CALUMET CITY, Ill. (CBS) — Police in Calumet City were defending their actions Wednesday after officers shot and killed a 15-year-old boy, who has a form of autism, after he threatened them with a knife.
Stephon Watts’ family said he suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome — a high-functioning form of autism — and attention deficit disorder...[Full Article]
A pattern of verbal abuse and death or physical threats was too much for the city to overlook when deciding to fire Patrolman Daniel Harless, according to the safety director.
Safety Director Thomas Ream issued the ruling Tuesday and released the three-page report explaining it Wednesday.
The internal affairs division of the Police Department had investigated three traffic stops involving Harless, each one filmed by a cruiser dash camera. Investigators said that the officer had violated rules for conduct, cooperation with the public and handling persons.
The most controversial and publicized was a traffic stop in June involving a man with a permit to carry a concealed handgun.
During the June stop, Harless told William Bartlett, 52, of Brewster, that “as soon as I felt your gun, I should have took two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put 10 bullets in your ass and let your drop. And I wouldn’t have lost any sleep. Do you understand me?”
Also during the stop, Harless, then 45, told Bartlett that he was “so close to caving in (Bartlett’s) head.”
The traffic stop occurred around 1:40 a.m. in the 100 block of Newton Avenue NW.
In November, a municipal court judge threw out a concealed carry charge against Bartlett. He pleaded no contest to a traffic violation — stopping in the roadway — and was fined $150.
“I believe justice was served,” Bartlett said Wednesday. “I really don’t know what to say. I’m glad to see it went that way.
“I’m ready just to get back to a normal life,” he said.
When pulled over by Harless and the patrolman’s partner, Bartlett was armed with a .38-caliber Ruger pistol, which he was permitted to carry under state law.
“It is quite clear that (Harless’) actions represented a pattern of behavior where inappropriate verbal abuse and threats of death or great bodily harm of the various complainants occurred,” Ream wrote in his ruling.
“This escalating pattern of potentially dangerous behavior cannot be justified or excused and clearly illustrates the seriousness of the departmental infractions,” he added.
NO CRIMINAL CHARGES
The city law department asked the Massillon prosecutor’s office to determine whether Harless’ actions warranted criminal charges. John Simpson, chief prosecutor for the city of Massillon, said that he reviewed state law for menacing, aggravated menacing and assault, but there was insufficient evidence to support any charges.
“I’m not condoning anything the officer did, because (it’s) totally inappropriate,” he said.
Simpson said he examined the question of whether “a threat (is) being made when you say, ‘I should have’ or ‘I should do this,’ but (Harless does not) fulfill any of those.”
When considering the criminal charges, Simpson said, the prosecutor’s office determined Harless did not attempt to cause physical harm by touching or assaulting Bartlett.
‘WE’RE VERY PLEASED’
Harless plans to appeal the decision, said Bill Adams, president of the Canton Police Patrolmen’s Association, the union that represents Harless. An arbitrator would make a final decision in an appeal, Adams said.
Harless could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The June traffic stop drew a wave of negative attention for the city after it captured the attention of Ohioans for Concealed Carry, which posted the video online.
In the footage, Harless unleashes a flurry of profanities at Bartlett, the driver, shouting he should have gunned him down for being stupid.
The police department’s internal affairs division launched an investigation, examining Harless’ behavior during the June 8 arrest and two unrelated traffic stops, which occurred in 2010.
“Well obviously, we’re very pleased,” said Doug Deeken, a coordinator for Ohioans for Concealed Carry, which describes itself as “Ohio’s premier grass-roots gun rights organization.”
“Without him being out there pulling people over, we feel like Canton will be a (safer) place and that’s what we want,” Deeken said Wednesday.
He called the dismissal of the concealed carry charge against Bartlett “another victory.”...[Full Article]
Antonio Buehler, 34, was stopping for gas on his way home early Sunday morning when he and his friend heard a woman scream. “We look over, and we see the cop violently yanking the female out of the car,” Buehler told KVUE. As seen on the video -- taken by a cell phone from across the street -- the woman had her hands pulled straight out behind her back. Buehler said, “It just looked extremely painful.”
Buehler began taking pictures of the scene, which caught the attention of the officers. Officer Oborski approached Buehler and accused him of interfering with the investigation before pushing him into the white truck seen on the video. Buehler was then taken to the BAT (Breath Alcohol Test) bus and asked to take a breathalyzer. Buehler was the designated driver that morning and had not been drinking...[Full Article]
Witnesses say police officers tackled a grandfather at an Arizona Wal-Mart Friday, leaving him bloody and unconscious.
The video game section of the Buckeye store got a little rowdy when people started trying to tear open boxes of games, and one woman got punched.
After one man’s grandson got trampled, he put the video game he was holding in his waistband in order to free up his hands and lift the boy out of the crowd, according to KSAZ.
That’s when cops moved in, slamming the grandfather’s head on the hard Wal-Mart floor. The aftermath was caught on cell phone video.
“Are you sure that was necessary for shoplifting?” one customer asked as the cops cuffed the unconscious man, his head lying in a pool of blood.
“You done knocked the motherfucker out,” another shopper said. “That’s your goddamn job.”
As an officer rolled the man over, it became obvious that he was out cold. Another officer quickly found that more than paper towels were needed to clean up the mess.
“They grabbed the guy, body planted him into the ground — face shatters on concrete,” shopper Skyler Stone told KSAZ. “That’s a hard concrete floor inside Walmart.”
“All of a sudden, you see this little boy run up and wailing and yelling, ‘Grandpa, Grandpa,’ and crying his eyes out,” Stone added...[Full Article]
Two days before Brett Elder’s sixteenth birthday, Bay City Police tased the 15 year old to death.
This is how on March 22, 2009 police reacted to a dispute between Elder and another individual. On that Michigan morning, the boy was inebriated, and according to the officers involved, he alledgedly attempted to fight them, leading an officer to use his Taser. One witness, however, said Elder had already been cuffed by the officers when the cop fired-off the weapon.
"He was flopping around and looked like a fish out of water," Cindy Hernden told Tom Eley of World Socialist Web Site back in 2009. "That's the only way to explain it — his whole body was bent over," Elder’s aunt went on to say.
The boy later died at a local hospital.
The results of an autopsy showed Elder died of “alcohol-induced excited delirium,” along with the “application of an electro-muscular disruption device.”
Earlier this month Elder’s family got some closure for the wrongful death when a federal judge ruled on a $1 million settlement. Eugene E. Elder Sr., Brett’s father, filed the lawsuit back in 2009 and stated that “there’s no reason for killing my boy.”
Members of Brett’s family admitted at the time he was trying to cope with the loss of his mother and was going through rehab for substance abuse. Although the loss of his mother isn’t an excuse, his family says that being drunk was no reason for Elder to die. Wendy Elder, Brett’s sister-in-law, told the media "the police are supposed to protect you, not hurt you."
The officer that fired the Taser was placed on administrative leave but no criminal charges were ever filed against the officer.
After the settlement, Eugene Elder Jr. declined to comment.
According to Truth… not Tasers, a website which is against Taser use, there has been approximately 682 related deaths in North America and Elder maybe the youngest person to have died from an electro-muscular disruption device.
CANTON —The police department is investigating a second incident involving an officer already under scrutiny for his conduct during the arrest of a man with a gun.
The circumstances of the incidents differ: One, from June, involves a driver with a license to carry a concealed gun. The other, from July of last year, concerns a backseat passenger without the legal right to be armed in a vehicle.
But they both include video of patrolman Daniel Harless using profanity and threats during an early morning traffic stop.
Police Chief Dean McKimm said he will review the results of both investigations and forward them to the safety director as one package because of the related subject matter. The chief expected to have the necessary information in a couple of weeks.
Harless, a 14-year department veteran, remains on sick leave...[Full Article] Rogue Cop Under Investigation For Second Incidient
This incident happened on Christmas in South Bend Indiana where a man was unconscious or asleep in his vehicle and was approached and harassed by 3 goon cops who basically threaten to shoot him for not responding to them knocking on his car window. He is then tasered and assaulted by these criminals and had to be taken to the hospital for his injuries. To make matters worse, he is then charged with 3 counts of battery on police officers and for "resisting arrest". Thanks to http://www.youtube.com/user/UrbanWarfareChannel for the video and info.
Canton, Ohio police officer Daniel Harless has been placed on administrative leave following the release of dash cam video that showed him threatening the life of a driver who did not immediately provide notification of having a conceal weapons permit.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry, who released the video, said that William Bartlett made two attempts to notify the officer but was told not to speak.
“I have a carry…,” Bartlett began before being asked for his license.
“Why do you keep having that? What is that?” Harless asked about the concealed carry card Bartlett was trying to show him.
“Because I have a concealed carry,” Bartlett explained.
“Right now, the shit you just pulled, I should just blast you right in the mouth… I’m so close to caving in your god damn head…You fuck with me…You’re just a stupid human being,” Harless shouted.
“You want me to pull mine and stick it to your head?”
“I tell you what I should’ve done,” Harless later told Bartlett. “As soon as I saw your gun, I should have taken two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put 10 bullets in your ass and let you drop. And I wouldn’t have lost any sleep.”...[Full Article]
CANTON — Patrolman Daniel Harless raged at the man in handcuffs.
WARNING: This video was obtained through a public records request. It contains harsh language and may be considered offensive to some viewers.
Minutes earlier, William E. Bartlett had told police he had a license to carry a concealed gun and was armed.
“As soon as I felt your gun I should have took two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put 10 bullets in your ass and let you drop. And I wouldn’t have lost any sleep,” Harless shouted. “Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir, I do,” replied Bartlett, still sounding calm.
The dashboard camera in the patrolman’s cruiser recorded the June 8 traffic stop, and the video went viral Thursday after being posted on the website of Ohioans For Concealed Carry and YouTube.
“I think it’s important for citizens to understand that the behavior demonstrated on the video is wholly unacceptable, and it violates many of our rules, our regulations and standards we demand of our officers,” Police Chief Dean McKimm said in response.
Harless, a 14-year department veteran, is under investigation, and was placed on paid administrative leave June 20, according to his personnel file.
He has been on sick leave since Monday, and the results of the internal affairs investigation will be presented at a disciplinary hearing, the chief said.
“The city administration, in conjunction with the police department, recognizes the seriousness of this matter,” McKimm said...[Full Article]
Dayton police tasered, pepper-sprayed and beat a mentally handicapped teen and then charged him with assault. What did the disabled boy do to deserve this onslaught? The police officer “mistook” his speech impediment for a sign of “disrespect”.
17-year-old mentally handicapped teen Jesse Kersey found this out to his cost while riding his bicycle near his Dayton home recently, after Officer Willie Hooper attempted to stop and talk to the boy.
Failing to understand what Hooper was telling him, the boy attempted to ride home and fetch his mother to be able to communicate with the officer. Despite the fact that Hooper knew the boy was mentally disabled, he began yelling at Kersey and then threatened a neighbor who tried to inform him of the boy’s handicap, telling the resident he would be arrested if he didn’t go back indoors.
“Once inside the house, defendant Hooper and defendant Howard began to struggle with Jesse, who was standing against the back door with his hands up in front of his face, saying ‘Please quit, please quit.’
“On numerous occasions, Ford and a family friend, Christopher Peyton, informed Officer Hooper that Jesse was mentally challenged/handicapped, and that Jesse did not understand what was happening,” the complaint states.
But the mom says the cops continued their assault: “Officer Howard utilized his Cap-Stun pepper spray and sprayed Jesse … [and] struck Jesse with a closed fist in the upper chest area.”
Howard continued to beat Kersey, striking him in the upper thigh, before back-up was called and 20 other officers from different jurisdictions arrived on the scene. Apparently, tough guys Hooper and Howard, who like to prove their manhood by beating up mentally handicapped boys, couldn’t handle the situation on their own.
“At no point, even after being advised of Jesse’s mental challenge/handicap by Jesse’s family and numerous bystanders, did defendant Hooper, defendant Howard, or any other police officer present, attempt to communicate with Jesse or explain in terms he could understand as to why Jesse was being chased,” said Kersey’s mother.
The boy was subsequently handcuffed, hogtied, and thrown into the back of a police cruiser.
Of course, as is standard operating procedure for police after they beat and torture innocent and defenseless victims, Kersey himself was charged with “assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, and obstructing official business,” charges which were later dismissed after the court declared Jesse incompetent.
Kersey and his mother are now seeking compensation from the city and the two lead officers for “false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, assault, battery, excessive use of force, infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy”.
As we have documented, there is an epidemic of police brutality that has exploded over the last decade which seems to be targeted against the most vulnerable members of society.
What has happened to our police officers? They are being trained to oppress and abuse the public as America sinks into a decaying banana republic. There seems to have developed a particular fetish amongst a cadre of steroid-addled cops that dictates they must satisfy their lust for abusing power by attacking defenseless individuals, particularly the elderly and disabled.
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show.
PITTSBURGH -- A Bellevue family said it’s suing the FBI after agents mistakenly entered their home with guns drawn looking for a suspect who wasn’t there.
Attorney Tim O’Brien said 12 officers, including members of the FBI, entered the home with assault rifles in March looking for a woman who had moved out two years earlier and who was not related to the family currently living there., the Adamses.
Grandmother Denise Adams said she fell to the floor when agents entered her home.
“They had all these red dots everywhere … on the floor, on my face, on my chest. I was scared I was going to get shot,” she said.
There were also children inside the home at the time.
Less than a year after going behind bars, the San Francisco, California police officer convicted of killing an unarmed man from point-blank range has been released from prison.
Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Officer Johannes Mehserle was sentenced in July 2010 for involuntary manslaughter after fatally shooting 22-year-old Oscar Grant on an Oakland train platform on New Year’s Day 2009. At 12:01 Monday morning, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said he was freed.
Mehserle claims he mistook his gun for his Taser when he fired a shot at Grant, who lay facedown at the train station. Hundreds of protesters rallied against Mehserle’s sentencing of only two years back in July. Around 200 marchers gathered peacefully on Sunday night to show their dismay over the officer’s release. Mehserle served only 11 months of his two year sentence...[Full Article]
PELHAM, N.H. (CBS) - Pelham police say they were justified in using a Taser several times on a cow, despite a complaint from its owner.
Last Saturday, one of Wendy Bordeleau’s two cows got loose from her 30-acre farm.
About a dozen people were trying to coral 800-pound Houdini across busy Mammoth Road when police showed up with their tasers.
“They said ‘We’re going to tase her, we’re going to taser it,’ and the group was pleading with them. Everyone was kinda yelling, ‘Please don’t taser the cow, it’s only going to make it worse,” she told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
Houdini was zapped at least four times...[Full Article]
Guerena’s wife, Vanessa, heard a noise outside the couple’s home near Tucson at about 9 a.m. Jose, who had just gone to bed after pulling a 12-hour shift at the Asarco Mine, suspected — correctly, as it turned out — that his family was threatened by an armed criminal gang. Grabbing his AR-15, Guerena instructed his wife and four-year-old son to hide in the closet while he confronted the intruders. According to Mrs. Guerena, the stormtroopers from the Pima County Regional SWAT team never identified themselves as police; they simply stormed into the home and started shooting...[Full Article]
Jose’s wife Vanessa called 911 after seeing a knot of armed men approaching her home. She insists that the assailants never identified themselves as police. After waking up her husband — who had just finished the graveyard shift at a local mine — Vanessa hid in a closet with their four-year-old son. Jose grabbed his AR-15 and confronted the invaders, who burst through the door and started shooting. The intruders fired a total of 71 shots. The assailants initially claimed that Jose had fired on them — an entirely appropriate response to a criminal invasion of his home — but later admitted that the husband and father was killed before he could pull the trigger.
After the fatal fusillade, Vanessa pleaded with the SWAT team to call for medical assistance; rather than doing so, they held help at bay until their victim was dead, supposedly in the interest of “security.”...[Full Article]
SWAT Kills Decorated Marine, Jose Guerena - Tucson, Pima County, Arizona
TUCSON, Arizona - A decorated Marine's family cannot believe their loved one, who served two tours of duty overseas, is gone. They never expected him to die here at home at the hands of law enforcement. A Pima County Sheriff's Department SWAT team shot and killed Jose Guerena eight days ago; it was executing a search warrant. Four days ago, in a news conference, a sheriff's deputy said the department makes it clear when SWAT is about to enter a home. Lt. Michael O'Connor says SWAT says it never wants to be mistaken for other people, "We had our large armored vehicle there with the markings on it. It also has lights and sirens. It was going. So we do everything we can to try to portray the image that we're law enforcement, we're not home invaders." But, Guerena's wife, Vanessa, who hid in the closet with her youngest son while 71 rounds were fired her husband's direction, said she heard nothing. At any point did you hear them yell, 'police" or 'SWAT'?" KGUN9 asked. "No, no!" answered Guerena. A neighbor who heard the shooting corroborates the wife's account, "The only sirens I heard out here were like maybe 20-30 minutes into the entire ordeal," said David Watson. Watson is very familiar with gunfire and stressful situations; he's a Vietnam combat veteran, "I want to make this as clear as possible: you only heard the announcements after you heard the gunfire?" asked KGUN9 reporter Joel Waldman. Watson quickly answered, "Yes!" Raising questions about this assertion: "This was not a "no knock" warrant. We come in very high profile with lights and sirens. We go to the door. We pound on the door. We wait 15 seconds, and, then, we breach the door with a heavy tool and open the door," explained O'Connor. SWAT also entered Guerena's neighbor's house. "When I came home, the whole house was searched. All the doors were open. And, (our house) was searched through; it was like an invasion of privacy," said Carissa Franco. SWAT says it was concerned about a hole in the Franco's home, worried someone else could've been wounded. So, it said it did what they needed to get inside. Pima County released a statement about that breach, saying in part, "The Regional SWAT Team made entry into two additional residences very soon after the deadly force encounter. This was done in order to ensure that there were no injured persons in those residences as a result of the shooting. These entries were made without warrants due to the exigency of the circumstances. No one was home at either residence when entry was made.
Over the last few weeks, “beat downs” in public eateries have become common. Now the cops have joined in, as a cellphone video from Atlanta posted on YouTube reveals.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution notes that it is not clear what events preceded the capture of an off-duty cop slugging a woman in the face. It appears he was attempting to either arrest or subdue a patron before he hauled off and slugged a second woman in the face. The cop was working at the restaurant as a security guard.
“The Atlanta Police Department is aware of the incident that took place early Sunday morning involving one of its officers attempting to arrest a patron at an IHOP in Buckhead,” APD told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. “The matter has been referred to our Office of Professional Standards to determine whether department policies and procedures were followed. Further comment at this time would not be appropriate.”
Violent cops assaulting men, women, and children has become an all too common and ugly feature of our society over the last few years. It is alarming that the recent videos reveal the increasing violence of young women.
Earlier this week, we were subjected to a video of a “transgender” person getting walloped at a McDonald’s in Maryland. Other violent incidents have surfaced lately, including a 2010 video of a woman who punched through a McDonald’s drive-through window because she couldn’t get Chicken McNuggets.
When Mitchell Crooks checked out of the county jail last month and checked into a Las Vegas hospital, the 36-year-old videographer knew he had a fight on his hands.
His face was bloodied and bruised. His $3,500 camera had been impounded by police, and he faced criminal charges for battery on a police officer.
One month later, things have changed for Crooks.
The Clark County district attorney's office has dropped all charges, and Crooks has retained an attorney of his own. The Metropolitan Police Department has opened an internal investigation into the Las Vegas police officer, Derek Colling, who Crooks says falsely arrested and beat him for filming police.
And his camera -- which captured the entire March 20 altercation between Crooks and Colling -- has been returned...[Full Article]
