Black Youth Brawl with Police Outside Club

Two early morning fights near a club send a trooper and a teenager to the hospital. Beer bottles and bricks were thrown, damaging several police cars. Citizens are saying the early morning brawl was sparked by racial tension, but law enforcement say that's not the case. Ashburn Police and   state troopers were called out to several fights on West Madison Avenue, near the   New Traffic Light Bar. But when blue lights appeared, the fight took a turn, sending one trooper to the hospital. Burgess said, "I heard he got hit in the eye, or whatever, he deserved whatever he got tonight, true enough."
Club owner Burgess says the injured trooper encouraged the brawl. "The other cop tripped my nephew, busted his face all up   and the state patrolman hit him in the head with a flashlight and that's when everybody got out of control." People started collecting bricks and throwing   them at law enforcement, busting police car windshields. "Black people didn't like the way they've done us and they unleashed," Burgess said. [more]

Black Soldier on Leave from Iraq Beat Down by Milwaukee Cops

Last week, Charles Michael Griffin  missed a flight back to Iraq while on leave visiting family and friends in Milwaukee. The reason is that he spent the night in Milwaukee County Jail, battered and bruised after being arrested by Milwaukee police after a disturbance near his old neighborhood on the north side. Griffin said he was out with friends Monday evening about 9 p.m. when four plain-clothed detectives showed up. He said he tried to leave but was attacked by the officers, thrown to the ground and handcuffed before he knew what was happening. Griffin admitted he had been drinking with his friends; it was a final farewell before leaving the next day to return to his unit. But he denied doing anything to interfere with the officers. "All I said was, 'Looks like it's time for me to leave,' " Griffin said. "Then they just threw me to the ground." After being arrested, he was taken by police to a hospital for treatment, then transferred downtown to jail. [more]

Suit against 5 St. Joseph cops to start

 Trial is scheduled to start Monday in a federal lawsuit against the city of St. Joseph and five city police officers claiming the officers used racial profiling in arresting three black teen-agers in 2000. The suit was filed in 2002 on behalf of the three teens - Devin Mitchell, Cody Mitchell and Preston Culpepper. The trial is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen in Kalamazoo. The suit alleges that the city has developed and maintained policies encouraging racial profiling and has not taken proper steps to stop the practice, or adequate steps to investigate complaints of police misconduct. The complaint claims the three teen-agers were targeted as "the group" because they were among the few black teens living in the city. [more]

Shootings by Denver Police Prompt Outcry: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

  
Fatal shootings by Denver police have raised questions over the department's use of force and prompted the U.S. Justice Department to consider an investigation into local law enforcement. The latest killing was July 11, when a Denver police officer looking for a domestic violence suspect crawled through an upstairs window and shot 63-year-old invalid, Frank Lobato (Pictured above left) as he lay in bed, watching television. Police said the officer thought Lobato, who was not the wanted man, was holding a gun. It turned out to be a soda can. Denver police fatally shot eight people last year and three this year. The circumstances surrounding many of the cases have raised eyebrows. Last year, an officer killed Paul Childs (Pictured above top right), a 15-year-old developmentally disabled black teenager armed with a knife. The shooting sparked demonstrations and anger throughout the city.  In many cases, those killed were black or Latino. "The police are very much distrusted in the minority community," the Rev. Patrick Demmer, a community activist, said. "They go into these communities like they are going into a war zone." [more] and [more]

•  Latino Man had a Soda Can in his hand, NOT A GUN. Police shoot and kill. [more]
  
•  Denver Family Receives Money From City [more]

LA Probe to Date Finds No Fault in Fatal Arrest of Latino Man

Despite an autopsy that cited police restraint maneuvers as a factor in an Atwater Village man's death early this year, Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton said Friday that a preliminary investigation found the conduct of officers didn't "appear inappropriate." A report by the Los Angeles County coroner said three factors contributed to the death of 35-year-old Jose Antonio Rodriguez: cocaine intoxication, coronary disease and police restraint procedures employed during his arrest Jan. 18.  The death has sparked outrage among members of the Latino Community Forum, an advisory group for the Los Angeles Police Department.  [more]

• L.A. - Suspect's death raises question [more]

CA. Black Caucus Plans Statewide Hearings Over Police Abuse

The California Legislative Black Caucus plans to hold statewide hearings on police abuse, a state senator and an assemblyman said at a town hall meeting in Leimert Park on Saturday. The event was organized by the Community Commission on Police Abuse, a coalition of activists assembled by publisher and community leader Danny Bakewell after the June 23 televised beating of Stanley Miller, who was tackled by officers after being pursued in a stolen car. "Let's make no mistake, we're not here because a brother got beat," said Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City) to a crowd of several hundred people. "We're here because [the police] got caught beating a brother. These things happen all the time." [more]

Dallas police chief bans controversial neck hold

After months of protest from civil rights groups, Police Chief David Kunkle has banned the department's use of a neck hold that contributed to a man's death last year. Kunkle said Friday he plans to brief Dallas City Council members on his decision Monday and ask them to buy 400 Tasers, a type of electrical stun gun. The chief's briefing paper to the council said the neck hold is "difficult to apply in field conditions" and officers may not know about suspects' pre-existing medical conditions. The Rev. L. Charles Stovall of the Unified Organizations for Justice, an activist coalition, welcomed the ban. "This is something that needed to be done, and it's something that we rejoice is happening," Stovall said.  [more]