The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/policing/)
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said comments by interim Police Chief Lawrence OToole after a third night of protesting the acquittal of a police officer in a shooting were “inflammatory,” but she is standing by him. The city is seeking a new chief to replace Sam Dotson.
Three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejects officers’ lawsuit, affirms city policy that when necessary, officers shall only use “objectively reasonable force, proportional to the threat or urgency of the situation.”
The death of Kenneka Jenkins, whose body was found in a hotel freezer, is the target of protesters, who are dubious that police are telling the truth about the case. Black people’s trust in the police has been declining, particularly in the Chicago area.
Several of those caught in a box made by rows of officers said police overstepped their bounds, using excessive force and chemical spray on people who were not protesting, including residents trying to get home and members of the media.
More than 100,000 fewer vehicle stops were made in 2015 than in 2014, the year Michael Brown was killed by a Ferguson police officer, a 6 percent reduction. This was a significant contrast to changes in stops between 2013 and 2014, when just a 2,000-stop swing was recorded. In 2015, something was happening in Missouri that could not be attributed to normal fluctuation.
Use of body cameras by Minneapolis Police Officers rose 133 percent in a month this summer after an officer fatally shot an Australian woman. No cameras were used in that incident, which prompted the police chief to require their use whenever an officer responds to a call.
There is no law in most states that requires someone to act when they see someone else in grave danger. There is no duty to attempt a rescue, or even to call for help. That’s unconscionable for many who watched a Florida man drown, including legislators in Arizona and Florida who are drafting proposals that would make it illegal to sit idly by if you see someone in grave danger.
Former tennis star James Blake has waited 700 days for the internal trial of an officer accused of tackling him after he was misidentified as a fraud suspect. It takes almost two years to resolve most similar cases, the New York Times finds.
Many police departments in New York state lack the technology and resources to maintain detailed records of law-enforcement practices, says the New York Civil Liberties Union. The group filed 23 freedom-of-information requests, finding it difficult to get data.
The Sandra Bland Act, which came into effect this month, has been called an “example for the nation” in setting policies for police reform and dealing with troubled individuals. Texas State Rep. Garnet Coleman, the bill’s sponsor, sat down with TCR West Coast Bureau Chief Joe Domanick to discuss why one of the country’s toughest law-and-order states adopted it.