The Great Police Work Thread

Cotton

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He worked part time, aside from his regular job as a police officer, which most police do.
Okay, cool. Yeah, I misread. But, he still didn't rape anyone. Sexual assault, yeah. But, rape is on a whole nother level.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Okay, cool. Yeah, I misread. But, he still didn't rape anyone. Sexual assault, yeah. But, rape is on a whole nother level.
Yeah, I must say I've seen much more egregious stuff. A officer where I live in Osage Beach got 5 years probation for actually raping a 14 year old. It was pathetic and actually a large part of the reason why that prosecutor lost his following election. Here is an article that sort of talks about what happened.

Former cop pleads guilty to sexual acts with a minor

Less than 24 hours before going to trial, a former police officer pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual acts with a minor while he was on the Osage Beach police force. emailprintCOMMENT 0 0
Richard Calvino
Zoom
Photo by Camden County Sherriff's DepartmentRichard Calvino
Posted Jan. 28, 2014 at 5:59 PM

Osage Beach
Less than 24 hours before going to trial, a former police officer pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual acts with a minor while he was on the Osage Beach police force.
Richard Calvino entered the guilty plea Tuesday afternoon before Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Hayden.

Calvino was scheduled for a jury trial in Morgan County on a change of venue. The trial was to get underway on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

Calvino, 59, was originially charged with sexual abuse in the first degree, sodomy, deviate sexual assault in the first degree with a victim aged 14-15, sexual assault in the first degree with a victim aged 14-15 and deviate sexual assault in the second degree with a victim aged 16-17.

Calvino pleaded guilty to two counts — deviate sexual assault in the first degree with a victim aged 14-15 and deviate sexual assault in the second degree with a victim aged 16-17. Calvino was given a suspended imposition of sentence, five years of supervised probation. He will register as a sex offender and must complete a sex offender class through probation and parole. Calvino will not serve jail time.

The charges against Calvino stemmed from allegations that date back from 1984 to 1990.

The filing of the case in 2011 came just within statute of limitations for such crimes in Missouri. Under state statute, the filing of charges for alleged sexual offenses against children may be filed within 20 years of the time the alleged victim turns 18-years-old.

The charges were filed after an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol in 2010 which began after the victim had memories resurface while undergoing therapy in Florida as an adult. She had begun seeing the therapist in May 2009.

The victim's age ranged from 11 to 16 during the time frame in question. Calvino's age ranged from 31 to 37.

During the Highway Patrol investigation, the victim had conversations with Calvino by phone, email and in person that officers recorded and preserved for evidence.

During an interview with a Highway Patrol investigator on Dec. 9, 2010, Calvino denied having any sexual relations with the girl.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges when he was arraigned and posted a $5,000 bond.

Since the case was filed in Camden County three years ago, the case has bounced from Camden to Morgan County and has been scheduled to go to trial at least four times.

Following the charges, Calvino continued to be employed with the Osage Beach Police Department until city administrator Nancy Viselli said he recently no longer had a job with the city.

Calvino was notified by the city on July 19, 2013, that, unless he could return to his job full time without charges pending against him, his last day would be Jan. 20, 2014.
 

Clay_Allison

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The charges against Calvino stemmed from allegations that date back from 1984 to 1990.

The filing of the case in 2011 came just within statute of limitations for such crimes in Missouri. Under state statute, the filing of charges for alleged sexual offenses against children may be filed within 20 years of the time the alleged victim turns 18-years-old.

The charges were filed after an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol in 2010 which began after the victim had memories resurface while undergoing therapy in Florida as an adult. She had begun seeing the therapist in May 2009.
That has to be why he didn't get much time, just barely being within the statute of limitations and the allegations being 20-30 years old has to make the case very hard to prosecute successfully.
 

Cowboysrock55

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That has to be why he didn't get much time, just barely being within the statute of limitations and the allegations being 20-30 years old has to make the case very hard to prosecute successfully.
Yeah but they had some really damning recordings of him on the phone. I know a lot more about it then just this article only because this is where I do criminal defense. The fact that they allowed him to keep working while these charges were pending was pretty bad too.

This stuff happens all the time though. It's pretty common for an officer to get a pass by the prosecuting attorney's office. Afterall the prosecutors can't make their cases without the officers help. They don't want to bite the hand that feeds them. It's usually best for a prosecutor to recuse themselves in this type of a case.
 

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Report: Tamir Rice Grand Jury Never Actually Voted on Whether to Indict Officers


The grand jury that declined to indict two police officers in the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice never actually voted on whether to bring charges, an investigative report from Cleveland says, leaving open the question of how the controversial decision was actually reached.

The alt-weekly Cleveland Scene's report revolves around the concept of the "no-bill," which is the name for a grand jury's formal decision—arrived at by voting—not to bring charges in a given case. (The opposite of a "no-bill" is a "true bill," i.e. a decision to indict.) When Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty announced on Dec. 28 that officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback would not be charged in Rice's death, he said only that the grand jury "declined to indict" the officers, leading many observers to assume that a no-bill had been voted on. But the Cleveland Scene's reporters could find no documentation of such a decision, and a spokesman for the Cuyahoga prosecutor's office responded to the publication's queries by saying that there had been no vote.

Two area law professors told the Scene they had never heard of a grand jury behaving in such a way. What's more, reporters were unable to find any official documentation in the Cleveland court system of the grand jury having concluded its business:

We were then directed to the Cuyahoga County grand jury office. Wednesday morning, a clerk there told Scene that the "mysterious document" may or may not exist and that, even if it does, it could only be provided to us via court order by Administrative and Presiding Judge John J. Russo ... Russo, who spoke to Scene by phone, professed to be as confused as we were. "When you say 'document,' I'm not sure what you mean. I don't know what that is. It's either a true bill or a no bill," he said.
But actually, no.

His staff determined Wednesday that a “no-bill” had never been filed.
What any of this means for Rice's case is unclear. A lawyer representing the Rice family said the lack of a no-bill could constitute another indication that McGinty—who formally recommended against indicting Loehmann and Garmback and presented expert reports to the grand jury that backed up his recommendation—had not taken the idea of prosecution seriously.

A federal investigation into Rice's death is reportedly ongoing; Rice's family has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officers involved.
 

Jiggyfly

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Father of 12-Year-Old Girl Shot By Constable Is Charged With Her Death: Prosecutors

Inside Edition
Deborah Hastings
3 days ago

The father of a 12-year-old Pennsylvania girl who was killed while a constable was serving an eviction notice has been charged with criminal homicide in his daughter's death, prosecutors said.

Don Meyer allegedly pointed a loaded semi-automatic assault rife at the chest of Constable Clarke Steele as they argued over an order to vacate on January 11.

Steele fired one round, which struck the 57-year-old father in the arm and then pierced the chest of his daughter, Ciara, who was hiding behind him. She died at the scene.

She had been home from school that day because she was sick.

Prosecutors upgraded charges against Meyer on Thursday. He now faces counts including criminal homicide, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and illegal possession of weapons.

He is being held without bail in Pennsylvania's Perry County Jail and has pleaded not guilty.

Several eviction orders had been issued against Meyer, authorities said, and he had been notified by telephone that a constable was on the way to serve him with another notice. Meyer met the constable at the door of his apartment with the rifle slung over his shoulder, authorities said.

Meyer allegedly raised the loaded weapon and pointed it at Steele's chest as the two argued.

“The constable was there the day before to remind them that the next day was the day they had to be out,” family member Hope Cordas Rohde told INSIDE EDITION after the shooting. “Don had an arsenal of weapons and he had them ready. He wasn’t going to pay,” she said.

Perry County District Attorney Andrew Bender has said the constable acted in self-defense and will not be charged in the shooting. The officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

By law, Meyer was not allowed to possess firearms because he had previously been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility, authorities said. Constables who responded to the shooting said they confiscated five weapons at Meyer's home.

Ciara's family blames her father for her death and they support the district attorney's decison to prosecute him for homicide.

“I think he is deserving of every single charge,” uncle Jason Gehman told ABC 27.

Ciara's grandmother, Alice Gehman, agreed. "I hope he never gets out," she told the station. "Because if he does, we are in trouble."

Fighting back tears, family members recounted how they recently sat down with constable Steele after he requested a meeting with Ciara's kin.

The officer is distraught over her death, they said.

“He just needed to have some kind of closure - that we don’t blame him for this,” Alice Gehman said. “It went wonderful and this man has so much pain, I cannot even explain it to you.”

The grandmother said she wrapped her arms around the officer.

“When I was holding him and he was saying how sorry he was, I said ‘How are you?’ And he said, ‘I can’t breathe.'''

She told him, "Just slow down, because everyone is having trouble breathing, believe me.”
 

Jiggyfly

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A Record Number Of People Were Exonerated In 2015 For Crimes They Didn’t Commit
The Huffington Post

Matt Ferner

Jarrod Burguan, chief of police of the San Bernardino Police Department, after the shooting rampage of the husband-and-wife terrorist team that had gunned down 36 people at a holiday party in December.
Heroes of the San Bernardino Terror Attack, Crippled by Budget Cuts
In this Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 photo, a hole is photographed in a plane operated by Daallo Airlines as it sits on the runway of the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia. A gaping hole in the commercial airliner forced it to make an emergency landing at Mogadishu's international airport late Tuesday, officials and witnesses said.
Plane lands safely after explosion over Somalia
Handcuffed Prisoner Andy Sacks via Getty Images© Andy Sacks via Getty Images Handcuffed Prisoner Andy Sacks via Getty Images
The Netfilx hit true-crime series “Making a Murderer” leaves many people wondering: Just how common is the story of a wrongful conviction in America’s criminal justice system? Too common, according a new report that tracks exonerations.

Researchers found that 149 people were cleared in 2015 for crimes they didn't commit -- more than any other year in history, according to a report published Wednesday by the National Registry of Exonerations, a project of the University of Michigan Law School. By comparison, 139 people were exonerated in 2014. The number has risen most years since 2005, when 61 people were cleared of crimes they didn't commit.

“Historically, this is a very large number for a type of event that we’d like to think almost never happens or just doesn’t happen,” Samuel Gross, a University of Michigan law professor who helped write the report, told The Huffington Post.

The men and women who were cleared last year had, on average, served 14.5 years in prison. Some had been on death row. Others were younger than 18 when they were convicted or had intellectual disabilities. All had been swept into a justice system that's supposed to be based on the presumption of innocence, but failed.

The high number of exonerations shows widespread problems with the system and likely “points to a much larger number of false convictions” that haven't been reversed, the report said.

“That there is an impetus at all to address the underlying problems that create this false convictions is of course good news,” Gross said. “But the other side is equally important, probably more so: When you see this many exonerations, that means there is a steady underlying problem. We now know now that happens on a regular basis.”

Here are some patterns the organization found in 2015 exonerations:

Official Misconduct
About 40 percent of the 2015 exonerations involved official misconduct, a record. About 75 percent of the homicide exonerations involved misconduct.

The wrongful conviction of Debra Milke , detailed in the report, was among them. Authorities accused Milke of conspiring with two men who shot her son in the back of the head to keep him from her ex-husband and to cash in on an insurance policy. Milke’s conviction was built largely on the testimony of now-retired Phoenix police Detective Armando Saldate Jr., who said Milke offered him sex during questioning and confessed to the murder. The interrogation wasn't recorded, and Milke’s defense argued Saldate had a long history of misconduct that the state had concealed. In multiple other cases, the defense lawyers said, judges had tossed out confessions or indictments because Saldate had lied or violated defendants' rights.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Milke’s attorneys and overturned her conviction . Milke had always maintained her innocence. She spent 26 years in prison -- 22 on death row -- before she was exonerated.

False Confessions
Almost 20 percent of exonerations in 2015 were for convictions based on false confessions -- a record. Those cases overwhelmingly were homicides involving defendants who were under 18, intellectually disabled, or both.

Bobby Johnson, of New Haven, Connecticut , was 16 years old with an IQ of 69 -- just below the threshold for intellectual disability -- without a parent or guardian present when he confessed to two detectives that he murdered 70-year-old Herbert Fields.

Johnson received a 38-year sentence in 2007. But in 2015, a new defense attorney argued that Johnson's confession was coerced by the detectives, who lied that they had evidence linking him to the murder that would subject him to the death penalty. The lawyer also argued police ignored evidence that the murder was linked to two other killings committed by others. Nine years after his conviction , Johnson was exonerated and set free.

In a separate analysis of hundreds of cases since 1989, false confessions were found to be a leading cause of wrongful convictions, according to the Innocence Project, a nonprofit dedicated to correcting wrongful convictions. Overall, about 31 percent of wrongful conviction cases included a false confession. For homicides, that number balloons to 63 percent.

Guilty Pleas

An innocent person pleading guilty to a crime they didn’t commit may seem unfathomable. But the National Registry of Exonerations said the number of false guilty pleas has been increasing for seven years, and has risen sharply in the past two years.

More than 40 percent of people exonerated in 2015 were convicted based on guilty pleas made by an innocent defendant, a record. The majority of these cases involved drugs. Some were homicide cases.

“Many people, including judges, take comfort in knowing that an overwhelming number of criminal cases are resolved by guilty plea rather than trial,” Judge Alex Kozinski, of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote last year in a paper critiquing the criminal justice system. But Kozinski said this attitude fails to account for issues surrounding plea deals that include the trend of bringing multiple counts for a single crime, the “creativity” of prosecutors in “hatching up criminal cases where no crime exits” and the general “overcriminalization of virtually every aspect of American life.”

Plea bargains can be an efficient way to resolve cases without draining taxpayer resources. They aren’t always bad. But a 2013 Human Rights Watch study found the U.S. system often creates situations where a federal prosecutor will " strong-arm " a defendant into a plea deal. And the deep fear of a harsh sentence -- one “so excessively severe, they take your breath away,” in the words of Judge John Gleeson of the Eastern District of New York -- can lead a defendant to plead guilty in order to obtain a shorter prison term, even if they're accused wrongfully.

One example of plea deal complexities is the case of Shawn Whirl, who pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Chicago cab driver Billy Williams in 1991, according to the report.

Whirl’s defense argued he was being chased by an assailant the day he wound up in the back of Williams' cab. The same assailant later killed Williams in retaliation for rescuing Whirl, the lawyers said. Whirl confessed to the crime, but said it was because he was tortured by a Chicago cop. When prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty, Whirl agreed to plead guilty to murder and armed robbery to save his life -- even though he said in court on the day he received a 60-year sentence that he was innocent.

It wasn't until 2012 that the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission, formed to investigate claims of torture against Chicago police, found that Whirl had indeed been tortured by a subordinate of Jon Burge -- an ex-Chicago cop who led a police torture ring that used electrical shock, burnings and beatings on more than 100 black men .

Whirl was cleared of all charges on Oct. 13 and freed.

No Crime Was Actually Committed
In about half of the exonerations in 2015, no crime was actually ever committed by the people put behind bars -- a record, according to the report. Most of these cases involved drugs. Some included homicide or arson.

The report details the 1981 conviction of Raymond Mora, William Vasquez and Amaury Villalobo on six counts of murder for starting a fire in a Brooklyn, New York, building that killed a mother and her five children. The convictions were based on the building owner’s account that she saw the men leaving shortly before the fire, and a fire marshal's testimony that the blaze had multiple origin points and was started with accelerants -- signs of arson.

Each of the men’s wives gave alibi testimony that the men weren't near the building when the fire started. All three men were convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life.

Mora died in prison in 1989. Vasquez lost his eyesight due to untreated glaucoma, according to the report. In 2012, Vasquez and Villalobos were released on parole, and Villalobos sought the help of a legal clinic. Records from the case were reexamined and, using modern science, John Lentini, an arson expert, concluded that the original fire marshal’s interpretation of the evidence was mistaken, based on science that has since been disproven. This kind of expert testimony has likely resulted in "numerous" wrongful convictions, Lentini said.

Moreover, the building owner, just before she died, admitted lying about seeing the three men leaving the building at the time of the fire. She also hid an insurance settlement.

After this new evidence was presented, the convictions of all three men were vacated in December.

Flawed Forensic Evidence
Many of last year's exonerations involved flawed or invalid forensic evidence. According to the Innocence Project, improper forensic science is a leading cause of wrongful conviction.

Too often, the group says, forensic experts speculate when they testify, asserting conclusions that stretch the science. Further, some forensic techniques aren't backed by research, but are nevertheless presented to juries as fact. And there are honest mistakes. The FBI has admitted that from 1972 to 1999, almost every examiner in the bureau's elite forensics unit gave flawed testimony in nearly every trial in which they presented evidence.

Forensic fields like ballistics, bloodstain pattern identification and footprint and tire print analysis, have been “long accepted by the courts as largely infallible,” Kozinski said in his paper, arguing that the techniques should be viewed with skepticism.

Faulty Eyewitness Identification
False identifications of innocent people happened in several cases the exoneration registry report outlined.

The Innocence Project says eyewitness misidentification of a suspect plays a role in more than 70 percent of convictions that are later overturned through DNA evidence. Hundreds of studies have shown that eyewitness identification is frequently inaccurate and that human memories are not reliable, especially with traditional identification procedures. While simple reforms have been proposed, only about 14 U.S. states have implemented them, according to Innocence Project.

Kozinski called for states to adopt rigorous procedures for witness identification.

How Many More Wrongful Convictions?

There’s no clear data on how many innocent people have been wrongfully convicted. The Innocence Project, citing multiple studies, estimates from 2 percent to 5 percent of prisoners are actually innocent. The U.S., which leads the world in incarceration of its citizens, has approximately 2 million people behind bars. That means a wrongful conviction rate of 1 percent would translate to 20,000 people punished for crimes they didn't commit. On death row, 1 in 25 are likely innocent, according to a recent study .

“Because these things happen regularly, we should be more open-minded about reconsidering the guilt of convicted defendants when substantial new evidence emerges after conviction,” Gross said. “The impulse to say: ‘It’s over, I don’t want to think about it anymore’ is very strong. However, there are cracks in that position."
 

BipolarFuk

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Cops Claim Self-Defense After Shooting a Sleeping Couple

Cops Claim Self-Defense After Shooting a Sleeping Couple

Marquintin Shandlin, 32, and Kisha Michael, 31, are the latest victims of police brutality. The couple were killed in Inglewood, California, after police claimed that they felt threatened and believed Michael was carrying a gun. But in a shocking and disturbing revelation, Inglewood mayor James Butts revealed that the man and woman were actually unconscious when police opened fire.

Few other details are known and the LAPD has declined to respond until they “collect all the details,” of the killing. According to the Los Angeles Times, Trisha Michael, Kisha’s sister, said that she has been trying to get more details on what had actually taken place, but the police had left her questions unanswered. Trisha also stated that her sister had never owned a gun.

Even before the revelation that the two victims had been sleeping and therefore couldn't have posed any sort of credible threat, local activist Najee Ali weighed in saying that just having a gun does not give the officers the right to open fire. “Even though she may have had a gun, that does not mean she was a threat to officers,” Ali said.

After a recent news conference, relatives of the slain victims went to the Inglewood Police Department headquarters demanding to speak with the chief of police. One held a sign that said, “Murdered by Inglewood Police,” and another shouted, “It could be your child next. You never know.”

Shandlin and Michael were both single parents.
 

Jiggyfly

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Austin police to fire officer who shot, killed nude teen
Published March 22, 2016 Associated Press
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Geoffrey Freeman.
Geoffrey Freeman. (Fox 7)
AUSTIN, Texas – An Austin police officer who fatally shot an unarmed, naked 17-year-old last month will be fired, Police Chief Art Acevedo announced Monday.

In a memo outlining the disciplinary action, Acevedo said Officer Geoffrey Freeman violated department policy in the shooting of David Joseph -- that he should not have confronted the teenager alone, that his decision to draw his weapon wasn't warranted and that there were other ways he could have stopped Joseph after the teen began charging at the officer.

Freeman's lawyers with the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas say they will appeal. The general counsel for the group has said Freeman feared for his life when he fired his gun at Joseph.

The group will use the "resources necessary" to ensure that Freeman's "good name is restored and that he will be back to work," Executive Director Charley Wilkison said in a statement.

Acevedo said he has "indefinitely suspended" Freeman, which he says is the department's term for firing. If Freeman appeals, the firing isn't final until an arbitrator upholds it.

Travis County prosecutors also are investigating the shooting and plan to present the case to a grand jury for possible criminal charges.

Acevedo's memo to the interim director of civil service explains that Freeman was one of four officers who responded to a call about a naked man running across a roadway on Feb. 8. Freeman knew the other officers were on their way and had even asked for extra help because he believed the person had a mental illness or was high, the memo states.

Acevedo said Freeman should have waited for other officers before confronting Joseph. His memo also says Freeman could have used a stun gun, pepper spray or even physical force to stop Joseph when the teen kept coming toward the officer after Freeman told him to stop. The memo notes that Freeman weighed about 240 pounds, while Joseph weighed about 146 pounds.

An autopsy found that Joseph had marijuana and an anti-anxiety drug in his system when he was fatally shot. The teenager was black, as is Freeman.

Freeman, 42, was a 10-year veteran of the Austin police department.
===============================================================

So it seems there are other ways to subdue a charging subject before using deadly force and oh yeah you can also wait for backup.
 

Jiggyfly

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Didn't know where else to talk about this but this is as good a spot as any.

The 30 For 30 on the Duke Lacrosse rape case is a must watch what the district attorney did to make a case was incomprehensible except for the fact that this happens all to much.

I never knew Nifong the DA actually had to go to jail.

Also the lead officer on the case killed himself and the accuser is in jail for killing a boyfriend.

And it was all done for ego and to win an office, it was sickening to watch the DA after finding out everything he knew.

The only way the guys got off was because of the resources they have.
 

Clay_Allison

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Didn't know where else to talk about this but this is as good a spot as any.

The 30 For 30 on the Duke Lacrosse rape case is a must watch what the district attorney did to make a case was incomprehensible except for the fact that this happens all to much.

I never knew Nifong the DA actually had to go to jail.

Also the lead officer on the case killed himself and the accuser is in jail for killing a boyfriend.

And it was all done for ego and to win an office, it was sickening to watch the DA after finding out everything he knew.

The only way the guys got off was because of the resources they have.
Nice job by Al Sharpton sticking his dick into that mess, because of course he did.
 

fortsbest

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As I have always told you guys I'm against bad police and bad police work. Sadly, I just had to recommend that a 6 year officer be fired for lying. It was for something really minor in the grand scheme of things, but it doesn't excuse it. And while Iamtdg is right in that we don't have NE style unions, there will still be hearing before he goes.
 
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