Police Brutality
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Video Surfaces of Cop Apparently Kicking Man in Head; Officer Cleared by Internal Investigation
Video from May 2017 has surfaced showing what appears to be an officer kicking a robbery suspect in the face as he kneeled and spread his hands out on the ground in front of police. Ravon Boyd had led officers on a foot chase after a strong-arm robbery, for which he has since been convicted…
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Citing Costs, Police Departments Drop Use of Body Cameras
Over the past several years, police departments across the country have equipped themselves with body cameras in an attempt to increase accountability and mend relationships with communities who cited a lack of trust between themselves and the officers charged with protecting them. But many departments—particularly those in smaller jurisdictions—are either dumping or pressing pause on…
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This Is Not Justice: Former Chicago Police Officer Sentenced to 6 Years, 9 Months for the Murder of Laquan McDonald
As if we needed more proof of just how much the criminal justice system in the United States does not value the lives of black people, a judge in Chicago gave us a glaring example. The former police officer who murdered 17-year-old Laquan McDonald will serve just 6 years and 9 months for his crime.…
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Police Disciplinary Records in California Are Now Public Information
A new California law that went into effect on Jan. 1 makes it possible for the public to get records on law enforcement officers that up until now were kept secret by their departments. Now that those agencies are required to give that information up, the American Civil Liberties Union is taking full advantage—starting with…
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Here’s How Many People Police Killed in 2018
In March 2018, cops in Sacramento, California, fired at least 20 bullets at 22-year-old Stephon Clark, killing him. He was unarmed and running away. In June 2018, a Pittsburgh police officer killed 17-year-old Antwon Rose, shooting him in the back. He was unarmed and fleeing. In November, a Hoover, Alabama, police officer killed 22-year-old Emantic…
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Civil Rights Lawsuit Accuses California Sheriff’s Deputies of Chipping Woman’s Tooth, Splitting Her Lip
What is it with law enforcement agencies in Sacramento, Calif., and their reported propensity for injuring, maiming, and even killing those citizens they attempt to arrest, book or detain in custody? In a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Dec. 20, 27-year-old Davisha Mitchell accuses two Sacramento sheriff’s deputies of smashing her head into a wall…
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Another 14-Year-Old Slammed to Ground by Police Officers in School, This Time Over a Candy Bar
I try very hard not to start out my posts with “I just wrote this shit,” because I want to make it clear that each case of brutality happening to a minor leads to yet another child traumatized by flagrantly unacceptable police behavior. But I just wrote this shit. According to WGCL-TV, a 14-year-old black…
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2 Former Louisiana Cops Indicted for Slamming 14-Year-Old on Ground, Into Desk
And people wonder why we don’t want more police officers in schools. Surveillance footage from October reveals two then-officers slamming a 14-year-old boy onto the ground and into a desk after he tried to walk away from administrators and out of a school office. In the video, former Officer Anthony Dupre handles the student like…
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Police Officers Who Manhandled Jazmine Headley and Her 1-Year-Old Baby Will Not Be Punished
If you’re a New York police officer, apparently manhandling women and violently ripping a 1-year-old baby from his mother’s arms isn’t a punishable offense. As according to Politico, an NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau review into Jazmine Headley’s violent arrest last week in Brooklyn found no wrongdoing on the part of the NYPD officers involved. “The…
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Tennessee Detective Caught Beating a Handcuffed Black Man Still Collecting Checks on Desk Duty
A white Hamilton County, Tennessee, detective caught on camera punching and kicking a black man in handcuffs is now on desk duty as police launch an investigation into the case. Video of the Dec. 3 incident captured by a neighbor shows Detective Blake Kilpatrick beating 24-year-old Charles Toney, punching him in the ribs and face…