Police May Have Feared Arrestee Was Armed

The Los Angeles police officer seen on videotape striking a man with a flashlight 11 times has told investigators he kicked and repeatedly hit the suspected car thief because another officer yelled that the man was armed with a gun, sources close to the investigation said Friday. [more]

LA Moves to Ease Tensions- Tape Captures Police Beat Down of Unarmed Black man

In the wake of a videotaped police beating of an African-American suspect, officials here scrambled Thursday to plead for peace and offer assurances that the incident, an echo of the Rodney King beating in 1991, would be scrupulously investigated. All eight Los Angeles police officers on the scene have been removed from active duty with pay since the beating, which occurred early Wednesday during the arrest of Stanley Miller, 36. [more]

•  See Video [here] and pictures [here]

Special Prosecutor Involved in case of Police Shooting of Latino Man

The wheels are in motion to investigate the police shooting of a man in south Omaha last month.  A grand jury will hear the evidence and an internal police investigation continues. A special prosecutor has been appointed and the grand jury is seated to investigate the death of 22-year-old Jose Zermeno Garcia but it's unclear when the jury will hear the case. [more]

• Use Of Force by Omaha Police Called Into Question [more]
  

Minneapolis To Pay Nearly $1 Million To Settle Police Brutality Lawsuit

Minneapolis will pay nearly one million dollars to settle a police brutality lawsuit. A man lost his colon and part of his small intestine after what he claims was a beating administered by police. [more]

CAUGHT ON TAPE: Unarmed Black Man, No Resistence -Beat Down by LA Police

One of several Los Angeles police officers who chased a stolen car suspect down a Compton wash path today was captured on live television trying to kick the man and then hitting him several times with a flashlight after it appeared he had surrendered. The man in news footage shot from a helicopter is shown pulling the car into a dead-end street and then running north on a grassy path along a Compton wash. After about 30 yards, the man appears to surrender by putting his hands in the air and dropping to the ground. Then as two officers have him on the ground, the third officer arrives and is seen apparently trying to kick the suspect in the head and striking his upper back and neck at least 11 times with a flashlight. [more] and [more]

•  See Video [here]

• 6 months ago charges against LAPD officers for beating down handcuffed teenager, Donovan Jackson (above) were dropped. The incident was video taped. [more]
  

• 2 years ago Oklahoma City Police beat Donald Pete more than two dozen times. The incident was recorded. Charges against the police were dismissed. [more]
  

• In November the Cincinnati Police beating of Nathaniel Jones was captured on video tape. NO officers were charged in the beating. Nathaniel Jones pictured above. [more] 

• The Rodney King Video [here]

75% of Massachusetts police departments engage in racial profiling.

Massachusetts Cops Don't like new study
Police chiefs from across the state are expected to appeal a recent report that says nearly three-quarters of Massachusetts police departments engage in racial profiling. Northeastern University researchers studied more than 1.6 million traffic citations issued between April of 2001 and June of last year. [more]

Austin Police Face NAACP Complaint

A civil rights group accuses Austin police of using excessive force against minorities and abusing their search powers. A complaint filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People against the Austin Police Department and the city of Austin with the U.S. Justice Department seeks to block about $3.2 million that the department receives from the federal government until it changes the way it uses force against suspects and trains officers to work with the minority community. [more]

Palo Alto Cops Beat Down an old Black Man. Cops won't be Punished.

Palo Alto cops had the Right to "use whatever physical force necessary'' to Beat Down an unarmed, 60 yr. old Black Man who was never charged with a crime
Two Palo Alto police officers did not violate department procedures when they beat and pepper-sprayed a motorist last summer, according to an internal affairs investigation. The officers said they feared for their safety when Hopkins reached for the console in his car. Hopkins said that he was minding his own business and brutalized by police because he's African-American.Hopkins was never charged with a crime in the incident and recently accepted a $250,000 settlement from the city of Palo Alto after agreeing not to sue in civil court. [more]

Racial Tension with Police Mounting in Small Town

There have been complaints about police following black children at night with spotlights, shining spotlights in cars and stopping and questioning black youth for no reason. Residents of  Gordonsville's Baker Street found the words "Racist Cops"  painted in four places on the road at the beginning of June. The Police Chief told the crowd that blacks should not give law enforcement officers a reason to stop them by drawing attention to themselves. [more]

Second week of protest - Black Woman Attacked by White Police

About 20 people marched in front of Richmond City Hall yesterday for the second week in a row, protesting alleged racial profiling and police brutality. The protests follow an incident shortly after midnight May 30, in which a black woman, Natasha Miller, was slammed on the ground by police, according to police and witnesses. Seven people were arrested, and several were sprayed with pepper spray. All the officers involved in the incident are white. Miller, 21, participated in yesterday's protest. [more]