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Category Archives: State Sponsored Criminal Count

SSCC #346–Decatur

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Decatur’s police chief said allegations of wrongdoing against two officers who fired as many as 13 shots during the Jan. 1 shooting and killing of a dog at Danville Park Apartments were “not sustained,” but the officers violated department policy by not activating their microphones.

So what, they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, is that really surprising for law enforcement?  No, but this isn’t acceptable, especially given the fear was over a dog.

Some residents of the apartment complex complained that the shooting, which sent at least one bullet through an apartment door, was unnecessary and put residents in danger.

“I think this is appalling, seeing what I saw firsthand as a direct witness,” said Patti Meadows, who said she called police Internal Affairs to complain following the incident. “They put others’ lives in danger. This was not an environment to pull guns out.”

Meadows said she was standing near the officers on an upstairs walkway when they opened fire. The boxer dog wasn’t being aggressive, she said.

Another witness, Hailey Brown, told The Daily she offered to put the dog back inside the apartment after officers opened the door and let it out.

Some time’s you have to quote a chunk to illustrate the whole problem.  Note the officers opened the door that let the dog out.  The owner offered to take the dog and lock it up, instead they fire 13 shots into an apartment complex with innocent bystanders  around.  While in a good shoot, officers are often protected from the danger of a shoot through, this would be a hard justification.  This story from Uncle today shows what should happen before officers discharge their weapons.

The deputy, a 23-year veteran of the department and 5-year police dog handler, took Gunner to the vet to explore “options available to curb his aggression,” police said. But while the deputy and the veterinarian were trying to attach a leash to the dog, Gunner leaped in a biting lunge toward the deputy’s face, and he blocked the dog with his forearm, the release said.

That was an aggressive dog that needed killing.  A dog looking at you does not equal aggression, though many officers seem to feel that is the case.  Unless it is obviously trying to bite you, suck it up there chief.  Even more than that, let the barn latch on your arm so it won’t take 13 bullets to hit it in a friendly rich environment.

I will say they at least scored a 38% hit rate, however that makes me believe the dog wasn’t as mobile or aggressive as they claim.  However this right here was the icing on the cake:

Taylor said he consulted District Attorney Scott Anderson, but they were both of the opinion that shooting into a residence was not a crime if there was no criminal intent.

Wonder if they would say the same thing if it wasn’t officer friendly shooting through a dog, but instead a non-anointed citizen shooting through Cujo.  We constantly hear about how we’re accountable for every bullet, and I’ve had conversations with friends whom I respect quite well and the above actually appears that it would hold true.  However they would put it to a jury to decide, doubly if you were dealing with a local choir boy where you passed the initial interview.

State Sponsored Criminal #346: John Doe

Because when you’re bummed you’re on duty on New Years, shoot someone’s dog to liven it up.  Leave your mics off then it’s your word against everyone else’s, don’t worry about safety though because there’s no criminal intent right!?

h/t The Agitator

SSCC #345–Davidson Co.

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Via WizardPC comes this tale.

Now, Minick’s widow and mother are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Nashville, the Metro Police Department, sheriff’s office, the hospital and the deputies, claiming false arrest, false imprisonment, cruel and unusual punishment and inhumane treatment.

But no crime was committed, according to investigations by Metro Police, the sheriff’s department and the grand jury. They concluded that deputies used proper force in restraining a violent man in a hospital.

This is a nasty one.  Why?  Because honestly as we’ve seen lately people do get that violent while on drugs.  It is a chaotic scene that is dynamic and while one may not intend for something to be lethal it does happen.  I think in this case, it’s a very grey area where blame cannot be clearly established.  So why would I include it in the count?

The answer is simple, they investigated the incident themselves.  That does not bode well for the departments faith that their officers did no wrong.  If they really had faith they would call in an independent third party.  Am I really that wrong when the FAA and NTSB did exactly that recently?

The midair collision of two small planes about 50 miles from Washington is under investigation by Canadian officials because one plane was owned by an FAA employee and the other by an NTSB employee, federal officials said Tuesday.

Why not ask the state patrol, or another county to investigate the incident.  It would have helped keep the whole incident on the up and up.  Instead they investigated themselves, when honestly an external investigation is the only way they could have had a prayer of actually surviving.

State Sponsored Criminal #345: John Doe

Because that independent third party thing is never needed unless both parties involved are “anointed”.

SSCC #344 – NYPD

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Via Ry comes another instance of sheer stupidity that evidently is business as usual and nothing significant.

But within minutes, he said, one of the two officers became enraged —
and the judge became his target. The officer screamed and cursed at the
onlookers, some of whom were complaining about what they said was his
violent treatment of the suspect, and then he focused on Justice
Raffaele, who was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The judge said the
officer rushed forward and, using the upper edge of his hand, delivered a
sharp blow to the judge’s throat that was like what he learned when he
was trained in hand-to-hand combat in the Army.

After reading the article it makes me think that the onlookers probably had reason to be upset with the officer.  The officers biggest mistake was striking anyone without cause.  But see, in New York, officers can assault anyone they want for any reason they want.  Don’t believe me?

The episode, Friday morning just after midnight — in which the judge
says his initial complaint about the officer was dismissed by a
sergeant, the ranking supervisor at the scene — is now the focus of
investigations by the police Internal Affairs Bureau and the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

The civilian review board might be able to accomplish something but I doubt it. 

Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief
spokesman, said in an e-mail that all force complaints, whether they
involve serious injuries or not, are referred to the Civilian Complaint
Review Board, an independent agency that investigates allegations of
police misconduct that does not rise to the level of a crime. The
department’s Internal Affairs Bureau investigates complaints of
excessive force that involve serious injuries.


“In this instance,” he said, Internal Affairs “is reviewing the
complaint because it was brought to its attention by the judge, not
because of the level of injury.”

So in other words, your officers can commit assault with impunity unless they severely injure their victim.  It’s no wonder why officers dislike people with video cameras.  It helps prove assault when they don’t cause permanent injury.  Too bad it doesn’t appear that the department would actually do anything about it.

State Sponsored Criminal #344: John Doe

Because being a cop means that when you’re in the ‘roid rage’ you can beat the hell out of and threaten whoever you want.  Even a sitting a judge.*

*Note I don’t think they should get any different treatment than the rest of the general populace.  However when even the judge isn’t getting traction to deal with the issue, you know there’s a serious problem.

SSCC Honorable Mention–TSA

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Via Uncle.

Castelveter said it’s important to note that every person who flew through the airport was screened.

“It’s the random secondary that did not happen,” he said. “At no time was a traveler’s safety at risk and there was no impact on flight operations.”

Then what’s the point of it, Sparky?

Yup, what is the point.  Other than to allow molesters, thieves, and other criminals have their way under state protection.  It figures that the idiots in charge would fire the people who had no interest in molesting, assaulting, or stealing from their fellow citizens.

Because when an agent of the state doesn’t molest a small 8 year old boy, you know something is horribly wrong with the system and someone needs to be fired!

SSCC #342 & #343–San Francisco

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On Friday, federal and state prosecutors alleged that two of the machine-pistol type weapons were sold to Camilleri by a Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy abusing an exemption in state law that lets peace officers buy weapons that are illegal for civilians to own.

See, even those most of the really fun toys are outlawed for civilians in California, police officers are exempt from the ban on fun.  I applaud him for wanting to spread the fun, except for two things.  One it was against the law, what made that person so special. Two, you’re buyer ended up being not exactly one with the most reputable of character.

Now some of the comments are your standard anti-gun rhetoric.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said the pair made thousands of dollars by selling dozens of weapons over four years. Court documents say the men sold exotic weapons including .50 caliber handguns, semi-automatic versions of Uzi-style submachine guns, and pistols that shoot high-velocity ammunition used by the U.S. military.

Pistols that shoot high-velocity ammunition used by the U.S. military, you mean like an AR-Pistol?  Give me a break there sport, this is an effort to wound up some PSH for the anti-rights folks.  Personally I think the officers defense attorney is right in the following statement:

McGowan’s defense attorney, William Portanova, said his client is a gun collector, not a dealer, who may have been confused by state firearms laws that he said are “complex, contradictory and full of silly loopholes.”

“They are so complicated that you can easily break the law without realizing you’ve done that,” he said. “Even a trained law enforcement official can do it wrong, whether he intends to or not.”

Emphasis mine.  Though it appears that these individuals acted as straw buyers, which is already illegal and well known to be bad.  Never the less, ignorance of the law is no excuse, and mens rea has gone the way of the Dodo.  Not to mention much of this confusion and loophole issues were created by anointing law enforcement.  He was exempted from laws others weren’t.  Yeah, this one a sponsored criminal.  Mainly because the onerous gun laws helped create the environment for it to happen.

State Sponsored Criminal #342:  Ryan McGowan

#343: Thomas Lu

Because the law applies to the, not to me.

via Phssthpok

SSCC Honorable Mention–NYPD

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Via Ry comes this wonderful doozey.

A 26-year veteran police sergeant was arrested Friday morning by the New York Police Department on charges accusing him of committing computer crimes dangerous to minors, city police said.

Sgt. Patrick Rosney, 53, was arrested Friday morning when he arrived for work at police headquarters. He was handcuffed while in uniform.

It appears in this case he is not being given any quarter and this has earmarks of moving into the Accountabilibuddyable realm.  As he was only suspended, at least without pay, I’m not quite ready to stack it in that realm.  It does have the certain possibility of making it though.

Given the previous incidents involving cops and children on the count, this is still an honorable mention.

State Sponsored Criminal Honorable Mention: Patrick Rosney

Because the best part of being a cop is all the little girls trust you.  That is except the guy that on the other end of the conversation who’s also a cop.

*As I said, some times I’ll do them on the weekend when it really pisses me off.

SSCC #341–Fort Worth

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Remember when I said something about when a cop shows up a puppy has to die… I wasn’t kidding.

Twenty-four hours after a Fort Worth police officer fatally shot Lily, a 5-year-old border collie-English setter mix, its owners still don’t understand why the police officer was on their property and why he used lethal force.

So the officer walks on to the property, after the owner tells him stay where he was.  The owner didn’t call the officer.  The officer as usual gave the same statement we hear so often:

Police spokesman Sgt. Pedro Criado said in a statement Monday that the officer waited by the driveway when two barking dogs charged him aggressively while he repeatedly asked a man at the house to call the animals back. Then the officer jumped onto the porch pillar.

So the officer trespassed, then shot the owners dog all over “copper theft” with no reasonable suspicion of involvement.  Then to top it all off:

But the officer still had the gun raised and pointed toward her husband and surviving dog, she said.

So the officer also committed assault with a deadly weapon.  Unsurprisingly, nothing has happened to the officer.

State Sponsored Criminal #341: Officer John Doe

Because an officer can go where ever he wants, shoot any animal he wants, and point a gun at anyone he wants.  He’s god, didn’t you get the memo?

SSCC #340 – BATFEieio

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A mother claims Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
agents terrorized her and her 8-year-old child. She claims the person
they were seeking no longer lived there.

No warrant was issued for the raid either, but even more entertaining was this:

Griego said twice in the year before the raid she had informed police
officers that the Angela they were seeking was a previous tenant and no
longer living in the home.

I guess it’s a plus since they didn’t shoot a dog or stomp a kitten to death.

State Sponsored Criminal 340: The bATFeieio

Because police work is for all those other suckers.  When we have fancy raid equipment, we need to use it.  It justifies our budget you know!  Besides what better time to use it than when we know we’ll be safe.  Our concern is for us, not for you!