Tennessee policeman fired after photos show him choking student

By Tim Ghianni of Reuters

The photographs published by online edition of the Daily Mail showed an unidentified officer appearing to throttle 21-year-old Jarod Dotson, while two fellow officers handcuffed the student's hands behind his back, after arresting him at a party near the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville.

The student did not appear to show any sign of resistance, while the officer, later identified as 47-year-old Frank Phillips, held him by the neck until he collapsed to his knees.

John Messner, the Knoxville photographer who took the pictures, described to the Mail how the officer then slapped Dotson around the head a few times before walking off.

Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones said in a written statement that Phillips was found by department investigators to have used excessive force during the arrest on Saturday night.

"In my 34 years of law enforcement experience, excessive force has never been tolerated," Jones said in the statement, posted on the Knox County Sheriff's Department website.

"After an investigation by the Office of Professional Standards, I believe excessive force was used in this incident," the sheriff said.

Jones said that Phillips had been terminated with immediate effect and that the investigation would be turned over to the Knox County Attorney General's Office to determine if any charges should be filed. Phillips had been with the Sheriff's Office since 1992.

"This incident provides a perfect example of why we are in the process of purchasing officer-worn body cameras (video and audio recordings) so incidents like this will be fully documented," the sheriff concluded.

Dotson was charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest. He was released from jail on $500 bond Sunday morning.

He was among several party-goers arrested, when law enforcement personnel were summoned to a party, attended by a reported 800 revelers, that had turned unruly and spilled onto the streets. Beer bottles were thrown at officers when they arrived at the scene, according to local media reports.

No comment was available from University of Tennessee spokesmen, the university police department or from various student organizations Sunday evening.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Simon Cameron-Moore)

http://news.msn.com/us/tennessee-policeman-fired-after-photos-show-him-choking-student

Officer tripping kids: Video catches Texas police officer tripping, pushing kids

Linsey Bald
Long Island Top News Examiner
April 22, 2014

A video of an officer tripping kids has one Texas policeman sitting at home today on leave. Perhaps officer George Bermudez, a nine-year veteran of the Georgetown, Texas police force, has some time on his hands to review the viral video and rethink his crowd control techniques. Video of a girl’s soccer game shows Bermudez tripping and shoving students as they rushed the field last weekend.

ABC News on April 22 says that the uniformed officer is now on paid administrative leave. Cell phone video shows exuberant high school students running out onto the soccer field after the championship win. The cop is seen tripping students as they rush by and then later shoving other students. The Georgetown police department called Bermudez’s actions “inappropriate,” and is investigating the incident.

In the game, the Vandegrift High School girls soccer team beat Wiley High in the 4A state championships. School administrators tried to warn students ahead of time to remain in their seats, but after the winning goal was scored, a number of Vandegrift students eagerly ran out, despite an announcer urging otherwise.

One of those students was Gray Goolsby, says KEN5.com out of San Antonio. “We get in the dog pile and it's just crazy you know,” said Goolsby, who joined the others after the celebratory goal. Goolsby said the officer grabbed him and spun him around. “I felt this hand grab my shoulder and just pull me out of the dog pile and he says ‘Get back to the stands!’” Gray recounted.

Goolsby says he understand that Bermudez was just trying doing his job, although he concedes that other students, especially those who were blatantly tripped, may feel differently. “I hope he doesn't lose his job over this because we were just trying to have fun and he's just trying to do his job and hopefully everything works out,” added Goolsby.

Georgetown Police Chief Wayne Nero issued a lengthy statement Monday evening, which reads, in part:

As would be appropriate given the circumstances, I have fielded a number of phone calls and emails regarding the recent actions of Officer Bermudez as depicted in the circulating videos. After personally watching the videos, the actions of my officer are very concerning to me as well. As the Chief of Police, it is my responsibility to ensure that this matter is investigated objectively, thoroughly, and in a timely manner without bias. We are doing just that. I want to reassure the public that it is not the position of the Georgetown Police Department to neither condone nor tolerate misconduct of any type.

Nero said the matter has been forwarded to the department’s Professional Standards Division for further investigation and that “consistent with allegations of similar nature, Officer Bermudez has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the internal affairs investigation.” Nero also said that many have been calling for the immediate termination of the officer, but asks for the “public’s patience so that we can ensure that a thorough and fair investigation be conducted and the appropriate accountability take place.”

The game was the first time any soccer program from the Austin area has won the state championship. However, the strange actions of this officer are eclipsing the gameplay and putting the focus on what happened afterwards. Many parents are outraged after witnessing the video.

"These kids were excited. They wanted to celebrate," said parent Karen Morse, whose daughter is a junior on the team. "It was so exciting. In fact, it was so exciting, I jumped up and almost blacked out and hit the woman in front of me! All the kids are jumping over, friends, boyfriends, everybody’s just running. Then I see this police officer just sticking out his leg," she said.

"They just wanted to, you know, go and celebrate with the girls basically and have a good time," said sophomore student Rohan Gupta. "We’re just kids running on to a field to celebrate our team and it was kind of too much. It was kind of a cheap shot going for his legs."

Last year, the Georgetown police department named Bermudez "Officer of the Year."

http://www.examiner.com/article/officer-tripping-kids-video-catches-texas-police-officer-tripping-pushing-kids

Latta council fights for chief’s job

Mayor refuses to discuss police leader’s dismissal before a packed meeting

TRACI BRIDGES, Morning News

LATTA, S.C. — About 100 residents of this small Dillon County town showed up for a special meeting of the town council Thursday night, all with one subject on their mind: Crystal Moore’s firing from the police chief post by Mayor Earl Bullard.

Bullard made it clear before the meeting that Moore’s firing wasn’t on the agenda, and he wasn’t going to talk about it.

But that didn’t stop Councilwoman Lutherine Williams and other council members. When the official meeting adjourned, they simply moved it outside.

“All of these citizens came out tonight to be heard,” Williams said after Bullard refused to hear from anyone on the Moore matter.

“You did not have to be standing in corners and out in the hallway,” she said to the standing room-only audience, many of which were forced to listen to the meeting via loud speakers outside the town hall. Those who did make it inside had to show proof of residency.

“We came to him (Bullard) early and asked to have the meeting changed to another location so each of you could attend and be comfortable. He said no, we couldn’t do that. When I called Columbia to talk to them, they’d never in their life heard of people having to sign some form to come and say something in the town they live and work in and pay taxes. This is so wrong. This is so not right.”

Bullard fired Moore on Tuesday but has refused to comment on why he fired her. Councilman Jarret Taylor said Moore was fired because she refused to sign seven written reprimands. Taylor said Moore simply asked to talk with her attorney before signing, but Bullard demanded that she sign the reprimands immediately. When she didn’t, he fired her.

The reprimands were tied to Moore’s investigation of the town’s new Parks and Recreation Department Director Vontray Sellers, who was hired by Bullard in February. The Latta Police Department began looking into Sellers’ background after it was reported that Sellers was driving a town vehicle despite having a suspended driver’s license.

Williams, Taylor and several other council members and local residents said Bullard has been intent on getting rid of Moore because of the former police chief’s sexual orientation.

In a recorded telephone conservation with Taylor that made its way to media outlets and online earlier this week, Bullard said:

“I would much rather have — and I will say this to anybody’s face — somebody who drank and drank too much taking care of my child than I had somebody whose lifestyle is questionable around children. … I’m not going to let two women stand up there and hold hands and let my child be aware of it. And I’m not going to see them do it with two men neither.”

Bullard tried to go into executive session to discuss the Moore firing Thursday night, but council members refused to make a motion to do so. Several said they felt the matter should be discussed in the open.

During the meeting, council members approved second reading of an ordinance that would allow town residents to vote on a referendum that would change the town’s form of government from strong mayor-weak council to strong council. Williams and other councilmen said the change would be the first step in stripping the mayor of some of his powers.

“He doesn’t think he has to follow any rules,” Williams said. “We have a town hall that’s become a Town Hall Burger King. Everything is have it his way. But we’re gonna change that. Everything with him is ‘I, I, I’ but we don’t live in an ‘I’ town. We live in a ‘we’ town. I love each and every one of you, and my intention is to do what’s right. If I’m never elected to sit in this chair again, I’m going to do what’s right.”

Williams requested that a special meeting be held to discuss Moore’s firing. She said she and others will continue to fight for Moore until she is reinstated.

Moore, who has worked for the town since she was a teenager, said she’s overwhelmed and touched by all the support and encouragement she’s received.

“I’m going to fight for my job,” Moore said. “I haven’t ever done anything but uphold the law and the policies of the town of Latta. I’ve tried to live a quiet life and do what’s right.”

http://www.scnow.com/news/article_2e1af550-c693-11e3-8dd4-0017a43b2370.html

Former SC sheriff found guilty in corruption trial

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

CHESTERFIELD, S.C. — The former sheriff of Chesterfield County has been found guilty after prosecutors accused him of giving away guns from his department without filing proper paperwork and allowing untrained people to act as deputies
.

The jury in the trial of Sam Parker returned its verdict Thursday. He was found guilty of five counts of misconduct in office, two counts of giving contraband to inmates and one count of embezzlement.
An investigation into Parker began when an inmate he had helped to see his sick mother became mad after the sheriff punished him for a violation and went to authorities. The prisoner, who was serving 15 years for arson and was sent to Chesterfield County to help with tasks like fixing cars and maintaining county property, told investigators he was allowed to drink alcohol, sleep outside the jail, use an iPad and have unsupervised visits with women, according to the indictment against Parker.

According to prosecutors, Parker gave away confiscated weapons, including an M-14 semi-automatic rifle, to friends who were not deputies.
Parker's lawyer argued their client's actions weren't criminal and that he was being singled out by overzealous prosecutors.


Parker was Chesterfield County sheriff from 2003 until he was indicted in March 2013. He is one of seven sheriffs of South Carolina's 46 counties to face charges or criminal investigations in the past four years. Although most of the other sheriffs pleaded guilty and disappeared from the public glare, Parker fought the charges filed against him.

http://www.scnow.com/news/article_60504e66-c68f-11e3-bd82-0017a43b2370.html

Rare ‘Perry Mason’ moment in court wins dismissal for defendant, desk duty for 5 police officers

Posted Apr 15, 2014 1:20 PM CDT
By Martha Neil

Updated: A seemingly routine suppression hearing in a suburban Chicago courthouse last month took an unexpected dramatic turn when video from a police car was introduced that disproved the testimony of five police officers.

They had said Joseph Sperling was arrested after officers who pulled him over in a traffic stop smelled marijuana, searched the vehicle and found nearly a pound in a backpack lying on the back seat of his car. But the Glenview police video showed the search occurred only after Sperling was taken from his car, frisked and handcuffed, reports the Chicago Tribune (sub. req.). The newspaper dubbed it "a 'Perry Mason' moment rarely seen inside an actual courtroom."

Castigating the officers for their "outrageous conduct," Cook County Circuit Judge Catherine Haberkorn granted a defense motion to suppress the search, which eliminated a basis for his arrest and resulted in a swift dismissal by prosecutors of the felony drug case against the 23-year-old.

"All the officers lied on the stand today," said Haberkorn, who herself is a former prosecutor, at the March 31 hearing. "So there is strong evidence it was conspiracy to lie in this case, for everyone to come up with the same lie."

The officers were later put on desk duty as investigations of their conduct proceed.

The Tribune says the Glenview arrest of Sperling last June came at the request of Chicago narcotics officers who had Sperling under surveillance. They asked local police to pull him over in a marked car, which occurred when Sperling allegedly failed to use his turn signal (he says he did). Then, one of the Chicago officers testified, he smelled marijuana as he waited for Sperling to produce his license and registration. Sperling testified he was never asked to do so.

The officer, supported by testimony from four other Chicago and Glenview officers, said he ordered Sperling to exit the vehicle and stand by the trunk as he searched it. However, the video shows the search didn't occur until after Sperling was sitting, handcuffed, in a police car.

Another discrepancy in testimony concerned the location of the backpack in which the marijuana was located: Police said it was in plain view on the back seat of the car. Sperling said it was under the seat.

If not for the video, which Sperling's lawyer Steven Goldman got by issuing a subpoena to the Glenview police department, and produced in rebuttal at the suppression hearing, Sperling likely would have been convicted and jailed, the attorney told the newspaper.

Now Sperling has filed a federal civil rights suit over his arrest.

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: "Another Perry Mason Moment in LA, as Police Testimony is Contradicted"

ABA Journal: "The 25 Greatest Fictional Lawyers (Who Are Not Atticus Finch)"

Updated on April 17 to include link to subsequent ABAJournal.com post about Sperling's civil suit.

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/rare_perry_mason_moment_at_trial_wins_acquittal_for_defendant_desk_duty_for/

Calif. TV station films dog calmly playing with kids after cop shoots himself trying to kill it

By David Edwards
Thursday, April 17, 2014 15:41 EDT

A California deputy accidentally shot himself while trying to kill a dog that he said was threatening his life on Wednesday, but video captured by a local television station later showed the animal much smaller than reported and peacefully playing with children.

According to a Riverside County sheriff’s spokesperson, the deputy was serving an eviction notice at around 2 p.m. on Wednesday when a “large” dog tried to attack him, KCAL reported.

“A dog came at the deputy in an aggressive manner,” Deputy Armando Munoz said, according toThe Press-Enterprise. “The deputy, (attempting to defend himself) pulled his service weapon, shot one round, and injured himself in the leg.”

“He’s OK. He has non life-threatening injuries.”

Munoz said that the dog’s aggressive behavior ended when it was startled by the gunfire.

When KNBC film crews arrived on the scene later on Wednesday, they found a medium-sized pit bull — named “Precious” — confined to a pen, and calmly playing with several children. The dog’s owner admitted that it had been barking when the officer arrived.

Animal Services did not take the dog into custody because there was no evidence it or the owner had done anything wrong.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/17/calif-tv-station-films-dog-calmly-playing-with-kids-after-cop-shoots-himself-trying-to-kill-it/

Aspiring TV producer, who had worked for 'Tosh.O,' accidentally killed by police

An aspiring TV producer, who had worked for Comedy Central’s viral video-based series “Tosh.0,” was accidentally killed on Monday night when Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies mistook him for a mad slasher, FOX411 has learned.

A panicky 911 caller told dispatchers a man with a 10-inch butcher knife was threatening people. So when Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies saw a wounded, bloody man rush out of a West Hollywood apartment with someone on his heels, they opened fire.

But the man they gunned down Monday night wasn't the slasher; he was a fleeing hostage.

John Winkler, 30, had served as a temporary production assistant for the Daniel Tosh-hosted series. He died at a hospital in California. 

Tosh has yet to address Winkler’s death on his Twitter account.

“Comedy Central and ‘Tosh.0’ extend their deepest condolences to the family of John Winkler," a statement released Friday by Comedy Central read. 

"We only had the privilege of working with him for a short while and extend heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends during this tragic time,” the statement said. 

"Taking the life of an innocent person is a police officer's greatest nightmare," Interim Los Angeles County Sheriff John Scott said Thursday at a news conference.

The entire department mourned Winkler's death, he added.

Winkler was "hanging out" with some friends who lived in the apartment below him on Palm Avenue when a man who also lived in that apartment, Alexander McDonald, climbed over the balcony with the knife, sheriff's homicide Lt. David Coleman said.

McDonald was "in an incoherent state of mind, seemed very paranoid, which was uncharacteristic," Coleman said.

McDonald took his roommate, Winkler and another man hostage, then flew into a rage and began stabbing and fighting with them, authorities said.

"We don't know what caused his rage or what caused his outburst," and it was unclear whether drugs were involved, Coleman said.

Someone called 911 and arriving deputies were told the hostage-taker was a thin man in a black shirt.

Deputies announced themselves and pounded on the door and at that moment one of the stabbing victims took the opportunity to escape, Coleman said.

"The door suddenly opened and a man with blood spurting form his neck entered the doorway" with Winkler — a thin man wearing a black shirt — running after him only inches away, Scott said.

The fleeing man appeared to be under "continuous attack," the sheriff said.

Three deputies fired four shots, and a bullet mortally wounded Winkler. The other man was hit in the leg and was hospitalized in stable condition, according to a Sheriff's Department statement.

Winkler had moved to West Hollywood from Washington state six months ago to work in the entertainment industry, his friend, Devin Richardson, told the Los Angeles Times.

Winkler's Facebook page said he studied directing at the Seattle Film Institute and was in the class of 2010.

The deputies, all department veterans, were removed from patrol after the shooting but were expected to return to full duty next week, sheriff's officials said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/04/11/tosho-production-assistant-accidentally-killed-by-police/