[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: Here's some more Pig Murder (?) And Mayhem Gun used in killing was police sergeant's www.dispatch.com/live/con...9_B2_B9CPOPR.html?sid=101 By Theodore Decker THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH A gun used to kill a woman last month on the Far West Side belonged to a Columbus police sergeant, and investigators are trying to figure out how the murder suspect got it. Sgt. Douglas Williams, a 31-year police veteran who works in the Strategic Response Bureau, has told homicide investigators that he didn't realize the gun was missing until detectives asked him about it. Williams, 56, told investigators the gun might have been displaced or lost during a recent move or taken when his unmarked police car was stolen in June, said Amanda Ford, a police spokeswoman. The .45-caliber gun used to be Williams' service weapon, Ford said. When the division switched to .40-caliber guns about two years ago, officers were given the option to buy their old .45s from the city to keep as personal weapons. Williams took that option, Ford said. The gun turned up during the investigation into the Jan. 20 shooting death of Amanda Gessells, 24. Police charged her live-in boyfriend, John Souza, 31, with murder. Police have not found any link between Souza and Williams, and Ford said Williams "is in no trouble in association with the homicide." No internal investigation was under way yesterday, she said. On June 7, Williams reported that his city-owned unmarked Chevrolet Lumina was stolen while parked in the 200 block of N. 5th Street. He said an extra set of keys was in the car, and a police report noted that it didn't appear that the car had been locked. Williams did not report having a gun in the car at the time. The car was recovered June 12, but some of the items that had been inside were missing, Ford said. [--- Likely story. PSUSA] City police sued over strip search www.baltimoresun.com/news...it04feb04,0,7029669.story Civil suit seeks $210 million By Tricia Bishop | tricia.bishop@baltsun.com February 4, 2009 A Baltimore man filed a $210 million civil lawsuit yesterday against the city Police Department, a former commissioner and several officers in connection with a 2006 incident during which he says a band of rogue cops held him at gunpoint in the street, stripped him and searched his rectum in front of about 30 onlookers. The federal suit is the second filed since March in U.S. District Court in Baltimore alleging "widespread and persistent" civil rights violations by police officers who belonged to an elite "Special Enforcement Team" that worked mainly in the southeastern part of the city. The SET unit was dismantled and its officers reassigned in 2006 after allegations of misconduct surfaced, leading the city prosecutor's office to dismiss more than 100 Circuit Court cases the officers had investigated in the previous two years. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to comment yesterday on the lawsuits, the employment status of the named officers, the department's procedural regulations regarding rectal examination and the outcome of internal investigations. "We take all lawsuits very seriously and investigate in the most efficient manner possible," Guglielmi said. Until the department's legal team has thoroughly reviewed the case, he said, he "can't comment specifically" on it or "anything that touches" it. The physical violation described in yesterday's 43-page complaint is the "ultimate degradation of a person's civil rights," said Steven D. Silverman, the attorney representing plaintiff Daryl A. Martin, a 35-year-old Navy veteran who works as a manager at a retail shop. According to the complaint, Martin and a friend were on their way to a tailor for a custom suit fitting on a weekday afternoon in April 2006 when their Buick Lucerne was pulled over in the 900 block of Patterson Park Ave. by two sets of officers. A marked police car carrying Officer Antonio Rodriquez and an unidentified officer blocked the Buick in front, while an unmarked car holding Officers Shakil Moss and William Harris blocked the back end, the complaint says. Rodriquez asked Martin for his license and registration, then ordered both passengers out of the car and began to search the Buick while Moss frisked the plaintiff under gunpoint, the complaint says. Moss then donned a rubber glove and lowered Martin's pants and underwear, according to the document. "To the Plaintiff's complete and utter horror, in broad daylight and in the presence [of] the gathered crowd, Moss forced a gloved finger into the Plaintiff's rectum," found nothing, then threw the glove to the ground, the court document states. Shortly thereafter, with no explanation, the officers "sped away." Martin reported the incident to a police internal investigation division, which retrieved the glove and sent it to a lab for examination. DNA from both Moss and Martin was found, according to the complaint. Martin, who is black, contends that he was targeted because of his race. He says that the officers' behavior was systemic and tolerated by Police Department leadership, including then-Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm and current Deputy Commissioner Deborah Owens, both of whom are also named in the suit. Silverman said that his office reviewed "scores and scores of prior arrest records" and found numerous "obvious and blatant constitutional violations by this rogue group." The complaint alleges nearly 50 instances of questionable activity by officers, which frequently included spotting drugs from vast distances, eliciting spontaneous confessions and regular "serendipitous discovery of individuals possessing contraband." "It's clear the department should have had every obligation to review their prior arrest [records], and if they had done so, would have clearly seen that they were running all over the civil rights of the city of Baltimore," Silverman said. A similar lawsuit, filed in March by 17 plaintiffs, alleges that officers, including Moss, illegally detained, assaulted, searched, humiliated and generally terrorized residents without justification. In a court filing, Hamm and Owens denied the allegations against them in the earlier suit. Canby steroid inquiry leads to arrest Former Officer Jason Duncan Deason is expected to turn himself in soon www.oregonlive.com/news/o...33813305266710.xml&coll=7 Thursday, February 05, 2009 MAXINE BERNSTEIN The Oregonian Staff A yearlong federal investigation into a Canby police officer's suspected steroid abuse has led to an indictment against the former officer and the arrest Wednesday of a Canby businessman. An arrest warrant has been issued for former Officer Jason Duncan Deason, 38, who is out of state but expected to turn himself in next week. Deason, accused of buying steroids while on duty and in uniform since at least 2004, faces counts of official misconduct and other charges. Businessman William Jake Traverso, 38, was arrested at his Canby home at 4:30 a.m. on drug and theft accusations. He is suspected of being one of Deason's suppliers. Canby Police Chief Greg Kroeplin remains the subject of an independent inquiry launched by the city of Canby into FBI allegations that he concealed or failed to investigate Deason's alleged steroid abuse. Kroeplin was placed on paid administrative leave Nov. 17, the day after a story in The Oregonian detailed the allegations. On Jan. 29, a Clackamas County grand jury indicted Deason on seven counts of first-degree official misconduct and one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Deason joined the Canby Police Department in 1999 and resigned in July, about two weeks after he abruptly cut off an interview with FBI agents. According to court papers, he then immediately tried to find Traverso. Deason also used his police cell phone to leave threats on his ex-wife's voice mail, according to court papers, and accused her of ruining his career. Traverso has been indicted on seven counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, one count of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, three counts of first-degree theft and one count of aggravated theft. He posted 10 percent of his $75,000 bail Wednesday and was released from the Clackamas County Jail. He has a March 3 court date. Neither Traverso nor Deason returned calls Wednesday. Deason's lawyer, Leonard Kovac, also could not be reached for comment. FBI agents say Traverso, a former competitive bodybuilder who works at Canby Landscape Supply, which his family owns, admitted selling steroids and human growth hormone to Deason. Traverso gave agents an April 30, 2002, order for steroids, written on Canby police stationery, that he received from Deason, according to affidavits filed in federal court. Neighbors of Traverso, who lives on North Vine Street, said his arrest brought them some relief. They've complained to the Canby mayor and City Council that the police ignored their complaints of suspected drug activity at Traverso's home. /snip/ Los Angeles to Pay Nearly $13M for May Day Police Brutality www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488284,00.html Wednesday, February 04, 2009 * Print * LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council approved a $12.85 million payout Wednesday for demonstrators and bystanders who were beaten by police at a pro-immigration rally in one of the largest settlements ever for Police Department misconduct. The payout will settle nine lawsuits filed on behalf of nearly 300 people after the May 1, 2007, rally at MacArthur Park, where police dispersed crowds by beating people with batons and firing at them with beanbag rounds and rubber bullets. Forty-two people were injured, including nine journalists. Carol Sobel, an attorney who represented some of the injured parties, said the payout is the largest single settlement in a demonstration case in the country. "It means that for everybody who was in MacArthur Park that day, they can now feel that their injuries were recognized by the city," Sobel said. The council faces other legal troubles stemming from the rally: There were 27 pending cases related to the demonstration before the settlement. City officials, however, said the payout covers most of the people who have filed lawsuits, including a class-action lawsuit that involved the approximately 5,000 people at the rally. Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney's office, said the settlement also calls for more police training on handling rallies and protests. The May Day rally turned violent when about 30 protesters threw rocks at officers, who responded with force. A massive investigation was launched after widespread criticisms that police used excessive force and violated civil rights. Police later concluded that a lack of planning, training and orderly supervision hindered officers at the rally. Police Chief William Bratton took responsibility for the department's response and called the officers' decision to use force a "command and control breakdown." Four officers were fired and 11 were disciplined. Manassas Woman Alleges Police Brutality www.news8.net/news/stories/0209/591792.html MANASSAS, Va. - Agueda Dominguez says her battered face and bruised arms are the result of police brutality. The 38-year-old El Salvadoran immigrant is alleging a Manassas Park Police officer beat her during a routine traffic stop Monday night. "As he was pulling me against his car he pulled my hair...at the same time I banged my head a couple of times against his car. He threw me on the ground and banged me against the ground," Dominguez said. Dominquez was stopped in the parking lot of the Apex Mart for having a broken headlight. She did not have her driver's license, but said she did provide Lt. Rupert Prinz with other documentation, including her social security card and work permit. Dominquez said she refused to sign the ticket because she doesn't understand English. That is when she says she was sprayed with pepper spray and thrown on the ground. Her brother describes what he saw as he pulled up to the scene: "The floor...she hit the floor like an animal...she's not an animal, she's human. It's hard for me when I see he hit my sister on the floor," said Jose Dominguez, victim's brother. Store manager, Warner Portillo, walked up just after the alleged brutality took place. "As I'm leaving, I see this lady bleeding really really bad and she was actually a little bit unconscious...I saw two police officers carrying her to an ambulance," Portillo added. Cuts and bruises are visible on Dominguez's arms, leg and face. A cell phone picture shows her as she arrived to the hospital. Dominguez says she wasn't resisting police arrest. She says she just didn't want to sign a document she didn't understand. "It hurts a lot...you come to the United States to pursue a dream and this type of stuff happens...especially in the Hispanic community. Most people are scared and so I just decided to step up and show everybody that we can stand up and defend ourselves," Dominguez added. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
|
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||