Lawsuit claims excessive force by Ignacio police

The lawsuit is based on an incident on March 16 or 17, 2013. It alleges that Mason and Phillips arrested Rubio and took him into Town Hall with his hands cuffed behind his back.

It alleges that Mason kicked Rubio’s right leg and broke it, sending him to the ground, then left him on the floor in severe pain for about 20 to 30 minutes before calling an ambulance, apparently waiting because the ambulance would have cost the town money.

The lawsuit alleges that Phillips did nothing to intervene or help Rubio, and that he and Mason then wrote a false incident report claiming that Rubio was already on the floor, tried to kick Mason and missed, and broke his leg when it hit the corner of a sink cabinet."

* Rubio suffered a spiral fracture of the large lower leg bone, the tibia. It was repaired with a rod running the full length of the bone, held by two pins at each end. "

http://durangoherald.com/article/20140830/NEWS01/140839943/Lawsuit-claims-excessive-force-by-Ignacio-police

The 'Perfect Crime' in America Is Killing an Unarmed Black Man and Claiming Self-Defense

* That being said, there have been at least five unarmed black men killed in the past month according to The Huffington Post, and when you combine these deaths with the manner in which they've elicited a public divide in perception, one can only come to this conclusion: Killing unarmed black men and claiming self-defense is the perfect crime in today's America.

Why?

The crime of killing someone is now turned into a battle of narratives where the only other person who could challenge the narrative is dead, and millions of people simply believe that the unarmed black man deserved his fate.

The reason for this sad and un-American reality is that once an unarmed black teenager like Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin is no longer breathing, the shooter can simply claim self-defense or get close to a million dollars in support like Darren Wilson. "

*Had there not been video evidence leading to Eric Garner's death being ruled a homicide, his death would have been justified as self-defense by the same people who exonerate Zimmerman, as well as those who blame Michael Brown for his own fate. The fact that many Americans actually state things like "there's nothing wrong with following someone," while at the same time advocating taking assault weapons to Chipotle, should say something about hypocrisy and race in our great nation. It also says that too many unarmed black citizens are losing their lives because of the belief that they pose a threat: standing outside a store, walking toward a residence, or crossing a street in Ferguson."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/the-perfect-crime-in-amer_b_5735190.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

Justice and Law Enforcement: America’s Corrupt Institutions

Law is just one public institution, but it is a corner stone of society. When law goes, everything goes.

Only about 4 percent of federal felony cases go to trial. Almost all, 96 percent, are settled by negotiated plea bargains. Law & Order Conservatives condemn plea bargains for the wrong reason. They think plea bargains let criminals off easy.

In fact, plea bargains are used by prosecutors to convict the innocent along with the guilty. Plea bargains eliminate juries and time-consuming trials, that is, plea bargains eliminate all work on the part of prosecutors and police and lead to high conviction rates for prosecutors, the main indicator of their career success. Once upon a time, prosecutors pursued justice. They carefully examined police investigations and only indicted suspects whose conviction they thought could be obtained by a jury. Sloppy police work was discarded.

No more. "

* The prosecutor and often the judge do not care whether you are innocent or guilty, and your lawyer knows that it does not matter to the outcome.

The police have learned that such a small number of cases go to trial that their evidence is seldom tested in court. Consequently, often police simply look for someone who might have committed the crime based on past criminal records, select someone with a record, and offer him or her up as the perpetrator of the crime. This police practice is one explanation for high recidivism rates.

In the totally corrupt American criminal justice (sic) system, anyone indicted, no matter how innocent, is almost certain to be convicted."

* Can police departments be cleansed of their violent culture? Can prosecutors serve justice instead of career? Can Fox “News” talking heads cease being racists? Don’t hold your breath."

http://www.globalresearch.ca/justice-and-law-enforcement-americas-corrupt-institutions/5397976

Protesters Demand Improved Police Accountability at Downtown Demonstration

Approximately 150 protesters rallied in downtown St. Louis Tuesday afternoon to protest police brutality and announce a set of demands they want enacted by officials at the local and national level.

The demands announced by protesters centered largely on police reform and accountability. But they also included several direct demands related to the investigation of the Michael Brown shooting, including the "immediate arrest" of Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who fatally shot the 18-year-old August 9.

"We are going to bring that gunman to justice, and I mean that," said rapper Tef Poe, a Riverfront Times contributor and a constant presence at the Ferguson protests since they began the day after the Brown shooting.

Other demands related to the investigation include St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch to stand down and allow a special prosecutor to handle the investigation into the Brown shooting, as well as the firing of Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson."

* The protesters also demanded broad reform measures to be taken into how police shootings are investigated, including civilian review of those shootings, and a rapid de-escalation of militarized policing during protests."

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2014/08/demands_for_improved_police_accountability_measures_made_at_downtown_protest.php

Philly cop files brutality suit against police department

Scores of brutality lawsuits are filed against the Philadelphia Police Department every year. But it’s unusual for an officer, a sergeant no less, to make those charges.

In a suit filed Monday, Sgt. Brandon Ruff did just that.

Ruff claims he was roughed up by seven officers from the 35th District when he attempted to anonymously turn in three handguns at the precinct. Ruff, who says he suffered two sprained wrists and two sprained shoulders in the fracas, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

Ruff, an eight-year veteran assigned to the 16th precinct, said the acts of the 35th District officers “were committed willfully, wantonly, maliciously, intentionally, outrageously, deliberately and/or by conduct so egregious as to shock the conscience."

*After being held for six hours, Ruff was released. On Aug. 4, he went to Chestnut Hill Hospital, where he was treated for injuries he said he received during his arrest and detention. The same day, Ruff was placed on desk duty, according to the suit, which seeks unspecified damages.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Brutality_suit_filed_against_police_department_by_Phila_officer_.html

"That's when I expected to be shot"

DENVER -- The parents of Michael Brown told CBS News' Mark Strassmann they'd had a conversation with their son about how to deal w"ith police. They say they told him to respect and obey police officers.

Many parents of black children have had the same talk. But it is not one that Alex Landau's parents thought they needed to have with him.

Landau vividly recalls the night five years ago when a traffic stop on a Denver street ended with an officer's gun at his head.

"I could see the metal. I could see the officer's hand gripping the back strap. And that's when I expected to be shot," said Landau, adding it was "really emotional" to return to the scene of the incident.

Police found marijuana on his passenger, who is white. They began searching the car. Landau said when he asked if they had a warrant, three white officers - one of whom was female - started beating him."
When asked if he did something to threaten the police officers, he responded, "No, actually I was pinned to a position where I couldn't even move. ... I hear an officer shout, 'He's reaching for her gun. He's reaching for her gun.' All I could do was say, 'No, I'm not. I'm not reaching for anything.'"

He expected to die that night.

The beating required 45 stitches, left him with a concussion and a traumatic brain injury."

http://news.yahoo.com/thats-expected-shot-034912029.html

Michael Brown called 'little kid in big body'

They've portrayed Brown as "a gentle giant," who liked to post photos on his Facebook page of himself with young relatives, a kid who tried football his sophomore year but abandoned the idea before his first game, fearing he might hurt someone.

"He was funny, silly," his father, Michael Brown Sr., recently said. "Any problems that were going on or any situation — there wasn't nothing he couldn't solve. He'd bring people together."

Tim Sneed, a 23-year-old neighbor of Brown's grandmother, says the young man was so low-key he seemed almost invisible. "When he came to my house you wouldn't even notice he was there," "That's how quiet he was."

Brown had been staying at the apartment of his grandmother, Desuirea Harris, this summer. She said Brown was excited about his future.

"My grandson never even got into a fight," she says. "He was just looking forward to getting on with his life. He was on his way."

*Brown's great uncle, pastor Charles Ewing, who will deliver the eulogy, remembers a conversation he had with his nephew.

"He said, 'One day the whole world is going to know my name.' Isn't that something? Not knowing that this was going to happen, and that's what touched me — 'the whole world will know my name.' "

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Michael-Brown-called-little-kid-in-big-body-5708910.php#page-2

Police Violence Has Been Going On Forever. No Wonder People Are Fed Up With It

Protests continue following the Aug. 9 shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. The marchers, though, are not just protesting Brown's slaying. They are also voicing pent-up anger at an old problem: police violence, often directed at black and brown people.

The horrific beating of Rodney King by five police officers in Los Angeles in 1991 -- and the subsequent acquittal of his assailants -- sparked the L.A. riots of 1992, leading to 53 deaths, some at the hands of police. It was also a video introduction to police brutality for those in America who may have doubted its severity.

Twenty years later, a police beating or shooting has a decent chance of getting caught on camera -- either the one on the phone in everybody's hand or the surveillance camera pointing down at the street. The latter captured Kelly Thomas, a schizophrenic homeless man, being beaten to death by authorities in Fullerton, California, after being mistaken for a suspect in a series of car break-ins in the area. They, too, were acquitted. "

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/23/police-brutality-michael-brown_n_5700970.html

Video at link

Polls: Police Brutality – What The Police Have To Say

What Law Enforcement Needs to Understand about Ferguson

The images from Ferguson, Missouri are disturbing and disappointing to those who recognize their role in law enforcement as servants of the public as opposed to strict enforcers of the law, maintainers of order or members of a paramilitary organization. While enforcing the law is a primary function and order maintenance is a part of that job, they are but components of the larger public servant role. Additionally, while police agencies are paramilitary in nature, law enforcement leaders now, more than ever, need to guard against the increase of militarization currently underway.

I’m disheartened that police unions and associations across the country are concerned about citizens photographing police while in public and have no qualms about speaking out against it. This adds to the concern of the public that we are moving more towards a police state and slowly eroding the freedoms we should cherish in this great nation."

*We are only beginning to consider the implications of the flood of former military personnel joining the ranks of civilian policing. I submit that more study into this phenomenon is needed. The issue of militarization of American policing is not just the acquisition of military equipment; it is the infusion of so many former soldiers into the ranks of the civilian police.

For American police, retention of the “servant” mindset is more critical than that of the “warrior” mindset."

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Max Geron is a senior executive in a major urban police department"

http://www.hlswatch.com/2014/08/19/what-law-enforcement-needs-to-understand-about-ferguson/