Thread: The US Has Become A Worse Police State Than Orwell Could Imagine

Baltimore police Officer Vincent Cosom viciously attacked Kollin Truss on June 15 after the two exchanged words. Truss was eventually arrested and charged with assaulting an officer.

"There’s a pattern here. First, these officers are stripping our clients of their dignity, their rights, then charging them with an assault that they themselves have perpetrated."

Truss’ attorneys said their client is the victim and that Cosom lied on his police report about fearing for his life when it was their client who was in danger. They also claim a police cover-up, saying charges were immediately dropped once the state’s attorney’s office saw the video.

"There was a video from the CitiWatch camera, meaning a Baltimore City police officer was manning the camera, watched the vicious assault on our client and then said absolutely nothing at all," Bates said.

Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said Cosom remained on the job for three months after the incident because there was a breakdown in communication. Batts said he didn’t find out about what happened until Truss’ attorneys made the video public in September.

But Truss’ attorneys disputed that Wednesday. ”They had the video, they had the facts, they had the officers, and they did absolutely nothing and were going to do absolutely nothing until (the video) showed on every single television”

Read the Article @
http://tinyurl.com/pdev6yx






“‘Simple rape’ shouldn’t be considered a crime,” says NOPD detective.


http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/vi...tions.cnn.html

New Orleans – Information contained in an investigative report released Wednesday shocks the conscience. The most startling case involves a New Orleans detective that handled child abuse cases closing one particular case involving a 2-year-old, that was brought to an emergency room as a sexual assault victim, without ever investigating the case even though tests confirmed the child had contracted a STD.

According to a report from CNN, Akron Davis, the detective in charge of the case involving the 2-year-old, claimed the child “did not disclose any information that would warrant a criminal investigation and closed the case.” Common sense would dictate that a child testing positive for an STD would be indicative of sexual activity, but apparently not to this detective.

The report examined the work of five detectives in the New Orleans Special Victims Unit, between the months of January 2011 through December 2013.
The investigation indicates that follow up reports on cases were only filed in 179 out of 1,290 sex crimes, with one detective going so far as to state that he believed “simple rape” shouldn’t be considered a crime.

“Simple rape” is defined as someone having sex with another person without their consent.

The report indicated that many cases of abused children and rape victims were never even investigated, with only 450 initial reports being filed out of the 1,290 calls. Detectives failed to write a report in 65 percent of the cases, classifying them as “miscellaneous,” thus leaving no possible way to even attempt to investigate these cases now.

And to add insult to injury, police officials have confirmed that the five detectives — Akron Davis, Vernon Haynes, Merrell Merricks, Derrick Williams and Damita Williams — have all been reassigned to patrol duty, and two supervisors have been transferred, though no one has yet had to face any disciplinary action.

So rather than actually punishing these officers, it seems everyday citizens will be the ones punished by having to deal with these vile miscreants working a beat.

The lack of accountability and total disregard for public safety on the part of the New Orleans Police Department is mind numbing. In total only 14 percent of cases were followed up on by the detectives.

The report called on police to fully investigate at least 271 cases that the detectives failed to investigate, according Daily Mail.
Two of the detectives are accused in the report of writing six reports on the same day in 2013 in an effort to make it look like follow up reports were done for previous cases from years past.

Police Superintendent Michael Harrison stated that he was “deeply disturbed” by the report, and said the detectives could potentially be fired and face criminal charges pending an internal investigation.

This department is no stranger to corruption, as the U.S. Department of Justice in 2012 investigated the NOPD. The investigation found massive corruption, excessive force, discrimination, and numerous issues with the sex crimes unit.

After the scathing federal investigation the city agreed to make a number of changes. A federal monitor was installed to oversee compliance of the changes, which obviously never took place judging by this latest scandal.

The extreme nature and gravity of these allegations indicate that this department has not changed and will not change. How can anyone trust an organization that allows the people they allege to protect to be brutalized without even an investigation?

The violation of the peoples’ trust, shown in this report, has to be one of the most startling cases of wholesale ineptness that this nation has ever witnessed.

---

Jay Syrmopoulos is an investigative journalist, freethinker, researcher, and ardent opponent of authoritarianism. He is currently a graduate student at University of Denver pursuing a masters in Global Affairs. Jay’s work has previously been published on BenSwann.com and WeAreChange.org. You can follow him on Twitter @sirmetropolis, on Facebook at Sir Metropolis and now on tsu.

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/two...QgeAMYcO4i6.99

The new, reverse Robin Hoods
Cops legally steal in every state



The fancy, legal term is Civil Asset Forfeiture.

The simple term is theft.

You can also call it highway robbery - for that is exactly what it is.

Cops have the legal right to seize your assets - cash, car, even your home - on the flimsiest of suspicions.

You will not be charged with a crime, but you will never see your belongings again.

Then law enforcement agencies will split up the proceeds for themselves.

Most of their victims are poor, and minorities - the perfect choice, since they have limited means to fight back.

It's as if the Sheriff of Nottingham is back. Where's Robin Hood when you need him?

===
BrasscheckTV Report
===================

Armed thugs robbing highway travelers.

They're cops and they're not looking
for drugs any more. They want cash.

Video:

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/27420.html

- Brasscheck TV

P.S. Please share Brasscheck TV with your
friends and colleagues.

Another Unarmed Man Killed by Police, After, You Guessed it, “Reaching for his Waistband”

By Cassandra Rules on December 3, 2014


Bakersfield, CA– In a tale we have heard repeated far too many times, 22-year-old Ramiro James Villegas, who went by the name James De La Rosa, was killed by jumpy police in Bakersfield after allegedly “reaching for his waistband” on November 13. Just like Dillon Taylor who was executed in August by Salt Lake City Police, Villegas was unarmed.


Villegas had just crashed his car after a high speed chase when three officers opened fire and a fourth engaged a Taser.

“The cop got out and just shot him in the head like three times,” one witness, 23 year old Salvador Gonzalez, told the Bakersfield Californian.

Gonzalez explained that Villegas had gotten out of the car with his hands outward, but downward from his sides after the crash. He stated that Villegas appeared to be unarmed, which he was.

Other witnesses claim he had put his hands up, something the officers deny.

The department of course tells a different story, claiming he had moved towards them aggressively and reached for his waistband. A likely story we have heard a thousand times before. Why are all these unarmed men always allegedly “reaching for their waistbands”?

This young man was by all accounts a good person- who took in stray dogs, loved the dodgers, and had never been in trouble with the law. He was living with his mother to insure that she made it to her doctor’s appointments, his sister told the Californian. She also was very clear he had nothing in his hands, not even a cellphone, to give the officers the impression that he was armed.

Hundreds have gathered since his death for protests and vigils, many using the “Hands Up” phrase which began with Mike Brown in Ferguson, but has grown to be a battle cry against all of the death, brutality, and corruption at the hands of police everywhere.

All four officers are currently on paid vacations.


Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/una...udIZdHb3dp6.99

All four officers are currently on paid vacations.

Vacation time again!!!!

NYPD Chokehold Cop Not Indicted in Death of Eric Garner

Nick Gillespie|Dec. 3, 2014 2:26 pm
The New York Post reports on the grand jury investigating whether New York Police Department Office Daniel Pantaleo should be indicted in the July death of Eric Garner:

A Staten Island grand jury cleared an NYPD cop Wednesday in the chokehold death of Eric Garner during his caught-on-video arrest for peddling loose cigarettes, The Post has learned.
The panel voted a “no-bill” and dismissed all potential charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo, sources said.
The blockbuster decision capped weeks of investigation by the special grand jury, which was empaneled in September specifically to review evidence in Garner’s racially charged death.
It was unclear exactly what charges prosecutors asked the grand jury to consider filing, or how the vote went.

More.
Garner was being questioned about selling loose cigarettes ("loosies") in Staten Island.
Chokeholds such as the one seen in the image are prohibited in the NYPD's rule book but are not technically illegal. While police originally claimed that the 350-lb., 43-year-old Garner died of a heart attack during the altercation, a coroner ruled the death a homicide and said the chokehold and other police actions were the cause.
Here is cell phone footage of the incident:




Nick Gillespie is the editor in chief of Reason.com and Reason TV and the co-author of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America, just out in paperback.
Follow Nick Gillespie on Twitter


http://reason.com/blog/2014/12/03/ny...icted-in-death


I brought the info here before here is the UPDATE, no charges again..Kind of getting redundant don't ya think!!!!!

No Indictment for Cop Who Killed Father of 6, Eric Garner, on Video

By Matt Agorist on December 3, 2014



New York, NY — On July 17 of this year, Officer Daniel Pantaleo of the NYPD, placed Eric Garner in a chokehold ruled illegal by the department, eventually killing the man. The entire incident was caught on video.
Today, in a devastating blow to justice, a grand jury decided not to indict Panteleo in the murder of Garner.
Pantaleo placed father of 6, Eric Garner, in a chokehold and slamm




NY1 News ✔ @NY1
Follow
Sources: Staten Island grand jury decides not to indict officer in #EricGarner Case. Tune to NY1 for the latest.
11:12 AM - 3 Dec 2014

Pantaleo placed father of 6, Eric Garner, in a chokehold and slammed his head to the pavement, piling on top of him as he gasped for air.
The continuous pleas for help were bone chilling as he was telling the cops that he couldn’t breathe.
The video went ultra viral, helping to expose the atrocious acts of the NYPD.

The world watched in horror as NYPD cops killed a man on film.

Most of us could see this violence for exactly what it was, murder. The New York City Medical Examiner’s office even released a statement ruling the official cause of death a homicide due to “compression of neck, chest and positioning during restraint by police.”

This decision not to indict will undoubtedly and justifiably be met with heavy protests.

Police in New York City actually began preparing for potential protests before the grand jury decision was announced.

“We, as you might expect, are planning accordingly,” New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Bratton did not reveal how many officers were placed out on the streets ahead of the announcement, but he said that officers have been told to walk a fine line between allowing the protesters to express their anger while keeping public order.

“If they engage in criminal activity, such as vandalism ‒ actual crime ‒ they will be arrested, quite simply,” he said. “But we have the ability to have a level of tolerance ‒ breathing room, if you will.”

Our hearts go out to Garner’s family, this decision is truly devastating.

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/ind...OzDcGCMQpUg.99

This is so sad! I don't think justice has been served when 5 police officers can choke hold an unarmed man to the point of death and not be held responsible. Seems the police have lost touch and cannot assess a situation but just react. My heart goes out to this family who has lost a dad and a husband.