Hick Omaha Police Force continue DNA checks of Black men

Omaha police haven't just targeted black employees of the Omaha Public Power District for their DNA. In their quest to catch a serial rapist, investigators have reached into the mouths and swabbed the cheeks of several black men across north Omaha. Their accounts have police looking for a black man age 25 to 40, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-9, 175 to 250 pounds. "This is a witch hunt, and it's ridiculous," said Damion Davis, 30, a painter who lives near 57th and Pratt Streets. "You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Either I could do it and feel violated. Or I could refuse and have doubts running around my house." [more]

• OPPD Workers Want Names Cleared [more]

Charlottesville, VA -- DNA samples are being destroyed

Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo vowed in April to have saliva swabs and other DNA evidence periodically destroyed when testing shows that a sample does not match the serial rapist's profile. The chief's promise came as he faced vociferous criticism for requesting DNA samples from scores of black men in the hunt for a black rapist who has preyed on women for more than seven years. [more]

The Other LAPD Beating - Video Shows Police Striking Another Black man

A second recently videotaped arrest shows officers beating a suspect with a flashlight, but they don't appear to violate department procedures, police officials said. Gibson, 37, was one of four people arrested during a rowdy party in the courtyard of an apartment complex.  It took seven officers to subdue Gibson. A shaky video taken by a neighbor shows Gibson on the ground and one officer hitting his legs at least three times with a flashlight. Some witnesses claimed that officers slammed Gibson's head against concrete. [more]

South Carolina preparing to ramp up DNA use

South Carolina is about to embark on an ambitious effort to collect DNA from tens of thousands more criminals, an effort law enforcement officials say will dramatically improve their chances of solving crimes. A new law that took effect July 1 requires all people convicted of felonies, the most serious crimes, to provide blood samples for a DNA database maintained by the State Law Enforcement Division. That includes all those already in the system, whether in prison or on probation or parole, and new offenders. [more]

Judge Denies Defense Motions In Oakland 'Riders' Case

A judge today denied several hotly debated defense motions to dismiss charges against three former Oakland police officers accused of criminal misconduct. Defense lawyers for the former officers, who are charged with conspiring to beat and frame suspected drug dealers in West Oakland in 2000, alleged that prosecutors and Oakland police officials have intimidated witnesses by disciplining  several officers who testified on behalf of the defendants  in their first trial.  [more]

Police shootings raise racial tensions in Austin

Tensions peaked when the Austin American-Statesman ran a series of articles earlier this year that reported that between 1998 and 2003, police were twice as likely to use force against blacks as against whites. They were 25 percent more likely to use force against Hispanics than against whites. During that period, police used deadly force against 11 people. All but one were minorities. [more]

LAPD Says Officers Didn't Conspire after Beat Down - no proof.

LAPD defends taking 40 minutes to separate the eight who were on hand at beating of a suspect, saying they didn't conspire on a story. Top Los Angeles police officials on Thursday defended the 40 minutes it took to separate eight officers involved in the beating of a car theft suspect and said an investigation has found no evidence that the officers colluded to get their stories straight. The officials offered a detailed account of the department's initial response to the televised beating after City Councilman Jack Weiss expressed concern that the 40-minute gap potentially harmed the investigation. [more]

L.A. Police Probe 2nd Case of Flashlight Beating

• This a 2nd distinct, seperate brutality incident that occured last week.

Los Angeles police said on Thursday  they were investigating the second case in two weeks of  officers seen on videotape beating a prone suspect with a metal  flashlight. Home video showing a black man being pinned to the floor  and hit with a flashlight during an arrest at a private party  on June 19 was aired on local television a week after a police  officer was seen beating black car theft suspect Stanley Miller  11 times around the head after he had been wrestled to the  ground. [more] and [more]

• Bratton Defends Officer in 2nd Incident [more]

Custody Death-Dallas Police may have used Excessive force on Latino Man

A preliminary autopsy has been completed on a man who died in the custody of Dallas police.  Witnesses say the officers used excessive force when they arrested the 300-pound man. Pedro Fernandez had an enlarged heart and blocked arteries which may be the reason he died shortly after his arrest. But that hasn't stopped those who insist officers used excessive force and they point to their backgrounds as proof. [more

All White Jury find no breach of man's civil rights-Police Beat Down Latino Man

A Grand Rapids man's claim that his civil rights were violated by four city police officers was rejected by U.S. District Court jurors Wednesday. Jorge Navarro was seeking $15 million in damages against Grand Rapids officers Rob Veenstra, John Wittkowski, Jason Sotke and Greg Rekucki, who arrested Navarro in July 1999 after he allegedly assaulted his wife and ran from police. Navarro, a 26-year-old Hispanic man, filed suit in federal court, saying the officers, who are white, violated his civil rights by using excessive force, racial slurs and battery that caused him to develop depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and derailed his career and personal life.  [more]