Caught on tape: Lansing Police talk about stealing man’s property after finding small bag of herb

• Police Stole flat screen TV, a DVD player, two computers

From [HERE] See Video report [HERE] Police officers in Lansing, Michigan are in hot water after an investigative report by local ABC News affiliate WXYZ.

According to the report's source, officers with the OMNI Drug Task Force executed a search warrant on the home of Rudy Simpson in June 2008, and found a small bag of marijuana and half a pain pill that he'd been prescribed. While talking about what they should do, officers began to eye the expensive recording equipment around Simpson's home, ultimately deciding that they could very well take everything if they wanted thanks to the drugs they'd found.

What they didn't realize is that when they raided the home, Simpson and friends were in the middle of a recording session, and the microphones were live.

"Basically what I heard them talking about is what equipment, what materialistic stuff could they take out of my house," he told the ABC

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Courageous Black Councilwoman (Houston) in Trouble for Informing Public to Never Talk to the Police

From [HERE] The city's Office of Inspector General is looking into a card distributed at a recent forum on police brutality in which City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones advises people never to speak with police.

"I would absolutely be concerned about anyone who would do anything to discourage citizens from speaking to police officers," Mayor Annise Parker said after Wednesday's City Council meeting. "That would be certain members of council who have put out written statements saying that citizens should never talk to police officers under any circumstances." (This is the same Mayor who said she hid the video tape of the Houston Police beat down of Chad Holley to insure the officers would have a fair trial [HERE] 

The card's advice for encounters with police at home includes the directive: "NEVER speak with the police. You have a 5th Amendment right to remain silent. Use it! Ask for & contact your lawyer." In another section, the card states: "If it is meant for you to speak with the police, do so ONLY after you speak with your lawyer and he/she gives you permission."

Jones, a criminal defense lawyer, said the card is a quick legal reference to remind people of their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, not a call to refuse to cooperate with police. She said she has passed out a version of the card for years, even before her election to the council in 2007.

"Are they saying that they're disappointed that I'm telling people their constitutional rights?" Jones asked. "It's a public service. Me being on the council does not trump the Constitution."

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Black Man who Suffered Stroke and Brain Damage Suing Atlanta Police for Beating after Traffic Stop

From [HERE] ATLANTA -- A truck driver who says he suffered a stroke after Atlanta police officers used excessive force on him plans to take legal action. Derek Holmes put the city of Atlanta and its Police Department on notice that a lawsuit is in the works. He said officers snatched him from his car and his head hit the concrete as he pulled into a southwest Atlanta gas station at University Avenue and Pryor Road in January.

"I have severe brain damage right now," Holmes told Channel 2’s Tom Jones. "I was snatched out of the car and slammed to the ground. My head banged to the ground." He said when his head hit the ground, he suffered a massive stroke. "I stayed in ICU for four days," Holmes said.

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Family of Autistic Arabic Man Fatally Shot by LAPD awarded $1.7m - Police acted 'reckless, oppressive, malicious'

The family of an autistic Pakistani American man fatally shot by an LA Police Department (LAPD) 3 years ago, was awarded $1.7 million by a federal jury on January 26.

Mohammad Usman Chaudhry, 21, was shot four times by Joseph Cruz on March 2008. He was shot after Chaudhry was discovered lying on the ground of an apartment complex in Hollywood. Three of the bullets hit Chaudhry, in the chest.

His attorney said, “in light of the findings of the jury on the facts of this case, I hope Mayor Villaraigosa would apologise to the Chaudhry family on behalf of the city, accept the verdict and not put the family through further trauma over the loss of their son,” he said. “If the city doesn’t, they’ll just be spending more taxpayer money to defend a dishonest cop.”

The City Attorney’s office, declined to comment on the verdict or whether the city would appeal. Peter J Ferguson, who represented Cruz, could not be reached immediately for comment.

The award punctuates the awkward role the city played in the case. After the shooting, the LAPD fired Cruz for dishonesty in an unrelated case. At the time, lawyers for the city argued that Cruz had destroyed his credibility.

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Brand New Video Shows Seattle Police Officer stomping on Black Man

From [HERE] SEATTLE – New video has been released of alleged excessive force by a Seattle Police officer. It's the same undercover officer who is facing a criminal investigation for kicking a teenager in a convenience store last year. Both videos were recorded on Oct. 18, 2010.

The first video, which was released months ago, shows Officer James Lee kicking a 17-year-old suspect inside Joe's Mart during a drug raid in the Belltown neighborhood.

The new video, taken from a police car dash-cam, shows Officer Lee after he leaves the convenience store. Lee is seen standing over a different suspect. As two uniformed officers begin to put on handcuffs, Lee stomps on the suspect's head. The suspect is 20-year-old Darius Yearby, one of four young men arrested that night and charged with attempted robbery. Seattle NAACP President James Bible, who is representing Yearby as his attorney, would not comment on the video Thursday.

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Dallas Police Officer Fired for Beating Defenseless Black Man - Another Suspended for Making False Report

From [HERE] See Video [HERE] It looks like the Dallas police force is actually willing to police itself. Chief David Brown has fired officer Quaitemes Williams after he used excessive force against a suspect.

Williams went into a rage after suspect Rodarick Dasean Lyles resisted arrest and subsequently fell on the officer's arm. After Lyles was handcuffed, Williams sprayed mace in his face and kicked him in the head.

All this happened after Dallas police officer Hiram Soler stopped Lyles because the license plates did not match the vehicle he was driving. Not long after, Williams and another officer, Edward Cruz-Done, arrived on the scene.

It was then that they tried to arrest the suspect, who chief Brown called "a big man." Soler used a stun gun on Lyles in order to subdue him and cuff him. Williams hit him with his flashlight, and Cruz-Done took it away from him. After he was cuffed, Williams saw the opportunity to mace him in the face and kick him in the head.

Other officers had arrived on the scene, one of whom was Rickey Upshaw, who saw Williams commit the excessive force. At several points, he says, officers tried to get him to calm down, to no avail. Upshaw described Williams as "extremely angry and out of control."

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Congresswoman Asks Justice Department to Investigate Miami Police Shootings of Unarmed Black Men

MIAMI (AP) -- A congresswoman wants the Justice Department to investigate the Miami Police Department and its use of deadly force in the shooting deaths of seven black men since July. Six of the men were killed by police (pictured above). 

U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., wrote Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday to ask for a federal investigation. Wilson says only the federal government has the resources and independence to give "close, objective scrutiny" to the deaths. All but two of the men were armed when they were shot by police. The State Attorney's office is investigating.

A spokeswoman says the Justice Department is reviewing Wilson's letter.

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Unarmed Black Man shot by Miami Police says he’ll sue

Attorneys for Kareem Williams, who was injured in a police shooting Feb. 11, said Saturday they have filed a notice of intent to sue the city of Miami, Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito and the officers involved. Another man, Travis McNeil, was killed in the shooting.

The Cochran Firm and the Amarantos Legal Team are representing Williams, who was shot three times after police pulled over the vehicle in which he was riding and fired inside the car. McNeil, the driver, was killed at the scene.

McNeil and Williams were pulled over at the intersection of 75th Street and North Miami Avenue because they were driving “erratically” and ran a traffic light, police said. They had just left Little River’s Take One Cocktail Lounge in North Miami Beach. Miami police detective Reinaldo Goyo, who is part of the department’s gang unit, ordered McNeil, who was driving, to show his hands. Other officers then heard Goyo say, “Don’t do it, don’t do it,” before he fired a volley of shots, the sources said. No weapons were found. 

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Oscar Walden Loses Suit Against Chicago Police for Torture Leading to False Confession

The accused were dead; so too was the rape victim. All the city had left to defend itself against a nearly 60-year-old allegation of police brutality were decades-old court transcripts that were read in court by actors.

Still, on Wednesday, a federal jury found in the city's favor, rejecting a 79-year-old African-American man's civil rights lawsuit contending that he was beaten and physically threatened into confessing that he raped a white woman on the South Side in 1951.

Attorneys for Oscar Walden Jr. sought $15 million in the extraordinary lawsuit, which made it to trial so many decades following the alleged abuse — despite the usual statute of limitations — after then-Gov. George Ryan granted Walden a pardon in 2002.

Walden, now a minister, testified over two days, recounting an interrogation that he said included threats that he'd be strung up in his cell with a rope if he didn't confess. Experts testified that the Chicago police routinely coerced confessions from African-American men in the 1950s.

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Latino Man wins Police Brutality Suit Against Forest Park (Ill) Police

According to court documents and conversations with Yassaro, Santana said he was beat up by several officers in a "gangway" near his mother's home. Yassaro said Santana had "yelled" at the officers.

According to the first complaint, filed in 2006 by Santana's former attorney, Blake Horwitz, who has represented other clients alleging brutality at the hands of the Forest Park Police Dept., Santana suffered "a multiple blunt head trauma and contusions of the eye, chest and wrist." Accusations against three of the officers named in the complaint were later dropped.

"There was plenty of evidence to put those officers in the gangway where my client was beaten," Yassaro said. "We basically decided to submit to the jury what we thought to be the strongest points."

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