Police Reform in America

[Unagi]

Perhaps you are thinking of Inauthenti City, in that great state of Confusion ?

[Punisher]

Perhaps you are thinking of Inauthenti City, in that great state of Confusion ?

Possible since I now live in that state.

[Isgrimnur]

Elijah McClain death: Officer Randy Roedema guilty, former officer Jason Rosenblatt not guilty

The jury found Randy Roedema guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault, Jason Rosenblatt was found not guilty of manslaughter and assault. Sentencing for Roedema is scheduled for Jan. 5 at 1:30 p.m. in Adams County Court.
...
Rosenblatt no longer works for the Aurora Police Department. Roedema and the third responding officer, Nathan Woodyard, have been suspended from the police force without pay.
...
Woodyard also faces a separate trial, and paramedics who injected McClain with the drug ketamine moments after the interaction with the officers are also facing a separate trial. After he was given the drug, McClain went into cardiac arrest and was declared brain dead. He died several days later.
...
The trials for the other first responders are scheduled to take place starting at the end of the week (for Woodyard) and next month (for paramedics Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper).
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Since McClain's death, APD has been through several police chiefs and the city has entered a consent decree in which police reforms surrounding use of force and racial bias are mandated.

The City of Aurora reached a settlement with McClain's family two years after his death. That $15 million agreement resolved the federal civil rights lawsuit they had filed.

[Isgrimnur]

Aurora police officer Nathan Woodyard was found not guilty Monday of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain

Jury questionnaires will be handed out on Nov. 17 for the two former paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec charged in McClain's death. Jury selection in the courtroom is expected on Nov. 27. That trial is expected to last several weeks.

[Pyperkub]

Solid reporting is expensive, and change takes time, as well as accountability, but it can help...

When I began working at ProPublica in the fall of 2017, the Valley Courier was 30 years behind me. But I still loved local news. And, as luck would have it, ProPublica was just then launching an initiative called the Local Reporting Network.

The mission of the Local Reporting Network, or the LRN as we call it, is both simple and righteous. Mindful of the many local news organizations that are shrinking or disappearing, ProPublica partners with local newsrooms strapped for resources, to help them execute bold investigative projects. The first group of LRN partners published stories in 2018. And one of that first group’s members was Christian Sheckler, then a reporter at the South Bend Tribune in Indiana...

...When Sheckler applied to the LRN, he was 29. He’d been a reporter for six years, four in South Bend and two in Fort Wayne. He wanted to dig into the criminal justice system in nearby Elkhart, where, according to his application letter, there was a “decades-old pattern of misconduct.” He believed reporting could produce answers about why some people had been wrongfully convicted and “an accounting” from public officials.

To do what he wanted, he needed time. In words that will resonate with every reporter who’s ever churned out five, 10 or 15 stories a week at a small or midsize daily, Sheckler wrote that he needed “a sabbatical from the press conferences and school board meetings that, in today's understaffed newsroom, can stand in the way of the most ambitious investigative journalism.”...

...Sheckler and I wrote a dozen stories in 2018 and then more in years after. We investigated how poor policing led to wrongful and questionable convictions. We exposed dubious investigative practices and a lack of police accountability. We found that of the Elkhart Police Department’s 34 supervisors, 28 had disciplinary records and seven had opened fire in at least one fatal shooting. One officer was promoted to sergeant after receiving 11 suspensions, 15 reprimands and one verbal warning. (“He was promoted in the wake of all this?” one criminal justice expert said to us. “That’s very strange. ... I have no explanation for this. ... This is bizarre.”)

In the wake of our joint investigation, the city’s police chief was suspended for 30 days. Then he resigned. The city’s mayor abandoned his reelection campaign. The city commissioned an outside study of its police force, which found that officers were viewed in the community as “cowboys” who engage in “rough treatment of civilians.” The 97-page study criticized the department’s lack of accountability and its “vague and non-descriptive” use-of-force reports. In 2022, Keith Cooper, a man whose wrongful conviction we’d written about in 2018, received $7.5 million in a record settlement with the city, which apologized for its handling of his case.

This year, the fallout has continued. In 2018, Sheckler obtained a video showing two Elkhart police officers repeatedly punching a handcuffed man inside the police station’s detention area.

And, while part of it is just the defense, this seems like it could also be an honest reaction:

Joshua Titus, the second officer, appeared for sentencing just this month — and received a year in prison.

At the sentencing hearing, in federal court in Hammond, Indiana, Titus expressed gratitude for the video being made public by the Tribune and ProPublica. He’d been dealing with severe post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in the Air Force, Titus said. “I was in denial of my psychological issues,” he said, adding that the video’s release “opened my eyes and gave me a renewing of my soul.” Publication of the videotaped beating also “helped change the culture at the Elkhart Police Department,” he said.

[Isgrimnur]

Supreme Court declines appeal from Derek Chauvin in murder of George Floyd

Lawyers for Chauvin had asked the Supreme Court in October to take up his legal battle, which centered around a Minnesota trial court's denial of his requests for a change of venue and to sequester the jury. Chauvin argued that the decision to keep the proceedings in Minneapolis deprived him of his right to a fair trial because of pretrial publicity and the threat of violence and riots in the event he was acquitted.
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Chauvin was sentenced to 22 ½ years in prison in June 2021. He also pleaded guilty in December 2021 to a federal charge of violating Floyd's civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is serving concurrently with his state sentence.

Chauvin is now seeking to overturn his conviction on the federal charge, arguing in a filing last week that he wouldn't have pleaded guilty had he been aware of the theories of a Kansas-based pathologist who does not believe Floyd died as a result of Chauvin's actions.

[Smoove_B]

Chauvin stabbed in prison:

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an incarcerated person was assaulted at FCI Tucson at around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday. In a statement, the agency said responding employees contained the incident and performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate, who it did not name, was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.

[Isgrimnur]

And on Black Friday...

[Unagi]

And on Black Friday...

[Blackhawk]

What? A former cop in prison for one of the most infamous hate crimes in decades was the victim of violence?

I wasn't expecti... who am I kidding? I had that in every space on my bingo card.

[Isgrimnur]

And on Black Friday...

[Isgrimnur]

Paramedics were convicted in Elijah McClain’s death.

Two Denver-area paramedics were convicted Friday for giving a fatal overdose of the sedative ketamine to Elijah McClain in 2019 — a jury verdict that experts said could have a chilling effect on first responders around the country.
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The jury also found Cichuniec guilty on one of two second-degree assault charges, which brings the possibility of an enhanced prison sentence and required that he be taken into immediate custody. Cooper was found not guilty on the assault charges and was not taken into custody.

[Isgrimnur]

Grand jury indicts man accused of stabbing Derek Chauvin in Tucson prison

Documents show 52-year-old John Turscak was charged with attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, intentional assault with an attempt to murder and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

Documents state Turscak had intentionally and knowingly assaulted Chauvin with an improvised knife with intent to do bodily harm.

The Associated Press reported Turscak had told correctional officers he would have killed Chauvin if they had not intervened quickly.

The Associated Press also reported Turscak told FBI agents after the assault that he attacked Chauvin on Black Friday as a symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement and the “Black Hand,” which is a symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors said.

Turscak is serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while a member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang.

[Victoria Raverna]

This is crazy:

[malchior]

The NY Times and Washington Post each had a piece a few days on it that largely mirrored the details in the video. In the video it sure looks like he is speeding, he drifts towards the parked car, and over steers to avoid it causing the accident. The subsequent police overreacting and escalating when they messed up and then covering it up? That's just American policing for you.

Edit: I just read that the attorney's representing the pair both criminally and the inevitable civil suit found another video showing the same officer blowing a red light at high speed just prior to the accident.

So here's a recap of police statement. Same officer who beat my client decide that driver had no impairment and didn't need breathalyzer. No dash cam on car. Won't release body cam. No investigation of crash. No crash scene photos.

If I crashed into a building, while speeding, after midnight, after running a stop light, there is no way that I could have a co-worker decide that I should not get a breathalyzer.

...

The police statement also now claims that the officer was changing his radio and that caused him to crash. this is now the third different explanation from swerving to miss a dog to not seeing the only parked car to now the radio. None explain running the red light.

...

Finally, I'm not an "Internationally Accredited" police department but I was able to get this video in less than 24 hours. Interested in the "investigation" police are doing of their own

[Isgrimnur]

Aurora police officer Nathan Woodyard was found not guilty Monday of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain

Jury questionnaires will be handed out on Nov. 17 for the two former paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec charged in McClain's death. Jury selection in the courtroom is expected on Nov. 27. That trial is expected to last several weeks.

Paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with ketamine before his death avoids prison

A former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a powerful sedative avoided prison Friday and was sentenced to 14 months in jail with work release and probation in the killing of the Black man that helped fuel the 2020 racial injustice protests.

Jeremy Cooper had faced up to three years in prison after being found guilty in a jury trial last year of criminally negligent homicide. He administered a dose of ketamine to McClain, 23, who had been forcibly restrained after police stopped him as the massage therapist was walking home in a Denver suburb in 2019.
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Cooper, who was fired after his conviction, was sentenced to four years of probation including 14 months in jail under a program that will allow him to leave for work and return to jail at night and on weekends, said Lawrence Pacheco with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

The other paramedic involved in McClain’s death received a more severe punishment after being convicted on an additional charge of felony assault.
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Judge Warner previously sentenced ex-paramedic Peter Cichuniec in March to five years in prison. He faced the most serious of the charges in the case. It was the shortest sentence allowed under the law.

[Victoria Raverna]

George Floyd 2.0:

[Victoria Raverna]

WTF? Police shot and killed an unarmed black woman in her own home.

Bodycam footage of the shooting (the shooting is at around 9 minutes mark):

Springfield, Illinois — On July 6, 2024, at approximately 12:50 a.m., Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call in the 2800 block of Hoover Avenue in Springfield. The deputies entered the home of a woman, identified as 36-year-old Sonya Massey, to gather information and ensure the residence was safe. While inside, a pot of heated water on the stove drew the attention of Deputy Sean Grayson. With police approval, Massey went to remove the pot. As another deputy was clearing the house and finding nothing dangerous, Deputy Grayson made a comment about the pot from the living room.

Massey responded verbally and set the pot down on the kitchen counter. Deputy Grayson then drew his 9mm firearm and threatened to shoot Massey in the face. In response, Massey raised her hands and apologized while ducking for cover behind the counter. The deputies move toward Massey, with their guns drawn, to the other side of the counter before Massey rises and grabs ahold of the pot again before Grayson shoots her three times, striking Massey in the face once. Massey was provided medical attention and transported to a nearby hospital.

Massey was later pronounced deceased at an area hospital. On July 17, former Sheriff Deputy Sean Grayson was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct in connection with the death of Massey. Sean Grayson will be held in jail until his trial after a Sangamon County judge agreed with prosecutors that he’s a risk to the community. If convicted, Grayson faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for battery and two to five years for misconduct.

[Freyland]

I'm not watching that video. What was said that "deserved" the officer drawing his gun?

[Isgrimnur]

“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus”

[Victoria Raverna]

She was probably joking with that because the officer seemed to be afraid of water (boiling) but the joke ended her life. Either that of she was a religious black Christian.

The officers tried to cover it up by claiming it was self-inflicted to the dispatcher.

[waitingtoconnect]

If you see the video he’s got no grounds for self defence she is on her hand s and knees begging for her life the instant he pulled the gun.

Now you are in a tough spot. By escalating if you try and get her away from the pot you risk that she will throw it at you.

this is bad procedure that forces you down a singular path. Better would have been to get her away from the stove and get the partner or a family member to turn it off.

[Punisher]

She was probably joking with that because the officer seemed to be afraid of water (boiling) but the joke ended her life. Either that of she was a religious black Christian.

The officers tried to cover it up by claiming it was self-inflicted to the dispatcher.

Where did they say it was self inflicted? It sounded like he said shots fired twice and then said bring ems now we have a head shot wound to the female.

[Punisher]

If you see the video he’s got no grounds for self defence she is on her hand s and knees begging for her life the instant he pulled the gun.

Now you are in a tough spot. By escalating if you try and get her away from the pot you risk that she will throw it at you.

this is bad procedure that forces you down a singular path. Better would have been to get her away from the stove and get the partner or a family member to turn it off.

I didn't quite see it that way.
She said the rebuke Jesus thing and had the pot of boiling water while standing.
Then he pulled the gun. She was not on her knees yet. Then after he pulled the gun she went down with the pot.
He couldn't see her then do he came around the corner of the cabinet.
Once he came around she started to stand with the pot.
Now, I fully believe that he thought she 2as going to throw the pot of water at him because instead of staying down she rose with the pot. If she had risen but left the pot on the ground it would have been fine and I don't think he would have shot her. He definitely didn't shoot her while she was on her knees.
Now, I don't know if she actually intended to throw it at him or if she just wasn't thinking straight enough to fully understand that she needed to leave the pot alone. This could be due to her rising anxiety of the situation or a side effect of her presumed mental illness.
She could also have just turned off the stove and left the pot on there but that could either be because she did intend to throw it at them or if she just wasn't thinkning and wanted to dump it in the sink.

[Victoria Raverna]

She was probably joking with that because the officer seemed to be afraid of water (boiling) but the joke ended her life. Either that of she was a religious black Christian.

The officers tried to cover it up by claiming it was self-inflicted to the dispatcher.

Where did they say it was self inflicted? It sounded like he said shots fired twice and then said bring ems now we have a head shot wound to the female.

In other article about this.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... e-cover-up

Police audio obtained by the Guardian features someone on scene the night of Massey’s killing – presumably a deputy – saying Massey’s wound was “self-inflicted”. A dispatcher asks to confirm, and the person on scene repeats “self-inflicted”. The recording is in line with what the family says was misleading information given by police when Massey was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

At a press conference on Tuesday, the family said police initially told Massey’s loved ones she had either killed herself or was killed by an intruder.

“They tried to make me believe that a neighbor had did it,” said Jimmie Crawford Jr, Massey’s former partner and the father of one of her children, who added that law enforcement told nurses at the hospital that Massey had “killed herself”. “How do you get that confused?” said Crawford Jr.

Only after a doctor said Massey’s death was a homicide did law enforcement begin classifying it as a police killing, the family said. Some of Massey’s family did not learn who had actually killed her until they read news reports about the 6 July killing, her father, James Wilburn, said on Tuesday

[Punisher]

Ok.
I don't like the vauge "someone" though. They are assuming it was a deputy but it could have been a local cop.
Without more evidence I'm not willing to say this was a cover up. It could very well have been a local officer or a deputy in the group of cops that arrived and they just were misinformed or misunderstood something when they replied.
The officers directly involved didn't say anything like that, that I can tell.


Plus they aren't posting the actual audio (at least mot that I could tell) so it could be something they misheard or worst case something they made up. I don't think tge Guardian is the type of place to make stuff up though so i doubt it.

[Isgrimnur]

Treat every cop like a dangerous wild animal. Do not permit them into your home, do not make any sudden movements or unexpected jokes. If possible, remove any nut-bearing trees.

[Victoria Raverna]

Ok.
I don't like the vauge "someone" though. They are assuming it was a deputy but it could have been a local cop.
Without more evidence I'm not willing to say this was a cover up. It could very well have been a local officer or a deputy in the group of cops that arrived and they just were misinformed or misunderstood something when they replied.
The officers directly involved didn't say anything like that, that I can tell.


Plus they aren't posting the actual audio (at least mot that I could tell) so it could be something they misheard or worst case something they made up. I don't think tge Guardian is the type of place to make stuff up though so i doubt it.

Guardian isn't the only one that reported that. It is possible that it was miscommunication. Someone on the scene told dispatcher that it was self inflicted. Police told the hospital that it was self inflicted. Police told the family that a neighbor broke in and shot her.

There are several audio recording that stated that it was self inflicted. Some not that clear. Some very clear like the one that NY post has:

https://nypost.com/2024/07/25/us-news/d ... inflicted/

Actual audio is posted in the article.

Bodycam footage released by Illinois State Police also captured a dispatcher asking the responding Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies: “Just to confirm: self-inflicted?”

“Self-inflicted,” an unidentified voice then answered a few moments later.

[Victoria Raverna]

Here is a longer audio (around 7 minutes of audio recording that was recorded between 1:01 a.m.-1:51 a.m so obviously also not complete) from Sangamon County Central Dispatch System scanner where the audio in the NY Post article was from (the self inflicted audio is at around 5 minutes point).

[GreenGoo]

Treat every cop like a dangerous wild animal. Do not permit them into your home, do not make any sudden movements or unexpected jokes. If possible, remove any nut-bearing trees.

And for god's sake, don't hold anything. Don't even close your hand. Open hands, palms up.

[LawBeefaroni]

Treat every cop like a dangerous wild animal. Do not permit them into your home, do not make any sudden movements or unexpected jokes. If possible, remove any nut-bearing trees.

And for god's sake, don't hold anything. Don't even close your hand. Open hands, palms up.

Most effective is to be white.

[GreenGoo]

Been practicing being white since I was young. Well worth the effort.