Today's News (2020/7/30): Police Violence edition
Current end of Greg Doucette thread on police violence.
----- 1 -----
Seattle Police defend response to weekend Black Lives Matter protests, deny violation of court’s use-of-force limits
By Mike Carter
Seattle Times staff reporter
July 29, 2020
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-police-defend-response-to-weekend-black-lives-matter-protests-deny-violation-of-courts-use-of-force-limits/
Lawyers for the Seattle Police Department late Wednesday asked a federal judge to reject allegations that officers intentionally or indiscriminately used force against peaceful protesters and violated a court injunction during raucous and at-times violent weekend Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations.
The city said its officers followed the injunction’s prohibitions on the use of pepper spray, blast balls or less-than-lethal projectile weapons against crowds that gathered downtown and on Capitol Hill Saturday night. Police claim that within the mostly peaceful crowd of as many as 7,000 people “were armed and armored individuals with a plan and agenda to do harm to the public, injure police and damage property along the way.”
“Given this, it turned into a riot,” wrote attorney Robert Christie, whose firm has been retained by the city to represent the department and its officers in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County by the American Civil Liberties Union of Seattle and others.
----- 2 -----
Kevin Rector
twitter.com/kevrector
29 July 2020
https://twitter.com/kevrector/status/1288565095446921216
[THREAD]
A longtime LAPD SWAT sergeant has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the unit is controlled by a “SWAT Mafia” of veteran cops who encourage the use of deadly force and call members who attempt de-escalation "cowards" (via twitter.com/LAcrimes):
[LINKS TO:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-29/lapd-swat-unit-controlled-by-swat-mafia-that-encourages-deadly-shootings-sergeant-lawsuit-alleges
]
[THREAD CONTINUES AT UPPER LINK]
----- 3 -----
Matthew D. Morrison
twitter.com/DrMaDMo
6:48 AM · Jul 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/DrMaDMo/status/1288471538585477120
[THREAD]
During grad school I was literally picked up off the street in Harlem by plain clothed police officers who didn't show me a badge, put me in the back of unmarked van, parked in a single spot for like an hour as I sat in van. Thought I had been kid napped. They been doing this.
[NEXT]
an hour later they came and started putting other people in the van. a lot of them were regular targets. one told me the officers wrongfully forced their way into their apartment & dragged them out because they said they heard they had drugs. heard the officers planning this.
[NEXT]
They were literally trying to make an arrest quota. There are reports and studies that showed nypd was given quotas for arrest during stop and frisk. they would arrest folks even without reason bc they knew they could and it didn’t matter long as they logged an arrest.
[THREAD CONTINUES AT LINK]
----- 4 -----
Jake Sherman
twitter.com/JakeSherman
10:19 AM · Jul 29, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1288524502649966592
PLAYBOOK PM: After we reported that twitter.com/replouiegohmert was positive, we got an email from a Gohmert aide.
[EMBEDDED IMAGE]
[TRANSCRIPTION BY EDITOR:
"JAKE, THANK YOU for letting our office know Louie tested positive for the Coronavirus. When you write your story, can you include the fact that Louie requires full staff to be in the office, including three interns, so that 'we could be an example to America on how to open up safely.' When probing the office, you might want to ask how often people were berated for wearing masks."
----- 5 -----
Here Are The Current NYPD Officers With The Most Substantiated Misconduct Complaints
By George Joseph, Christopher Robbins and Jake Offenhartz
July 28, 2020
https://gothamist.com/news/here-are-current-nypd-officers-most-substantiated-misconduct-complaints
Approximately four thousand of the NYPD’s 36,000 active officers have at least one substantiated complaint of police misconduct, according to data from the Civilian Complaint Review Board published by ProPublica on Sunday.
Gothamist/WNYC has identified seven officers in the CCRB’s data set with substantiated allegations in at least six separate complaints-the most of all current NYPD officers. All enjoyed high-ranking positions as of last month, according to the dataset. All are white men. Some have been the subject of extensive news coverage.
We have reached out to each officer named here individually and through their unions. Some did not reply and others referred us to the NYPD or their union.
“The NYPD has for many years worked to increase transparency to gain the trust of the communities we serve,” the department said in a statement, when asked specifically about these officers.
A representative for Mayor Bill de Blasio did not respond to a request for comment.
----- 6 -----
Kentucky town hires social workers instead of more officers - and the results are surprising
By David Mattingly
July 28, 2020 at 4:55 PM EDT - Updated July 29 at 7:42 PM
https://www.wave3.com/2020/07/28/kentucky-town-hires-social-workers-instead-more-officers-results-are-surprising/
ALEXANDRIA, Ky. (WAVE) - Faced with a tight budget and rising demands on its 17 officer police department, the City of Alexandria in Campbell County tried something different. Instead of hiring an additional officer and taking on the added expenses of equipping that officer, the police chief at the time hired a social worker to respond in tandem with officers.
The goal was to provide expertise and immediately connect people in crisis to needed services.
“I’m more the second responder, so the officer responds first,” police social worker Kelly Pompilio said. “There are times that I do go on scene with the officer but that’s only after it’s secured and safe for me to enter. But I try to assist the family in whatever services they need so they don’t have to, whenever they’re having a crisis, or having a situation where they need law enforcement, they don’t have to call 911.”
Pompilio is the first to work a position of her kind in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Instead of working at another agency and waiting for a referral from a police department after a crisis, Pompilio works side-by-side with officers to respond as calls come in.
“Every day is different. We have no idea what’s going to come our way,” Pompilio said. “The main calls are domestic violence, mental health and substance abuse.”
Also posted to ソ-ラ-バ-ド-のおん;
comments at Dreamwidth. Please comment there.
- Seattle Police defend response to weekend Black Lives Matter protests, deny violation of court’s use-of-force limits
- Whistleblower: LAPD SWAT is controlled by a “SWAT Mafia” of veteran cops who encourage the use of deadly force and call members who attempt de-escalation "cowards"
- A Black man talks about his experience being repeatedly vanned by NYPD.
- Gohmert aide reports harassment for wearing masks in office
- Here Are The Current NYPD Officers With The Most Substantiated Misconduct Complaints
- Kentucky town hires social workers instead of more officers - and the results are surprising
----- 1 -----
Seattle Police defend response to weekend Black Lives Matter protests, deny violation of court’s use-of-force limits
By Mike Carter
Seattle Times staff reporter
July 29, 2020
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-police-defend-response-to-weekend-black-lives-matter-protests-deny-violation-of-courts-use-of-force-limits/
Lawyers for the Seattle Police Department late Wednesday asked a federal judge to reject allegations that officers intentionally or indiscriminately used force against peaceful protesters and violated a court injunction during raucous and at-times violent weekend Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations.
The city said its officers followed the injunction’s prohibitions on the use of pepper spray, blast balls or less-than-lethal projectile weapons against crowds that gathered downtown and on Capitol Hill Saturday night. Police claim that within the mostly peaceful crowd of as many as 7,000 people “were armed and armored individuals with a plan and agenda to do harm to the public, injure police and damage property along the way.”
“Given this, it turned into a riot,” wrote attorney Robert Christie, whose firm has been retained by the city to represent the department and its officers in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County by the American Civil Liberties Union of Seattle and others.
----- 2 -----
Kevin Rector
twitter.com/kevrector
29 July 2020
https://twitter.com/kevrector/status/1288565095446921216
[THREAD]
A longtime LAPD SWAT sergeant has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the unit is controlled by a “SWAT Mafia” of veteran cops who encourage the use of deadly force and call members who attempt de-escalation "cowards" (via twitter.com/LAcrimes):
[LINKS TO:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-29/lapd-swat-unit-controlled-by-swat-mafia-that-encourages-deadly-shootings-sergeant-lawsuit-alleges
]
[THREAD CONTINUES AT UPPER LINK]
----- 3 -----
Matthew D. Morrison
twitter.com/DrMaDMo
6:48 AM · Jul 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/DrMaDMo/status/1288471538585477120
[THREAD]
During grad school I was literally picked up off the street in Harlem by plain clothed police officers who didn't show me a badge, put me in the back of unmarked van, parked in a single spot for like an hour as I sat in van. Thought I had been kid napped. They been doing this.
[NEXT]
an hour later they came and started putting other people in the van. a lot of them were regular targets. one told me the officers wrongfully forced their way into their apartment & dragged them out because they said they heard they had drugs. heard the officers planning this.
[NEXT]
They were literally trying to make an arrest quota. There are reports and studies that showed nypd was given quotas for arrest during stop and frisk. they would arrest folks even without reason bc they knew they could and it didn’t matter long as they logged an arrest.
[THREAD CONTINUES AT LINK]
----- 4 -----
Jake Sherman
twitter.com/JakeSherman
10:19 AM · Jul 29, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1288524502649966592
PLAYBOOK PM: After we reported that twitter.com/replouiegohmert was positive, we got an email from a Gohmert aide.
[EMBEDDED IMAGE]
[TRANSCRIPTION BY EDITOR:
"JAKE, THANK YOU for letting our office know Louie tested positive for the Coronavirus. When you write your story, can you include the fact that Louie requires full staff to be in the office, including three interns, so that 'we could be an example to America on how to open up safely.' When probing the office, you might want to ask how often people were berated for wearing masks."
----- 5 -----
Here Are The Current NYPD Officers With The Most Substantiated Misconduct Complaints
By George Joseph, Christopher Robbins and Jake Offenhartz
July 28, 2020
https://gothamist.com/news/here-are-current-nypd-officers-most-substantiated-misconduct-complaints
Approximately four thousand of the NYPD’s 36,000 active officers have at least one substantiated complaint of police misconduct, according to data from the Civilian Complaint Review Board published by ProPublica on Sunday.
Gothamist/WNYC has identified seven officers in the CCRB’s data set with substantiated allegations in at least six separate complaints-the most of all current NYPD officers. All enjoyed high-ranking positions as of last month, according to the dataset. All are white men. Some have been the subject of extensive news coverage.
We have reached out to each officer named here individually and through their unions. Some did not reply and others referred us to the NYPD or their union.
“The NYPD has for many years worked to increase transparency to gain the trust of the communities we serve,” the department said in a statement, when asked specifically about these officers.
A representative for Mayor Bill de Blasio did not respond to a request for comment.
----- 6 -----
Kentucky town hires social workers instead of more officers - and the results are surprising
By David Mattingly
July 28, 2020 at 4:55 PM EDT - Updated July 29 at 7:42 PM
https://www.wave3.com/2020/07/28/kentucky-town-hires-social-workers-instead-more-officers-results-are-surprising/
ALEXANDRIA, Ky. (WAVE) - Faced with a tight budget and rising demands on its 17 officer police department, the City of Alexandria in Campbell County tried something different. Instead of hiring an additional officer and taking on the added expenses of equipping that officer, the police chief at the time hired a social worker to respond in tandem with officers.
The goal was to provide expertise and immediately connect people in crisis to needed services.
“I’m more the second responder, so the officer responds first,” police social worker Kelly Pompilio said. “There are times that I do go on scene with the officer but that’s only after it’s secured and safe for me to enter. But I try to assist the family in whatever services they need so they don’t have to, whenever they’re having a crisis, or having a situation where they need law enforcement, they don’t have to call 911.”
Pompilio is the first to work a position of her kind in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Instead of working at another agency and waiting for a referral from a police department after a crisis, Pompilio works side-by-side with officers to respond as calls come in.
“Every day is different. We have no idea what’s going to come our way,” Pompilio said. “The main calls are domestic violence, mental health and substance abuse.”
Also posted to ソ-ラ-バ-ド-のおん;
comments at Dreamwidth. Please comment there.