Police Brutality vs Police Community

[jdaniele]

So this is a big subject right now so I figured why not start another thread. Again, first off this thread is for FACTS on the subject or for sighting articles by any credible source. Local news and nation is totally ok as long as it's backed data. You can state your opinion as long as its not offensive. Admins can and will remove anything that isn't following this.

[jdaniele]

Today I found saw https://force.nj.com/ today and figured I'd take a look. I love transparency more than anything. It helps the public from the "bad apples" and helps the officers defend themselves at the same time.

[jdaniele]

Today I found saw https://force.nj.com/ today and figured I'd take a look. I love transparency more than anything. It helps the public from the "bad apples" and helps the officers defend themselves at the same time.

A reply from The New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association has been released on this very article just a few hours ago.

https://twitter.com/NJSPBA/status/1068192396024918016
http://www.njspba.com/news/read.aspx?id=306

Quote is only page 1

A story today from NJ Advance Media (nj.com) on law enforcement use of force will look to develop controversy and discontent by providing data with little context about the use of force officers are required to use. Police officers face an unparalleled challenge of saving lives, restoring peace, and bringing criminals to justice. The situations they face are dynamic and involve split second decisions. They are not done within the safety and security of a newsroom. The actions they take can mean life or death. In 2016 alone over 1,800 New Jersey Police Officers were assaulted while doing the job of protecting the communities they serve. The number of assaults on officers increased 8% and contempt for law enforcement is a growing trend nationwide. Often thanks to irresponsible and half-written articles like the one released today.

Yes, law enforcement is permitted to use force, and newspapers buy ink in barrels. No revelations there. Unfortunately print media has all but disappeared and has been replaced with online news. When you can't count newspapers anymore to tout your commercial success you have to generate "clicks" to sell advertising at top dollar. Regretfully, that has led to the demise of legitimate journalism in this country.

I knew where this "investigative report" was going the moment I saw the teaser headings and salacious preview video. It worked a few months ago for another NJ news organization so why not give it a crack here at nj.com. They have provided you with a clickable database for watercooler banter today, nothing more. Like TMZ, Inside Edition and the like they are giving you a suggestive bit of sensational data to keep an unsuspecting public engaged. Regretfully and unfortunately they have only told half the story. True journalists at least attempt to tell an entire story.

PUBLIC PDF LINK (http://www.njspba.com/web_content/pdf/events/2018-11-29-Use-of-Force-Statement.pdf)

**Attached PDF to this post.

[jdaniele]

The NJ State PBA is coming off almost spiteful and bitter.

https://twitter.com/NJSPBA/status/1068538022667399168

On the @njdotcom Use of Force report this is one of the top officers who used force in his department. Ask him how many injuries he suffered fighting violent criminals. Officer Josh Vadell is a #hero whose story needs to be heard.

[jdaniele]

Wow an amazing place to find fallen officers. Glad to see this exists to remember them. No one should be forgotten in my opinion.

https://www.odmp.org/

https://www.odmp.org/search/browse/new-jersey

[jdaniele]

Today I found saw https://force.nj.com/ today and figured I'd take a look. I love transparency more than anything. It helps the public from the "bad apples" and helps the officers defend themselves at the same time.

So far one of the arguments I'm reading is, the report doesn't talk about why force was used. This isn't true at all because it talks about who the officer was, why force was used, the ethnicity of the officer and subject. It also shows stats on that town and the ratios of forced used by race.

[jdaniele]

I just saw a report of a NJ State officer where the driver was claiming to be assaulted.

NJ.com Link

Back in November 2016, Trooper Castro pulled Harrison over as she was driving south on I-287. Castro told her he pulled her over because she passed him on the right shoulder and because he didn’t like the way she was wearing her seatbelt, according to the lawsuit.

During the stop, Harrison called 911 to request a sergeant come to the scene because, she said, she was alarmed by Castro’s demeanor and his failure to stop other cars that had also passed his car on the right. Audio recordings from the 911 call revealed Harrison did request a sergeant, and Castro can be heard telling her that she did not need to call his sergeant.

On Castro’s mobile video recorder, Harrison can be heard saying “I’m scared,” “I’m extremely scared,” and “I’m calling for help because I’m scared.”

Harrison said she got out her license, registration and insurance card but Castro would not take them and then said he was arresting her for not providing those same documents.

Next, the woman said the trooper dragged her from her car, dropped her to the ground and slammed her head into the concrete, stuck his knee in her back, handcuffed her and dragged her across the ground to his patrol cruiser.

Harrison was sitting in the back of the patrol car crying when Castro yanked her arm, told her to “shut the fu-- up" and pushed her head to the floor, according to the lawsuit.

During the violent encounter, Harrison can be heard on the radio transmission screaming asking for help, saying she was dizzy and could not breathe.

Upon using the https://force.nj.com website I found this officer only had this once incident. It doesn't say this exactly but the other data matches so I would have to assume.

One could assume this is a single act based on the officers record and the driver was mad about being pulled over but you ultimately only know what the video had to offer.

EDIT: Fixed grammer

[jdaniele]

"Officer tackles 2 teen girls to ground over video recording"

https://abcnews.go.com/US/north-carolina-police-officer-investigation-slamming-teen-sisters/story?id=59766723

So it appears like the officers pulled over a car for a legal reason and an arrest was made for the possession of an illegal substance. So far sounds completely correct in my opinion. As for the video taping the officer felt they needed to take possession of the video recording devices (in this case multiable cell phones). The officer called the phones "evidence" which isn't technically wrong.

A North Carolina sheriff's deputy was placed on leave after a video emerged of him slamming two teenage girls to the ground.

The Harnett County Sheriff’s Office said it placed the officer on administrative leave on Tuesday, a day after video surfaced on Facebook showing the girls being wrestled to the ground during an arrest, according to Durham ABC affiliate WTVD.

The sheriff’s office did not name the officers involved, but said the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate the case.

The issue I find odd is why was the office placed on leave only after it went public. If it wasn't legal why wasn't it done right away?

The disturbing part is people being arrested just for filming:

The 17-year-old said she began recording because the officer tried to arrest her 14-year-old sister for filming the encounter. It is legal to film police officers in North Carolina, as long as it's a public space and you are not interfering with police work.

"Yo! What are you doing right now, she didn't do anything," the older teen is heard saying in the video as an officer grabbed her sister by the neck and wrestled her to the ground. "Why are you doing that? What did she do?"

At least that's how it seems. ABC sites https://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/en/news/you-have-right-film-police for proof that in North Carolina is it very legal to do this.

I wasn't able to find a record for use of force for this department (at this time) so I can't see if this was a pattern of aggressive behavior but for the most part it seems like a legal arrest followed by illegal arrests.