police abuse

An embattled Louisiana sheriff was indicted this week by a federal grand jury following guilty pleas by eight former deputies from his department.
Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal is facing ten years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for ordering the beatings of five inmates at the notorious Iberia Parish Jail.
The eight former deputies pleaded guilty to the deprivation of civil rights stemming from at least two separate incidents involving the beating of inmates in a plea deal that protects them from future indictments in exchange for their testimony against the sheriff.

A Los Angeles Times photographer was editing and sending photos from his parked car Wednesday when he was confronted by Simi Valley officers who ordered him out of his car, then threw him down on the ground and handcuffed him.
All because the 65-year-old photojournalist questioned their motives.
Ricardo DeAratanha had been parked less than a mile from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Ventura County where he had photographed a public viewing for the recently deceased Nancy Reagan.

A Maryland man convicted by a judge last year on questionable charges after a sheriff’s deputy accused his girlfriend of breastfeeding their unrestrained baby in the passengers’s seat as he pulled into a gas station had the conviction reversed on appeal last month after taking the case before a jury.
But the Charles County Sheriff’s Office is still refusing to return his girlfriend’s phone that recorded the incident.

A West Virginia woman who stood between her dog and a cop who was about to shoot it was acquitted by a jury of obstruction charges on February, 29th, 2016.
West Virginia state trooper Seth Cook testified that he was not afraid of the dog, but was following training that required him to kill all dogs that approach him, even if it was chained and wagging its tail as Buddy was doing in this case.

On February 6, 2016, Charles “Chris” Harrell was walking down the street drinking coffee while Cincinnati police officer Baron Osterman followed him on a bicycle. Harrell began recording Osterman with his cell phone, alleging that Osterman was racially profiling him.
Osterman’s actions in the video appear to validate Harrell’s allegation when Harrell, likely distracted by recording Osterman, crosses against a “Don’t Walk” signal on a street that is clearly free of all vehicular traffic, leading to Osterman stopping him for the minor pedestrian traffic violation.

The Arizona cop who shot and killed Daniel Shaver in January after responding to a call over a pellet gun was charged with murder Friday.
And only because the incident was captured on body cam.
Mesa police officer Phillip Mitchell Brailsford – the son of an internal affairs officer – said he feared for his life when Shaver reached for his waist, prompting him to shoot five times.

An Oklahoma sheriff’s deputy shot a family dog on the front porch of a house while investigating a disturbance call at another home, leaving the dog there bleeding as he went on with his day.
Rogers County sheriff’s deputy Logan Eller, however, left a note on the door, claiming the dog had attacked him.

“We were investigating a crime and your dog attacked our deputy. The dog was shot and we need you to call us.”

The San Antonio police officer who shot and killed a man for holding a cell phone last month, claiming he was in fear for his life, will be fired, the police chief announced this week.

An Alabama police officer was arrested on murder charges Wednesday for shooting to death an unarmed man who was walking home from a card game at 3 a.m. last week.
It is not clear why Montgomery police officer Aaron Smith stopped Gregory Gunn last Thursday other than the 58-year-old man may have been carrying a retractable painter’s stick.
But even that is not certain. And it’s certainly not illegal.

City of White Police Chief David King and officer Blake Scheff were arrested Wednesday for arresting people on bogus charges with the sole intention to collect fines from the arrests.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation indicated the two engaged in this misconduct for four years, from December 2011 to April 2015. The GBI arrested the pair following an investigation that started in October 2015.