In photo, the Draganfly x-6. From [HERE] Seattle Police Department is 1 of 50 organizations in the country that has been granted permission from the federal government to start using unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones.

The Draganflyer X-6 drone will be fitted with surveillance cameras as well as an infrared “eye” that can see in the dark. In February, President Obama signed a bill that will allow as many as 30,000 drones to be flown by anyone from police to the Department of Homeland Security, within the United States.

This announcement is already causing concern by local citizens as well as the ACLU of Washington.

“Police drones have valuable uses, but they also provide an unprecedented ability for the government to engage in surveillance of the activities of law-abiding people,” said ACLU-WA Executive Director Kathleen Taylor. ACLU-WA is asking the city of Seattle to produce transparent and clear policies for when and how the drones will be used.

The Sky Valley Chronicle also pointed out that the SPD, after an 11 month probe, was found by the U.S. Justice Department to have engaged in “a pattern or practice of excessive force (against Non-Whites) that violates the Constitution and federal law,” without even having drones yet.

Even more troublesome is the recently discovered Air Force intelligence brief that states that if drones "accidentally" capture surveillance footage of Americans, the data can be stored and analyzed by the Pentagon for up to 90 days.

In photo, Pleasantville Police Officer Aaron Hess who is presently accused of fatally shooting unarmed Black college student Danroy Henry [MORE] From [HERE] Both the police and student subjects were most likely to shoot at blacks, then Hispanics, then whites and finally, in a case of what might be called a positive bias, Asians, researchers found.

In the first study of its kind, Joshua Correll, Bernadette Park and Charles M. Judd of CU-Boulder's Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and Melody Sadler of San Diego State University examined how police and a group of undergraduate subjects decide whether to shoot or not to shoot "suspects" in a multi-ethnic environment.

"Most studies on the subject of stereotyping and prejudice look at two (ethnic) groups, usually in isolation. It's always one group against another group," said Correll, a CU graduate who joined the faculty in August after a stint at the University of Chicago. "But as the country becomes more ethnically diverse, it's more and more important to start thinking about how we process racial and ethnic cues in a multicultural environment," he said.

As with previous studies into the question, data were gathered from subjects playing a "first person shooter" video game, in which figures of varying ethnicity—Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic and African-American—pop up, either "armed" with a weapon or another benign object, such as a cell phone. Participants—69 CU-Boulder undergraduates and 254 police officers—had to make quick decisions as to which figures posed a "threat" and shoot them.

From [HERE] The L.A. County district attorney's office will not charge a man with involuntary manslaughter after he falsely claimed he was robbed at gunpoint, setting off a chain of events that ended with an officer fatally shooting a Black college student. Kendrec McDade, 19 year old was shot and killed by officers Mathew Griffin and Jeffrey Newlen on March 24. The Pasadena-branch of the NAACP President has criticized the Police Department's tactics and the tepid reaction by city leaders to the tragedy.

The unarmed black man was killed on a narrow street in the city's northeast sectionas he was being chased by an officer and his path blocked by a police car.

McDade's family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city and the police officers. The Police Department has said McDade was holding his waistband at the time of the shooting, and the officers involved say they believe he was going for a weapon. McDade was shot at point-blank range by one Pasadena police officer and handcuffed after being struck by a total of seven bullets, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office autopsy report.

Prosecutors found that Oscar Carrillo lied when he said he was robbed at gunpoint by McDade, but the lie just "was one in a series of acts ... that culminated in the fatal shooting," the prosecutor's report said. Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Goodwin said McDade's decisions to run from police and eventually dash toward a police vehicle blocking his path were significant intervening factors and not a "foreseeable consequence of Carillo's 911 call."

From [HERE] The family of a mentally ill man who died after being held in controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio's custody filed a civil lawsuit on Tuesday alleging that detention staff taunted, beat and shocked the man with a stun gun in violation of his rights.

The suit was brought in state court by the family of Ernest "Marty" Atencio. It claimed that he was assaulted after he was booked into a Maricopa County lockup in Phoenix on December 15. He collapsed and died five days later. The lawsuit also names other plaintiffs including Maricopa County, the city of Phoenix and several individuals. It was caught on routine jail video tape. 

The claim alleges that excessive force, coupled with a series of failures by medical professionals to tend to  Atencio, contributed to the 44-year-old's death in December. He was a mentally ill Gulf War veteran.

Atencio had been in police custody for over four hours and had been showing signs of “acute psychosis,” the medical examiner reports. The video appears to show burly officers from Phoenix and Maricopa County piling on Atencio, apparently after he said something, though exactly what remains unclear because jail cameras don’t record audio. Atencio died four days after he was removed from a "safe cell" in the Fourth Avenue Jail. Atencio is at least the 12th inmate to die under strange circumstances in the Maricopa County jail system. (The Phoenix New Times lists 11 other such cases here.) 

 The notice of claim (Contains graphic images)

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

From [HERE] An Echo Park man is suing the Los Angeles Police Department for assault and battery and false imprisonment after he claims a pair of officers used excessive force against him in October 2011.

On Wednesday, Bruce Faraon and his attorney released cell phone video of the incident. Faraon claims the officers repeatedly punched in him in the face and body, though the video does not clearly show the blows.

Faraon was walking home from work in Echo Park last year when he says the officers turned around their patrol car and ran after him with their guns drawn. “I was so scared, all I could do was this,” said Faraon, putting both hands. “I was telling them I live right there. The next thing I know they jumped on top of me. I thought I was going to die for sure, or they could have easily accidentally shot me.” Faraon’s attorney, Joshua Piovia-Scott, said his client was booked for resisting arrest and spent five days in jail.

“The police report confirms that the only reason the officers stopped Mr. Faraon on this day was because he allegedly, and I quote, ‘Had a surprised look on his face when they drove by, and supposedly grabbed his waistband,’” Piovia-Scott said.

From [HERE] A former Colwyn police officer accused of using a stun gun on a teenager inside the department’s holding cell was acquitted of misdemeanor simple assault and oppression charges Wednesday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. Trevor Parham, who was arrested in May and terminated from the Colwyn Police Department in July, was found not guilty on all counts by Judge Kevin F. Kelly.
 A corporal with the Colwyn Police Department, Parham, of the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby, came under fire for an April 23 incident in which he used a stun gun on a 17-year-old he had arrested for disorderly conduct.

Da’Qwaun Jackson was handcuffed in the department holding cell when, prosecutors say, Parham entered the area and discharged 50,000 volts of electricity into Jackson’s upper left arm with his Taser gun. Parham, 40, allegedly told a county detective Jackson was banging his head against a wall and that he used the Taser to prevent the teen from hurting himself. Investigators noted Parham did not make mention of the head banging or use of his Taser in his initial report of the incident.

“I was disappointed and surprised by the verdict, but I respect the court’s decision,” said District Attorney Jack Whelan. “From what I understand, the judge (issued) a verdict slip, but (did) not give any basis or reason for it ... I looked at the evidence carefully and found the officer acted with excessive force. I still see it that way.

“This was a 17-year-old with his hands behind his back inside a cage, in a seated position, with shackles coming up behind him that were attached to the handcuffs. There are very few circumstances where it would be ever be justified to use a Taser in that scenario.”

From [HERE] A federal judge will allow a mother of a Latino man who fell 10 feet and died after a cop Tasered him to sue the city for using excessive force.

Judge Sandra Townes rejected a city effort to dismiss the $10 million suit against two cops because there is enough evidence they violated police guidelines in using the stun gun to bring down Iman Morales even though he was standing on a second-floor ledge. In the Sept. 24, 2008 incident, Morales, who had a history of mental illness, had been running naked on a fire escape of a building on Tompkins Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, wielding a fluorescent light bulb.

With Morales perched more than 10 feet above the sidewalk, Officer Nicholas Marchesona fired the 50,000-volt electroshock on the orders of Lt. Michael Pigott, then a supervisor in the NYPD's elite Emergency Service Unit.

Morales suffered a seizure and pitched forward, striking the pavement head-first. Police Department guidelines state the a Taser should not be used if a person could fall from a height. After the incident Offier Pigott committed suicide. According to reports, his suicide note indicated that he was afraid of being charged for the death of Morales. 

(graphic video, no sound for first minute). From [HERE] Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn, a white man, acknowledged his officers didn’t appropriately respond to 22-year-old Derek Williams before his death in the back of a squad car back in July of 2011. However, Flynn said MPD has changed police procedures to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Williams died after he was picked up by Milwaukee police officers following a foot chase — suspected of an attempted robbery. Williams’ death was captured on a squad camera as he struggled to breathe for nearly 15 minutes without help. 

A Medical Examiner’s report originally indicated Williams’ cause of death as complications due to Sickle cell trait — but that report was amended, and the cause of death changed to homicide (death at the hands of another).

MPD and the Milwaukee County District Attorney concluded the officers involved did not break any rules. However, the two did call for an inquest into the Williams’ case.  Williams suffocated to death while handcuffed, naked from a strip search, in the back of a police car. He repeatedly told officers he couldn't breathe for at least 15 minutes between the time of his arrest and his death. They repeatedly ignore him as he suffocates to death. It is captured on graphic video which was released last month.

The graphic video shows a handcuffed Williams, his eyes rolled back, gasping for breath and begging for help in the back seat of a Milwaukee police car as officers ignore his pleas. Williams, his hands cuffed behind him, repeatedly begged and told officers he couldn't breathe for at least 15 minutes between the time of his arrest and his death. Officers ignored him and believed him to be acting.  Officers told internal investigators they did not hear him ask for help. In the video Williams is naked - as police had conducted a strip search before placing him in their cruiser.  

From [HERE] NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has transferred the head of the department's elite Emergency Services Unit in the wake of two of its members being involved in two separate fatal shootings. Deputy Chief James Molloy, who the Times describes as "generally well-liked and respected" will now head up the Queens detective bureau, while a deputy chief in the counterterrorism unit will replace him.

Last month, officers from the ESU, who are trained to respond to a variety of hostage and rescue situations, shot and killed Mohamed Bah (in photo), a black man, who had barricaded himself inside his Harlem apartment. Though police say they used a rubber bullet and two Taser shots before firing 10 live rounds at Bah after he stabbed two officers with a knife, Bah's sister says authorities did not allow Bah's mother to speak to him during the standoff.

“This raises a strong possibility that [Molloy] was transferred because the police commissioner determined that the shooting death of Mohamed Bah was improper and did not comport with N.Y.P.D. protocol,” the attorney who is representing the Bah family, Norman Siegel, told the paper. “Here Mr. Bah is, in the apartment by himself. He’s not going anywhere. There is no reason to rush in and create a situation where the result was that Mr. Bah was shot to death. The protocol says you wait; you wait him out.”

From [HERE] They began as tools in military combat. Now aerial drones are being considered by Bay Area law enforcement agencies as a cost-cutting way to replace helicopters, and use technology to fight crime and save lives.

Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern first tested one of these Unmanned Aerial Systems or UAS about a year ago. Now he’s looking into possibly bringing a drone here. His office would be the first in California to do it. Armed with live-video-feeding capabilities and different features, like infrared devices, these drones can cost in the ballpark of 50- to 100-thousand dollars or more.

There are several different models, but the one Ahern is considering weighs four pounds and spans four-feet. He says the drones get a birds-eye view that most tactical officers on the ground would never get, sometimes endangering their lives. A demonstration at the county’s Office of Emergency Services building in Dublin a couple months ago featured a man standing in the shadows on a rooftop, with three possible explosives clearly in his reach. The drone saw everything; the officers on the ground could not.

“Very valuable to any tactical officer, as you’re setting up your perimeters and knowing what the suspect may have in his hands, how the suspect is dressed, what are the avenues of escape?” Ahern added that his office would only use drones during emergencies, from a high-speed or high-risk chase to search-and-rescue operations in disasters, as well as proactive policing measures like catching marijuana grows in fields on public lands and in grow houses.

From [HERE] NYPD Internal Affairs and the Queens DA's office are investigating the fatal shooting of an unarmed Army Reservist, amid a witness's claim that the victim had his hands on the steering wheel. However, according to the Daily News, the same witness "contradicts her later assertions that Noel Polanco had both hands on the wheel when he was shot on the Grand Central Parkway" in a police report.

 On October 4, Polanco had cut off an ESU vehicle on the Grand Central Parkway, and when he was pulled over (police say he was driving erratically), Detective Hassan Hamdy shot him. A passenger in the car, Diane DeFerrari, said Polanco's hands were on the steering wheel and that Hamdy acted out of "road rage," telling reporters, "Noel didn’t have a chance to put his hands up. Officer's screamed, ‘Put your hands up!’ and shot at the same time." The other passenger in Polanco's car was off-duty NYPD officer Vanessa Rodriguez, who claims she slept through the entire thing. [MORE] now that's funny. 

However, the police report "told a slightly different tale more beneficial to Hamdy... 'She saw Mr. Polanco with his hands on the steering wheel and when she looked forward she saw a white male, short, stocky, wearing a vest, fire a round from a handgun,' the report says. 'She did not see Mr. Polanco reaching or making any furtive movements when she was looking at him,' the report continued. 'However, she did look away prior to him being shot.'" Hamdy reportedly thought Polanco was reaching for something; police only found a power drill in the car. According to the Wall Street Journal, after the incident police said that the drill was under the driver seat. [MORE] Pyscopath Hamdy approached from the passenger side, aimed his gun at Polanco while DeFarrari was still sitting in the car. So, instead of complying with police orders, this army reservist was going to reach under the driver's seat, snag the drill, plug it into the cigarrette lighter and then reach over the passenger to drill a hole into this outlaw cop who was aiming a loaded semi-automatic at him? If you believe in that then you do believe in white supremacy - it is your religion. 

From [HERE] Portland Mayor Sam Adams says he'll reinstate a police officer fired after fatally shooting an unarmed man in the back in 2010 but the city will keep fighting Ron Frashour's continued employment. Adams said late Friday that he would place Frashour on paid leave and pay him nearly two years of back pay as "an interim legal requirement." The Oregon Employment Relations Board had ordered Portland to reinstate Frashour to his police job by Sunday. The city has a challenge of the ruling pending before the Oregon Court of Appeals. Adams and Police Chief Mike Reese fired Frashour after concluding his use of deadly force against Aaron Campbell was not justified.

earlier this year, the city of Portland agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a federal civil rights  lawsuit brought by the family of Aaron Campbell, who was shot to death by Portland police two years ago. Campbell, who was unarmed, was shot in the back as he emerged from a Northeast Portland apartment, with his back toward officers and his hands behind his head. Officer Ryan Lewton had first fired six beanbag rounds at Campbell, trying to get him to put his hands in the air. Reese and Adams found Frashour's use of force inappropriate because Campbell was not posing an immediate threat of death or physical injury. [MORE] 

Campbell's mother, Marva Davis, who lost two sons on Jan. 29, 2010, said that her grief was compounded when two Portland officers came to her house that night and falsely told her that Aaron Campbell had committed suicide. [MORE] 

Hector and Piedad Munoz were beaten by cops responding to his scuffle with a police officer over an open container. From [HERE] and [MORE]  The city will pay a staggering $1.6 million to settle two lawsuits against cops accused of beating up two men in unrelated busts for public beer drinking.

In both cases, the plaintiffs denied they had open containers of beer. And both criminal cases against the men were eventually dismissed. And in both cases, the men claim they were brutalized by the NYPD. “These are two horrible examples of the excessive use of force by police, which remains a serious problem (in) New York,” said lawyer Sanford Rubenstein.

Hector Munoz was watching a soccer game in his East New York, Brooklyn, apartment with his family on Dec. 19, 2007, when he dashed to the bodega on the corner to buy a can of beer at halftime.

As he was approaching his apartment building a man wearing a hoodie bolted from a car in his direction. Munoz ran because he thought he was about to be attacked—and he was, by undercover officer Christopher Esposito, who testified that he was wearing his badge around his neck when he ran toward Munoz. Munoz, his wife Piedad, and daughter Jacqueline claim they were beaten by cops responding to the suddenly escalating incident, and their apartment was ransacked in the process.

From [HERE] and [complaint] A Latino man who was shown in surveillance video being beaten by a Providence policeman with a metal flashlight while he was handcuffed has sued the city, police department and several police officers. 

Luis Mendonca is seeking $7 million in a lawsuit filed Friday in Providence Superior Court. Mendonca was beaten unconscious in October 2009 after officers stopped him on suspicion of theft and trespassing. The lawsuit alleges that false statements and police reports were submitted to cover up the assault and that witness statements favorable to Mendonca were omitted. The lawsuit claims that Mendonca’s civil rights protected by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated when police used excessive force against him. The suit says as a result of the excessive force Mendonca suffered severe bodily injuries including contusions, dental reconstruction, coma and psychological damages. He was in a coma for two days following the incident and his head had to be stapled back together. [MORE]

The grainy, black-and-white video shows a group of Providence police and RISD campus officers struggling with Mendonca in a parking lot off Benefit Street on the city’s East Side while he is lying on the ground near a parked car. It shows the officers dragging Mendonca from under the car and into the center of the parking lot, after he has apparently been restrained. The video then shows another police officer entering the fray, kicking Mendonca and following up by striking him several times with a flashlight, then kicked him one last time before Mendonca was hauled away

The video, which has no sound, ends with a visibly limp Mendonca being dragged by police officers up a flight of stairs leading to Benefit Street. [MORE] 

From [HERE] and [HERE] NYPD officers shot and killed an armed Black man who relatives said was protecting his Brooklyn home from burglars. Duane Browne, 26, was gunned down at 943 Schenck Ave. in East New York. Relatives said he was defending his home from the robbery. The family has now filed a $10 million wrongful death suit against the city on behalf of Browne's 8-year-old son.

Browne — who relatives say had recently passed the written portion of the NYPD entrance exam — heard noises coming from his brother’s basement apartment in the Schenck Ave. house they shared, according to court papers. Dressed in pajamas, Browne saw his brother, Dale Ogarro, being beaten in the basement by two masked men, according to the complaint. He raced upstairs and fetched a loaded .38-caliber revolver, which cops later said was unregistered.

Browne ran outside holding the gun just as cops — who got the 911 call at 10:36 p.m. — were arriving.

Police officials and others interviewed after the shooting said officers ordered Browne to “freeze.” But the lawsuit claims the cops fired without identifying themselves or saying a word.

Hours after the scene cleared, eyewitnesses packed the police headquarters to give their accounts of what happened, and Beckley and two other officers squeezed into the only space available, a small supply room, with their lieutenant, Brian Fanelli. Beckley told Fanelli he shot Hess (in photo) because he thought Hess was an aggressor. Beckley wasn’t sure why Hess “had placed himself in front of that car.” Fanelli told him not to worry because he didn’t shoot Hess, but rather, Hess’s knee was injured when DJ Henry sped into him with his car, which is why Hess had to shoot into the car in the first place.

No, Beckley said, that’s not what happened. Fanelli then told Beckley he’d call the hospital to check. He stepped out in the hall, spoke on his cell phone for a few minutes, and returned to again tell Beckley that he hadn’t shot Hess. Relieved, Beckley left the room, changed into civilian clothes, and turned in his weapon. Meanwhile, Fanelli wrote a statement saying that Beckley believed he was going to be killed by the car moving toward him. That statement would inform Police Chief Louis Alagno’s press conference several hours later.

Later that morning, Alagno told reporters that DJ Henry had been driving recklessly through the parking lot and had hit the officers with his car. When Beckley called Chief Alagno on Monday morning, Alagno said he couldn’t talk to him and that Beckley should find a lawyer. Beckley never returned to work. In December, he submitted his papers for retirement and officially left the force a month later.

From [HERE] Following her horrific death, an attorney representing the family of Alesia Thomas wants the LAPD to release its video of the woman's confrontation with cops last summer. Thomas died in custody following a kick to her genitals and a leg sweep at the hands of officers, the department admits. At least some of it was caught on police video. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crunch wants that tape. In fact, he's asking for federal help:

Crump has given the department 10 days to turn over the tape or face him in federal court, according to journalist Chuck Philips. (See more on Philips here). The attorney has already asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to launch an investigation into the incident, which wouldn't be good since a Rampart-scandal-era federal consent decree overseeing how the department polices minorities was only lifted in 2009.

At least five Los Angeles police officers are under investigation in the death of a woman who suffocated after an officer stomped on her genital area and others used additional force to take her into custody, police officials confirmed Thursday. The altercation in front of her South Los Angeles apartment was captured by a patrol car’s video camera. However, the altercation began inside the apartment building.  Once outside a female officer then threatened to kick Thomas in the genitals if she did not comply, Green confirmed, and the officer followed through on her threat and allegedly stomped on her groin. [MORE] 

From [HERE] and [MORE] The family of an unarmed Latino man fatally shot in the back by an off-duty Milwaukee police officer seven years ago has settled a civil rights lawsuit against the city, pending approval by the Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett.

Wilbert Prado was shot in the back as he ran from Officer Alfonzo Glover after an apparent road rage incident on Milwaukee's south side in March 2005. About 10 bullet holes were found on the driver's side of the van Prado was driving. The autopsy lists the immediate cause of death as injuries to the heart and lung because of a gunshot wound to the back. In all, Prado sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the back, chest, lower extremities and groin. The incident started when Prado apparently began tailing Glover - who had just gotten off work but was not in uniform - on the freeway, flashing his headlights. Glover later said he pulled off on a side street, got out to confront Prado and was nearly run over. He opened fire as Prado fled, hitting him eight times, mostly in the back.

Glover was cleared by an inquest jury. But then-District Attorney E. Michael McCann charged Glover with homicide and perjury. Glover committed suicide the day he was charged.

From [HERE] A pile of stuffed animals marks the spot where 15-year-old Justin Thompson fell, fatally shot by an off-duty Memphis police officer on a school night in a working-class neighborhood.

The Sept. 24 shooting is still under investigation, but the question of whether Officer Terrance Shaw used excessive force makes the case one more example for critics who say there is a years-long culture of misconduct in the police department of Tennessee's largest city. 

The Mayor`s office says Officer Terrence Shaw was the apparent victim of a robbery and the TBI is looking over evidence to see if the two knew each other or had ever talked before. Other than that no other information has been released about the crime. 

Apparently Thompson was chased and shot to death by Officer Shaw. Police have refused to provide details of the shooting to the public. A neighbor said that before the boy collapsed in her yard he stopped running and asked her to call an ambulance for help because he had been shot. Witnesses said they saw Justin get into a black car minutes before they heard the gunshots. They said Justin was running through their yards telling them to call an ambulance.

His mother, Shirley, said Justin left to walk to the store with his two brothers, however his brothers returned and he did not. She said minutes later, she could see police lights outside of her home. [MORE] 

From [HERE] Family members of an inmate found dead in her cell feel the condition of her body points to neglect by Utah State Prison, or worse.

Priscilla Chavez, 29, was buried Oct. 6 in services by Myers Mortuary in Ogden. As per prison policy, her Sept. 21 death is under investigation by an outside agency, Salt Lake County’s Unified Police Department.

The body was returned to the family within a week of the death after an autopsy by the State Medical Examiner’s Office. For a young woman, only 5-foot-4, with a history of fighting with police officers, the extent of the bruising to the body fuels family suspicions about how she died. She was once raped by a prison guard, who was fired, convicted, imprisoned and sued. The family has shared pictures with the media, and authorized the mortuary to show the injuries, but didn’t want the photos published.

“They’re getting away with murder,” Priscilla Chavez’s mother, Irene Chavez, of North Ogden, said of the prison. “First they rape her, then they kill her.”