Category Archives: US policing

George Floyd murder: Minneapolis police have pattern of aggression and discrimination, DoJ inquiry finds

Posted on by

Merrick Garland announces findings of Department of Justice investigation into department after Floyd’s killing by officers

The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, on Friday announced that the 2020 murder of George Floyd was part of a “pattern or practice” of excessive force used by the department and years of unlawful discrimination against Black Americans.

Garland held a press conference to reveal the findings of the two-year investigation by the Department of Justice (DoJ) into the conduct and training of the Minneapolis police department (MPD) both before and after George Floyd’s death at the hands of officers in the city in 2020.

Continue reading...

Traffic cop sues city over ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ cards for NYPD friends and family

Posted on by

Mathew Bianchi claims superiors retaliated against him for writing tickets for people holding ‘corrupt’ courtesy cards

Mathew Bianchi became a Staten Island traffic cop in 2017, two years after joining the New York police department, assigned to enforcing traffic violations and issuing tickets. In the first two years on that beat, he received stellar performance evaluations.

But in November 2018 – a year into his career in the traffic unit – Bianchi issued a ticket to a civilian who held a New York City police department laminated courtesy card, an unofficial credential issued to NYPD officers based on their union affiliation that can then be distributed to family members and friends to carry with them.

Continue reading...

Teacher Tasered by LAPD died from enlarged heart and cocaine use

Posted on by

Death of Keenan Darnell Anderson prompted outcry in January over use of force by Los Angeles police

A teacher who was repeatedly shocked with a Taser by Los Angeles police died from an enlarged heart and cocaine use, according to an autopsy report released on Friday.

The 3 January death of Keenan Darnell Anderson, 31, prompted an outcry over use of force by Los Angeles police. It was one of three fatal LAPD confrontations, including two shootings, that took place days into the new year.

Continue reading...

Parents of US man killed by police during mental health crisis to get $19m

Posted on by

Killing of Christian Glass, 22, in Colorado last year prompted calls to reform how authorities respond to people in crisis

The parents of a 22-year-old Colorado man in a mental health crisis killed by police are to receive $19m from government state and local agencies while prompting changes to how officers are trained under a settlement announced on Tuesday.

The shooting of Christian Glass by the Clear Creek county sheriff’s office after Glass’s SUV became stuck in the mountain town of Silver Plume last year drew national attention and prompted calls to reform how authorities respond to people with mental health problems.

Continue reading...

DeSantis’s $13.5m police program lures officers with violent records to Florida

Posted on by

Governor’s incentive scheme recruits officers with history of excessive violence or who have been arrested since signing up

Numerous police officers lured to new jobs in Florida with cash from Governor Ron DeSantis’s flagship law enforcement relocation program have histories of excessive violence or have been arrested for crimes including kidnapping and murder since signing up, a study of state documents has found.

DeSantis, who is expected to launch his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination this week, has spent more than $13.5m to date on the recruitment bonus program, which he touted in 2021 as an incentive to officers in other states frustrated by Covid-19 vaccination mandates.

Continue reading...

Minneapolis to pay $700,000 to family of man killed by police

Posted on by

Chiasher Vue’s kids wanted to calm their mentally ill father, but police detained them in vehicle and killed him as he pointed a gun

The city of Minneapolis has agreed to a $700,000 settlement with family members who were locked inside two squad cars when police killed their father after officers refused their offers to try and help calm him down.

A federal judge ruled that officers were justified in shooting 52-year-old Chiasher Vue after he pointed a rifle at them on 15 December 2019. The settlement will resolve a lawsuit his family filed arguing that police had illegally and unconstitutionally detained them that night.

Continue reading...

US must tackle police brutality against Black people head-on, UN experts say

Posted on by

Historic two-week tour of US ends with call for nationwide commitment to address racial discrimination in dealings with law

The US must move beyond piecemeal reform and slogan-making and tackle the ongoing scourge of police brutality and law enforcement’s discrimination against Black people, a United Nations mission has concluded at the end of a historic two-week tour of the country.

UN experts completed their first official visit to the US as part of a system of global inquiries set up by the human rights council after the police murder of George Floyd in May 2020. As they ended their tour on Friday in Washington DC, the experts called for a nationwide commitment to address discrimination suffered by Black Americans in their daily dealings with the law.

A call for an end to racial profiling in policing.

A dramatic reduction in the use of solitary confinement in US jails and prisons, and the total abolition of isolated incarceration for children under 18.

Passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act which tackles racial bias and excessive use of force but which has stalled in Congress.

An end to stereotyping of Black women and girls as angry and “aged up”.

Rooting out of white supremacist law enforcement officers to ensure that they no longer wear the badge.

Continue reading...

‘Cop City’ activist’s official autopsy reveals more than 50 bullet wounds

Posted on by

No gunpowder residue found on Manuel Paez Terán, who was alleged to have fired first in fatal confrontation with Georgia police

Official autopsy results for Manuel Paez Terán, an environmental activist police shot and killed three months ago during a raid in a Georgia public park near the planned site of a police and fire department training center, do little to advance the state’s version of events, including the notion that the activist shot first, wounding an officer.

Paez Terán, or “Tortuguita”, was one of the “forest defenders” camped throughout the public park less than a mile away from the planned center, known as “Cop City”, when dozens of officers entered the South River Forest south-east of Atlanta, Georgia, on 18 January.

Continue reading...

California police department under audit after officers’ racist texts are discovered

Posted on by

Shocking messages about beating suspects and making up evidence were found when Antioch officers were investigated

Amid outrage over text messages showing police officers in northern California using racist slurs and bragging about making up evidence and beating suspects, city officials voted to audit the troubled department.

The FBI and the Contra Costa district attorney’s office discovered the shocking messages while investigating officers within the Antioch police department suspected of crimes. Officials have named 17 officers who sent texts, including the president of the Antioch police union, but nearly half the department was included in the messages.

Continue reading...

Family of Tyre Nichols sues city of Memphis and police over deadly beating

Posted on by

Nichols died after beating by police, who said he was suspected of reckless driving but no evidence of traffic violation has emerged

The family of Tyre Nichols, a Black Tennessee man who died after been beaten by five police officers, has sued the city of Memphis, individual officers and emergency medical personnel involved in his case.

Lawyers for Nichols’s mother, RowVaughn Wells, filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court in Memphis.

Continue reading...

Mayor says George Floyd would be alive if Derek Chauvin had been fired in 2017

Posted on by

Jacob Frey makes remark during announcement that Minneapolis reached $8.9m settlement in two excessive force lawsuits

The mayor of Minneapolis said George Floyd would still be alive if the city’s police department had “done the right thing” and fired officer Derek Chauvin in 2017 after complaints he knelt on the necks of two people he arrested.

Jacob Frey was speaking at a press conference Thursday announcing the city had reached a $8.9m settlement in two excessive force lawsuits.

Continue reading...

Puppy flung from pickup in high-speed Los Angeles police chase survives

Posted on by

Eight-week-old beige pup with one blue and one brown eye tossed out of moving vehicle in designer bag ‘miraculously’ OK

A puppy that was thrown out of a moving pickup truck in Los Angeles during a high-speed police chase “miraculously” survived, according to authorities.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Los Angeles police department announced that on 7 April, at about 12.10pm in a south-east part of the city, officers started a car chase in pursuit of a suspect who was wanted in connection to an attempted murder and carjacking which occurred on 26 March.

Continue reading...

San Jose police union director fired over attempted opioid import charges

Posted on by

Joanne Segovia, 64, dismissed following internal investigation into charges filed against her

The director of the San Jose police union who was charged with attempting to import synthetic opioids has been fired from the organization.

On Friday, the San Jose Police Officers’ Association fired Joanne Segovia after it completed the first phase of the internal investigation that it launched into the charges filed against her.

Continue reading...

New Mexico police kill homeowner after showing up at wrong address

Posted on by

Farmington officers on paid administrative leave after shooting Robert Dotson while responding to call from across the street

Officers with the Farmington police department of north-western New Mexico shot and killed a homeowner when they showed up at the wrong address in response to a domestic violence call this week, according to state authorities.

The shooting happened about 11.30pm Wednesday. New Mexico state police released more details late on Thursday, and Farmington police confirmed on Friday that the three officers involved were on paid administrative leave pending a review of the case.

Continue reading...

Scant details emerge on fatal stabbing of Cash App founder amid safety concerns

Posted on by

San Francisco police have not confirmed the circumstances of Bob Lee’s death nor arrested a suspect

Details of how the tech executive Bob Lee came to be fatally stabbed in downtown San Francisco remained scant on Friday, as those who knew the Cash App founder mourn his death and others voiced frustration with public safety.

San Francisco police found Lee, 43, on the sidewalk in front of a condominium building with stab wounds shortly after 2.35am on Tuesday. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. Details about the attack remain thin; surveillance footage released this week reportedly shows Lee stumbling along a sidewalk and seeking help in the aftermath, but police have not confirmed the circumstances of the attack or arrested a suspect.

Continue reading...

Minneapolis agrees deal with state to revamp post-George Floyd policing

Posted on by

Court-enforceable agreement passes city council with 11-0 vote as members harshly criticize police and previous city leaders

The Minneapolis city council on Friday approved an agreement with the state to revamp policing, nearly three years after a city officer murdered George Floyd.

The Minnesota department of human rights issued a blistering report last year that said the police department had engaged in a pattern of race discrimination for at least a decade. City leaders subsequently agreed to negotiate a settlement with the agency.

Continue reading...

Hospital video footage shows Irvo Otieno was held down before his death

Posted on by

Seven deputies and three hospital workers charged with second-degree murder in death of Black man at Virginia mental facility

A large group of sheriff’s deputies and employees of a Virginia mental hospital pinned patient Irvo Otieno to the floor until he was motionless and limp, then began unsuccessful resuscitation efforts, newly obtained surveillance video of the incident earlier this month shows.

The footage obtained on Tuesday, which has no audio, shows various members of the group struggling with a handcuffed and shackled Otieno over the course of about 20 minutes after he was led into a room at Central State hospital in Petersburg, Virginia, where he was going to be admitted on 6 March. For most of the duration of the video, Otieno is on the floor being restrained by a fluctuating group that at one point appeared to number 10 people pressing down on various parts of his body.

Continue reading...

Police stopped a Black couple in Tennessee – and took their children

Posted on by

Bianca Clayborne and Deonte Williams’ case fits pattern of child welfare services fueling disparities in who gets to remain a family

Nearly a month ago, Bianca Clayborne, Deonte Williams, and their five children were on their way from Georgia to Chicago for Clayborne’s uncle’s funeral when a highway patrol officer stopped them in Manchester, Tennessee.

That moment – about 60 miles outside Nashville – has since upended their lives as Clayborne and Williams try to regain custody of their children after they say state authorities “kidnapped” them on account of a minuscule amount of marijuana in the car, the Tennessee Lookout first reported.

Continue reading...

Black Virginia man pinned to ground by deputies before his death, family says

Posted on by

Video from state mental hospital of brutal treatment of Irvo Otieno recalls death of George Floyd, lawyer says

Video from a state mental hospital shows a Black Virginia man who was handcuffed and shackled being pinned to the ground by deputies who are now facing second-degree murder charges in his death, according to relatives of the man and their attorneys who viewed the footage on Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference shortly after watching the video with a local prosecutor, the family and attorneys condemned the brutal treatment they said Irvo Otieno, 28, was subjected to, first at a local jail and then at the state hospital where authorities say he died on 6 March during the admission process.

Continue reading...

Louisville police discriminate against Black people: report’s key findings

Posted on by

Officers used excessive force and failed to protect Black residents, a report launched following the death of Breonna Taylor has found

A report published by the US justice department following the botched police raid that killed Breonna Taylor has found that Louisville’s Metro police department routinely engaged in a pattern of excessive force that deprived people of their rights.

The litany of abuses revealed in the report comes amid a reckoning in the US with the brutality and racism of American policing.

Continue reading...