From [HERE] and [HERE] A Little Rock police officer who acknowledged fatally shooting a 15-year-old boy has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. Lawyer Bill James said Tuesday that he entered the plea for Josh Hastings, who was charged last week. Authorities say Hastings shot Bobby Moore Jr. last month while responding to a suspicious person call at a Little Rock apartment complex. Police files show that Hastings has a history of disciplinary issues within his department.

Hastings claimed the car Moore was driving was heading toward him, prompting him to shoot, but the police chief said evidence shows the car was either moving in reverse or stopped several feet away from Hastings when he fired.

“I have reviewed this matter and have concluded that the incident did not occur in the manner represented by the officer and that the use of deadly force did not conform to departmental orders,” Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said, adding that prosecutors agreed “the use of deadly force was not justified.”

The 26-year-old officer, who had been suspended six times in five years prior to the August shooting, was booked into jail Friday but later released on $15,000 bond. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

From [HERE] Two white Atlanta police officers who pulled over and questioned entertainment mogul Tyler Perry have been exonerated of racial profiling by an internal investigation, according to documents released Tuesday. Just after noon on February 24, Perry left his studio in southwest Atlanta alone in a white Porsche Panamera. As the actor and director later explained in a lengthy Facebook post, Perry made an illegal left turn to make sure he wasn't being followed.

Two Atlanta police officers in a patrol car pulled Perry over and questioned him for about six minutes before letting him go without issuing a ticket. Perry described the incident as "hostile" and that he felt unsafe. One of the officers continued to "badger him" during questioning, the entertainer said.

After a four-month investigation, an internal affairs officer reported, "I would submit the evidence shows the actions of both officers with the regard to the traffic stop of Mr. Perry were justified, lawful and proper."

From [HERE] and [HERE] Witnesses say that some of the 34 striking miners who South African police shot and killed last month were trying to surrender.

The Legal Resource Center (LRC) human rights group told Al Jazeera that several witnesses said police shot and killed protesters who were trying to escape. Some of them were trying to hide behind rocks and some attempted to surrender to authorities. The LRC also said it has forensic evidence that suggests a police cover-up of the killings. 

On August 16, police opened fire on a crowd of miners engaged in a strike at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana.Video showed a densely packed crowd of miners, some armed with clubs and machetes, approaching heavily armed police, who claimed self-defence in the shooting.The incident was the climax of an escalating stand-off between rival unions that had already killed 10 people, including two police officers.

Video footage showed a large crowd of miners, some armed with clubs and machetes, advancing towards police lines on August 16. Police claimed they shot the miners out of self-defense.

Video Unclear whether gun went off during or after collision. Witness said Police Shot him after [MORE] 

From [HERE] The family of the bodega worker killed by a police bullet met with the Bronx district attorney on Sunday to request that a grand jury investigate the actions of the police officer who fired the fatal shot on Friday, representatives for the family said. The district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, made “no commitments” beyond a pledge to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting by the police of Reynaldo Cuevas, a 20-year-old bodega worker, according to a family spokesman, Fernando Mateo, who accompanied the family into the meeting.

The police, citing surveillance footage of the episode, have said the shooting outside Aneury’s Deli was accidental. Police officials have said that the officer’s gun discharged when the officer became entangled with Mr. Cuevas. The two collided, the police said, directly outside the bodega as Mr. Cuevas fled from robbers still inside.

But at a news conference Sunday outside the district attorney’s office, Mr. Mateo said that Mr. Cuevas’s relatives believed that the single fatal shot was fired after the collision, while the police officer was kneeling over Mr. Cuevas. “We believe that he was murdered,” Mr. Mateo, a spokesman for the Bodega Association of the United States, told reporters.

From [HERE] This spring, a federal court granted class action status to Riddick’s case, Stinson v. New York City, which seeks to end what the plaintiffs charge is an illegal quota system that forces officers to churn out tickets by the thousands – and ultimately preys on black and Hispanic city residents as targets. (The plaintiffs are represented by the same law firm behind officer Adrian Schoolcraft’s case accusing the NYPD of harassing him after he reported systematic downgrading of serious crimes.) In July, the city filed an appeal that could take up to a year to be decided.

Then in June, Brooklyn judge Noach Dear inflamed the city’s tabloids with a decision that criticized the “sniff test” the NYPD uses to determine when to issue tickets for drinking alcohol in public — and the wide racial gap in the summonses that resulted.

Noting that he could not recall ever seeing a white defendant in court on a public drinking summons, Judge Dear asked his staff to review one month of open-container cases heard in the borough. They found that just 4 percent of defendants were white. Judge Dear proceeded to recommend that the practices and policies of the NYPD be “immediately stopped if found to be discriminatory.” [MORE] 

From [HERE] A Cochran man who was shot and killed by a Bleckley County Sheriff's deputy Friday night, pointed a gun at an officer, according to a statement released Saturday by the Bleckley County Sheriff's Office. It started out as a simple arrest for theft. "It was a softball, baseball bat and some other athletic equipment," says Sheriff Harold Lancaster.

The news release says officers were attempting to apply handcuffs to 31-year-old Rasheen Wright when a struggle ensued and a deputy tased Wright. After the taser's discharge had expired, the statement says Wright pulled out a gun and pointed it at the deputy who tased him. That's when the other officer shot Wright.

Neighbor James Rozier (in photo) says he saw the whole incident unfold as he watched from his home across the street. "He made a motion to get to a knee, by the time he had made that motion to get to the knee, there was a sheriff, white cop, I mean, he fired," Rozier said. Rozier says he believes Wright was handcuffed, but isn't sure if he had only one wrist or both wrists cuffed. "I seen them taking the handcuffs off, he was handcuffed," Rozier said. He also says he never saw a weapon, and doesn't believe Wright had a gun. 

"He wasn't making no threatening movements, they had already tased him, he was handcuffed," Rozier said. 

His brother who was also present said there was no gun. [MORE]

Unclear whether gun went off during or after collision. Witness said Police Shot him after [MORE] 

From [HERE] The heartbroken mother of a bodega worker accidentally killed by a Bronx cop said yesterday she’s furious with the NYPD — and claimed police Commissioner Ray Kelly admitted fault in the tragedy.

“He escaped death inside, and they killed him outside,” a weeping Ana Cuevas said outside her Eastchester building a day after her son, Reynaldo Cuevas, 20, was fatally shot while fleeing an alleged stickup at the store. “His death could have been avoided. I want justice. The police are at fault.” “He said it was his fault,” she said in Spanish.

She said Kelly’s admission did not soothe her pain. “I feel dead. It’s like they killed me,” she said.

The NYPD could not confirm Kelly’s comments yesterday. The commissioner told reporters that Reynaldo’s death was an accident. He said the housing cop — identified by sources as Officer Ramysh Bangali — had his gun drawn when Cuevas ran into him while fleeing the bodega.

From [HERE] and [HERE] A police officer who fatally shot a 15-year-old Arkansas boy was charged with felony manslaughter Friday after investigators determined his account of the incident didn’t match up with evidence at the scene, Little Rock police said.

Officer Josh Hastings, who has a history of disciplinary issues with his department, shot Bobby Moore Jr. while responding to a suspicious persons call at an apartment complex on Aug. 12. Hastings claimed the car Moore was driving was heading toward him, prompting him to fire through its windshield, but the police chief said evidence shows the car was either moving in reverse or stopped several feet away from Hastings when he fired.

Moore died at the scene. Two other teenagers in the car fled on foot and weren’t injured.

“I have reviewed this matter and have concluded that the incident did not occur in the manner represented by the officer and that the use of deadly force did not conform to departmental orders,” Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said, adding that prosecutors agreed “the use of deadly force was not justified.”

The 26-year-old officer, who had been suspended six times in five years prior to the August shooting, was booked into jail Friday but later released on $15,000 bond. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The police chief said evidence showed that the vehicle had stopped several feet from Hastings “and that the driver was in the process of reversing direction when the shots were fired.” Thomas also said evidence didn’t support Hasting’s claim that Moore’s vehicle “continued past him,” noting that the teen’s car came to rest after colliding with a parked vehicle behind it, showing that it had been moving in reverse.

From [HERE] and [HERE] A Bronx, N.Y., Latino bodega worker was shot and killed by police responding to a standoff with armed robbers inside the store early Friday morning, according to a law enforcement source and witness accounts. Police say three men entered the bodega and barricaded themselves inside when cops arrived.

20-year-old Reynaldo Cuevas and the bodega's manager were being held at gunpoint by the masked gunmen inside Aneurys Deli Grocery on Franklin Avenue in Morrisania.

A customer who became aware that a robbery was in progress phoned the police, and four officers were dispatched to the scene. Once they arrived, two of the three men, Orlando Ramos and Ernesto Delgado, ran into the store's backroom, leaving their accomplice, Christopher Dorsey, unarmed and alone. Seizing an opportunity to run, Cuevas and the manager took off towards the door, but, on his way out, Cuevas, who had his head down, reportedly stumbled into an officer who had his gun drawn and was subsequently shot.

The victim's cousin Jose Garcia said he witnessed the scene and that Cuevas, a nephew of the store's owner, did not have his hands raised as he left the store and cops opened fire on him.

"I saw the police shoot him," Garcia told NBC 4 New York. "He came up, but he didn't put his hands up. And he tripped or something and when he fell on the floor, they shot him."

In the surveillance video, an officer is seen near the entrance of the store, taking his gun out of its holster when Mr. Mora, store manager, emerges with his hands pointed toward the store. The officer appears to point his pistol at Mr. Mora, then steps back. "The night manager was able to convey quickly that he had been held up at gunpoint," Mr. Kelly said.

Moments later, Mr. Cuevas is seen on the video running out, immediately colliding with the officer who appears startled. Mr. Cuevas lands on the pavement on his back with the officer, who wasn't identified by police, on top of him. [MORE]  A pool of blood appears to form on the ground the instant Cuevas lands on his back. The officer is kneeling and pointing his semiautomatic at Cuevas when the video clip ends.

From [HERE] The family of a 26-year-old man shot in the back while handcuffed by a Prince George's County police officer is speaking out. "This is terrible," says Kalvin Kyle's great-grandmother Barbara Lightfoot. "Why would they shoot him in his back while he's handcuffed?"

The shooting happened at the intersection of County Road and Foster Street. Police say Kyle tried to escape after stealing a motorcycle. Lightfoot doesn't buy that. "They said he was running from them," says Lightfoot. "I said, ‘How far could he get with his hands tied behind him?"'

Kyle's sister, Shalonya Kyle, says that was unlikely,  "He has rods in his legs," Shalonya Kyle says. "If there was a race between him and me, he would not win. He can't run far."

Sgt. Johnnie Riley, an eight-year department veteran, is on leave while investigators look into the shooting. Even if he was a track star - is that PG County Police murder policy - shooting n**** in the back? 

Cops Asked Witness to Change Story. In photo, family members of Allen Nelson, show their emotions during a news conference. From [HERE] and [HERE] The family of Allen Nelson, a 44-year-old Salt Lake City Black man who died in police custody after being stopped by police while on his bike, has filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against the Salt Lake City Police Department. It alleges negligence and excessive force, which they claim resulted in Nelson’s death. Allen Keith Nelson, 44, died while in the process of being arrested on June 9. Nelson's family believes a Taser was deployed on Nelson's chest, causing him to go into cardiac arrest.

Nelson's family claims police are lying about what happened in their civil lawsuit, which is based largely on the testimony of a woman who said she witnessed the event. The incident happened about 3 a.m. as Nelson was ridng on a bicycle.  About the same time, Burbank said his department received several calls of a disturbance in the area and officers were sent to investigate. They found evidence that someone had broken into a home and found Nelson's backpack inside, he said. An officer spotted Nelson — who initially seemed "very agitated" — and after talking to him, placed him in handcuffs, Burbank said. "He went into custody without a big struggle."

But Darlene Bessonette, who lives in the same apartment where Nelson was visiting, said she saw police using excessive force. "(Nelson) was crying and he was saying, 'Don't hit me anymore, don't hit me anymore. I didn't do it. I didn't do it,'" she said. That's when Bessonette said she heard the officers talk about using their Tasers.

"I heard the officer say, 'I Tased him,' and the other one say, 'Oh my … he's not breathing.' And I'm thinking, 'Somebody do CPR, do CPR on him.' … I just stood there and watched and nothing happened,'" she said.

From [HERE] and [HERE] Lawyers for the family of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., the 68-year-old former Marine killed by a White Plains police officer in a racially-charged shooting, have filed court papers opposing the city's bid to dismiss a federal lawsuit stemming from the incident.

Chamberlain, 68, who was African-American, was shot dead by White Plains Officer Anthony Carelli, who is white, Nov. 19 following a two-hour standoff at the door of his apartment in the Winbrook Public Housing complex. Police went to his residence because his medical alert device went off. When they arrived Chamberlain told police he did not need any help through his front door. Police demanded he open up his own door. The Chamberlain family contends police used racial slurs against Chamberlain during the incident. One White Plains officer, Steven Hart has been suspended for allegedly using the N-word against Chamberlain, a charge Hart denies.

In May, a Westchester County grand jury declined to indict Carelli or any of the other half-dozen or so officers involved in the incident. Federal prosecutors are reviewing the case to determine whether to launch a criminal civil rights investigation.

In July, Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. filed a $21 million wrongful death lawsuit in federal court. The encounter was recorded by audio and video devices. Transcripts from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office of audio recordings reveal Officer Steven Hart as the officer who said to Chamberlain, “Stop, we have to talk nigger” before police broke down his door. The suit claims that cops taunted the 68-year-old Chamberlain for more than an hour before breaking down his apartment door. 

From [HERE] A scathing report Friday depicted a rogue culture inside the nation's largest county jail system in which deputies abused and humiliated inmates while top management failed to recognize problems or weed out violent officers.

The preliminary findings by investigators for a Los Angeles County commission said a "force first" approach was employed in jails to establish authority over inmates, rather than as a last resort. The investigators concluded that a "code of silence" blocked the county Sheriff's Department, which oversees the jails, from detecting or preventing excessive force used against inmates. The report said deputies have used force against inmates even "when there was no threat at all," and referred to "a culture of aggression among some deputies in the jails."

It also provided a sharply critical critique of Sheriff Lee Baca, describing him as aloof from the trouble festering in his senior ranks, and faulting him for failing to monitor and control how force is used in the jails.

From [HERE] A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Nogales Police Department for allegedly shooting a stun gun at a disabled man. 40-year-old Diego Lerma claims police used excessive force after he suffered a seizure. The lawsuit says the man wasn't fully aware of his surroundings when officers used the stun gun.

It was at La Cinderella department store where Lerma walked in last year and was tasered several times according to his Phoenix attorney Tyrrell Taber. "It's difficult to believe four trained police officers can't bring a disabled person under control and into custody without excessive force ."

Priscilla Galaz was working that day and she saw the 6' 2" 220 lb. Lerma walk into the store. "I didn't feel threatened, not at all, really it just looked like he was lost. I thought he was high actually his eyes were all lost and stuff."

Lerma is physically and medically disabled. His attorney tells News 4, "He has a very severe form of epilepsy it's called intractable seizure disorder." According to the attorney, Nogales police didn't have to taser Lerma. "He didn't say anything, he didn't threaten anybody he didn't charge towards them, he's trying to get away from them."

When Galaz learned Lerma was suffering from a seizure she says police should've known that. "They should first investigate what's wrong with a person because he could've died after all shocks they gave him."

From [HERE] and [HERE] Six suspensions over five years and a Little Rock police officer is still hanging onto his job. The officer recently made headlines after fatally shooting a 15-year-old Black boy. Patrol officer Josh Hastings is currently on paid leave pending an investigation into that on-the-job shooting in August where he fired at a vehicle with some car-break in suspects inside. As he waits his fate for that incident, we're learning more about a troubled past with the force.  

It's a microscope under Officer Hastings, once again. Police Spokeswoman Cassandra Davis says he's received six suspensions during his five years on the job.  Davis says that Hastings previous suspensions never included any excessive force. But she says they did include lying to a supervisor about his location on the job, failure to appear in court for a case and patrolling outside of his district to work a call for an outside agency without permission. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette uncovered some more serious complaints, like damaging department property, sleeping on the job and showing a "quote" reckless disregard for public safety. The paper said all six suspensions combined took Hastings off the job for just more than a month.

A Little Rock crime scene August 12 left a mother in disbelief. "Only thing I got to say is whatever my son did, it didn't give the officer the right to shoot my son," Sylvia Perkins said. Her 15-year-old son was killed by a bullet, Little Rock police say, fired by Officer Josh Hastings because he felt threatened.  

According to Josh Hastings, he saw two people break into a car then ran to a Honda Civic where another juvenile was waiting in the driver's seat. "According to the officer the vehicle came toward him and he felt threatened and he did fire upon the vehicle striking the juvenile driver." That bullet killed the teen. The two other juveniles in the car ran but Davis says they were caught and charged with one count of breaking and entering of an automobile.  Sgt. Davis says there's no word right now on when the review will be done on the August on-the-job shooting.

From [HERE] A white St. Paul police officer shown kicking a Black man in a YouTube video also was disciplined for pushing an 18-year-old Black man and throwing him to the ground while working as a St. Paul Park officer in 2006. St. Paul Park Police Chief Michael Monahan found Jesse Zilge, 31, culpable in that incident. The chief recommended that Zilge undergo additional training in constitutional law and in the use of force after he threatened to jail the man for calling him a "smart ass," according to city police records.

"It seems very disappointing that he got the [St. Paul] job with that history, and here we are with the new job and he's got a repeat," said Jeffry Martin, NAACP president in St. Paul. "It doesn't help the situation."

Zilge worked for St. Paul Park, a city of about 5,300 residents in south Washington County, from 2005 until he left to join the St. Paul police in 2008.

Zilge is on paid leave pending an investigation into an Aug. 28 incident in the North End neighborhood that was recorded and posted on YouTube. Zilge is shown kicking Eric R. Hightower in the chest, neck or face area as he lies on the sidewalk and stands over top of him. Hightower was not resisting arrest and was asking him why he was under arrest. The video showed a second officer help Zilge walk Hightower, 30, to a squad car, where they slammed his head onto the hood. The video begins with the police assault already in progress. A witness on the recording states that prior to the recording the police had beat him. 

From [HERE] and [HERE] Jamaican prosecutors announced Tuesday that a veteran Jamaican policeman will be charged with murdering an 8 months pregnant 25 yr old black woman as he was trying to arrest her for cursing in the middle of a town square.

Horrified eyewitnesses in the coastal town of Yallahs told investigators that Corporal Dwayne Smart shot Kayann Lamont in the head with his Glock service pistol during a scuffle as he tried to arrest her for using "indecent language," a crime in Jamaica. He then allegedly shot her sister in her upper body, and was apparently aiming at the third sister but his gun ran out of ammunition. Eyewitnesses report that Smart appeared to be reloading his weapon when he was restrained by a fellow officer.

According to eyewitnesses, had he not been restrained by a fellow policeman, he would have probably killed all three women.

DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

Innocent Black Man Spent 4 Months in Jail. Police Reviewed Tape 2 Days after Incident and Did Nothing. Officer Still Free - Watch your Back PG/D.C. From [HERE] Fox 5 has obtained surveillance video of a February 3rd incident involving a Prince George's County police officer that seems to dispute his story about why his gun discharged.

A Cottage City 19-year-old spent nearly 4 months in jail after Corporal Donald Taylor claimed Ryan Dorm assaulted him and the gun went off as Taylor struggled with him. The surveillance video is from a business on Perry Street near Rhode Island Avenue in the Brentwood area. Attorney Jimmy Bell, who represents Dorm, says the video shows Taylor out-and-out "lied" when he wrote up a report supporting assault charges against his client.

Police claimed that Ryan assaulted an officer, ran and then reached for an officer's gun, causing the officer to fire. Ryan was charged with resisting arrest and assault. But now police admit a surveillance video shows that the officers involved lied about large portions of that story.

A police report said that Ryan Dorm swung at an officer and began to flee. The officer caught the man after a brief foot pursuit. The man then tried to reach for the officer's gun. Fearing that the man was trying to take his gun, the officer fired his gun at the man. The video shows that Cpl. Donald Taylor tackled him from behind, punched him in the back and then hit him in the head with his gun, which accidentally fired. [MORE] 

The incident started when Dorm and a friend say they went to the "Lowest Price" gas station convenience store late that night to buy snacks. Dorm says his friend was wearing a ski mask because it was cold, but two police officers thought he looked suspicious and were going to rob the store. Ryan says he wanted to avoid any trouble, so he left.. But he says Taylor and a second officer followed him. The video shows Dorm being approached from behind, then smacked in the head with a gun. The video shows the flash from the gun as Dorm was being struck.

From [HERE] The family of 19-year old Mark Henderson are spending Labor Day Weekend grieving the loss of their son and brother. "A piece of me has been taken away," said Tawana Henderson, Mark's mother. "My son has been killed and he's never coming back." The Henderson family says Mark was attending a party at the Red Roof Inn in Woodbury in the early morning hours Friday, but the party quickly shifted to a dangerous situation when a man arrived uninvited. "He pulled out a gun and held them hostage," says Tawana.

According to police, a suspect was holding several people hostage and assaulting some of them. When Woodbury Police and the Washington County SWAT team converged on the room a shot was fired in their direction while at the same time Mark Henderson was exiting the room. Officers fired at Henderson believing he had a weapon, but no weapon was found on him. No information was provided regarding why the police thought the black man was armed. Police saw someone come out the door and fired.  

Mark Henderson's family say they've talked to others who were present that night and believe their son was trying to escape the situation because the man inside was threatening to kill them all. 

"My son took a chance and made a run for it," said Tawana. "But he got killed by police instead."