The Great Police Work Thread

[Jiggyfly]

I see it the same way. The pro-death position has nothing to do with ethics problems of individuals in the system. Those incidents occured regardless of anyones individual position on the death sentence.

So you missed the fact that a witness gave his testimony for a early release and then recanted?

 

[Cotton]

So instead of reading it for yourself and drawing your own conclusion you would rather somebody else give an opinion you can piggyback.

If I gave you my version would it matter?

This explains a lot about your arguments around here.

Yeah, that's exactly what I meant. Idiot.

 

[L.T. Fan]

So you missed the fact that a witness gave his testimony for a early release and then recanted?

No I didn't miss that. Do connect that an ethics problem is still a problem whether there is a death sentence or not?

 

[Jiggyfly]

 

[Cotton]

Yeah, that's pretty damn bad. He didn't seem to be resisting at all.

 

[BipolarFuk]

 

[BipolarFuk]

White SC officer charged with murder in shooting death of black man

White SC officer charged with murder in shooting death of black man

A South Carolina police officer was arrested and charged with murder Tuesday in the weekend shooting death of a motorist after a traffic stop over a faulty brake light.

City Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager, who is white, was taken into custody after law enforcement officials saw a video of him shooting 50-year-old Walter Scott, who is black, in the back as he ran away. Slager, 33, a five-year veteran of the North Charleston force, was denied bond at a brief first appearance hearing Tuesday. If convicted, he faces 30 years to life in prison.

North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey announced the charges at a hastily called news conference in which he said City Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager made "a bad decision."

"When you're wrong, you're wrong," Summey said. "When you make a bad decision, don't care if you're behind the shield or a citizen on the street, you have to live with that decision."

The video, which was obtained by The Post and Courier of Charleston from a source who asked to remain anonymous, shows the confrontation between the two on Saturday after Scott ran away from a traffic stop. Authorities say Scott, of Charleston, was shot after the officer already hit him with a stun gun.

A video of the shooting released to news media outlets shows the officer firing eight shots at Scott's back as Scott is running away. Scott falls on the eighth shot, fired after a brief pause. The video then shows the officer slowly walking toward him, and ordering him to put his hands behind his back.

When Scott doesn't move, Slager pulls his arms back and cuffs his hands. Then he walks briskly back to where he fired the shots, picks up an object, and returns the 30 feet or so back to Scott before dropping the object by Scott's feet.

Attorney David Aylor said after the video surfaced Tuesday that he was no longer representing Slager. Aylor had released a statement Monday saying the officer felt threatened and that the motorist was trying to grab the officer's stun gun.

"This is a terrible tragedy that has impacted our community," Aylor told the Post and Courier.

Attorney L. Chris Stewart, who came to North Charleston a day after the shooting to represent the family, said the video forced authorities to act quickly and decisively, and he called the person who made the video a hero.

"What happened today doesn't happen all the time," Stewart told a news conference. What if there was no video?" Scott's mother stood nearby, saying, "Thank you, Lord" and "Hallelujah." Stewart said the family plans to file a lawsuit against the police department. Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said the Federal Bureau of Investigation will also investigate the shooting.

Scott's brother Anthony said Tuesday night that because of the video, "we have received the truth" and "through the process, justice has been served."

According to The Post and Courier, Scott was wanted for arrest on a Family Court warrant and had a history of arrests related to contempt of court charges for failing to pay child support. Stewart said Scott had four children, was engaged and had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard. There were no violent offenses on his record, the attorney said.

At the earlier news conference with the mayor, North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers appeared close to tears.

"I have been around this police department a long time and all the officers on this force, the men and women, are like my children," he told reporters. "So you tell me how a father would react seeing his child do something? I'll let you answer that yourself."

The shooting occurred as heightened scrutiny is being placed on police officer shootings, particularly those that involve white officers and unarmed black suspects. A grand jury declined to indict Ferguson, Missouri, officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown last August, leading to nationwide protests.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/04/08/white-sc-officer-charged-with-murder-for-shooting-black-man/

 

[L.T. Fan]

The video I saw of the above event looks pretty damning.

 

[townsend]

God bless the people ballsy enough to record cops in these situation.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

God bless the people ballsy enough to record cops in these situation.

That's kind of the sad part of this. If the video footage wasn't there he probably would have never been charged.

 

[Cotton]

That's kind of the sad part of this. If the video footage wasn't there he probably would have never been charged.

That's why it's imperative that cops be outfitted with body cams.

 

[BipolarFuk]

This case is all the evidence you need that cops should not be given the benefit of the doubt in all situations. These guys can and will say and do anything to cover their and each other's asses.

 

[townsend]

That's why it's imperative that cops be outfitted with body cams.

Not only that but they need to not have access to footage or the ability to turn off body cams. That's the main problem with dash cams.

 

[Cotton]

Not only that but they need to not have access to footage or the ability to turn off body cams. That's the mains problem with dash cams.

Yeah, absolutely.

 

[Clay_Allison]

SAPD officer was on the radio today, on a local Republican show. He didn't pull any punches. He said the cop in the video looked like a hunter who had just killed an animal, not an officer who had been forced to shoot someone. Pretty strong take for a fellow cop. Usually they want to "wait for the facts to come out". Props to that guy.

 

[boozeman]

Not a good look for SC.
http://www.ora.tv/newsbreaker/south-carolina-police-dash-cam-video-traffic-stop-walter-scott-0_36jkn8c1wsp9

 

[Kbrown]

If I had to make presumptions based on the witness' account and video and draw conclusions about motive, I'd say the officer's taser didn't work, and he just flat got tired of chasing/wrestling the guy. Pretty appalling.

 

[Clay_Allison]

I think since the Brown shooting and the NY choking case there are a few officers policing with a chip on their shoulder. A lot of Americans want cops to take their time and be less aggressive and it's brought the worst out of the cops who can't take the criticism and want to impose their authority with more force. Right now it's pretty easy to get your ass beat and find yourself charged with something just for trying to film cops if you pick the wrong cop. Lucky the person who filmed this shooting didn't get noticed by the cop. He had just committed murder and was prepared to plant evidence and lie about it. What's two?

 

[BipolarFuk]

I think since the Brown shooting and the NY choking case there are a few officers policing with a chip on their shoulder. A lot of Americans want cops to take their time and be less aggressive and it's brought the worst out of the cops who can't take the criticism and want to impose their authority with more force. Right now it's pretty easy to get your ass beat and find yourself charged with something just for trying to film cops if you pick the wrong cop. Lucky the person who filmed this shooting didn't get noticed by the cop. He had just committed murder and was prepared to plant evidence and lie about it. What's two?

I read somewhere that the guy actually told the cop, after more had arrived on the scene, that he had taped the incident. Then he said that he got scared and ran. He's lucky he doesn't have a back full of bullets as well.

 

[BipolarFuk]