Fire this Seattle cop! |

Fire this Seattle cop!

William Wingate, 70, likes to go for walks. He uses a golf club as a cane. On July 9, 2014, SPD Officer Cynthia Whitlach pulled over her squad car where Wingate was waiting at a crosswalk, got out, and ordered him to put down his golf club. He asked why, and she said, “Because it’s a weapon.” When he disputed that she said, “you just swung it at me.” That’s a lie; he did nothing of the sort, and her own dashcam video proves it. But she arrested him, filed her police report, and he was charged with a misdemeanor and spent a night in jail. A municipal judge eventually threw out the charges against Wingate. Now, he’s is suing the city. But paying him a settlement won’t be enough; SPD should fire Whitlach.

But after investigating the incident, SPD brass only gave Whitlach verbal counseling. Are they kidding? That’s not even a slap on the wrist. Under RCW 9.62.010, maliciously arresting someone is a crime. Whitlach should be prosecuted, but won’t be. A lying cop who frames an innocent citizen should be kicked off the force, but she won’t be.

Many of us hoped things would change under Seattle’s new police chief, but it’s not off to a good start.

America’s policing is in crisis. Across the country, police are out of control. In many citizens’ minds the police are an enemy to be feared. This incident, unfortunately, is increasingly typical of how police behave toward the citizens they’re supposed to serve and protect. Especially minorities.

Mr. Wingate has never been in trouble with the law. He was minding his own business, in a place where he had a right to be, doing what he had a right to do, and wasn’t a threat to anyone. There was no incident until Officer Whitlach conjured one from thin air and whole cloth.

Did she racially profile him? That seems likely. I say this, not because racial profiling by police is common, but because Officer Whitlach was caught posting a racist comment on Facebook. (See screen grab image below.)

Whitlach also was one of the 123 Seattle cops who sued for the “right” to use more force against citizens than allowed under the new guidelines worked out between the Seattle Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice. Seeking redress in the courts is a right of every American, but this lawsuit is another symptom of the out-of-control mentality of police officers who want to be above the law, immune from the law, and answerable to no one. They have a right to their opinions, but they don’t have a right to be cops. In my opinion, this mentality makes them unsuitable for police work.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of our greatest Supreme Court justices, famously said, “Even a dog knows the difference between being kicked and being stumbled over.” Dogs have better judgment about when to bite than some cops. Whitlach was neither kicked nor stumbled over. Wingate was an innocent citizen who only wanted to go on his harmless way. He was kicked, not stumbled over; this wasn’t an honest mistake by a hardworking cop. Whitlach is a lying cop who filed a malicious false charge against an innocent citizen. Cops like her erode public trust in the police. Because that trust is essential and should be considered inviolable, the SPD should fire her.

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2015/01/28/seattle-police-jailed-elderly-man-for-walking-in-seattle-while-black

Virginia police dog mauls peaceful black female Army Reservist

A 21-year-old Army Reservist and college student was mauled by a police dog early Sunday after police were called to break up a street fight involving a crowd of about three dozen people. London Colvin, 21, who is black, admitted attending a party that turned rowdy but said she wasn’t involved in the fight and was leaving the scene with friends when they were accosted by police. According to witnesses, she on the ground and immobilized by two cops on top of her when the dog attacked her. The police defended their actions, saying they were using the dog for crowd control. Colvin’s injuries took 40 stitches and will require plastic surgery. I assume she’s going to sue the Norfolk police.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/28/1360798/-Police-Dogs-Turned-Loose-on-Restrained-University-Student?detail=email#

Photo: No, that’s not a civil rights marcher attacked by one of Sheriff Bull Connor’s dogs in 1963 (inset); it’s what London Colvin’s leg looked like last Sunday morning. Not much has changed in the South over a half century.

Bully cop arrests Public Defender for protecting her client

A San Francisco cop who is already a defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit — filed against him by a black cop who was racially profiled and arrested while off duty — arrested and handcuffed a public defender in court Tuesday for refusing to allow him to violate her client’s constitutional rights by photographing and questioning him without his attorney present.

“San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Jami Tillotson, an 18-year-veteran of the public defender’s office, was in court when she was notified that one of her clients was being interviewed and photographed by police in the hallway. She rushed out to intervene and notify her client they did not have to speak to police without an attorney present.”

Police Inspector Brian Stansbury then arrested and handcuffed her.

We all want our police to do a good job. We should support them when they do. But there are people who shouldn’t be cops, who don’t get it, and sometimes you feel like screaming and swearing at them. We gotta keep our eye on the ball, though, and stayed focused on what really matters, which is getting abusive cops removed from our police forces.

Police agencies across America have made bad hiring decisions. Probably the vast majority of cops know what their job is, and how to do it, but some cops are out of control. What was Stansbury thinking? The guy is power tripping. He’s dangerous and should be removed from law enforcement.

No doubt this attorney is going to sue him and the City of San Francisco, but legal judgments against police, even big ones, such as the multimillion-dollar settlements municipalities and their insurers are paying to families of innocent people gunned down by killer cops, don’t seem to be making a dent in the problem of police abuse of citizens. Generally speaking, police departments are protecting abusive cops, not getting rid of them. After all, it’s the taxpayers who get stuck with the legal payouts.

In an outrageous Arizona case, a deputy rifled a defense attorney’s files, in court, behind her back, which is a clear violation of attorney-client privilege and the defendant’s constitutional right to be represented by counsel. The judge found the deputy in contempt of court, and ordered him to publicly apologize, but then the deputy’s boss — the notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio — ordered him to refuse. The deputy, Joe Stoddard, followed Arpaio’s orders and ending up spending 10 days in jail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYqeIV3cS8o

Key West cops still deny fault after city’s insurer pays death claim

A healthy man dies after being arrested, and the city’s insurer pays the family $900,000, but Key West police still insist their cops did nothing wrong.

Charles Eimer, 61, was pulled over for a traffic infraction. He initially complied, but then took off in his vehicle and led police on a low-speed chase lasting a few minutes. When finally cornered, he surrendered and complied with police commands to lay on the ground, which happened to be a sandy beach. Officers then piled on, and lying face down, he either suffocated in the sand or suffered cardiac arrest from being tased. He was taken off life support a week later.

The police lied about what happened during the arrest. They said Eimers ran from them — one cop even claimed Eimers fought with the police — and then collapsed. But a bystander’s video blew that story apart. The police also denied tasing Eimers, but another eyewitness says they did, and then rolled him over and began chest compressions. Medics then transported him to a hospital.

But Eimers’ family wasn’t notified until 4 days later. Their explanation? “CBS reported that the detective who was responsible for notifying the family used the excuse that it was unnecessary because the patient ‘hadn’t died yet.’ ” Nice.

Then the cops tried to destroy key evidence — the body. When Eimers died, “the police hurriedly shipped his body off to a funeral home and asked for it to be cremated. This was not only against police protocol but also against the law, and was done behind the backs of the surviving family members.” But a state investigation found no wrongdoing, and a grand jury declined to indict anyone. Key West’s citizens’ review board has asked the FBI to investigate the incident for possible civil rights violations.

Meanwhile, the police chief criticized the settlement paid by the city’s liability insurer. “It’s a difficult decision for us to accept,” Key West Police Chief Donie Lee said in a statement. “We firmly contend that we did not use excessive force or cause the death of Mr. Eimers. This was a business decision by the insurance carrier.”

I have a different take. I think America’s police lack a moral compass and are out of control.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tentative-settlement-in-man-charles-eimers-death-during-florida-arrest/

http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/charles-eimers-key-west/

Video: Charles Eimers surrenders to Key West cops

Quiz: Which of these guys was shot by the police?

The black guy on the right was toted a toy gun in a Walmart store. The white guy on the left carried a loaded shotgun on the streets of Aurora, Colorado, and refused to identify himself to police.

If you guessed the guy on the left, you’re right! The guy on the right was only charged with misdemeanor obstruction.

Photos: John Crawford, 22, and Steve Lohner, 18.

Racist who made lynching remark to waitress charged with hate crime

Tommy Dean Gaa apparently didn’t like being served by an African-American waitress at a small-town diner. When she asked if he wanted white or wheat toast, he replied, “I’m prejudiced. I’ll take white,” then allegedly grabbed her arm and remarked about taking her to a place “where I hung your grandpa.” The local prosecutor charged Gaa with “felony assault motivated by discrimination.” He’s out of jail on $4,900 bond.

http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/news/article_65e740fe-a73b-11e4-a3cf-2fb417d36e2d.html

Photo: Police mugshot of accused racist Tommy Dean Gaa. What’s his problem?

Even Comcast fires rogue employees; why don’t police departments sack rogue cops?

Comcast has one of the worst reputations in American business. It consistently ranks very high on “most hated companies” lists. They’re notorious for stonewalling customers who try to cancel their service. Last week, Comcast made national news when a financially struggling Spokane family that tried switching to a less expensive plan found their billing statement changed from “Ricardo Brown” to “Asshole Brown.”

This came on top of bad publicity for other egregious actions, like putting a customer who called to cancel his service on hold for three hours. Recognizing a public relations disaster in the making, Comcast fired the employee, had a senior executive call the family to apologize, and erased their bill and promised to refund their previous two years of bills.

The family said of the Comcast executive, “He was very professional, very polite, very apologetic; he tried to turn it around.” Comcast issued a statement saying, “In every interaction we have with a customer, we need to show them respect, patience, and enthusiasm to provide them with an excellent experience.” In other words, they did exactly what you expect a private business to do when an employee goes off the deep end and gives the company a black eye, and the family says they’re satisfied.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/spokane-washington-woman-updates-on-comcast-ahole-debacle/

Virtually no one, except maybe police unions and racist rightwingers, is satisfied with how police departments in Ferguson, New York City, Cleveland, Albuquerque, and elsewhere have handled a spate of police shootings of unarmed (and mostly black) citizens. They’ve responded to public outcries with stonewalling, to peaceful demonstrations with military force, they’ve refused to discipline violent cops, and they’ve resisted change. The result is plunging public confidence in the police, which is absolutely due to the failure of the police establishment to address these issues, and of police unions who go out of their way to inflame tensions, further undermining public trust and confidence in police.

America’s police departments could learn from Comcast. They’ve forgotten who their “customers” are, i.e. the citizens they’ve sworn to serve and protect, not the police unions they habitually suck up to. They need to reform their policing practices and fire rogue cops. If they don’t, America’s police crisis will only worsen. If Comcast can shape up, why can’t they?

Postscript: I’ve never been a Comcast customer, and never will be, but despite that I’ve had run-ins with Comcast’s hardsell tactics. Over a period of several years, they sent me 1,000+ pieces of junk mail (that’s no exaggeration), and when I didn’t respond (why would I? I don’t own a TV that works), they dispatched salesmen to my door, who ignored the “No Soliciting” sign and kept coming back even after I told them I

Photo and video credits: The Stranger

Fire this Seattle cop!