Hmong Community Want Justice in Milwaukee Police Killing of Tou Yang

Still angry over the January fatal police shooting of a 36-year-old father of three, Hmong leaders urged city officials Saturday to improve the police department's understanding and treatment of their people. Lo Neng Kiatoukaysy, executive director of the Hmong / American Friendship Association Inc., praised Police Chief Nannette Hegerty for her willingness to probe issues raised by the shooting death of Tou Yang. "The verdict is still out on the rest of the Milwaukee Police Department," Kiatoukaysy added. Hegerty defended the officers involved in the Yang shooting, but she acknowledged that the police force sometimes lacks the tools needed to deal with Hmong or other racial and ethnic minorities. "On behalf of the people of the city of Milwaukee, I'm sorry that this tragedy occurred," the mayor said. "If there is one message I can leave, it is: We must be one." Wisconsin is home to about 40,000 Hmong people who emigrated from their native Laos. Yang, who was described by family members as suffering from a mental illness, was fatally shot by police officers Jan. 20 after a three-hour standoff that began when social workers arrived at his west side home. Police said they shot Yang after he opened fire on them as they entered the home. The shooting was ruled justified by Racine County District Attorney Michael Nieskes.  [more]

• Pictured above: Milwaukee Police Chief Nannette Hegerty (left) listens to a question from Xia Lee Yang of West Bend, grandfather of Tou Yang, during a meeting with the Hmong community and the Milwaukee Police Department at Grace Hmong Alliance Church, at W. Greenfield Ave. and S. 27th St., on Saturday.

Miami Police Shooting Of Mentally Ill Latino Man Raises Questions

The family of a man killed by a police officer says that the mentally ill 31-year-old was off medication and was having a manic episode. Caeser Rada's family says the actor was mentally ill, but was unarmed when he was shot and killed Officer Jeffrey Price, 24, shot and killed Cesar Rada, a psychology student and aspiring actor on Sunday night at his home on Southwest 59th Terrace near 89th Avenue. Cesar's family said he was bipolar. His father, Augusto Rada, said he has had to call police in the past for trouble with his mentally ill son. Augusto Rada said Caeser Rada was agitated but unarmed when the officer arrived at the home on Southwest 59th Terrace near 89th Avenue. Police had been called after a family argument had become violent, according to witnesses. A witness said that Caeser Rada said, "Shoot me. Shoot me," as he walked toward Price, who had pulled his service revolver. The witness said Rada kept walking toward the officer until Price's gun was against his chest. Price then shot Rada three times. Rada's father and other witnesses said he was not armed.  Rada's father said his son put his hands up and continued walking toward the officer shouting, "What? You going to shoot me? Go ahead, shoot me!" Augusto Rada said he heard gunshots when his son was about three feet away from the officer. The elder Rada said he tried to jump in between the two men to protect his son.  "I fell and thought I got shot too," he recalled. "I jumped on top of my son and I looked down. I knew they killed him right there."  Rada was shot in the chest and neck area, his father said. [more] and [more]

Beach officer cleared in fatal shooting outside club

A police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the January shooting death of a 17-year-old during a pursuit outside an Oceanfront club, the commonwealth’s attorney’s office announced Friday. The judgment, made Thursday night by Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey L. Bryant III, allows Officer Robert C. Ernest to return to normal duty. The investigation stems from an incident that began at about 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 16, when police received calls that shots had been fired in the parking lot of The Beach House at 17th Street and Cypress Avenue. Other calls followed from the cell phones of youths attending a teen night there. [more] and [more]

NAACP and CA Attorney General Meet to Discuss Police Brutality

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer backed a call by a civil rights group Friday for greater scrutiny of alleged police brutality and said law enforcement must take the initiative to prevent such incidents. Speaking to a panel of the state chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People in South Los Angeles, Lockyer said his office received complaints "every day" about inadequate follow-through on potential civil rights violations by police agencies. But the attorney general disagreed with a number of community leaders who told the panel that brutality was institutionalized and that current policies failed to weed out rogue cops. "I think it's a pretty good process now," Lockyer said, adding that his office was prepared to take action against police departments that failed to implement reforms when needed. Most of the state's peace officers are professionals who follow the rules, the attorney general said outside the meeting, adding, "I think we're lucky in California compared to other states." When brutality is proved, severe discipline is needed to discourage other officers from engaging in similar behavior, he said. [more]

Minorities subject to Hackensack Police bias

Several African-American and Latino residents complain they are being randomly stopped, questioned and searched by city police, prompting a local community group to contact the U.S. Department of Justice. Larry Riley of the Concerned Citizens Organization of Hackensack has gathered statements from residents who say they have been unfairly targeted by police because of the color of their skin. The written police harassment complaints are mostly from residents living in central Hackensack, where African-Americans and Latinos reside. "There's no reason to stop a person when they are walking the street,'' said Riley, who mailed the complaints to Washington on Thursday. "They are not doing that in the Fairmount section." Eric Holland, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said each complaint received would be reviewed carefully. Last week, Riley and several members of the minority community attended a City Council meeting at which they aired their grievances against police. They told the council that some members of the Police Department are rude, disrespectful and always seem to be picking on them. "It's not every cop, it's just some police officers,'' said Toni Haverty, another member of the group. Several teenagers said police have stopped them and pointed flashlights at their faces, simply because they were walking down the street at night. [more]

Taser Guns: Increase Police Aggression

The rationale for Taser International’s stuns guns is that they are non-lethal and help cops subdue dangerous suspects with minimal force. But reports show plenty of suspects have died almost immediately after being stunned. Not the least of these deaths was twenty-one year old Andrew Washington from Vallejo, California who on September 15, 2004 after trying to flee from the police, was shot repeatedly with 50,000 volts while his was body lying in a trickle of water. In Northern California over the last seven months, there have been seven deaths linked to Taser International’s product, but police continue to parrot the Scottsdale, Arizona company’s promotional material that the weapon is safe and that illegal drugs are the problem. Washington’s death and the subsequent stonewalling of the investigation into the true cause is typical of what appears to be increased aggression on the part of police who see the weapon as “a new baton,” as Andrea Pritchett of CopWatch put it. Vallejo police claim Washington was an auto-theft suspect. The trouble is that he had not stolen a car, had not been armed, nor hostile. He was drunk when he hit two parked cars and foolish enough to run, but there were six officers involved in pursuing the five feet, nine inch, 149 lbs. man who wasn’t hostile nor armed. He was stunned first on the fence for five seconds when it only takes a quarter of a second to incapacitate someone. He could hardly crawl. But he got shocked three or four more times anyway.[more]

Delray Rookie Police Officer Kills 16 Year Old Black Boy

The officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old boy outside a school dance Saturday had less than a month's experience patrolling the streets on his own, according to information released by officials Monday. Officer Darren Cogoni, 23, was hired by the Police Department in March. He was placed on administrative leave after the Saturday night shooting of Jerrod Miller on the campus of the Delray Full Service Center, a school for students with behavioral problems. Officials said Miller drove onto the campus after being approached by the officer. A police spokesman said the teen, Jerrod Miller, 16, was driving erratically near where about 20 students stood outside at a school dance for students 12-16 years old. Jerrod Miller had dropped some friends off at the dance but returned a while later. An officer stopped him at a gate the the school's parking lot and asked for his drivers license, but Miller drove off. Shortly later, as many as three shots were fired, according to witnesses.

Witness Contradicts Police Account
A witness, Alonzo Robert Smith said that he stood by the passenger-side door of Miller's car, about to get in, when he saw an officer ask Miller for his license. According to 17-year-old Smith, the shooting unfolded like this: Miller did not respond to the officer's request for his license. The officer calmly asked Miller twice to get out of the car. The officer then stepped back and "looked like he was going to grab his gun." Miller then drove forward into a courtyard in front of the school's gym. Four or five girls were standing nearby on the gym steps. Two police officers chased the car, one with his gun drawn. Smith said Miller's Cadillac Sedan DeVille and the police rounded a corner, and then he heard three shots fired. Smith did not see the officer fire or where.Smith told reporters Sunday that Cogoni chased after Miller's Cadillac with his gun drawn. He said students were congregated on the gym steps, but that Miller, who had turned the corner across a grassy plot and down the walkway, "wasn't going toward anybody." The Police Department's policy on use of force prohibits officers from firing at a moving vehicle "unless they reasonably believe" that the action "is necessary to defend themselves or another from death or serious injury." According to state records, Miller did not have a driver license and he had no criminal record. "This case is not just going to be thrown away," said Charles Cornelius, Miller's uncle, as he bleakly traced the tire marks. "Jerrod's voice will be heard." [more] and[more] and [more]

• Vigil honors teen killed by rookie police officer in Delray [more]
• NAACP organizes forum on shooting [more]
• Redneck Rush Limbaugh says NAACP is out of touch [more]
  
• 1,000 attend youth's funeral [more]
  

PROTESTS BRING POLICE REVIEW; BLACK RESIDENTS DEMAND CHANGE AFTER POLICE SHOOTING

Determined the shooting death of a teenager will not be ignored, more than 250 people gathered Saturday in an emotionally charged meeting that city officials said will shape how they tackle a widening racial divide. Black residents aired anger over aggressive treatment from police and urged better training and hiring of more minority officers. The very officers who are supposed to protect them now elicit a sense of fear, they said, pointing to Jerrode Miller's shooting death as evidence of enduring racism. "It's hard being black in Delray Beach," said Michael Clinton, 22. "Police want to stop us and search our car. All of us are not bad." After the three-hour meeting, Police Chief Larry Schroeder said the Police Department would assess police training procedures and involve the NAACP in diversity training. The city will seek an independent review of the Police Department's use-of-force policy, added Mayor Jeff Perlman. The policy prohibits officers from firing at a moving vehicle unless they think it is "necessary to defend themselves or another from death or serious injury."

Click to read more ...

Attorney Wiilie Gary vows 'vicious' response to Delray police shooting of Jerrod Miller

About 125 people attended an emotional news conference Thursday morning at which attorney Willie Gary announced that he would go after "in a vicious way" those responsible for the police shooting death of a 16-year-old. "We will not sit idly by and let this happen time and time again in our community," Gary said. He also announced he would be filing lawsuits early next week against those responsible for Saturday night's shooting death of Jerrod Miller by a rookie Delray Beach police officer outside a teen dance at the Delray Full Service Center.Thursday's meeting at the Redemptive Life Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach was attended by Miller's family members as well as representatives from the NAACP, Urban League, and county and city officials. Phyllis Miller, Jerrod's petite grandmother who has raised the teen since his mother died a year and a half ago, moved the crowd to tears when she said, "Our hearts are very heavy. We're hurting. And I must say we are very angry. But at the same time we aren't going to use our anger in the wrong way."  [more]

• Delray Beach mayor promises police review after shooting of teen [more]
  
• Pictured above: Joe Potts gives an emotional take on police racism and the slaying of Delray Beach teen Jerrod Miller. His comments were part of an NAACP meeting discussing the tragedy. Local residents and relatives had a chance to voice their opinions and concerns on the matter to city officials.[more]

Miami agrees to pay $500,000 for Killing Black Teen

The city has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed 18-year-old shot to death by police, who were likened in an inquest to ``Keystone Kops,'' family attorneys said Monday. The settlement, which requires the approval of the city commission and a federal judge, would bring payments to numerous families of Miami police shooting victims to more than $5 million since the mid-1990s. Community outrage over the rash of shootings led to a departmental shake-up and policy changes. Nicholas Singleton was shot in the back of the head as he stood on a rooftop after running away from a stolen car after a six-minute chase in April 2001. The officers involved thought they were after suspects in an armed carjacking that had been solved weeks earlier and didn't know that arrests had been made. The police computer had not been updated with the new information. The excessive-force lawsuit had been set for trial Monday, but the city planned to appeal a decision by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke keeping two police officers as defendants along with the city. Both sides met for mediation, and a settlement notice was filed Wednesday. "The city could have sat back and said, 'We'll wait the year''' for the appeal to progress, said Jim McGuirk, another family attorney. ``They made a genuine effort to get the case settled.'' There was no immediate comment from city attorneys. Singleton was a passenger in a speeding Jeep that police didn't know was stolen, but mix-ups with the dispatcher and the police computer system made the patrol officer mistakenly think the Jeep had been involved in an armed carjacking. Before the settlement push, the city lost a series of rulings. Cooke had decided that jurors would not be told that the Jeep was stolen because the officers didn't know it when they fired or that Singleton had a juvenile police record and a history of drug use because police never claimed he was under the influence when he died. Three officers fired a total of 18 shots, but the bullet type could not pin the fatal shot to any police gun. In the foot chase, one officer fired at another when he saw someone with a gun through a vine-covered fence. [more]

• Family sues Miami police over Singleton killing [more]
• Fla. Shootings Anger Black Leaders [more]
• Officers cleared in shooting [more]