Miami Police Officer Kills Mentally Ill Black Man

• Vietnam Veteran Shot in the Back of the Head by Aggressive Cops

Three Miami-Dade County police officers struggled with a man whom relatives described as mentally ill before one of the officers shot and killed the man.  Randy Carlos Baker, 49, an Army veteran, died on the way to a hospital. Baker's family said he died in the street where he was shot. According to witnesses, Baker was walking home in West Perrine, carrying a soda, when Officer Saavedra pulled up to him in his police car. Baker, who family members say was mentally ill, was known in the neighborhood as someone who was ''not right in the head,'' but they also say he wasn't dangerous.When Saavedra stopped Baker, the two men began to argue. According to Angela Baker, who witnessed her cousin's shooting, Saavedra ordered Baker to get out of the street, and Baker asked why. ''I guess the police officer got offended,'' said Angela Baker, who added that Saavedra got out of his car, grabbed Baker and started hitting him, despite pleas from herself and others to stop because Randy Baker was mentally ill. Two other officers -- Millie Garcia and Della Oros -- arrived and jumped into the fray with their batons. Police say Baker wrestled a baton away from one of them and struck Garcia in the mouth and Oros in the back of the head. Angela Baker said after one of the female officers was hit, the other one struck Randy from behind. When Randy turned to face her, Saavedra stepped up and shot him in the back of the head. After Randy fell, Angela said, Saavedra shot him twice more in the chest. Baker's relatives said he only fought back because the officers hit him first for no reason. Brad Brown, president of the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP, said "we all know that most people who are shot by police are young African-Americans and people with mental illness, here we have someone who falls within both categories."[more] and  [more] and [more]

• Pictured above: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue workers hose down the crime scene where Randy Baker, 49, was shot  by police in West Perrine. [more]
• Family Files Complaint After Police Shooting [more] and  [more]
  
• NAACP Calls For Investigation Into Police Shooting [more]
• Shooting fuels anger [more]

Bi-Racial Man Allegedly Beaten and Sodomized by Off -Duty Milwaukee Cops

The party at a Bay View duplex started sometime Saturday night with alcohol flowing freely and music blasting, according to neighbors. It ended with a man's beating in front of the home early Sunday. Squad cars arrived after a 911 call, but it was soon clear this wouldn't be a routine house party fight. The owner of the duplex in 2800 block of S. Ellen St. and many of the party-goers were off-duty Milwaukee police officers. Internal investigators were summoned, starting an investigation that continues into who beat the 26-year-old Milwaukee man and to determine if someone should be charged with a crime. The victim also said he was sodomized with a knife. A department spokesman declined to comment on the case; however, police officials contacted the district attorney's office earlier this week. Deputy District Attorney Jon Reddin said he expects to get reports from the department and then decide if criminal charges are warranted.  The man told investigators that at least one person at the party called him a racial slur, according to sources in and out of the department. The victim is biracial.  The victim, who asked not to be named because he fears retribution, was hospitalized for several days. Safran said he was taken to the hospital by police officers, not by ambulance. On Thursday, the victim's face was still badly bruised, his left eye almost entirely swollen shut. He met briefly with a reporter before referring questions to Safran. The man told investigators that the off-duty officers kicked him repeatedly in the head and one attacked him with a knife, at one point sodomizing him with it, department sources said. Safran declined to talk about his client's injuries, other than to say, "he was beaten severely." [more]

More details emerge in Minneapolis Black teen's (15) shooting death

Minneapolis police were already responding to a call of shots being fired in the Jordan neighborhood early Sunday when several residents called 911 to report that a teenager in the area had been handed a large-caliber gun. Officer Scott Mars and another officer had a physical description of the teenager who was in a crowd that scattered around 30th and Knox Avs. N. just after midnight, said community leader Ron Edwards. Mars chased 15-year-old Courtney Williams, who appeared to be grabbing at something in his waistband. Police were yelling at the teenager to drop his weapon and get down on the ground. Trapped in a yard enclosed with fences, Williams allegedly turned toward Mars with a gun in his hand, said Edwards, whose account was confirmed by an authority with knowledge of the case. It is unclear whether the teenager pointed the weapon at the officer. It turned out to be a pellet gun that resembled a .45-caliber pistol. The only legible fingerprint on a pellet gun that police said Courtney Williams had with him when he was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer early Sunday belongs to the teenager, according to authorities with knowledge of the case. Relatives of the 15-year-old Edison High School sophomore have adamantly denied that he had a gun that resembles a .45-caliber pistol on the night he died.   [more] and [more]

• Police work corrupted by culture of silence [more]

12 different suits allege police abuse against Blue Island Police

• Police Beat Down & killed 74 year old Latino Man last month
  

Twelve separate police misconduct cases were filed in federal court Thursday against south suburban Blue Island and members of its police department. The lawsuits come two weeks after 74-year-old Antonio Manrique died after being tackled by undercover Blue Island police officers in an apparent case of mistaken identity, prompting an uproar in the town's Hispanic community. No suit has been filed in that case, but the plaintiffs in Thursday's cases came forward as a result of the publicity and community meetings generated by it, said attorney Blake Horwitz, a specialist in police misconduct who filed the actions. Meanwhile, Blue Island Mayor Donald Peloquin has accepted an offer by the Justice Department's Community Relations Service to provide mediation services. It has already conducted meetings with city officials and residents. The 12 lawsuits include allegations that police handcuffed an epileptic man, applied a TASER electric shock to his groin, maced him in the face and denied him medication or treatment for his illness. The man was never charged with resisting arrest or doing anything to provoke the alleged behavior by police, Horwitz said. In another case a man was choked, beaten and had his wrist broken by officers, court papers allege. Though charged with six offenses, all were dropped. Another case charges that police held a loaded gun to a man's head for no reason. The man was never charged. [more] and [more]

• Residents meet with lawyers: 70 people come to vent about problems with police [more]

Jury picked for Oakland Riders retrial

• 3 fired Oakland police officers are accused of framing suspected drug dealers

A panel of ethnically mixed jurors was quickly selected Monday to hear the retrial of three fired Oakland police officers accused of framing and abusing suspected drug dealers in West Oakland four years ago. If alternate jurors are selected today, as expected, attorneys' opening statements could begin as early as Thursday. The original trial of Clarence "Chuck" Mabanag, Matthew Hornung and Jude Siapno -- known on the streets as "The Riders" -- lasted more than a year and ended in September 2003 with a mostly Caucasian jury acquitting the men on eight charges and deadlocking on the remaining 27 criminal counts. The outcome was publicly decried, with some complaining the original jury's racial composition didn't reflect Oakland's demographics. The men who testified they were falsely accused of possessing crack cocaine or roughed up were all black. Mabanag, 39, and Siapno, 36, are Filipino, while Hornung, 32, is white. Purported "Riders" leader Frank Vazquez is Hispanic, and is believed to have fled to his Mexican homeland to avoid prosecution. Defense attorneys contended after the first trial that the facts of the case, not the composition of the jury, dictated the outcome. It is the accused who are entitled by law to a jury of their peers, not the accusers, the defense team pointed out at the time.  [more]

• Complaints against Oakland police rise [more]

2 separate brutality complaints lodged against Chattanooga police

City police are investigating two separate complaints of excessive force after a videotape showed officers kicking a handcuffed suspect and a report that a homeless man was driven out of town and sprayed with tear gas. Police Chief Steve Parks said he restricted duties of two officers this week after seeing a convenience store surveillance video that shows a stun gun also may have been used on the handcuffed Georgia man after a Sept. 11 chase.  Chattanooga lawyer Robin Flores filed an excessive force complaint on behalf of Jason McCollum, 26, of Dalton, Ga. McCollum reported suffering scratches and bruises when he was arrested on charges of public intoxication, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Flores told investigators that officers violated at least two departmental policies - using a stun gun on a handcuffed suspect and failing to get him follow-up medical treatment. Police officials also confirmed an internal affairs investigation of a complaint by Robert E. Williams, 43, that Chattanooga police put him in a patrol car, sprayed him with a chemical, told him he was "going to Georgia," and threw him out of the car in the Chattanooga suburb of East Ridge on Sunday night. Williams said he was driven out of town after officers were called a second time to a coin-operated laundry they had told him to leave. A Hamilton County deputy found Williams on the roadside near a park gate. East Ridge police arrived a few minutes later and filed a report saying Williams "displayed all the symptoms of being Maced." He was taken by ambulance to a hospital. [more]

Black Boy, 15, Shot to Death by Minneapolis police

A Minneapolis police officer shot and killed a 15-year-old boy early Sunday morning who police say was armed with a pellet gun that resembled a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. Courtney Williams, a sophomore at Edison High School, died Sunday morning of his gunshot wounds, his family said. Officer Scott Mars, the seven-year veteran of the force who pulled the trigger, is on paid administrative leave as required by department policy. Within hours of the shooting, Chief William McManus met with community leaders at his own home in an effort to defuse neighborhood criticism. It was two years ago that a police shooting just four blocks away in the Jordan neighborhood prompted a night of rioting. On Sunday, Courtney's family was grieving and angry. They say Courtney was a good kid just hanging out with buddies when he was shot. They question the actions of police sent to the scene. "If it was a different community, he would have been talked to instead of shot first," said Jemel Brewer, Courtney's uncle. Family members said they also doubt police reports that Courtney was carrying a pellet gun. At a press conference, McManus said the shooting was under investigation and released few details. McManus said officers responded to report of a person with a gun in the 3000 block of Knox Avenue North shortly after midnight. The person was described as a black male with a red shirt. When officers arrived, they saw a person matching that description. "The officer was heard by at least one witness ordering the person to drop the gun. Two shots were heard by those witnesses immediately after the command was given," McManus said. A police report said officers ordered Courtney to drop the gun. He ran, then "turned toward the officers with the gun," the report said. [more ] and [more ] and [more ]

• Police urge calm in wake of shooting of teen [more ]

Police Brutality Case Cost PG County Over $1 Million in Insurance

Cops Brutally Beat Black Man in 1997
Prince George's County will pay more than $1 million in liability insurance for a police brutality case, where a suspect was beaten so severely in 1997 that he lost an eye--because the county government failed to promptly notify its insurer, according to a new court ruling last week. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruling affirmed what the Prince George's County Circuit Court had previously held, which argued the county "breached its duty under the policy by failing to give [Local Government Insurance Trust] requisite notice of the claim against the county." County officials would not comment on the case for this report. The case first made national headlines in June 1997 when Prince George's County police beat a motorist with metal batons so severely that the man, Freddie McCollum Jr., lost his right eye and use of his left hand--after police stopped him for not having a front license plate properly displayed on his car. McCollum, 50, who was not carrying his drivers' license at the time of the traffic stop, motioned police to follow him to his house. But county police, who had no search warrant, chased McCollum into his home, cornered him in his attic, and repeatedly beat him with their batons--crushing and splintering his facial bones, resulting in the loss of his right eye. Authorities then turned a police dog on McCollum after he was beaten, resulting in multiple dog bites. [more ]

• 2 Prince George's Officers Indicted [more ] and [more ]
• Judge Reduces $4.1 Million Award for Man Who Was Severely Beaten by Police [more ]
• Black and Blue - brutality by Prince Georges County, Maryland, police officers [more ]

Houston Cops Shoot & Kill Latino Teen

• LULAC joins effort to learn more about the shooting
  

The family of Roy Rodriguez, a teen fatally shot last week by a Houston school police officer, are asking to meet with school and police officials to learn more about his death. The request was made at a news conference organized by the League of United Latin American Citizens on behalf of Rodriguez's mother, Rachel Rios. "I feel like my son has been murdered," Rios said. "All I want is justice here." Rodriguez was fatally shot by an HISD police officer at Lantrip Elementary School a week ago Saturday morning. The officer, Richard McColister, 40, said he found Rodriguez trespassing on school property and prying open a vending machine in an outdoor courtyard. After the teen allegedly threatened to shoot him and reached into his pocket, the 10-year HISD police veteran said he shot Rodriguez. But the item in the teen's pocket turned out to be a screwdriver. LULAC representatives Johnny Mata and Sylvia Gonzalez said the shooting is another example of the "carnage" involving young minorities in police shootings. The family also expressed anger at how the Houston Police Department notified them of their son's death. HPD officers entered their apartment while the parents slept, woke them and told them to put their hands up while the police searched the apartment for weapons, Rios said. The homicide detectives started interrogating them before finally telling them that their son was dead , she said. Lt. Robert Manzo confirmed the series of events, but explained that it was to "ensure a safe environment" for both the officers and the family.  "Police officers that have that mentality that it's open season to kill Hispanics and other minorities in the streets of Houston and surrounding counties," said Johnny Mata of LULAC. "That mentality needs to end."[more ] and [more ]

Chicago Transit Cop faces suspension in shooting 3 Black Men

Seventeen minutes late to his job patrolling the CTA's Red Line station at 95th Street, Officer Alvin Weems acted fast when he saw three men beating two others as he walked in to work. Weems -- wearing a tan stocking cap on his head and dark jacket over his uniform -- dropped his work bag, shouted he was a police officer and pulled his off-duty revolver out of his holster, police said. But Weems, police Supt. Philip Cline announced Friday, made a fatal mistake the morning of March 8, 2003. He kept a finger on the trigger of his gun, which accidentally discharged, killing 23-year-old Michael Pleasance, whose family is now suing the city. The series of events, captured in chilling detail on a CTA surveillance tape, happened in about a minute, Cline said. He plans to suspend Weems, 44, for 30 days without pay and force him to undergo use-of-force training when he comes back. "We instruct officers to keep their fingers off the trigger unless they plan to fire the weapon," Cline said. "This did not happen." Weems, an 18-year department veteran, can challenge the discipline, recommended by the department's Office of Professional Standards and formalized by Cline about a month ago. An investigation by the Cook County state's attorney's office confirmed the shooting did not merit criminal charges. Cline's news conference came hours after Cook County Judge Jeffrey Lawrence ruled that the tape of the shooting can be made public.

• See TV station Video [here ]

Grand jury to get Lollis case soon

It will probably be November before the shooting of Ron Lollis goes before a Concordia Parish grand jury, District Attorney Investigator Paul Scott said. Scott said the investigation into the Aug. 23 shooting is still under investigation. "They haven't gotten all the stuff back from the lab and they are still talking to people," Scott said. Scott had originally hoped the matter would go before the grand jury dismissed at the end of September. Lollis, who was black, was shot and killed by a white Concordia Parish Sheriff's Deputy. Sheriff Randy Maxwell has said the deputy was responding to a harassment call involving Lollis and Lollis pulled a gun on the deputy. A gun was found at the scene. The FBI is also investigating the matter as a civil rights violation but that investigation is also still ongoing. The deputy has been put on administrative leave until the conclusion of the investigation. The sheriff's office turned over the investigation to the district attorney and the State Police because of their involvement. [more ]

Mother: Son Didn't Have Gun When Shot By Phili Police

Police Say Suspect Had BB Gun
The mother of a 22-year-old man shot by police told NBC 10 News Thursday that police claims that he had a gun are just not true. "I'm very angry. Very upset. I want some justice done about it," said Ruth Miller, the suspect's mother. Police are identifying the man who was shot as 19-year-old Rodney Brown. But the man's mother identified him as Feldon Bush, 22. The shooting happened Wednesday night near the intersection of Unity and Leiper streets in the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia. "He said they tried to kill him. They shot him right here, almost in the head. Then, they put him on the ground and threw him in the wagon without putting him on a stretcher," Miller said. Police sources told NBC 10 News that officers were answering a call about a man with a gun who may have been threatening a woman. When police tried to stop Bush and his friend in the Frankford neighborhood, they fled, police said. Miller is outraged that Philadelphia police shot her son just blocks from his home. "He said when the police pulled up on them, the police already had their guns out, like they was going to shoot them, regardless. And, as they was running, a shot went off and it was from the police. My son said to his friend, 'They are shooting." Then his friend said that next thing he knows he seen my son hit the ground," Miller said. [more ]

Philadelphia Police: Officer shot Black man in back

A 22-year-old Hunting Park man killed by police last Monday night near his home after pointing a handgun at an officer was shot in the back, police said yesterday. Authorities say William Baylor, of the 4100 block of North Franklin Street, was chasing another man and firing shots at him about 6 p.m. near Darien Street and Hunting Park Avenue when a police van arrived. The officers ordered Baylor to drop his weapon. Instead, police said, he turned and pointed the gun at them. One of the officers in the van, Robert McCollum, 40, of the 25th District, fired five shots at Baylor from his service weapon, police said. One of those slugs hit Baylor in the left side of his back and exited his chest, an autopsy has revealed, according to investigators. Homicide Unit detectives will examine how Baylor received the back wound and the position he was in when shot in relation to McCollum, police said.Members of Baylor's family are incensed over the killing and upset that police kept them back from the scene and away from him at the hospital. They contended that no life-saving procedures were performed and that police allowed him to lie too long at the scene. Police dispute both accusations, reporting that cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on Baylor and that he arrived at the hospital - about a mile away - at 6:12 p.m., 12 minutes after the shooting. Baylor's mother, Cheryl, 37, said "They said he was shot in the back and it came out his chest. He was only shot one time," Baylor said she was told by a morgue official. "Why would you shoot my child in the back? I don't get it," she said. [more ] and [more ]

White Police Officer Recalls the day he Killed Paul Childs

Denver Police Officer James Turney testified today in his appeal to have his 10-month suspension from duty lifted. Turney was suspended in April after he shot and killed 15-year-old Paul Childs, a developmentally disabled boy, in July 2003. The shooting triggered community outrage. The officer said he feared for his life during his confrontation with the 15 year old so he fired at him. Childs was shot four times and died. The appeal is being heard by a former appeals court judge and Turney is being cross examined by attorneys for the City of Denver. The appeal can go on for a maximum of nine days. Once the appeal proceedings are concluded, the judge will have up to 30 days to decide if Turney will remain suspended. Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman originally recommended a 20-day suspension for Turney. However, Denver City Manager Al LaCabe decided on the final 10-month suspension. [more ]

Black Teen who accused Calumet City cops of brutality appears in court

A teen who claims he was beaten by a police officer after being picked up for jaywalking made his first appearance in City Court on Wednesday. Juliet Boyd, attorney for 15-year-old Don Pennington, asked for more time because the city had not provided her with a copy of its jaywalking ordinance. "In order to properly defend him, we need to know what he's charged with," Boyd said. Hearing officer Clive W. Neish continued the matter until Nov. 11. The teen, also charged with two counts of battery against a police officer, is to appear in juvenile court in Markham on Nov. 23. The TF North sophomore alleges he was picked up for violating the city's jaywalking ordinance Aug. 28 and was beaten at the police station while waiting for his parents to be called. The family filed a brutality charge against Officer Louis Picicco. He was placed on paid administrative leave until the Cook County state's attorney's office completes an investigation. However, the investigation is stalled, police said, because the teen will not speak to investigators. His mother said he will not speak to the state's attorney's office until its case against him is resolved. [more ]

The Murder of Emmett Till; Justice Department reopening 50-year-old case

 

• 14-year-old Black boy was tortured and murdered in Mississippi for whistling at a white woman

For many of you, the name Emmett Till may not sound familiar. But what happened to him in 1955 stunned the nation. Emmett Till was a young black boy who was murdered in Mississippi for whistling at a white woman. And his death was a spark that ignited the civil rights movement in America. Two white men were put on trial for killing him, but in spite of strong evidence against them, they were acquitted in about an hour by an all-white jury. Why are we telling you this now? Because this past spring, the US Justice Department opened a new investigation based on evidence suggesting that more than a dozen people may have been involved in the murder of Emmett Till and that at least five of them are still alive. Those five could face criminal prosecution. And before we tell you about them, let us tell you what happened to Emmett Till. [CBS Transcript here]

Black Man Shot & Killed by Memphis Police

• Family Awarded $3 Million in Damages in Excessive Force Suit

Nearly two and a half years after police shot and killed a man during a drug bust in south Memphis, a federal jury awarded his family nearly three million dollars. Vice Narcotics Officers stormed the house on 1523 Rozelle Street in South Memphis during a drug bust in July of 2002. Officers were looking for two drug dealers in the house when they came across Jeffrey Robinson. Officers shot him in the jaw saying he was going for a weapon. But late Friday afternoon the jury ruled for Robinson's family saying the officers used excessive force. The family got nearly three million dollars in the ruling including the largest punitive pay out in an excessive force case in some time. Attorney's prosecuting this case say they will continue to look into the police department's liability in all of this including whether or not the city of Memphis is responsible for the officers' conduct. If proven, this case could serve as an important precedent for at least three other excessive force cases pending in Memphis. [more ]

Police kill Black Man, wound another in Delray Beach

• Black Man Approached for Sitting in Car Blasted by Cops

"They murdered him," three members of the African-American community in Delray Beach said when asked about the shooting Saturday of Ralph A. Brown by Delray Police. Two officers investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle parked at a home shot and killed Brown when he and his passenger attempted to flee. Brown, 23, died as a result of the gunshots, while his passenger, Paul E. Stevens was being treated at Delray Medical Center. According to police reports, someone called in a report of a suspicious vehicle at 715 S.E. 10 th Street. When police approached the vehicle to speak with its occupants, they attempted to flee the scene. The report states that Brown aimed his vehicle at the two officers, forcing them to fire in self defense. Eight shots punctured the windshield as the car sped toward the officers. When asked to comment on the shooting, those willing to talk said they feared police reprisals and would only do so on the condition they remain anonymous. "He was laid back and cool," one man noted. "He would have not done what they are accusing him of doing. He would have handled it the right way. That is why I know they murdered him." [more ]

After Police Shot Latino Man he Received No Medical Help. Died in Car

Oceanside police say Juan S. Sanchez, 19, tried to run over an officer  who was investigating a report of someone shooting a rifle last Wednesday. The officer fired in self defense killing Sanchez. Now residents, friends and family members are complaining that Sanchez did not receive immediate medical treatment. Shortly after the shooting, a neighbor began videotaping police as they moved around Sanchez's car. Portions of the videotape, shot through a screen door, show three officers standing outside the car with their guns drawn. Sanchez is presumably still in the vehicle, although it is difficult to see him on the tape, as is a rifle that was propped up against the passenger's seat. No one appears to come to Sanchez's aid in the early portion of the video, and no paramedics approach the car. Attorney Samuel Knudsen said yesterday that the neighbor, whom he described as a friend, was concerned enough about the officers' actions to shoot the videotape and make sure copies were provided to Sanchez's family and police. The neighbor taped the officers for more than an hour, eventually setting the camera on a window sill with its lens trained on the street. Heering said an officer was prepared to administer first aid, but it was obvious Sanchez had died. A paramedic confirmed that Sanchez could not be revived, Heering said. [more ] = Police acting as medical experts!

Marietta police cleared in Black man's death

Marietta police were cleared of any wrongdoing in the September death of 19-year-old Paul Johnson, according to a report released Monday. Johnson died Sept. 21 after he fought with three officers at the Glenbrooke Apartments. According to the report, released by Marietta Police Chief Bobby Moody following an investigation by the Cobb County district attorney, Cobb medical examiner and police internal affairs unit, Johnson died in custody when his heart went out of rhythm. Johnson had an enlarged heart, cocaine in his system and was under stress because of the fight, according to the report, and any of those factors could have led to his death. Moody said the force used by police to subdue Johnson, who was listed as at least 6 foot 3 and 250 pounds in an incident report, was justified and the officers involved have returned to duty. Johnson's mother, Dawn Jackson, reacted angrily to the report. "He didn't have no heart condition. That's just a coverup," she said. "They killed my son. They beat him up and killed him. They're not going to get away with this." Earle Burke, Jackson's Atlanta-based attorney, said he will ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Johnson's civil rights were violated and said that any legal action the family might take would await an independent autopsy he is having conducted. "I'm a little surprised and concerned they might have reached a conclusion without talking to several witnesses they had in custody who we spoke to who gave us a completely different story," Burke said, "including possibly the beating, punching and kicking of Mr. Jackson after he'd been subdued." [more ]

•  Black Man Beat Down by Marietta Police Dies in Custody -Community Outraged [more]