the car before it hits you again! Hurry up!” The brutal electrical assault continues as she keeps commanding the man to, “Get up and get in the car or it’s gonna get you again.”

Sotherland is seen on the now viral video standing over the top of a clearly helpless Eagle Bull. Eagle Bull was already in handcuffs and lying on the ground.

Finally in disgust the bystanders yell at the cop, “Let him go, quit tazing him! Just help him up! Just stop tazing him and help him up. One of these boys will help you.”

Sotherland responds, “You guys gonna help him up?” To which the onlooker says, “Yeah.” After that, a gentleman then can be heard saying, “I dunno, I don’t trust her myself,” referring to the cop after seeing what she has just done to the man on the ground.

At this point, a number of bystanders go over to assist the brutalized man into the police cruiser.

While the quick indictment of Sotherland was certainly a move in the right direction, it remains to be seen whether a South Dakota jury will actually hold the former officer accountable for her actions. Members of the tribe are skeptical that justice will actually be served, as South Dakota has a tenuous history with Native peoples.

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A Washington state police officer has been charged with sexually assaulting a fellow cop after she passed out at a party, authorities said.

Spokane Police Department Sgt. Gordon Ennis turned himself in Wednesday and was booked on second-degree rape charges, according to The Spokesman-Review. He was released minutes later.

His arraignment is scheduled for Monday.

The female officer told investigators she consumed several drinks at an October party thrown by another Spokane officer. She vomited and then went to sleep it off in a guest room at the host’s house, she said.

She awoke to find Ennis sitting next to her on a bed, with his fingers penetrating her, she said.

He abruptly left, she said.

“The victim is very strong, and has great resolve to see this through to the end,” said Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, KREM-TV reported.

Court documents say Ennis trimmed his fingernails to avoid the collection of DNA evidence, the station said. He was placed on paid leave after the alleged incident.

Other officers are being investigated for possibly compromising the investigation, authorities said.

“This is a disappointing day for Spokane. We hold our police officers to the highest standards of conduct, and the allegations contained in these charges fall far short of those expectations,” sid Spokane Mayor David Condon.

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