Archive for the 'Police' Category

Fox News:

Authorities plan an investigation after a video posted on Facebook on Thursday showed a Kentucky police officer’s rifle leaning up against a car unattended as a student walks past.

“It is unfortunate that this accident happened, but we as police officers are human and do make mistakes,” Dayton, Ky., police Chief David Halfhill said in a statement Thursday, Cincinnati.com reported. “We hold our police officers to a higher standard and be assured that this mistake will be fully investigated.”

Multiple officers can be seen in the video engaging with a suspect on the opposite side of the street, while what appears to be a rifle rests against a parked car. At one point, a student walks by the weapon but doesn’t seem to notice.

One police officer then walks a person down the street, while two other officers walk the opposite way with a person of their own – the weapon still left alone.

It’s not until a voice can be heard in the video yelling, “there’s an assault rifle left unattended,” that an officer saunters over to reclaim the gun and take it back to his patrol car.

Ha.  I hate it when that happens to me.  I remember the last time I laid one of my guns out on the sidewalk in my little town, and later when I went to pick it up the cops talked to me about the Youth Handgun Safety Act.  We all laughed and laughed and laughed.

I told them I just did it for fun and they understood, but said they expect better of me and will “fully investigate” if it ever happens again.

KUTV.com:

Sarah Gray had a rude awakening. It was the middle of the night when the Ogden Metro Swat Unit blew out her back window and began yelling.

“I was just dead asleep and hear a big crash,” she said. “All I hear is them yelling, ‘Search warrant! Identify yourself!”

Turns out, oops, SWAT was at the wrong house.

Sarah says the officers apologized and promised the window would be fixed. But three weeks went by and Sarah’s window is still broken.

“I can’t keep paying a high heat bill,” she said. “I might as well just light money on fire.”

Sarah says she called the city for answers, but can’t seem to get any.

“I want a window. I just want them to correct the mistake, that’s it. I’m not out for vengeance or anything like that.”

Upon investigation, Get Gephardt learned that the mistake is the financial responsibility of the Weber County attorney’s office.

In a statement, Weber County Attorney Christopher Allred wrote that there was a “miscommunication” between Sarah and his office. He claims it took “a couple of weeks” for the window to be made, and when it was ready to install, they attempted to call Sarah, but allege that they were calling the “wrong number.”

But just like that, they found the right number, and just one day later, Sarah had a new window installed.

Wrong home, then wrong phone number.  So what if the home owner had deployed a weapon in self defense?  They would surely be charged with a crime.  But “warrant, identify yourself” isn’t something to hang your hat on.  Criminals do this all the time.  In fact, the police do it all the time, so I’m being redundant.

Why do I say that the Ogden, Utah, police department conducts yet another wrong-home raid?  Because they have a rich history of getting things wrong.  They’ve done it before.

But it’s okay, because they are heroes of the community, there to “protect and serve” its citizens.

John K. Ross:

Cleveland police officer: I shot suspect, killing him, after he declined to get out of car, reached for gun. Witnesses: The suspect was kneeling on the ground with his hands up when the officer shot him in the back of the head. Jury: Excessive force. District court: Pay $4 mil. Sixth Circuit: Affirmed. (The officer is still on the force.)

Protecting and serving the shit out of people.

Washington Post:

A veteran police officer who used his gun to try to smash a window wound up shooting an unarmed driver in a Montgomery County parking lot when the weapon accidentally went off, police officials said Tuesday.

The driver survived the Nov. 5 shooting.

The officer, Todd Archer, will not be criminally charged, according to authorities, but he remains under administrative investigation by the Montgomery Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division.

“Questions remain as to why a firearm was used to try to break the glass, and why the firearm discharged,” the Montgomery department said in a statement.

Archer, who has been an officer for 10 years with the Montgomery force, remains on paid administrative leave. Officials have not identified the man who was shot. They are arranging to have him, his family and their representatives view a video recording of the shooting captured by Archer’s body-worn camera.

Montgomery Police Chief J. Thomas Manger has reviewed the video. “I don’t believe the officer intended to shoot this man,” Manger said, but added that “a number of questions remain about what happened.”

Morgan Blackledge, an attorney for Archer, said her client rendered aid to the SUV driver immediately after the gunshot. But she declined Tuesday to speak in detail about the case until the administrative investigation is complete.

“All I can say is that Officer Archer is a dedicated member of the Montgomery County Police Department and will continue to serve the citizens of Montgomery County,” Blackledge said.

Chuck Drago, a national expert on police use of force, said that, in general, officers should not use guns to smash windows.

“A gun isn’t a tool for hitting or banging or ramming. It’s designed for one thing, to shoot a bullet,” he said.

One particular concern, he said, is that when someone uses a gun to strike something, there is a reflexive reaction: “You tend to clench your fist, which includes your trigger finger,” Drago said.

Hmm … an expert on the use of police force.  Expert.  I’m glad they could find a self proclaimed expert on the use of police force to tell them that this was stupid.  And I’m glad they could find someone to tell them about sympathetic muscle reflexes.  It’s a shame no one else has ever said anything about this before.

What the hell was this guy doing beating on a window to begin with?  The glass could break and blind the person inside.  If he was going to beat on the window, what the hell was he doing using his gun for this task?

Well, at least the dedicated and highly trained cop won’t lose his job.  We’d hate to have to replace someone so qualified as him.

I usually try to leave commenters alone, both on this web site and others.  Occasionally one surfaces that warrants a reply.  David Codrea linked my piece on the continued shootings by cop in Wichita, and this comment was proffered by FedUp.

Smith frequently makes the mistake of presuming the facts of any matter are exactly what the LEOs say they are.

Like this:

Second, the officer went into the domicile with the dog unsecured. The dog did what he’s supposed to do, what he is bred to do, and what he is expected to do. He defended the home from invaders.

Who, besides the shooter, says the dog did a damn thing?

Frequently, says he.  Frequently.  This comment does raise interesting questions on how you formulate good arguments though.

First of all, it’s my intention not only to convey my own thoughts, but to do so in a manner that causes you to think, as well as ponder how you might engage people in conversation on these matters in a manner that is compelling.

It’s rarely wise to concede any point.  So for instance, while I once argued for open carry by simply saying that I hate concealed carry because it’s uncomfortable and it sweats my weapon (and all of that is still true), I now add to it by saying that I open carry “For the peace, good and dignity of the country and the welfare of its people.”  After serious thought about it and being persuaded by other writers, I don’t want to concede the point that the only reason I open carry is because I hate concealed carry.  There are other very legitimate reasons to open carry, the First Amendment being one of them.

I’ve argued in a similar manner with mental health and gun ownership.  Mental health doesn’t have any bearing at all on disposition to violence as we’ve seen from mental health professionals.  But I’m unwilling to concede the point that if it could somehow be proven that it does, I’m willing to use mental health assessments as criteria for gun ownership.

Likewise, in the subject article on the Wichita police home invasion, I wanted to point out two things.  Let’s first assume that the cop is telling the truth since the shooting was what happened chronologically first.  Let’s assume that the dog attacked him.  I’m unwilling to concede the point that the cop was justified in shooting at the dog if the dog attacked him.  That’s why I said he should have taken the bite.  He was a goober for not asking that the dog be secured before entering the home, and thus he should have suffered the consequences for his stupid decisions.  I will not concede that it is justified for cops to shoot dogs.

Only then did I address the possibility that the cop was lying, when I said this: “Finally, it seems questionable to me how much danger he was in anyway, since apparently there was no bite forthcoming.  The report doesn’t say that the officer was taken the hospital to suture wounds.  Remember, he missed.  What happened to that threatening dog?”

The cop probably panicked, and carelessly deployed and discharged his weapon.  He shouldn’t be a cop.  He doesn’t have the disposition for it, and he was likely never in the danger he said he was.

Capisce?  Is that clear enough now?  There is a method to my argument[s], and it’s usually set up the way it is in order to prevent having to concede important points.

But then again, I try to write on something other than a fifth grade level anyway.  I want my readers to have to think when they read my prose.  Perhaps this will help FedUp.

Not long after the unnecessary and criminal shooting of Mr. Andrew Finch in his own home by a Wichita cop, and about the same time that the mother of Mr. Finch appealed to the city because the police won’t even release her son’s body to her for burial, there is yet another shooting in Wichita (via reader TK).

A Wichita police officer was placed on administrative leave after a girl was injured when the officer tried to shoot a dog inside a home on Saturday.

The officer tried to shoot a dog that charged at him while in a home in the 1500 block of North Gentry, near 13th and Hillside, at around 6:15 p.m., Officer Paul Cruz said in a statement. The shot missed the dog, the round broke into fragments when it hit a hard floor, and a piece of fragment ricocheted and hit a 9-year-old girl in the forehead just above her right eye.

The girl was treated and released from a local hospital that night.

Officers were responding to a 911 call of a domestic dispute and suicidal person with a gun, and they were told a 33-year-old man in the home had held a gun in his mouth and choked a dog, the statement said.

So we have here a number of very serious errors.  First of all, the family apparently called the cops.  Only bad things can happen when you call the cops.  Second, the officer went into the domicile with the dog unsecured.  The dog did what he’s supposed to do, what he is bred to do, and what he is expected to do.  He defended the home from invaders.

Third, the officer didn’t maintain awareness of his backstop.  He violated one of the most basic rules of gun safety because he probably panicked.  Rather than take a chance that he kill innocent people, he should have taken the bite to the arm that was sure to come unless he has very good verbal command skills and depending upon the breed of dog.

Finally, it seems questionable to me how much danger he was in anyway, since apparently there was no bite forthcoming.  The report doesn’t say that the officer was taken the hospital to suture wounds.  Remember, he missed.  What happened to that threatening dog?  No, the only person who was injured was a little girl who should have been safe in her own home.

Next up we have an example David Codrea brought up and a reader sent to me.  A grandfather was shot by police because they (gasp) thought they saw him in his own home with a firearm.

Rossville, GA – A family is heartbroken after their grandfather was shot and killed in his own home by police officers who arrived at the house in the middle of the night, and opened fire 30 seconds after they claim that they saw him in the kitchen with a firearm.

Video has yet to be released and details are still emerging from the Jan. 1 shooting that killed Mark Steven Parkinson, 65. Police have admitted that the beloved grandfather was not the target of the alleged welfare check that was being carried out by the sheriff’s deputies who knocked on his front door.

The deputies were initially dispatched after police received an anonymous 911 call around 3 a.m. that requested a welfare check at the residence. A report from the Walker County Messenger claimed that during the call, “information was provided that stated a female at the residence was threatening to kill herself and her children.”

Greg Ramey, a special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), told WTVC News that the 911 call “did not come from the house itself.” He also confirmed that “there was nothing going on at the residence to substantiate these claims, however, and the threats weren’t true.”

At the time, the deputies arrived at the house knowing that they were being dispatched based on a tip from an anonymous caller who was not at the residence, therefore they were unsure of what kind of scene they would find.

Ramey told the Walker County Messenger that as soon as sheriff’s deputies arrived at the house, they began knocking on the door and they “announced their arrival.” Instead of finding a suicidal woman, Deputy John Chandler claimed that he “observed Parkinson within the residence with a weapon.”

Ramey said that Parkinson was seen “in the kitchen, near a counter, and pointing a gun through a kitchen window at the deputy outside of the house,” claiming that the homeowner was aware someone was outside of his home.

[ … ]

GBI Special Agent Ramey claimed that as soon as Deputy Chandler saw Parkinson, he waited “15-30 seconds” before he fired multiple shots, killing the homeowner. The current information that has been made public does not clarify whether the deputies had entered the home and were in the same room as Parkinson when Chandler opened fire, or whether Chandler shot through the kitchen window.

So here’s the apparent bottom line.  This was a prank call.  None of it was true.  An innocent man heard something outside, and like all responsible men would do, he grabbed a gun.  The cops either shot into the home from outside it, or went into the home uninvited and shot an innocent man who was trying to protect his home.

So there are a number of things to learn from all of this and previous similar events, but one similarity is that police in America no longer respect property rights (if they ever did).  Your property is considered state property if the cops want it to be considered that way.  Your safety is at the bottom of the list when it comes to importance, and the Castle doctrine is salient only up to a point.  If it happens to be the police outside (or inside), they can shoot you with impunity and never be held to account by the “justice” system in America.

There were other nation-states like this in history, but the examples – Nazi Germany, the USSR under Lenin and Stalin – are repulsive.  It’s where we are in the failing nation-state called America.  Understand your risks and act and react accordingly.

I see that you’ve read my commentary, along with that of my commenters.  So tell us.  Do you really care if we live in a police state now?  Do you care enough to stop it?

There’s that thing of the fourth amendment, the second amendment, the Castle doctrine which is embedded in English and American law, and on and on I could go.

So do you?

Via WRSA, this analysis deserves to be heard.

Basically, think about it this way.  If you put your own safety ahead of the safety of others, you have lost your heart and soul.  No, not just your bravery and courage (if you ever had any), but your heart and soul.

CNN:

Nearly a week after police shot and killed a Kansas man while responding to a prank call, the victim’s mother pleaded with authorities to allow her to see her deceased son.

Lisa Finch wrote in a letter to the Wichita, Kansas, mayor and police chief that she doesn’t know where they’re keeping his body and that she wants to give her son “a proper funeral service and burial.”

She questioned “why Wichita City leadership is compounding our grief and sorrow, by keeping my son from us?”

“Please let me see my son’s lifeless body,” she wrote in a letter dated Tuesday. “I want to hold him and say goodbye. Please immediately return his body to us.”

Her son, Andrew Finch was killed by police last week in his home in a case of swatting. Swatting refers to when a person makes a false report to draw a major police response or SWAT teams to a certain location.

The cops won’t even release the body to the family.  What a bunch of bastards.  In other news, remember I said this?

There are a number of misdirects in this report.  Let’s address two of the most prominent and important.  First of all, the blame will be placed on the illegal practice of Swatting, or calling the police and reporting an active shooting or hostage situation.  The perpetrator will likely be found and dealt with, and the blame will be placed squarely on him.

[ … ]

It doesn’t matter if he was armed, any more than it matters whether he was a gamer or if he was Swatted by another gamer.  While Swatting is illegal, the perpetrator didn’t do the shooting.  Being armed while answering the door isn’t illegal or immoral.  Gaming isn’t illegal or immoral.

True to form, the gaming community is self examining.

A joke gone bad ended in tragedy last week, and it brings into the spotlight one of the worst aspects of gaming culture.

Last week, someone made a fake emergency call (known as swatting) to police in Wichita, Kansas, and the police shot an innocent man. On Friday, police in Los Angeles arrested 25-year-old Tyler Raj Barriss, who reportedly goes by the name SWAuTistic, for allegedly calling in the false report. Social media posts on the incident have continued this week. Let’s hope that this leads to increased awareness of these prank calls among law enforcement and realization that toxic behavior like swatting can have deadly consequences.

While it’s deplorable that someone would do this, it wouldn’t be a problem if cops wore uniforms, didn’t assume that the call was legitimate, and simply knocked on the door to chat with the occupants since, after all, it is their property.

The practice of swatting is a problem only because of the hero soldier-boy complex that infects the police forces around the nation.  Take their guns away from them and they won’t be able to shoot anyone.

US News:

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police in Las Vegas say a man suffered a minor injury after the rifle of an officer on the Las Vegas Strip discharged following the New Year’s Eve festivities.

Officer Laura Meltzer says the officer was moving barricades around 1:19 a.m. Monday near the Monte Carlo casino-hotel when he had a “negligent discharge.”

Meltzer says the man was hit in the calf and refused medical treatment. She says two other people indicated they had been struck by something, but they had no visible injuries.

Meltzer says the situation is under investigation. She did not know whether the officer had been placed on leave, but said that is not typical in negligent discharge incidents.

Hmm … so let me see about this.  He was moving things around, he had a round chambered, his rifle wasn’t on safe, and something snagged his trigger.  How’d I do?

I guess all that “special training” didn’t help him after all.  But at least if he can’t trust anybody else, he can trust his buddies in blue to have his six.  No leave.  Continued pay.  All is forgotten except for some locker room banter.