Racist Omaha Police say DNA Sweeps save time

People asked for their DNA have little choice: Either submit to the test or move up the suspect list. And, they say, sweeps - in which police collect DNA from dozens of people based upon a broad description - violate people's constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure.  "These sweeps - whether they're roadblocks or these massive DNA collections - are not only intrusive but they're ineffective," said Sam Walker, a longtime criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. "Research has shown that time and time again, crimes are solved by some specific identifying information from people. The victim. A witness. A friend. "A lot of these sweeps are just done as theater. It's police playing to an audience, trying to show that they're doing something." [more]

Cover Up-- Reporter Claims Tape of LAPD Beating was Edited

Unedited tape Shows More Police Blows
 The complete and unedited nine-minute tape of the June 23 pursuit and arrest of Stanley Miller by LAPD officers shows that he took a beating from the cops -- after receiving the 11 flashlight blows. The world was shown only a one-minute portion of the tape. No one except LAPD higher-ups has seen what happens after that. KABC-TV news reporter Scott Reiff, in the Air 7 helicopter, continued to tape the incident until Miller was placed into police car number 569. the complete tape, which vividly depicts the following: After Miller is on the ground, subdued, kicked and hit 11 times by Hatfield, most of the swarming cops get off him. But the prone, handcuffed man is inexplicably jumped on again, like a loose football, by seven of the eight officers present, and kicked again by another one.  [more]

• Black Man Beaten by L.A. Police files $25 Million claim with city [more] and  [more]

Different Version of Beating Emerges [more

Flashlight-wielding officer threatened 14-year-old boy

Police are investigating a claim that Southeast Division Officer John Hatfield -- the cop who struck Stanley Miller 11 times with a flashlight following a police chase last month -- threatened to kill a 14-year-old boy, it was learned Tuesday. Mabelle Pittman, a staunch police supporter and an active volunteer with the Southeast Division for the past 25 years, filed a complaint against Hatfield after she learned of her son's March 26 encounter with him, during which the officer allegedly told the child: "Why don't you run so I can shoot you in the back?"  [more]

Phili Police Trippin-- Black baby doll hanging by a noose on Officer's car

A Philadelphia Highway Patrol officer is accused of a racist act after hanging a black doll from his car. The veteran officer is now the target of an internal investigation. Several police officers said they were surprised, shocked and outraged that a fellow police officer would do anything to create racial tension among the ranks. Police officials said the white officer drove to work with a black baby doll hanging by a noose from the outside of his personal car. Police sources said a black officer confronted the white officer, demanding he take down the doll, but the white officer refused and the black officer filed two complaints -- one with the department and one with the federal EEOC. [more]

Black Man Beaten by L.A. Police files $25 Million claim with city

The Black man beaten by police last month filed a claim Thursday with the city of Los Angeles for $25 million in damages. Stanley Miller, 36, alleged he suffered "brain damage, spinal injuries, trunk-torso injuries, internal injuries, emotional distress, and bruises and contusions" during his televised arrest near a concrete creek bed in Compton on June 23. The sum he is seeking, the claim said, is justified by the "malicious and egregious conduct of the LAPD." "The LAPD planted evidence, lied about evidence, destroyed evidence and has attempted to cover up its misdeeds," according to the document. [more] and  [more]

Omaha--Black Man Was Handcuffed, Forced To Submit To DNA Test

A man said Omaha police handcuffed him and forced him to give a DNA sample, even though he had already been exonerated by a rape victim. The man told his story to KETV NewsWatch 7's Carol Kloss and asked to remain anonymous. He said two years ago police questioned him in the first of four serial rapes. At the time, he said the victim told police he didn't do it. [more]

Judge orders Public Proceeding in Killing of Latino Man by State Agent

Monday's criminal grand jury hearing into the shooting death of an unarmed man by a state agent will be held in public, Santa Clara County Superior Court Presiding Judge Thomas P. Hansen has decided, marking the second time in less than a year -- and only the third time ever in the county -- that the normally secret proceedings will be open. Supporters of Rodolfo ``Rudy'' Cardenas, mistaken for a fugitive by a state drug agent, said they were pleased by the decision, which was expected. But they added they are concerned authorities will seek to discredit Cardenas in an effort to clear the officer who shot him. [more]

Bad to be Black in the world's richest nation

I guess it has never dawned on them that they need to look at their own human rights violations first before they can even open their mouth. The last two years alone have seen numerous counts of pure brutality that cannot be wished even on one's worst enemy. There was the case in Cincinatti were the police shot a young black man for eluding them, claiming he had 14 warrants of arrest but not bothering to mention that the warrants were merely for unpaid tickets by the same cops. Then there was the Ingelwood California case where a handcuffed black teenager was slammed on the hood of a car and punched in the face by four police officers, who were surprisingly acquitted. [more]

Different Version of Beating Emerges

Officer says wire cutters were 200 yards away, not in the suspect's pocket
 Wire cutters that Los Angeles police have said were discovered on a suspect in a recent televised beating were actually found after the man's arrest and more than 200 yards away -- in a car he had allegedly stolen, according to a source familiar with the case. The location of the wire cutters has emerged as a key element of the investigation into last month's controversial incident. Officers used the existence of the tool to try to help explain why the suspected car thief, 36-year-old Stanley Miller, was repeatedly struck with a flashlight [more]

• Leader Defends Police Panel's Post-Beating Role [more]

Latino Man had a Soda Can in his hand, NOT A GUN. Police shoot and kill.

• Denver police officer kills a 63 year old invalid.
  

A Denver police officer shot and killed a 63-year-old invalid as he lay in bed watching television Sunday night after the officer mistook a soda can in the man's hand for a weapon. Frank Lobato was killed with a single shot to the chest after officers climbed into a home through a second-floor window to search for Lobato's nephew in connection with an earlier domestic-violence call. [more]

• 'Latest' police shooting raises familiar questions 7/15  [more]