Two police officers in Philadelphia challenged an African-American college student to a quick game of basketball.  2 days later, they tried to arrest him:

Samir Hill, a 5-foot-7 point guard at Allegany College of Maryland, was playing against some neighborhood kids when the officers approached, reported Complex.

The 21-year-old Hill said the officers joked that they didn’t look very good and “started talking trash” – so he challenged them to a game.

“We gave them ball first, (and) I was playing on the court two-on-two with my friend Josh — they almost scored on him,” Hill said, as his friend loudly protested in the background. “We get the ball, and everybody starts pulling out their cameras. The first cop, I crossed him and laid it up.”

A pair of short video clips posted on Vine, showing Hill beating the officers on crossover dribbles, went viral.

“He’s like, ‘I don’t play basketball, I play football,’” Hill said. “So he put his partner on me — the second one, the one I made fall. Everyone went crazy.”

Hill never learned the officers’ names, but he said they tried to arrest him two days later, after pro athletes — including former NFL star Chad Johnson — shared the video clips on social media.

“I think it was because of the video, but they said it was the people I was around,” Hill said. “I don’t think it was that though, because most of the kids I hang around are college kids. I think they just wanted to take me down to the district to show who I was.”

He said the officers took him to the police station saying they thought they saw him with contraband, but they eventually let him go without charge.

“They didn’t explain it to me,” Hill said. “They just took me in there, handcuffed me to a bench for an hour and a half. They were doing a search on the car. They searched the car for like an hour. They didn’t find nothing, and they let me go. The whole time they were telling me how they weren’t going to lock me up, that they were targeting my friend.”

“We thought he had contraband.”

Based on what evidence? That he’s black? Is that it?

They never, ever have to justify their “suspicions”. They make them and act as if everyone is supposed to just accept that they’re being honest. They’re aided by the false assumption many have that police officers are inherently trustworthy authority figures.  They aren’t. They are flawed human beings with the same hangups and issues everyone else has. They’re just as prone to racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia as the civilian population. They make decisions based on implicit biases, play fast-and-loose with logic, and are prone to cognitive biases-just like everyone else.  Unfortunately, they are in positions of power and the decisions they make-decisions that are often faulty-can have devastating consequences. And they so often do. Cops should be held to a higher standard if they’re going to have power over civilians.

* * * *

In what may become a case of the word of a black suspect versus the word of police officers (and we know who is going to be regarded as more trustworthy between the two), a Marine veteran is facing 15 years for allegedly assaulting police officers during a routine traffic stop. Oddly enough, evidence that could substantiate his claims of innocence appears to be missing:

Stuart Fitzgerald, who is black, was pulled over May 26 for flashing his high beams while driving in Orange County, Virginia, and police said he refused to sign a citation and stayed inside his vehicle when he was ordered out, reported WUSA-TV.

Video recorded by a dashboard camera shows an officer opening the car door less than two seconds after his first attempt, and the 53-year-old Fitzgerald steps out of the vehicle while the officer keeps one hand on him.

What happens next is unclear, because some audio and images from the dashboard camera and six others at the scene are missing or still haven’t been collected by investigators.

Video shows an Orange County sheriff’s deputy throwing Fitzgerald onto the four-lane highway, but there is no audio during that segment due to what has been described as a malfunction.

The footage also partially shows Fitzgerald’s head repeatedly hitting the patrol car’s hood – but the deputy claims Fitzgerald intentionally did that to himself.

Fitzgerald said he did not remember what happened at that point, but suffered a chipped tooth and facial injuries as a result.

Authorities said that Fitzgerald struggled until officers “placed him on the ground and restrained him,” but he denies fighting with police.

“I definitely was not, because I’m not a fool,” Fitzgerald told the TV station. “I’m not going to resist. I’m not going to fight them — I know better than that.”

The president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense League agrees with defense experts who say the video does not show Fitzgerald attacking officers, but the missing evidence essentially puts his word against the law enforcement officers’ accounts.

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Corrupt Cleveland police officers obstruct justice, refuse to testify against killer cop

Former Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo is currently on trial for manslaughter, after gunning down two unarmed people on November 29, 2012. Police pumped nearly 140 bullets into a vehicle occupied by Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. While at least 13 officers are known to have fired weapons at the vehicle, Brelo faces manslaughter charges after he jumped on the hood of the car and sprayed the two victims with 49 bullets through the windshield of the 1979 Chevy Malibu they occupied.

As the trial entered its third day, prosecutors expressed frustration with Brelo’s fellow officers, who have refused to provide witness testimony in the case.

Shortly after officer Michael Demchek was called to the stand, he announced that he would be pleading his fifth amendment right not to incriminate himself. Prosecutors disputed Demchek’s right to take the fifth, saying that there is nothing in his testimony that would be used to incriminate himself.

Prosecutors responded to Demchek’s assertion of his fifth amendment right, by saying:

“This is what the state has been talking about – the blue wall – this individual would not come testify. He’s a police officer. His loyalty should be to the citizens…”

Amazingly, as lawyers for Demchek and Brelo sat quietly by, Judge John P. O’Donnell argued with prosecutors on Demchek’s behalf.

Demchek is one of a group of officers who has refused to testify as to what they saw the night that Russell and Williams were killed. Two other officers were granted immunity in exchange for their testimony. An additional two officers are demanding immunity, in exchange for witness testimony.

On March 31, prosecutors filed a formal brief with the court, in which they stated that the cops have refused to cooperate with the state, and asked that they be treated as hostile witnesses. WEWS in Cleveland reports that at least 16 officers with vital information on the case have refused to cooperate with prosecutors. Police union representatives are openly discouraging cops from talking to prosecutors or providing witness testimony.

Well, there are 16 officers who show their contempt for the court. What fucking assholes. They’d rather remain silent than testify against one of their own. Fucking tribalism.

* * * *

Caught on video, Washington cop admits to quotas, falsifying charges, & extorting the poor

The video starts out with the officer proclaiming how stopping these teenagers on the last day of the month, just helped him reach his quota.

“This is the last day of the month. I get every stat I need just off of you guys,” says the officer as he begins his rights violating confession.

“So you guys gotta make quota, huh?” asks the detained teen.

“We don’t have a quota. We have expectations. And what that means is, you will make so many arrests a month, you should write so many tickets a month, and you should haul so many dumbasses to jail a month. If we’re gonna pay you $100,000 a year, we should expect something back from you, shouldn’t we?” says the officer.

When the man replies, ‘yes’ that he understands what the officer just said, the cop then asks, “Would you like to be part of my quota tonight?”

The young man then asks the cop, “On what grounds [would you arrest me]?”

To which the cop replies, “‘On what grounds?’ Oh, I don’t know, I’ll think of something. How about aiding and abetting reckless driving?”

The officer basically admits that he will simply make up any charges he wants, just to make an arrest.

“Fair enough,” says the man, trying to prevent himself from being kidnapped by this officer for no reason.

“You better wipe that smile off your face brother, or I’ll show ya,” says the officer.

It doesn’t stop there, this officer then exposes himself for the true power-tripping tyrant that he is.

“Now, let me tell you what the difference between being a smart guy and a dumbass is. You sit there with that shit-eating grin on your face, let me see some id!” says the tyrant officer.

The young man then replies as he’s going to show the officer his ID, “It’s cool I got a clean record.”

That’s when the officer becomes brutally honest about how he can abuse his power to ruin innocent lives.

The officer replies, “Yeah, but you know what? I’m the guy that can make that record look dirty.”

At this point the officer then admits how the entire system is funded through this type of shakedown and extortion racket.

“You are a guy that’s gonna end up giving the city a lot of money,” says the officer explaining how the state aggressively pursues poor people to pay their exorbitant salaries. 

The officer then proceeds to massively flex his authority as the teen isn’t bowing down fast enough, screaming, “Shut up! Shut up!”

Here’s the video:

* * * *

U.S. Marshal goes berserk smashing woman’s phone for recording him on public sidewalk

In a YouTube video dated April 19, someone apparently positioned across the street from the incident captured video of a woman who was recording a group of men wearing tactical gear in South Gate, California.

The woman can be seen talking to the officers and recording them while they seemed to be ignoring her.

Eventually, a man carrying an assault rifle and wearing a different style of tactical gear walks toward the woman. As she backs up, he lunges at her, grabbing her cellphone with both hands. There is a brief struggle for the phone, but the man easily overpowers the woman and slams the device to the ground.

Here is the video of the incident:

The poor dears. I wonder why they are so opposed to being filmed. Aren’t they the good guys?

(there may have been a touch of snark in the above)

I began the ‘Police Behaving Badly’ series last year as a way of documenting the stories of police officers who engaged in questionable, unethical, immoral, or illegal behavior. At the time, I knew that there were cases of on-duty cops sexually assaulting women, that cops had been caught stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from drug suspects, that it was not uncommon for officers to use excessive force, and that police brutality and racism often go hand-in-hand. What I didn’t know was how often this shit occurred. I didn’t know how pervasive these problems were. Like many, I trusted law enforcement officials. As I read more and more stories of police officers behaving badly, I came to realize that these individual cases pointed to a more significant problem-rampant corruption within law enforcement across the country as well as sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and racism. Not just individual officers either, but entire police departments (the New York and Ferguson PDs immediately spring to mind). I learned that this shit happens all the time and as a result, this series will continue for a very, very long time (as long as I’m blogging most likely). Here are a few of the most recent examples of Police Behaving Badly:

Minneapolis cop threatens to break teen’s leg during traffic stop

Jeylani’s smartphone captured about 30 seconds of the encounter. An officer says, “Plain and simple, if you f–k with me, I’m going to break your leg before you get the chance to run. I’m being honest; I don’t screw around.”

When one of the young men asks why they are being arrested, the officer responds, “Because I feel like arresting you.”

The teens were handcuffed and detained for about 45 minutes while the officers searched their vehicle. But the young men were not charged with a crime.

A video of this latest example of authoritarian mentality among police officers is available at the link.

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Washington, D.C. cops beat married couple as their children watch

A married couple claims they were assaulted by Metropolitan police last week, and they have the video and their two small children as witnesses to prove it.

Forrest and Chadon Boggs were near their home, with their children when police showed up on the scene.

Officers arrived at the 1500 block of E Street NE last Wednesday after saying they heard reports of people fighting. When officers arrived, they saw that there was no fighting.

As Forrest Boggs was walking by the officers, he says spat on the ground. But Officer Blier, with the Metropolitan police department claimed Boggs spat on his police cruiser.

“Boggs [husband] … spat a wad of saliva onto Ofc. Blier’s scout car rear window and then continued to walk E/B in the alley,” police said in their report.

“I did spit, but I didn’t spit on his car,” said Boggs.

Even if Boggs would have spat on the officer’s car, what happened next was completely unjustified.

“This is straight-out police brutality, and we have videos to show it,” said Forrest Boggs.

The officer on a power trip approached Forest Boggs and began to assault the man. The two fell to the ground and the officer got on the back of Boggs. At this point, Chadon Boggs walked over to the officer who was assaulting her husband and began to voice her disapproval.

Chadon says that when her husbands cell phone and hat fell, she bent down to grab it, and that’s when her attack began.

We can see on the video as an officer walks up to Chadon Boggs and shoves her so hard that she flew back several feet, smashing into the cruiser.

Police officers then got on top of the woman and began beating her with a baton.

“An officer came and rushed up and shoved me onto the back of a police car and took his stick out and began to start hitting me with the stick,” she said.

According to WJLA, the husband and wife were charged with assault on a police officer. Both were taken to hospitals, where Chadon Boggs received four stitches.

* * * *

Texas cop caught on video punching Air Force veteran-after she says she is pregnant

The footage shows Deanna Jo Robinson, an Air Force veteran, being restrained from behind by the unidentified officer and another deputy during a March 4 incident at her parents’ home, where she said sheriff’s officials forced their way in without a warrant to take her 18-month-old son on orders of Child Protective Services (CPS).

The video, taken from a surveillance camera inside the home, cuts out after the officer raises his hand to hit her again. Robinson, who said she was struck four or five times, can be heard saying several times that she is pregnant.

“I’m 38 weeks pregnant, and with my stomach again repeatedly pressed into that counter, and with my 18-month old son watching his mother be assaulted, and him screaming in fear,”she told WFAA-TV this week. “There’s nothing that warrants what they did to me.”

Robinson spent six days in county jail after being arrested and charged with assault on a public servant, resisting arrest and interference with child custody. She said she took the boy with her to her parents’ house after getting into a shoving match with her husband several days earlier.

According to the Observer, CPS officials removed the husband’s other three children away from his custody a day before Robinson’s encounter with police. One of the children’s teachers reportedly alerted the agency regarding the couple’s altercation. All four children are currently in state custody.

Video of the officer hitting Robinson was posted online last weekend. Sheriff Randy Meeks announced the investigation on his department’s Facebook page, saying it came in response to an “Internet allegation.”

Sure would be interesting to see how right-wing authoritarians react to this story. After all, they claim to support the military as well as law enforcement and are known to clutch their pearls and become outraged at any criticism directed at either group. They’ll probably just blame President Obama. Or liberals. Or teh gays. Or all three. Yeah, probably all three.

* * * *

Watch: Cops plant drugs on man after dragging him from car and beating him (video)

On that January night, Floyd Dent was pulled over by Officer William Melendez for an alleged traffic violation. Dashcam video shows a seemingly docile Dent being pulled out of his car and mercilessly hammered by Melendez. No one knows why the officer did so. Melendez’s report says Dent gave him a “narcotic stare” and had his fists clenched and later bit him. The video seems to show a different story. You can be the judge of who is telling the truth, below.

A subsequent search of the vehicle says that crack cocaine was found in the car, but now that charge — the only one remaining against Mr. Dent — seems to have fallen apart, and Officer Melendez, who has previously been fired for filing false reports and charged for planting evidence, is right at the center of it.

Dent claims he doesn’t do drugs and a test following the arrest squarely backs that up. And now a new video has surfaced showing “smoking gun” evidence that Dent was, indeed, framed. The video shows Melendez pulling a small baggie from his pocket. This baggie appears to be similar to the one he claims to have found inside Mr. Dent’s car.

Floyd Dent’s attorney will be in court with this evidence to attempt to get this last remaining charge dropped.

You can watch the video at the link.

* * * *

Biker threatened with jail if he doesn’t apologize for swearing at a cop, he stands his ground

In a video uploaded to Facebook on Wednesday, Michael Cates filmed a disturbing interaction between police and retired truck driver, Russel Ayers. The recording shows police threatening Ayers with incarceration after he refused to apologize to an officer, after calling him a “f*cking asshole.”

The confrontation took place after the officer’s partner allegedly came close to plowing through a group of bikers on Highway 62 in Thomasville, North Carolina. The cruiser was reportedly going 100 mph in a 60 mph zone, with no siren or lights.

It is an unfortunate fact of life here in the U.S. that a lot of gun owners are reckless and irresponsible in their handling of firearms. It’s one thing when those people are average citizens and another thing entirely when those reckless, irresponsible individuals are law enforcement officers. These are the people who are ostensibly charged with serving and protecting civilians. Unfortunately there are a lot of law enforcement officials who threaten, brutalize, and kill those they are charged with serving and protecting. Former Delaware County cop Stephen Rozniakowski is one such official. With a bulletproof vest strapped to his chest and a gun in hand, Rozniakowski kicked down the door to the home of Valerie Morrow and proceeded to kill her and injure her daughter:

Cops tase an elderly man with his hands up

While police have been getting a bad wrap all over the country, its things like this that really deserve an explanation.

When you watch the video, it’s really hard to see what caused the police to use a Taser on this elderly man, who exits the car with his hands up. The man was told to exit the vehicle several times, and when he eventually did, one of the cops apparently thought he’d teach this old guy a lesson. “Don’t you know old man to listen to me?” The cop didn’t actually say this, but he might as well have.

It’s very clear on camera, that he exited the car with his hands in the air. 

Not only is this a gross excessive use of force, and an absolute disgrace to police everywhere, but after the elderly man is on the ground, the cop is heard yelling out several times, “stop resisting, stop resisting.” This news site played the video back several times, in disbelief, and the man is already on the ground crying in pain, yet the cop continues to yell this out.

There were a lot of onlookers nearby, so perhaps this was for the cops benefit? 

At the end of the video, the men in uniform notice that they are being filmed, which leads the onlookers to question whether or not they should keep the film rolling.

* * * *

Cop slaps homeless person in the face for entering bus terminal

Here’s another example in the War on the Homeless in USAmerica.

A Florida cop has been suspended (with pay) after a video emerged that shows him slapping a homeless man in the face. The cell phone footage shows the officer trying to force the man, identified as Bruce Laclair by the Miami Herald, out of a bus terminal. He grasps Laclair’s arm and pushes him, causing Laclair to lose his balance and fall to the ground, hard. Laclair says (somewhat understandably) “fuck you” to the cop, who spits out, “Relax. I am telling you right now what’s going to happen. I’m escorting you out right now. You are not going to go pee. You are not supposed to be here.”

As Laclair tries to argue the officer slaps him so hard across the face he falls to the ground again (see the video below). The newspaper reports that Laclair was arrested for trespassing. It’s not clear how he managed to pull off trespassing at a bus terminal, but it’s also not surprising, since Florida has led the way in coming up with creative ways to criminalize the activities of homeless people. Multiple cities in the state have established bans on asking for money, sleeping in public and a slew of other innocuous activities that are, in practice, only applied to the homeless. The laws serve as a pretext to help police remove homeless people from certain areas and new ones are cropping up all the time; the recent cold snap hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of Tampa’s public officials for an ordinance prohibiting the use of blankets on the street.

Homeless people are still people. They deserve the same respect and compassion as everyone else. Instead they’re shat upon.

* * * *

Cop who killed 93-year-old woman hired by Texas precinct

A former Texas police officer who was fired after shooting a 93-year-old woman is once again working in law enforcement as a “volunteer” deputy.

While serving as a police officer in Hearne last year, Stephen Stem shot and killed 93-year-old Pearlie Golden, who had fired a .38 revolver into the ground.

Prior to that, he had killed 28-year-old Tederalle Satchell in 2012 during a foot chase. Satchell reportedly did not have a weapon when he was shot, but had been carrying one earlier.

Both Golden and Satchell were black, which Stem insisted was unrelated to the shootings. The Wire pointed out that killing two people in less than two years was “a remarkable statistic for a police officer in a small town of fewer than 4,500 people that gets about 10 calls a day.”

Prior to the shootings, Stem had been suspended in 2010 for failing to report an alleged indecency with child incident before going on vacation. He was suspended once more in 2012 for pointing a gun at an innocent bystander.

Robertson County grand juries declined to indict Stem for either killing, but Golden’s death was the last straw for the Hearne Council, which unanimously voted to fire him last May.

When an officer is fired under such circumstances, I don’t think they should be eligible for any law enforcement position in the country.

* * * *

 Cop brutally attacks 78-year-old grandma for delivering cupcakes to her grandchildren

78-year-old grandmother Mary Poole was brutally assaulted and pepper-sprayed by a police officer when she attempted to deliver cupcakes to her grandchildren at school.

The children’s parents are in the midst of a divorce and custody battle, so Mary wanted to do something nice for the children. She decided to deliver a gift in a neutral setting.

“I hadn’t seen my granddaughters for some time and I wanted to see them, and so I baked some cupcakes and bought some cookies for my granddaughters’ classroom,” Mary said.

When she arrived at the school she was met by a rude Clovis Unified police officer who told her that she was not allowed to visit the children because there was a restraining order against her. In reality, there was no restraining order against her and no legal reason to keep her out of the school.

The officer was either lying or was totally mistaken about the situation.

Mary obeyed the officer and left the school. She then pulled over to call her son and tell him what happened. While she was on the phone, she was again approached by the officer who became immediately confrontational. As with most police encounters, he refused to hear any explanation that she attempted to give him, but instead demanded immediate obedience.

When she tried to explain her situation, the officer became violent with her. Next he pepper-sprayed the woman in the face twice during the confrontation, as she was struggling to free herself from the attack. The officer must have seen her struggling for safety as a sign of resistance.

“He wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say, period. Every time I tried telling him anything…I mean, I was even telling him, ‘I’m 78 years old,’ before he grabbed me. He sprayed me with mace twice,” Mary told reporters.

“And I was very frightened, and I told him to call the police and he said, ‘I am the police. He jerked me out of my car with my left arm with such great force, and then threw me onto the pavement. From there he dragged me by my left arm up to the school grounds,” she said.

The officer’s attack left Mary seriously injured with several broken bones and a dislocated shoulder.

When all was said and done Mary was taken to the hospital and left with more than $180,000 in medical bills.

Mary Poole filed a lawsuit this week, alleging police brutality and elderly abuse.

* * * *

Cop who illegally kidnapped and beat down syndrome man says he would do it again if he could

Martinez was walking to his family’s bakery on Dec. 20, 2012, when Guy yelled at him to stop, simply because the young man was wearing a black hoodie.  When Martinez did not stop, Deputy Guy became angry at him for “exercising his constitutional right not to stop for a consensual detention,” the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit states that the deputy “looked Tony in the face and then unloaded a canister of highly irritating pepper spray into Tony’s face and eyes,” beat him with a weighted baton, slammed his face into the pavement and cuffed him.  While the beating was taking place, Martinez’ sisters were screaming at the officer that their brother has down syndrome, unsuccessfully attempting to appeal to the officer’s humanity- something that he clearly lacks.

After Martinez was handcuffed, other deputies jumped in, and Martinez was taken to the hospital, detained, and then jailed for 5 hours- he was essentially kidnapped.  He was charged with resisting arrest, despite the fact that there was no reason to stop him in the first place.  Deputy guy testified that this was necessary to “document” the incident.

The family is proceeding with a lawsuit, as the department refused to comply with all three of the family’s simple demands to settle this outside of a courtroom. The family only wanted the department to apologize, release their policy on dealing with the mentally disabled, and have Deputy Guy volunteer for the Special Olympics.

Perhaps the reason Capt. Joe Rodi refused to release their policy, is the fact that there is no policy, and they are breaking California law.  As ABC pointed out:

California law states law enforcement must be trained to interact with mentally disabled people.

Under Penal Code 13515.25,

(a) By July 1, 2006, the Commission on Peach Officer Standards and Training shall establish and keep updated a continuing education classroom training course relating to law enforcement interaction with mentally disabled persons.

Basile questioned Guy and Capt. Joe Rodi under oath in a deposition.

Deposition
“Are the officers required to have that training before they go out in the field,” asked Basile.
“No, this is something that’s fairly new,” said Rodi.

That law is eleven years old – passed in 2004 to be implemented by 2006.

Deposition
“You’ve never had any classes in development disabilities, correct,” asked Basile.
“Yes,” said Guy.

The law breaking Captain of the department admitted that Guy had broken the law by even confronting Martinez on that tragic day.

“He did not have reasonable suspicion to stop and use force on him,” said Captain Rodi under oath in a newly released video deposition.

Looks like the only person who was not breaking the law in this scenario was Martinez.

To make this whole scenario even more infuriating, Guy had a history of use of force issue at his former department where he was employed for eight years.  He had only been with the San Diego Sheriff’s department for four months when he assaulted Martinez, and was still in the midst of his probationary period.