Baltimore Police Officer Accidentally Records Himself Planting Drugs At Crime Scene – Prosecute his ass! kra
Ken’s Comments:
Yet another pathetic cop. They MUST be prosecuted!
This is why body cameras are a MUST. They dropped the charges here, but how many thousand innocent people are rotting in prison due to such antics?
Excerpts from the Article:
An officer from the Baltimore Police department accidentally recorded himself planting evidence. On Wednesday (July 19), Baltimore’s Fox 45 published footage of the officer hiding drugs at a crime scene without realizing that his body-worn camera caught him in the act. In the recording, which was captured in January, officer Richard Pinheiro and two other officers, can be seen in an ally on the side of a house. The body camera appears to capture Pinheiro hiding a bag of pills under a heap of trash, while the two other officers stand behind him.
The cops head back to the sidewalk, at which point Pinheiro turns on his body camera. But as VOX notes, body cams can record up to 30 seconds of footage before being manually activated.
“I’m going to check here,” Pinheiro is heard telling the other officers before heading to the back of the house where he pretends to rummage through the trash heap. After a few second, he uncovers the bag and alerts the other officers.
The defendant who was charged in the drug case was scheduled to go to trial this week. The charges were dropped after a public defender reviewed the body cam footage (a night before the trial was set to begin) and contacted the state prosecutor.
Read the Story and SEE the Video!
Practical Tip # 374 – ALWAYS audio record police. (I have lost count, but it is not yet that many Tips. :) )
Learn how to activate your “record audio” on your dell phone and ALWAYS record any contact with police. Always, no matter how uneventful you think it may be! ALWAYS. Don’t ask permission; just do it!
CAUTION: In some states, like Delaware, recording anyone on the phone without their permission is illegal. I wouldn’t worry too much about that. If you never need to play it, nobody will know, and if you do need it, you’ll be glad you did! IF you have any problem as a result of recording it, CALL me at 302-423-4067.
I reported an assault to the police a couple of months ago, and the idiot cop who responded threatened to arrest me! Wish I had recorded it all, he was such a jackass. Can’t say for sure he is racist; he is black and the assailant is black. I am not. Ladies, I am an unbelievably handsome, extremely cordial, white male available to fulfill all of your sexual dreams. LMAO- You MUST maintain a sense of humor, especially when you deal with all the sad stuff I do every day.
Should police be allowed to shame suspects on Facebook? Suspects, no … Convicted, yes! kra
Ken’s Comments:
Suspects, NO … Once convicted, YES! I say that yes, they should. Public shame long has been a deterrent to crime. However, in our great country we are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and only those found guilty should be so shamed. I see merit too in innovative sentences, such as a judge ordering Susie Stoner to stand on a busy corner for hours on several weekends wearing a large sign saying something like: “I wish I had not gotten behind the wheel after smoking a joint!”
I would favor limiting the information to name, offense, and the sentence. Let the public post the wise cracks, not the police or other officials.
Excerpts from the Article:
A driver mows down six mailboxes, slurs her words and tells police she has a lizard in her bra. Throw in a wisecracking police officer, and what do you get? A flippant post on Facebook, along with photos of the woman, and of course, her lizard.
Not everyone is amused. Police departments are increasingly using Facebook to inform the community about what they’re doing and who they’re arresting. Some add a little humor to the mix. But civil rights advocates say posting mugshots and written, pejorative descriptions of suspects amounts to public shaming of people who have not yet been convicted.
“It makes them the butt of a joke on what for many people is probably their worst day,” said Arisha Hatch, campaign director of Color of Change, a civil rights advocacy organization that recently got Philadelphia police to stop posting mugshots on its Special Operations Facebook page. “The impact of having a mugshot posted on social media for all to see can be incredibly damaging for folks that are parents, for folks that have jobs, for folks that have lives they have to come back to,” she said.
In Taunton, a city of 57,000 about 40 miles south of Boston, the police department’s post about the woman with a lizard in her bra was shared around Facebook and got heavy news coverage. Lt. Paul Roderick wrote that Amy Rebello-McCarthy hit mailboxes, sending some airborne, before her car left the road, tore up a lawn and came to rest among trees. When police arrived, she asked them to call a tow truck so she and a male companion “could be on their way,” Roderick wrote.
“Sorry Amy, we can’t move the car right now. If we do, what will you use to hold yourself up?” he wrote. Roderick described how she told police she had a lizard. “Where does one hold a Bearded Dragon Lizard while driving you ask? Answer: In their brassiere of course!!”
Many commenters praised police. “Great job (getting drunks off the road and entertaining us),” one woman wrote.
But others said the tone was inappropriate.
“Hey Taunton Police Department … Your holier than thou attitude is part of the reason why people don’t like/don’t respect police,” one man wrote.
Connecticut to Require Convictions Before Trying to Seize and Keep People’s Property
Ken’s Comment:
It took them only 50 years to get this right! Although asset forfeitures laws were used during the prohibition of alcohol, it was in the early 1980s, when the “war on drugs” got ramped up, that police agencies nationwide fell into the clutches of “Mr. Greed” and saw this a way to rob the innocent and give to the rich – the police. Yes, this “Robbin Hood Reversed” policy really took off, and immediately, we saw big problems. A black man with $3,000 cash (on his way to help his ill mother) … “Well we don’t know that’s what it’s for, we think it is drug money, so we are taking it.” And it only got worse. Every day, for years, innocent people had their money or cars or even homes, taken by police. And the laws are such that .. good luck (as in “it ain’t gonna happen!) trying to get it back.
Well, they must have done this to too many white folks, because now increasing numbers of states are passing laws like this one in Connecticut!
Read related articles on this website, and read Civil forfeiture in the United States
But, as this article reminds us, we need a Federal law to solve this problem!
Excerpts from the Article:
First the good news: Democratic Connecticut Gov. Dannell Malloy has signed a bill requiring police and prosecutors to actually convict somebody of a crime before trying to take his or her stuff. HB 7146 is intended to restrain police and prosecutors from abusing civil asset forfeiture, the process by which law enforcement agencies seize people’s property when they’ve allegedly been involved with crimes.
The process is prone to abuse because the “civil” process often means police do not have to prove a citizen is actually guilty of a crime in order to keep their stuff. In many cases, the person doesn’t even need to be charged with a crime. Instead the property itself is accused of being connected to criminal activity, and the owner of the property must (if he or she can afford it) prove the property wasn’t purchased or earned as a result of illicit activity.
While asset forfeiture is sold to the public as a way of separating criminal masterminds from the rewards of their illegal behavior, it is often used to seize small amounts of money and assets from low-level criminals (or alleged criminals). In Connecticut, the median forfeiture amounts for the past couple of years totaled less than $600. As this infographic from the Reason Foundation (the nonprofit that publishes this site) notes, it often costs more to hire a lawyer to fight asset forfeiture than the value of the property being seized.
Connecticut is the latest of several states to reform their laws after Malloy signed HB 7146 late yesterday. Under the new law, police and prosecutors will have to get a person convicted of a crime (or have them plead guilty) before they can pursue property forfeiture. The forfeiture process will itself remain a civil procedure with a lower threshold of proof. Nevertheless, it’s significant that a person will actually have to prosecuted before authorities can pursue their property.
Now comes the bad news: A program at the federal Department of Justice will allow police to bypass these new restrictions. The “Equitable Sharing” program lets local law enforcement agencies partner with the feds on raids and other police actions. The police then route the forfeitures through the federal government instead of state courts. This allows police in many states to keep more of the property or assets (up to 80 percent) under looser guidelines than they would under their state’s own forfeiture guidelines.
Some states who have reformed their asset forfeiture laws—Arizona, for example, just this April—have structured their changes in such a way that police cannot simply bypass them by turning to the federal government. Unfortunately, that component did not make it into Connecticut’s law.
According to Justice Department numbers, Connecticut law enforcement agencies brought in $766,241 in fiscal year 2016 through the Equitable Sharing program. That’s not a lot of money, but Connecticut’s revenue from forfeiture on both the state and federal level has varied significantly over the years. Over a multi-year period analyzed by the property-rights-protecting legal analysts at the Institute for Justice, Connecticut law enforcement agencies brought in an annual average of $2.1 million through state seizures and $1.7 million through the federal program. We’ll have to keep an eye on whether those numbers shift.
Recording Cops in Public Protected by 1st Amendment, 3rd Circuit Rules – Record Them! kra
I post this as a reminder; see other articles on this issue on our website. The Third Circuit is the highest federal court controlling Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, The only higher court is the U S sSupreme Court.
I say record them. Especially if you see police interaction with a person of color. Although the situation may seem normal and routine, you never know when the cops might get out of control and “go ballistic”! So record right away, then they cannot say “well, the tape does not show what led up to this”!
Excerpts from the Article:
In a time when police activity is under increased scrutiny, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has joined a growing list of federal courts that say the recording of police officers in public is protected by the First Amendment. The Third Circuit’s ruling July 7 comes amid growing calls for police accountability and transparency in the wake of numerous high-profile police-involved shootings. These calls have led departments to use body cameras and enhanced conflict resolution training for officers. And now, civil rights advocates in the circuit, which covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, have scored a significant victory with the court’s decision.
“We ask much of our police,” Third Circuit Judge Thomas Ambro wrote in the court’s opinion. “They can be our shelter from the storm. Yet officers are public officials carrying out public functions, and the First Amendment requires them to bear bystanders recording their actions. This is vital to promote the access that fosters free discussion of governmental actions, especially when that discussion benefits not only citizens but the officers themselves.”
The ruling covers photographing, filming and audio recording; but there are limits to when recording can be done.
“We do not say that all recording is protected or desirable. The right to record police is not absolute,” Ambro added, noting that there are restrictions if, for example, the recording interferes with an investigation or exposes a confidential informant.
“Government operates best in sunlight, and the police are not an exception,” Reggie Shuford, executive director of the organization, said in a statement July 7. “The First Amendment right to document the police at work is critical to promote transparency. We are grateful that the appeals court agrees.”
The case was originally dismissed by the district judge, who held the officers immune from liability, despite an acknowledgement in the Philadelphia Police Department’s own policy prohibiting officer retaliation against First Amendment-protected activities. “The police cannot operate in a shroud of secrecy,” said Molly Tack-Hooper, the ACLU attorney who argued the case before the appeals court. “The fundamental right to document police activity is crucial to deter misconduct and gather information about how police use their power. Today’s ruling strengthens that important concept.”
Police officer deaths on duty have jumped nearly 20 percent in 2017 – Outrageous! kra
Ken’s Comments:
There is no excuse for the random assassination of a police officer. There no doubt are many reasons, but there are NO excuses.
Reasons include;
People of color striking back after 4o years of harassment, bullying, unjustified arrests, and disproportionate racial bias throughout the criminal justice system.
Those who have seen widespread coverage of too much serious police abuse, such as police shooting unarmed man running away from them, exacting “vengeance”.
Released prisoners venting their anger at authority after serious prison abuse at the hands of “law enforcement officers” – prison guards.
Gangs reinforcing their reign of terror over civilians who witness crimes: “Don’t talk to cops. We will kill a cop and we will kill you.”
People of color who see the police – all police – as “the enemy”, after so many years of unjustified “stop and frisks”, arrests. and prosecutions.
Mentally ill people, who think, with no basis in fact, that the police are against them.
Excerpts from the Article:
The ambush shooting that killed a New York City police officer in the Bronx marked the latest in a growing number of officer deaths in 2017, up 18 percent from this time last year. A total of 67 officers have died so far this year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. It found there were 57 officer deaths between January 1 and July 5, 2016. In addition, gun-related deaths have risen by 9 percent, from 22 to 24 for 2017, the researchers say.
The figures suggest a grim trend; 2016 was the deadliest year for police in 5 years. A total of 135 officers died last year.
New York Police Department Officer Miosotis Familia was “assassinated” during an “unprovoked attack,” according to NYPD commissioner James O’Neill. Familia was sitting in her marked vehicle early Wednesday when a man shot at her through the window.
“People now are more willing to engage the police in combat,” Sutton told Fox News. “Last year approximately 50,000 law enforcement officers were assaulted, that ran the gamut from pushing them to shooting them and causing disabling injuries.”
“Part of the war on cops [is] the failure of police leadership to step up to the place and not acquiesce to political considerations when it comes to the safety of police officers,” Sutton said. “The other part of the war on cops is the failure of the media to post anything positive about police. All they do is put up damaging stories and spin much of that into a narrative that is false and perpetuates a distorted narrative.”
Familia is the seventh New York Police Officer to die this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. Its founder, Chris Cosgriff, said: “When a police officer is killed, it’s not an agency that loses an officer, it’s an entire nation.”
New FBI assailant report reveals influence of media, politicians, and Black Lives Matter on violence against and killing of law enforcement officers in America
Both the ODMP and NLEOMF track officer deaths and report on trends and increases or decreases in types of officer fatalities over the years. “It’s really hard to put a finger on any specific cause,” ODMP Research Director Steve Weiss told Fox News. Weiss said the numbers fluctuate, and “go up and down year to year.”
Johnson is one of hundreds of officers listed on the ODMP site. Weiss said, “The organization was started as a way to memoralize officers and raise public awareness of the number of officers that were killed each year.”
He added, “People don’t understand the sacrifices officers make. There are not too many professions where people are murdered while doing their job and this is one profession where people are killed somewhat routinely in performing their job.”
Memorializing the fallen officers “gives family members a place to come to remember their loved ones,” Weiss said.
Read the Whole Story and See the Video
The Tyranny of the Law and Thomas Paine – by kra
We just celebrated Independence Day, the remembrance of the bitter struggle for our freedom. The struggle, in a new form, continues.
One of America’s finest, Thomas Paine, sought to keep the troops motivated in the fight against Britain with a series of great essays.
Today we face no less trying times; we face an even greater battle. We face The Tyranny of the Law. Here and now, the enemy is “us”! The sheer mass of our criminal justice system makes this a more formidable fight. The mass and the fact that the enemy has grown steadily in strength, reinforced its ranks, and dug in over the course of 40 years. We are fighting a tidal wave of injustice in the form of misguided policies, bad and unfair laws, idiot politicians influenced by money and popularity [lacking the courage and leadership needed in “doing the right thing], evil overzealous prosecutor, judges totally out of touch with any notions of fairness, incompetent lawyers, poorly trained police, and more. Because those oppressed by this tyranny are largely poor, not well educated [and therefore unable to communicate well], a great swath of society – the majority of our citizens – may not understand and indeed may not be aware of the fight. But fight we must, against THE TYRANNY OF THE LAW, and we must remember that Paine said: Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.
Paine:
THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but “to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER” and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.
Read the Entire Thomas Payne Essay, The Crisis
Disabled woman beaten bloody by TSA agents after becoming confused and afraid at security checkpoint – Lock them UP! KRA
How outrageous is this?! NOBODY is above the law in America [not cops, not prison guards, not TSA agents!], and these idiots should be PROSECUTED! People do not know that they can call ahead, as the TSA suggests, and they should not have to! A parent should be allowed to explain, as this Mom tried to.
Once again, the mentally ill get screwed. The abuse and neglect of our mentally ill costs YOU – the taxpayer – about $444 billion a year. See articles under “Mental Illness”.
Excerpts from the Article;
A disabled woman was beaten bloody by federal agents during an airport security screening while on her way to undergo treatment for a brain tumor. Hannah Cohen set off the metal detector at a security checkpoint at the Memphis International Airport, and she was led away for additional screening, reported WREG-TV.
“They wanted to do further scanning, (but) she was reluctant — she didn’t understand what they were about to do,” said her mother, Shirley Cohen. Cohen said she tried to tell agents with the Transportation Security Administration that her 19-year-old daughter is partially deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed and easily confused — but she said police kept her away from the security agents.
The confused and terrified young woman tried to run away, her mother said, and agents violently took her to the ground.
“She’s trying to get away from them, but in the next instant, one of them had her down on the ground and hit her head on the floor,” Cohen said. “There was blood everywhere.” The young woman, who was returning home after finishing treatment for the brain tumor at St. Jude Hospital, was arrested and booked into jail.
Authorities eventually threw out the charges against Hannah Cohen, but her family has filed a lawsuit against Memphis police, airport police and the TSA.
Neither police department commented on the suit, but a spokesperson for the TSA said passengers should notify agents ahead of time if they have special needs.
“Passengers can call ahead of time to learn more about the screening process for their particular needs or medical situation,” said TSA spokesperson Sari Koshetz.
Read the Whole Story
Disabled woman beaten bloody by TSA agents after becoming confused and afraid at security checkpoint
NPAP CLE Seminar: Police Misconduct in the Age of Trump – Mark Your Calendar!
NPAP CLE Seminar: Police Misconduct in the Age of Trump
Register Now
NPAP’s 2017 edition of our annual CLE seminar at the National Lawyers Guild’s #Law4thePeople Convention. Featuring Sarah Fech-Baughman, Jonathan Feinberg, Terry Gilbert, Paul W. Hughes, Javier Maldonado, Carl Messineo, David Milton, Carol Sobel, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, and Julia Yoo.
POLICE MISCONDUCT IN THE AGE OF TRUMP
A National Police Accountability Project CLE Seminar
August 3, 2017, David A. Clarke School of Law, Washington, DC
8:15 – 9:00: REGISTRATION
9:00 – 9:15: WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS
Terry Gilbert; Friedman & Gilbert, Cleveland, OH
9:15 – 10:30: Litigating First and Fourth Amendment Cases: How to Bring and Prosecute
Precision-Driven Litigation in the Midst of the War on Protest
David Milton; Law Offices of Howard Friedman, Boston, MA
Carol Sobel; Law Office of Carol A. Sobel, Santa Monica, CA
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard; Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, Washington, DC
10:30 – 10:45: COFFEE BREAK
10:45 – 12:00: FTCA-to-Z in the Trump Era
Jonathan Feinberg; Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg, Philadelphia, PA
Javier Maldonado; Law Office of Javier N. Maldonado, San Antonio, TX
Julia Yoo; Iredale and Yoo, San Diego, CA
12:00 – 1:30: LUNCH
1:30 – 2:30: Narrating Protester Experiences and Defeating Police Lies: Use of Video
and Digitized Evidence in Mass Defense Cases
Carl Messineo; Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, Washington, DC
2:30 – 3:30: Detained with Diabetes: A Survey of Recent Case Law and Strategies for
Successful Police Misconduct Cases on Behalf of Plaintiffs with Diabetes
Sarah Fech-Baughman; American Diabetes Association, Alexandria, VA
3:30 – 3:45: COFFEE BREAK
3:45 – 5:00: Litigating Police Misconduct Appeals: Defeating Qualified Immunity,
Winning Your Appeal, and Avoiding the Supreme Court
Paul Hughes; Mayer Brown LLP, Washington, DC
A Networking Happy Hour will immediately follow the seminar; location TBD.
Accreditation: NPAP will apply for 5.75 credit hours via Mayer Brown LLP’s Client CLE Program.
Accommodations: The NLG have negotiated a heavily discounted room rate at the Washington Court Hotel, conveniently located on a subway line about 30 minutes from the Law School where the NPAP seminar and general Convention will be held. To register at the discounted rate, please use the following link while supplies last!
Book a Discounted Hotel Reservation
Financial Hardship Policy and Cancellation Policy: If you are an NPAP member or meet NPAP membership criteria and are unable to attend the seminar due to the cost of registration, please write assistant.npap@nlg.org. Our official financial hardship policy and cancellation policies are available at the following link.
NPAP Financial Hardship and Cancellation Policies
For more information and to register for the National Lawyers Guild Convention, please see https://www.nlg.org/convention/ . Please note that registration for NPAP’s seminar and registration for the Convention are entirely separate procedures.
When
August 3rd, 2017 8:00 AM through 6:30 PM
Location
David A. Clarke School of Law
4340 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20008
United States
Event Fee(s)
NPAP/NLG Attorney; Non-Profit Attorney
Three Chicago Police Officers Charged With Coverup in Laquan McDonald’s Shooting
Ken’s Comments:
Every now and then … every once in a while … they get caught! 🙂
Too many cops and prison guards lie to cover up their wrongdoing! Now let us pray that these three get prison time! READ Why only PROSECUTION and IMPRISONMENT Will Stop Prison Abuse and Police Abuse! Demand It!! How to Avoid the Deaths of More Prison Guards!
Excerpts from the Article:
Three current or former police officers in Chicago were indicted Tuesday on charges of conspiring to cover up the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager killed by an officer in 2014. McDonald’s death, captured in a video released the following year that shows him being shot while moving away from officers, set off protests and continues to reverberate through the Chicago police department. The officer who opened fire was charged with murder, while investigators have also focused on the behavior of other officers following the shooting. The indictment, announced by the special prosecutor investigating McDonald’s shooting, charges the three veteran officers with trying to “conceal the true facts of the events surrounding the killing of Laquan McDonald.”
“The indictment makes clear that these defendants did more than merely obey an unofficial ‘code of silence,’ rather it alleges that they lied about what occurred to prevent independent criminal investigators from learning the truth,” Patricia Brown Holmes, the special prosecutor, said in a statement.
McDonald’s death in October 2014 has continued to rock the Chicago Police Department, leading to a sprawling federal investigation and the ouster of the department’s superintendent. More than a year after McDonald was killed, authorities released video showing Officer Jason Van Dyke firing 16 rounds at the teenager. Van Dyke was charged with murder the day the video was publicly released.
While the police union had said McDonald was holding a knife and approaching officers when he was killed, graphic video showed that the 17-year-old was veering away from officers when he was shot. An attorney for Van Dyke has said he feared for his life at the time.
The video recording spurred outrage in Chicago, during which Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) dismissed Garry F. McCarthy, the police superintendent. Not long after, the Justice Department began a probe into the Chicago police, concluding this year that the department has a pattern of routinely using excessive force and violating the rights of minority residents. The Justice Department and Chicago officials had pledged to seek a court-enforceable order imposing reforms, but that plan was thrown into question after the Trump administration took office.
Chicago officials, who have been confronting a spike in homicides, have also reckoned with the fallout from the McDonald video. The city announced a series of policing reforms in the wake of the outcry over McDonald’s death, while the Chicago Police Department last year also recommended firing several officers for lying about McDonald’s killing, including Van Dyke.
The three-count indictment filed Tuesday said that Detective David March, 58, and patrol officers Joseph Walsh, 48, and Thomas Gaffney, 43, filed false police reports in the hours and days after the shooting “in an attempt to prevent or shape any criminal investigation.” The three officers were each charged with conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice. It was not immediately clear whether any of the officers had attorneys.
A Chicago police spokesman said only Gaffney was still with the department as of Tuesday, adding that he would be suspended without pay due to the indictment.
The indictment also suggested that more people were involved in the plot, saying that “others known and unknown” to the grand jury failed to properly find witnesses and physical evidence, coordinated their actions and then sought to cover up these activities. Several unidentified people are also described in the indictment as giving false statements. After announcing the charges against the three officers on Tuesday, Holmes said the grand jury investigation into the shooting will continue.
Read the Story and See the Video
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