Here are the 13 reports of police misconduct recorded in the National Police Misconduct News Feed for this weekend, July 24 and 25, 2010:
- Doña Ana County New Mexico will have to pay at least half of a $575,000 jury award to the family of a man who died after he was shot in the neck and then tasered twice in front of his then 6-year-old son. He was stopped by deputies on suspicion that he was involved in a domestic dispute call, though police didn’t know if he was a victim or suspect at the time, and the officer fired on him, claiming he feared the man was going to run him over with his van… a van that was allegedly stuck in gravel with his son inside.
- A Warren Township Ohio police officer has been arrested on assault charges for allegedly attacking a woman in her own home about two weeks after she filed for a protection order against the officer on allegations that he raped her in a bar.
- A West Virginia State trooper is under investigation by the FBI on allegations that he arrested a man during a traffic stop then handcuffed him to an anchor ring embedded in the floor of the precinct station where he then allegedly beat him. The man in question claims the beating occurred as retaliation against him for having an affair with the officer’s wife.
- Two Chicago Illinois police officers are the subject of lawsuit alleging that they dragged a passenger from a car and then proceeded to repeatedly kick him in the head. Afterward the officers put him in the back of a cruiser but then let him go without charges.
- The Annapolis Maryland police are being sued by a man who claims that an officer yanked him out of a car and then pointed a gun at his friend while demanding to know “where the drugs were.” The police didn’t find any drugs but did arrest several people who were there on a variety of minor charges such as possession of an open container and disorderly conduct.
- An Altamonte Springs Florida police officer was arrested on child abuse charges regarding an alleged sexual relationship he had with a 17-year-old girl. The two exchanged almost 90 emails where the two allegedly exposed themselves to each other and, in one message, the girl claimed she had been pregnant with his child before she miscarried.
- A Baltimore Maryland police officer was suspended while he’s under investigation for ignoring orders to stop a high-speed pursuit that when outside of his jurisdiction and violated policies that prohibited such pursuits to incidents involving dangerous felons. The pursuit ended with his cruiser fatally striking the motorcyclist he was chasing for racing with another bike.
- A Sumter South Carolina police officer has been fired while he was the subject of a state investigation into an unspecified violation of that department’s use of force policy.
- Las Vegas Nevada has settled a lawsuit for $120,000 to a man who was falsely arrested on DUI charges after a police officer struck his vehicle while going 109mph in a 45mph zone without his lights or siren. Sadly, that officer died in the crash and was not wearing his seat belt.
- A Clearwater Florida police officer has resigned while under investigation for at least three different incidents where drug evidence went missing or was misplaced.
- A McMinn County Tennessee deputy has been arrested on theft charges after a state investigation into allegations that she stole over $1,000, though the article doesn’t specify exactly where she may have stolen the money from.
- A Cobb County Georgia police captain has been charged with driving while intoxicated after a wrong-way driver caused an accident with his car while he was off-duty.
- And finally, a Sun Valley Idaho police dog has returned to duty after it was suspended for a few weeks in order to be retrained after it attacked someone’s pet schnauzer without provokation. The department paid for the victim’s $600 veterinary bill though.
Before I close this one, there was another case this weekend that I thought was borderline and decided to put this one up to the readers to decide if it was misconduct and, if so, if it’s severe enough to make the cut for the database.
It seems a Bernalillo County New Mexico deputy, shown above, was caught on video uploaded to YouTube giving a religious group a piece of his mind concerning his own religious beliefs, or lack thereof, while he was assisting other deputies in escorting the group off of private property where a Rob Zombie concert was underway.
So, what do you think, does this qualify for inclusion in our statistical database of police misconduct?
Should this report qualify as misconduct in our statistical database?
- Yes (54%, 52 Votes)
- No (37%, 36 Votes)
- I don't know (9%, 9 Votes)
Total Voters: 97
Loading ...That’s it for this weekend’s installment, stay safe out there!
I voted yes to misconduct because the person video taping seemed to have been arrested at the end when he appeared to be on public property.
The Officer who mainly talked to the group didn’t cross the line for me though towards the end of the tape it looked like he was close to doing just that
It looked like the protesters were on private property so I think they handled it ok. In fact they were lucky the cops didn’t taser and shoot them. I have no problem with the way this was handled. Now if they were on public land then they should have the right to stay. I think the cops often decide what’s public and whats private based on what the potential problem might be caused with the protest.
Deputy Jim Goff may have an interesting employment history.
On 1/2/03, the ABQ Journal had a story about a Jim Goff that included this: “Goff … spent 15 years as an officer with the Florida Highway Patrol, two years with the Miami-Dade County Police Department and 12 years with the FBI.” Zoning Enforcer Wants Nicer Town
Is this Jim Goff now BCSO Deputy Jim Goff? If so, he seems to be quite the gypsy. I wonder why he left those plum jobs with FHP, MDCPD, and FBI to become a code enforcement officer. Hmmmm….
Jim,
If he’s currently a “zoning enforcement officer” then this story would be disqualified from the feed since that isn’t a sworn position.
Thanks for letting me know!
I am with Mike on this.
It was all prety cut and dry that if it is private property the owners can have you removed. Once they stepped on the sidewalk it was definitely abusive, by having them move across the street, and the threat (or possible arrest) of the person shooting video.
Sorry that is Mark not Mike. My apologies Mark.
David do they have the power to arrest as they said? If so are you sure in that jurisdiction they are not sworn officers.
Mack,
There are a lot of IFs being thrown around with this story, a lot of conjecture being thrown around without anything backing it. That makes me VERY uncomfortable about adding this story to the database.
REMEMBER, I am NOT here to bash cops so I do not add any old report that hints and a slight possibility that something might have happened. Cases of rudeness by a cop is not severe enough to be added to our database and, frankly, that is the only thing I see on this video and, even then, it’s not very rude.
As it stands, I don’t feel comfortable adding this report to the feed and suggesting the the officer is a code enforcement officer, which generally don’t have arrest powers anywhere, makes me even less inclined to add it.
“Cases of rudeness by a cop is not severe enough to be added to our database and, frankly, that is the only thing I see on this video and, even then, it’s not very rude.”
They do have the very same freedom of speech that we have, and rightly so. IDK, about the certified part on this, but if he didn’t do anything other than give the person an earful, then I must say no way!
Pyo,
Thanks, it’s sort of what I’m saying… Whether the officer is certified is more of a straw issue when I’m already leaning towards declining this one because, frankly, the complaint seems so petty on the face of it in comparison to all the other types of incidents we normally cover.
But, hey, this is the price of being open about the data we collect, people are free to argue for including this report even if, by including something like this, it would jeopardize the perceived validity of the entire project. Nobody is going to convince the general public that misconduct is an issue worthy of consideration by blowing minor incidents out of proportion, in fact, it only accomplishes the opposite.
“Nobody is going to convince the general public that misconduct is an issue worthy of consideration by blowing minor incidents out of proportion, in fact, it only accomplishes the opposite.”
That is more than a fact. Whether you see it or not, your opposition, whoever they may be, would use this very thing to discredit you and your work! As I’ve stated before, I do post your articles in other forums. I would never do such a thing if I thought you weren’t credible in your judgement.
I think the officer was well within the law to ask those obnoxious fools to leave. I don’t think this was misconduct since the officer kept his hands off and was provoked by the religious peoples’ taunts.
At the risk of being a pain in the backside, (which I tend to be quite often, but don’t feel special!), I would request that you at least look at the CopBlock site and consider them for an addition to the Blog Roll.
goff was completely justified. the guy demanding they stop recording was not. the “you must be a gay homosexual” and the abrasiveness in his “i’m a nonbeliever” spiel was a little over the top but nothing criminal or inappropriate. i voted no before i got to the camera incident. you cannot force someone to not record when there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.
Pyo… you are a pain in my backside, they’re already in the roll. Thanks though!
“Pyo… you are a pain in my backside, they’re already in the roll. Thanks though!”
Momma said I should have at least one good quality! LOL!
Hey, if you’re going to do something might as well do a good job of it! ;)
Yeah, I went to add them because I knew I intended to then I looked and they were already there. Go figure.
Hey David, regarding the footage and audio. It seems that the police working security at an event chose to move a group of people off the premises.
After the group is escorted to an area away from the masses (in a polite manner) instead of warning them to stay off the property or risk jail, it is clear that the police chose to escalate it to a ‘stop filming me or you are going to jail’ threat. The film cuts off after the film maker is being ‘promised’ that he will go to jail if he doesn’t stop filming.
IMHO – If he was arrested then ‘yes’ I personally believe this is misconduct and a false arrest. They had no problem being filmed in front of the crowd (if you see what I mean?). Thanks for letting us share our thoughts.
I believe that the officers did not commit police misconduct in the begining but Officer Goff was provoking the protesters with his comments and his demenor. Towards the end of the video it seems like the other officer was out of line with his action, the camera man had every right to film what was going on to me that was violating his right.