San Diego police killed boy, 15, in school parking lot

SAN DIEGO — Police shot and killed a 15-year-old student Saturday after he pointed a BB gun at them in a high school parking lot, authorities said.
The Torrey Pines High School student called 911 shortly before 3:30 a.m. to ask officers to check on the welfare of an unarmed boy in front of the school, according to a police statement.
He didn't name the boy, but investigators later determined he was referring to himself, police said.
When two officers arrived, they spotted a youth in the front parking lot. But as they got out of their patrol cars, he pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at an officer, police said.

The officers drew their guns and ordered him to drop the weapon. But instead he began to walk toward an officer, ignoring more demands to drop the weapon, police said.
Both officers fired, hitting him several times. They performed first aid and summoned paramedics, but the teen was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.
The gun was found to be a BB air pistol.
Police didn't release the teen's name because of his age.
"Our hearts go out to the student, his family and his friends," said a statement from Eric Dill, superintendent of the San Diego Union High School District.
A crisis-response team will be on campus Monday to support students, staff and parents, Dill said. Counseling also will be available at all district schools for anyone who needs a place to talk about the shooting or "to mourn and process this tragedy," he said.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/san-diego-police-killed-boy-15-in-school-parking-lot/ar-BBAOZzB?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

NYPD sergeant guilty of raping 13-year-old girl

NEW YORK — A New York City police sergeant was convicted Monday of raping and sexually abusing his then-girlfriend’s 13-year-old daughter.

Prosecutors said Vladimir Krull’s abuse of the girl started in September 2013, when he kissed her on the mouth. A jury determined he had sexual intercourse with her on two separate occasions in the following months, and in a third incident in June 2014, “directed the teen to perform oral sex on him in his vehicle after a Father/Daughter breakfast for her eighth grade class,” according to a statement released by Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. 

“The defendant horrifically abused the trust of this family and engaged in sexual acts with a child,” Clark said in the statement. 

The jury deliberated for five days after Krull’s four-week trial. He faces up to seven years in prison for each incident.

Krull was fired from the police force on Monday, reports the Wall Street Journal.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nypd-sergeant-vladimir-krull-guilty-of-raping-13-year-old-girl/

NYPD cop busted for masturbating in Long Island backyard while looking into kid’s window

BYNICOLE HENSLEYJOHN ANNESE

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, March 27, 2017, 12:55 AM

An off-duty NYPD detective has been busted on lewdness charges on Long Island, as cops there investigate a string of creepy early morning incidents, police sources said Sunday.

Rockville Centre police arrested Robert Francis at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday and charged him with public lewdness, according to cops.

Francis was accused of standing in the backyard of a Rockville Centre home, looking into a child’s window and masturbating, according to a PIX 11report.

He was suspended without pay following the arrest, NYPD sources said.

On March 3, police in the Nassau County village put out a “citizen advisory” on their Facebook page, asking the public’s help catching a suspect in three similar incidents.

The first took place on Feb. 5, the next two on Feb. 27. The suspect, described by the advisory as 5-foot-10, 220 pounds and “probably white,” was naked from the waist down and had either a flashlight or a forehead light on him.

Rockville Centre police wouldn’t say Sunday whether Francis’ arrest was linked to the prior lewdness incidents.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/nypd-busted-masturbating-kid-window-article-1.3010055

Denver deputy fired for excessive force; another punished for flashing badge at restaurant

By NOELLE PHILLIPS | nphillips@denverpost.com | The Denver Post

PUBLISHED: February 6, 2017 at 12:01 am | UPDATED: February 6, 2017 at 10:35 am

A Denver Sheriff Department veteran was fired in January for using excessive force against an inmate after provoking the inmate to fight by cursing at him and shoving him.

Deputy Darrin Turner, a 15-year department veteran, was fired on Jan. 4 for failing to follow the department’s use-of-force rules and lying about his actions during an internal investigation, according to his disciplinary letter.

“Deputy Turner’s own conduct created a use-of-force situation where absolutely no use of force was required,” the letter said.

Three other Denver sheriff’s deputies also were disciplined in January. A sergeant was suspended for 30 days after flashing his badge in a Castle Rock restaurant to intimidate employees into providing faster service. And two deputies were suspended two days each after their mistakes led to two inmates being incarcerated longer than necessary.

The conflict between Turner and an inmate, who was identified only by the initials “DR” in the letter, started when deputies who were preparing to transfer inmates to Arapahoe County discovered DR trying to steal a blanket.

Turner argued with the inmate over the blanket, but the argument continued after the blanket was confiscated, the letter said.

Turner and the inmate kept it up as they walked through hallways and holding areas. As they walked through one corridor, Turner shoved his left elbow into the inmate’s back, the letter said.

The inmate always had his hands at his side or tucked into the waistband of his pants, the letter said.

Eventually, Turner took off his glasses and, without breaking stride, handed them to another deputy and walked into a room that did not have cameras, the letter said.

Other deputies and inmates in the area heard the two men yelling, the letter said, and eventually the inmate took a swing at Turner. The deputy twice slammed the inmate against the ledge of a window, once holding him by the throat, which is not an approved fighting technique, the letter said.

Turner failed to report that he had removed his glasses, a sign that he was preparing to fight, the letter said.

“If Deputy Turner had the time and presence of mind to remove his glasses and ensure their safety, he also had time and circumstances that permitted him to consider other options than entering an enclosed area of the facility with a provoked inmate for no legitimate reason,” the letter said.

The internal investigation determined that Turner’s behavior was egregious. He did not accept responsibility for his behavior and was deceptive about his reasons for using force, the letter said.

Sgt. David Shelley was in line at a Mexican restaurant in Castle Rock in August when he grew agitated over slow service. After employees seated a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputy and brought him water and a menu, Shelley pulled his badge and loudly confronted the staff, his Jan. 9 letter said.

The Douglas County deputy wrote a letter to the Denver Sheriff Department to report Shelley, saying “I made sure to explain to the waiter that he was NOT associated with Douglas County as I did not want him straining our relationship with our citizens.”

Shelley was penalized for using his position for personal gain, and his punishment was increased because he is a sergeant who trains new sergeants how to do their jobs.

“As such, he should have known better than to behave in such a manner,” the letter said. “It is appropriate for the Department to have higher expectations for supervisors than subordinate deputies, especially supervisors that train others.”

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/06/denver-sheriff-department-excessive-force-problems/

Officers admit errors in SWAT raid on wrong house

By THE GRAND JUNCTION DAILY SENTINEL

January 26, 2017 at 10:16 pm

Law enforcement officers investigating what turned out to be a faulty tip about drugs and guns in a Clifton house didn’t follow protocol, communicate well enough, or pay attention to red flags that could have prevented the September SWAT raid on a home inhabited by an innocent family of seven, leaders said.

SWAT officers — who descended on the home near 32 and E roads at about 5:30 a.m. Sept. 14 with a warrant obtained on the belief that methamphetamine and guns were being stored in house ­— found instead a family with five children between the ages of 3 and 11.

Grand Junction Police Chief John Camper and Mesa County Undersheriff Rusty Callow said in an interview Tuesday that a joint internal investigation has identified several errors made leading up to the raid and has led to discipline, but not the firing, of four of the officers involved.

“There were some serious mistakes made, without a doubt,” Camper said. “But certainly we didn’t see any indication of any intent to cause any harm.”

The problems began when a confidential informant alerted members of the multi-jurisdictional Western Colorado Drug Task Force to the presence of guns and drugs in the home.

Read the full story at The Daily Sentinel.

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/26/swat-raid-wrong-house-colorado/

Denver police horse dies after officer forgot he was tied in stall without food or water

A Denver Police Department mounted patrol officer has been docked one vacation day after he left his horse tied in a stall for 16 hours without food or water. The horse developed colic and was euthanized.

Denver police internal investigators did not believe Officer Joseph Teeter intentionally ignored his horse, MC Hammer, after a day of patrolling downtown, and veterinarians could not conclude that the illness was a result of being tied for so long, according to a disciplinary letter issued to the officer.

Teeter, who has been with Denver police since 2006, violated a department rule for carelessly leaving MC Hammer tied, said the Dec. 20 disciplinary letter obtained by The Denver Post.

Teeter remains a member of the department’s mounted patrol, said Christine Downs, a Denver police spokeswoman.

“Though not intentional on his part, Officer Teeter’s forgetfulness exposed a live animal to cruel and extreme conditions,” the letter said.

Teeter and MC Hammer patrolled downtown Denver on Sept. 26, when temperatures were in the upper 70s. Upon returning to the mounted patrol barn, Teeter unloaded the horse and tied him to an eyebolt in the stall and removed his saddle, the letter said.

Teeter took the saddle to the tack room, but he became distracted with paperwork and forgot about his horse. Someone else discovered MC Hammer tied in the stall at 6:15 a.m. the next day, the letter said.

The horse was given food and water and first appeared to be “bright, alert and responsive” for several hours. However, the horse began showing signs of pain around noon and he was taken to the Littleton Equine Medical Center.

MC Hammer was evaluated and monitored overnight.

The next morning, the horse was diagnosed with colic and veterinarians determined he would not recover.

“The medical experts who evaluated the horse were unable to conclude that the horse’s condition was caused by being left tied in the stall without food or water for sixteen hours,” the letter said.

MC Hammer was 10. He had been donated to the department in November 2015, Downs said.

The letter said Teeter had taken responsibility for his conduct and had shown genuine remorse.

“The officer feels horrible about this situation,” Downs said. “It was an accident. We love our animal partners.”

Four Oakland police officers fired, seven suspended, in sexual misconduct case

The disciplinary actions stem from a major scandal involving a teenager who was sexually exploited by more than a dozen officers

Sam Levin in San Francisco

The Oakland, California, police department has fired four officers and suspended seven in a major sexual misconduct case, but critics have questioned why officers haven’t faced criminal charges and why an exploitation victim at the center of the case remains behind bars.

The disciplinary actions, announced by city officials on Wednesday, stem from a case involving a teenage girl who was sexually exploited by more than a dozen officers across the northern California region, according to a numerous news reports and the young woman’s testimony.

In 2015, officer Brendan O’Brien reportedly killed himself and left a note that launched an investigation into widespread misconduct allegations. The Oakland newspaper East Bay Express uncovered that three officers had allegedly had sexual relations with a teenage girl when she was underage.

The girl, who goes by the pseudonym Celeste Guap on social media and in news reports, said she was working as a sex worker at the time. By law, however, those relationships would be considered statutory rape and human trafficking.

A total of at least 14 officers in Oakland as well as eight from other nearby law enforcement agencies are accused of taking advantage of the teenager.

Although the woman has provided numerous news outlets with copies of messages she exchanged with officers, critics of the department have lamented that months later, there are still no criminal charges.

On the contrary, the woman recently went to a rehab center in Florida where she was arrested for aggravated battery charges. The charges stemmed from an alleged incident at the drug rehabilitation center, and she remains incarcerated at a local jail.

Bay Area news stations subsequently publicized the real name of the young woman, prompting condemnations that the media was violating the privacy of a sex-crimes victim. Critics of the police department also said they were particularly disturbed that the exploited woman was behind bars while the officers who have allegedly engaged in misconduct have remained free – many of them still employed by the city.

At a hastily planned news conference on Wednesday evening at Oakland’s city hall, mayor Libby Schaaf said she was barred by law from naming the officers who have been disciplined. The local district attorney’s investigation into possible criminal offenses is still pending, and if the officers face charges, they will be named, she added.

City administrator Sabrina Landreth said the four terminated officers were fired for a range of offenses, including attempted sexual assault, engaging in lewd conduct in public, assisting in the crime of prostitution, assisting in evading arrest for the crime of prostitution, accessing law enforcement databases for personal gain, and being untruthful to investigators.

The seven other officers were suspended for offenses including failing to report other officers who had sexual conduct with a minor, accessing law enforcement database for personal gain, and bringing disrepute to the police department. A twelfth officer was receiving training and counseling.

Text messages between police officers and Guap revealed that officers had leaked her confidential information about undercover prostitution stings, according to the Express.

The administrative investigation began last September and involved the review of 78,000 social media postings and 28,000 text messages, along with 11 interviews with Guap, according to the department.

“We will be changing several of our policies and training requirements to increase officer awareness and ability to recognize the signs of sexual abuse and exploitation and better help victims to escape such abuse,” Schaaf said. She cited tighter controls on accessing criminal databases and new social media policies and training.

In June when the scandal escalated, the police department lost three chiefs in one week, prompting national mockery of Oakland, which Donald Trump recently said was one of the “most dangerous” places in the world.

The Guap case has erupted at a time when police chiefs across the US have lost their positions on the heels of misconduct scandals and fatal shootings by officers, with notable controversies in San Francisco, Baltimore, Chicago andFerguson.

In addition to the exploitation case, Oakland has faced scrutiny over numerous shootings by police and unrelated misconduct allegations. Like the neighboring agency in San Francisco, there have also been accusations of racist text messageswithin Oakland’s police department.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/07/oakland-police-officers-fired-sexual-misconduct-scandal