Thursday
Jul012004
Thursday, July 1, 2004 at 07:51AM
An attorney for a black man beaten by police
during a televised arrest said his client now has "classic" signs of
brain damage, including slurred speech and difficulty concentrating.
Richard Nussbaum, who is preparing a civil lawsuit for Stanley Miller,
said Tuesday that Miller suffers from severe headaches after a police
officer repeatedly hit him with a flashlight following a car chase last
week. [more] Pictured above: Stanley Miller.
- Officers involved in the June 23 incident were not
separated until nearly an hour after the arrest and drove back to the
department's Southeast Division station together. Officers are required
to be isolated from each other after a use-of-force incident so they
cannot compare notes and prepare a story for investigators. [more]
- Councilman Weiss said the separation issue is
important because Hatfield has reportedly told investigators he struck
at Miller because Officer Hale screamed "Gun!" when he mistook a wire
cutter he felt in the suspect's pocket for a firearm. This version of
events has been confirmed by other officers at the scene. [more]
- Stanley Miller's mother said, "I really hesitated
to come forward today but I know and fear that my son is not
getting the necessary and proper medical care," the statement
said. "I'm scared! I'm concerned for the safety of my family." [more]
- A group of black leaders announced Wednesday the
formation of a commission independent of Mayor James Hahn's commission
to monitor the investigation of the videotaped police beating of Miller [more].
Wednesday
Jun302004
Wednesday, June 30, 2004 at 05:40PM
- Police Looking for Everybody -
- "Black Man , 25 to 40 years old, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-9 inches tall,
stocky with a large stomach and weighing 175 to 250 pounds"
Police
went to the homes of 36 men, between the ages of 20 and 40, and asked
for DNA samples via mouth swabs. The cops were in plain clothes and
drove unmarked cars. Police
said the DNA tests were needed to aid in the investigation of four
rapes over the last two years. The perpetrator has been described as
"black, 25 to 40 years old, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-9 inches tall, stocky
with a large stomach and weighing 175 to 250 pounds."
- State Senator Ernie Chambers Outraged By RACIST Police Tactics [more] Pictured Above.
- Police Chief Won't Apologize For DNA Sweeps [more]
- In May Charlottesville Police in VA conducted similar racist tactics [more]
Wednesday
Jun302004
Wednesday, June 30, 2004 at 06:55AM
A Black man beaten by a police officer during a
televised arrest has been transferred to a state facility to await a
parole hearing. Stanley Miller complained of dizziness upon arrival at
the Department of Corrections prison in Chino on Monday night and was
moved to a hospital facility for observation, said prison spokesman
Sgt. Arioma Sams. One of Miller's attorneys claimed his client has
displayed "classic signs of brain damage" from the beating last week.
Richard Nussbaum complained Tuesday that the transfer makes it more
difficult for Miller to get an outside medical review and treatment
lawyers have sought on his behalf. "Ever since he was put into Central
(Jail), we've been asking for the medical care he deserves," said
Nussbaum, who is preparing a civil lawsuit on Miller's behalf. "We've
been told that he's not entitled to be visited by anyone." Police said
Miller was given a complete medical examination and characterized his
injuries as minor. [more]
Wednesday
Jun302004
Wednesday, June 30, 2004 at 04:56AM
No Wrongdoing found: Cops who Shot- Dead Handcuffed Black Teenager in the back of the head go free
A special Richland County jury found Tuesday that a deputy was
justified in the fatal shooting of a teenager in 2002 as he was driving
away in a patrol car while handcuffed. The six-member jury ruled after
the coroner's inquest that Deputy Clark Frady acted in self-defense
when he shot and killed Chad Jones, 19, on Nov. 26, 2002. Jurors
deliberated about an hour after a three-hour hearing. Jones'
father, Willie L. Jones, said afterward he was frustrated, but not
surprised, by the verdict. "This was just a show. This kid was no
threat to these officers' lives. ... The truth's got to come out." [more]
Tuesday
Jun292004
Tuesday, June 29, 2004 at 07:59AM
A judge decided Monday that police had sufficient reason to believe
civil rights organizer Quanell X was trying to evade arrest earlier
this month as he was bringing a shooting suspect to the police station
for surrender. Quanell X maintains that he thought the police were
surrounding his car with lights and sirens as a form of official escort
to the downtown police station, where he was expected to bring the
fugitive. In a courtroom packed with activists including several young
men wearing military-style New Black Panther Party uniforms,
prosecutors showed a police video of Quanell X driving a black Hummer
in front of a patrol car, with its police lights and sirens activated,
for more than a mile. Quanell
X was arrested June 11 as he attempted to turn in Derrick Forney.
Forney was wanted for the shooting of a Houston police officer. [more]
Tuesday
Jun292004
Tuesday, June 29, 2004 at 07:58AM
"It's not a Los Angeles issue," Bratton said of last week's incident
following a police pursuit of a stolen car. "The issue of civil rights,
the issue of police brutality, the issue of improved community
relations between the police and minority communities is a national
one." [more]
- Activist Quits Panel on Beating [more]
Tuesday
Jun292004
Tuesday, June 29, 2004 at 05:01AM
Dallas police were investigating the
circumstances surrounding the apprehension of a man who died after
being taken into custody. Police said the incident started when they
tried to restrain Pedro Fernandez, 33, who was allegedly involved in a
domestic disturbance in the 3800 block of Mount Ranier Street in West
Dallas just before midnight Monday. Four officers responded to the
scene; a fifth was subsequently needed to subdue the 320-pound
man, but not before police used OC spray, a type of pepper spray.
[more]
Monday
Jun282004
Monday, June 28, 2004 at 08:03AM
DRAMA. They Make $79,000 a year. Why are they protesting?
City-Billy
Boston Police Union stage fake demonstrations in Republican driven
protests. Threaten to protest Dem convention.
- The union's contract expired in July 2002, when rank-and-file officers were earning an average of $79,000 a year. [more]
The 1,400-member police union, without a contract for two years, wants
a 16.5 percent increase over four years. The city has offered an 11.9
percent raise over four years. [more] The NYPD has a base salary of $36,800 [more]
- The Boston patrolmen's association has been a
hardcore Republican association for 20 to 30 years. The union supported
Bush in 1988 and has supported various Republicans over the past 3
decades [more]
- Two recent studies found racial profiling to be a pervasive problem with the Boston Police Department. [more]
- Although, Blacks make up only 20% of the Boston population, Blacks account for 45% of all traffic citations by police. [more]
- The Boston Police Department has shot dead 28 people since 2001. [more]
- In 1995, several white police officers beat down a
Black plain clothes police officer, Michael Cox. He was severely
injured. None of the assailants has ever been disciplined or charged
criminally. [more]
- A 1991 report examining the Department found that race plays a central role in the use of excessive force. [more]
- In 1990 the Boston Police Department had responded
to the killing of a white woman, Carol Stuart, by engaging in
unconstitutional stops, searches, and interrogations of young black
men. Carol Stuart was in fact killed by her husband, Charles
Stuart, a white man, who then falsely claimed that a black man had
killed his wife. [more]
- Kerry Won't Cross Picket Line for Speech [more]
Saturday
Jun262004
Saturday, June 26, 2004 at 08:32AM
Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton said Saturday that he
planned to review the department's policy of allowing officers to
strike suspects with flashlights, following the videotaped beating of
an African American man last week. "The image of the flashlight looks
problematic," Bratton said. "It looks awful, quite frankly." [
more]
Pictured above: Community activist Maxwell Russell, right, holds a sign
outside the 77th Street Area Los Angeles Police station in Los Angeles,
Friday, June. 25 2004. Community activists gathered together in
response of the videotaped arrest of Stanley Miller in which an LAPD
officer is shown using a flashlight to hit Miller11 times before
arresting him. (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)
- LAPD rule under scrutiny [more]