Family: Black Man in Dallas Police Officer Involved Shooting Never Reached for Gun

From [HERE] The family of a man fatally shot by a Dallas police officer earlier this month said it has proof that contradicts the officer's account of the shooting. John Husband, 21, was fatally shot June 2. Dallas police have said that Officer Leland Limbaugh shot Husband when he reached for a loaded gun in a struggle during a traffic stop.

His family said Friday that it had statements from two material witnesses that paint a different picture of the shooting. Steve Pipkin, the family's attorney, said Husband never posed a threat to police. "John Husband the 3rd was not holding gun in his hand, never reached for a gun," he said. "When he turned to walk or move away toward the end of the car and was shot in the back, [he] was not holding a gun."

According to the police account of the shooting, Limbaugh pulled Husband over and asked if there were weapons in the car when the officer smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle. Police said Husband told the officer there were no weapons. Police said Limbaugh saw a handgun in Husband's waistband when he asked him to step out of the car. Husband reached for the gun during a scuffle, and Limbaugh shot him in the left shoulder blade.

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Wrongful Death Suit Filed in Senseless Shooting of Unarmed Black Marine by Orange County Deputy

From [HERE] An Orange County wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the County of Orange, Deputy Darren Sandberg, and others for the death of Manuel Loggins Jr.

The complaint alleges that Manuel Loggins Jr. was lawfully sitting inside his vehicle when Orange County Deputy Darren Sandberg detained him without probable cause. Without warning, the Deputy proceeded to assault and batter Manuel Loggins Jr., who was unarmed, ending in fatal gunshot wounds inflicted by the Deputy’s firearm. At the time, Loggins was a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton. He was shot and killed on February 7 near San Clemente High School. He was with his two daughters at the time of his death.

Loggins driving his Chevy SUV crashed through the school fence of the school. He got out of his vehicle for about five minutes at which time a deputy sheriff ordered him to stop. Loggins was obviously disoriented when he went back to his vehicle and was fatally shot while inside his vehicle. Loggins was unarmed and presented no threat. What is particularly tragic is his daughters, ages 9 and 14, were seated in the back seats witnessing the entire episode. They were held for approximately 13 hours, at which time their pregnant mother was refused admittance to comfort the children. [MORE] 

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Sanford Police Chief in Trayvon Martin Case Fired

From [HERE] Sanford, Florida, Police Chief Bill Lee, who drew criticism for his department's actions in the Trayvon Martin case, was fired Wednesday.

"After much thoughtful discussion and deep consideration for the issues facing the city of Sanford, I have determined the police chief needs to have the trust and respect of the elected officials and the confidence of the entire community," City Manager Norton Bonaparte said in a news release. "We need to move forward with a police chief that all the citizens of Sanford can support. I have come to this decision in light of the escalating divisiveness that has taken hold of the city."

Lee will receive a three-month severance and a week's salary in addition to any earned time off. As a search for Lee's replacement is carried out, interim Chief Richard W. Myers will remain on the job. Late Wednesday night, representatives of the Martin family said they "respected" the city manager's decision.

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Jury Awards Black Woman $785,000 for Beating by Chicago Police: 20 yr old Stopped for Curfew

From [HERE] A Chicago Black woman has been awarded $785,000 in a brutality case involving the Chicago Police Department. A federal jury deliberated a day and a half before finding Chicago Police Officer Jennifer Harris liable of using excessive force on Angel Moore. Moore says the money won't make up for what she's lost. She says she had to undergo several surgeries after the incident, but she's nearly blind now.

"I don't want to know nothing about her," said an emotional Moore. "I just want to erase her from my life. She did enough ... I just want my life back."

Moore, who has had eye problems since childhood, says an encounter with Officer Harris essentially ruined her one good eye and took more than her eye sight. She says it took away her independence. "I'm limited to the things I can do," she said. "I have to wait on people to take me places. It's very hard for me. I'm not used to that."

Moore and her twin sister, Asia, were walking to a South Side gas station near 76th and Halsted in April of 2008. Police stopped them for violating curfew even though they were 20 years old. Moore says the stop turned physical when Officer Harris got involved. "She just started punching me in the back of the head, and then she snatched me by my neck and threw me on the ground and started kicking me," said Moore.

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U.S. Attorney Considers Probe of White Plains Police Shooting Death of 68 yr old Black Man

Despite petition with more than 200,000 signatures asking NY to charge the officers involved in the shooting with murder and civil rights violations - no charges were filed. Now Feds are considering a probe. 

From [HERE] Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. and his lawyers met with officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan on Wednesday to discuss the probe into the death of his father, who was shot and killed at his apartment on Nov. 19 by city police responding to a medical alert call. “I can confirm that we met with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and that I thought it was a productive meeting,” said Mayo Bartlett, one of the attorneys representing the Chamberlain family. 

Federal attorneys last month announced that they would “review all of the available evidence” in the death of the elder Chamberlain a day after a Westchester County grand jury voted May 3 not to indict any of the officers involved in the incident that took his life. The family had been calling for an independent investigation for several months.

The shooting occurred in November after police responded to a call that Kenneth Chamberlain, who suffered from respiratory and heart problems, had set off his medical alert device, indicating he needed help. After police arrived he told them he was ok - through the door. The encounter was recorded by audio and video devices, which police planned to release to the public after Chamberlain's family accused police of excessive force and racial profiling. Nothing was released. According to Chamberlain's attorney, transcripts from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office of audio recordings of the night Chamberlain was killed, reveal Officer Steven Hart as the officer who said to Chamberlain, “Stop, we have to talk nigger” before police broke down his door.

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Family of Black Man Files Wrongful Death Suit Against Vallejo Police: Tasered Several Minutes

From [HERE] On June 15, 2010, Michael White, a 47-year-old Vallejo man, died after police officers tased him while attempting to arrest him inside his home. White is the brother of r&b artist  Jay King. 

White's daughter and her mother are suing the the city of Vallejo, as well as Vallejo Police Chief Robert Nichelini, for wrongful death, claiming that White died because of excessive force.  "The actions of [the police officers] were intentional ... reckless, malicious, deliberately indifferent to [White's] rights," stated the suit, Monday in Sacramento. "[White] did not die from Excited Delirium, but from asphyxiation and excessive or unreasonable tasing."

The police were at White's house to investigate an assault claim. White's neighbor, an elderly woman, had called them after White allegedly assaulted her at her front door. Police claim that when they arrived, White refused to cooperate and locked himself inside another neighbor's bathroom. For some reason police went to use force against him and they claim he resisted restraint. Officers then shocked White with Tasers. White collapsed at some point during the struggle. He died soon after at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Vallejo. The complaint claims that the tasing "lasted several minutes," which it calls "unreasonable long exposure."

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ACLU says Puerto Rico Police Engaged in 'Unrestrained Abuse', Urges Feds to Take Control: Officers Killed 21 People in Past 2 yrs.

From [HERE] The American Civil Liberties Union called on the U.S. Justice Department to take control of the Puerto Rican police force and ensure reforms are carried out in a report issued Tuesday that says the department’s officers routinely use excessive force, killing at least 21 people in the past two years.

The ACLU says the department, the second-largest municipal police force among U.S. jurisdictions, has failed to address corruption, mismanagement and human rights abuses outlined in a scathing 2011 Department of Justice report. Puerto Rico’s government had acknowledged problems with the department and agreed to undertake reforms. “These abuses do not represent isolated incidents or aberrant behavior by a few rogue officers,” the report said. “Such police brutality is pervasive and systemic, island-wide and ongoing. The Puerto Rico police department is steeped in a culture of unrestrained abuse and near-total impunity.” 

The ACLU report noted that between 2005 and 2010, more than 1,700 officers were arrested on charges including murder, drug trafficking and domestic violence. The number represents nearly 10 percent of the police force and is nearly three times the number of officers arrested in a comparable five-year period in the New York Police Department, which has more than twice as many officers.

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Pittsburgh Officers Request 2 Separate Trials in Jordan Miles case: Unarmed Black College Student Attacked by Police

From [HERE] Attorneys for police accused of beating Jordan Miles want two trials, not one, when the civil case stemming from the incident goes before a jury in a month. The jury should first decide whether city of Pittsburgh officers David Sisak, Michael Saldutte and Richard Ewing had reason to arrest Mr. Miles, then 18, in Homewood on a January night in 2010. Only if they find against the police should a second trial, focused on the damages, be held, wrote attorneys Bryan Campbell and Chris Conrad, who are defending the officers with help from the city Law Department, in one of a slew of motions filed Monday. "If the trial is not bifurcated," they wrote, the officers "will be unduly prejudiced because evidence of damages could improperly affect the jury's determination of liability."

The officers said they confronted Mr. Miles because he appeared to be "sneaking around" with a heavy object in his coat that they thought was a concealed weapon. When he was approached by the officers he ran away, but the officers soon caught up with him and beat him into submission by delivering violent blows that left his face swollen and distorted. Police also used a stun gun and pulled out a chunk of his hair. He is 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds and was unarmed (was he "unduly prejudiced?" -bw). 

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"Cop Cam": Some Philadelphia Police will Soon Wear Video Cameras

14 Topeka (KS) police officers Wearing Body Cameras [MORE] 

From [HERE] Some Philadelphia police officers will soon be on duty with small video cameras attached to them. The department is getting about a half-dozen "cop cams," designed to be mounted on an officer's glasses, hat or collar and capture every moment of what happens while an officer is at a scene. The cameras are the brainchild of the same company that makes the Taser, Philly.com reports.

With so many citizens more than happy to post their own arrest videos online, the cameras, called Axon Flex, could let the police show the entirety of an incident from their point of view, said Rick Smith, co-founder of Taser International. "To have your own recording is the best weapon against allegations against you," he said, according to Philly.com.

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Chicago Police Misconduct Probes Delayed, Dropped

From [HERE] and [HERE] A Chicago police officer cracked Greg Larkins' head open with a baton back in 2006, requiring him to be stitched up at a hospital. Within a few days, several relatives of Larkins who said they witnessed the allegedly unprovoked attack gave statements to an investigator for the city. His mother also handed over photos of his injuries. Yet more than five years passed before the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates allegations of wrongdoing against police, filed charges of excessive force against Officer Bruce Askew and called for his firing." And guess what? [T]he long delay proved costly. Late last month, the Chicago Police Board, which decides the most serious disciplinary cases, dismissed the charge not based on the evidence, but because by state law, the disciplinary action had to be filed before a five-year statute of limitations ran out." The agency tasked with investigating allegations of misconduct on the part of Chicago police is plagued by long delays in case work, some of which have led to the dismissal of charges, according to a published report Sunday.

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