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Pretty much speaks for itself ! Plain Evil !!!!
Man charged with breaking a trooper’s fist with his face
"You've got a long f***ing night ahead," the officer menaced. "Do ya hear me?? Do ya f***ing hear me?!"
Posted on October 24, 2014 by Larry Hohol in News
Robert Leone was “beaten within an inch of his life” by PA police.
BRADFORD COUNTY, PA — A motorist was viciously beaten, tasered, and maced repeatedly, then charged with 24 separate crimes and maliciously prosecuted for every one of them. He was beaten four (4) times over the course of 11-hours, and not once had he acted maliciously. The incident stemmed from his driving while on an unusually high dosage of legally-prescribed bipolar medication and a subsequent fender bender. Dash-cam footage revealed the extraordinary exaggerations made about the case — 2 years after it took place.
The Traffic Stop
Around 8:20 p.m. on March 8th, 2010, police received a 9-1-1 call regarding a car that had failed to stop after a minor traffic collision. The accident resulted in no injuries and no damage, but one of the drivers did not stop to exchange information. Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) dispatched troopers to investigate this alleged hit-and-run.
A car driven by Robert Leone, 31 at the time, matched the basic description of the car in question. Mr. Leone was driving just across the Pennsylvania border from his home in Vestal, NY. He had just finished star gazing at the Kopernick Observatory and Science Center and decided to go for a ride in the country while listening to his favorite music. He had consumed no alcohol or illegal substances, but it seems that his decision-making abilities may have been affected by his legally-prescribed medication used to treat his bipolar disorder.
PSP attempted to pull over Mr. Leone, who was traveling at a speed significantly UNDER the posted speed limit — 10 to 30 mph under. Leone stated at first he did not think the trooper was trying to stop him as he believed that he had done nothing wrong prior to the encounter. Police dash-cam video clearly showed Mr. Leone driving very slowly and in a very controlled manner. The only vehicles ever seen crossing the center line or driving erratically were the state police cars that were involved in this low speed following — contrary to sworn statements later given by the troopers.
The five marked cruisers following Mr. Leone could have easily boxed in Mr. Leone at low speed and caused him to stop. Instead, the troopers deployed stop-sticks and rammed his vehicle. A “PIT maneuver” was used to smash Leone into a rock wall, while still at low speed.
Once his car was immobilized, the senior trooper on scene, Corporal Roger Stipcak, stood on top of Mr. Leone’s hood and ordered him out of his car while aiming a taser at him. Mr. Leone COULD NOT comply with the trooper’s order because a state police car was intentionally blocking Leone’s driver-side door.
Mr. Leone was then tasered through his open sunroof and forcibly dragged to the ground through the passenger-side door and beaten by fellow troopers. The senior trooper who was standing on the hood of Leone’s car was then seen jumping directly onto Leone’s back from the hood of the car.
A battered Robert Leone is shoved toward a squad car, where he was hog-tied and subject to further abuse. (Image: Pennsylvania State Police)
“You’ve got a long f***ing night ahead,” the officer menaced. “Do ya hear me?? Do ya f***ing hear me?!”
This was but the first threat of many Mr. Leone was going to receive over the next 11 hours. It was also the mildest. At no time was Leone videoed resisting or attempting to strike the officers.
After his first beating he was handcuffed and questioned. At that point Leone was arrested and placed in the back of a patrol car. Without advising Mr. Leone of his constitutional rights he was questioned a second time and responded with respectful answers of “yes sir,” and “no sir.”
During the questioning, the trooper accused Leone of intentionally spitting in the trooper’s face and used that alleged behavior as a reason to beat Mr. Leone — who was still handcuffed. The trooper then hog-tied the victim.
“Who do you think you’re messing with?” one officer challenged. “We’re the Pennsylvania State Police… it’s not just some chumps.”
After analyzing the audio portion of the dash-cam it appears that the trooper fabricated the spitting incident in order to justify the beating, even though spitting does not allow an officer to beat a prisoner.
Watch as author Larry Hohol provides a play-by-play of the traffic stop:
An ambulance had initially been called to transport Mr. Leone, who had suffered multiple injuries. Instead, the trooper who had broken his hand while punching Leone received medical attention, and Mr. Leone — who was handcuffed and hog-tied — was transported to the hospital in the back of a patrol car.
Beaten Again in the Hospital
Robert Leone’s medical records show that he was brought into the hospital hog-tied. (Source: YouTube / Larry Hohol)
Robert Leone was still hog-tied when he was brought into the Towanda Hospital; a fact documented in his medical records. Mr. Leone attempted to quietly tell the attending nurse what happened to him and begged her for help.
Unfortunately for him, one of the troopers overheard his plea. The exam room was ordered cleared of all medical personnel and a third round of beatings and taserings occurred while Mr. Leone was handcuffed to his gurney.
Police alleged that Leone “reached” at an officer — all the justification they needed for beating him with batons and using tasers multiple times.
The trooper later admitted at Leone’s trial that he was never hit by the defendant. But that did not stop Mr. Leone from being found guilty of assault for what took place in that room.
Mr Leone was discharged from the Towanda General Hospital in worse condition than he had arrived in.
Beaten Again at Police Barracks
After his treatment at the hospital, Mr. Leone was taken to the PSP Barracks Towanda for processing. While at the barracks, an arraignment was set up with an on-call judge who was located remotely and used a video-feed to connect with the police.
Mr. Leone was instructed not to look into the video camera during this arraignment and to only answer questions that he was asked. As soon as the video link was established, Mr. Leone looked directly into the camera and begged the judge for help. The trooper immediately disconnected the video link, claiming that a malfunction had occurred. With no cameras recording, Mr. Leone was severely beaten for a third time.
Beaten Again During Transport
While at the barracks, Leone stated that troopers told him that they could make it look like he committed suicide while in custody or they could throw him off of a bridge and state that somehow he got the rear door of the patrol car open and then jumped off of the bridge himself.
The records of the Robert Leone’s brief 2nd hospital visit show that all of his (new) injuries were on his back. (Source: YouTube / Larry Hohol)
The prisoner was so sure the troopers were going to kill him that night, he tried to shuffle away when he was being escorted to the patrol car for transportation to the county jail, even though he was handcuffed and his feet were shackled.
His pathetic escape attempt gave police an opportunity to beat him once again, and this time douse him with pepper spray. His injuries were so severe at that point that he was unconscious when he was delivered to the hospital for his second evaluation.
According to the hospital report, all of the injuries on Mr. Leone’s body were on his back and none were frontal, indicating that his injuries were not caused while being subdued because of any aggressive behavior. Apparently, the hospital staff themselves were so fearful of these troopers that they released Mr. Leone back into police custody only 26 minutes later — without treatment and while Mr. Leone was still semi-conscious. Mr Leone’s vital signs at this point showed him to be in serious physical distress.
Arrival in Jail
Mr. Leone was transported via patrol car in a semi-conscious state to the Bradford County Correctional Facility. He was received in such poor condition that the jail called their on-call staff physician to the jail to evaluate Mr. Leone.
Robert Leone’s 2010 mugshot. (Source: Pennsylvania State Police)
“They put him on the phone and he starts screaming that he has been beaten within an inch of his life,” Robert’s mother, Joan Leone told WBNG. “They tried to kill him through the night. He has been threatened that they are going to kill him and make it look like a suicide or an accident.”
Numerous pictures of Leone’s injuries were taken by the prison staff in order to defend the prison — should it later be accused of mishandling the already-ravaged prisoner. (Subsequently, when the photographs were requested, the prison claimed that these pictures do not exist.)
A prison guard [name withheld] who befriended Leone told him that the jail administrators were lying because the guard saw the pictures for himself. The picture featured in this article is a copy of the actual booking photo taken by the prison.
Mr. Leone laid in a jail cell for days without proper treatment and probably should have died from his injuries. The prison would not release any information to Mr. Leone’s family about his condition for over 5 days. His family was not allowed to speak to him in person or on the phone nor would the prison allow any other visitors or legal counsel to visit him.
Since Robert Leone could not pay his outrageous $250,000.00 bail, he remained incarcerated for six months until his trial. While he languished in jail, he was denied any additional medical treatment — particularly for his head injuries — even though he had excellent private heath insurance to pay for it if necessary.
“The corruption in PA is so widespread that they’re going to keep him in for four years. Because they have no intention of letting him out because he’s going to be speaking about what’s happened to him,”Joan Leone said.
Railroaded With Charges
Robert Leone’s traumatic physical experience was followed by being charged with twenty-four (24) separate crimes: aggravated assault; driving while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance; escape; simple assault; reckless endangering another person; resisting arrest; fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer; disorderly conduct; failure to stop at the scene of an accident; harassment; failure to provide the proper information following an accident; and failure to notify the authorities after an accident had occurred.
To go with his black eye and brutal beating, Mr. Leone was literally charged with breaking a trooper’s fist with his face — “aggravated assault” on a police officer. The 2 dozen charges included four serious felonies for which he could feasibly be spending the rest of his natural life in prison.
It appears that the cover-up of Leone’s beatings became so important that the Bradford County District Attorney personally took up the task of prosecuting the case. Despite having dash-cam video evidence in his possession — the same dash-cam video of which I made a documentary — DA Daniel Barrett attempted to prosecute all 24 counts against Robert Leone.
“I’m sorry if the fella got a black eye or if he got scraped up. His picture look pretty pathetic. But he was the one that brought this on and continued it,” Barrett said to WETM TV.
All district attorneys have two basic requirements — not options — when fulfilling their Oaths of Office. One is to prosecute the guilty, and the other is to protect the innocent. In this case DA Daniel Barrett did neither. At the very least the dash-cam video contradicted sworn statements made by troopers and in many instances proved Mr. Leone’s innocence. Instead of dropping the charges, the Bradford County District Attorney knowingly prosecuted a man that he knew was innocent of everything except his failure to stop (Leone is guilty of this for sure).
Leone’s Trial
Robert Leone’s trial began on August 31, 2010.
District Attorney Barrett claimed at trial that Mr. Leone was a drug-addled maniac that endangered the general public because of a substance abuse problem.
But that was not the case. Mr. Leone’s lab results showed that he had a 0.00 BAC and the only drug in his system was a prescribed medication for his diagnosed bipolar disorder. For some reason, Leone’s physician had assigned him a very high dosage. Nonetheless, the DA waved an empty prescription bottle before the jury and told them it was evidence that Mr. Leone had taken a significant number of pills at once.
At another point in the trial, the DA introduced as evidence part of an internal investigation that was conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police Office of Integrity and Professional Standards. The DA only showed part of the report to the jury which consisted of the troopers’ own sworn statements. He then asked one of the troopers if they were punished or reprimanded in any way following their conduct in this case. The trooper told the DA and the jury that he and his colleges were cleared of any wrongdoing (the investigation was conducted by a fellow trooper from the same barracks).
When the Public Defender demanded a copy of the complete report, her demand was denied by Bradford County President Judge Jeffrey Smith with no explanation. To this day, the Leone family and every outsider has been denied access to a copy of the full report.
Sources indicated to me that the nurse who witnessed the the round of beatings inside the Towanda Hospital was not brought into the trial to testify out of extreme fear for her safety. This statement was made by Mr. Leone’s public defender to Leone’s parents. The nurse was not afraid of Mr. Leone.
When the prosecution rested it’s case, Mr. Leone’s court-appointed public defender had an opportunity to rip the DA and the arresting troopers to shreds — especially for their outright and provable misstatement of facts. An exposure of these details could have proved helpful to Leone’s fate. Instead of a rebuttal, the public defender offered three (apparently) magic words when it was time for her to defend her client: “The defense rests.”
Despite a non-existent defense effort, Leone was found guilty by the jury of only four of the two dozen charges. They were: hit-and-run, attempting to flee from officers, resisting arrest, and one count of simple assault. Most importantly, he was found not guilty all four of the felonies.
It appears that the trial judge did not like the decision the jury had rendered, and rather than sentencing Mr. Leone to time served, Leone as sentenced to 2.5 to 4 years in prison.
With a sentence this severe, it is customary for an inmate to serve his time in a state facility. Judge Jeffrey Smith instead ordered Mr. Leone to be held in Bradford County. An appeal by the hapless public defender was filed on behalf of Mr. Leone and subsequently rubber stamped “denied” by the Superior Court.
Parole Denied
The warden of the Bradford County Correctional Facility commented to Mr. Leone’s parents that if all of the prisoners in his facility acted like Mr. Leone, he wouldn’t need any guards. Despite his apparent good behavior in the eyes of the warden, Mr. Leone had been denied release from prison by the parole board multiple times.
The first parole denial was because, as they stated, that Mr. Leone did not finish taking a drug and alcohol abuse class while incarcerated. This was a dubious claim because Mr. Leone had not been convicted of any substance-related crime, and his blood was proven to be free of alcohol and illegal drugs.
The second parole denial was because the board “lost the paperwork.” This could have been part of a conscious effort to keep Mr. Leone incarcerated until the expiration on a statute of limitations that would have allowed him to file a federal lawsuit against the officers involved.
Fortunately, we beat this date by 4 days and have filed a federal lawsuit in the Middle District of Penna.
No Accountability
The Pennsylvania State Police officially cleared its own troopers of any and all wrongdoing regarding the entire handling of the Robert Leone case from start-to-finish. Corporal Roger Stipcak and all of the other four participating troopers kept their jobs and faced no legal repercussions.
What might have been turned into major scandal in the Pennsylvania State Police and Bradford County was completely swept under the rug.
Bullies with Badges and their Support Network
It is difficult for the average United States citizen to wrap his or her mind around the concept of widespread police brutality and judicial culpability. We are taught at an early age that the police are good and they are here to protect us from evil. We are never taught that occasionally some police officers are in-fact evil themselves.
As a society, and in general terms, it is repetitively hammered into our psyche that if a person is arrested, he must have committed a crime. The public perception also wrongly assumes that if a person is beaten by the police, he probably deserved that beating. Only a minority questions that paradigm, and it is often reinforced with media reports biased toward the police.
In the months following the Towanda traffic stop, Robert Leone was “convicted” in the eyes of the public and media long before his sentence fell on him. It began when the state police reported that they had arrested Mr. Leone after he was involved in a hit-and-run accident and a lengthy “car chase” that ended with Leone “fighting with officers,” thus requiring him to be “forcibly subdued.” The local media regurgitated exactly what the troopers fed them as if it were factual (See more: Man Charged With Assaulting State Troopers | The Daily Review). The District Attorney for Bradford County helped to demonize Mr. Leone by spreading more erroneous info (See more: WETM News).
Reading the official press release and then watching the county DA justify the troopers’ actions would likely satisfy most law-abiding citizens in the belief that their police officers were acting righteously on the streets. However, the actual dash-cam footage — released 2 years after the incident — told us another story.
If this dash-cam video did not exist Mr. Leone would probably be spending most of his adult life in prison. Even with this evidence I cannot get the FBI, U.S. Attorney General, or the DOJ to open a criminal or civil rights investigation. I believe there has been so much misconduct by so many players in this case that the Feds simply do not want to open what appears to be a huge can of worms. I am talking specifically about seven police officers, the District Attorney, the Pennsylvania State Police Office of Integrity and Professional Standards, the trial judge, the Superior Court, the prison, and last but not least, Mr. Leone’s Public Defender.
How could so many safeguards fail and fail with such magnificence? The ONLY safeguard that almost got it right was Mr. Leone’s trial jury. Leone was found guilty on only 4 of 24 counts and zero of them were felonies. Although Mr. Leone was charged with breaking a trooper’s fist with his face, he was found not guilty of that crime.
Since Mr. Leone’s trial, I was told by one of the jurors through a third party that the even the jury was intimidated by the troopers and the DA in this case. So much so, that they felt they had to give them something or fear for their own well being.
We as Americans are willing to go to foreign lands and spill our own blood in the defense of freedom (both ours as well as someone else’s), yet here at home our freedoms are being directly attacked on a daily basis by the very agencies that are in place to assure us things like this never happen. Not only are injustices happening, they are happening on a large scale. I directly blame the chain of command as much as I blame the individual offending officers. In most instances not only does the chain of command attempt to cover-up and justify misconduct, but they actively chastise any officer who might step forward in an attempt to right a wrong. In addition, I blame the Judicial Conduct board as they directly oversee the courts, and I blame the Bar Association as most of the players here (except for the police) are attorneys including the elected officials that should be intervening.
Mr. Leone will soon have his day in federal court. Out of sheer coincidence, the federal judge that was assigned to hear his case is the very federal judge I wrote about in my book about judicial corruption in Pennsylvania. I have no confidence this judge will act appropriately.
The big question that we should all be asking ourselves is, “How do we fix all of this”?
Larry Hohol
Former Police Officer / Author
Contact info: [email protected] www.WorseThanRodneyKing.com
Man charged with breaking a trooper’s fist with his face
"You've got a long f***ing night ahead," the officer menaced. "Do ya hear me?? Do ya f***ing hear me?!"
Posted on October 24, 2014 by Larry Hohol in News
Robert Leone was “beaten within an inch of his life” by PA police.
BRADFORD COUNTY, PA — A motorist was viciously beaten, tasered, and maced repeatedly, then charged with 24 separate crimes and maliciously prosecuted for every one of them. He was beaten four (4) times over the course of 11-hours, and not once had he acted maliciously. The incident stemmed from his driving while on an unusually high dosage of legally-prescribed bipolar medication and a subsequent fender bender. Dash-cam footage revealed the extraordinary exaggerations made about the case — 2 years after it took place.
The Traffic Stop
Around 8:20 p.m. on March 8th, 2010, police received a 9-1-1 call regarding a car that had failed to stop after a minor traffic collision. The accident resulted in no injuries and no damage, but one of the drivers did not stop to exchange information. Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) dispatched troopers to investigate this alleged hit-and-run.
A car driven by Robert Leone, 31 at the time, matched the basic description of the car in question. Mr. Leone was driving just across the Pennsylvania border from his home in Vestal, NY. He had just finished star gazing at the Kopernick Observatory and Science Center and decided to go for a ride in the country while listening to his favorite music. He had consumed no alcohol or illegal substances, but it seems that his decision-making abilities may have been affected by his legally-prescribed medication used to treat his bipolar disorder.
PSP attempted to pull over Mr. Leone, who was traveling at a speed significantly UNDER the posted speed limit — 10 to 30 mph under. Leone stated at first he did not think the trooper was trying to stop him as he believed that he had done nothing wrong prior to the encounter. Police dash-cam video clearly showed Mr. Leone driving very slowly and in a very controlled manner. The only vehicles ever seen crossing the center line or driving erratically were the state police cars that were involved in this low speed following — contrary to sworn statements later given by the troopers.
The five marked cruisers following Mr. Leone could have easily boxed in Mr. Leone at low speed and caused him to stop. Instead, the troopers deployed stop-sticks and rammed his vehicle. A “PIT maneuver” was used to smash Leone into a rock wall, while still at low speed.
Once his car was immobilized, the senior trooper on scene, Corporal Roger Stipcak, stood on top of Mr. Leone’s hood and ordered him out of his car while aiming a taser at him. Mr. Leone COULD NOT comply with the trooper’s order because a state police car was intentionally blocking Leone’s driver-side door.
Mr. Leone was then tasered through his open sunroof and forcibly dragged to the ground through the passenger-side door and beaten by fellow troopers. The senior trooper who was standing on the hood of Leone’s car was then seen jumping directly onto Leone’s back from the hood of the car.
A battered Robert Leone is shoved toward a squad car, where he was hog-tied and subject to further abuse. (Image: Pennsylvania State Police)
“You’ve got a long f***ing night ahead,” the officer menaced. “Do ya hear me?? Do ya f***ing hear me?!”
This was but the first threat of many Mr. Leone was going to receive over the next 11 hours. It was also the mildest. At no time was Leone videoed resisting or attempting to strike the officers.
After his first beating he was handcuffed and questioned. At that point Leone was arrested and placed in the back of a patrol car. Without advising Mr. Leone of his constitutional rights he was questioned a second time and responded with respectful answers of “yes sir,” and “no sir.”
During the questioning, the trooper accused Leone of intentionally spitting in the trooper’s face and used that alleged behavior as a reason to beat Mr. Leone — who was still handcuffed. The trooper then hog-tied the victim.
“Who do you think you’re messing with?” one officer challenged. “We’re the Pennsylvania State Police… it’s not just some chumps.”
After analyzing the audio portion of the dash-cam it appears that the trooper fabricated the spitting incident in order to justify the beating, even though spitting does not allow an officer to beat a prisoner.
Watch as author Larry Hohol provides a play-by-play of the traffic stop:
An ambulance had initially been called to transport Mr. Leone, who had suffered multiple injuries. Instead, the trooper who had broken his hand while punching Leone received medical attention, and Mr. Leone — who was handcuffed and hog-tied — was transported to the hospital in the back of a patrol car.
Beaten Again in the Hospital
Robert Leone’s medical records show that he was brought into the hospital hog-tied. (Source: YouTube / Larry Hohol)
Robert Leone was still hog-tied when he was brought into the Towanda Hospital; a fact documented in his medical records. Mr. Leone attempted to quietly tell the attending nurse what happened to him and begged her for help.
Unfortunately for him, one of the troopers overheard his plea. The exam room was ordered cleared of all medical personnel and a third round of beatings and taserings occurred while Mr. Leone was handcuffed to his gurney.
Police alleged that Leone “reached” at an officer — all the justification they needed for beating him with batons and using tasers multiple times.
The trooper later admitted at Leone’s trial that he was never hit by the defendant. But that did not stop Mr. Leone from being found guilty of assault for what took place in that room.
Mr Leone was discharged from the Towanda General Hospital in worse condition than he had arrived in.
Beaten Again at Police Barracks
After his treatment at the hospital, Mr. Leone was taken to the PSP Barracks Towanda for processing. While at the barracks, an arraignment was set up with an on-call judge who was located remotely and used a video-feed to connect with the police.
Mr. Leone was instructed not to look into the video camera during this arraignment and to only answer questions that he was asked. As soon as the video link was established, Mr. Leone looked directly into the camera and begged the judge for help. The trooper immediately disconnected the video link, claiming that a malfunction had occurred. With no cameras recording, Mr. Leone was severely beaten for a third time.
Beaten Again During Transport
While at the barracks, Leone stated that troopers told him that they could make it look like he committed suicide while in custody or they could throw him off of a bridge and state that somehow he got the rear door of the patrol car open and then jumped off of the bridge himself.
The records of the Robert Leone’s brief 2nd hospital visit show that all of his (new) injuries were on his back. (Source: YouTube / Larry Hohol)
The prisoner was so sure the troopers were going to kill him that night, he tried to shuffle away when he was being escorted to the patrol car for transportation to the county jail, even though he was handcuffed and his feet were shackled.
His pathetic escape attempt gave police an opportunity to beat him once again, and this time douse him with pepper spray. His injuries were so severe at that point that he was unconscious when he was delivered to the hospital for his second evaluation.
According to the hospital report, all of the injuries on Mr. Leone’s body were on his back and none were frontal, indicating that his injuries were not caused while being subdued because of any aggressive behavior. Apparently, the hospital staff themselves were so fearful of these troopers that they released Mr. Leone back into police custody only 26 minutes later — without treatment and while Mr. Leone was still semi-conscious. Mr Leone’s vital signs at this point showed him to be in serious physical distress.
Arrival in Jail
Mr. Leone was transported via patrol car in a semi-conscious state to the Bradford County Correctional Facility. He was received in such poor condition that the jail called their on-call staff physician to the jail to evaluate Mr. Leone.
Robert Leone’s 2010 mugshot. (Source: Pennsylvania State Police)
“They put him on the phone and he starts screaming that he has been beaten within an inch of his life,” Robert’s mother, Joan Leone told WBNG. “They tried to kill him through the night. He has been threatened that they are going to kill him and make it look like a suicide or an accident.”
Numerous pictures of Leone’s injuries were taken by the prison staff in order to defend the prison — should it later be accused of mishandling the already-ravaged prisoner. (Subsequently, when the photographs were requested, the prison claimed that these pictures do not exist.)
A prison guard [name withheld] who befriended Leone told him that the jail administrators were lying because the guard saw the pictures for himself. The picture featured in this article is a copy of the actual booking photo taken by the prison.
Mr. Leone laid in a jail cell for days without proper treatment and probably should have died from his injuries. The prison would not release any information to Mr. Leone’s family about his condition for over 5 days. His family was not allowed to speak to him in person or on the phone nor would the prison allow any other visitors or legal counsel to visit him.
Since Robert Leone could not pay his outrageous $250,000.00 bail, he remained incarcerated for six months until his trial. While he languished in jail, he was denied any additional medical treatment — particularly for his head injuries — even though he had excellent private heath insurance to pay for it if necessary.
“The corruption in PA is so widespread that they’re going to keep him in for four years. Because they have no intention of letting him out because he’s going to be speaking about what’s happened to him,”Joan Leone said.
Railroaded With Charges
Robert Leone’s traumatic physical experience was followed by being charged with twenty-four (24) separate crimes: aggravated assault; driving while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance; escape; simple assault; reckless endangering another person; resisting arrest; fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer; disorderly conduct; failure to stop at the scene of an accident; harassment; failure to provide the proper information following an accident; and failure to notify the authorities after an accident had occurred.
To go with his black eye and brutal beating, Mr. Leone was literally charged with breaking a trooper’s fist with his face — “aggravated assault” on a police officer. The 2 dozen charges included four serious felonies for which he could feasibly be spending the rest of his natural life in prison.
It appears that the cover-up of Leone’s beatings became so important that the Bradford County District Attorney personally took up the task of prosecuting the case. Despite having dash-cam video evidence in his possession — the same dash-cam video of which I made a documentary — DA Daniel Barrett attempted to prosecute all 24 counts against Robert Leone.
“I’m sorry if the fella got a black eye or if he got scraped up. His picture look pretty pathetic. But he was the one that brought this on and continued it,” Barrett said to WETM TV.
All district attorneys have two basic requirements — not options — when fulfilling their Oaths of Office. One is to prosecute the guilty, and the other is to protect the innocent. In this case DA Daniel Barrett did neither. At the very least the dash-cam video contradicted sworn statements made by troopers and in many instances proved Mr. Leone’s innocence. Instead of dropping the charges, the Bradford County District Attorney knowingly prosecuted a man that he knew was innocent of everything except his failure to stop (Leone is guilty of this for sure).
Leone’s Trial
Robert Leone’s trial began on August 31, 2010.
District Attorney Barrett claimed at trial that Mr. Leone was a drug-addled maniac that endangered the general public because of a substance abuse problem.
But that was not the case. Mr. Leone’s lab results showed that he had a 0.00 BAC and the only drug in his system was a prescribed medication for his diagnosed bipolar disorder. For some reason, Leone’s physician had assigned him a very high dosage. Nonetheless, the DA waved an empty prescription bottle before the jury and told them it was evidence that Mr. Leone had taken a significant number of pills at once.
At another point in the trial, the DA introduced as evidence part of an internal investigation that was conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police Office of Integrity and Professional Standards. The DA only showed part of the report to the jury which consisted of the troopers’ own sworn statements. He then asked one of the troopers if they were punished or reprimanded in any way following their conduct in this case. The trooper told the DA and the jury that he and his colleges were cleared of any wrongdoing (the investigation was conducted by a fellow trooper from the same barracks).
When the Public Defender demanded a copy of the complete report, her demand was denied by Bradford County President Judge Jeffrey Smith with no explanation. To this day, the Leone family and every outsider has been denied access to a copy of the full report.
Sources indicated to me that the nurse who witnessed the the round of beatings inside the Towanda Hospital was not brought into the trial to testify out of extreme fear for her safety. This statement was made by Mr. Leone’s public defender to Leone’s parents. The nurse was not afraid of Mr. Leone.
When the prosecution rested it’s case, Mr. Leone’s court-appointed public defender had an opportunity to rip the DA and the arresting troopers to shreds — especially for their outright and provable misstatement of facts. An exposure of these details could have proved helpful to Leone’s fate. Instead of a rebuttal, the public defender offered three (apparently) magic words when it was time for her to defend her client: “The defense rests.”
Despite a non-existent defense effort, Leone was found guilty by the jury of only four of the two dozen charges. They were: hit-and-run, attempting to flee from officers, resisting arrest, and one count of simple assault. Most importantly, he was found not guilty all four of the felonies.
It appears that the trial judge did not like the decision the jury had rendered, and rather than sentencing Mr. Leone to time served, Leone as sentenced to 2.5 to 4 years in prison.
With a sentence this severe, it is customary for an inmate to serve his time in a state facility. Judge Jeffrey Smith instead ordered Mr. Leone to be held in Bradford County. An appeal by the hapless public defender was filed on behalf of Mr. Leone and subsequently rubber stamped “denied” by the Superior Court.
Parole Denied
The warden of the Bradford County Correctional Facility commented to Mr. Leone’s parents that if all of the prisoners in his facility acted like Mr. Leone, he wouldn’t need any guards. Despite his apparent good behavior in the eyes of the warden, Mr. Leone had been denied release from prison by the parole board multiple times.
The first parole denial was because, as they stated, that Mr. Leone did not finish taking a drug and alcohol abuse class while incarcerated. This was a dubious claim because Mr. Leone had not been convicted of any substance-related crime, and his blood was proven to be free of alcohol and illegal drugs.
The second parole denial was because the board “lost the paperwork.” This could have been part of a conscious effort to keep Mr. Leone incarcerated until the expiration on a statute of limitations that would have allowed him to file a federal lawsuit against the officers involved.
Fortunately, we beat this date by 4 days and have filed a federal lawsuit in the Middle District of Penna.
No Accountability
The Pennsylvania State Police officially cleared its own troopers of any and all wrongdoing regarding the entire handling of the Robert Leone case from start-to-finish. Corporal Roger Stipcak and all of the other four participating troopers kept their jobs and faced no legal repercussions.
What might have been turned into major scandal in the Pennsylvania State Police and Bradford County was completely swept under the rug.
Bullies with Badges and their Support Network
It is difficult for the average United States citizen to wrap his or her mind around the concept of widespread police brutality and judicial culpability. We are taught at an early age that the police are good and they are here to protect us from evil. We are never taught that occasionally some police officers are in-fact evil themselves.
As a society, and in general terms, it is repetitively hammered into our psyche that if a person is arrested, he must have committed a crime. The public perception also wrongly assumes that if a person is beaten by the police, he probably deserved that beating. Only a minority questions that paradigm, and it is often reinforced with media reports biased toward the police.
In the months following the Towanda traffic stop, Robert Leone was “convicted” in the eyes of the public and media long before his sentence fell on him. It began when the state police reported that they had arrested Mr. Leone after he was involved in a hit-and-run accident and a lengthy “car chase” that ended with Leone “fighting with officers,” thus requiring him to be “forcibly subdued.” The local media regurgitated exactly what the troopers fed them as if it were factual (See more: Man Charged With Assaulting State Troopers | The Daily Review). The District Attorney for Bradford County helped to demonize Mr. Leone by spreading more erroneous info (See more: WETM News).
Reading the official press release and then watching the county DA justify the troopers’ actions would likely satisfy most law-abiding citizens in the belief that their police officers were acting righteously on the streets. However, the actual dash-cam footage — released 2 years after the incident — told us another story.
If this dash-cam video did not exist Mr. Leone would probably be spending most of his adult life in prison. Even with this evidence I cannot get the FBI, U.S. Attorney General, or the DOJ to open a criminal or civil rights investigation. I believe there has been so much misconduct by so many players in this case that the Feds simply do not want to open what appears to be a huge can of worms. I am talking specifically about seven police officers, the District Attorney, the Pennsylvania State Police Office of Integrity and Professional Standards, the trial judge, the Superior Court, the prison, and last but not least, Mr. Leone’s Public Defender.
How could so many safeguards fail and fail with such magnificence? The ONLY safeguard that almost got it right was Mr. Leone’s trial jury. Leone was found guilty on only 4 of 24 counts and zero of them were felonies. Although Mr. Leone was charged with breaking a trooper’s fist with his face, he was found not guilty of that crime.
Since Mr. Leone’s trial, I was told by one of the jurors through a third party that the even the jury was intimidated by the troopers and the DA in this case. So much so, that they felt they had to give them something or fear for their own well being.
We as Americans are willing to go to foreign lands and spill our own blood in the defense of freedom (both ours as well as someone else’s), yet here at home our freedoms are being directly attacked on a daily basis by the very agencies that are in place to assure us things like this never happen. Not only are injustices happening, they are happening on a large scale. I directly blame the chain of command as much as I blame the individual offending officers. In most instances not only does the chain of command attempt to cover-up and justify misconduct, but they actively chastise any officer who might step forward in an attempt to right a wrong. In addition, I blame the Judicial Conduct board as they directly oversee the courts, and I blame the Bar Association as most of the players here (except for the police) are attorneys including the elected officials that should be intervening.
Mr. Leone will soon have his day in federal court. Out of sheer coincidence, the federal judge that was assigned to hear his case is the very federal judge I wrote about in my book about judicial corruption in Pennsylvania. I have no confidence this judge will act appropriately.
The big question that we should all be asking ourselves is, “How do we fix all of this”?
Larry Hohol
Former Police Officer / Author
Contact info: [email protected] www.WorseThanRodneyKing.com
diamond2.0
- 1,148
- 163
Well , in this thread weve seen the bad and ugly ........Now how about some good .
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=48758
Cops Stand Up to Department Corruption, Tired of Being Forced to Make Arrests & Write Tickets
By Matt Agorist
Normal, IL — A group of police officers filed a lawsuit against the town of Normal last week alleging that the police department is forcing them to write a certain number of tickets or face disciplinary action.
Patrol officers Brian Larimore, Deborak Weir, and Todd VanHovein, were tired of being forced to collect a minimum amount of revenue each month or face disciplinary consequences. They claim the department is abusing its power and have filed a 27-page lawsuit detailing these allegations.
The lawsuit states that each officer had to write at least one traffic ticket each day. They also had to write four ordinance violation tickets per month, and make one DUI arrest every other month.
More than just traffic citations, the lawsuit details the requirements to make at least two criminal arrests per month. That means that these officers were forced to create criminals out of otherwise innocent people, or face disciplinary action.
The lawsuit goes on to say that day-shift patrol officers have no concrete requirements when it comes to criminal arrests or DUI arrests. Those day-shift officers are allegedly told to have a minimum number of traffic arrest and ordinance violation arrests.
According to WMBD, Larimore, Weir and VanHoveln all cited separate incidents where they were disciplined for failing to meet the required number of arrests. The claims date back to 2010.
Deborah Weir said she was even suspended for day without pay for falling short of her alleged quota.
The group of officers are claiming that these requirements encourage them to make arrests without probable cause. By refusing to make the arrest and therefore being disciplined, the lawsuit claims Normal Police Department is in violation of Section 20 of the Illinois Whistleblower Act.
While city officials haven’t made a comment in response to the lawsuit yet, WMBD did contact Chief Rick Bleichner who denied there being a quota system in place but did say that they have “expectations” for their employees.
This incident is hardly isolated. In June of this year, another Twin Cities cop, former Bloomington Police Officer Brent VanHoveln was charged with three counts of forgery and one count of official misconduct for writing fake tickets.
He claimed it was to meet the department's quota.
video here....
While FBI Finds Police Killings on the Rise, Real Number of Killings Remains Unknown
FBI report finds police killings highest in 20 years, but critics say agency's figures fail to provide real scope of police killings
by Nadia Prupis
Fatal police shootings were higher in 2013 than they've been two decades, according to new FBI data. But experts say the figures fail to give an accurate picture of police killings.
The FBI's Uniform Crime Report (UCR), which collects data voluntarily submitted by police departments, looked only at killings which police considered "justifiable homicide," defined by the bureau as "the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty."
There were 461 justifiable homicides reported last year, up from 426 in 2012. But the limited figures pose another question: how many people do police really kill?
As Radley Balko writes at Washington Post, "nofficial attempts to compile a more thorough count of killings by police have put the figure much, much higher --as many as 1,700 since May 2013, and more than 900 so far in 2014."
The FBI's numbers "are bullshit," journalist D. Brian Burghart, who operates FatalEncounters.org, told Common Dreams. "They're widely known to be inaccurate." The only approach is for a non-governmental organization to collect the data, as Fatal Encounters, Killed by Police, the Gun Violence Archive, and other dedicated groups are doing, Burghart said.
There is no question that the numbers are wrong, Burghart said. "It's just a question of how wrong they are."
As ThinkProgress notes, some states, such as Florida, chose not to report any death count information for years--so the increase in FBI statistics could simply be the result of more jurisdictions reporting, rather than an increase in killings. Likewise, in many jurisdictions, police departments don't require justifiable homicide reports to include the names of officers or the deceased, Burghart said.
But without accurate information, it is impossible to parse the data. "It is irresponsible that we don't have a complete set of numbers," University of Nebraska criminologist Samuel Walker told USA Today. "Whether the numbers are up, down or stable, this (national database) needs to be done. ... This is a scandal."
"The increase sounds notable, but the underlying data continues to be nearly useless," writes Reuben Fischer-Baum at FiveThirtyEight. "[T]he FBI's UCR program undercounts what it classifies as justifiable police homicides (while skirting the issue of non-justifiable homicides), and should not be considered a useful estimate."
The data within the reports is also unreliable, Burghart notes. In November, CBS reported that Brazilian police kill an average of six people a day, while U.S. law enforcement "killed 11,090 people over the past 30 years." That amounts to about 369 annually--less than two a day, a lower number than the FBI itself reported since 2008.
The FBI statistics "are so inaccurate," that to compare them to Brazilian police killings on record is "the height of irony," Burghart said. "It's an even greater lie over time."
ProPublica found in October that young black men were 21 times more likely to be killed by police than young white men. And recent protests and organized actions in Ferguson, Missouri have focused international attention to the issue of institutionalized racism, police brutality, and militarization--which in turn highlighted how little information is available on police killings. As Fischer-Baum pointed out in August, the UCR program has severe limitations:
"Felon killed by police" refers narrowly to justifiable police homicides, and "unjustifiable homicide by police" is not a classification. This means it's difficult to combine unjustifiable police homicides -- which could be listed as crimes elsewhere in the database -- with "justifiable" police homicides....
If the legality of a police homicide is in question, it may not be reported to the FBI SHR until the investigation is resolved. If the investigation concludes in a new reporting year, the old SHR data may not be updated, regardless of whether the killing was found to be justifiable or not."Since we don't have real numbers, we can't look at different jurisdictions to see what's most effective, [like] new policies... that decrease numbers," Burghart told Common Dreams. "We have nothing quantifiable." Burghart also pointed out that within the UCR reports, police who are involved in killings are often listed as the victims.
Measuring against a small parameter of justifiable homicide also skirts reporting "deaths by Taser, beatings, 'medical emergency,' car crashes, misdemeanor suspects, innocent bystanders, domestic violence victims," Burghart said. "If [the FBI] presents this information as though it's real... Americans don't have as much reason to be upset," Burghart said. "Four hundred people a year is more 'reasonable' than 1,400."
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=48758
Cops Stand Up to Department Corruption, Tired of Being Forced to Make Arrests & Write Tickets
By Matt Agorist
Normal, IL — A group of police officers filed a lawsuit against the town of Normal last week alleging that the police department is forcing them to write a certain number of tickets or face disciplinary action.
Patrol officers Brian Larimore, Deborak Weir, and Todd VanHovein, were tired of being forced to collect a minimum amount of revenue each month or face disciplinary consequences. They claim the department is abusing its power and have filed a 27-page lawsuit detailing these allegations.
More than just traffic citations, the lawsuit details the requirements to make at least two criminal arrests per month. That means that these officers were forced to create criminals out of otherwise innocent people, or face disciplinary action.
The lawsuit goes on to say that day-shift patrol officers have no concrete requirements when it comes to criminal arrests or DUI arrests. Those day-shift officers are allegedly told to have a minimum number of traffic arrest and ordinance violation arrests.
According to WMBD, Larimore, Weir and VanHoveln all cited separate incidents where they were disciplined for failing to meet the required number of arrests. The claims date back to 2010.
Deborah Weir said she was even suspended for day without pay for falling short of her alleged quota.
The group of officers are claiming that these requirements encourage them to make arrests without probable cause. By refusing to make the arrest and therefore being disciplined, the lawsuit claims Normal Police Department is in violation of Section 20 of the Illinois Whistleblower Act.
While city officials haven’t made a comment in response to the lawsuit yet, WMBD did contact Chief Rick Bleichner who denied there being a quota system in place but did say that they have “expectations” for their employees.
This incident is hardly isolated. In June of this year, another Twin Cities cop, former Bloomington Police Officer Brent VanHoveln was charged with three counts of forgery and one count of official misconduct for writing fake tickets.
He claimed it was to meet the department's quota.
video here....
While FBI Finds Police Killings on the Rise, Real Number of Killings Remains Unknown
FBI report finds police killings highest in 20 years, but critics say agency's figures fail to provide real scope of police killings
by Nadia Prupis
The FBI's Uniform Crime Report (UCR), which collects data voluntarily submitted by police departments, looked only at killings which police considered "justifiable homicide," defined by the bureau as "the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty."
There were 461 justifiable homicides reported last year, up from 426 in 2012. But the limited figures pose another question: how many people do police really kill?
As Radley Balko writes at Washington Post, "nofficial attempts to compile a more thorough count of killings by police have put the figure much, much higher --as many as 1,700 since May 2013, and more than 900 so far in 2014."
The FBI's numbers "are bullshit," journalist D. Brian Burghart, who operates FatalEncounters.org, told Common Dreams. "They're widely known to be inaccurate." The only approach is for a non-governmental organization to collect the data, as Fatal Encounters, Killed by Police, the Gun Violence Archive, and other dedicated groups are doing, Burghart said.
There is no question that the numbers are wrong, Burghart said. "It's just a question of how wrong they are."
As ThinkProgress notes, some states, such as Florida, chose not to report any death count information for years--so the increase in FBI statistics could simply be the result of more jurisdictions reporting, rather than an increase in killings. Likewise, in many jurisdictions, police departments don't require justifiable homicide reports to include the names of officers or the deceased, Burghart said.
But without accurate information, it is impossible to parse the data. "It is irresponsible that we don't have a complete set of numbers," University of Nebraska criminologist Samuel Walker told USA Today. "Whether the numbers are up, down or stable, this (national database) needs to be done. ... This is a scandal."
"The increase sounds notable, but the underlying data continues to be nearly useless," writes Reuben Fischer-Baum at FiveThirtyEight. "[T]he FBI's UCR program undercounts what it classifies as justifiable police homicides (while skirting the issue of non-justifiable homicides), and should not be considered a useful estimate."
The data within the reports is also unreliable, Burghart notes. In November, CBS reported that Brazilian police kill an average of six people a day, while U.S. law enforcement "killed 11,090 people over the past 30 years." That amounts to about 369 annually--less than two a day, a lower number than the FBI itself reported since 2008.
The FBI statistics "are so inaccurate," that to compare them to Brazilian police killings on record is "the height of irony," Burghart said. "It's an even greater lie over time."
ProPublica found in October that young black men were 21 times more likely to be killed by police than young white men. And recent protests and organized actions in Ferguson, Missouri have focused international attention to the issue of institutionalized racism, police brutality, and militarization--which in turn highlighted how little information is available on police killings. As Fischer-Baum pointed out in August, the UCR program has severe limitations:
"Felon killed by police" refers narrowly to justifiable police homicides, and "unjustifiable homicide by police" is not a classification. This means it's difficult to combine unjustifiable police homicides -- which could be listed as crimes elsewhere in the database -- with "justifiable" police homicides....
If the legality of a police homicide is in question, it may not be reported to the FBI SHR until the investigation is resolved. If the investigation concludes in a new reporting year, the old SHR data may not be updated, regardless of whether the killing was found to be justifiable or not."Since we don't have real numbers, we can't look at different jurisdictions to see what's most effective, [like] new policies... that decrease numbers," Burghart told Common Dreams. "We have nothing quantifiable." Burghart also pointed out that within the UCR reports, police who are involved in killings are often listed as the victims.
Measuring against a small parameter of justifiable homicide also skirts reporting "deaths by Taser, beatings, 'medical emergency,' car crashes, misdemeanor suspects, innocent bystanders, domestic violence victims," Burghart said. "If [the FBI] presents this information as though it's real... Americans don't have as much reason to be upset," Burghart said. "Four hundred people a year is more 'reasonable' than 1,400."
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pinegrovedave
- 417
- 143
Well I suppose I recently had a "run in" with some cops that could have ended badly. the other night @Seamaiden woke me up from a sound sleep with some severe stomach pains. She was on the phone with our healthcare provider who recommended trying some Pepto-Bismol or Maalox before coming to ER. 1AM and ya think we had any Pepto? Nope...nada. So I throw on some pants and slippers and drive to town (8 miles). I'm already stressed because she's in distress and I have to drive a fair distance because everything is closed in our little town.
I pull up to the convenience store at the indian casino. I pull up parallel to the store front straddling a few parking spaces, but at this hour, there is nobody around and I know I'm just going to be a minute. I race into the store leaving the door of the car open, grab the Pepto, purchase it, and as I'm walking out the store 2 CHP officers are walking in and prepare to interrogate me as to why I parked the way I did. Now please note...I'm in slippers, hair is disheveled, no shirt, and all I have in my possession is a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. I explain that my wife is in distress and I need to get this to her ASAP, but they proceed to ask me where I live and other bullshit. Now I'm getting pissed...and I'm showing it as I look right at them and say...
"Look. I need to get home to my wife. She's in pain and this was the closest store that was open at this hour...do you mind?" They hesitated and then said. "OK...Drive safe."
Jesus H. Christ but they were beginning to piss me the fuck off.
I pull up to the convenience store at the indian casino. I pull up parallel to the store front straddling a few parking spaces, but at this hour, there is nobody around and I know I'm just going to be a minute. I race into the store leaving the door of the car open, grab the Pepto, purchase it, and as I'm walking out the store 2 CHP officers are walking in and prepare to interrogate me as to why I parked the way I did. Now please note...I'm in slippers, hair is disheveled, no shirt, and all I have in my possession is a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. I explain that my wife is in distress and I need to get this to her ASAP, but they proceed to ask me where I live and other bullshit. Now I'm getting pissed...and I'm showing it as I look right at them and say...
"Look. I need to get home to my wife. She's in pain and this was the closest store that was open at this hour...do you mind?" They hesitated and then said. "OK...Drive safe."
Jesus H. Christ but they were beginning to piss me the fuck off.
BenMatlock
- 17
- 3
I agree. If u punch a cop it is a more serious charge than if U punch someone else...so why not also hold them to a higher standard when rolls are reversed.
caveman4.20
- 5,969
- 313
My situation near enough to relate . Not sure you read but they hit me with a disorderly conduct and criminal trespassING after treatING me first hand like a criminal...come to find out from error doctors pain management doctor and from polices mouth that I was profiled before transaction at pharmacy they entrapped me in the name of explainING why my wife's shit load of pain meds , anti coagulant and antidepressants couldn't be filled mind you I'm not picking these up I'm dropping them off....I asked and received a continuance because DA told me with her mouth I was not eligible for a public pretender I said shove your PD up your ass I need time for a lawyer and this bitch tells me the fine is only up to 500 each and its up to the judges descretion if it will be enforced. I asked for jury she says oh that's going to be put off till April at least and its expensive I ask how much she says $25 , give me my jury I says loud and agitated! Now I need my peers to do the right thing! God Bless everyone I hope Yall have a great day
caveman4.20
- 5,969
- 313
I'm not s exist but this woman was out of line by talking to me like a statistic uneducated and uninformed I'm constantly considerate and cooperative they are trying to fucking oppress me and I'm not going down without a fight, I'm no saint but I sure in the fuck wasn't talking at the pharmacy or at the DA's office like I'm talking now..........I shut up but once Debo leaves I bee talking shit again
Peace
diamond2.0
- 1,148
- 163
last time i went to court i talk to them worse than on here and i still beat them . I must have said fuck 20 times as i paced while talking to the judge about the cops aggresion and the judge never stopped me. lol. Got a few laughs from the audience too at the cops expense.. lol. I mean shit man , here goes grandpa.'me " on a beautifull sinday afternoon to go to the burien market to score some shit. Suddenly at a 4 way stop in the nieghboorhood. Not main road. This cop is really close to me. I roll forward and inch to check once again before going forwrd for pedestrian. im a block off main road so people walking around. So i get across the street right on the backside of the market and he pulls me over. Im pissed off baby ! I get my liosence in hand and get out hsowing both hands. Thee fuck draws down and i yell back at him to stop escalating the situation . I follow hios order and get back into my car. Then at the cra he talks shit about me following his orders , which i did on the spot and told him how cheap and redundant he was for trying such crap with me. . Now theres 4 more cars block the whole fucking road. I ask him what the fuck you stop me for, i didnt commit a crime or infraction . He said he couldnt tell me what i did. He didnt know. seriuosly man . WTF ? whilel im yelling ta the fuck thta he has no fucking standing and that i will kick your ass in court another cop opens my passenger door. I look at him and yell. "close my fucking door right now i dont consent to a search " . then look back at supee rdipfuck cop . Then i look ta the other cop at the door and told him again to close my fucking door before sue your fucking as. This is verbatum pretty much .So i leave with no ticket. Im literally ta the dope store parking lot after i start my engine back up. I roll like 5 feet and turn in . I get out nd all the way to the store front i juts hold my hand up flipping them all off. Later i get a ticket in mail for rolling over line. which i asked the judge. Produce such a crime. He looked at the monitor and said . You win.
after this fun workout of the lungs with the officer and i got home i called the sheriffs office to find oput how to complaion about this rouge ass cop . He said there is no way . I go the fuck off now. swearing like you wouldnt believe. all they would do is give me the sergant. I let him have it. When he would say you dont have to cuss i told him im just giving you the same respe3ct i have reseived . no more , no less. so then i call the mayors office and talk wiht her secretary. It was getting so fucking telling. I juts said fuck it. Till next dance motherfuckers !
What really surprised me is when the judge entered the room, i told my wife he has a.d.d. or hes medicated . He had a thousand yard stare it looked like to me. Maybe he just came from walmart . Who knows. Then he tells us all that the rooms being recorded and they can hear everthing. Im like 'WTF" . I raise my hand and ask him what gives him the authority to record my private conversations ? That it was totally unconstitutional . He didnt answer . some sheepfuck yells out " cause this is his house " in i hate to say , a southern accent. Couldnt have been funnier. I just ignored the poor schmuck . I was the only person who even questioned his authority. Sad.
please excuse my mad gramma skills. Thanks. lol..
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diamond2.0
- 1,148
- 163
Once you been beat by a handfull of cops in the prone position and following orders not resisting you kinda take shit very , very seriously ! Hows the saying go. Once " beaten" , twice shy " ?
There was a time i was a total medicated sheepfuck myself. Let me tell ya , I was vicodin , buspar, celexa , wishing death on myself daily but having a totaly sheepish time . Perfect example here . I go to Hawaii . I went a couple time a year . maybe they flagged me , I dunno . But at the maui airport while im waiting for the rental cra transport wiht my freak flag flying in the wind and smoke in hand 2 security people come me up to me . They pull me aside to ask me questions. Then they ask , can we look in your lugage. Im like no problem , good to see soemone is doing thier job like a "supa SHEEPFUCK Man . Oh ya , Cape me baby . Being so bizzy with work i was like most people. New little about anythign otuside whats on t.v. and the water coola.
im os glad i almost died and had to change my life and learn lifes lessons to stay alive. I cherish every pain i get ! Better than being dead !
There was a time i was a total medicated sheepfuck myself. Let me tell ya , I was vicodin , buspar, celexa , wishing death on myself daily but having a totaly sheepish time . Perfect example here . I go to Hawaii . I went a couple time a year . maybe they flagged me , I dunno . But at the maui airport while im waiting for the rental cra transport wiht my freak flag flying in the wind and smoke in hand 2 security people come me up to me . They pull me aside to ask me questions. Then they ask , can we look in your lugage. Im like no problem , good to see soemone is doing thier job like a "supa SHEEPFUCK Man . Oh ya , Cape me baby . Being so bizzy with work i was like most people. New little about anythign otuside whats on t.v. and the water coola.
im os glad i almost died and had to change my life and learn lifes lessons to stay alive. I cherish every pain i get ! Better than being dead !
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caveman4.20
- 5,969
- 313
Pain is the beginning of healing....the worst pain is healing at its finest
caveman4.20
- 5,969
- 313
Government and the war on drugs (Terence Mckenna):
jumpincactus
Premium Member
Supporter
- 11,609
- 438
@bongobongo its not so much where we are coming to that scares me. Its the where we are headed. I believe we are just seeing the tip of the ice berg of things yet to come. Not a naysayer just callin it like I see it.
A lot of folks wonder whats up with all of the warrant less search and seizures and such, well we pretty much lost most of our rights when the "Patriot Act" was signed in to being.
When you drill down and pay attention to whats going on, why I ask are local and state LE agencies arming themselves to the nines with military hardware? Oh ya ya its cause we hear all the time on the news that our police forces are outgunned. BS. if you ask me. I am not buying it. It seems that they are in preparation stages.... but for what?????
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jumpincactus
Premium Member
Supporter
- 11,609
- 438
Heres a write about from the Puffington Post
U.S. Representative for Georgia's 4th District
On Thursday, November 13, I had the opportunity to discuss my bipartisan bill -- Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 (H.R. 5478) -- in a House Armed Services Subcommittee Hearing on the Pentagon's 1033 Program.
VIDEO: Panel 1 | Panel 2
The 1033 Program permits surplus U.S. military equipment, such as Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), Humvees and automatic weapons from warzones in Iraq and Afghanistan, to be transferred to city police departments free of charge. While these military-grade weapons are much-needed by our military on the field of battle, I believe they are ill-suited for our local police departments whose purpose is to protect American civilians.
More and more Americans agree, and are making their voices heard at DontMilitarizeMainStreet.com.
The Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act would place restrictions and transparency measures on the Department of Defense (DOD) Program that transfers surplus military equipment to state and local law enforcement agencies.
In a fundamentally misguided effort to stop Americans from using drugs in the 1990s, Congress allowed the DOD to provide surplus military equipment -- often from warzones overseas -- to local police for free. To date, more than $5 billion in this equipment has been transferred.
This equipment, including Mine Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles (MRAPs), grenades, launchers, and other weapons, is turning America's local police forces into something more akin to an army.
Access to free military-style weapons has created a perfect storm for police violence. This year alone in Georgia, a baby was badly burned when police dropped a "flash bang" grenade in his crib during an early-morning drug raid and a grandfather was killed by police in a commando-style raid on his house in October.
My bipartisan bill reining in the 1033 program now has 44 cosponsors. It would curtail the types of equipment that local law enforcement agencies can get for free from the DOD.
The bill would also require detailed accounting to ensure that equipment is not lost or sold. You may be surprised to hear this, but the bill also ends a statutory requirement that law enforcement use the equipment they receive.
You read that right. Today, law enforcement is required to use that free MRAP or grenade launcher. This is a common sense proposal that I hope my colleagues on the committee -- and in the entire House -- will seriously consider.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-hank-johnson/speaking-out-against-the_b_6160484.html
U.S. Representative for Georgia's 4th District
- Speaking Out Against the Militarization of Police
On Thursday, November 13, I had the opportunity to discuss my bipartisan bill -- Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 (H.R. 5478) -- in a House Armed Services Subcommittee Hearing on the Pentagon's 1033 Program.
VIDEO: Panel 1 | Panel 2
The 1033 Program permits surplus U.S. military equipment, such as Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), Humvees and automatic weapons from warzones in Iraq and Afghanistan, to be transferred to city police departments free of charge. While these military-grade weapons are much-needed by our military on the field of battle, I believe they are ill-suited for our local police departments whose purpose is to protect American civilians.
More and more Americans agree, and are making their voices heard at DontMilitarizeMainStreet.com.
The Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act would place restrictions and transparency measures on the Department of Defense (DOD) Program that transfers surplus military equipment to state and local law enforcement agencies.
In a fundamentally misguided effort to stop Americans from using drugs in the 1990s, Congress allowed the DOD to provide surplus military equipment -- often from warzones overseas -- to local police for free. To date, more than $5 billion in this equipment has been transferred.
This equipment, including Mine Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles (MRAPs), grenades, launchers, and other weapons, is turning America's local police forces into something more akin to an army.
Access to free military-style weapons has created a perfect storm for police violence. This year alone in Georgia, a baby was badly burned when police dropped a "flash bang" grenade in his crib during an early-morning drug raid and a grandfather was killed by police in a commando-style raid on his house in October.
My bipartisan bill reining in the 1033 program now has 44 cosponsors. It would curtail the types of equipment that local law enforcement agencies can get for free from the DOD.
The bill would also require detailed accounting to ensure that equipment is not lost or sold. You may be surprised to hear this, but the bill also ends a statutory requirement that law enforcement use the equipment they receive.
You read that right. Today, law enforcement is required to use that free MRAP or grenade launcher. This is a common sense proposal that I hope my colleagues on the committee -- and in the entire House -- will seriously consider.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-hank-johnson/speaking-out-against-the_b_6160484.html
jumpincactus
Premium Member
Supporter
- 11,609
- 438
Heres some more info on cops being out of control.
https://www.aclu.org/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-policing
Militarization of policing
encourages officers to
adopt a “warrior” mentality
and think of the people they
are supposed to serve as
enemies.
https://www.aclu.org/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-policing
Militarization of policing
encourages officers to
adopt a “warrior” mentality
and think of the people they
are supposed to serve as
enemies.
jumpincactus
Premium Member
Supporter
- 11,609
- 438
@PrimeC Check this sad sickening
shit out,
SWAT Raid Ends with Toddler
in Medically-Induced Coma
After the Phonesavanh family’s home in Wisconsin
burned down, they drove their minivan to stay with
relatives in a small town just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
On the back windshield, the family pasted six stick figures:
a dad, a mom, three young girls, and one baby boy.
This van, containing several car seats, was parked in the
driveway of the home where they were staying when, just
before 3:00am on a night in May of 2014, a team of SWAT
officers armed with assault rifles burst into the room where
the family was sleeping. Some of the kids’ toys were in the
front yard, but the Habersham County and Cornelia police
officers claimed they had no way of knowing children might
be present. One of the officers threw a flashbang grenade
into the room. It landed in Baby Bou Bou’s crib.
It took several hours before Alecia and Bounkahm, the
baby’s parents, were able to see their son. The 19-month-old
had been taken to an intensive burn unit and placed into
a medically induced coma. When the flashbang grenade
exploded, it blew a hole in 19-month-old Bou Bou’s face
and chest. The chest wound was so deep it exposed his ribs.
The blast covered Bou Bou’s body in third degree burns. At
the time of this report’s publication, three weeks after the
raid, it was still unclear whether Baby Bou Bou would live.
Bounkahm spent this Father’s Day in the hospital with his
son.
The SWAT team was executing a “no knock” warrant to
search for someone who did not live in the home that was
raided: Bounkahm’s nephew, who was suspected of making
a $50 drug sale. “After breaking down the door, throwing
my husband to the ground, and screaming at my children,
the officers–armed with M16s–filed through the house
like they were playing war,” said Alecia. The officers did not
find any guns or drugs in the house and no arrests were
made.
https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/jus14-warcomeshome-report-web-rel1.pdf
Prime C
Defender of Dank
Supporter
- 4,285
- 263
I read this shit every day on my facebook makes me sick!
K
kolah
- 4,829
- 263
fuckin a, man...this is insane.
R
redlife215
- 752
- 143
Fuck the police. I agree that people think that cool cops are cops that are just acting like human beings. The norm is to be shit on and disrespectEd by cops and have to deal with it. I fucking hate cops in Philadelphia they made anything under an ounce legal right, well as nice as that sounds they use that as a ploy to make u feel safe bout letting the cop that pulled u over know that u have some weed in you. Well when they get the weed they take u down town not for a possesion charge because now it is legal, but a dui charge because they know u smoke. It doesn't matter if ur high at the time because in p.a driving with any amount in ur blood is illegal and a dui. So they are racking up the dui charges out there now and loving it because the fines are more and the charges more severe. Fuck the police only good cop is a dead cop and that's real talk
K
kolah
- 4,829
- 263
Every cop.
I'll say that again. EVERY COP.... has busted people for MJ possession which completely ruined their lives, destroyed their families and wiped out those peoples future. Hundreds of thousands of non-violent men and women are sitting in jail for 10-20..... 30 years because a gang of punks wearing badges were " just doing thier job."
And the bullshit they inflict upon innocent people still continues.
And it gets worse every day. Action-reaction, full circle, karma, call it what you will....things will change. For the better.
I'll say that again. EVERY COP.... has busted people for MJ possession which completely ruined their lives, destroyed their families and wiped out those peoples future. Hundreds of thousands of non-violent men and women are sitting in jail for 10-20..... 30 years because a gang of punks wearing badges were " just doing thier job."
And the bullshit they inflict upon innocent people still continues.
And it gets worse every day. Action-reaction, full circle, karma, call it what you will....things will change. For the better.
diamond2.0
- 1,148
- 163
They need to stop this shit bigtime . And this campus lockdown for every little thing is bullshit too. Thier tramatizing , 'indoctrinating " kids all over the u.s. now. Like the third world , fear is whats on the plate for breakfast in the u.s. . and the nightly news protects these fucks instead of doing thier job and asking the right quetsions. SICK ! CIA take me away..........................Reminds me of u.s. cia sponcered news in Venezuela . what next ? The snipers .............Like Venezuela and Ukraine no doubt.
The police are a reactive sort. They can practice all day long . Doesnt change the fact that thier a day late and dollar short when it comes to crime.
‘I thought he was going to shoot me.’ Unsuspecting middle school students terrified by active shooter drill.
By Abby Ohlheiser November 14
Fox affiliate WTVT, officials at Jewett Middle Academy e-mailed parents to inform them of the drill, after it took place. By that point, WTVT reports, cellphones were already filling up with texts from frightened students, who thought there was a real shooter in the school.
In a later statement to The Post, spokesperson Jamie Brown for the Winter Haven police department said they were only aware of one student who texted a parent during the exercise.
“Unfortunately, no one gets an advanced notice of real life emergencies,” Polk County Public Schools spokesman Jason Gearey said in an e-mailed statement to The Washington Post. “We don’t want students to be scared, but we need them to be safe.”
Stacy Ray told WTVT that she received a text from her seventh-grade daughter Lauren Marionneaux after two armed officers burst into her classroom. Winter Haven police told The Post that one of the officers had his duty firearm – a handgun – drawn. The gun was loaded, as required. The other officer was carrying an unloaded AR-15. According to Ray, one of her other children texted: “I thought he was going to shoot me.”
The school district said officers had “weapons pointed at the ground” during the drill. “Officers will not have weapons in their hands in future lockdown drills,” Gearey added.
Winter Haven Police Chief Charlie Bird told WTVT that the surprise was exactly what officials intended. “It’s very important that, when you do your drill, you do it without everyone knowing that it’s a drill,” Bird said. “How you train and how you prepare is how you’re going to react when everything goes bad.”
Essentially, the police department will plan the timing of the drill with a school principal, and no one else will necessarily know.
“We regret any concern that parents and students might have experienced in how this drill was conducted,” said Gearey, the district spokesman. The county is still reviewing feedback it received following the drill. The Winter Haven police department told The Post that feedback following the incident to them was about 50-50 positive and negative.
Polk County isn’t the only place in America holding active shooter drills these days. According to a September report in The Wall Street Journal, the drills have prompted a cornucopia of legal complaints in the wake of similar situations at schools and businesses across the country.
In one alleged incident reported by the Journal, an Ohio teacher who volunteered to participate as a “panicked parent” in a drill was tackled to the ground by an officer.
In another, a former employee at a Colorado nursing home said she was traumatized by an attacker readiness drill, during which an armed gunman “forced her into an empty room.” According to the Journal’s report, the officer acting as a gunman in this situation thought the employees there were informed about the drill. He identified himself as an officer after seeing her reaction, but the employee “was so overwhelmed that she didn’t know whether to believe the officer’s assurances that he really was a policeman.”
In the wake of the December 2012 Sandy Hook school shootings, a handful of states — including New Jersey, Tennessee and Missouri — now require active shooter drills in schools. Many more require some sort of preparation drill, such as a lockdown, a practice familiar to many students since the 1999 Columbine school shootings. “Active shooter” bills were introduced in 10 states in 2014, including Florida, according to theNational Conference of State Legislatures.
But not all active shooter drills are surprises: WTVT spoke to officials in two neighboring Florida counties, where police said that their officers conduct drills in empty schools, usually over a holiday break.
Other departments give advance notice that such a drill will take place. AnNBC News report looked at one Missouri school system that even actively involves student volunteers in the drills. For the drill, 69 Troy Buchanan High School students agreed to play bystanders, hostages, and victims — complete with fake blood — for officers wielding firearms, filled with blanks.
These cops also love to create crime like the fbi and thier terrorist bullshit set-ups. Put it on your t.v. and give you a blurred picture of the world. What a waste of money and time. Bernays on steriods it seams !
Officers bend rules to boost sex sting arrest totals
This is the first of a two-part series examining how law enforcement is blurring the lines on due process.
POLK COUNTY, Florida – In the decade since Chris Hansen and "To Catch a Predator" popularized Internet sex stings, more than 1,200 men in Florida alone have been arrested, accused of preying on underage teens and children for sex.
But as the stings put more and more men behind bars, detectives are working harder and harder to keep up their arrest numbers. And the tactics they're using to put alleged sexual offenders in jail are sweeping up large numbers of law-abiding men, too.
A yearlong investigation by 10 Investigates reveals many of the men whose mugshots have been paraded out by local sheriffs in made-for-TV press conferences were not seeking to meet children online. Instead, they were minding their own business, looking for other adults, when detectives started to groom and convince them to break the law.
While detectives used to post ads suggesting an underage teen or child was available for sex, they now routinely post more innocuous personal ads of adults on traditional dating sites. When men – many of them under 25 with no criminal history - respond, officers switch the bait and typically indicate their age is really 14 or 15 years old. However, sometimes the storyline isn't switched until the men, who were looking for legal love, already start falling for the undercover agent.
According to arrest affidavits inspected by 10 Investigates, law enforcement is also now routinely making first contact with men who have done nothing wrong, responding to their ads on dating sites like PlentyOfFish.com. After men start conversing with what they think are adults, officers change the age they claim to be, but try to convince the men to continue the conversation anyway.
Officers bend rules in sex stings to boost arrest totals.
Other examples include undercover officers showing interest in a man, then later introducing the idea of having sex with the undercover's "child." If the men indicate they weren't interested, they were still often arrested for just talking to the adult.
Critics of the stings, including a number of prominent Tampa Bay law enforcement leaders, tell 10 News the operations make for better press conferences than they do crime fighting. Many of the men who are arrested for sexual predator crimes see little jail time.
But Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, when asked about over-aggressive detectives, instead went on the offensive: "The concern (I have) is that you inflate your investigative reporting to make it glitzy."
Judges have also been very critical of some of the tactics used in the stings, which violate Internet Crimes Against Children guidelines. Among the comments from judges in recent entrapment decisions (case numbers withheld to protect the defendants):
The blurring of legal and ethical lines has led many agencies such as the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, and most of South Florida to focus their cybercrime resources on other areas of online abuse. Instead of conducting "To Catch a Predator"-style stings, they spend their time and effort on areas where there are known victims and children at immediate risk, like child porn and sex trafficking.
But the time- and resource-intensive predator stings are still alive and well in West/Central Florida, operating under the watchful eye of ICAC task force leader Judd.
Grady Judd's 'favorite topic'
Sheriff of Polk County since 2005, Judd has made it clear that targeting sexual predators is his top priority. He called hunting predators his "favorite topic" at a recent predator sting press conference, and he has invited national media outlets along for some of the operations. The predator stings have been featured in three MSNBC specials as well as a recent CNN series.
But Judd has been much less forthcoming when it comes to questions of how detectives lure in their targets and whether innocent men are getting swept up to.
Judd has failed to provide public records to 10 Investigates on the following issues:
PREVIOUS: Law enforcement refuses to turn over records on sting (3/14/14)
Judd said the overwhelming majority of men who communicate with detectives do the "right thing" and either end communication or report the officer posing as an underage teen -- or parent offering up a child -- to authorities. But he won't even turn over those communications over, a possible violation of https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2020/119.01.
Judd says the records are exempt from state records laws because all of those men are still "under investigation," for they may surface in future stings. However, that indicates Judd - and other law enforcement leaders around Tampa Bay and Sarasota who have now used the same exemption to withhold records - have active investigations open on hundreds, if not thousands, of men who did nothing more than legally communicate with adults on legal websites.
The state's best-known lawman also showed little concern for due process during a Tuesday press conference to tout arrests since March in predator-style stings. He pointed to 132 mugshots on a giant posterboard and called the men "sexual predators."
But when 10 Investigates pointed out some of the men had already been cleared of charges, he said they were still fair game because "we have a very liberal - a very forgiving - criminal justice system."
That system may give defendants the benefit of doubt and assume "innocent until proven guilty;" but Judd makes sure the mugshots and stigma of being arrested for a sex crime haunts the men for the rest of their lives.
Critics point out many of the 1,200 men who are ultimately arrested in Florida and called "sexual predators" weren't preying or even looking for kids; many were seeking adults. The majority of them were in their teens or 20s at the time, and approximately 97 percent of the men had zero history of any sexual crimes or accusations.
"The biggest waste ever"
While countless West/Central Florida law enforcement agencies have gotten involved in the predator stings, including the sheriff's offices in Polk, Pinellas, Manatee, Citrus, and Sarasota, some agencies were noticeably absent at Judd's season-ending press conference.
Judd indicated the Hillsborough sheriff's office was a part of the operation, but was unable to attend. However, an HCSO spokesperson said the the agency has not been a participant.
While HCSO has a full-time "Internet Predator" unit, it has been reluctant to dedicate the huge resources needed for a "To Catch a Predator"-style sting. Instead, HCSO detectives are focused on offenders that are participating in "the proliferation of child porn," focusing on infants and young children who are exploited.
Hillsborough detectives say those type of arrests tend to yield better conviction rates, longer prison terms, and also provide law enforcement other leads on areas of crime like sex trafficking.
Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco has adopted similar priorities, saying his cybercrime unit is extremely proactive and focused on the areas of the worst abuse.
"Any way you can take a sexual predator off the street is tremendous," Nocco said. "Especially those that are online looking at child pornography ... they may do something physically against a young little kid."
Pasco also spends a lot of time and effort focused on teen-on-teen cybercrime because it can often be addressed before it ruins a person's life permanently.
Nocco was complimentary of ICAC, but says he's not a huge fan of the "To Catch a Predator"-style stings, saying the prosecutions often don't hold up.
"You spend your resources, you arrest somebody and then they walk right out. It's the biggest waste ever," Nocco said.
ICAC stings typically cost tens of thousands of dollars - sometimes close to $100,000 - in costs and officers' time, and that doesn't include the costs to prosecute and jail defendants.
10 Investigates found light plea sentences are sometimes offered because the suspects simply aren't considered dangerous offenders, contrary to Judd's claims.
Local law enforcement leaders also refused to turn over ICAC guidelines, claiming they were confidential investigative material. But a copy 10 Investigates obtained through court records indicates the online undercover stings, which typically don't involve real children or victims, are not even specified in the list of priorities agencies are supposed to target:
The "other" victims
There may be no excuses for men who victimize children or those that look for underage victims online.
However, it's easier to make the case for the men who were swept up in the stings when they were looking online for adults.
"(My son) was stalked by law enforcement for three days," said the mother of a 22-year-old arrested in one of the stings. 10 Investigates is protecting the identity of her family.
The son was on Craiglist's personals pages, looking to meet other adults. He responded to a "no strings attached" ad for a 26-year-old woman. He says her story changed a few times, including the claim she was only 13, but he was skeptical.
He spoke on the phone to the undercover and she sent a photo, in which she was wearing a wedding ring. He said he was sure she was an adult (she was), so he made plans to meet her. When he arrived, he was arrested. He was later sentenced to two years of house arrest and a lifetime as a registered sex offender.
"He had a life of promise; he had an education," his mother said. "That's all been shot."
She says her son is paying the price of opportunistic lawmen.
PREVIOUS: Law enforcement may have entrapped men illegally (1/30/14)
Board-certified defense attorney Anthony Ryan says law enforcement officers have become experts in coercing innocent men into breaking the law.
"They are really good at subtly turning conversations and normal statements into sexual innuendo - whether or not the other side intended that," he said.
Ryan, who has a practice in Sarasota, just got a 23-year-old client's case dismissed in Manatee. A judge ruled deputies entrapped his client, writing that their tactics had "no place in modern day law enforcement."
Ryan adds that officers are pushing the boundaries further and further to keep up their arrest numbers and keep the federal ICAC grants flowing. And responding to legal ads on legal dating sites crosses the line.
"Once the low-hanging fruit is sort of gone, taken off the tree," Ryan said, "there's still pressure from high above to justify these actions."
Part 2: Stings not arresting whom you think they are
The police are a reactive sort. They can practice all day long . Doesnt change the fact that thier a day late and dollar short when it comes to crime.
‘I thought he was going to shoot me.’ Unsuspecting middle school students terrified by active shooter drill.
By Abby Ohlheiser November 14
Fox affiliate WTVT, officials at Jewett Middle Academy e-mailed parents to inform them of the drill, after it took place. By that point, WTVT reports, cellphones were already filling up with texts from frightened students, who thought there was a real shooter in the school.
In a later statement to The Post, spokesperson Jamie Brown for the Winter Haven police department said they were only aware of one student who texted a parent during the exercise.
“Unfortunately, no one gets an advanced notice of real life emergencies,” Polk County Public Schools spokesman Jason Gearey said in an e-mailed statement to The Washington Post. “We don’t want students to be scared, but we need them to be safe.”
Stacy Ray told WTVT that she received a text from her seventh-grade daughter Lauren Marionneaux after two armed officers burst into her classroom. Winter Haven police told The Post that one of the officers had his duty firearm – a handgun – drawn. The gun was loaded, as required. The other officer was carrying an unloaded AR-15. According to Ray, one of her other children texted: “I thought he was going to shoot me.”
The school district said officers had “weapons pointed at the ground” during the drill. “Officers will not have weapons in their hands in future lockdown drills,” Gearey added.
Winter Haven Police Chief Charlie Bird told WTVT that the surprise was exactly what officials intended. “It’s very important that, when you do your drill, you do it without everyone knowing that it’s a drill,” Bird said. “How you train and how you prepare is how you’re going to react when everything goes bad.”
Essentially, the police department will plan the timing of the drill with a school principal, and no one else will necessarily know.
“We regret any concern that parents and students might have experienced in how this drill was conducted,” said Gearey, the district spokesman. The county is still reviewing feedback it received following the drill. The Winter Haven police department told The Post that feedback following the incident to them was about 50-50 positive and negative.
Polk County isn’t the only place in America holding active shooter drills these days. According to a September report in The Wall Street Journal, the drills have prompted a cornucopia of legal complaints in the wake of similar situations at schools and businesses across the country.
In one alleged incident reported by the Journal, an Ohio teacher who volunteered to participate as a “panicked parent” in a drill was tackled to the ground by an officer.
In another, a former employee at a Colorado nursing home said she was traumatized by an attacker readiness drill, during which an armed gunman “forced her into an empty room.” According to the Journal’s report, the officer acting as a gunman in this situation thought the employees there were informed about the drill. He identified himself as an officer after seeing her reaction, but the employee “was so overwhelmed that she didn’t know whether to believe the officer’s assurances that he really was a policeman.”
In the wake of the December 2012 Sandy Hook school shootings, a handful of states — including New Jersey, Tennessee and Missouri — now require active shooter drills in schools. Many more require some sort of preparation drill, such as a lockdown, a practice familiar to many students since the 1999 Columbine school shootings. “Active shooter” bills were introduced in 10 states in 2014, including Florida, according to theNational Conference of State Legislatures.
But not all active shooter drills are surprises: WTVT spoke to officials in two neighboring Florida counties, where police said that their officers conduct drills in empty schools, usually over a holiday break.
Other departments give advance notice that such a drill will take place. AnNBC News report looked at one Missouri school system that even actively involves student volunteers in the drills. For the drill, 69 Troy Buchanan High School students agreed to play bystanders, hostages, and victims — complete with fake blood — for officers wielding firearms, filled with blanks.
These cops also love to create crime like the fbi and thier terrorist bullshit set-ups. Put it on your t.v. and give you a blurred picture of the world. What a waste of money and time. Bernays on steriods it seams !
Officers bend rules to boost sex sting arrest totals
This is the first of a two-part series examining how law enforcement is blurring the lines on due process.
POLK COUNTY, Florida – In the decade since Chris Hansen and "To Catch a Predator" popularized Internet sex stings, more than 1,200 men in Florida alone have been arrested, accused of preying on underage teens and children for sex.
But as the stings put more and more men behind bars, detectives are working harder and harder to keep up their arrest numbers. And the tactics they're using to put alleged sexual offenders in jail are sweeping up large numbers of law-abiding men, too.
A yearlong investigation by 10 Investigates reveals many of the men whose mugshots have been paraded out by local sheriffs in made-for-TV press conferences were not seeking to meet children online. Instead, they were minding their own business, looking for other adults, when detectives started to groom and convince them to break the law.
While detectives used to post ads suggesting an underage teen or child was available for sex, they now routinely post more innocuous personal ads of adults on traditional dating sites. When men – many of them under 25 with no criminal history - respond, officers switch the bait and typically indicate their age is really 14 or 15 years old. However, sometimes the storyline isn't switched until the men, who were looking for legal love, already start falling for the undercover agent.
According to arrest affidavits inspected by 10 Investigates, law enforcement is also now routinely making first contact with men who have done nothing wrong, responding to their ads on dating sites like PlentyOfFish.com. After men start conversing with what they think are adults, officers change the age they claim to be, but try to convince the men to continue the conversation anyway.
Officers bend rules in sex stings to boost arrest totals.
Other examples include undercover officers showing interest in a man, then later introducing the idea of having sex with the undercover's "child." If the men indicate they weren't interested, they were still often arrested for just talking to the adult.
Critics of the stings, including a number of prominent Tampa Bay law enforcement leaders, tell 10 News the operations make for better press conferences than they do crime fighting. Many of the men who are arrested for sexual predator crimes see little jail time.
But Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, when asked about over-aggressive detectives, instead went on the offensive: "The concern (I have) is that you inflate your investigative reporting to make it glitzy."
Judges have also been very critical of some of the tactics used in the stings, which violate Internet Crimes Against Children guidelines. Among the comments from judges in recent entrapment decisions (case numbers withheld to protect the defendants):
- "It was the agent who repeatedly steered the conversation back to sexual activity with a minor."
- "The government made a concerted effort to lure him into committing a crime."
- "The undercover officer failed to follow the procedures …"
- "The law does not tolerate government action to provoke a law-abiding citizen to commit a crime."
The blurring of legal and ethical lines has led many agencies such as the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, and most of South Florida to focus their cybercrime resources on other areas of online abuse. Instead of conducting "To Catch a Predator"-style stings, they spend their time and effort on areas where there are known victims and children at immediate risk, like child porn and sex trafficking.
But the time- and resource-intensive predator stings are still alive and well in West/Central Florida, operating under the watchful eye of ICAC task force leader Judd.
Grady Judd's 'favorite topic'
Sheriff of Polk County since 2005, Judd has made it clear that targeting sexual predators is his top priority. He called hunting predators his "favorite topic" at a recent predator sting press conference, and he has invited national media outlets along for some of the operations. The predator stings have been featured in three MSNBC specials as well as a recent CNN series.
But Judd has been much less forthcoming when it comes to questions of how detectives lure in their targets and whether innocent men are getting swept up to.
Judd has failed to provide public records to 10 Investigates on the following issues:
- The language in the ads detectives post.
- How detectives responded when innocent men showed no interest in speaking to teens.
- If detectives are doing the stings because there is a problem of teens looking for adults online.
- How many men get baited before detectives find someone to investigate.
PREVIOUS: Law enforcement refuses to turn over records on sting (3/14/14)
Judd said the overwhelming majority of men who communicate with detectives do the "right thing" and either end communication or report the officer posing as an underage teen -- or parent offering up a child -- to authorities. But he won't even turn over those communications over, a possible violation of https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2020/119.01.
Judd says the records are exempt from state records laws because all of those men are still "under investigation," for they may surface in future stings. However, that indicates Judd - and other law enforcement leaders around Tampa Bay and Sarasota who have now used the same exemption to withhold records - have active investigations open on hundreds, if not thousands, of men who did nothing more than legally communicate with adults on legal websites.
The state's best-known lawman also showed little concern for due process during a Tuesday press conference to tout arrests since March in predator-style stings. He pointed to 132 mugshots on a giant posterboard and called the men "sexual predators."
But when 10 Investigates pointed out some of the men had already been cleared of charges, he said they were still fair game because "we have a very liberal - a very forgiving - criminal justice system."
That system may give defendants the benefit of doubt and assume "innocent until proven guilty;" but Judd makes sure the mugshots and stigma of being arrested for a sex crime haunts the men for the rest of their lives.
Critics point out many of the 1,200 men who are ultimately arrested in Florida and called "sexual predators" weren't preying or even looking for kids; many were seeking adults. The majority of them were in their teens or 20s at the time, and approximately 97 percent of the men had zero history of any sexual crimes or accusations.
"The biggest waste ever"
While countless West/Central Florida law enforcement agencies have gotten involved in the predator stings, including the sheriff's offices in Polk, Pinellas, Manatee, Citrus, and Sarasota, some agencies were noticeably absent at Judd's season-ending press conference.
Judd indicated the Hillsborough sheriff's office was a part of the operation, but was unable to attend. However, an HCSO spokesperson said the the agency has not been a participant.
While HCSO has a full-time "Internet Predator" unit, it has been reluctant to dedicate the huge resources needed for a "To Catch a Predator"-style sting. Instead, HCSO detectives are focused on offenders that are participating in "the proliferation of child porn," focusing on infants and young children who are exploited.
Hillsborough detectives say those type of arrests tend to yield better conviction rates, longer prison terms, and also provide law enforcement other leads on areas of crime like sex trafficking.
Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco has adopted similar priorities, saying his cybercrime unit is extremely proactive and focused on the areas of the worst abuse.
"Any way you can take a sexual predator off the street is tremendous," Nocco said. "Especially those that are online looking at child pornography ... they may do something physically against a young little kid."
Pasco also spends a lot of time and effort focused on teen-on-teen cybercrime because it can often be addressed before it ruins a person's life permanently.
Nocco was complimentary of ICAC, but says he's not a huge fan of the "To Catch a Predator"-style stings, saying the prosecutions often don't hold up.
"You spend your resources, you arrest somebody and then they walk right out. It's the biggest waste ever," Nocco said.
ICAC stings typically cost tens of thousands of dollars - sometimes close to $100,000 - in costs and officers' time, and that doesn't include the costs to prosecute and jail defendants.
10 Investigates found light plea sentences are sometimes offered because the suspects simply aren't considered dangerous offenders, contrary to Judd's claims.
Local law enforcement leaders also refused to turn over ICAC guidelines, claiming they were confidential investigative material. But a copy 10 Investigates obtained through court records indicates the online undercover stings, which typically don't involve real children or victims, are not even specified in the list of priorities agencies are supposed to target:
- A child is at immediate risk of victimization.
- A child is vulnerable to victimization by a known offender.
- A known suspect is aggressively soliciting a child(ren).
- Manufacturers, distributors or possessors of images that appear to be home photography with domiciled children.
- Aggressive, high-volume child pornography manufacturers or distributors who either are commercial distributors, repeat offenders, or specialize in sadistic images.
- Manufacturers, distributors, or solicitors involved in high-volume trafficking or belong to an organized child pornography ring that operates as a criminal conspiracy.
- Distributors, solicitors and possessors of images of child pornography.
- Any other form of child victimization.
The "other" victims
There may be no excuses for men who victimize children or those that look for underage victims online.
However, it's easier to make the case for the men who were swept up in the stings when they were looking online for adults.
"(My son) was stalked by law enforcement for three days," said the mother of a 22-year-old arrested in one of the stings. 10 Investigates is protecting the identity of her family.
The son was on Craiglist's personals pages, looking to meet other adults. He responded to a "no strings attached" ad for a 26-year-old woman. He says her story changed a few times, including the claim she was only 13, but he was skeptical.
He spoke on the phone to the undercover and she sent a photo, in which she was wearing a wedding ring. He said he was sure she was an adult (she was), so he made plans to meet her. When he arrived, he was arrested. He was later sentenced to two years of house arrest and a lifetime as a registered sex offender.
"He had a life of promise; he had an education," his mother said. "That's all been shot."
She says her son is paying the price of opportunistic lawmen.
PREVIOUS: Law enforcement may have entrapped men illegally (1/30/14)
Board-certified defense attorney Anthony Ryan says law enforcement officers have become experts in coercing innocent men into breaking the law.
"They are really good at subtly turning conversations and normal statements into sexual innuendo - whether or not the other side intended that," he said.
Ryan, who has a practice in Sarasota, just got a 23-year-old client's case dismissed in Manatee. A judge ruled deputies entrapped his client, writing that their tactics had "no place in modern day law enforcement."
Ryan adds that officers are pushing the boundaries further and further to keep up their arrest numbers and keep the federal ICAC grants flowing. And responding to legal ads on legal dating sites crosses the line.
"Once the low-hanging fruit is sort of gone, taken off the tree," Ryan said, "there's still pressure from high above to justify these actions."
Part 2: Stings not arresting whom you think they are
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