Here are the 11 reports of police misconduct tracked in our National Police Misconduct News Feed for this Wednesday, April 4, 2012:
- 5 new Orleans LA cops sentenced for roles in Danziger bridge murders, 1 for 65yrs, 2 for 40, 1 for 38 & 1 for 6 [0] bit.ly/Hnt1N1
- Hayward CA police sued by family of 89yr-old who lost leg then died after police dog mauled him in his own yard [3] bit.ly/HXjKfa
- Brandon MS cop accused of forcing motorist to pull down pants & underwear to prove he had no drugs during stop [3] bit.ly/HXjfSm
- Springfield MA cop sentenced to 18mo for beating motorist with flashlight in traffic stop caught on video [0] bit.ly/Haepiy
- Albuquerque NM cop investigated for swearing, challenging suspect to fight then punching alleged bystander on video [0] bit.ly/HadYoo
- Baltimore MD settles suit for $95k to principal injured when cops detained her while searching home w/o permission [0] bit.ly/HXlyoz
- Moorhead MN police sued by waitress after cops siezed her $12k tip because they claimed it “smelled like pot” [3] wapo.st/HXl55E
- RCMP to pay $331k judgment to man injured in crash when cop ran red light on her way to lunch [0] bit.ly/HXksci
- New Castle PA sued by man arrested by cop after he reported that he suspected he was victim of check fraud scam [3] bit.ly/HXlViT
- Peters PA police sued by man claiming cop was aggressive & pulled gun on him while he was legally hunting [3] bit.ly/HXk5P6
- Gloucester Twp NJ cop arrested on drug possession and possession with intent to distribute charges [0] bit.ly/HOOAHP
That’s it for today, stay safe out there!
Tagged with:chicago police, law abuse, police beating, police murder, usa police
After months of no progress in the investigation of the death of 45-year-old Darrin Hanna, his relatives conducted an independent autopsy which brings new evidence that his death was a direct result of beating by North Chicago cops.
Darrin Hanna succumbed to injuries after getting beaten by six police officers who came in response to a domestic dispute 911 call. They beat the man and shocked him with a stun gun repeatedly for 20 minutes, even though he didn’t resist arrest.
Attorney Kevin O’Connor says that the autopsy undoubtedly proves that Hanna’s death was caused by severe beating. Some of the numerous injuries listed in the detailed report include multiple internal contusions and acute spleen damage. it is also most likely that the beating triggered sickle cell disease in Hanna’s body. “It’s commonly known that sickle cell can be brought on by trauma. And as result of that trauma he had multi-system organ failure and died, O’Connor said.
The state police said to the reporters, “the Hanna investigation should be wrapping up soon” while Hanna’s family and relatives believe that he would be still alive today if the North Chicago police officers had been properly disciplined for previous allegations of excessive force.
MICHAEL JORDAN, Age now: 16, Missing: 03/16/2012. Missing From STAFFORD, VA. ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT: Stafford County Sheriff’s Office (Virginia) 1-540-658-4400.
Endangered Runaway: MICHAEL JORDAN (VA)
Exploring the Intra-Female Gender Hostility Thesis
- Ericka Wentz1
- Carol a. Archbold1
- 1North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
- Ericka Wentz, North Dakota State University, Dept of Criminal Justice and Political Science, NDSU Dept 2315, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, USA Email: ericka.wentz{at}ndsu.edu
Abstract
This study explores variation in the perception of sexual assault victims among male and female police officers in a Midwestern police agency. Surveys that include both qualitative and quantitative questions are completed by 100 patrol officers. An analysis of qualitative data revealed some support for the Intra-Female Gender Hostility Thesis, which posits that female officers subscribe to rape myths and victim blaming more than male officers. Quantitative analysis showed no significant differences in the way that male and female officers perceived sexual assault victims. Policy implications based on these findings are presented and discussed at the end of this article.
Article Notes
Ericka Wentz is a doctoral student in the criminal justice graduate program at North Dakota State University. Her research interests include a variety of topics related to policing, as well as sexual assault victimization, with particular interest in examining the ways race and gender influence the police culture and decision-making processes of police officers.
Carol a. Archbold is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Political Science at North Dakota State University. Her research interests include women in policing, police liability, and accountability, police processing of sexual assault cases, and issues related to race and the criminal justice system. she has published several articles in Police Quarterly, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, Journal of Criminal Justice, and the Journal of Crime and Justice. she has published several books including the following: Police Accountability, Risk Management and Legal Advising (LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2004); Women and Policing in America: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Aspen Publishing, 2011); and is currently writing Policing: a Text/Reader, which will be included in the Criminology & Criminal Justice Text/Reader series for SAGE Publications in 2012.
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
“Many more complaints” about alleged illegal body cavity searches have been filed since Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn first asked people to step forward nearly three weeks ago, Flynn said Wednesday.
“A number of people came forward so that we have many more complaints than we certainly started out with,” Flynn said at a news conference Wednesday. “Of those complaints, I’d say a significant majority of them are of a very similar nature, which indicates that we have more people to talk to than we initially had.”
Sources told the Journal Sentinel that officers from District 5 on the city’s north side performed illegal body cavity searches on them on the street in an effort to find drugs.
Flynn did not discuss that information, saying officials from the U.S. attorney’s office and the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office had cautioned him about revealing too many details about the complaints.
He did say no additional officers had been reassigned since seven officers and a sergeant were reassigned to desk duties and stripped of their police powers three weeks ago. Flynn cautioned that although the department found it appropriate to strip those officers of their police powers, “many” of the officers who were reassigned were not personally accused of misconduct.
“Many of these officers have had no complaints made against them,” Flynn said. “We took this move because we wanted to make sure everybody who was in the presence, on the scene of an incident where an alleged incident was made, we wanted to account for all of them. if they were on the scene or served as a backup or anywhere near, we knew we’d have to question them.
“In that context, for two reasons, we wanted to get them off the road. One, so that if they weren’t, in fact, following policy, they couldn’t continue, and two, as I stressed to the officers, it’s a safety issue. if you think you’re being investigated, you’re not going to be mind on the street. It was not a prejudgment of any of them, perhaps there was an expectation that a large number of officers were all being accused of exactly the same thing.”
Flynn wouldn’t say how many officers are possibly implicated.
Flynn’s comments came after the Milwaukee Common Council passed a resolution Wednesday morning requesting the police department and the Fire and Police Commission be more transparent about their investigations and publish a report on their findings within 30 days of completing the investigation.
In response to the resolution, Flynn said he already intended to publish his findings at the end of the investigation.
“There is nothing in this resolution that we have not fully intended to do anyway,” Flynn said. “It’s our expectation that we will make a full report as to what the results of the investigation indicate. We will indicate the lessons we have learned from this investigation as we move forward, and we will certainly give an account to the community and well as to the rest of the criminal justice system just what was learned.”
Michael Tobin, executive director of the Fire and Police Commission, said Wednesday that he agrees the public should be informed at the conclusion of the investigation, but that officials haven’t decided whether to make a written report or report in other ways.
He said the commission has received “a few more” complaints in addition to the two it received a couple of weeks ago. the commission is investigating whether the complaints are related to the cavity searches alleged in District 5.
“The fact that people have come forward with the complaint means people have confidence in the system we have,” he said.
Flynn has continually stressed that the Milwaukee Police Department initiated the investigations, but he revealed Wednesday that police also asked for a secret John Doe investigation by the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office.
“It was our feeling this unprecedented move would guarantee we can get to the truth more rapidly than any other method available to us,” he said.
A John Doe investigation allows people to testify under condition of immunity from prosecution.
Flynn revealed that police also have been coordinating with FBI since the beginning of the investigation.
“At an appropriate time, we asked them in to accompany us when we interviewed individuals implicated in this issue,” he said.
Flynn would not give a time line for when the investigation might be completed, but said it’s proceeding rapidly.
“While this investigation continues,” he said, “I just ask for the community’s forbearance and that they not lead to judgment but allow a very aggressive and assertive investigation to proceed forward at an appropriate pace so we can get to the bottom of these allegations, separate fact from fiction, and make an accounting as to what it is that, in fact, occurred.”
How to make a complaint
Milwaukee Police Department Professional Performance Division: (414) 935-7939
Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission: (414) 286-5000
Milwaukee County District Attorney: (414) 278-4646
A complaint form can be found on the fire and police commission’s web site, city.milwaukee.gov/fpc/Complaints
It is only necessary to file a complaint with one agency, but you may file a complaint with more than one.
SHIRLEY WIGGINS, Age now: 15, Missing: 03/13/2012. Missing From ELGIN, IL. ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT: Elgin Police Department (Illinois) 1-847-289-2700.
Endangered Runaway: SHIRLEY WIGGINS (IL)
NEW MILFORD — a River Road resident who on Monday crashed into a utility pole after he veered off the right shoulder of Kent Road (Route 7 North) has been issued two motor vehicle infractions, local police have reported.
Thomas Leonard, 26, who was not injured in the accident, was issued infractions for making a restricted turn and failure to carry the minimum insurance. He is scheduled to appear in the state Superior Court in Bantam April 23.
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 8:26 AM EDT, Fri April 13, 2012
Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney was killed in the line of duty on April 12, in New Hampshire, days before retiring.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- The police chief in Greeland, New Hampshire has been shot to death
- He planned to retire in a few days
- Greenland is a town 3,500 people located just south of Portsmouth
- “This is a tragedy for our community,” official says
(CNN) — A police chief from southeastern New Hampshire who planned to retire in a few days has been shot to death while trying to execute a search warrant, authorities said Friday.
Chief Michael Maloney of the police department in Greenland, a town of about 3,500, was killed in a shooting that wounded four other officers on Thursday night at a home in the community, said Attorney General Michael Delaney.
“This is a tragedy for our community,” he said. “Our law enforcement community is in mourning.”
Two suspects, a man and a woman, were found dead in the home after a long stand off, Delaney said. Investigators believe the deaths came from either a “murder-suicide” or a “double suicide,” he said.
Greenland is just south of the city of Portsmouth. its police force has 10 members, the town says on its website.
During a news conference Friday, Delaney was asked why a police chief would be part of a dangerous mission so close to his retirement. he did not answer the question directly but said all the officers involved were part of a drug investigation.
The shootings come after a year in which U.S. cities saw an increase in officers killed.
The number of officers who died in the line of duty in 2011 increased 16% nationwide from last year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Last year, 177 officers were killed, compared with 153 in 2010, the organization said.
An Emerging Concept
- Jon M. Shane1
- 1John Jay College of Criminal Justice, new York, NY, USA
- Jon M. Shane, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 899 Tenth Avenue, new York, NY 10019, USA Email: jshane{at}jjay.cuny.edu
Abstract
This article explores the concept of a rational sentencing structure for imposing internal police discipline that helps practitioners make more reasoned and consistent decisions when dispensing discipline. The data consists of 360 hr of participant observation of police trials involving sworn police officers and civilian employees in the Newark, new Jersey Police Department. various agency records provide an understanding of the formal influences surrounding police discipline. The findings suggest a disciplinary sentencing matrix is more rational than the traditional discretionary method, which is largely informal and relies on best estimates. The matrix may increase consistency in disciplinary sentences, which is an important aspect of organizational justice that leaves police employees with a sense of fairness in management’s disciplinary decisions.
Article Notes
Jon M. Shane, PhD, is assistant professor in the Department of Law and Police Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in new York City. he received his PhD in criminal justice from Rutgers University, School of Criminal Justice. his research interests include violent crime and police policy and practice. his theoretical interests include situational crime prevention, routine activities, and social disorganization.
Tagged with:chicago police, law abuse, police beating, police murder, usa police
After months of no progress in the investigation of the death of 45-year-old Darrin Hanna, his relatives conducted an independent autopsy which brings new evidence that his death was a direct result of beating by North Chicago cops.
Darrin Hanna succumbed to injuries after getting beaten by six police officers who came in response to a domestic dispute 911 call. They beat the man and shocked him with a stun gun repeatedly for 20 minutes, even though he didn’t resist arrest.
Attorney Kevin O’Connor says that the autopsy undoubtedly proves that Hanna’s death was caused by severe beating. Some of the numerous injuries listed in the detailed report include multiple internal contusions and acute spleen damage. it is also most likely that the beating triggered sickle cell disease in Hanna’s body. “It’s commonly known that sickle cell can be brought on by trauma. and as result of that trauma he had multi-system organ failure and died, O’Connor said.
The state police said to the reporters, “the Hanna investigation should be wrapping up soon” while Hanna’s family and relatives believe that he would be still alive today if the North Chicago police officers had been properly disciplined for previous allegations of excessive force.
