Police in the US - or should it be "policing the US?!"

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by firejuggler

I'm not too familiar with jury verdict-reaching time. Would it be considered short? long?

Apparently the jury deliberated a bit over ten hours over two days. That's not long at all, especially in a murder case with lesser offenses to be considered.

So, as Uncwilly indicates, they likely pretty much had their minds made up. But they probably went through the charges and made sure they were following the judge's instructions.

And the verdict is: Guilty on all charges.

[Dr Sardonicus]

This twitter post in a thread about Tucker Carlson's unhinged reaction to the verdict in the Derek Chauvin case had me in stitches...

It puts a damper on our annual celebration. The judge should have known the significance of this day to Anglo-Saxons.

[tuckerkao]

Originally Posted by The Carnivore

Questions for both sides of the political spectrum:
Why aren't we focusing on that? Where's the outrage for white victims of police brutality?

I'd like to hear a speech from an African American police chief who will be the only possible candidate to represent both sides equally.

As for the Adam Toledo case in Chicago, IL, most mainstream media only discuss about the policeman and the 13 years boy. Where was that 21 years old gang member who gave the gun to the boy?

The race cards have been casted by the politicians way too often. An African American presidential candidate is more likely to win an election than any other junior senators which made the first record in the U.S. history.

Eventually the only solution could be to have 2 Americas, a Democrat 1 and a Republican 1 because they will no longer be willing to negotiate with each other. You cannot have the winner be declared through both the electoral and the popular vote systems.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by tuckerkao

As for the Adam Toledo case in Chicago, IL, most mainstream media only discuss about the policeman and the 13 years boy. Where was that 21 years old gang member who gave the gun to the boy?

He gave the gun to the kid and ran. The following is from the Chicago Tribune, which I believe qualifies as "mainstream media."

Prosecutors detail the night police shot Adam Toledo, 13, during court hearing for man who was with him and charged with carrying gun

By MEGAN CREPEAU, ANNIE SWEENEY and JEREMY GORNER
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
APR 10, 2021

A man who fired a gun as he stood next to 13-year-old Adam Toledo on a Little Village street corner sparked the chain of events that led to Toledo's fatal shooting by Chicago police, Cook County prosecutors said in court Saturday.

Ruben Roman, 21, was charged with felonies including child endangerment, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm after being arrested Friday. Judge Susana Ortiz ordered him held on $150,000 bond; he will need to post $15,000 to be released on an ankle bracelet pending trial.
<snip>

But wait, there's more...

Officer in fatal police shooting of Adam Toledo speaks with Cook County prosecutors, sources say

By MEGAN CREPEAU
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
APR 19, 2021
<snip>
Roman was ordered held on $150,000 bond for the new charges, and $250,000 for a probation violation, records show. On Saturday, the Chicago Community Bond Fund paid the necessary $40,000 for him to be released on an electronic ankle bracelet, records show.

The organization has bailed out hundreds of people since its founding, transitional Executive Director Kesia Reynolds told the Tribune.

"We are unable to accept every request that we receive, so we often prioritize cases that are connected to social justice movements, including the movement to end police violence," Reynolds said.

And they viewed Roman's case as fitting in with that mission, she said.

"We are aware that the city will continue to use him as a scapegoat for the (killing) of Adam Toledo, which was committed by the Chicago Police Department," she said.

"Scapegoat?" He put that kid in the situation that got him killed. IMO he deserves some serious prison time.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

The reference to "good apples" and "bad apples" brought to mind a turn of phrase by Mike Royko in his 1971 book BOSS Richard J. Daley of Chicago. It suddenly occurred to me that I actually had a copy of a hardcover edition squirreled away. It took me a surprisingly short time to find the passage. It deals not with brutality or racism, but good old-fashioned corruption:

Not everybody was on the take. There were honest policemen. You could find them working in the crime laboratory, the radio room, in desk jobs at headquarters. There were college-educated policemen, and you could find them working with juveniles. There were even rebelliously honest policemen, who might blow the whistle on the dishonest ones. You could find them walking a patrol along the edge of a cemetery. The honest policemen were distinguished by their rank, which was seldom above patrolman. They were problems, square pegs in round holes. Nobody wanted to work a traffic car with an honest partner. He was useless on a vice detail because he might start arresting gamblers or hookers. So the honest ones were isolated and did the non-profitable jobs. It had to be so, because a few good apples in the barrel could ruin the thousands of rotten ones.

[Uncwilly]

Video shows police taunting man before he died in jail: ‘You shouldn’t be able to breathe’

[Dr Sardonicus]

The story of the arrest of a 73 year-old woman with dementia in Loveland, CO last June has also raised a few eyebrows. Karen Garner, an 80-pound, 73-year-old woman with dementia, was accused of walking out of a Walmart without paying for $13.88 worth of items. Police broke her arm and dislocated her shoulder while arresting her, and laughed at the body cam video later on.

Three officers involved in the arrest were allowed to resign. A federal lawsuit against the city, the arresting officers, and other officers alleges excessive use of force, and includes video of officers laughing at the body cam video of the arrest. (Prosecutors dropped the shoplifting charges against Garner.)

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

The story of the arrest of a 73 year-old woman with dementia in Loveland, CO last June has also raised a few eyebrows.
<snip>
A federal lawsuit against the city, the arresting officers, and other officers alleges excessive use of force, and includes video of officers laughing at the body cam video of the arrest.
<snip>

Moved by her years-old letter, Karen Garner's family agrees to settle lawsuit for $3 million

(CNN)The family of a 73-year-old Colorado woman with dementia who was violently arrested last year has agreed to settle her federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Loveland and the now former officers for $3 million, her attorney said Wednesday.

Karen Garner's family decided to settle after coming across a letter she wrote to her children and her grandchildren a few years ago, after her dementia had begun, attorney Sarah Schielke said.

Schielke said the family members "were struck by the poignancy of Karen's words" and that gave them closure.

The settlement agreement was also "obtained quickly enough to be enjoyed by Karen herself," she said.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Cops who don't get vaccinated betray our oath to protect

Police officers are sworn to promote and protect the public good. Public health is a big part of the public good. Vaccinations are basic public health measures that have been accepted for 100 years; they are by far the best defense against covid and therefore essential to public health. Why do so many police officers seem to believe that this is a "personal choice" and that being an officer doesn't come with increased responsibility to the public, whom we took an oath to protect?

It can't be that they fear the "risk" of vaccination. Being a local cop in America means there is always some risk, especially from ubiquitous guns. Traffic accidents are also a leading risk to police officers. We can't pick and choose what risks we will accept in this job, but we can seek to mitigate them. Cops wear ballistic vests to reduce the risks from guns; we wear brightly colored vests to reduce the risks while working traffic accidents. Given that covid-19 is by far the greatest risk right now for police, it is bewildering that officers would not only refuse a vaccine administered to literally billions of people, but do so proudly and make it yet another part of the "us vs. them" dynamic that is a cancer on American policing. I'm not saying police must be selfless; I'm just saying we must not be selfish.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Thank you, Your Honor...

Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke is a free man. Van Dyke served less than half of his nearly seven-year prison term for the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald.

Van Dyke is white. McDonald, 17, was black. It is a case that roiled the city, caused widespread protests and sparked court mandated police reforms after a blistering report by the U.S. Department of Justice. Among the reports findings: Chicago Police routinely used excessive force and violated the rights of people of color.

It was Oct. 20, 2014, when a Chicago police responded to reports that a black teenager carrying a knife was breaking into cars. Laquan McDonald had slashed some tires of a truck and was being followed on a southwest side Chicago street by a numbers of police officers waiting for a unit with a Taser.

Jason Van Dyke and his partner were among the the last officers to arrive. Van Dyke got out of his car, and within seconds, he shot McDonald 16 times — many of the bullets striking McDonald after he lay crumpled on the ground.
<snip>
A jury found Jason Van Dyke guilty of 2nd degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery.

Unlike Chauvin, who was sentenced to 22 and 1/2 years, Van Dyke received a more lenient sentence. Prosecutors had asked for a prison term of at least 18 years, but Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced Van Dyke to 81 months, just under seven years, for the sole charge of 2nd degree murder charge. In Illinois, a sentence for 2nd degree murder is less severe than aggravated battery.
<snip>

[Dr Sardonicus]

This is a followup to previous posts about a notorious police shooting, e.g. this one and this one. A Forum search with keywords "breonna taylor" will turn up others.

It reminds me of cases during the "Civil Rights Era." Black people or "freedom riders" would be murdered or simply disappear. Local and State officialdom would often not even investigate, let alone prosecute. And in those rare instances resulting in prosecution, the Defendant would be found Not Guilty by an "all-white jury." At some point, the DOJ began filing Federal civil rights charges in some of those cases. I'm not sure how they were able to circumvent "double jeopardy" in some of those cases in which the Defendants had already been acquitted of State charges, but they managed it somehow. Double jeopardy was not an issue in cases where there had not been any prosecution at the State level.

Breonna Taylor: US police charged over shooting death

Four US police officers have been arrested and charged over the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.

Ms Taylor was killed in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, on 13 March 2020 by plainclothes police who were executing a "no-knock" search warrant.

The hospital worker, 26, was shot as officers stormed the apartment just after midnight while she was with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.
<snip>
The federal indictment announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland accuses the four of civil rights offences, unlawful conspiracy, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction.

Mr Meany and Mr Jaynes are alleged to have violated Ms Taylor's civil rights by preparing a false search warrant affidavit. Ms Goodlett allegedly conspired with Mr Jaynes to falsify the warrant.

Mr Hankison is accused of civil rights offences for firing his service weapon into Ms Taylor's apartment through a covered window and glass door.
<snip>