No pay for killer cops!
That is what the family members of Malissa Williams were chanting earlier this week in front of Cleveland’s city hall in response to news that Michael Brelo – one of the 13 cops who fatally shot both Williams and her friend Timothy Russell 137 times earlier this year – will be back policing the streets any day now.
A drunken Massachusetts police officer choked and put a gun to the head of a woman in his house. Earlier on the same day the officer was cited for drinking alcohol while driving.
Now, four months later, Dalton police officer James Scace has been charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, domestic assault and battery, strangulation and witness intimidation.
A man who was attacked by three San Antonio police officers last year while taking photos of his wife’s business is now paralyzed from the neck down.
But San Antonio police have already wiped their hands of the matter, saying they had merely confused Roger Carlos with a violent felon whom they were chasing when they hopped out of a van and attacked him before realizing he was the wrong man.
After more than a decade of accusations of abusing citizens, falsifying reports and planting drugs and weapons, the Michigan police officer known as Robocop was convicted today, putting an end to his less than stellar law enforcement career.
And it was only because the incident was captured on dash cam video.
William Melendez, who was fired from the Inkster Police Department in April after a dash cam video surfaced showing him pull over and beat a man named Floyd Dent, was found guilty of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and of misconduct in office.
Canadian police claim they were responding to a call about a burglar with a knife when they encountered a random man in a parking lot and ordered him down at gunpoint, proceeding to kick, punch and knee him repeatedly in a disturbing incident caught on video.
“I didn’t do anything,” yelled Santokh Bola. “Officer please. Let me go please.”
“I beg you!”
Turns out, Bola had no knife nor was he burglarizing any homes.
And Toronto police had no excuse other than to say he matched a description.
A Los Angeles police officer named Mejia struck a pedestrian crossing the street Tuesday, leaving him injured in the street for 30 minutes before paramedics arrived.
The officer was on his way to another emergency call pertaining to an officer in need of assistance
The black male pedestrian was struck at the intersection of 6th and Springs Street.
(Credit: jasmyneacannick.com)
A California state attorney was arguing with another attorney in court when a bailiff walked up to her, ordered her out, then grabbed her by the wrists and swung her to the floor.
Her crime: “speaking loudly” and “acting in an unprofessional manner” towards the opposing attorney.
Apparently, this bailiff hasn’t learned that is routine behavior for attorneys.
The incident took place October 20, but video of the incident was released this week.
Fearing transparency would place officers’ lives at risk, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved a bill Tuesday that would make it illegal to release the names of officers under investigation for shooting or abusing citizens in the line of duty.
The only exception would be if the officer ends up charged with a crime.
But considering how rare that happens, even when the names of officers are released, we should expect a decrease in police accountability in the Keystone State.
The dust had barely settled from Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris when cops in the United States began calling for further militarization of police, claiming they are unequipped to protect our country from terrorism.
But militarizing police, as we have learned, results in them stripping us of our rights at gunpoint by treating us like enemy combatants in our own country.
Nevertheless, this is how it was presented on the popular police Facebook page Blue Lives Matter.
A Texas cop accused of raping a teenage girl as other officers watched was found guilty last week.
But not of first-degree sexual assault as he was initially charged, which could have landed him in prison for 99 years, but of second-degree sexual assault, which could have landed him in prison for 20 years.
Instead, Erasmo Mata ended up with a four-year sentence.
Mata, who was working for the Pharr Police Department when the assaults took place, must also register as a sex offender as well as pay a $5,000 fine.
