Charlottesville Officer cleared in shooting and Beating of Black Man

• Special grand jury notes concerns over racial aspects of Police Attack on Kerry V. Cook
  

A special grand jury has exonerated a white police officer who seriously wounded a black man last summer in an incident that left some residents concerned about the use of excessive force. The special grand jury met 19 times and took sworn testimony from 38 people about the Aug. 21, 2004, incident in which Kerry V. Cook was shot once in the stomach by city police officer William Sclafani after Cook resisted arrest. Circuit Judge Edward L. Hogshire yesterday released the special grand jury's 12-page findings -- an unusual move -- at the request of the grand jury members. In its unsigned report, the grand jury said it has "serious concerns about the impact of the incident on the community, especially the Friendship Court community" where the incident occurred. The grand jury also noted that it was composed of diverse members of the community, in part to "dispel any obvious concerns about racial or gender bias." Friendship Court is one of the largest housing projects in the city. The grand jury said Cook's arrest was "lawful," that there was "no evidence of a cover-up" and found probable cause to indict Cook. Cook was indicted on two counts of assault and battery on police officers, one count of escape by force and one count of resisting arrest. According to the grand jury report, the incident unfolded after police were called to an apartment at Friendship Court about a domestic disturbance involving Cook and a woman who lived there. Sclafani and another officer, Jeremy Carper, found Cook in a closet. A "violent struggle" ensued in which Cook made it to the front door to call for help from a group of onlookers -- which at one point numbered about 100 people. Cook was pulled back into the apartment by the two officers who used a flashlight, pepper spray and a police baton in their attempts to subdue Cook. [more]

New Richmond Police Chief Asks Justice Department to Investigate use of deadly force by Officers

• 7 People Killed by Richmond Police Since 2001
  

Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe has asked the U.S. Justice Department to review every case involving the use of deadly force by city police officers during the past five years. Monroe said he has asked the special litigation division to review the incidents to determine whether the police department's current training policies and its investigation of deadly force incidents are consistent with "acceptable practices and standards" in law enforcement. Seven people have been killed by city police using deadly force since 2001. "Part of this is to help assure the public that the department is not attempting to hide or protect any case involving a police officer," the chief said. "We only want to ensure that we have the utmost integrity and professionalism in our use-of-force policies and investigations." After five fatal police shootings between June 2001 and July 2002, former Police Chief André Parker promised a use-of-force study shortly after he took over in November 2002. Bids were solicited and received. But a year later, word came out that the study had been put on hold indefinitely upon the advice of the city attorney. Late last year, City Council appropriated some $35,000 of its budget surplus for another private use-of-force study. Monroe said in a recent interview that the federal government was better suited to the task and could do it for free. [more]


Family of Unarmed Black Man Shot to Death on his Front Porch by Richmond Police Brings Civil Suit
The request to the Justice Department also comes at a time when the department is under intense scrutiny for its performance in at least one lethal-shooting incident involving a Richmond police officer. The city, the police department, and several current and former members of the department are being sued in federal court by the family of Verlon Johnson, an unarmed suspect who was shot to death on his front porch by Detective David Melvin on May 17, 2002. Melvin was tried three times in the shooting. After two mistrials, he was acquitted by a Circuit Court judge in February 2004. Johnson's family filed suit in federal court in August. The civil trial is scheduled for July 7. Last week, an expert in police training hired by the plaintiff was deposed in the case. Charles J. Key Sr. -- a retired commanding officer of the firearms training unit of the Baltimore police department and former SWAT team supervisor -- also prepared a highly critical report of the Richmond department that was entered into evidence. "It is my opinion that the training of Richmond Police Officers in use of force and related areas is not consistent with accepted police standards and practices," concluded Key, who investigated 28 police shooting incidents. "Further, the training program is inadequate to the degree that it constitutes a deliberate disregard for the safety and well-being of the citizens of Richmond." [more] and [more]

• Jury Finds Melvin Not Guilty, Defenders Issue Statement [more]
• Richmond Police sued in the fatal shooting of Verlon Johnson [more]
  

Broward Cuts Off Medical Funds For Latino Man Mistakenly Shot In Head by Police

A Mexican immigrant shot in the head in November by a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy was discharged Tuesday from an assisted living center where he had been recovering. German Gomez, 22, left the Williamsburg Landing center in Wilton Manors around 10:30 a.m. in a wheelchair. Gomez was discharged after the Sheriff's Office stopped paying for his care. Gomez will continue his recovery at the Whispering Isles apartments, where Deputy Lewis Perry shot him on Nov. 3. He'll be sharing a second-story, two-bedroom apartment with up to 10 other men. There are no elevators and Gomez had to be carried up the stairs. "Perhaps he will sleep on the floor," said his attorney, David Kubiliun, "We just don't know." The Sheriff's Office had been covering Gomez's medical expenses since he was released from North Broward Medical Center on Dec. 14. Gomez needs a helmet to support the left side of his head, where the bullet struck. He's able to walk with assistance and speak for brief periods. The shooting, which Kubiliun said was unjustified, is being investigated by the Sheriff's Office, the State Attorney's Office and the U.S. Department of Justice. According to a March 8 memo to Kubiliun, Gomez's doctors recommended that he continue physical, occupational and speech therapy for another one to two months. That's not available to Gomez in the apartment, Kubiliun said. Gomez's brothers, also Mexican immigrants, will give him the medicine he left the center with, which should last about three days, Kubiliun said. The brothers say they have no money to buy more medicine. They and Kubiliun want Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne to keep paying for Gomez's care in the assisted living center, which according to Kubiliun runs some $10,000 a month. According to the Mexican Consulate and Kubiliun -- who has notified the sheriff he intends to sue -- arrangements had been made with the Sheriff's Office to cover Gomez's medical expenses. [more] and [more]

Three NJ Troopers Being Sued Over Traffic Stop Beating of Black Man

• Incident Caught On Tape

Three New Jersey troopers are being sued for the way they handled a routine traffic stop. That stop turned into a violent altercation. Now the motorist is suing but the cops say, the case has no merit at all and they have the police tape to prove it. Aundrey Green’s car was pulled over in southern New Jersey’s Cumberland County in April of 2002. Troopers say he was going 105 miles an hour, then lied about his name, and didn’t have a valid license. So, Green was cuffed and put in the back of a police cruiser. There was now two cop cars on the scene along with four state troopers. That is when he had a heated exchange with an officer in the car with him. Green told the cop he had to urinate. Cop: “I don’t have a bathroom in this car you have to wait. Do not go to the bathroom in the back of my car. Do not do it!” Green: “I’m telling you. I cannot hold it no more.” Cop: “So just hold it.” Soon after, the officer exits the vehicle, comes around to the passenger side door and indicates Green took his handcuffs off (HUH? -BW). The officer then demands that Green get out of the car. Cop: “Get out of the car!” Green: “Get out of the car! For what?” Cop: “Cause I told you to.” Green: “But I ain’t do nothing” The tape appears to show troopers punching and kicking but it is unclear if the blows ever hit Green. Officers also appear to use pepper spray. In any case, Green’s lawyer says the officers were way out of line. “Even if Mr. Green was wrong in failing to get out of the vehicle, it does not justify the subsequent beating,” says Vincent Sanzone, Green’s lawyer. Toopers say Green initiated the fighting and broke an officers’ nose. Green, 32, was hospitalized for cuts to his head and body. [more]

• SEE the tape [here]
• Feds failed to view tape of traffic stop [more]

NYC Police Caught on Video in Altercation with Black Teen

NYC Police were involved in an altercation with a 17 year old Black teen on Monday night in Times Square after the man tossed a flier into the face of a police officer. Part of the altercation was caught on video tape. Now the Manhattan district attorney’s office is looking into the video and the two men arrested in the incident were in court on Tuesday. The confrontation lasts no more than 40 seconds. Police sources say it began when Matthew Ogbu resisted arrest. At least four officers run at Ogbu. One of them, a sergeant pulls out a nightstick and swings twice. At the same time, Ogbu’s cousin, Obi Daniel Jr. jumps in allegedly punching a police officer. The sergeant stays on the first suspect dealing at least three more blows. On Tuesday afternoon, Ogbu was limping as he appeared in court. His mother says the 17-year-old had to go to the hospital for an injury when his leg was hit by a nightstick in this melee. At the height of which a sergeant is seen hitting him at least four times before a third man enters the fray to grab the sergeant's arm. A third man runs to intercept the sergeant. Now it was two on one. The police officer that was punched was sent to the hospital. Eventually all three men were arrested. “If I hit my child like this I would be arrested. They would consider it child abuse,” says Obi Daniel Sr, Daniel’s father. Now CBS2 News has learned the sergeant who pulled his nightstick was also involved in another high profile incident just months ago also caught on video during the Republican National Convention. The first video shown was of then Detective William Sample being pummeled by a protestor while hunting for the man responsible. [more]

• See the video [here]
  

$10 Million Suit filed in 2003 Pinellas County Jail death of Latino Man

The family of a Pasco man, Larry Germonprez, who died two years ago today in the Pinellas County Jail, filed a $10-million lawsuit this week alleging that corrections deputies killed him. Although State Attorney Bernie McCabe cleared the deputies of any criminal wrongdoing in May 2003, the sheriff's internal affairs investigation remains unfinished - 22 months later. The delay angers Germonprez's family. "It tells me that they are definitely guilty and they are trying to hold this off as long as they can in hopes that it will go away," said Jennifer Pugh, 38, Germonprez's ex-wife and mother to two of his children. "That's not going to happen. We don't want his death to be for nothing." Germonprez of Zephyrhills died shortly after a struggle with deputies as they tried to move him from one cell to another. An autopsy found Germonprez had 17 rib fractures, which would be consistent with the deputies compressing him on a bed. Germonprez was arrested and booked into the jail in March 2003, after he left the scene of an accident involving his vehicle. Then, in what appears to be an unprecedented decision, the Sheriff's Office requested a review of Germonprez's autopsy. Sheriff Jim Coats said he knew of no other such request. He would not detail why the autopsy was re-examined. Then-Sheriff Everett Rice told a reporter Thursday he could not remember what specifically prompted the decision. "If I remember right, it wasn't a normal case. It wasn't a case that was easily resolved." Rice was elected to the state House of Representatives in November. [more]

• For More Police Brutality News 3/22/05 skip to [here] and scroll down
  

Black Man Wrongly Arrested at Funeral by Broward Police Files suit

A Navy veteran who was handcuffed and detained at his grandmother's funeral last month in a case of mistaken identity filed a lawsuit Wednesday, accusing Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne and two detectives of violating his civil rights. "On a sacred day in a sacred place, these officers abused their authority, and they took away from my family and I what should have been a treasured moment," plaintiff Donovan Lightbourn II told reporters shortly before filing the suit at Fort Lauderdale's federal courthouse. Lightbourn, 20, of Orlando, said he had never been in trouble with the law. But at Fort Lauderdale's Forest Lawn Cemetery on Feb. 19, he said, a Sheriff's Office helicopter hovered over the gravesite. Deputies rushed him, held him at gunpoint, and slapped handcuffs on him. They pushed him against a car, Lightbourn said, injuring the tendons in his shoulder. They falsely accused him of being Kareem Lightbourne, the 26-year-old suspect in a murder and kidnapping in Lauderhill two years earlier. He said he tried to explain he was in the Navy when the murder took place. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages on 14 counts, including civil rights violations, false arrest, battery, use of excessive force and defamation. [more]

City of Syracuse, Police, and Movie Theater to Face Trial in Beat Down of 13 Year Old Black Girl

The City of Syracuse, individual police officers, the Hoyts Movie Theater and its former manager will be put on trial. The parties are accused of beating and falsely arresting a 13-year-old African-American girl back in 2000. Tuesday, a federal court judge ruled 13-year-old Brianne George could proceed to trial with her claims. The girl — now 17 — says Detectives James Quatrone and Robert Teater wrongly accused her of stealing a bag of candy in September 2000 at a Hoyts movie theater at the Carousel Center mall in Syracuse. While she was in line at the theater waiting to buy candy, she was approached by the manager and the officers who grabbed her from behind, slammed her into a video game machine, hogtied her and dragged her into an elevator. She says they also used racial slurs against her. [more] and [more]

Hmong Community Want Justice in Milwaukee Police Killing of Tou Yang

Still angry over the January fatal police shooting of a 36-year-old father of three, Hmong leaders urged city officials Saturday to improve the police department's understanding and treatment of their people. Lo Neng Kiatoukaysy, executive director of the Hmong / American Friendship Association Inc., praised Police Chief Nannette Hegerty for her willingness to probe issues raised by the shooting death of Tou Yang. "The verdict is still out on the rest of the Milwaukee Police Department," Kiatoukaysy added. Hegerty defended the officers involved in the Yang shooting, but she acknowledged that the police force sometimes lacks the tools needed to deal with Hmong or other racial and ethnic minorities. "On behalf of the people of the city of Milwaukee, I'm sorry that this tragedy occurred," the mayor said. "If there is one message I can leave, it is: We must be one." Wisconsin is home to about 40,000 Hmong people who emigrated from their native Laos. Yang, who was described by family members as suffering from a mental illness, was fatally shot by police officers Jan. 20 after a three-hour standoff that began when social workers arrived at his west side home. Police said they shot Yang after he opened fire on them as they entered the home. The shooting was ruled justified by Racine County District Attorney Michael Nieskes.  [more]

• Pictured above: Milwaukee Police Chief Nannette Hegerty (left) listens to a question from Xia Lee Yang of West Bend, grandfather of Tou Yang, during a meeting with the Hmong community and the Milwaukee Police Department at Grace Hmong Alliance Church, at W. Greenfield Ave. and S. 27th St., on Saturday.

Miami Police Shooting Of Mentally Ill Latino Man Raises Questions

The family of a man killed by a police officer says that the mentally ill 31-year-old was off medication and was having a manic episode. Caeser Rada's family says the actor was mentally ill, but was unarmed when he was shot and killed Officer Jeffrey Price, 24, shot and killed Cesar Rada, a psychology student and aspiring actor on Sunday night at his home on Southwest 59th Terrace near 89th Avenue. Cesar's family said he was bipolar. His father, Augusto Rada, said he has had to call police in the past for trouble with his mentally ill son. Augusto Rada said Caeser Rada was agitated but unarmed when the officer arrived at the home on Southwest 59th Terrace near 89th Avenue. Police had been called after a family argument had become violent, according to witnesses. A witness said that Caeser Rada said, "Shoot me. Shoot me," as he walked toward Price, who had pulled his service revolver. The witness said Rada kept walking toward the officer until Price's gun was against his chest. Price then shot Rada three times. Rada's father and other witnesses said he was not armed.  Rada's father said his son put his hands up and continued walking toward the officer shouting, "What? You going to shoot me? Go ahead, shoot me!" Augusto Rada said he heard gunshots when his son was about three feet away from the officer. The elder Rada said he tried to jump in between the two men to protect his son.  "I fell and thought I got shot too," he recalled. "I jumped on top of my son and I looked down. I knew they killed him right there."  Rada was shot in the chest and neck area, his father said. [more] and [more]

Beach officer cleared in fatal shooting outside club

A police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the January shooting death of a 17-year-old during a pursuit outside an Oceanfront club, the commonwealth’s attorney’s office announced Friday. The judgment, made Thursday night by Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey L. Bryant III, allows Officer Robert C. Ernest to return to normal duty. The investigation stems from an incident that began at about 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 16, when police received calls that shots had been fired in the parking lot of The Beach House at 17th Street and Cypress Avenue. Other calls followed from the cell phones of youths attending a teen night there. [more] and [more]

NAACP and CA Attorney General Meet to Discuss Police Brutality

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer backed a call by a civil rights group Friday for greater scrutiny of alleged police brutality and said law enforcement must take the initiative to prevent such incidents. Speaking to a panel of the state chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People in South Los Angeles, Lockyer said his office received complaints "every day" about inadequate follow-through on potential civil rights violations by police agencies. But the attorney general disagreed with a number of community leaders who told the panel that brutality was institutionalized and that current policies failed to weed out rogue cops. "I think it's a pretty good process now," Lockyer said, adding that his office was prepared to take action against police departments that failed to implement reforms when needed. Most of the state's peace officers are professionals who follow the rules, the attorney general said outside the meeting, adding, "I think we're lucky in California compared to other states." When brutality is proved, severe discipline is needed to discourage other officers from engaging in similar behavior, he said. [more]

Minorities subject to Hackensack Police bias

Several African-American and Latino residents complain they are being randomly stopped, questioned and searched by city police, prompting a local community group to contact the U.S. Department of Justice. Larry Riley of the Concerned Citizens Organization of Hackensack has gathered statements from residents who say they have been unfairly targeted by police because of the color of their skin. The written police harassment complaints are mostly from residents living in central Hackensack, where African-Americans and Latinos reside. "There's no reason to stop a person when they are walking the street,'' said Riley, who mailed the complaints to Washington on Thursday. "They are not doing that in the Fairmount section." Eric Holland, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said each complaint received would be reviewed carefully. Last week, Riley and several members of the minority community attended a City Council meeting at which they aired their grievances against police. They told the council that some members of the Police Department are rude, disrespectful and always seem to be picking on them. "It's not every cop, it's just some police officers,'' said Toni Haverty, another member of the group. Several teenagers said police have stopped them and pointed flashlights at their faces, simply because they were walking down the street at night. [more]

Taser Guns: Increase Police Aggression

The rationale for Taser International’s stuns guns is that they are non-lethal and help cops subdue dangerous suspects with minimal force. But reports show plenty of suspects have died almost immediately after being stunned. Not the least of these deaths was twenty-one year old Andrew Washington from Vallejo, California who on September 15, 2004 after trying to flee from the police, was shot repeatedly with 50,000 volts while his was body lying in a trickle of water. In Northern California over the last seven months, there have been seven deaths linked to Taser International’s product, but police continue to parrot the Scottsdale, Arizona company’s promotional material that the weapon is safe and that illegal drugs are the problem. Washington’s death and the subsequent stonewalling of the investigation into the true cause is typical of what appears to be increased aggression on the part of police who see the weapon as “a new baton,” as Andrea Pritchett of CopWatch put it. Vallejo police claim Washington was an auto-theft suspect. The trouble is that he had not stolen a car, had not been armed, nor hostile. He was drunk when he hit two parked cars and foolish enough to run, but there were six officers involved in pursuing the five feet, nine inch, 149 lbs. man who wasn’t hostile nor armed. He was stunned first on the fence for five seconds when it only takes a quarter of a second to incapacitate someone. He could hardly crawl. But he got shocked three or four more times anyway.[more]

Delray Rookie Police Officer Kills 16 Year Old Black Boy

The officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old boy outside a school dance Saturday had less than a month's experience patrolling the streets on his own, according to information released by officials Monday. Officer Darren Cogoni, 23, was hired by the Police Department in March. He was placed on administrative leave after the Saturday night shooting of Jerrod Miller on the campus of the Delray Full Service Center, a school for students with behavioral problems. Officials said Miller drove onto the campus after being approached by the officer. A police spokesman said the teen, Jerrod Miller, 16, was driving erratically near where about 20 students stood outside at a school dance for students 12-16 years old. Jerrod Miller had dropped some friends off at the dance but returned a while later. An officer stopped him at a gate the the school's parking lot and asked for his drivers license, but Miller drove off. Shortly later, as many as three shots were fired, according to witnesses.

Witness Contradicts Police Account
A witness, Alonzo Robert Smith said that he stood by the passenger-side door of Miller's car, about to get in, when he saw an officer ask Miller for his license. According to 17-year-old Smith, the shooting unfolded like this: Miller did not respond to the officer's request for his license. The officer calmly asked Miller twice to get out of the car. The officer then stepped back and "looked like he was going to grab his gun." Miller then drove forward into a courtyard in front of the school's gym. Four or five girls were standing nearby on the gym steps. Two police officers chased the car, one with his gun drawn. Smith said Miller's Cadillac Sedan DeVille and the police rounded a corner, and then he heard three shots fired. Smith did not see the officer fire or where.Smith told reporters Sunday that Cogoni chased after Miller's Cadillac with his gun drawn. He said students were congregated on the gym steps, but that Miller, who had turned the corner across a grassy plot and down the walkway, "wasn't going toward anybody." The Police Department's policy on use of force prohibits officers from firing at a moving vehicle "unless they reasonably believe" that the action "is necessary to defend themselves or another from death or serious injury." According to state records, Miller did not have a driver license and he had no criminal record. "This case is not just going to be thrown away," said Charles Cornelius, Miller's uncle, as he bleakly traced the tire marks. "Jerrod's voice will be heard." [more] and[more] and [more]

• Vigil honors teen killed by rookie police officer in Delray [more]
• NAACP organizes forum on shooting [more]
• Redneck Rush Limbaugh says NAACP is out of touch [more]
  
• 1,000 attend youth's funeral [more]
  

Attorney Wiilie Gary vows 'vicious' response to Delray police shooting of Jerrod Miller

About 125 people attended an emotional news conference Thursday morning at which attorney Willie Gary announced that he would go after "in a vicious way" those responsible for the police shooting death of a 16-year-old. "We will not sit idly by and let this happen time and time again in our community," Gary said. He also announced he would be filing lawsuits early next week against those responsible for Saturday night's shooting death of Jerrod Miller by a rookie Delray Beach police officer outside a teen dance at the Delray Full Service Center.Thursday's meeting at the Redemptive Life Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach was attended by Miller's family members as well as representatives from the NAACP, Urban League, and county and city officials. Phyllis Miller, Jerrod's petite grandmother who has raised the teen since his mother died a year and a half ago, moved the crowd to tears when she said, "Our hearts are very heavy. We're hurting. And I must say we are very angry. But at the same time we aren't going to use our anger in the wrong way."  [more]

• Delray Beach mayor promises police review after shooting of teen [more]
  
• Pictured above: Joe Potts gives an emotional take on police racism and the slaying of Delray Beach teen Jerrod Miller. His comments were part of an NAACP meeting discussing the tragedy. Local residents and relatives had a chance to voice their opinions and concerns on the matter to city officials.[more]

Miami agrees to pay $500,000 for Killing Black Teen

The city has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed 18-year-old shot to death by police, who were likened in an inquest to ``Keystone Kops,'' family attorneys said Monday. The settlement, which requires the approval of the city commission and a federal judge, would bring payments to numerous families of Miami police shooting victims to more than $5 million since the mid-1990s. Community outrage over the rash of shootings led to a departmental shake-up and policy changes. Nicholas Singleton was shot in the back of the head as he stood on a rooftop after running away from a stolen car after a six-minute chase in April 2001. The officers involved thought they were after suspects in an armed carjacking that had been solved weeks earlier and didn't know that arrests had been made. The police computer had not been updated with the new information. The excessive-force lawsuit had been set for trial Monday, but the city planned to appeal a decision by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke keeping two police officers as defendants along with the city. Both sides met for mediation, and a settlement notice was filed Wednesday. "The city could have sat back and said, 'We'll wait the year''' for the appeal to progress, said Jim McGuirk, another family attorney. ``They made a genuine effort to get the case settled.'' There was no immediate comment from city attorneys. Singleton was a passenger in a speeding Jeep that police didn't know was stolen, but mix-ups with the dispatcher and the police computer system made the patrol officer mistakenly think the Jeep had been involved in an armed carjacking. Before the settlement push, the city lost a series of rulings. Cooke had decided that jurors would not be told that the Jeep was stolen because the officers didn't know it when they fired or that Singleton had a juvenile police record and a history of drug use because police never claimed he was under the influence when he died. Three officers fired a total of 18 shots, but the bullet type could not pin the fatal shot to any police gun. In the foot chase, one officer fired at another when he saw someone with a gun through a vine-covered fence. [more]

• Family sues Miami police over Singleton killing [more]
• Fla. Shootings Anger Black Leaders [more]
• Officers cleared in shooting [more]