The hero warrior cop is ready to get roided up, rape, and drink and drive
12-09-2015, 08:38 AM
#6501
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never call the police on people you love.
Bolingbrook Cops Broke Teen's Neck After False Arrest...
Bolingbrook Cops Broke Teen's Neck After False Arrest...
On the day his neck was broken, Guzman was at his job when he got a call from his pregnant girlfriend, Ariel Reyes, the suit said. Guzman was reportedly living at the time with Reyes and her parents at their home on Feather Sound Drive.
Reyes told Guzman she had just been in a physical fight with her mother, and that her parents were kicking her and throwing her belongings onto the lawn, the suit said. She reportedly told Guzman he needed to come over immediately with his truck, pick her up and gather her things.
About the same time, Reyes’ father called 911 but told dispatchers the “altercation was over and Ariel was calm now,” the lawsuit said.
After Guzman got to the house, officers Jason Mitchem and Marjorie Higens reportedly arrived at the Reyes residence, and Higens ordered Guzman to stop loading his truck. After a verbal dispute, Guzman was threatened with arrest, the suit said.
Guzman put out his wrists to be handcuffed, the suit said, and Mitchem hit him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Mitchem and Higens then allegedly jumped on top of him and beat him where he lay, the suit said.
When a screaming Reyes tried to video record the beating with her phone, she also was threatened with arrest, according to the lawsuit.
Two other, unidentified police officers roughed Guzman up at the police station, the lawsuit said.
Guzman was booked into the Will County jail on a felony charge of aggravated battery and misdemeanor resisting police. Prosecutors decided to charge him only with misdemeanor battery. Guzman was acquitted of the charge at a September trial.
Guzman named Mitchem, Higens, the two unidentified officers and the Village of Bolingbrook as defendants in his lawsuit.
Reyes told Guzman she had just been in a physical fight with her mother, and that her parents were kicking her and throwing her belongings onto the lawn, the suit said. She reportedly told Guzman he needed to come over immediately with his truck, pick her up and gather her things.
About the same time, Reyes’ father called 911 but told dispatchers the “altercation was over and Ariel was calm now,” the lawsuit said.
After Guzman got to the house, officers Jason Mitchem and Marjorie Higens reportedly arrived at the Reyes residence, and Higens ordered Guzman to stop loading his truck. After a verbal dispute, Guzman was threatened with arrest, the suit said.
Guzman put out his wrists to be handcuffed, the suit said, and Mitchem hit him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Mitchem and Higens then allegedly jumped on top of him and beat him where he lay, the suit said.
When a screaming Reyes tried to video record the beating with her phone, she also was threatened with arrest, according to the lawsuit.
Two other, unidentified police officers roughed Guzman up at the police station, the lawsuit said.
Guzman was booked into the Will County jail on a felony charge of aggravated battery and misdemeanor resisting police. Prosecutors decided to charge him only with misdemeanor battery. Guzman was acquitted of the charge at a September trial.
Guzman named Mitchem, Higens, the two unidentified officers and the Village of Bolingbrook as defendants in his lawsuit.
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12-09-2015, 08:52 AM
#6502
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badges dont somehow make people not awful criminals.
Former deputy takes plea deal for stealing trumpet - - San Mateo Daily Journal
Former deputy takes plea deal for stealing trumpet - - San Mateo Daily Journal
A former county sheriff’s deputy who swiped a musician’s pricey trumpet and jacket while he played at a Millbrae hotel and later threw the instrument out a car window was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Brandon Hatt, 34, pleaded no contest Tuesday to felony grand theft and was immediately given the two months jail followed by three years of supervised probation. He must also pay Jesse Mathews, the musician whose trumpet was stolen, $533.29.
Mathews, who now lives and teaches music in Colorado, said he was relieved he didn’t have to fly back to California to testify but didn’t necessarily agree with the sentence.
“I didn’t personally feel like he should serve jail time because it was a nonviolent offense and because of the issues surrounding the jail in San Mateo County,” Mathews said.
Hatt was ordered to surrender to the jail March 15 and a judge recommended he serve his time through the sheriff’s alternative work program. Judge Jonathan Karesh is also allowing Hatt to serve his time in San Diego and will reduce the felony to a misdemeanor after he successfully completes half his probation, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti.
Hatt had been employed by the Millbrae Police Department under the umbrella of the Sheriff’s Office as part of its shared services agreement. Hatt was off duty and not in uniform at the time of the alleged incident. He was placed on leave after his arrest and has since left the employment of the Sheriff’s Office. The conviction prohibits Hatt from carrying a weapon.
Hatt was arrested Dec. 21, 2012 the day after authorities say he took the $2,000 trumpet from Mathews, a then-music teacher at South San Francisco’s Parkway Heights Middle School who was playing a show with his band Curt Yagi and the People Standing Behind Me. Mathews previously told the Daily Journal he noticed a group of loud men, one in uniform, and left their instruments when taking a break.
When it was time to leave, around 10 p.m., Mathews noticed his trumpet as well as his jacket missing.
Prosecutors said Hatt was shooting pool at the hotel and was seen leaving, then re-entering for one minute, before exiting again with the jacket and trumpet. A responding officer called to the hotel learned the trumpet had been thrown from a car on Magnolia Avenue near Taylor Boulevard but was unable to locate it. Mathews found the instrument in its soft case in a driveway about a block from where it had been reported thrown. The jacket was not recovered.
Mathews said he spent about $275 repairing the trumpet and it plays the same as before the theft.
Hatt remains free from custody on a $10,000 bail bond pending his surrender. If convicted by a jury, Hatt faced up to three years in prison.
Mathews said the incident helped cement his lack of trust in law enforcement.
“It was the icing on the cake, having a cop commit a crime,” he said.
Mathews is also still waiting for an apology from either the Millbrae Police Department or Sheriff’s Office.
“The Millbrae PD and sheriff are responsible for the type of people they put on the force and especially in the Sheriff’s Office there is a lack of credibility,” Hatt said. “I just want an acknowledgment that someone messed up.”
Brandon Hatt, 34, pleaded no contest Tuesday to felony grand theft and was immediately given the two months jail followed by three years of supervised probation. He must also pay Jesse Mathews, the musician whose trumpet was stolen, $533.29.
Mathews, who now lives and teaches music in Colorado, said he was relieved he didn’t have to fly back to California to testify but didn’t necessarily agree with the sentence.
“I didn’t personally feel like he should serve jail time because it was a nonviolent offense and because of the issues surrounding the jail in San Mateo County,” Mathews said.
Hatt was ordered to surrender to the jail March 15 and a judge recommended he serve his time through the sheriff’s alternative work program. Judge Jonathan Karesh is also allowing Hatt to serve his time in San Diego and will reduce the felony to a misdemeanor after he successfully completes half his probation, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti.
Hatt had been employed by the Millbrae Police Department under the umbrella of the Sheriff’s Office as part of its shared services agreement. Hatt was off duty and not in uniform at the time of the alleged incident. He was placed on leave after his arrest and has since left the employment of the Sheriff’s Office. The conviction prohibits Hatt from carrying a weapon.
Hatt was arrested Dec. 21, 2012 the day after authorities say he took the $2,000 trumpet from Mathews, a then-music teacher at South San Francisco’s Parkway Heights Middle School who was playing a show with his band Curt Yagi and the People Standing Behind Me. Mathews previously told the Daily Journal he noticed a group of loud men, one in uniform, and left their instruments when taking a break.
When it was time to leave, around 10 p.m., Mathews noticed his trumpet as well as his jacket missing.
Prosecutors said Hatt was shooting pool at the hotel and was seen leaving, then re-entering for one minute, before exiting again with the jacket and trumpet. A responding officer called to the hotel learned the trumpet had been thrown from a car on Magnolia Avenue near Taylor Boulevard but was unable to locate it. Mathews found the instrument in its soft case in a driveway about a block from where it had been reported thrown. The jacket was not recovered.
Mathews said he spent about $275 repairing the trumpet and it plays the same as before the theft.
Hatt remains free from custody on a $10,000 bail bond pending his surrender. If convicted by a jury, Hatt faced up to three years in prison.
Mathews said the incident helped cement his lack of trust in law enforcement.
“It was the icing on the cake, having a cop commit a crime,” he said.
Mathews is also still waiting for an apology from either the Millbrae Police Department or Sheriff’s Office.
“The Millbrae PD and sheriff are responsible for the type of people they put on the force and especially in the Sheriff’s Office there is a lack of credibility,” Hatt said. “I just want an acknowledgment that someone messed up.”
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12-09-2015, 09:02 AM
#6503
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oh double jeopardy, hello my old friend.
City pays man who video-recorded cops $7,500 to avoid police brutality suit, but DA refiles charges | OregonLive.com
City pays man who video-recorded cops $7,500 to avoid police brutality suit, but DA refiles charges | OregonLive.com
Fred Marlow IV thought his troubles with the law were over when the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office in September moved to dismiss a year-old criminal case stemming from an argument he had with Gresham police while video-recording them along a city street.
In November, the city of Gresham agreed to pay Marlow $7,500 to settle any civil claim he could have sought in civil court for alleged police brutality. Marlow suffered cuts and bruises during his arrest.
But within a few days of receiving the settlement check from the city, Marlow learned the prosecutor's office was reviving the criminal case against him. Last week, he was arraigned on misdemeanor charges of interfering with police and resisting arrest. Marlow pleaded not guilty and plans to go to trial in February or March.
'"Can you tell me how this is possible?" Marlow, 28, wrote in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "They payed me to settle, and then they are trying to charge me with a crime again? I don't get this justice system."
Marlow's question was rhetorical. Marlow's attorney had already told him that despite the district attorney's initial decision to ask a judge to dismiss the case, the statute of limitations for prosecuting him hadn't run out.
Marlow's troubles began about 4 a.m. Sept. 2, 2014 -- when he was awakened by the sounds of what he describes as explosions and armed men in helmets and camouflage gear surrounding a house in the 2900 block of Northeast 23rd Street. Marlow, who lived nearby, says he had no idea what was going on, but he grabbed his iPad and began video-recording the action from across the street to document if something went wrong.
Marlow later posted his 1:21-minute video to YouTube. It has drawn more than 177,000 views.
In November, the city of Gresham agreed to pay Marlow $7,500 to settle any civil claim he could have sought in civil court for alleged police brutality. Marlow suffered cuts and bruises during his arrest.
But within a few days of receiving the settlement check from the city, Marlow learned the prosecutor's office was reviving the criminal case against him. Last week, he was arraigned on misdemeanor charges of interfering with police and resisting arrest. Marlow pleaded not guilty and plans to go to trial in February or March.
'"Can you tell me how this is possible?" Marlow, 28, wrote in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "They payed me to settle, and then they are trying to charge me with a crime again? I don't get this justice system."
Marlow's question was rhetorical. Marlow's attorney had already told him that despite the district attorney's initial decision to ask a judge to dismiss the case, the statute of limitations for prosecuting him hadn't run out.
Marlow's troubles began about 4 a.m. Sept. 2, 2014 -- when he was awakened by the sounds of what he describes as explosions and armed men in helmets and camouflage gear surrounding a house in the 2900 block of Northeast 23rd Street. Marlow, who lived nearby, says he had no idea what was going on, but he grabbed his iPad and began video-recording the action from across the street to document if something went wrong.
Marlow later posted his 1:21-minute video to YouTube. It has drawn more than 177,000 views.
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12-09-2015, 11:48 AM
#6508
When the judge covers for the corrupt cops.
Federal court rules that bumper stickers, air fresheners are reasonable suspicion of criminal activity - Police State USA
The case stems from a March 9, 2011, traffic stop that took place along U.S. Highway 77 in Kingsville, Texas. Officer Mike Tamez of the Kingsville Police Department observed a Chevy Tahoe with a woman behind the wheel, going 2 MPH above the posted speed limit. The family vehicle had a man in the passenger seat and a young girl in the back. The vehicle’s bumper was decorated with a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) sticker and other “pro-police” decals. There were also a few rosaries hanging from the rear view mirror, and some air fresheners visible.
From these visual clues alone, Officer Tamez “concluded that they were probably drug runners.” He pulled them over for speeding, with the premeditated intention of searching the vehicle for drugs.
Federal court rules that bumper stickers, air fresheners are reasonable suspicion of criminal activity - Police State USA
The case stems from a March 9, 2011, traffic stop that took place along U.S. Highway 77 in Kingsville, Texas. Officer Mike Tamez of the Kingsville Police Department observed a Chevy Tahoe with a woman behind the wheel, going 2 MPH above the posted speed limit. The family vehicle had a man in the passenger seat and a young girl in the back. The vehicle’s bumper was decorated with a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) sticker and other “pro-police” decals. There were also a few rosaries hanging from the rear view mirror, and some air fresheners visible.
From these visual clues alone, Officer Tamez “concluded that they were probably drug runners.” He pulled them over for speeding, with the premeditated intention of searching the vehicle for drugs.
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12-10-2015, 01:03 PM
#6513
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conveinent.
Lawyer: 15-second gap reported on Portsmouth officer's Taser video of fatal shooting | Courts & Crime | pilotonline.com
Lawyer: 15-second gap reported on Portsmouth officer's Taser video of fatal shooting | Courts & Crime | pilotonline.com
Babineau said his source did not believe the video, recorded by a camera attached to the Taser, was edited. Rather, the source suspected it was a “power source issue.”
“The video was operational up until just before the shooting, and then it was not operational for about 15 seconds,” Babineau said, recounting what he was told.
He said the video was initially recorded while Rankin was holding the weapon. When it cuts back on, the Taser is apparently on the ground of the Wal-Mart parking lot.
“I don’t think anything was edited out,” Babineau said. “Bad luck, it went off right then.”
Circuit Clerk Cynthia Morrison said this week the Taser video was not provided to her office and is therefore not available to the public. Babineau said he asked Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Morales for a copy, but she said no.
...
“The video was operational up until just before the shooting, and then it was not operational for about 15 seconds,” Babineau said, recounting what he was told.
He said the video was initially recorded while Rankin was holding the weapon. When it cuts back on, the Taser is apparently on the ground of the Wal-Mart parking lot.
“I don’t think anything was edited out,” Babineau said. “Bad luck, it went off right then.”
Circuit Clerk Cynthia Morrison said this week the Taser video was not provided to her office and is therefore not available to the public. Babineau said he asked Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Morales for a copy, but she said no.
...
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12-10-2015, 01:07 PM
#6514
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murderer back at work:
Texas cop returning to work despite writing that he loved being able to ?kill people and not go to jail?
Texas cop returning to work despite writing that he loved being able to ?kill people and not go to jail?
Documents obtained by MySA.com showed that Officer Daryl A. Carle was suspended for 30 days starting on Nov. 15.
“I love my job!!! They said you want kill people and not go to jail?? I said “F— ya, Who don’t?… They said you afraid of the jungle?? I said “I ain’t scared of sh–… I’ve been wanting go jungle since watched that Predator movie…I love my job!!!!!! Lol,” Carle wrote, according to department records.
Carle allegedly posted the remarks on Aug. 11. The post was discovered by the SAPD one day later on Aug. 12.
SAPD Chief William McManus told MySA.com that Carle claimed that he was repeating a sentiment he heard on the YouTube channel “Action Figure Therapy,” which provides videos about “Military & Tactical Humor, Jokes, & Comedy.”
“Regardless, to put that up, to post that doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Chief McManus noted. “It certainly doesn’t make your job any easier. If people read that, it doesn’t garner any respect for the department, to read that coming from one of our officers.”
SAPD documents also indicated that Carle had made other Facebook posts that reflected badly on his department.
Following the suspension, Carle added a message to the top of his Facebook page: “The views and opinions expressed on my social media site are my personal views and not those of the San Antonio Police Dept.”
The Facebook page is now marked private and Carle is expected to return to work next week.
“I love my job!!! They said you want kill people and not go to jail?? I said “F— ya, Who don’t?… They said you afraid of the jungle?? I said “I ain’t scared of sh–… I’ve been wanting go jungle since watched that Predator movie…I love my job!!!!!! Lol,” Carle wrote, according to department records.
Carle allegedly posted the remarks on Aug. 11. The post was discovered by the SAPD one day later on Aug. 12.
SAPD Chief William McManus told MySA.com that Carle claimed that he was repeating a sentiment he heard on the YouTube channel “Action Figure Therapy,” which provides videos about “Military & Tactical Humor, Jokes, & Comedy.”
“Regardless, to put that up, to post that doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Chief McManus noted. “It certainly doesn’t make your job any easier. If people read that, it doesn’t garner any respect for the department, to read that coming from one of our officers.”
SAPD documents also indicated that Carle had made other Facebook posts that reflected badly on his department.
Following the suspension, Carle added a message to the top of his Facebook page: “The views and opinions expressed on my social media site are my personal views and not those of the San Antonio Police Dept.”
The Facebook page is now marked private and Carle is expected to return to work next week.
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12-11-2015, 08:51 AM
#6515
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cop accidentally shoots someone.
doesnt tell anyone.
tries to cover it up.
no charges filled.
DA plays dash cam video in accidental shooting; no charges will be filed | Action News Now
video in link.
doesnt tell anyone.
tries to cover it up.
no charges filled.
DA plays dash cam video in accidental shooting; no charges will be filed | Action News Now
Ramsey said the evidence in this case shows the shooting to be accidental, and possibly negligent, but not criminally so. “This shooting is not justified, but also not criminal."
Paradise Police Officer Patrick Feaster, a five year veteran of the department, was parked on the Skyway around midnight Thanksgiving morning, when he saw a Toyota Four-Runner speeding out of the Canteena Bar parking lot without headlights on.
Feaster followed in his patrol car, as the Toyota ran a red light and turned onto Pearson Road where the driver, 26-year-old Andrew Thomas struck the median and flipped, ejecting his 23-year-old wife Darien Ehorn from the vehicle. Ehorn was killed in the crash.
Ramsey said Feaster drew his gun when Thomas “popped” out of the car, believing he would flee. As Officer Feaster moved towards Thomas, the gun discharged and struck Thomas in the neck. The shot hit Thomas in the C7 and T1 vertebrae and could lead to him being paralyzed for life.
When backup arrived on the scene, Feaster did not mention anything about having fired his weapon. According to Ramsey, Feaster notified his commanding officer about the discharge only after Thomas’ gunshot wound was found.
As the commanding officer suggested an investigator return to Canteena and try to find out if Thomas had been shot at the bar, Feaster revealed that he may have shot Thomas.
Ramsey said nearly 11 minutes passed before any other officers, medics or firefighters learned Thomas had been shot.
...
Paradise Police Officer Patrick Feaster, a five year veteran of the department, was parked on the Skyway around midnight Thanksgiving morning, when he saw a Toyota Four-Runner speeding out of the Canteena Bar parking lot without headlights on.
Feaster followed in his patrol car, as the Toyota ran a red light and turned onto Pearson Road where the driver, 26-year-old Andrew Thomas struck the median and flipped, ejecting his 23-year-old wife Darien Ehorn from the vehicle. Ehorn was killed in the crash.
Ramsey said Feaster drew his gun when Thomas “popped” out of the car, believing he would flee. As Officer Feaster moved towards Thomas, the gun discharged and struck Thomas in the neck. The shot hit Thomas in the C7 and T1 vertebrae and could lead to him being paralyzed for life.
When backup arrived on the scene, Feaster did not mention anything about having fired his weapon. According to Ramsey, Feaster notified his commanding officer about the discharge only after Thomas’ gunshot wound was found.
As the commanding officer suggested an investigator return to Canteena and try to find out if Thomas had been shot at the bar, Feaster revealed that he may have shot Thomas.
Ramsey said nearly 11 minutes passed before any other officers, medics or firefighters learned Thomas had been shot.
...
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12-11-2015, 10:05 AM
#6516
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rape cop.
?I?m going to rape your f*****g mother? NY Police Chief Finally Arrested for Brutal Act of Torture | The Free Thought Project
?I?m going to rape your f*****g mother? NY Police Chief Finally Arrested for Brutal Act of Torture | The Free Thought Project
James Burke, formerly the Chief of one of the largest police departments in the country, found himself handcuffed and facing federal civil rights charges on December 9th, reports the New York Times. Burke’s arrest follows a lengthy investigation into allegations of torture, assault, subornation of perjury, and corruption in a case involving convicted thief Christopher Loeb. The confessed larcenist’s illicit haul included a duffel bag containing some of Burke’s property, including handguns, ammunition, mace, and what Loeb described as a stash of “nasty ****” and “sex toys."
...
Chief Burke “grabbed me by my cheeks,” Loeb recalled. “He took his thumb and four fingers and squeezed my face [then] he punched me right above my hairline.” According to prosecutors, Burke beat the captive so severely that at one point detectives in the room begged him to “knock it off.”
Burke cared not about Loeb’s desperate plea for an attorney. Loeb recalled that the Chief gloatingly told him that “no one will ever f*****g believe me because I’m a convicted felon and a dope head.” After Loeb, referring to the stash of **** and sex toys, complained that the Chief was a “pervert,” Burke gave full rein to his rage — first threatening to murder Loeb through a “hot shot” — a lethal dose of heroin — and then escalating the abuse to potentially lethal torture.
“Have you ever been choked out before?” Burke taunted the bleeding and traumatized suspect, according to Loeb’s testimony in a federal preliminary hearing last month. The Chief then applied a chokehold, whispering in Loeb’s ear: “I’m going to rape your f*****g mother.”
“That’s the last thing I remember,” Loeb testified. “I passed out.”
...
Chief Burke “grabbed me by my cheeks,” Loeb recalled. “He took his thumb and four fingers and squeezed my face [then] he punched me right above my hairline.” According to prosecutors, Burke beat the captive so severely that at one point detectives in the room begged him to “knock it off.”
Burke cared not about Loeb’s desperate plea for an attorney. Loeb recalled that the Chief gloatingly told him that “no one will ever f*****g believe me because I’m a convicted felon and a dope head.” After Loeb, referring to the stash of **** and sex toys, complained that the Chief was a “pervert,” Burke gave full rein to his rage — first threatening to murder Loeb through a “hot shot” — a lethal dose of heroin — and then escalating the abuse to potentially lethal torture.
“Have you ever been choked out before?” Burke taunted the bleeding and traumatized suspect, according to Loeb’s testimony in a federal preliminary hearing last month. The Chief then applied a chokehold, whispering in Loeb’s ear: “I’m going to rape your f*****g mother.”
“That’s the last thing I remember,” Loeb testified. “I passed out.”
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12-11-2015, 12:05 PM
#6517
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Creating guardians, calming warriors
A new style of training for police recruits emphasizes techniques to better de-escalate conflict situations
BURIEN, WASH. — The police recruits arrived in pairs in the woods outside Seattle. For days, they had been calming their minds through meditation and documenting life’s beauty in daily journals. Mindful and centered, they now faced a test: a mentally ill man covered in feces and mumbling to a rubber chicken.
The feces was actually oatmeal and chocolate pudding, the man was another recruit, and the goal of this mock training exercise was to peacefully bring him into custody. The first recruits approached gingerly, trying to engage the man in conversation. When that failed, they moved in and wrestled him to the ground.
“We needed to find a way to help him. He obviously had a screw loose,” said Aaron Scott, a cadet from Bellevue, Wash. Scott briefly considered using his baton, he said. “But I thought that might be too much.”
For the past three years, every police recruit in the state has undergone this style of training at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, where officials are determined to produce “guardians of democracy” who serve and protect instead of “warriors” who conquer and control.
Gone is the military-boot-camp atmosphere. Gone are the field exercises focused on using fists and weapons to batter suspects into submission. Gone, too, is a classroom poster that once warned recruits that “officers killed in the line of duty use less force than their peers.”
“If your overarching identity is ‘I’m a warrior,’ then you will approach every situation like you must conquer and win,” said Sue Rahr, the commission’s executive director. “You may have a conflict where it is necessary for an officer to puff up and quickly take control. But in most situations, it’s better if officers know how to de-escalate, calm things down, slow down the action.”
Training is at the heart of the national debate over police use of force. So far this year, police have shot and killed more than 900 people, according to a Washington Post database tracking such shootings — more than twice the number recorded in any previous year by federal officials. Anti-brutality activists and some law enforcement leaders argue that if police were better trained to de-escalate conflict, some of those people might still be alive.
Rahr, the former sheriff of King County, is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on this type of training. In April, the Harvard Kennedy School published a report she co-wrote, “From Warriors to Guardians: Recommitting American Police Culture to Democratic Ideals,” which warns that too many academies are training police officers to go to “war with the people we are sworn to protect and serve.”
The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, of which Rahr is a member, has embraced many of these principles. In August, the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement think tank, followed suit.
“The goal of the guardian officer is to avoid causing unnecessary indignity,” said Seth Stoughton, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and a former police officer in Tallahassee. “Officers who treat people humanely, who show them respect, who explain their actions, can improve the perceptions of officers, or their department, even when they are arresting someone.”
Not everyone is on board. Some accuse Rahr of promoting a “hug-a-thug” mentality that risks getting officers killed. About 20 percent of Rahr’s staff quit or was fired in the first year after rebelling against her reforms. Even today, Rahr estimates that two-thirds of the state’s 285 local police chiefs are either skeptical of her training philosophy or “think this is just dangerous.”
Alexis Artwohl, a former police psychologist and consultant to the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, would not comment on Rahr’s work but is skeptical of some guardian-style training. Artwohl has co-written a book on deadly force whose promotional blurb begins: “In a cop’s world it’s kill or be killed.”
Artwohl compares police work to defensive driving, which is about “expecting something bad is going to happen. It’s not about dealing with normal traffic flow.”
“We should go out there and expect something bad will happen and watch for it,” she said. “If we are not paying attention, we could die.”
Samuel Walker, a national expert on police training, said the two approaches have long been present in American policing. But the debate over which should dominate has intensified in the past year, since protests erupted over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo.
“There is war going on for the soul of policing in America,” Walker said. “The outcome is uncertain.”
Conflicting conclusions
As it stands, most police academies adhere to a militaristic style of training that emphasizes battle. That training then becomes its own defense when someone dies or is grievously injured at the hands of police.
Take the case of Brian Torgerson, a Seattle man suffering from schizophrenia who had assaulted his father and had an outstanding petty-theft warrant. His parents called police in 2010, before Rahr instituted her reforms, hoping Torgerson, 45, would be committed to a mental institution.
Instead, two Seattle police officers went to Torgerson’s downtown apartment, grabbed his wrists without warning, knocked his feet out from under him and shocked him twice with a stun gun, according to police reports and eyewitness testimony.
Torgerson’s face was beaten and covered with a mask that quickly filled with his blood and vomit. His hands were cuffed behind his back; his were legs bound. Thirteen additional officers arrived, and at least five of them took turns holding him down as he yelled, “Help me!”
When Torgerson stopped breathing, two officers stayed on top of him, fearing he was “playing possum.”
Torgerson survived but emerged from the hospital three months later with severe brain damage. In sworn statements, the officers defended their actions, saying they had followed the dictates of their training.
Darrell Ross, a national expert hired by the city to aid in its legal defense, reached a similar conclusion. In his expert report, Ross wrote that the arrest reflected standard techniques, that the officers’ training was “outstanding” and that the tactics they used “were not excessive.”
The Justice Department came to a different conclusion. In a 2011 report, Justice officials said that Torgerson’s civil rights had been violated and that poor training played a central role.
“This outcome,” the report said, “could have been averted.”
‘That male swagger’
The roots of this hyper-aggressive style of policing reach back to the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, when federal and local officials declared a “war on drugs” and promised to get “tough on crime,” according to police training experts.
In 1967, the Los Angeles Police Department created the nation’s first SWAT team, a group of elite marksmen who specialized in high-risk tasks, such as hostage rescue and drug raids. Soon, even small towns with low crime rates were creating these special weapons and tactics units, swapping out their traditional blue uniforms for black military-style SWAT gear.
“That testosterone, that male swagger — it was contagious,” said John Mutz, a former LAPD captain who retooled the department’s training protocol in the aftermath of the beating of motorist Rodney King by four city officers in 1991. “SWAT became this recruiting tool for those so-called men looking for adventure. It infiltrated the training.”
In the 1980s, the rise of the ultra-violent crack-cocaine trade and the increasing availability to criminals of military-grade weapons fueled police paranoia. In 1986, two FBI agents armed with six-shot revolvers died in a shootout near Miami with bank robbers armed with more powerful weapons, including a semiautomatic assault rifle.
By the 1990s, officers, too, had access to semi-automatic rifles, and semi-automatic handguns had replaced revolvers on police duty belts. Metal batons, stun guns and pepper spray were also added, bringing the weight of the belt, once about 7 pounds, to nearly 20 pounds, police experts said. Increasingly, training came to focus on strategies of attack.
“It used to be an officer had a flashlight, maybe a nightstick, and their hands and mouth. They learned to be good with their verbal skills,” said Mark Lomax, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association. When “you add equipment to an officer’s belt, they will be prone to using it.”
Then came King’s beating, one of the first incidents of police brutality to be captured on video. The officers were charged with felony assault but acquitted by a jury in 1992, sparking days of rioting and protests.
After the King beating and other high-profile incidents of police violence, some academies shifted to a community-policing model that focused on cooperative interaction with the public. But that movement was blunted after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.
“When 9/11 happened, it opened the floodgates to a more-aggressive style of training and police work. Now, we have to be vigilant at all times to threats from the outside,” Rahr said. “You have to be alert. Everyone is trying to kill you.”
Everett police recruit Shawn Bell, left, and Edmonds police recruit Noelle Grimes search a darkened corridor during a mock training exercise at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission in Burien, Wash.
‘Ask, Tell, Make’
Within months of the 9/11 attacks, federal grants shifted from community policing to homeland security. Paranoia over terrorism crept into training academies, textbooks and regional workshops.
Police across the country held tight to the “Ask, Tell, Make,” or ATM, protocol: Ask a citizen to do something, such as providing identification. Upgrade the request to a command if they don’t immediately comply. And use force if the command is not quickly followed.
Russ Hicks, one of Rahr’s trainers, said many police academies tend to skip over “Ask,” emphasizing “Tell” and “Make.”
“If someone doesn’t listen to what you say, you turn them upside down,” Hicks said.
To replace ATM, Rahr created LEED: “Listen and Explain with Equity and Dignity.” At the Washington state academy, recruits practice LEED during mock training drills in which they are expected to handle antagonistic suspects without losing their cool.
Sgt. Shanon Anderson reinforces that approach in her class on tactical skills by showing recruits a 2007 YouTube video of a Baltimore police officer berating a 14-year-old boy for skateboarding in the Inner Harbor area. The officer quickly becomes hostile and aggressive, throwing the teenager to the ground after the boy calls him “dude.”
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is emotional control?” Anderson asks the class. “It’s a 10. You have to work on it.”
The gentler philosophy extends to the treatment of recruits. There’s no more yelling, ridicule and physical punishment. And recruits are no longer required to stand at attention in a military brace when they encounter a staff member or a visitor. Instead, they are told to make eye contact and strike up a conversation.
“They were doing so much bracing, they couldn’t even get to the bathroom,” said Donna Rorvik, the training commission’s curriculum developer. “Sue wanted them to learn to talk to people.”
Even the most skilled negotiator must sometimes be a skilled fighter, and Rahr has increased training time spent on physical fitness, sparring and firearms. But those skills are often taught in non-traditional ways. In firearms training, for example, recruits are taught to breathe and meditate to reduce stress and improve accuracy.
The recruits say they appreciate Rahr’s philosophy, particularly transfers from other states who have experienced the alternative.
“I have to keep in mind: ‘You are not the big, bad highway patrol anymore,’ ” said James Thompson, who spent eight years as a Texas state trooper before signing on with police in tiny Tukwila, Wash. “It’s important to not be ‘all stick.’ It’s important to remember we are the voice to the people who don’t have voices.”
Officer Marcos Guzman handcuffs a man who was detained on suspicion of driving with a suspended license in Pasco, Wash. Guzman later gave the man a citation and a ride to his hotel. The Pasco police chief endorses the guardian-style approach but defends as unavoidable four fatal shootings by his officers in the past two years
(continues...)
A new style of training for police recruits emphasizes techniques to better de-escalate conflict situations
BURIEN, WASH. — The police recruits arrived in pairs in the woods outside Seattle. For days, they had been calming their minds through meditation and documenting life’s beauty in daily journals. Mindful and centered, they now faced a test: a mentally ill man covered in feces and mumbling to a rubber chicken.
The feces was actually oatmeal and chocolate pudding, the man was another recruit, and the goal of this mock training exercise was to peacefully bring him into custody. The first recruits approached gingerly, trying to engage the man in conversation. When that failed, they moved in and wrestled him to the ground.
“We needed to find a way to help him. He obviously had a screw loose,” said Aaron Scott, a cadet from Bellevue, Wash. Scott briefly considered using his baton, he said. “But I thought that might be too much.”
For the past three years, every police recruit in the state has undergone this style of training at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, where officials are determined to produce “guardians of democracy” who serve and protect instead of “warriors” who conquer and control.
Gone is the military-boot-camp atmosphere. Gone are the field exercises focused on using fists and weapons to batter suspects into submission. Gone, too, is a classroom poster that once warned recruits that “officers killed in the line of duty use less force than their peers.”
“If your overarching identity is ‘I’m a warrior,’ then you will approach every situation like you must conquer and win,” said Sue Rahr, the commission’s executive director. “You may have a conflict where it is necessary for an officer to puff up and quickly take control. But in most situations, it’s better if officers know how to de-escalate, calm things down, slow down the action.”
Training is at the heart of the national debate over police use of force. So far this year, police have shot and killed more than 900 people, according to a Washington Post database tracking such shootings — more than twice the number recorded in any previous year by federal officials. Anti-brutality activists and some law enforcement leaders argue that if police were better trained to de-escalate conflict, some of those people might still be alive.
Rahr, the former sheriff of King County, is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on this type of training. In April, the Harvard Kennedy School published a report she co-wrote, “From Warriors to Guardians: Recommitting American Police Culture to Democratic Ideals,” which warns that too many academies are training police officers to go to “war with the people we are sworn to protect and serve.”
The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, of which Rahr is a member, has embraced many of these principles. In August, the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement think tank, followed suit.
“The goal of the guardian officer is to avoid causing unnecessary indignity,” said Seth Stoughton, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and a former police officer in Tallahassee. “Officers who treat people humanely, who show them respect, who explain their actions, can improve the perceptions of officers, or their department, even when they are arresting someone.”
Not everyone is on board. Some accuse Rahr of promoting a “hug-a-thug” mentality that risks getting officers killed. About 20 percent of Rahr’s staff quit or was fired in the first year after rebelling against her reforms. Even today, Rahr estimates that two-thirds of the state’s 285 local police chiefs are either skeptical of her training philosophy or “think this is just dangerous.”
Alexis Artwohl, a former police psychologist and consultant to the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, would not comment on Rahr’s work but is skeptical of some guardian-style training. Artwohl has co-written a book on deadly force whose promotional blurb begins: “In a cop’s world it’s kill or be killed.”
Artwohl compares police work to defensive driving, which is about “expecting something bad is going to happen. It’s not about dealing with normal traffic flow.”
“We should go out there and expect something bad will happen and watch for it,” she said. “If we are not paying attention, we could die.”
Samuel Walker, a national expert on police training, said the two approaches have long been present in American policing. But the debate over which should dominate has intensified in the past year, since protests erupted over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo.
“There is war going on for the soul of policing in America,” Walker said. “The outcome is uncertain.”
Conflicting conclusions
As it stands, most police academies adhere to a militaristic style of training that emphasizes battle. That training then becomes its own defense when someone dies or is grievously injured at the hands of police.
Take the case of Brian Torgerson, a Seattle man suffering from schizophrenia who had assaulted his father and had an outstanding petty-theft warrant. His parents called police in 2010, before Rahr instituted her reforms, hoping Torgerson, 45, would be committed to a mental institution.
Instead, two Seattle police officers went to Torgerson’s downtown apartment, grabbed his wrists without warning, knocked his feet out from under him and shocked him twice with a stun gun, according to police reports and eyewitness testimony.
Torgerson’s face was beaten and covered with a mask that quickly filled with his blood and vomit. His hands were cuffed behind his back; his were legs bound. Thirteen additional officers arrived, and at least five of them took turns holding him down as he yelled, “Help me!”
When Torgerson stopped breathing, two officers stayed on top of him, fearing he was “playing possum.”
Torgerson survived but emerged from the hospital three months later with severe brain damage. In sworn statements, the officers defended their actions, saying they had followed the dictates of their training.
Darrell Ross, a national expert hired by the city to aid in its legal defense, reached a similar conclusion. In his expert report, Ross wrote that the arrest reflected standard techniques, that the officers’ training was “outstanding” and that the tactics they used “were not excessive.”
The Justice Department came to a different conclusion. In a 2011 report, Justice officials said that Torgerson’s civil rights had been violated and that poor training played a central role.
“This outcome,” the report said, “could have been averted.”
‘That male swagger’
The roots of this hyper-aggressive style of policing reach back to the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, when federal and local officials declared a “war on drugs” and promised to get “tough on crime,” according to police training experts.
In 1967, the Los Angeles Police Department created the nation’s first SWAT team, a group of elite marksmen who specialized in high-risk tasks, such as hostage rescue and drug raids. Soon, even small towns with low crime rates were creating these special weapons and tactics units, swapping out their traditional blue uniforms for black military-style SWAT gear.
“That testosterone, that male swagger — it was contagious,” said John Mutz, a former LAPD captain who retooled the department’s training protocol in the aftermath of the beating of motorist Rodney King by four city officers in 1991. “SWAT became this recruiting tool for those so-called men looking for adventure. It infiltrated the training.”
In the 1980s, the rise of the ultra-violent crack-cocaine trade and the increasing availability to criminals of military-grade weapons fueled police paranoia. In 1986, two FBI agents armed with six-shot revolvers died in a shootout near Miami with bank robbers armed with more powerful weapons, including a semiautomatic assault rifle.
By the 1990s, officers, too, had access to semi-automatic rifles, and semi-automatic handguns had replaced revolvers on police duty belts. Metal batons, stun guns and pepper spray were also added, bringing the weight of the belt, once about 7 pounds, to nearly 20 pounds, police experts said. Increasingly, training came to focus on strategies of attack.
“It used to be an officer had a flashlight, maybe a nightstick, and their hands and mouth. They learned to be good with their verbal skills,” said Mark Lomax, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association. When “you add equipment to an officer’s belt, they will be prone to using it.”
Then came King’s beating, one of the first incidents of police brutality to be captured on video. The officers were charged with felony assault but acquitted by a jury in 1992, sparking days of rioting and protests.
After the King beating and other high-profile incidents of police violence, some academies shifted to a community-policing model that focused on cooperative interaction with the public. But that movement was blunted after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.
“When 9/11 happened, it opened the floodgates to a more-aggressive style of training and police work. Now, we have to be vigilant at all times to threats from the outside,” Rahr said. “You have to be alert. Everyone is trying to kill you.”
Everett police recruit Shawn Bell, left, and Edmonds police recruit Noelle Grimes search a darkened corridor during a mock training exercise at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission in Burien, Wash.
‘Ask, Tell, Make’
Within months of the 9/11 attacks, federal grants shifted from community policing to homeland security. Paranoia over terrorism crept into training academies, textbooks and regional workshops.
Police across the country held tight to the “Ask, Tell, Make,” or ATM, protocol: Ask a citizen to do something, such as providing identification. Upgrade the request to a command if they don’t immediately comply. And use force if the command is not quickly followed.
Russ Hicks, one of Rahr’s trainers, said many police academies tend to skip over “Ask,” emphasizing “Tell” and “Make.”
“If someone doesn’t listen to what you say, you turn them upside down,” Hicks said.
To replace ATM, Rahr created LEED: “Listen and Explain with Equity and Dignity.” At the Washington state academy, recruits practice LEED during mock training drills in which they are expected to handle antagonistic suspects without losing their cool.
Sgt. Shanon Anderson reinforces that approach in her class on tactical skills by showing recruits a 2007 YouTube video of a Baltimore police officer berating a 14-year-old boy for skateboarding in the Inner Harbor area. The officer quickly becomes hostile and aggressive, throwing the teenager to the ground after the boy calls him “dude.”
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is emotional control?” Anderson asks the class. “It’s a 10. You have to work on it.”
The gentler philosophy extends to the treatment of recruits. There’s no more yelling, ridicule and physical punishment. And recruits are no longer required to stand at attention in a military brace when they encounter a staff member or a visitor. Instead, they are told to make eye contact and strike up a conversation.
“They were doing so much bracing, they couldn’t even get to the bathroom,” said Donna Rorvik, the training commission’s curriculum developer. “Sue wanted them to learn to talk to people.”
Even the most skilled negotiator must sometimes be a skilled fighter, and Rahr has increased training time spent on physical fitness, sparring and firearms. But those skills are often taught in non-traditional ways. In firearms training, for example, recruits are taught to breathe and meditate to reduce stress and improve accuracy.
The recruits say they appreciate Rahr’s philosophy, particularly transfers from other states who have experienced the alternative.
“I have to keep in mind: ‘You are not the big, bad highway patrol anymore,’ ” said James Thompson, who spent eight years as a Texas state trooper before signing on with police in tiny Tukwila, Wash. “It’s important to not be ‘all stick.’ It’s important to remember we are the voice to the people who don’t have voices.”
Officer Marcos Guzman handcuffs a man who was detained on suspicion of driving with a suspended license in Pasco, Wash. Guzman later gave the man a citation and a ride to his hotel. The Pasco police chief endorses the guardian-style approach but defends as unavoidable four fatal shootings by his officers in the past two years
(continues...)
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12-11-2015, 12:06 PM
#6518
Boost Pope
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Posts: 33,031
Total Cats: 6,596
(continuing...)
In the real world
Over the past three years, Rahr’s commission has trained about 2,000 new recruits and transfers, or about 20 percent of the 10,000 officers estimated to be working in local departments across the state. At that rate, she said, “it’s going to take a generation to establish a new culture.”
In the meantime, even departments that support the new model are finding it difficult to implement in the real world.
In Pasco, a migrant desert town of 77,000 in Southeastern Washington, Police Chief Robert Metzger said he endorses Rahr’s approach. And each year, he adds a handful of commission graduates to his 71-member force.
But Metzger also defends as unavoidable the four fatal shootings by his officers over the past two years. The latest, in February, drew national attention: Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35, was unarmed except for the rocks he had been throwing at motorists and then officers.
A video of the shooting appears to show Zambrano-Montes raising his hands in surrender before officers fired the final shots. His cousin Delia Zambrano said the video reveals a desperate need for better police training, and local business leaders have asked the Justice Department to intervene.
“With these police officers, something did not click,” Zambrano said. “They just kept shooting.”
Metzger defended his officers’ actions, saying they were in grave danger and had to shoot because Zambrano-Montes was holding a softball-size rock.
“Adjustments” have been made to training, he said, and the circumstances of the four shootings have been added to firearms training drills. But Metzger said he isn’t sure any of those “tweaks” would lead officers to behave differently in the future.
“Could there be ways that we could have avoided it? It’s hard to say,” Metzger said. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
New style of police training aims to produce "guardians," not "warriors" | The Washington Post
In the real world
Over the past three years, Rahr’s commission has trained about 2,000 new recruits and transfers, or about 20 percent of the 10,000 officers estimated to be working in local departments across the state. At that rate, she said, “it’s going to take a generation to establish a new culture.”
In the meantime, even departments that support the new model are finding it difficult to implement in the real world.
In Pasco, a migrant desert town of 77,000 in Southeastern Washington, Police Chief Robert Metzger said he endorses Rahr’s approach. And each year, he adds a handful of commission graduates to his 71-member force.
But Metzger also defends as unavoidable the four fatal shootings by his officers over the past two years. The latest, in February, drew national attention: Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35, was unarmed except for the rocks he had been throwing at motorists and then officers.
A video of the shooting appears to show Zambrano-Montes raising his hands in surrender before officers fired the final shots. His cousin Delia Zambrano said the video reveals a desperate need for better police training, and local business leaders have asked the Justice Department to intervene.
“With these police officers, something did not click,” Zambrano said. “They just kept shooting.”
Metzger defended his officers’ actions, saying they were in grave danger and had to shoot because Zambrano-Montes was holding a softball-size rock.
“Adjustments” have been made to training, he said, and the circumstances of the four shootings have been added to firearms training drills. But Metzger said he isn’t sure any of those “tweaks” would lead officers to behave differently in the future.
“Could there be ways that we could have avoided it? It’s hard to say,” Metzger said. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
New style of police training aims to produce "guardians," not "warriors" | The Washington Post
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12-11-2015, 01:22 PM
#6519
Cops hate it when they get caught raping.
Officer Daniel Holtzclaw Found Guilty of Rape, Sexual Assault
Officer Daniel Holtzclaw Found Guilty of Rape, Sexual Assault
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