SSCC Update – Lincoln County WY

Via Uncle I came across another article that paints an even worse picture.

A Wyoming sheriff’s deputy who detained a combat veteran in handcuffs for openly carrying a pistol offered to let him go if he agreed to let another deputy draw his weapon and shoot if the veteran made any sudden moves while driving away, court records show.

Your guess of what would be considered a “sudden move” is as good as mine.  Thankfully the victim in this case was smart enough to refuse, less they decided to ventilate him for fun using a ready-made excuse.

“I didn’t know whether kicking my leg over the bike, or walking away, or what they could possibly constitute as a hostile act,” Pierson said in a telephone interview Monday. “I didn’t like the terms. And I was a little unnerved by the fact that they were threatening lethal force with a deadly weapon against a man who was compliant, in handcuffs, who had been screened.”

Yet the department has supported the actions of these officers.  The clue about the cause of the problem though was this statement:

“We’re told every day, our safety is first,” he said. “We’re here to come home every night.”

Guess officers no longer in the business of protecting and serving now are they?  You would rather threaten lethal force against a law-abiding citizen and commit assault with a deadly weapon than do your job.  Yes there are risks for law enforcement, but that is the price of freedom and liberty and if you don’t like it, no one is forcing you to be a police officer.

The victim in this case understands the same:

Pierson said he is seeking damages, an apology and a statement by the jurisdictions involved that the open carry of handguns is lawful — and that the purpose of government is not officer safety but the protection of peoples’ lives, liberty and property.

There is nothing scarier than a guy with a badge and gun and thus has “qualified immunity” and having him so willing to deprive people of their liberty as well as use lethal force.  If you live in that county, contact the sheriff and voice your displeasure.

State Sponsored Criminal #415: Corry Bassett

State Sponsored Criminal #416: Rob Andazola

Because protecting and serving means you plug the law-abiding citizen who serves his country more fervently than yourself in the back because you feel like it, you just need to get his permission first.

SSCC Honorable Mention–Washington State Patrol

Via Ry comes this try out for the IMPD.

State patrol troopers got quite a shock Sunday when the reckless driver they were chasing turned out to be one of their own.

This wasn’t a simple case of weaving and getting pulled over though.

Investigators say Berthofl was driving near Tacoma on Sunday afternoon when he side-swiped a car that had slowed for a traffic jam.

Witnesses say Bertholf went around into the median. They followed him until troopers closed in. Despite the lights and sirens, troopers say Bertholf didn’t stop. When he finally did pull over, the troopers were shocked to learn he was a co-worker.

It gets worse because he an decorated officer specifically for his efforts in stopping drunk driving.  I was glad to see this:

But with Sunday’s arrest, WSP officials say it’s possible his law enforcement career is over.

"There’s a high likelihood," Huss said. "It’s very difficult for somebody, rightfully so, to fulfill a position in law enforcement when you have these types of serious allegations in place."

If he’s convicted and fired I’ll be more than willing to toss this into the accountabilibuddyable pile.  If he escapes firing I wouldn’t be surprised if he pays a call to the IMPD with his impressive service record against drunk driving.

State Sponsored Criminal Honorable Mention: David Bertholf

Because when you’re a cop who enforces drunk driving, you’re obviously special and an exemption to the rule

SSCC Honorable Mention–Houston

A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Like Tam said, I prefer to avoid Monday morning quarter backing, which actually is kind of hard at times with this series because one side tells a story and the other side usually refuses to say anything.  This case though has some serious red flags.  Flags that wave as prominently as this incident with the Seattle PD.

"It was close quarters in the area of the house," Silva said. "The officer was forced into an area where he had no way to get out."

In other words the officer was incompetent, placed himself in a position where he either closed the distance to an aggressor, or he let the aggressor place him in a position with no ability to withdraw.  Both of which are failures on the officers part.

This is merely an honorable mention because there is no indication that the officer was intending this outcome, then again there wasn’t with the Seattle PD incident.  This however was in a building instead of outside where the interaction was much more open and the Seattle officer had many more options at his disposal.

State Sponsored Criminal Honorable Mention: Officer Matthew Jacob Marin

Because when you’re responding to the scene of someone who has been known to get a little off kilter, by all means close distance with him and let him back you in a corner.  Sure it will be self-defense, but no one will second guess your negligence and how it contributed to the death of another.*

h/t Tam 

*There are times where the SHTF and it just goes south.  It is extremely difficult for me to believe that negligence wasn’t a factor in this case.  My suspicion is Officer Barney Fife here was complacent because “it’s a dude in a wheel chair” and just ditched the initiative.  His OODA loop response time was lacking because of it.

SSCC #415&#416–Lincoln County WY

Sorry, cuffs are not how you detain someone.  Unsurprisingly the department is defending their little tyrant.  This is a perfect example of a USC 18.232 violation.

Total the officer arrested him for 45 minutes without cause.  Unsurprisingly the dash cam footage from both officers has been “lost”.

Now as a side note, when asked if you have any weapons your response should be, “I have nothing illegal.”

State Sponsored Criminal #415: Corry Bassett

State Sponsored Criminal #416: Rob Andazola

Because handcuffing someone isn’t arrest unless you decide that it’s arrest.  Never mind the fact that force of restraint isn’t legal except in arrest and the argument for the officers safety falls flat unless he places anyone carrying a firearm in cuffs during a traffic stop.  Further once his information was run, there was no longer a need for detaining the individual and he should have been left to return on his way.

SSCC #414 – Eldorado Illinois

A dog, confined within his own yard, was shot and killed by an Eldorado, Ill. police officer who had mistakenly arrived to the wrong house to investigate a report of a stolen ladder.

Best part was, the dog was chained up.  Hey officer, you want a clue how to not get bit by a chained up dog?  First, go to the right damn house.  Second, stay out of the reach of the chain of the dog.

Then you wouldn’t have to worry about the dog attacking you, and on top of that you wont look like an incompetent moron.

Unsurprisingly this happened in Illinois instead of out here in free America.  The reason being is in Eastern Washington, North Idaho, and Montana, shooting a man’s dog is a great way to get shot yourself.  Shooting the dog here is like shooting a member of the family and is considered a hostile act.  Shooting my dog gives me every reason to fear you as you just deployed lethal force on my property against my family.  Any cop that needs to do that is merely LAZY and doesn’t want to do his damn job.

Lastly why was the officer going to the back door and not the front door?  Again, another fantastic way to get yourself in trouble both with the home owner and their pets.

State Sponsored Criminal #414: Officer John Doe

Because cops are allowed to kill any animal they want any time they want.  The key is they just need to say that it tried to attack them.  Doesn’t even matter if it’s in a cage with a kid behind it.

SSCC #413–Massachusetts

A state trooper who accidentally shot his neighbor in Norton last year was cleared of any wrong doing, but that is not sitting well with the victim.

Why would I so willingly add this to the count?

Blair was walking her dogs on New Year’s Eve in the woods behind her Norton home when her neighbor said he mistook her dog for a deer’s tail. He fired his rifle and hit Blair, shattering her pelvis.

Environmental police recommended the trooper be charged with careless use of a weapon, but earlier this week the courts dropped the criminal complaint.

And he got to keep his hunting license too.  Like that would happen to any of the rest of us peons.

State Sponsored Criminal #413:  State Trooper John Doe

Because cops can be negligent with firearms all they want, they’re anointed after all.

via Jay G

SSCC #412–King County

Decisions by the sheriff’s Shooting Review Board have displayed an "absence of serious deliberation and explicit reasoning," says the 70-page report prepared by Merrick Bobb, the head of a Los Angeles-based consulting firm who is considered one of the nation’s leading experts on police accountability.

Remember this is regarding investigations of people who already get the benefit of Qualified Immunity.

State Sponsored Criminal #412: King County Sheriffs Office

Because who needs to do a through review when deadly force is used?  It wasn’t their loved one’s they shot right?

SSCC #411 – Seattle

That’s right folks, the Seattle PD had decided to return to the land of the criminal count.  This one is juicy…

In a complaint filed in Seattle Municipal Court, Donnie R. Lowe, 45, was accused of knowingly violating a no-contact order issued after his arrest in June for allegedly assaulting his wife.

Lowe’s wife was believed to be a passenger in a car when Seattle police stopped him Aug. 14 for allegedly talking on his cellphone while driving, according to sources familiar with the case. But Lowe was not immediately arrested because police were not able to verify the court order as a result of a computer problem, the sources said.

Now initially it doesn’t sound that bad, especially since the judge issued the no-contact order without a request to do so from the wife.  So a judge did something against the will of both the defendant and plaintiff and they possibly violated it, but here’s the real reason this sucker is juicy.

The new charge further clouded Lowe’s career in the Police Department, in which his bachelor’s degree in business and master’s in public administration helped him land a position on the police-reform effort but whose troubling history of bad judgment and misconduct raised questions about his selection.

That’s right folks, the Seattle Police departments first choice to aid  in their reform behaves like this.  It is worth noting that he has since been removed as the team leader and the situation has changed due to this incident.

Since then, the city and Justice Department reached a comprehensive settlement agreement in July in which a court-appointed monitor will oversee broad reforms in police practices.

The most entertaining part though is this isn’t the first time he has behaved in a questionable nature.

He previously was disciplined after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2008. He pleaded guilty to an amended charge of reckless driving, later dismissed when he met court conditions. The department then suspended him for four days without pay after an internal investigation.

Lowe also received internal reprimands for inappropriate physical treatment of his handcuffed son while he was in police custody in a holding cell in 2006, and over an improper effort to retrieve from a man nude photographs of a female acquaintance in 2002.

Have no fear though, I’m sure he’s on paid administrative leave, pulling down his $148,000 salary.  Seriously you can’t make this stuff up!

State Sponsored Criminal #411: Donnie R. Lowe

Because what better man to help aid the department in reform than a man who is obviously in need of some reform himself.