Cop Block

In September of this year, Ed Stone, who is on the Board of Directors of Georgia Carry, had a telling encounter with a Fayetteville Georgia police officer.  The encounter began when Mr. Stone, a former cop himself and an attorney, made what he called the “universal gesture for slowing down” to Officer Terry Fortner as Fortner passed him going at a high rate of speed (71 in a 45 according to the dashcam) without his lights or sirens activated.  Apparently, Fortner didn’t take kindly to a mere mundane suggesting that he slow down.  He pulled Mr. Stone over and threatened him with arrest.  This is Mr. Stone’s description of the encounter.

I saw a police car approaching at 20-25 over, and I quickly checked the speedometer to make sure I was not unintentionally speeding. Nope. Speed was right at the limit. He must not have been after me.

The police car is about to pass me, and I make the universal gesture for slowing down, by pushing my hand down twice, and mouthing “slow down” when the officer looks at me.

He slams on his brakes, slows down too much, then speeds up beside me while rolling down his window. He does not look pleased.

“Slow down,” I repeat audibly.

I think he replied, “Are you serious?” before pulling in behind me and activating his lights.

So I stop and have my license in hand, and he comes up to my window, oddly untactical by placing his entire body right in the middle of the window. I ask why he pulled me over, and he listed some things.

I will not try to pretend this is verbatim or in exact chronological order, but the audio on the video should have an accurate record. He claimed I was disrupting traffic, obstructing an officer, and committing disorderly conduct, and that I was going to be arrested. I handed over my license. He asked if I still lived in Senoia, and I confirmed that I did. He asked something else, and I told him I would not be answering any questions without a lawyer present.

I do not remember exactly when, but I told him that I believed he had pulled me over with no reasonable suspicion of a crime, and I asked for my license back and for him to release me.

He also informed me that he was “on an alarm call.”

I told him that I hoped his audio and video was on, and he assured me that it was.

He went back to his car while I waited several minutes, careful to keep my left hand out the window and my right on the seat back and otherwise not move so that he would not later claim any furtive movements.

When he returned, he handed me my license and a business card with City Ordinance 62-11 Police Interfering with written on the back. He started on a rant, but since I had my license back, I asked if he was continuing to detain me.

“Yes!” He pulled the door open and ordered me out of the car.

There was not time to roll up the window, retrieve my keys, and lock it. So much for that plan. I did not have my gun on my belt, because I was coming from church. Officer Fortner saw my 10mm on the floorboard and hesitated for less than a second before ignoring it.

I walked behind my bumper to make sure that I was on video in case this joker attacked me. I folded my hands in front of me to make sure that I did not have any movements that he could claim were hostile or threatening. I faced his windshield.

“Have you ever been to jail?”

No answer.

He repeated the question, and I neither moved nor answered.

At some point he started telling me that he had been trying to let me go. I told him that I asked him if I was still being detained, and his answer was “yes.”

“You interrupted me!”

“Am I free to go?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you,” I said, as I immediately turned on my heel and headed for my truck door.

The dashcam video backs up Mr. Stone’s description of what occurred.

Officer Fortner clearly demonstrates the power trip that many officers seem to exhibit.  His own words are telling.  He asks Mr. Stone “what causes you to believe that you have the right to flag a police officer and tell me to slow down?”  Officer Fortner seems to believe that he should be able to be as reckless as he wants,  and you the slave should just shut up and mind your own business.  He might as well have said, “See this shiny piece of metal on my chest? It means I can do whatever the hell I want to do.  How dare you suggest otherwise?  You are just a lowly citizen.”

Officer Fortner goes on to tell Mr. Stone that he was en route to an alarm call.  If it was true that he was responding to an alarm call, an apparent emergency that required him to go almost 30 mph over the speed limit, why did he feel that he had the time to stop Mr. Stone for over 8 minutes  in order to chastise him for a simple gesture?

Mr. Stone should be commended for how well he handled the officer’s power trip.  He did exceptionally well and did just about everything right.  He did file a complaint and Officer Fortner’s superior found that his “conduct was unbecoming” and that “his actions will be corrected through Department disciplinary measures.”  I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t make me feel any better.  “Department disciplinary measures” are unlikely to change the mindset that made this officer feel he could detain an individual for the horrible crime of expecting an officer to follow the laws that he himself expects others to follow.

Hat tip to jasonpye.com for the story.

According to the article

Sources said that after the brief pursuit, Andrew Collins was violently beaten by the officers, who were named by police as Paul Bauer and Kevin Randolph. The September 5 incident in the 4900 block of South Lamar Street was recorded by a dash-mounted camera in the patrol car.

Sources who have seen the tape say it is graphic. Police said it would not be released to the public until the criminal investigation is complete.

In the police report filed by the two officers, they say only that Collins “was taken into custody” and that he was “treated and released” by Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedics at the scene.

“In the interest of maintaining the public’s trust, Chief Brown has directed that this matter be given high investigative priority,” the police statement said.

Benton Ridge, Ohio:  This is not the complete video. The person who was shot is claiming that he was beaten after the video stops. The department says they can not release the complete video because of an internal investigation.

WARNING VERY GRAPHIC

Here are some comments made by police officers on what they think about what happened in this video.

1. Just too bad that none of the rounds were fatal. That would have been deserving.
2. Oh boy! another one bites the dust.I don’t know what the hell happened there, but Why don’t these assholes just comply with the lawful orders and pull over and do what they are told to do.When you run, and disobey. Well this is the end result.
3. Basicly he brought his hands up as if using a two hand shooting grip. F$K him and his attorney, he should consider himself lucky he isnt dead and call it a learning experience.

According to the Courier

Sprague was hit in the hip by one of the shots and remains hospitalized in Lima. The two officers who fired their weapons are on administrative leave pending internal investigations.

The 96-second clip of a video taken from a police car’s dashboard camera also raises as many questions as it answers about what transpired the night Scott Sprague was shot following a pursuit. That’s why the rest of the video should be released as soon as possible.

Hancock County Prosecutor Mark Miller released the video Tuesday, but said additional footage was being held back since the investigation is continuing.

That, of course, will make some people wonder what might have happened after Sprague was shot.

Sprague’s attorney, Robert Kehoe of Wapakoneta, claims there is more to the story. His client claims he was roughed up by officers after being shot.

“Somebody is covering something up,” Kehoe said. Miller, as is common on matters under investigation, has declined further comment on the case.

Talk about a double standard as far as reckless driving goes. I guess as long as it’s a police officer driving  it’s OK and traffic laws do not apply.

From Detroit Action News:

Life just isn’t the same any more for 87-year-old Willie Harper. Two years ago he was a vibrant man, constantly cruising around the neighborhood on his bicycle. Now, the bike is beached in the dining room, and Harper needs a motorized scooter to get around.

Too much pain from a torn ligament in his left knee to walk or bike, from an injury caused when Harper was hit by a car. But not just any car, an unmarked Detroit police car.

In 2000. the same Lieutenant Monique Patterson was charged with four felony charges stemming from an incident in which she pulled a gun in a bar.  She was acquitted of these charges (big surprise) but was suspended for 45 days without pay.  At about this same time she was PROMOTED to lieutenant.  Anybody still think cops are held accountable?

A cop killed a woman while racing his car and speeding. This cop also drove faster than 90 mph at least 90 times in the month before McKay’s death and reached 118 mph twice on Interstate 595 and 114 mph once on A1A,  where the speed limit is 30 mph. He got less of a sentence than Lindsay Lohan’s 90 day jail sentence for showing up late to court.

A Broward County jury acquitted Alexander Griss last month of vehicular homicide and convicted him instead of misdemeanor reckless driving.

What sickens me the most is the judge would not admit relevant evidence.

“What jurors did not learn was that Griss had a history of driving way above the speed limit.”

WHY IS THIS NOT ON EVERY NEWS CHANNEL 24 HOURS A DAY? Because it’s a cop and they are here to protect us protect themselves.

If it makes you feel better the judge gave him a $250 fine and 100 hours of community service for murdering this woman. The woman in a robe suggested his service hours be spent speaking to youth about the dangers of driving too fast.

Wow way to go, judge; if I killed someone, “Life in jail” would probably be the words coming out of your mouth.

Judge Ilona Holmes, I hope you hear the victim’s daughter’s words for the rest of your life:

“I don’t have a mom anymore,” she said. “I was 19 when my mom died. I have to live with this for the rest of my life.”

FULL STORY

From NBC:

A New York City police officer is in hot water over the major mishandling of a minor accident.

Officer Louis Ramos of the 84th Precinct was arrested and suspended Tuesday after being charged with leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving.

The arrest follows a June 14 incident in which Ramos and his partner ran into a cyclist with their patrol car.

According to the Daily News, Ramos and fellow officer Paris Anderson were driving against traffic when they neared the intersection of Sands and Jay Streets in Brooklyn and struck the unnamed bicyclist.

The biker was launched forward over his handlebars.

He suffered a broken hand, cuts and bruises.

Ramos, a 19-year veteran, and Anderson, a six-year veteran, can be seen on surveillance video pulling the rider onto the sidewalk and giving him tissues to clean the cuts and abrasions on his face, arms and legs.

They then returned to their vehicle and left the scene.

The Daily News reported that Anderson and Ramos said they thought the man just fell off his bicycle after being startled by the patrol car’s lights and sirens, but it was unclear what the officers were responding to.

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office has charged Ramos with assault, leaving the scene of an accident with injury and reckless driving.

Officer Alexander Griss, 26, was accused of slamming into Brown’s mother with his Fort Lauderdale police cruiser as he raced down Federal Highway at speeds of up to 92 mph on June 19, 2006.

Investigators said they found 15 instances of Griss driving faster than 110 mph, mostly on interstate highways. He reached 118 mph twice on Interstate 595 and 114 mph once on A1A, where the speed limit is 30 to 35 mph, records state.

In the month before McKay’s death, Griss drove faster than 90 mph at least 90 times on various roads while on and off duty, according to the department’s report.

Fort Lauderdale police fired him on Aug. 20, 2007, after finding in an internal investigation that he regularly drove faster than 100 mph both on and off duty in his patrol car.

A Broward jury trying a former city police officer charged with vehicular homicide chose Wednesday to convict him instead of reckless driving, a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 90 days in jail.

Althea Tobias McKay, 39, of Lauderdale Lakes, was crossing the street at Southeast 21st Street and Federal Highway about 5:20 a.m., when Griss’ vehicle hit her, authorities said. She was thrown 112 feet.

Griss had just gone off duty and was racing down 26 blocks in a “path of destruction” with a “wanton disregard for life,” prosecutor Spencer Multack said in closing arguments Tuesday.

What jurors did not learn is that Griss had a history of driving at excessive speeds.

Full Story Here