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Tag Archives: Lack of Accountability

SSCC #415&#416–Lincoln County WY

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

 

SSCC #410 – Moulton

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A Moulton police officer charged Thursday with torture and willful abuse of a child had resigned from the Decatur police force in 2010 after his estranged wife accused him of assaulting her and threatening her with a gun.

He should have been fired especially in light of the following that has recently occurred.

Breland, of 3050 Byler Road, Moulton, is charged with two counts of torture, willful abuse of a child, authorities said. The charge is a Class C felony punishable by 1-10 years in prison if convicted.

Breland, who has been with the Moulton Police Department for more than a year, has been on administrative leave with pay since Aug. 29.

Moulton Police Chief Lyndon McWhorter said he placed Breland on leave after the Morgan County Department of Human Resources reported allegations involving an 8-year-old girl and that an investigation had been launched.

That’s right folks, he screwed up, was able to resign instead of being fired.  As a FYI though this isn’t just a case of someone disliking the way he disciplined his children either.

Reports indicate the child was beaten so severely she had to be taken to the hospital. Medical personnel there contacted DHR.

Why he hasn’t been fired who knows.  I find it interesting though most private companies will fire you if you step in something this bad.  Those charged with enforcing the law though get a free pass for violating the law.

Most disturbing was there was a history that certainly should have put him in the no longer eligible for law enforcement pool.

Imagine that, a monster that has a history.  Is it really that hard to spot these monsters or is it that we just wont do what we need to stop them?

State Sponsored Criminal #410: Mitchell Harris Breland

Because when you have a case of domestic abuse, let him go to another department and become someone else’s problem.

SSCC #375–Update

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Via Lance I got the following regarding SSCC #375:

Due to a technicality, a drunken driving charge was dismissed against the Gladstone State Police Post commander on Wednesday in Chippewa County District Court.

The exact issue at hand:

Dispatch directed police to obtain the search warrant from a former Chippewa County court employee who was no longer serving as magistrate at the time, said Vizina. The former magistrate had been relieved of her duties five weeks prior due to mental health issues, he said.

"Dispatch sent the officers to the wrong place to sign a warrant," said Vizina.

Because the former court employee was not legally authorized to sign and execute the search warrant, any information police obtained under the document during the investigation could not be considered as evidence, Vizina said.

"Blood test results were not admissible and could not be used in court," he noted.

How convenient.  That’s not to say the judge wasn’t right in this case, but it’s interesting that they would screw the pooch so hard when one of their own screwed up so bad.  Don’t worry though, it couldn’t possibly be intentional since they bothered to put him on paid leave.  Heaven forbid he’s held accountable.

State Sponsored Criminal: William Smith

Because when your buddy does a DUI, just make sure it’s not a current judge that signs the warrant.

SSCC #409 – Arlington

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Arlington is seeking to block an independent arbitrator’s decision to reinstate — with back pay — a former police officer who was fired last year following his arrest on sexual assault charges. 

I applaud the city to continue fighting against reinstatement.  Especially given the following:

Before the sexual assault charges that lead to his dismissal, Kovacs had been placed on administrative leave following allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman he had encountered during a traffic stop in October 2010, records show.

The man obviously has a history and has no business being in law enforcement.  Further he got away with it the first time and did it again.  Later that year though there’s more:

Then, in December 2010, a warrant was issued for his arrest on domestic violence charges after he was accused of putting a pillow over his girlfriend’s head while she slept. Less than a month later, in January 2011, his girlfriend told Cedar Hill police that Kovacs sexually assaulted her and that he had threatened violence against the Arlington and Cedar Hill officers who were investigating the allegations against him.

Who in their right mind thinks that someone with that kind of history and behavior should work as a law enforcement officer?

State Sponsored Criminal #409: Tibor Kovacs ??? See this update and decide for yourself ???

Because as a cop you should get as many free passes as you want.  It’s not like prior criminal actions should matter right?

via Bob S.