The Blue Line

Matt McGorry, who plays John Bennett in the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, was told by a Beverly Hills police officer that he was not allowed to record them investigating a traffic accident Monday.
When McGorry stood up for his rights, informing the cop he had every right to record, the cop then said he wanted to see his phone for evidence, placing his face inches from the actor’s face.
When McGorry told him he had no evidence of the accident, the cop turned around and walked away, realizing his intimidation tactics had failed.

These days it is not uncommon for cops to get arrested for assault.
But Officer Christopher Reiter, 36, of the Minneapolis Police Department took things way too far when he kicked Mohamed Osman while he was already down on the ground.
Osman suffered severe brain injuries, brain bleeding and ended up with fractures in his face, including sinus fractures in his nose.
Because of the injuries, Osman is unable to work.

A Louisiana sheriff’s deputy was caught on video body slamming a seventh-grader less than half his size to the ground while breaking up a fight at Westdale Middle School.
Now the Baton East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office is defending the deputy’s actions.
A spokeswoman for the department, Casey Hicks, responded to WASB  about the video saying that sometimes use force is necessary in order to neutralize situations.

Ohio cops shot and killed an unarmed man in front of his girlfriend and three kids last week after he refused to pull over for a traffic violation.
Roy Evans Jr., who had a suspended drivers’ license, led police on high speed chase for 14-minutes on March 7.
When Strongville cops spun out his van with spike strips, Evans Jr. reached down, attempting to light a cigarette.
That was the last thing he’d ever do.
“Let me see your hands! Let me see your hands!” an officer screams seconds before blasting Evans in the chest point blank with two rounds.

Stranger Fruit, a damning documentary recounting the events that led to protests and rioting in Ferguson in 2014 over the shooting death of Michael Brown, spurred more protests in the Missouri city Sunday after unseen surveillance footage in the film reveals Brown had entered a convenience store the night before he was killed and made some kind of exchange with the clerks.
The filmmakers suggest that Brown exchanged a small bag of marijuana for two boxes of cigarillos.

All Jesse Bright wanted was an apology from the North Carolina police officer who told him it was against the law to record cops in public.
But the cop refused to take his calls in the week after Bright proved him wrong.
So Bright went public with the video, where it quickly went viral, picked up by news sites throughout the world.
Now Wilmington Police Sergeant Kenneth Baker is “under investigation” for his actions caught caught on camera that day, showing he not only lied about the law, but lied about having probable cause to search Bright’s car.

Minnesota police say they were in fear for their lives when they released an attack dog on an unarmed 82-year-old grandmother on her own property, mistaking her for a burglar.
After all, Coon Rapids police say the woman escalated the situation by turning off her flashlight when they confronted her early one morning as she was working inside her family’s backyard shed.
The woman did not speak English so she had no idea who the people were outside the shed barking orders while holding growling dogs.

Two high-ranking Texas police officers were stripped of their command duties as the department investigates who leaked a body cam video showing a cop arresting a black woman and her daughter after they had called police for help.
Fort Worth Assistant Chief Abdul Pridgen and Deputy Chief Vance Keyes were “temporarily replaced in their positions,” according to NBC-DFW.

Punta Gorda police officer Lee Coel was finally charged in the shooting death of Mary Knowlton, the 73-year-old retired librarian who was shot and killed during a citizens academy last year.
Punta Gordo Police Chief Tom Lewis, who has defended Coel throughout his troubled career, was also charged, State Attorney Steve Russell announced during a press conference Wednesday.

A Tennessee cop was suspended without pay for two weeks after a female store clerk recorded him against his knowledge asking for nude photos and acknowledging to previously showing her a video of himself masturbating.
South Carthage police officer Frank Geisenhoffer claimed the woman initiated his interest after she first sent him a nude photo of herself.
But Elizabeth Restrepo denies that allegation and investigators did not buy it either, which is what led to his suspension in December.