Danziger Bridge Case: New Orleans

A deadly police shooting occurred on the Danziger Bridge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. On Sunday, September 4, six days after the hurricane, nineteen-year-old James Brissette and forty-year-old Ronald Madison, both African American, were killed in the gunfire, and four other civilians were wounded. All victims were unarmed. Madison, a mentally disabled man, was shot in the back. New Orleans police coordinated in fabricating a cover-up story for their crime, falsely reporting that seven police officers responded to a police dispatch reporting an officer down, and that at least four people were firing weapons at the officers upon their arrival.
Officers Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso open fired on an unarmed family on the east side of the bridge, killing 17-year- old James Brissette, and wounding Susan Bartholomew, 38; Leonard Bartholomew III, 44; the Bartholomew's daughter, Lesha, 17; and the Bartholomew's nephew, Jose Holmes, 19. The Bartholomews' 14-year-old son ran away from the shooting and was fired at, but was not injured. The second shooting occurred minutes later on the west side of the bridge, where officers shot at brothers Lance and Ronald Madison, killing Ronald, a 40-year-old man with severe mental disabilities. The indictment alleges Faulcon shot Ronald Madison in the back as Ronald ran away. Bowen is charged with stomping and kicking Ronald Madison while Ronald was wounded, but not yet dead. Ronald later died at the scene.
Six officers with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) were charged today in connection with the federal investigation of a police-involved shooting on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina, the Justice Department announced today. The incident resulted in the death of two civilians and the wounding of four others.
The indictment charges four officers - Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso - in connection with the shootings, and charges those four officers and two supervisors - Arthur "Archie" Kaufman and Gerard Dugue - with helping to obstruct justice during the subsequent investigations.

My Top Five NYPD Misdonduct Scandals and Allegations.

5-Abner Louima sodomy
On August 9, 1997, Police Officer Justin Volpe, sodomized Abner Louima with a broken broom handle in the 70th Precinct bathroom in Brooklyn. Officer Volpe eventually pled guilty and received a sentence of 30 years in federal prison.


4- NYPD subway sodomy scandal
On October 15, 2008, five officers attempted to arrest Michael Mineo for smoking marijuana in a Brooklyn subway station. Days later, Mineo made accusations claiming he was sodomized with a police radio antenna by the officers. On December 9, 2008, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced that three of the officers, Richard Kern, Alex Cruz, and Andrew Morales, were indicted on criminal charges. According to the District Attorney, officer Kern sodomized Mineo with his expandable baton after the officers handcuffed him. Officer Kern was charged with aggravated sexual abuse and assault, and faced up to 25 years in prison, and officers Cruz and Morales were charged with hindering prosecution and official misconduct, and faced up to 4 years in prison. All three officers were acquitted of all charges.



3- Timothy Stansbury death
On January 24, 2004, Housing Bureau officer Richard Neri, Jr. accidentally and fatially shot Timothy Stansbury, a 19-year-old black man who was trespassing on the roof landing of a Bedford-Stuyvesant housing project building. Stansbury was unarmed but had apparently startled Officer Neri upon opening the roof door. At that point, Officer Neri discharged his service firearm and fatally wounded Stansbury. Although Commissioner Ray Kelly stated that the shooting appeared "unjustified", a Brooklyn jury found that no criminal act occurred and that the event was a tragic accident. Neri was cleared of all charges. The city later agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the Stansbury family. A grand jury declined to indict Neri but Kelly later suspended him for 30 days without pay and permanently stripped him of his service weapon.

 
2- Amadou Diallo death
On February 4, 1999, four plainclothes  undercover NYPD officers working under the Street Crimes Unit fired 41 gunshots at Amadou Diallo, killing him instantly. Diallo, whom the officers mistook for a since-convicted rapist, was later found to be unarmed. The officers were subsequently acquitted, but the City of New York and the NYPD later paid out $3,000,000 to Diallo's parents in a civil suit. Following the controversy, the Street Crimes Unit was abolished three years later.



1- Sean Bell shooting incident
On November 25, 2006, plainclothes police officers Fired over 50 shots and killed Sean Bell and wounded two of his companions, one critically, outside of the Kalua Cabaret in Queens. No weapon was recovered. According to the police, Bell rammed his vehicle into an undercover officer and hit an unmarked NYPD minivan twice, prompting undercover officers to fire fifty rounds into Bell's car. An undercover officer claims he heard one of the unarmed men threaten to get his gun to settle a fight with another individual. On April 25, 2008, Arthur Cooperman cleared Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora of manslaughter charges and Detective Marc Cooper of reckless endangerment in the death of Sean Bell.



(Source- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandals_and_allegations_of_the_New_York_City_Police_Department )

Policing The Police !

All over the world there is authority, and police misconduct. The people who should be protecting us are abusing their authority. The uses of excessive force, bribery, and falsifying are surfacing more often than usual. Citizens around the world and our nation have began forming groups that watch the actions of the police. They call these groups "CopWatch" Groups. The main function of most Copwatch groups is monitoring police activity. "Copwatchers" go out on foot or driving patrols in their communities and record interactions between the police and civilians. Copwatchers hope that monitoring police activity will provide a deterrent against police misconduct. Some groups also patrol at protests and demonstrations to ensure that police do not violate the rights of protesters.

The main goal of most Copwatch groups is to engage in monitoring and videotaping police activity in the interest of holding the police accountable in the events involving assaults or police misconduct. If the Police are being watched and recorded, they will be careful in all their actions. In most cases of police brutality, the victim was preyed on by the police because they were ignorant of their legal rights. Copwatch groups also engage in educating the public about their right and what to do when they encounter a situation involving the police. The believe "Policing the Police" is what it takes to stop misconduct



(Sources) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_brutality
http://antipolicemisconduct.meetup.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copwatch

What Are The Different Forms Of Offical Misconduct?

While most police officers are said to honest, misconduct often occurs, and it affects the integrity of the justice system. Here are some of the most common types of police misconduct.

Bribery- is the first form of misconduct. Police officers have may have the opportunities to take financial advantage and money bribes from people vulnerable to attack and arrest. For instance kickbacks and bribery could come from a store owner who would like extra protection from an officer, or from a drug dealer who wants an officer to look the other way.

Brutality- Police brutality refers to the use of excessive force on someone. The force doesn't have to be lethal, just more than the situation requires. For Instance Slaming a suspect that is cooperating

Abuse of Authority- Abuse of authority can be anything from sexually abusing a victim or suspect to coercing a false confession.

Falsifying Evidence- Falsifying evidence can include planting evidence at a crime scene or making up false witness statements.

False Arrest- False arrest occurs when police officers arrest someone they know is innocent. The Officers may do something corrupt such as plant a weapon or drugs on a innocent person to

The Consequences for Police officers who commit misconduct may be suspended or fired, and they could face civil suits from their victims. In the most severe cases, they may face criminal charges





Sources - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuse
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5448232_types-police-misconduct.html

Bay Area Rapid Tranist (B.A.R.T.) Officer Kills man in Cold Blood

     On January 1st 2009, during the early hours of the morning, BART officer Johannes Meheserle fatally shot and killed an unarmed civilian in Okland, California. The Officer was responding to a call of a fight on a crowded train platform.
The events were captured on multiple digital video and cell phone cameras. The footage was disseminated to media outlets and to various websites, where it was watched hundreds of thousands of times. The following days were followed by both peaceful and violent protests.
     Oscar Grant, the shooting victim, had been celebrating New Year's Eve with his friends on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, and was returning to East Bay on a BART train bound for Fruitvale. At approximately 2:00am. PST, BART Police responded to reports that up to 12 people were involved in a fight on an incoming train from the West Oakland BART Station and the participants were intoxicated and under the influence of a substance. When officers arived, they removed Grant and several other men suspected of fighting from the train and detained them on the platform. Grant and another man ran back onto the train after being detained, but Grant voluntarily returned to the platform when officer Tony Pirone grabbed the other man and dragged him from the train. Pirone handcuffed Grant's friend, angering other riders. Pirone then lined up Grant and two other men against the wall. When five other officers, including Johannes Mehserle, arrived at the Fruitvale station, they found the situation chaotic. Mehserle's partner on duty, Officer Jon Woffinden, said the "incident was one of the most frightening he had experienced in his 12 years as a police officer."
     The shooting has been variously labeled an involuntary manslaughter and a summary execution. On January 13, Alameda County prosecutors charged Mehserle with murder for the shooting. He resigned his position and pleaded not guilty. The trial began on June 10, 2010. Michael Rains, Mehserle's criminal defense attorney, has claimed Mehserle intended to fire his Taser, but mistakenly shot Grant with a pistol when he thought Grant was reaching for a gun. Pretrial filings argue that his client did not commit first-degree murder and asked a Los Angeles judge to instruct the jury to limit its deliberations to either second-degree murder or acquittal.


 


Sources-
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/mountain-view-ca/T4FFIMDF6TG0QBHIN/p79
http://www.ktvu.com/bartshooting/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant
Video Source - http://blutube.policeone.com/Media/3462-Video-of-BART-officer-involved-shooting/

The Sean Bell Case. New York City 2006-07

On November 25, 2006, during the early hours of the morning, outside a Queens night club, Sean Bell was gunned down by NYPD Undercover and Plain Clothes officers. Undercover cops fired at least 50 rounds of bullets into a car carrying Sean Bell and two of his friends as they left Bell's bachelor party in the Jamaica, Queens. The club where the bachelor party was held was under police surveillance, inside and outside the building. When Bell's car left the club, it accidently ran into an unmarked van carrying some of the cops involved in the surveillance, than the cops responded with a barrage of deadly gunfire Killing Sean Bell on his wedding day. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly reported that one of his men, MIKE OLIVER, fired his weapon 31 times, emptying two full magazines.  Sean Bell was shot in the neck, shoulder and right arm and died at the hospital. Two of Bell's friends who were also in the car, 21-year-old Joseph Guzman and 23-year-old Trent Benefield, were hospitalized with multiple gun shot wounds. NYC Mayor Bloomberg called for calm and said it was too early to draw any conclusions about the incident. But many people remember how in 1999 NYPD cops killed Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, shooting him 19 times. And many people are responding to this killing with grief and outrage.

On the night of the shooting, Gescard Isnora, the undercover officer who fired his weapon first, followed Mr Bell and his two friends to Mr Bell’s car, believing they went to get a gun to settle a dispute at the club. He opened fire after being grazed by Sean Bell's car. The other officers reached Mr Bell’s car after the initial confrontation and said they believed that their colleague was being fired at from inside the vehicle. The two survivors said that they never heard Gescard Isnora identify himself as a police officer as he approached the car, with his gun drawn.


Over 17 months after the incident, and at the end of a two-month trial, Justice Arthur Cooperman of the State Supreme Court delivered a not-guilty verdict in front of a courtoom packed with spectators and the  victim's fiancee and parents. The case generated outrage in New York’s black community, even though two of the officers are black. The Police prepared for potential unrest after the announcement of the verdict, posting 1,000 officers around the court house. Officials said however that they did not expect violence because numerous demonstrations against the perceived police brutality had remained peaceful.
Delivering his verdict, Judge Cooperman said that the charges could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. “Questions of carelessness and incompetence must be left to other forums,” he added.
The trial centred on whether the detectives had reason to believe they faced imminent danger and whether they made it clear to Mr Bell and the two survivors, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, that they were police officers. Every last one of the 50+ Shots were Justified and all officers were acquitted.

IS THIS OUTRAGE AND MISCONDUCT OR IS IT NOT ENOUGH TO BE CALLED SUCH ?


 

Sources-
http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Sean+Bell
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/item_kf8Lye0S3tBVdJvrro36TL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Bell_shooting_incident

Aung San Su Ki (class assignment)

   

Aung San Suu Kyi is the leading face of the pro-democracy movement and a leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar. Suu Kyi is one of the world's most famous and most respected freedom fighters and advocates of nonviolence. She has spent more than 15 years in prison, most of it under house arrest. She was released from her current third period of detention on Saturday 13th November 2010.


In 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma mother. By coincidence, That same year, the long-time military leader of Burma and head of the ruling party, General Ne Win, stepped down. Mass demonstrations for democracy rose on 8 August 1988  which were violently suppressed in what came to be known as the 8888 Uprising. On 26 August 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi addressed half a million people at a mass rally in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the capital, calling for a democratic government. However in September, a new military junta took power. Later the same month, 24 September 1988, the National League for Democracy (NLD) was formed, with Suu Kyi as general secretary.

Influenced by both Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence^] and by more specifically Buddhist concepts, Aung San Suu Kyi entered politics to work for democratization, helped found the National League for Democracy on 24 September 1988, and was put under house arrest on 20 July 1989. She was offered freedom if she left the country, but she refused. In 1990, the military junta called a general election, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) received 59% of the votes, guaranteeing NLD 80% of the parliament seats. Being the NLD's candidate, Aung San Suu Kyi under normal circumstances would have assumed the office of Prime Minister.  Instead, the results were nullified, and the military refused to hand over power. This resulted in an international outcry. Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest.