Shots In The Back, Children Tasered: DOJ Details Excessive Force By Chicago Police

[pauldun170]

Fleeing, unarmed people shot in the back. Mentally ill men and women, not suspected of any crime, tasered while they lay on the ground. People already detained or incapacitated who were beaten, with police accounts falsely describing the force as necessary.

"In the video, officers can be seen aggressively grabbing the woman, who was being arrested for a prostitution offense, throwing her to the ground, and surrounding her. After she is handcuffed, one officer tells another to 'tase her ten f——— times.' Officers call her an animal, threaten to kill her and her family, and scream, 'I'll put you in a UPS box and send you back to wherever the f—- you came from' while hitting the woman — who was handcuffed and on her knees. Officers can then be seen discovering a recording device and discussing whether they can take it. Supervisors approved this use of force and the officers were not disciplined until after the woman complained to IPRA and produced surveillance video of the event."

"Black youth told us that they are routinely called 'n——r,' 'animal,' or 'pieces of shit' by CPD officers. A 19-year-old black male reported that CPD officers called him a 'monkey.' Such statements were confirmed by CPD officers. One officer we interviewed told us that he personally has heard coworkers and supervisors refer to black individuals as monkeys, animals, savages, and 'pieces of shit.' "
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...doj-details-excessive-force-by-chicago-police

 

[Brainonska511]

I wonder what potential AG Sessions would say about this. Perhaps something about maligning the police over a few bad apples....

 

[Commodus]

Waiting for the "Blue Lives Matter" camp to interject and insist that it's tolerable because officers somehow have it much worse, that racism is over, and any non-white who complains is just an anarchic looter who must be silenced forever.

 

[FIVR]

I saw this on CNN this morning. They had their resident "law enforcement expert" comment on it, and his basic point was: "This (the DOJ investigation) is good because Chicago PD need more equipment and obviously they should pay them better, but it's too bad that these good officers have their agency dragged through the mud because of a few bad apples. The truth is that CPD are afraid to do their jobs because there is a war on police officers right now. Police deaths are up 11% year over year, so it's only natural that CPD has had some issues. Sadly the real problem is the residents of Chicago, the city is overrun with criminals and cops are afraid to take action!"


The "law enforcement expert" said he had no doubt that incoming AG Jeff Sessions would get a handle on the situation.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Chicago police chose to use Tasers on:

• A woman in a mental health crisis — not suspected of any crime — who failed to follow commands and "stiffened."
• A man suspected of petty theft. (He hit his head and died after a Taser was used on him.)
• An "unarmed, naked, 65-year-old-woman who had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia."
• A juvenile who fled after he was caught painting graffiti.
• A 16-year-old girl who flailed her arms after she was asked to leave school for having a cell phone.
• A 14-year-old girl in a fight.

Other than the first case, none of these seem to be clearly unjustified either.

 

[shortylickens]

News is saying crime rate rose:

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/chica...murders-spike-data-shows/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab0g

 

[chucky2]

D@mn, I wonder if I lost a few lbs if I could get a job at CPD?!

 

[pauldun170]

Might as well drop this here even though it could be its own thread

Lawrence Crosby, a black man and an engineering doctoral candidate at Northwestern University, was fixing his car in a suburb outside Chicago on Oct. 10, 2015, when a woman passing by called police.
“Hi, somebody’s trying to break into, somebody’s trying to break into a car,” the woman told the dispatcher, according to Fox 32. “I think the person just got into the car.”
In case you missed it, Crosby was fixing his own car and then got into his own car and pulled off. The woman followed Crosby, giving updates to police. Evanston police arrived on the scene around 7 p.m. and ordered Crosby out of his vehicle. Dashcam video of Crosby’s arrest was released Wednesday by Evansville police. The video shows Crosby exiting his vehicle with his hands raised before cops take him down and begin punching him.

Later, when officers learned that Crosby was the registered owner of the car and had a valid license, they decided to charge him with disobeying a police officer and resisting arrest

http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/local/228831926-story
http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/evanston-police-sued-for-false-arrest-dash-video-released/
http://www.theroot.com/how-a-nosey-woman-got-a-doctoral-candidate-beaten-and-a-1791178348

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Might as well drop this here even though it could be its own thread

http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/local/228831926-story
http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/evanston-police-sued-for-false-arrest-dash-video-released/
http://www.theroot.com/how-a-nosey-woman-got-a-doctoral-candidate-beaten-and-a-1791178348

Stories like this are why stories of cops being killed don't bother me in the slightest.

 

[MongGrel]

Stories like this are why stories of cops being killed don't bother me in the slightest.

You seem to have a low empathy level for anything in general, so this is not surprising.

 

[Commodus]

Police dying in the line of honest duty should always bother people -- it's never happy to see someone suffer while trying to make the world right.

With that said: there's something particularly reprehensible about officers who abuse their authority and participate in systemic racism (intentionally or unconsciously). They're picking on people who don't pose a real threat; they're serving their fears and prejudices instead of the public. It's bullying and a betrayal of the values they're supposed to uphold.