Bad boys, bad boys...watcha gonna do?

[GMDino]

(12-06-2017, 01:27 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: As a civil servant he has access to numerous and varied appeals. If the story presented in your article is 100% accurate I have a hard time imagining he won't win his appeal.

And people still suck.  

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(12-06-2017, 01:47 PM)GMDino Wrote: And people still suck.  

A pithy analysis.  Public service management can display the exact same character traits as private sector management.  As I alluded to in my first post, I have a feeling there is more going on here than the article you posted informs us.  As written the officer's appeal is a virtual dead certainty.  Management isn't going to put themselves in a position to get raked over the coals, especially not with a high profile case that will certainly garner media attention.

[*PhilHos*]

(12-06-2017, 11:44 AM)GMDino Wrote: People suck.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/05/hero-cop-orlandos-pulse-shooting-terminated-force/925724001/


BS.  Plain and simple.

What's the issue? If he can't do his job, why does he get to keep it? 

[*bfine32*]

(12-06-2017, 04:17 PM)PhilHos Wrote: What's the issue? If he can't do his job, why does he get to keep it? 

He should be able to receive training/schooling to set him up in another profession. I must admit I do not know how non-federal employment works on these issues; however, this is an option that should be available.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(12-06-2017, 11:44 AM)GMDino Wrote: People suck.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/05/hero-cop-orlandos-pulse-shooting-terminated-force/925724001/


BS.  Plain and simple.

If he has PTSD as a result of his occupation that is a Worker's Compensation claim. If he is unable to perform his job as a result it could result in a Worker's Comp permanent disability claim. The story didn't mention any of that. Without that information we're missing a significant portion of the story.

[*michaelsean*]

(12-06-2017, 04:17 PM)PhilHos Wrote: What's the issue? If he can't do his job, why does he get to keep it? 

I don't know.  Seems they could have found a way to keep him 6 more months.  

[*michaelsean*]

Guess this can go on the thread. Slager got 20 years.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/12/07/former-south-carolina-police-officer-who-shot-walter-scott-sentenced-to-20-years/?utm_term=.36cb9aed48e3

[GMDino]

Disgusting.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-gttf-trial-opener-20180112-story.html

Quote:Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force corruption case heads to court Monday



Two officers charged in Baltimore’s biggest police corruption scandal in memory go on trial Monday in U.S. District Court.

The case started with the drug overdose of a 19-year-old from New Jersey in Harford County in 2011.

Authorities worked to find out who provided the drugs to the woman. The search led to a Northeast Baltimore drug crew supplying Harford and Baltimore counties.

It was during an investigation into that crew that federal task force officers realized that a Baltimore police officer was an active participant in the crew’s activities.

Notable testimony from the Gun Trace Task Force case »

[/url]
That led authorities to Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force — and the federal indictment of eight members of the elite unit on racketeering charges. They were accused of executing searches without warrants, invading private homes, robbing suspects and innocent citizens of cash and reselling drugs on the street.

Six have pleaded guilty, and four are cooperating with the government. They are expected to testify in the trial, which could last three weeks.

The proceeding in U.S. District Court in Baltimore trial is likely to add new details. Among the lingering questions: How did the officers’ conduct go unchecked for so long? Who else knew of their activities? And who tipped the unit off to an investigation into their crimes?

Detectives Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor have pleaded not guilty. Both are fighting charges of racketeering conspiracy, robbery, and possession of a firearm in a crime of violence. They have been held pending trial.

In court filings and a hearing earlier this month, Hersl’s attorney has indicated that he plans to argue that the alleged robberies were isolated incidents in a long career spent pursuing drug dealers and gun-wielding criminals.

Attorney William Purpura is also arguing that as a police officer, Hersl is allowed to seize money from a person when he has probable cause to suspect the person has committed a crime. Seizing money legally and then keeping it for for himself would be theft, he says, not robbery.

“Detective Hersl while on the gun task force and prior to being on that particular gun task force has been engaged in Baltimore City, ridding the city [of] guns,” Purpura said at a motions hearing. “There's been hundreds and hundreds of guns which he's personally taken off the street. And what we have here from 2014 through 2016 is a handful, maybe five, maybe six incidents out of all those hundreds and we consider those incidents not to be good conduct — they are crimes, but the crimes would be a theft crime and not a robbery and/or an extortion type of crime.”

Federal prosecutors say he should not be able to make such arguments.

Taylor is charged in five incidents from 2014 to 2016. His trial strategy is not clear, and his attorney did not return messages seeking comment. They filed motions last week seeking to get the case thrown out.

The indictment alleges breathtaking corruption as the U.S. Department of Justice was conducting a civil rights investigation of the Police Department.

Taylor is alleged to have taken part in what may have been the largest robbery: a March 2016 incident in which his squad took $6,500 from a man during a traffic stop, then went to his home and took $100,000 out of a safe.

Using Taylor’s cell phone, the officers created a fake video depicting the officers finding the money. In reality, half the cash had already been removed.

After the search, the officers went to Taylor’s house, where Det. Wayne Jenkins gave at least $20,000 each to the other officers.

The other officers involved in that allegation have pleaded guilty.


Christopher Ervin, who founded the re-entry group The Lazarus Rite, said the Gun Trace Task Force allegations are “shocking for people who don’t live in those communities.”

“In the black community, this is not shocking at all,” Ervin said. “You get a chorus of, ‘We’ve been saying that.’ ”

While individual officers have been arrested for corruption over the years, the Gun Trace Task Force case stands out in its scope and in the seriousness of the charges.

“These officers are 1930s-style gangsters,” Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said last year. “They betrayed the trust we’re trying to build with our community at a very sensitive time in our history.”
Davis was fired Friday.

In 2011, 50 officers were implicated in a kickback scandal involving a towing company; some were federally charged and convicted.

In the early 1970s, a Baltimore officer named Llewellyn Dykes went undercover to help expose officers who were taking payoffs to allow gambling rackets to flourish. About a dozen officers were charged in the case.

Dykes wanted to continue his police career, but found himself ostracized by the department. In the midst of one of the trials, he was jumped and badly beaten by men who called him a rat.

Dykes, now an antiques appraiser living in the South, said officers are pressured not to speak out against police corruption.

“You’ve got a very insulated group of police officers who count on each other to live,” Dykes said. “So that insularity of ‘Don’t tell and don’t disagree, don’t rock the boat, don’t say that’s illegal, don’t say stop beating that person, don’t say stop stealing from that person’ is enforced by the need for unity on the streets.

“You have a separation in law enforcement circles of those who are susceptible, and those who are not. Those who are susceptible continue to gravitate towards illegal activity unless there’s something to prevent them from doing so.”

Michael Dowd, a former New York police officer, was one of those officers who gravitated toward crime. In the early 1990s, he ripped off drug dealers, took money to shield others, and raced to crime scenes to steal drugs before other officers arrived.

He was convicted of narcotics conspiracy and served 12 years in federal prison.

He described corruption as a “process.” In his case, he said, it started with his department dissuading him from making drug arrests.

“You can justify it each step of the way,” he told The Baltimore Sun. “You begin to forget why you’re there. Who was I taking from?
From convicted, or what should be convicted, drug dealers. The mentality was, ‘I run the street. Not you. This is my street.’ ”

Questions have also been raised about city prosecutors. Federal authorities have said that a city prosecutor tipped off the gun unit to the federal investigation.

The office of Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby will not say whether it knew the identity of that prosecutor or has attempted to find out. The office has referred all questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.


Federal authorities continue to probe the Gun Trace Task Force. Prosecutors told the court recently that there are additional targets, and multiple current and former officers have provided information. The Police Department says it is being largely kept in the dark by federal authorities about what has been uncovered and where the investigation might be headed.

The role of supervisors remains an open question. In the agency’s chain of command, front-line supervisors have the most contact and most responsibility to oversee officers. Two of the officers who have pleaded guilty were sergeants who ran the Gun Trace Task Force.
Lt. Gene Ryan is president of the city’s Fraternal Order of Police lodge.

“The fact that the sergeants were involved, that’s definitely a buffer to the next step up,” he said. “If I’m a lieutenant and I’ve got no reason to doubt my sergeants, I’m not going to follow behind them. … A lieutenant is supposed to monitor everybody underneath them. But they can’t do it all the time.”

Davis demoted Lt. Col. Sean Miller, a high-ranking commander who oversaw key crime-fighting efforts citywide, after the task force officers were indicted. Davis would not say why he removed Miller. Miller now serves as a lieutenant in the Southern District.

The Gun Trace Task Force’s supervisor above Jenkins, Lt. Marjorie German, was moved back to patrol in the Central District.

No public allegations have been made against German or Miller.

Davis also said he believed one officer linked to a drug-planting allegation had been cleared and restored to full duty. Sgt. Ryan Guinn was quickly suspended when allegations of police planting drugs in 2010 appeared in a new indictment against Jenkins in late November.

In that case, prosecutors say, Jenkins told Guinn to call a sergeant who had “the stuff” in his car. Prosecutors say Guinn, identified in the indictment as Officer No. 2, was later told by Jenkins that drugs had been planted in the arrestee’s vehicle.

Davis says the FBI informed him that Guinn was not involved in any wrongdoing and has reinstated Guinn.

“I am completely confident that there are no administrative sanctions to pursue on Officer No. 2,” Davis said. “And if there was, he’d still be suspended.”

A department spokesman would not make Guinn available for comment.

This has a few more details but is more of an opinion piece.

https://www.theroot.com/baltimore-cops-kept-toy-guns-to-plant-just-in-case-they-1822546984

Quote:Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person 


In April 2016, a 13-year-old boy was shot by officers of the Baltimore Police Department. The boy ran when faced with the police, so they gave chase. During the chase, the police spotted the boy holding a gun, and when he turned, they shot the teenager. The youngster wasn’t critically injured, and it seemed like an open-and-shut case of a justifiable use of force.

13-Year-Old Boy With Toy Gun Shot by Baltimore Police Officers
A 13-year-old boy was shot Wednesday afternoon by two Baltimore police officers who believed that…
Read more

Now people are wondering.



The Baltimore Police Department is currently in court over one of the biggest scandals in the history of American law enforcement. The corruption case is replete with intrigue as police reveal secrets that sound like something out of an urban-fiction novel or a lost season of The Wire. It has revealed how one of America’s largest cities just happened to be filled with crooked cops, but no one seems to be talking about it outside of Baltimore.


According to the Baltimore Sun, it started when a 19-year-old woman from New Jersey overdosed in 2011 and authorities began tracing the origin of the drugs. It led them to a Baltimore drug crew and the discovery that a Baltimore police officer was involved. By the time they finished investigating, eight members of the elite Gun Trace Task Force had been charged with crimes ranging from racketeering to robbery.

You want robbery? How about the story of the corrupt squad stopping a drug dealer during a traffic stop and robbing him of $6,500, then going to the man’s home without a warrant and taking another $100,000 out of a safe? Sgt. Wayne Jenkins would ask suspected drug dealers, “If you could put together a crew of guys and rob the biggest drug dealer in town, who would it be?”


If you’re interested in police targeting regular citizens, maybe you should read about how the Maurice Ward had a technique of driving fast at groups of people, slamming on the brakes and chasing whoever ran. Perhaps you hear how Jenkins believed that all young men with backpacks were dope boys. Or people who drove Honda Accords with tinted windows.


And then there’s the revelation that the supervisor of the unit instructed officers to carry a toy gun just in case they found themselves “in a jam” and needed to plant one. When one of the officers, Marcus Tayor, was arrested, officials couldn’t figure out why he had a toy gun in his glove compartment.


[url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-gun-trace-task-force-gttf-testimony-highlights-20180126-story.html]Notable testimony from the Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force corruption trial
Here’s a rundown of what we’ve learned from the trial of two police officers from the Baltimore…
Read on baltimoresun.com


These revelations aren’t speculation. Six of the eight indicted officers have agreed to cooperate with federal law enforcement agents and are testifying in open court. An officer who was scheduled to offer evidence against the crooked cops won’t get to do so after he was mysteriously shot in the head with his own weapon the day before he was set to testify.


I know what you’re thinking: After the death of Freddie Gray and the discovery of multiple officers who planted drugs on suspects, the Baltimore Police Department is one of the most corrupt departments in the country.

Or maybe Baltimore is indicative of police departments all over the country. Maybe they’re like the one in Cleveland, which hired the cop who killed Tamir Rice after he was fired by another police department. Or like the South Carolina state trooper who said he shot a man because he was moving erratically while reaching for his wallet. Or when a paid police informant planted cocaine in a store owner’s shop.


It is not just Baltimore cops. It is cops. They will shoot you in the face in front of your infant daughter. They will choke you to sleep for selling cigarettes. They will shoot you in the back for walking away. And they will get away with it so often that we are shocked when they are indicted.


That’s the real story.

[*michaelsean*]

I like the part where he did a lot of good outside of his criminal enterprise. Bring out RICO.

[GMDino]

(02-01-2018, 10:20 AM)michaelsean Wrote: I like the part where he did a lot of good outside of his criminal enterprise. Bring out RICO.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/02/13/elite-cops-gone-rogue-baltimore-task-force-scandal-deepens-divide-between-police-community/315744002/

Quote:Elite, young and tough, the cops on Baltimore's Gun Trace Task Force have gotten results for years.


"Gun Trace Task Force car stop nabs convicted felon armed w/ loaded .40 caliber pistol. Great work!" one post reads in 2015 from the Baltimore Police Department's Twitter account. 

Drug busts, illegal guns, large sums of cash: The men seemed to be helping in the city's fight to rid the community of violence.

Instead, prosecutors say, they were worsening it in a scheme that has exploded and left an already troubled department fighting more controversy.

Eight members of the task force, which was created in 2007, were indicted in a racketeering ploy that included stealing money from citizens, selling seized guns and drugs, putting innocent people behind bars and returning criminals to the streets. The massive scandal is just the latest in recent months in the city, which has been plagued by violent crime and a history of mistrust between officers and citizens.

It’s almost hard to keep up with all the developments — and the fallout. Even the city’s mayor, Catherine Pugh, admitted she couldn’t follow all the news.  

A detective was killed with his own gun one day before testifying against fellow officers. The police academy has been accused of pushing recruits through even when they don't understand basic laws. And much of the high brass in the department has departed.

All of this while the crime rate continues to rise and the city attempts to get back on its feet after years of crawling out from the shadow of a Department of
Justice probe and riots that made Baltimore a talking point in police shootings and the Black Lives Matter movement. Last year, the city's more than 300 homicides broke a record per capita. 

View image on Twitter

Quote:[/url]

[url=https://twitter.com/BaltimorePolice/status/561159409586679808]
Baltimore Police

@BaltimorePolice

Gun Trace Task Force car stop nabs convicted felon armed w/ loaded .40 caliber pistol. Great work!
8:50 AM - Jan 30, 2015

A trial with lasting impact
The arrests of eight officers sent shock waves through the community. Two of them were found guilty Monday in federal court; the others pleaded guilty. 

Prosecutors say their plot went on for years, turning officers into both cops and robbers.

Those in the community say the corruption hit a nerve and confirmed what many had complained about for years in the department. But some have hope the guilty verdicts and pleas could engender change. 

"It’s time to talk about what comes next for the city of Baltimore. This corruption went on unabated for nearly 10 years and was only brought to light as a result of a federal investigation," said NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill, who has been a community leader in Baltimore for years.

"Neither City Hall, BPD’s Internal Affairs nor the State’s Attorney’s Office was able to uncover and hold accountable the officers at the heart of this criminal conspiracy."

Testimony and indictments paint a dark picture of the task force's daily routines:

Officers would steal sometimes as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars from the people they were sworn to protect or arrest.

During one incident, officers allegedly stole rent money from a maintenance worker at a nursing home. In another, one of the officers described his theft of several thousand dollars as a tax.  

They were accused of breaking into homes without warrants, one time finding a gun and a large amount of marijuana. One of the officers involved admitted during his testimony that he sold the drugs and gun back on the streets.

Andre Crowder says he was a victim of the scheme when he was pulled over and arrested after police said they found a gun in his vehicle. He claims officers stole $10,000 from him. The charges against him have since been dropped. 

He said during a news conference that he was jailed for three days. His 3-year-old son died before he could bail out.

"The three days that I was gone out of my son’s life, I lost him, so it’s bigger than the charge they put on me, the mark they put on my record, the cash that was taken," Crowder said. "It doesn’t matter because I wasn’t there to spend the last moments of my son’s life with him because of this situation."

The officers themselves have testified to helping criminals, including allowing suspects to use their equipment and acting as lookouts during crimes.


They filled out false reports, and on occasion wouldn’t document things entirely. The group also claimed overtime they didn’t work even when they were on vacation and out of the country, helping several of the officers to nearly double their salary.


A detective in the unit testified they carried BB guns in case they needed to plant a weapon on someone, a claim that could have a sincere effect on future cases in the city.

During the trial, 12 additional officers were accused of wrongdoing in testimony. They all are still on the force. 

“If we can’t trust the police, who can we trust?” Crowder said.

More: Ex-Baltimore detectives testify about force’s robberies, illegal activities

A killing, recruits and new leadership
In the midst of all of this, Detective Sean Suiter, a member of the Gun Trace Task Force, was killed with his own gun.


He was scheduled to testify against other members of the task force in November, the day after his death. Authorities have battled speculation that his death was connected to the testimony and say Suiter was not a target of the investigation.


His death was ruled a homicide, which lessened suspicion that his death could be a suicide.


No one has been arrested in the death, making it the only line-of-duty killing of a cop in Baltimore's history that has not been solved. 

The FBI rejected a request to take over the investigation from Baltimore police, explaining nothing in the case would link it to a bureau investigation. City officials still believe a third party should handle the case.

More: Police: Slain Baltimore detective shot day before grand jury testimony

“Everybody seems to think there’s corruption involved in this, and by corruption, I mean another police officer was involved in Sean Suiter’s death. If the FBI thought that was the case, they would have taken this case,” City Commissioner Kevin Davis told CBS affiliate WJZ. 

Trust in police has been a significant issue in the city for years. Earlier this month an instructor at the department’s police academy accused officials of pushing through new recruits even though they didn’t understand basic laws.


Sgt. Josh Rosenblatt, head of legal instruction at the academy, told The Baltimore Sunthat 17 out of 50 recruits failed his scenario-based tests, which included things such as the need for probable cause. 


The NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund sent a letter to police and federal officials about the allegations, explaining that having well-trained officers is important in the city “now, more than ever.”


“Officers who have not demonstrated proficiency in the legal requirement of constitutional policing should not patrol city streets,” the letter reads. “This is critical for the building of trust between communities and law enforcement and for the safety of residents and officers.”

The mayor has pledged that’s exactly what the city and department are trying to do. In January, she fired the head of the department because of the heightening crime rate and replaced him with the third commissioner the department has had in five years.

Other high-ranking members of the department resigned or retired. But filling the gaps has been a rough path.

Can police earn back trust?
The 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died after being transported in a police van, highlighted the divide between police and the community. The Department of Justice probed the department and found police were abusing their power and unfairly targeting black members of the community.  

The department is currently under a federal court-enforceable consent decree to remedy the issues.

More: In Freddie Gray case, did justice system fail or prove resilient?

But the scandals have continued.

“It's just one shocking thing after another," said Peter Moskos, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former Baltimore officer.

He said the department's woes appear to have the same origins as other scandals: a high crime area, officers who make a lot of arrests and get results and a segregated unit that operates on its own.

Moskos said the future is very dependent on leadership in the department.

"I think this goes beyond the whole few rotten apples. This is a systemic issue," he said. "They need someone to take charge and make lasting changes because Baltimore could very well become a failed city."

Prosecutors in the task force trial have made sure to express that the officers charged are not indicative of the entire department. 

But the department does acknowledge the loss in trust. 

"We recognize that this indictment and the subsequent trial uncovered one of the most egregious and despicable acts ever perpetrated in law enforcement," Acting Commissioner Darryl De Sousa said in a statement after Monday's guilty verdict. 

"Our job moving forward is to earn back the trust and respect of the community," he said. "It will be a process and I understand the doubt, fear and pessimism, but I ensure you that rooting out anyone who thinks they can tarnish the badge and violate our citizen's rights, is a top priority of mind."

Before the verdict, De Sousa outlined some of his plans to mend relations in the community, including randomly polygraphing members of specialized units and preforming audits of overtime requests.

He even said he was considering moving the internal affairs unit, charged with investigating officers accused of wrongdoing, to the mayor's office, according to The Baltimore Sun. 

Residents and those who were victims of the task force scheme are pleading for an overhaul of the department. 

"Unfortunately, it takes extreme cases like this," Adam Jackson, CEO of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, a social activist organization in the city, told the Sun. 

Jackson said adding laws allowing for more transparency and oversight would help root out the corruption but wasn't hopeful that would come to fruition.
Others say the ending of the trial is just the beginning of a new department. 

"Everybody thinks this is over. This ain’t over. This has just begun," said Shawn Whiting, who testified that police stole more than $14,000 and heroin from his house during a 2014 raid. "This is far and beyond probably one of the worst crimes in the history of Baltimore."

All bold emphasis mine.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(01-31-2018, 09:19 PM)GMDino Wrote: https://www.theroot.com/baltimore-cops-kept-toy-guns-to-plant-just-in-case-they-1822546984



Or maybe Baltimore is indicative of police departments all over the country. Maybe they’re like the one in Cleveland, which hired the cop who killed Tamir Rice after he was fired by another police department. Or like the South Carolina state trooper who said he shot a man because he was moving erratically while reaching for his wallet. Or when a paid police informant planted cocaine in a store owner’s shop.



It is not just Baltimore cops. It is cops. They will shoot you in the face in front of your infant daughter. They will choke you to sleep for selling cigarettes. They will shoot you in the back for walking away. And they will get away with it so often that we are shocked when they are indicted.


That’s the real story.

Keep telling us how much you support LEO's while posting opinion articles like this.  You're like a guy who posts article from Stromfront and claims to not be a white supremacist.  


As for Baltimore, looks to me like corrupt government spawns corrupt police force who both govern/police corrupt populace.  Lots of blame to go around and no one looks clean.  Possibly a further indication that single party governance almost always leads to sub-par results, at best.

[GMDino]

(02-14-2018, 01:08 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Keep telling us how much you support LEO's while posting opinion articles like this.  You're like a guy who posts article from Stromfront and claims to not be a white supremacist.  

(01-31-2018, 09:19 PM)GMDino Wrote: Disgusting.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-gttf-trial-opener-20180112-story.html




This has a few more details but is more of an opinion piece.

https://www.theroot.com/baltimore-cops-kept-toy-guns-to-plant-just-in-case-they-1822546984

[url=https://www.theroot.com/baltimore-cops-kept-toy-guns-to-plant-just-in-case-they-1822546984][/url]

I provided both...and explained clearly that the second one was more an opinion piece.

Your bias is showing. Again.

(02-14-2018, 01:08 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: As for Baltimore, looks to me like corrupt government spawns corrupt police force who both govern/police corrupt populace.  Lots of blame to go around and no one looks clean.  Possibly a further indication that single party governance almost always leads to sub-par results, at best.

Whew! Almost said the cops were dirty and covered for each other. Luckily you were able to sneak in that its the Democrats fault.

Way to go!

I was afraid you'd just agree that these individuals were scum and what they did was wrong and it was a shame it took so long to catch them while they ruined lives.

[GMDino]

As I often point out, the police have an incredibly difficult job.  One that I would not want to do.  But they also have the power to take away your freedom and your life.  Which is why they need to be held to a HIGHER standard for what they do.

These kind of mistakes are simply unacceptable.  Wrong side of the street.  Innocent man dead.

The investigation will try to sort it out, but the officers have already released their version so I'm sure the closing of ranks has begun.  The city will pay something for their misdeed and nothing will change.

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/35967817/officers-kill-man-with-no-active-warrants-at-wrong-house?utm_content=buffer43649&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Quote:SOUTHAVEN, MS (WMC) -

Documents show that Southaven officers went to the wrong house to serve a warrant on Monday, which resulted in the shooting death of a man who did not have any active warrants out for his arrest.
Additional Links

A warrant out of Tate County shows Samuel Pearman was wanted for domestic assault. But, when Southaven officers arrived on Surrey Lane to arrest Pearman, they did not show up to the correct house.

Instead, officers missed their target by 36 feet. Those 36 feet made all the difference to Ismael Lopez and his wife.

"Someone didn't take the time to analyze the address," attorney Murray Wells, who represents the family, said. "This is incredibly tragic and embarrassing to this police department that they can't read house numbers."

Wells pointed out that the house officers should have gone to, the one where Pearman was located, had a large 'P' on the door. While officials sort out what happened, the man they were looking for took to social media.

Pearson even posted on Facebook Live on Tuesday afternoon claiming he didn't do anything wrong. 

"They made me out to be something I'm not," he said. "I haven't hurt her. She's the one who slapped me."

Ismael Lopez and his wife, Claudia Linares, were asleep inside their house across the street from Pearson when officers arrived.

Linares said her husband went to the door to see what was happening outside. That's when she heard gunshots and by the time she reached her husband, he was already dead.

"Bullet holes suggest they shot through the door," Wells said. 

Officers said Lopez came to the door pointing a gun at them. Those officers claim to have asked Lopez multiple times to drop the gun before they started shooting.

But, neighbors said they didn't hear anything like that.

"I didn't hear yelling," neighbor Nicholas Tramel said.

Tramel's room is right next to the Lopez home. He said he never heard police tell Lopez to put his rifle down. 

Wells implied that officers had reasons not to tell the truth in their account of what happened. Namely, because they could face consequences for shooting Lopez. He also said that Claudia, who was the only one on the property who could not be held responsible for shooting Lopez, did not hear any commands or instructions being given. In addition, Wells said Lopez never pointed a gun at the officers.

"There was a gun on the premises, but the man did not have the gun with him when police shot him," he said. 

Wells said Claudia Lopez wants justice and for the world to know that her husband was a good man.

"When they came to my office, it wasn't money they sought. They wanted the story to come out," he said. "What they want everyone to know is who he was and what happened."

Wells described Lopez as a hardworking employee who, up until about four years ago, worked for City of Bartlett as a mechanic.

"They've been in that home for 13 years. The only time the police had ever been there was when they had been robbed," Wells said. "No criminal history whatsoever. A long-standing employee of the city of Bartlett, mechanic. Loved in the neighborhood."

He continued, "This could have happened to anyone. Her [Claudia's] sense of justice doesn't really come from a place of anger, but of confusion."

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/35995039/attorneys-for-man-shot-by-southaven-pd-say-case-is-even-more-disturbing-and-outrageous?utm_content=buffer65477&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Quote:SOUTHAVEN, MS (WMC) -

The man killed by Southaven police officers was shot in the back of the head through his front door, according to his family's attorney.
Additional Links
Friday night friends, family, and community members gathered to hold a vigil for Ismael Lopez.
With prayer, music, and candles, family and friends paid their respects and asked for justice. The candlelight vigil took place just feet away from where Lopez was killed inside his Southaven home.



"Injustice against anyone is injustice against all," activist Nabeil Bayakly said.


The vigil brought many in the faith-based community together who said they are standing in solidarity with the Hispanic community.


"Whatever they are going through, whatever the suffering, whatever the hurt is the same suffering and same hurting the Muslim community is going through," Bayakly said.


The Lopez family released the following statement to the public:

Quote:Our family would like to thank the community for the support and love shown to us through this nightmare. We are saddened and in shock for the tragic loss of our beloved Ismael. He was a loving husband, guiding father, mentor to the youth in this community and a hard worker. There is no reasonable explanation about why or how this happened to our Ismael but we believe his memory demands answers, accountability, and justice. We will not rest until we know the truth. Thank you again for all the thoughts and prayers for our family during the most difficult time.

Ismael Lopez was shot and killed Sunday, July 23. Southaven Police Department said officers were serving a warrant for Samuel Pearman, who lives across the street.


Officers arrived at the wrong house where they ended up shooting Lopez, who, they said, came to the door pointing a gun at them.


However, the family's attorney, Murray Wells, said Southaven Police Department's version of events does not add up.


Lopez's wife, Claudia Linares, said her husband did not have a gun with him when he went to see what was happening outside their home.


"Mr. Lopez was shot through the door," Wells said. "Mr. Lopez died from a single bullet to the back of the head. Process that with the statements made from members of the Southaven Police Department, process that with statements made from elected officials in the City of Southaven, and see how you can arrive at a conclusion of anything other than a cover up."


Wells questioned if officers were even in the neighborhood to serve a warrant, as they said they were. Wells defended his accusation by pointing to the fact that officers questioned Pearman at the scene but never arrested him; Wells also said the warrant for Pearman was not active until July 24.


"There was not an active warrant in effect on July 23. They were not, in fact, executing a warrant," he said.


A complaint was made about Pearman on July 23, but the warrant was not issued until July 24 - one day after Lopez was shot.


"What they told us, what they told everyone is they were serving a warrant, so if they want to argue the technicality of whether or not they had a lawful purpose to be there, they didn't," Wells stated. "And whether or not there was a warrant or whether they were doing a 24-hour knock and announce, it shouldn't have been there. So, we're sort of jumping all over the place with their explanations, but at the end of the day, none of them make any sense."


Wells called for the resignation of the Southaven police chief, any officers involved in the shooting, and any elected officials who knowingly made false statements regarding Lopez's death.


Wells said he visited with the family on Thursday and that's when Lopez's son expressed troubling concerns.


"The son brought to me his concern that his father had been shot in the back. As he brought it to me while we stood in the house and I began to look at where the body came to rest, which is still marked by flowers, it made sense. He said, 'I wonder about this. It looks to me like he was running away.' And I said, 'It's a fair question. We're going to go, we're going to get the answer with your permission to examine the body. We'll tell you what we find.' Two hours later, I made one of the most difficult phone calls I've made to call and tell the son what happened."


An autopsy report and official cause of death have not yet been released by the coroner's office.


"It is so graphic and so obvious and so clear that anybody will recognize it. If the autopsy report done by the State of Mississippi says anything else, then that will be a perpetuation of this outrage because there is no other conclusion, because it is so glaringly graphic, grotesque, and brutal."


Wells said he will also ask that the Department of Justice investigate.


"We need the Department of Justice to come down to Mississippi. We are asking the Department of Justice to get involved immediately so this can stop, so my clients don't have any fear of retribution or retaliation," Wells said.After the shooting, Wells said Southaven police officers ordered Linares out of her own house, forced her to stand outside in her sleeping garments with her hands above her head, then put her in handcuffs and left her by a tree for an hour. She was eventually taken to the police station where she made a statement, which Wells said he has yet to see.


Wells urges Southaven Police Department to contact him so they can discuss what really happened the night Ismael Lopez died.


"We've made our call today. We want the City of Southaven to respond by taking responsibility by relieving everyone who has made any misstatement. We think they've lost the right to represent citizens in that community, perpetuating untruths. Our next step is we're going to wait a very short period of time to hear from them. We're going to give the family a period of time to grieve. Then, having not heard form the City of Southaven, we'll file a lawsuit, sooner rather than later."
Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite released the following statement via Twitter on Friday:


[*]View image on Twitter

Quote:[/url]

[url=https://twitter.com/darrenmuss/status/890965331790966784]
Darren Musselwhite@darrenmuss

SURREY LANE PRESS RELEASE...
This purpose of this tweet is to update my citizens in the City of Southaven. No other comments will follow.
11:01 AM - Jul 28, 2017

[*]


Wells said he has not spoken to Pearman yet. Pearman was arrested Wednesday, days after investigators talked to him in person.


"We haven't talked to Mr. Pearman. We have been fortunate enough to let the press do some of that for us. So, we've been able to see his position. From what we understand, he's terrified himself. He believes that he was the target of a coordinated effort to execute him," Wells explained. "I don't know the truth of that statement, but they sure came in guns a-blazing, I guess believing that Mr. Pearman was in there without an active warrant."


Wells believes the officers who shot Lopez should absolutely face charges.


"At the very least, there should be a manslaughter charge. If you shoot a man through a door in the back of the head when he is clearly away, not a threat, yes, that is a criminal action," he said. "They didn't have any right to be on the property in the first place. That's criminal. Just because you have a badge doesn't give you the opportunity to trespass on someone else's land with absolutely no reason. So, we think it was an execution."


About Ismael Lopez


Murray Wells said Ismael Lopez was an auto mechanic who moved to the United States 20 years ago with his wife and son. He has three more children in Mexico. 


Wells said Lopez has never been arrested, nor has he even been in trouble.


"Everyone tells stories about how he tried to talk to young people in his community about doing the right thing," Well said. "Everyone loved him. Everything we've ever heard was that he took it upon himself to make sure that young people in a depressed community with a lack of good educational foundation and, sometimes, a lack of parenting, he wanted to bring people up to do the right thing. We hear that story over and over again. Not just from his wife, not just from his son, but from many members in the community, which is one of the reasons people were protesting. Because everybody knew who he was based on his involvement with the community."

[*]


http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/35991074/police-questioned-released-actual-suspect-after-they-killed-wrong-man

Quote:Police questioned, released actual suspect after they killed wrong man
Thursday, July 27th 2017, 6:37 pm ESTFriday, July 28th 2017, 10:16 am EST


Southaven police officers shot and killed Ismael Lopez at his home Monday. The officers were supposed to go to the neighborhood and arrest Samuel Pearman, but they ended up at the wrong house.


The wrong house belonged to Lopez. His wife and attorney said Lopez came to the door unarmed, and officers opened fire, shooting through the front door, and killing Lopez. Officers said Lopez had a gun and they told him multiple times to put it down.


After the fatal shooting, Pearman came out of his home--like many other neighbors--to see what happened. 


Neighbors and Tate County deputies said Southaven officers questioned several neighbors that night, including Pearman. They said officers identified Pearman, asked him questions, and then let him go.


Days later, police arrested Pearman on the original charges--the ones they were in Lopez's neighborhood for in the first place.


Pearman appeared in court Thursday. His bond was set at $10,000. His next court date is August 10.


Pearman faces charges of domestic violence. According to the Tate County Sheriff's Deputies and neighbors, Pearman was home the night of the deadly shooting. 



He allegedly walked across the street to see what the commotion was about following the gun shots. 


Neighbors said they also saw police ID Pearman and ask him questions that night. Pearman even took to Facebook Live before his arrest.


"I wound up talking to the police that night too. They wanted to know what I heard. They said they were responding to a shots fired call," Pearman said on Facebook Live.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(02-14-2018, 08:33 AM)GMDino Wrote:


I provided both...and explained clearly that the second one was more an opinion piece.

Your bias is showing.  Again.

Please spare us your prevarication.  You didn't post the opinion piece for objectivity and no one outside your triumvirate believes you.

Quote:Whew!  Almost said the cops were dirty and covered for each other.  Luckily you were able to sneak in that its the Democrats fault.

I didn't mention Democrats, you just did.  I said single party dominance almost always causes bad results.   Your bias is showing.

Quote:Way to go!

I was afraid you'd just agree that these individuals were scum and what they did was wrong and it was a shame it took so long to catch them while they ruined lives.

You'll have to find a post in which I defended them.  If they're guilty then they deserve every second of detention time they receive and they deserve to lose everything related to their employment.  Now go find another article that claims all LEO's are bad and post it in the name of objectivity.  Then go get your shine box.

[GMDino]

(02-14-2018, 12:13 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Please spare us your prevarication.

Someone got a word a day desk calendar.  

 

(02-14-2018, 12:13 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: You didn't post the opinion piece for objectivity and no one outside your triumvirate believes you.

I specifically explained why I posted the opinion piece when I posted it.  No one has to believe me...free country and all...but no one should cast accusations while completely ignoring what was said.  Had I posted the opinion piece ONLY with no explanation I would be here apologizing for misleading.

I did not so I will not just because you don't like the opinion and want to use that to ignore the events themselves.

Aslo...a triumvirate"?  At least I'm not alone anymore!     Maybe WE can start a secret club too!!!  

(02-14-2018, 12:13 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: I didn't mention Democrats, you just did.  I said single party dominance almost always causes bad results.   Your bias is showing.

You mention single party...about Baltimore.  My reading comprehension is the only thing showing.  

(02-14-2018, 12:13 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: You'll have to find a post in which I defended them.  If they're guilty then they deserve every second of detention time they receive and they deserve to lose everything related to their employment.  Now go find another article that claims all LEO's are bad and post it in the name of objectivity. 

...and they don't deserve the blame being shifted to poor management and government.

(02-14-2018, 12:13 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Then go get your shine box.

That's adorable.

I don't know why you said it, but it's adorable anyway.  

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(02-14-2018, 12:26 PM)GMDino Wrote: Someone got a word a day desk calendar.    

Mocking someone with an actual vocabulary is a sad way to conduct yourself.

 

Quote:I specifically explained why I posted the opinion piece when I posted it.  No one has to believe me...free country and all...but no one should cast accusations while completely ignoring what was said.  Had I posted the opinion piece ONLY with no explanation I would be here apologizing for misleading.

I did not so I will not just because you don't like the opinion and want to use that to ignore the events themselves.

Sure.  Like I said, your the guy who cites Stormfront and then claims to not be a white supremacist.  Feeble denials are feeble.

Quote:Aslo...a triumvirate"?  At least I'm not alone anymore!     Maybe WE can start a secret club too!!!  

Using "too" would imply there's another secret club that you're apparently aware of (which btw would negate the "secret" part, maybe you need a word of the day desk calendar?).  Do please enlighten us.

Quote:You mention single party...about Baltimore.  My reading comprehension is the only thing showing.  

No, I mentioned single party about everywhere.  You are correct, your reading comprehension is showing, the lack of it.

Quote:...and they don't deserve the blame being shifted to poor management and government.

I'm assuming by "they" you mean the accused officers.  Of course, as I always say, people are responsible for their own actions.  I also said that a corrupt government while inevitably spawn corrupt civil service agencies.  Feel free to dispute this point if you like.

Quote:That's adorable.

I don't know why you said it, but it's adorable anyway.  

Yes, we all know that you don't know, but we know and knowing is half the battle.

[GMDino]

Okay...just one more since I have little to do today!

(02-14-2018, 12:44 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Mocking someone with an actual vocabulary is a sad way to conduct yourself.

 I wasn't mocking. I was impressed. Don't be so sensitive.

(02-14-2018, 12:44 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Sure.  Like I said, your the guy who cites Stormfront and then claims to not be a white supremacist.  Feeble denials are feeble.

I never did that. In fact I deliberately explained why, oh never mind. You'll never believe me because you "know".

(02-14-2018, 12:44 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Using "too" would imply there's another secret club that you're apparently aware of (which btw would negate the "secret" part, maybe you need a word of the day desk calendar?).  Do please enlighten us.

Well I think it's a secret club since only one person has ever mentioned the "group" of people in it. I have no confirmation other than one person who repeatedly mentions all the people in a particular grouping of people.

(02-14-2018, 12:44 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: No, I mentioned single party about everywhere.  You are correct, your reading comprehension is showing, the lack of it.

OOOOhhhh...close. You didn't say it was about "everywhere" while we were talking about one group of officer from one town. Just as I am not casting aspersions on every police officer by sharing the info on the few bad ones in Baltimore you should not be doing the same about everywhere.

If we can keep the discussion to THIS group and what THEY did maybe we can avoid the accusations that *I* am implying all police are bad and YOU are implying whatever it is you are implying...

(02-14-2018, 12:44 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: I'm assuming by "they" you mean the accused officers.  Of course, as I always say, people are responsible for their own actions.  I also said that a corrupt government while inevitably spawn corrupt civil service agencies.  Feel free to dispute this point if you like.

Actually you said bad governing "spawned" bad police who are watching bad people.

(02-14-2018, 01:08 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: As for Baltimore, looks to me like corrupt government spawns corrupt police force who both govern/police corrupt populace.  Lots of blame to go around and no one looks clean.  Possibly a further indication that single party governance almost always leads to sub-par results, at best.

That is saying the officers wouldn't have done it had not been for the "corrupt government" and also the "corrupt populace" they are responsbile to patrol.

And that my friend is horsehockey.

These officers made choices, for themselves, for a decade.

(02-14-2018, 12:44 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Yes, we all know that you don't know, but we know and knowing is half the battle.

Again, adorable. I know where it's from...I know what it means. I don't know why you said it. "Enlighten us" I believe is phrase you would use?

Now then: Can we get off the personal crap and talk about the incidents in Baltimore or not? 'Cause if not I'm done with you here.

[fredtoast]

(02-14-2018, 01:08 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote:  Possibly a further indication that single party governance almost always leads to sub-par results, at best.

"Almost always"?

Why do you say this?

Is Baltimore somehow unique in being governed by a single party?  Or have you observed a pattern of other cities governed by a single party being especially corrupt?

[fredtoast]

(02-14-2018, 12:44 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Mocking someone with an actual vocabulary is a sad way to conduct yourself.

So if your vocabulary is "actual" what is Dino's?

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(02-14-2018, 06:53 PM)fredtoast Wrote: "Almost always"?

Why do you say this?

Because it tends to be true.

Quote:Is Baltimore somehow unique in being governed by a single party?  Or have you observed a pattern of other cities governed by a single party being especially corrupt?

Odd that an adult who considers themselves educated wouldn't immediately think of Chicago.  However, common sense and logic tends to give us the answer as to why areas with single party dominance tend to have poor governance.  No competition induces complacency, promotes extreme agendas and stifles debate.  Essentially the political version of a monopoly.  Do I need to explain why monopolies are bad?

(02-14-2018, 07:03 PM)fredtoast Wrote: So if your vocabulary is "actual" what is Dino's?

Let's use nothing but facts to analyze this.  I used a word. GM appeared to find the use of the word so extraordinary that its use could only be contributed to a "word of the day" calendar.  Would a person who found the use of such a word, while not common certainly not odd or extreme, extraordinary be a person with a vocabulary that encompassed such a word?  You, the viewers at home, decide.