National Police Misconduct Reporting Project

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 02-10-11

February 11, 2011 @ 4:06 AM by David Packman

Here are the 31 reports of police misconduct tracked in our National Police Misconduct News Feed for this Thursday, February 10, 2011:

  • An RCMP constable has been ruled to have used excessive force when he punched one-footed man in the face for not getting up quickly enough in an incident that a judge described as “cruel” when he determined that the charges filed against the man should never have stuck and stayed them. [0]
  • Lawrence MA has settled a lawsuit for $400,000 to a man claiming an officer punched him in the face and broke his eye socket when he complained that his handcuffs were too tight after he was erroneously arrested for car theft. [0]
  • Four Winslow NJ police officers and three “good Samaritans” are the subject of a lawsuit filed by the family of a mentally disabled man who died after the group of people subdued him drung a wrongfull arrest initiated by an officer who has since pled guilty to assault over the incident and is no longer a cop. [0]
  • A Middeltown PA police officer is the subject of an unspecified criminal investigation. Police officials refuse to release any details but the probe may involve one of two lawsuits recently filed against the department including an excessive force case and an incident where a woman claims officers refused to let her get dressed while she was detained in her home in front of her children while they served a search warrant. [3]
  • The Seattle WA police department is being accused of failing to inform prosecutors about the video of an off-duty cop stomping a handcuffed man who was one of three arrested for fighting the cop when he was drunk and appeared to be harassing a woman outside of a bar. prosecutors and lawyers defending the three men, charged with assaulting an officer, say the video and witness statements bring those felony charges into question but the police waited a month to inform prosecutors about it. [3]
  • The Seattle WA police released a video today showing an officer yelling at and flipping off a detainee in a holding cell that he was also accused of choking in the back seat of his cruiser earlier. This was the same officer that made the news when a video was released last year showing him telling an innocent man he detained that he would “beat the Mexican piss” out of him then stomping on his head. [2]
  • A Houston TX police officer is accused of using excessive force in a video released by activists showing the officer shove the cuffed man down to the ground. Activists say it contradicts his police report. [3]
  • A Spokane WA police officer was determined by investigators to have been speeding without activating his lights or siren when he fatally struck a pedestrian. [0]
  • A Palm Beach County FL deputy has been arrested on multiple charges for allegedly facilitating a fight between jail inmates, one of which was arrested on murder charges. [0]
  • Atlanta GA police have agreed to order officers to stop interfering with people who record them in a settlement that will also pay $40,000 to that city’s copwatch group after police confiscated a copwatcher’s camera when he was recording an arrest. [0]
  • An off-duty St Louis MO sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot by a St. Louis police officer when officer’s spotted him arguing with someone and ordered him to put his hands up when they also spotted his gun. The officer opened fire when the deputy allegedly reached for the gun instead of following commands. [0]
  • Vancouver WA has offered to settle a claim for $383,000 to a family claiming an officer broke the law when he failed to arrest a man after a domestic violence incident just days before he killed his sister. The claim asserts that if he was arrested he would have been forced into treatment for his mental illness and wouldn’t have killed his sister. [0]
  • An Elkhart IN police officer who had previously been suspended for groping women has now been fired after accused of coercing a woman into sex under threat of arrest. [0]
  • A Gatineau QC police officer has been fired for “discreditable conduct” for allegedly abusing authority to abuse victim in what is rumored to be a sexual-related incident. Officials are refusing to release any details though. [0]
  • A Jackson PA police officer has been charged with aggravated assault and making terroristic threats over an alleged incident where he hit and choked his girlfriend. [0]
  • A Lawrence MA police officer has been sentenced to probation for assaulting his girlfriend in an incident that resulted in him being tasered by another off-duty officer. [0]
  • A Gainesville FL police officer has been sentenced to one year in jail for hitting an elderly pedestrian with his car while he was drunk in a plea deal that dropped unrelated voyeurism charges against him. [0]
  • A Cocoa FL police officer has been fired for pointing a firearm at another vehicle before he was stopped and arrested for DUI. [0]
  • An Ohio State trooper was arrested on 34 felony charges on allegations he helped his wife illegally obtain prescription drugs. [0]
  • A Long Beach CA police officer has pled guilty to embezzlement charges for stealing 4 firearms he was supposed to book into the department’s property room. [0]
  • A Lancaster County SC deputy resigned prior to being arrested on allegations that he stole prescription drugs from his elderly neighbor on several occasions. [0]
  • A Spokane WA police detective, who is also the VP of that police union, has been charged with obstructing a wildlife officer who pulled him over after complaints that two minors who were with him were hunting after hours. [0]
  • And finally, a Douglas County CO sheriff’s lieutenant has resigned while he was under investigation for allegedly using a departmental computer to post racist and homophobic comments in response to stories on news websites while he was on-duty. [0]

That’s it for today, stay safe out there!