Police State USA gets away with murder...again

bgkast wrote: In reply to N Sperlo: Let's outfit you with some riot gear, body armor and an assault rifle courtesy of the feds so you can more effectively fight "the war on drugs" and see if you change your opinion.

FTFY

aircooled wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I'm going to add a fake front door with a lubed up sliding board in hole in the floor that leads to a cell under the house. When they calm down and explain what they want... I'll let them out of the honeypot.

That's pretty funny. I can imagine they would come up with all sorts of charges for that though. Or maybe just civil suits? Kind of like the traps the business set, then got sued by the robber robbing them.

Hmmm... I suppose I'd need a way to empty the trap quickly if they didn't seem cooperative before the next bunch show up. Adding sliding wall + wood chipper to blue prints...

Here is another atrocity. Reported by http://www.policemisconduct.net/

The worst police misconduct incident for January was the case of a Boiling Springs Lake, NC officer who callously shot a 90-pound, mentally-ill teenager while two other officers held the teen down. Keith Vidal’s parents called the police because their son was having a schizophrenic episode and they needed assistance subduing him. Keith had a small screwdriver in his hand when the first police unit arrived. The officers tased Keith and were holding him down when an officer from the second unit, which had arrived about a minute later, shot between the two officers holding Keith down, saying, “We don’t have time for this.” The officer claimed he was defending the life of one of the officers holding Keith down because Keith still had the tiny screwdriver in his hand. The family had recently lost a daughter in a car accident, and now had to watch their son die in front of them, shot heartlessly by one of the very people they had called for help.

pilotbraden wrote: Here is another atrocity. Reported by http://www.policemisconduct.net/ The worst police misconduct incident for January was the case of a Boiling Springs Lake, NC officer who callously shot a 90-pound, mentally-ill teenager while two other officers held the teen down. Keith Vidal’s parents called the police because their son was having a schizophrenic episode and they needed assistance subduing him. Keith had a small screwdriver in his hand when the first police unit arrived. The officers tased Keith and were holding him down when an officer from the second unit, which had arrived about a minute later, shot between the two officers holding Keith down, saying, “We don’t have time for this.” The officer claimed he was defending the life of one of the officers holding Keith down because Keith still had the tiny screwdriver in his hand. The family had recently lost a daughter in a car accident, and now had to watch their son die in front of them, shot heartlessly by one of the very people they had called for help.

Holy crap.

tuna55 wrote:

pilotbraden wrote: Here is another atrocity. Reported by http://www.policemisconduct.net/ The worst police misconduct incident for January was the case of a Boiling Springs Lake, NC officer who callously shot a 90-pound, mentally-ill teenager while two other officers held the teen down. Keith Vidal’s parents called the police because their son was having a schizophrenic episode and they needed assistance subduing him. Keith had a small screwdriver in his hand when the first police unit arrived. The officers tased Keith and were holding him down when an officer from the second unit, which had arrived about a minute later, shot between the two officers holding Keith down, saying, “We don’t have time for this.” The officer claimed he was defending the life of one of the officers holding Keith down because Keith still had the tiny screwdriver in his hand. The family had recently lost a daughter in a car accident, and now had to watch their son die in front of them, shot heartlessly by one of the very people they had called for help.

Holy crap.

Go read through the thread I posted earlier, it's truly disturbing what police officers are getting away with.

REMEMBER, these are only isolated incidents. There is nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.

in NC, we have a training for officers called CIT. Crisis Intervention Training. this is specifically designed to teach officers about how to deal with the mentally ill in crisis. i know cabarrus county and stanly county are using it. i also know its not enough.

as a mental health clinician, this thread appals and shocks me, as well as angers me to a point i have not been at in years. the mentally ill are getting E36 M3 on from every angle. budget cuts, state hospitals closing, no benifits, not being able to be involuntarily commited when necessary prior to suicidal/homicidal ideations, stigma, public discrimination, and fear. just sickens and angers me.

i need to stay out of the off topic forum.

All I can say is this: the cops who were called several times during my schizophrenic ex's last meltdown before we split for good handled the entire thing with great professionalism and empathy. Given the way she was acting, they probably would have been well within bounds to forcibly subdue her, yet they did not. Ths wasn't just the local PD located a stone's throw from my house, this also includes the city and county police during two rather interesting chase scenes.

Funny how that didn't make the national news, I guess it wasn't 'man bites dog' enough to generate big reader numbers and ratings. So forgive me if, when I see these kinds of stories reported, I take them for what they are: a small percentage of the overall interactions between civilians and cops. It does not excuse these type incidents, but they are nowhere near as common as people seem to think.

If you don't want to forgive me, no biggie; could not care less. I'll continue to appreciate the vast majority of cops for the rough job they have of cleaning up our messes.

I will give you the 99 percent that are good cops should be commended for their service. The 1 percent that abuse the authority that my tax dollars pay for should face the most SEVERE penalties the "Justice" system has to offer. My opinion fwiw.

In all honesty, I don't even think it's the percentage of police doing this that bothers most of us. It's the lack of punishment seen across the board when they do. If a civilian did these things, the outcry for their head on a plate would be crazy. But when an officer of the law does it, it's swept under teh rub and poo-poo'd as an "isolated incident".

TRoglodyte wrote: I will give you the 99 percent that are good cops should be commended for their service. The 1 percent that abuse the authority that my tax dollars pay for should face the most SEVERE penalties the "Justice" system has to offer. My opinion fwiw.

the only real problem is that they DON'T face the severe penalties … or maybe the news stations don't follow up

Bobzilla wrote: In all honesty, I don't even think it's the percentage of police doing this that bothers most of us. It's the lack of punishment seen across the board when they do. If a civilian did these things, the outcry for their head on a plate would be crazy. But when an officer of the law does it, it's swept under teh rub and poo-poo'd as an "isolated incident".

When civilians do it, it's called 'beating the rap', it generally involves a slimy lawyer a lot of money and high fives all around.

In The Eagle (Central Texas): http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/article_bad8779e-2f99-5ecf-bcb9-9f337c936b28.html

Accused shooter in death of Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Sowders will not face murder charge By ANDREA SALAZAR andrea.salazar@theeagle.com | Posted: Friday, February 7, 2014 12:00 am The man accused of shooting and killing a Burleson County Sheriff's deputy won't be indicted on capital murder. After 10 hours of testimony, a Burleson County Grand Jury on Wednesday returned a "no bill" on the capital murder charge against 28-year-old Henry "Hank" Magee but did indict him on a charge of possession of marijuana while in possession of a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison. Dick DeGuerin, Magee's attorney, said he was encouraged by the grand jury's decision to drop the charge, especially in a tight-knit community that had just lost an officer. "It was a tragic accident, but it wasn't a crime," DeGuerin said, adding that Magee acted in self-defense, thinking the deputy was a burglar. "Hank did what a lot of people would have done under the circumstances," DeGuerin said. "When awakened by a loud boom and somebody's kicking in the door, they defend themselves." Magee has been at the Washington County Jail since he was charged with the shooting death of 31-year-old Sgt. Investigator Adam Sowders on Dec. 19. Before 6 a.m. that morning, Sowders and a team of deputies served a "no-knock" search warrant at Magee's home on County Road 278 near Snook, where Sowders was shot and killed upon entry. The deputies had been looking for marijuana plants and possible stolen weapons based on a tip they received from a jailed informant, according to the affidavit for the warrant signed by Sowders and District Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett. Burleson County District Attorney Julie Renken presented the evidence to the grand jury but did not offer a recommendation on the capital murder or drug charge. "It's a tragic situation," she said in a phone interview. "The sheriff's office was doing their job and did not do anything illegal. It was a matter of not enough evidence to think Magee knew it was a peace officer entering his home." Renken will, however, "fully prosecute" the drug charge against Magee, noting that the deputies "would not have been there that day if Mr. Magee had not decided to live a lifestyle of doing and producing illegal drugs in his home." The search warrant returns listed two marijuana plants in planters and eight marijuana plants under grow lights as some of the property seized from Magee's home but did not include their height. DeGuerin described them as two six-inch plants and some seedlings, while Renken said Magee had a growing operation of hydroponic marijuana producing between 4 ounces and 5 pounds of the drug. "This didn't have to happen," DeGuerin said. "There was no real justification for handling the search warrant in the way it was handled. It could have been easily done by knocking on the front door during broad daylight. The alternative would've been to wait till Hank drove to the store or to work. No reason to go in like an invading army and bust down the door." Renken, however, said the deputies who testified before the grand jury agreed that they had identified themselves as law enforcement, "but the announcement and the shooting happened so quickly that we cannot say that Magee heard them." While the incident last December won't end the use of "no-knocks" in Burleson County, Renken said requests for such warrants will now go through her desk before heading to a judge. Search warrant requests in Washington and Burleson counties are typically sent to the district attorney's office, where assistant district attorneys sign off on them as per the request of the district judges, Renken said. Burleson County Sheriff Dale Stroud did not return calls for comment. Magee's bond was reduced from $1 million to $50,000 on Thursday.

My Lord! Knocking down the door with guns drawn for a small-time weed bust? Seems our tax $$ could be spent better elsewhere.

In reply to Joe Gearin:

But then the private prison industry and half the DEA would collapse.