LAPD Says Officers Didn't Conspire after Beat Down - no proof.

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LAPD defends taking 40 minutes to separate the eight who were on hand at beating of a suspect, saying they didn't conspire on a story. Top Los Angeles police officials on Thursday defended the 40 minutes it took to separate eight officers involved in the beating of a car theft suspect and said an investigation has found no evidence that the officers colluded to get their stories straight. The officials offered a detailed account of the department's initial response to the televised beating after City Councilman Jack Weiss expressed concern that the 40-minute gap potentially harmed the investigation. [more]

L.A. Police Probe 2nd Case of Flashlight Beating

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  • This a 2nd distinct, seperate brutality incident that occured last week.
Los Angeles police said on Thursday  they were investigating the second case in two weeks of  officers seen on videotape beating a prone suspect with a metal  flashlight. Home video showing a black man being pinned to the floor  and hit with a flashlight during an arrest at a private party  on June 19 was aired on local television a week after a police  officer was seen beating black car theft suspect Stanley Miller  11 times around the head after he had been wrestled to the  ground. [more] and [more]
  • Bratton Defends Officer in 2nd Incident [more]

Custody Death-Dallas Police may have used Excessive force on Latino Man

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A preliminary autopsy has been completed on a man who died in the custody of Dallas police.  Witnesses say the officers used excessive force when they arrested the 300-pound man. Pedro Fernandez had an enlarged heart and blocked arteries which may be the reason he died shortly after his arrest. But that hasn't stopped those who insist officers used excessive force and they point to their backgrounds as proof. [more

All White Jury find no breach of man's civil rights-Police Beat Down Latino Man

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A Grand Rapids man's claim that his civil rights were violated by four city police officers was rejected by U.S. District Court jurors Wednesday. Jorge Navarro was seeking $15 million in damages against Grand Rapids officers Rob Veenstra, John Wittkowski, Jason Sotke and Greg Rekucki, who arrested Navarro in July 1999 after he allegedly assaulted his wife and ran from police. Navarro, a 26-year-old Hispanic man, filed suit in federal court, saying the officers, who are white, violated his civil rights by using excessive force, racial slurs and battery that caused him to develop depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and derailed his career and personal life.  [more]

Danville man alleges police brutality- more details

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A Danville man who was beaten by city police officers while being arrested Monday says the officers used excessive force taking an innocent man into custody. Houston claims he was sitting in a car with a friend, listening to music. Houston says police came up to the car and told him they got a report of a black man with a gun by the name of Houston. "I said we don t have a gun, I don t have gun," said Houston. He says an officer patted him down, but when they tried to cuff him, Houston says he turned fast to tell them it wasn't t necessary. That's when he says police attacked him as his family watched.  [more]

Danville man alleges police brutality

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A Danville man who was beaten by city police officers while being arrested Monday says the officers used excessive force taking an innocent man into custody. "It wasn't right. All of this was for nothing, man. I didn't do anything," said Robin "Robbie" Houston. "And I want to get paid for it."  Witnesses said one officer struck several blows with a metal baton, another blasted him with chemical spray, and two others punched and kneed him in the parking lot outside his apartment, Houston said. [more]

Man Beaten by LAPD Complains of Dizziness. May have brain damage.

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An attorney for a black man beaten by police during a televised arrest said his client now has "classic" signs of brain damage, including slurred speech and difficulty concentrating. Richard Nussbaum, who is preparing a civil lawsuit for Stanley Miller, said Tuesday that Miller suffers from severe headaches after a police officer repeatedly hit him with a flashlight following a car chase last week. [more] Pictured above: Stanley Miller.
  • Officers involved in the June 23 incident were not separated until nearly an hour after the arrest and drove back to the department's Southeast Division station together. Officers are required to be isolated from each other after a use-of-force incident so they cannot compare notes and prepare a story for investigators. [more]
  • Councilman Weiss said the separation issue is important because Hatfield has reportedly told investigators he struck at Miller because Officer Hale screamed "Gun!" when he mistook a wire cutter he felt in the suspect's pocket for a firearm. This version of events has been confirmed by other officers at the scene. [more]
  • Stanley Miller's mother said, "I really hesitated to come forward today but I know and fear  that my son is not getting the necessary and proper medical care,"  the statement said. "I'm scared! I'm concerned for the safety of my  family." [more]
  • A group of black leaders announced Wednesday the formation of a commission independent of Mayor James Hahn's commission to monitor the investigation of the videotaped police beating of Miller [more].

Rounding Up Black Men in Omaha Dragnet DNA Sweep:

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  • Police Looking for Everybody - - "Black Man , 25 to 40 years old, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-9 inches tall, stocky with a large stomach and weighing 175 to 250 pounds" Police went to the homes of 36 men, between the ages of 20 and 40, and asked for DNA samples via mouth swabs. The cops were in plain clothes and drove unmarked cars. Police said the DNA tests were needed to aid in the investigation of four rapes over the last two years. The perpetrator has been described as "black, 25 to 40 years old, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-9 inches tall, stocky with a large stomach and weighing 175 to 250 pounds."

  • State Senator Ernie Chambers Outraged By RACIST  Police Tactics  [more] Pictured Above.
  • Police Chief Won't Apologize For DNA Sweeps [more]
  • In May  Charlottesville Police in VA conducted similar racist tactics [more]

Black Community Fears that Racist Cops will Go Free

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Being Caught on Videotape has meant very little in the past:

  • 6 months ago charges against Inglewood officers for beating down handcuffed teenager, Donovan Jackson (above) were dropped. The incident was video taped. [more]

  • 2 years ago Oklahoma City Police beat Donald Pete more than two dozen times. The incident was recorded. Charges against the police were dismissed. [more]

  • In November the Cincinnati Police fatal beating of Nathaniel Jones was captured on video tape. NO officers were charged in the beating. Nathaniel Jones pictured above. [more] 

  • The Rodney King officers were acquitted. LA Times has [more]

Black Man Beat Down by LAPD Officers transferred to state facility

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A Black man beaten by a police officer during a televised arrest has been transferred to a state facility to await a parole hearing. Stanley Miller complained of dizziness upon arrival at the Department of Corrections prison in Chino on Monday night and was moved to a hospital facility for observation, said prison spokesman Sgt. Arioma Sams. One of Miller's attorneys claimed his client has displayed "classic signs of brain damage" from the beating last week. Richard Nussbaum complained Tuesday that the transfer makes it more difficult for Miller to get an outside medical review and treatment lawyers have sought on his behalf. "Ever since he was put into Central (Jail), we've been asking for the medical care he deserves," said Nussbaum, who is preparing a civil lawsuit on Miller's behalf. "We've been told that he's not entitled to be visited by anyone." Police said Miller was given a complete medical examination and characterized his injuries as minor. [more]

Cops who Shot- Dead Handcuffed Black Teenager in the back of the head go free

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No Wrongdoing found: Cops who Shot- Dead Handcuffed Black Teenager in the back of the head go free
A special Richland County jury found Tuesday that a deputy was justified in the fatal shooting of a teenager in 2002 as he was driving away in a patrol car while handcuffed. The six-member jury ruled after the coroner's inquest that Deputy Clark Frady acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Chad Jones, 19, on Nov. 26, 2002. Jurors deliberated about an hour after a three-hour hearing.  Jones' father, Willie L. Jones, said afterward he was frustrated, but not surprised, by the verdict. "This was just a show. This kid was no threat to these officers' lives. ... The truth's got to come out." [more]

Judge says arrest of Quanell X legal.

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A judge decided Monday that police had sufficient reason to believe civil rights organizer Quanell X was trying to evade arrest earlier this month as he was bringing a shooting suspect to the police station for surrender. Quanell X maintains that he thought the police were surrounding his car with lights and sirens as a form of official escort to the downtown police station, where he was expected to bring the fugitive. In a courtroom packed with activists including several young men wearing military-style New Black Panther Party uniforms, prosecutors showed a police video of Quanell X driving a black Hummer in front of a patrol car, with its police lights and sirens activated, for more than a mile. Quanell X was arrested June 11 as he attempted to turn in Derrick Forney. Forney was wanted for the shooting of a Houston police officer. [more]

Latino Man dies in Dallas police custody

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Dallas police were investigating the circumstances surrounding the apprehension of a man who died after being taken into custody. Police said the incident started when they tried to restrain Pedro Fernandez, 33, who was allegedly involved in a domestic disturbance in the 3800 block of Mount Ranier Street in West Dallas just before midnight Monday. Four officers responded to the scene; a fifth was subsequently needed to  subdue the 320-pound man, but not before police used OC spray, a type of  pepper spray. [more]

DRAMA. They Make $79,000 a year. Why are they protesting?

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DRAMA. They Make $79,000 a year. Why are they protesting?
City-Billy Boston Police Union stage fake demonstrations in Republican driven protests. Threaten to  protest Dem convention.
  • The union's contract expired in July 2002, when rank-and-file officers were earning an average of $79,000 a year. [more] The 1,400-member police union, without a contract for two years, wants a 16.5 percent increase over four years. The city has offered an 11.9 percent raise over four years. [more] The NYPD  has a base salary of $36,800 [more]
  • The Boston patrolmen's association has been a hardcore Republican association for 20 to 30 years. The union supported Bush in 1988 and has supported various Republicans over the past 3 decades  [more]
  • Two recent studies found racial profiling to be a pervasive problem with the Boston Police Department. [more]
  • Although, Blacks make up only 20% of the Boston population, Blacks account for 45% of all traffic citations by police. [more]
  • The Boston Police Department has shot dead 28 people since 2001. [more]
  • In 1995, several white police officers beat down a Black plain clothes police officer, Michael Cox. He was severely injured. None of the assailants has ever been disciplined or charged criminally. [more]
  • A 1991 report examining the Department found that race plays a central role in the use of excessive force. [more]
  • In 1990 the Boston Police Department had responded to the killing of a white woman, Carol Stuart, by engaging in unconstitutional stops, searches, and interrogations of young black men.  Carol Stuart was in fact killed by her husband, Charles Stuart, a white man, who then falsely claimed that a black man had killed his wife. [more]
  • Kerry Won't Cross Picket Line for Speech [more]

Bratton Vows to Review Police Use of Flashlights

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Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton said Saturday that he planned to review the department's policy of allowing officers to strike suspects with flashlights, following the videotaped beating of an African American man last week. "The image of the flashlight looks problematic," Bratton said. "It looks awful, quite frankly."  [more] Pictured above: Community activist Maxwell Russell, right, holds a sign outside the 77th Street Area Los Angeles Police station in Los Angeles, Friday, June. 25 2004. Community activists gathered together in response of the videotaped arrest of Stanley Miller in which an LAPD officer is shown using a flashlight to hit Miller11 times  before arresting him. (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)
  • LAPD rule under scrutiny [more]

LA Moves to Ease Tensions- Tape Captures Police Beat Down of Unarmed Black man

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In the wake of a videotaped police beating of an African-American suspect, officials here scrambled Thursday to plead for peace and offer assurances that the incident, an echo of the Rodney King beating in 1991, would be scrupulously investigated. All eight Los Angeles police officers on the scene have been removed from active duty with pay since the beating, which occurred early Wednesday during the arrest of Stanley Miller, 36. [more]
  •  See Video [here] and pictures [here]

Special Prosecutor Involved in case of Police Shooting of Latino Man

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The wheels are in motion to investigate the police shooting of a man in south Omaha last month.  A grand jury will hear the evidence and an internal police investigation continues. A special prosecutor has been appointed and the grand jury is seated to investigate the death of 22-year-old Jose Zermeno Garcia but it's unclear when the jury will hear the case. [more]

  • Use Of Force by Omaha Police Called Into Question [more]