The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[merithyn]

Honestly, we need some kind of law that states if a police officer violates procedure and it ends in someone's death then the officer in question is automatically charged of negligent homicide.

The problem is when they don't violate procedure and someone dies anyway. The procedures and training are often as much to blame as the mistakes. That's where the fix has to be.

[The Minsky Moment]

They went to a judge and got a no knock warrant so they could knock and announce themselves, that makes total sense.  How could anyone question that story?

I read somewhere that their orders were changed on the day of the operation, despite the mandate.

As much as it pains me to say I don't entirely trust the word of the state AG on this manner absent corroborating evidence, I'm afraid I don't entirely trust the AG's word on the matter.

[merithyn]

And people wonder why we don't trust Trump and/or Barr to handle the current melt-down on policing in the US.

Link

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Before a U.S. federal judge on Thursday halted the work of a Trump administration law enforcement commission - saying it had violated public meetings laws - the panel had been warned about shutting out public input by several of its own participants, internal records reviewed by Reuters show.

But the secretive process to produce the planned report drew criticism from some law enforcement representatives helping draft the document, internal emails among the participants show. The order to halt the commission's work, from U.S. District Judge John Bates, came in response to a lawsuit filed by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (NAACP LDF) alleging the commission failed to give notice of public hearings and allowed law enforcement groups to have undue influence.

The panel's 18 commissioners include federal, state and local law enforcement representatives, but no civil rights advocates, defense attorneys or big-city police officials.

Among the participants who warned the panel about its closed process was Fayetteville, North Carolina Police Chief Gina Hawkins, a commission member. In an May 11 email reviewed by Reuters, she told commission chairman Phil Keith that drafting recommendations without hearing from all sides created the appearance of a predetermined conclusion.

Then on Aug. 13, she complained the draft contained too many quotes from Trump and Barr, rather than experts who provided input to the commission, saying the work "should never be political."

Hawkins declined to comment. Keith did not respond to a request for comment.

Two local prosecutors assigned to smaller working groups that support the commission - John Choi of Ramsey County, Minnesota, and Mark Dupree of Wyandotte County, Kansas - wrote to the panel on May 29 expressing concern its recommendations would not sufficiently address "racial disparities in policing" and would "erode local prosecutorial discretion."

Choi has since asked for his name to be removed from the final report. He told Reuters the commission declined to give him access to recommendations being crafted by other working groups. Dupree did not respond to a request for comment.

The White House declined to comment on the panel's work or the court ruling, referring questions to the Justice Department.

Prior to Judge Bates' ruling on Thursday, Justice Department spokeswoman Kristina Mastropasqua declined to comment on the commission's work or the draft proposals reviewed by Reuters. Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec declined to comment on the ruling after it was issued.

In unveiling the panel last year, Trump foreshadowed that it would produce a report that would be applauded by law enforcement. He told a conference of the International Association of Police Chiefs (IACP) in that the administration would begin immediately implementing the commission's best recommendations once it issued them.

"They'll have them soon," he said, "because most of them already know many of the answers before they begin; you understand that."


LACK OF ALTERNATIVE INPUT

Concerns about systemic racism in policing were not addressed in any of the draft sections of the document seen by Reuters.

The lack of diverse viewpoints prompted the NAACP LDF to sue the commission, Barr and top commission members, accusing them of violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) by not providing notice of public hearings and stacking it with only law enforcement officials.

The government denied the civil rights group access to "a representative voice on the Commission," Bates wrote in his ruling on Thursday. The court ordered the panel to halt work and provide timely notice of meetings, and ordered Barr to appoint a federal official to ensure that the commission has a "fairly balanced membership." Bates barred the commission from publishing a report until it had complied with federal open meetings and transparency laws.

Amid complaints about a lack of diverse input, the commission actively sought the opinions of law enforcement insiders, commission records reviewed by Reuters show.

Tim Richardson, the lobbyist for the Fraternal Order of Police, the largest organization of sworn law enforcement, is not publicly named as a member of any group working on the draft. But an April 10 email reveals he was introduced as a member of a group developing the "Respect for Law Enforcement" chapter to others working on the chapter. His comments are cited in the footnote of an August draft to support a recommendation urging Congress to craft "a uniform minimal level of procedural due process" for police.

Richardson did not respond to requests for comment. The Justice Department said in court papers Richardson was not a member of the working group but was retained as an expert.


PROPOSING NEW POLICE POWERS

Draft proposals from the commission, obtained by Reuters through public records requests, offer a window into how Trump's Justice Department views the role of the law enforcement amid a national upheaval over police killings of Black men and women.

The commission started its work before the May killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests against racism and police brutality. Attorney General William Barr in January said the commission would recommend best practices at a time when "criminal threats and social conditions have changed the responsibilities and roles of police officers."

The proposals included allowing officers accused of wrongdoing to view body camera footage before speaking to internal investigators; increasing funding for controversial facial recognition technologies; giving police access to encrypted cell phones; and increasing penalties for illegal immigration.

The draft recommendations also take aim at "progressive prosecutors" who advocate for eliminating cash bail and not charging low-level drug offenses.

Other recommendations urged Congress to bolster due process protections for police officers accused of wrongdoing and call on the Justice Department to regularly affirm support for "qualified immunity," a Supreme Court precedent that protects officers accused of injuring or killing suspects in civil lawsuits.

Many of the proposals calling for legislative action likely would not win support from a House of Representatives controlled by Democrats.


SECOND-GUESSING PROSECUTORS

An August chapter draft made multiple recommendations reflecting the administration's concerns that some locally elected prosecutors are going too easy on low-level offenders, such as those accused of marijuana possession. Among the proposed reforms including calling on states to establish oversight committees to review charging decisions.

"When a prosecutor unilaterally decides to not prosecute an entire category of crimes ... that prosecutor is usurping legislative authority," it says.

A draft chapter on technology calls for increased funding for facial recognition technologies, though a government-funded study last year found had higher rates of error in identifying African-American and Asian faces.

The draft also recommends a legislative fix to address recent concerns by the FBI, after it struggled to access the encrypted iPhone of a Royal Saudi Air Force trainee who killed three American sailors in a December attack at a U.S. naval base.

"Companies are building electronic devices and platforms that apply 'warrant-proof' encryption," a June draft chapter reads. "Those companies are blinding the nation to preventable attacks."

[The Minsky Moment]

SECOND-GUESSING PROSECUTORS

An August chapter draft made multiple recommendations reflecting the administration's concerns that some locally elected prosecutors are going too easy on low-level offenders, such as those accused of marijuana possession. Among the proposed reforms including calling on states to establish oversight committees to review charging decisions.

"When a prosecutor unilaterally decides to not prosecute an entire category of crimes ... that prosecutor is usurping legislative authority," it says.

I find the idea intriguing, let's apply it at the federal level and have oversight commissions second guessing the USAG on lax voting rights enforcement, antitrust violations, securities fraud, etc.

[Barrister]

SECOND-GUESSING PROSECUTORS

An August chapter draft made multiple recommendations reflecting the administration's concerns that some locally elected prosecutors are going too easy on low-level offenders, such as those accused of marijuana possession. Among the proposed reforms including calling on states to establish oversight committees to review charging decisions.

"When a prosecutor unilaterally decides to not prosecute an entire category of crimes ... that prosecutor is usurping legislative authority," it says.

I find the idea intriguing, let's apply it at the federal level and have oversight commissions second guessing the USAG on lax voting rights enforcement, antitrust violations, securities fraud, etc.

Well it is pretty fucking weird to have elected prosecutors saying they won't enforce certain laws.

But I suspect that my suggestion of not electing prosecutors will fall on deaf ears.

[The Minsky Moment]

Law enforcement resources are not infinite.  Going after low level drug offenders uses up those resources -  you do tie up arresting officers, prosecutors, magistrates, clerks, translators etc. and fill up prisons with a near infinite supply of such people getting room and board on the state dime.  Same is true using state resources to help feds chase around otherwise law abiding illegal immigrants.  In a time of highly strained state finances it is barking mad to talk about forcing to waste money this way.

In the 50s Ike warned of the troubling connections and revolving door between industrialists, the defense bureaucracy, lobbyists and political propagandists with respect to the US military.  But in the 21st century there is a parallel criminal justice-industrial complex with private prison operators, police unions, "tough-on-crime" politicians, and entire parsitical ecosystems of consultants, "experts" and data jockeys.  There is a lot of money to be made in the "war on crime" just as there was money to made in the Cold War or the "war on terrorism." Although the public benefit from thousands of minor drug busts may be unclear, it can be lucrative for the prisons that house the offenders and provides regular work for dues paying law enforcement personnel.  It is telling that recent steps to decriminalizing pot occurred not because of any new information about the risks of the drug but because Wall Street and K Street finally figured out that more money could be made from selling and regulating then from busting and imprisoning.

[viper37]

The difference here is that AR got off with a warning. The same can't be said for any number of "coloreds" who end up being pulled over.

I mean, I'm fairly certain you weren't taught by your mother before you could drive how to protect yourself if the police pull you over. I know I didn't teach my sons that. Yet every black boy and man that I know has been taught specifically how to handle themselves if they're pulled over by police. There's recently been an article out by a black man who talked about how he had to teach his young son to videotape so that if he ever got pulled over, his son was able to capture the encounter.

There's your white privilege, Viper.

How often does someone posts on FB that he just got a warning by an abusive cop? 

I've heard of several instances where people I know, including me, were arrested, or followed very closely by cops until a mistake was made so we could be arrested.  Sometimes, it's a warning, other times it's not.
there's a lot of black folks who commented they were arrested for no reason and let go soon after. The exact same thing I often experienced they first time I had a sports car in my mid 20s.

It's sure annoying, but in itself, not a sign that all cops are dirty racist bastards.

[viper37]

Honestly, we need some kind of law that states if a police officer violates procedure and it ends in someone's death then the officer in question is automatically charged of negligent homicide.

The problem is when they don't violate procedure and someone dies anyway. The procedures and training are often as much to blame as the mistakes. That's where the fix has to be.

Raz's idea is a start though.  I don't think he meant it as a be all end all solution.  Just like Louisville eliminating no knock warrants.

[The Minsky Moment]

But I suspect that my suggestion of not electing prosecutors will fall on deaf ears.

Correct and the deafest ears on that subject are attached the same heads involved in the Trump panel.  That last thing in the world they would want would be to depoliticize criminal justice and run it on technocratic, rational principles.

[Syt]

https://www.fox4news.com/news/family-says-jonathan-price-killed-in-wolfe-city-officer-involved-shooting-while-breaking-up-fight

Family says Jonathan Price killed in Wolfe City officer-involved shooting while breaking up fight

WOLFE CITY, Texas - The family of Jonathan Price says he was fatally shot during an officer-involved shooting in Wolfe City on Saturday while he was breaking up a fight.

Authorities have released few details at this time, but said an investigation is underway into the officer-involved shooting in Wolfe City, which is about 15 miles north of Greenville in Hunt County.

The Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting, and the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed.

Price's family said he was the person shot by a Wolfe City police officer, and that he died as a result of the shooting.

They said he was at an Exxon gas station, when he saw a confrontation between a man and woman.

He then tried to break it up, and an officer pulled up

Price's family said the officer may have thought the two men were fighting.

A Taser was deployed, and then the officer fired shots, Price's family said.

Price was reportedly shot multiple times, and died from his injuries.

Police have not confirmed the name of the person shot by the officer, or if it was a fatal shooting.

Since the shooting, people have been posting about Price, saying he was a mentor who worked for the city. Those who were at the scene have said he was doing the right thing.

"Didn't think that was the last time I would see him, he was walking out the truck, going with his friends with a smile on his face...he always smile...now he's gone," Price's mother, Marcella Louis, said.

"Everybody loves Jonathan, everybody, Black, white, Mexicans, everybody. It don't matter, he loved everybody, and they loved him," Price's sister, April Louis, said.

Price's family said a vigil will be held Monday at 7 p.m.

A post from Price from June this year:

[Valmy]

I don't understand why the police would open fire because two men were fighting. That makes no sense.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I don't understand why the police would open fire because two men were fighting. That makes no sense.

When all you have is a hammer...

[Razgovory]

That's a shame.  I liked him Brazil.

[Eddie Teach]

That's a shame.  I liked him Brazil.

Yeah, it's weird enough to put the victim's name in the headline, even more so when they share their name with a celebrity.

[merithyn]

I think he's a bit of a local celebrity there.