NYPD Stopped 600,000 People in 2010: 85% were Black or Latino

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From [HERE] The NYPD stopped 600,000 people last year, the highest number in the eight years those statistics have been kept.

The Daily News reports that police stopped 601,055, a 4 percent increase from 575,304 the previous year.

About 14 percent of those stopped last year were given summonses or arrested, the newspaper said. The other 86 percent were questioned.

Donna Lieberman of the New York Civil Liberties Union pointed to large disparities between whites and non-whites. Some 85 percent of those stopped last year were black and Latino men.

"Unfortunately, the pattern of stopping innocent New Yorkers continues," Lieberman said. "The pattern of stopping enormous numbers of overwhelmingly African-American and Latino men continues."

The NYPD did not immediately comment.

NYPD Stopped Latino Teen for Riding Bike on sidewalk - Beating by Police Caught on Video

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 From [HERE] [SEE Video HERE] The NYPD is investigating a claim of excessive force by its officers while they were arresting a Bronx teen, authorities said yesterday. Jorge Cartagena Jr., 19, was approached by cops in a Westchester Square deli last Friday after the officers saw him riding his bicycle on the sidewalk, according to a report.

Surveillance video from the bodega shows the teen, Jorge Cartagena Jr., saying something to an unidentified officer. The cop then whirls around, grabs the teen, and throws him into the wall. The officer's partner then helps push the youth onto the ground, where he is cuffed and arrested. ."He was slamming my head against the floor over and over," Cartagena said."I'm so hurt. They're the police. They're suppose to be there to help us," Jorge Cartagena Jr. said.

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Supremes Set to Hear Case Against Ashcroft: Black Man Stripped Searched, Arrested and Detained for Two Weeks - for No reason

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WASHINGTON — Abdullah al-Kidd was arrested at a Dulles Airport ticket counter in March 2003, led away in handcuffs and sent to three different jails across the country. He says he was strip searched and subjected to humiliating conditions. After two weeks, he was released and never charged with a crime.

Al-Kidd, a U.S. citizen who is African-American and Muslim, later sued then-attorney general John Ashcroft and other officials for violating his rights. In a case now before the Supreme Court, he claims his arrest wrongly flowed from aggressive Justice Department policies after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The dispute tests when top officials can be held responsible for a policy that violates someone's rights. It is one of the lingering controversies surrounding Bush administration actions after 9/11, pitting national security concerns against civil liberties.

"It's one of the more visible cases this term," says University of Pennsylvania law professor Stephanos Bibas, who has written a "friend of the court" brief on behalf of legal history and criminal procedure professors. Their brief sides with al-Kidd and urges the justices to look deeply at the rights of detained witnesses through the centuries.

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Civil Case Against Pittsburgh Police to go Forward: Unarmed Black Man Beaten by Plainclothes Officers

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Mr. Miles was a student at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts High School more than a year ago when, he has said, three officers chased and beat him in Homewood. 

Plainclothes officers stopped him on a street and arrested him after a struggle that they say revealed a soda bottle under his coat, not the gun they suspected. The three white officers who arrested him were reassigned.  Photos taken by Jordan Miles' mother show his face covered with raw, red bruises, his cheek and lip swollen, his right eye swollen shut. A bald spot marred the long black dreadlocks where the 18-year-old violist says police tore them from his head.  

"I feel that my son was racially profiled," Terez Miles said. "It's a rough neighborhood; it was after dark. ... They assumed he was up to no good because he's black. My son, he knows nothing about the streets at all. He's had a very sheltered life, he's very quiet, he doesn't know police officers sit in cars and stalk people like that."

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Judge rules NYPD must turn over reports on Police Shooting Incidents

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In a decision made public today, State Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman ruled the cops must turn over two kinds of reports that are filed after every shooting incident involving a civilian to the New York Civil Liberties Union.

She ordered the NYPD to turn over data dating back to 1997, but said police can withhold certain identifying information in the documents and any recommendations contained in in the reports.Goodman's ruling orders the NYPD release two types of reports it creates after cops fire their weapons at civilians - an initial report that's filed 24 hours after the incident, and another more detailed report that's filed 90 days after a shooting.

 

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Miami Police Chief Agrees to Meet With Families of Black Men Killed by Police

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Still No Answers in the Death of Travis McNeil. Unarmed Black Man Shot Dead by Police after Traffic Stop. [MORE] 

Following the shooting death of Travis McNeil last Friday (funeral was today), the local NAACP chapter called upon the Florida Attorney General to step in and U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson to contact the Justice Department.

The ACLU delivered an investigation request Tuesday to Miami's Civilian Investigative Panel, noting that New York City, with a population 20 times larger than Miami's, had only 10 such police-involved shootings in all of 2010. For its part, the police department says its own investigations in each fatality -- seven of them in just seven months -- are ongoing.

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Fired Lawrence (Mass) officer named in Numerous Police Brutality Suits against Latinos

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From [HERE] LAWRENCE — Complaints against Kyle Wilcox, a Lawrence police officer fired for use of excessive force [HERE] , dominate the police brutality lawsuits filed against the city in U.S. District Court.

In addition to being fired, Wilcox was convicted in 2008 of beating Lawrence brothers Ruben and Moises Fernandez [HERE] when they were in Lawrence police custody. Wilcox was found guilty of two counts of assault and battery in the jury-waived trial in Worcester District Court.

Former Mayor Michael Sullivan fired Wilcox in July 2007 for his "willful maltreatment" of a Eusebio Alicea, then 19, of 306 Howard St., who later filed a federal brutality suit against Wilcox, the city, the Police Department and four other police officers.

In his suit, Alicea said he was both beaten by Wilcox, who was wearing "special metal-knuckled gloves," and that the officer, in a "malicious and sadistic" manner, used hot water to wash pepper spray out of Alicea's eyes after he was arrested on Jan. 6, 2007 in South Lawrence.

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LA County Jail Cannot Investigate Itself: ACLU Seeks Probe into Beating of Defenseless Black Man

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 The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU/SC) has called on the United States Attorney's Office to launch an independent criminal investigation into last month's brutal beating by two Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputies of an inmate at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, which is part of the Los Angeles County Jail system.

The Jan. 24 savage attack on James Parker, detained on a non-violent marijuana charge, was witnessed by ACLU/SC's Jails Project Coordinator Esther Lim, who is assigned to monitor all county jails, and another inmate.

 Both observed the two deputies beating Parker for about two minutes while he was lying on the ground limp, motionless and not resisting the deputies in any way. One of the deputies also repeatedly used a Taser against Parker.

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Witnesses: PG County (MD) Cop Beat and Fatally Shot Unresisting Latino Man

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From [HERE] and [HERE] A Prince George's County police officer pepper-sprayed an unresisting man, hit him with his fists and his metal police baton, threw him down a flight of stairs, then fatally shot him, according to witnesses who testified Thursday at a civil trial against the officer. Moments later, the officer swore at the victim's crying wife, according to testimony and a 911 recording.

The account of the fatal encounter was provided in Circuit Court in Prince George's County by witnesses for the family of Manuel de Jesus Espina, 43, who was shot to death by Cpl. Steven Jackson on Aug. 16, 2008. Espina's relatives have filed a wrongful death suit against Jackson and the county.

Espina was shot inside a basement apartment in Langley Park. Moments after the shooting, Espina's wife, Estela, entered the apartment and wailed over her dying husband as she cried out in Spanish, "Why did you kill my husband?"

Jackson screamed, "Shut the [expletiv] up! [Expletive] you!" The exchange was captured on the recording of a 911 call made to police by a witness. The tape was played in court for the jury on Thursday.

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60 years later, Black Man Seeks Justice for Chicago Police Torture: Coerced Confession Led to 14 Years in Prison

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Nearly 60 years after he says he was forced by police to confess to a rape he never committed, Oscar Walden Jr. stood in a federal courtroom Tuesday as curious jurors gathered around him so he could show them scars from when a police officer bent his hand back, causing excruciating pain.

"Those two scars are still there," said Walden, 79, who buttoned his olive suit before drawing jurors over to study his middle and index fingers. "That's half a century old." In a remarkable trial playing out in the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago, Walden, who is suing the city, recounted Tuesday how he says he was beaten and threatened into confessing that he raped a woman on Nov. 24, 1951, on the South Side.

Walden is one of many men pardoned by former Gov. George Ryan. But unlike others, his allegations go back so long ago that he is the only remaining witness to them. The seven officers who are alleged to have abused him are dead. So, too, is the rape victim. The police station where the abuse is alleged to have taken place in part doesn't even exist any longer.

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Report Clears Yolo (CA) Deputies in Shooting Luis Gutierrez: Shot in the Back 'because he turned away from the bullets'

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From [HERE] WOODLAND, Calif. --The U.S. Department of Justice has determined there is not enough evidence to prosecute three Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputies involved in the fatal shooting of a Woodland man.

 Sgt. Dale Johnson along with Deputies Hernan Oviedo and Hector Bautista were involved in the shooting death of Luis Gutierrez-Navarro, 26, in April 2009. The shooting happened on the East Gum Avenue and Highway 113 overpass in Woodland. The Sheriff’s investigation found that Gutierrez-Navarro had methamphetamine in his system and threatened officers with a knife.

That was when the deputies felt in danger and fired the fatal shots. Gutierrez-Navarro turned away from the deputies as the officers where firing their weapons, hitting him in the back.

The investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice is the fourth independent investigation into the case.

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New Details in Notorious B.I.G. Murder Case Indicate LAPD Involvement

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This potentially explosive evidence involves an alleged conversation between former LAPD officers Rafael Perez and Perez’s cellmate in the L.A. County jail.

The federal judge in the case writes that the inmate reported that Perez had told him about his and Mack’s involvement with Death Row Records and their activities at the Petersen Automotive Museum the night of Biggie Smalls’ murder.

Death Row Records was the label behind another rap superstar, Tupac Shakur, who was murdered in Las Vegas just months before Wallace’s death.

The original lead detective investigating Wallace’s murder says Mack and Perez had close ties to Death Row.

Months after Wallace was killed, officers Mack and Perez were convicted for unrelated crimes — Mack for bank robbery, Perez for stealing cocaine and other serious felonies.

According to a newly-revealed court record, Perez’s cellmate told investigators “Perez and Mack were involved in Death Row Records. Perez got involved in Death Row through Mack.” “They went to all their parties and stuff,” the inmate said. Investigators say Perez also told the inmate he was at the scene of the Wallace murder.

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Mom to Houston Police: Why is my son dead? Cops Stop Black Man for Riding Bike on Wrong Side of Street

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The front page of the offense report, generated within hours of the shooting, indicates that the officers were searching Butler before an officer discharged his weapon. The brief summary says that officers "attempted to pat the suspect down for officer safety" when "the suspect resisted and pulled a pistol out of his pocket." The officers struggled in an attempt to take the gun away before the suspect "turned the firearm towards one of the officers who then shot the suspect."

But according to an HPD news release from public affairs dated hours later on Dec. 30, Officer C.D. Edwards and his partner were on routine patrol about 7:30 p.m. in the 3800 block of Jensen when they encountered a man riding a bicycle on the wrong side of the road without a head lamp. The officers stopped to investigate and called the man toward them.

As the man, later identified as Butler, was being questioned, he began to put his hands in his pants pockets. Butler did not comply with officer requests not to reach into his pockets, police said. He then "quickly reached" into his right front pants pocket and attempted to pull out what is described as a revolver. He did not follow commands to drop the gun. At some point, Butler — who is a felon — turned the gun toward Edwards, police said.

"Fearing for his life and that of his fellow officer, Officer Edwards discharged his duty weapon at least once and struck Butler," the release said. "Butler was then taken to the hospital where he died."

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Fort Wayne Officers cleared in Escobedo fatal shooting

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A federal jury deliberated about 2 1/2 hours Thursday before ruling in favor of four Fort Wayne police supervisors in connection to the July 2005 fatal shooting of Rudy Escobedo.

The jury essentially ruled the supervisors’ actions did not constitute excessive force and that Escobedo’s constitutional rights were not violated.

The trial, which began Feb. 8 with jury selection, wrapped up Thursday with both sides telling the jurors how each believed they had proved their cases.

The jury was charged with determining whether the four police supervisors violated Escobedo’s civil rights when they decided to cut off negotiations and enter his Berry Street apartment, a move that ended in police fatally shooting Escobedo.

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ACLU wants Federal Probe into LA Inmate Beating

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The American Civil Liberties Union called for a federal investigation Thursday into allegations that two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies beat an unconscious inmate for two minutes at a County Jail last month. ACLU officials said they hope the United States attorney's office will get involved because the Sheriff's Department "has proven itself to be completely unwilling to investigate its own deputies aggressively."

Last month, Esther Lim, an ACLU staffer, filed a statement in court after witnessing the alleged beating while visiting the downtown Los Angeles jail on unrelated business. Lim said she looked through a window and saw two deputies punching and kicking an inmate while his body was limp "like he was a mannequin." The deputies seemed to be unaware of her presence, she said in the statement.

An internal sheriff's log appeared to confirm the Jan. 24 incident, but stated that the inmate was punching the deputies and remained combative until he was Tasered. Lim called the deputies' account a fabrication. James Parker remained so still during the beating, she said, that she worried he was dead.

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Legal expert: Prosecutor Could have charged Seattle Police Officer in fatal shooting of Native American Man

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One day after the prosecutor decided not to press charges against a former Seattle police officer in a deadly shooting, a local law expert is questioning that decision. Ian Birk shot and killed woodcarver John T. Williams last August. But King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said he can't charge Birk because of a law written 25 years ago that protects officers who use deadly force. 

 But Mary Fan, a University of Washington professor and former federal prosecutor, says Satterberg is not bound by state law and could have charged Birk if he wanted to.

 "You could argue, 'Look, a jury should decide.' File the charges and a jury should decide," she said. "It's a judgment call. It's a close judgement call, and I don't envy the prosecutors judgement call."

 But Fan says it all comes down to the moments right before Birk pulled the trigger -- "looking at Officer Birk's behavior and the way he acted on that film and his tone of voice."

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Seattle Officer who Fatally Shot Native American Man will Not Face Any Criminal Charges

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  • Protest against police brutality winds through Seattle [HERE] 

From [HERE] and [HERE] Seattle police Officer Ian Birk, who fatally shot Native American woodcarver John T.

Williams last summer, resigned on Wednesday after a firearms review panel ruled the shooting unjustified and the King County prosecutor announced that Birk would face no criminal charge.

Birk "committed serious tactical errors" in the confrontation, but did not act with malice or criminal intent, King County prosecutor Dan Satterberg said Wednesday.

In a video of the shooting, Birk could be heard telling Williams before shooting him to drop his knife. Williams was a woodcarver and a First Nations member from Vancouver Island.

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Excessive Force by Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Claimed by Family in Black Man's Death

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From [HERE] JACKSONVILLE, Fla -- Charges of excessive force by police are being made by the family of Curtis James Moss, who died while in the custody of Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Moss, 28, was pronounced dead at a local hospital early Tuesday morning after officers attempted to restrain Moss who had earlier called for help.

The father of four, according to family attorneys, called 911 three times from the Red Roof Inn on Youngerman Circle, saying he needed help and that he had mental problems. Moss' girlfriend, Kia McKinnon, said earlier in the evening Moss had proposed to her while they were celebrating Valentine's Day.

"I just don't understand he called the police for help and then they hog tied my baby, choke him while hog tied, put their knees in his back," said McKinnon while crying.

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ACLU, NAACP ask civilian panel to investigate Miami Police Shootings of eight Black Men Over Past Decade

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Pressure to review six Miami police-involved shooting deaths of black men dating back to the last summer intensified this week when the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP asked a civilian panel wielding subpoena power to weigh in on the controversy.

Local NAACP President Victor Curry, following the police-involved shooting death of Travis McNeil last Friday, called on the Florida Attorney General to intervene and asked U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson. D-Miami, to pen a letter to the Justice Department. Curry has also contacted the Rev. Al Sharpton, the well-known civil rights activist, to urge him to visit Miami and lead a community rally. No date has been set for the visit and rally.

Meanwhile, the ACLU presented a letter Tuesday to the city’s Civilian Investigative Panel, listing dates and names of the men killed by police between July 2010 and February 2011, and one killed by a Miami-Dade officer. They said the number of shootings is disproportionate when compared to larger cities like New York. That city, whose population is 20 times larger than Miami, had just eight police-involved shootings in 2010.

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Autopsy Shows that Phoenix Police Repeatedly Tasered, Peppered Sprayed Latino Man before Shooting him to Death

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PHOENIX -- CBS 5 News and [MORE] obtained the complete autopsy report for Daniel Rodriguez, the man who was shot and killed by Officer Richard Chrisman during a domestic call.

Chrisman has been indicted for murder in the shooting of the unarmed Rodriguez in October. Court papers show Chrisman sprayed Rodriguez with pepper spray, repeatedly shocked him with a stun gun, shot his pit bull to death, then fatally shot him.

The autopsy showed the details of all the actions by Chrisman, plus a bruise to the temple:

"Rodriguez had a 0.5 X 0.6 centimeter faint, purple contusion on his left temple, 2-1/4 inches left of the anterior midline and 3 ¼ inches from the left external auditory Hemorrhage is in the subcutaneous scalp tissue."

Police reports described the scene when Chrisman first got in an argument with Rodriguez:

Rodriguez entered the living room and began telling the officers, specifically Chrisman, they had no right to be in the trailer and they needed a warrant or would need to leave.

A verbal exchange began and Chrisman placed the muzzle of his pistol against Rodriguez's temple, saying, "I don't need no warrant, (expletive)."

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