AS TOLD FROM A COPS PERSPECTIVE

Former Baltimore cop who has since blown the whistle on abuse and corruption he witnessed on the force and called the prosecutor in the Mike Brown case corrupt.

Michael Wood, who was a police officer for 11 years before retiring with an injury last year, blasted onto the national scene last month when he began tweeting illegal and violent things he saw his colleagues do to citizens.

On Wednesday, Wood went on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast to discuss law enforcement. When discussing the need for due process in police shootings, Wood called Robert McCulloch, the prosecutor who led the investigation into the shooting by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson of unarmed black teenager Mike Brown, a criminal.

“He’s a criminal. He criminally covered up that indictment. There’s no way around it,” Wood said. “That’s what they did and no one seemed to care.”

When asked to explain by Rogan, Wood pointed to a saying that “you can indict a ham and cheese sandwich.”

The job of the prosecutor when pursuing an indictment is to “select the evidence that will get the charge,” he said.

“So the way that system actually is, is if there’s four of us in the room right now, if three of us think he did it and one doesn’t, we don’t even listen to the one that doesn’t,” Wood explained. “If you’re not a reliable witness you don’t even come in for the indictment.”

Instead, McCulloch selected unreliable witnesses that tainted it, when he should have brought in evidence and witnesses that were consistent, Wood said.

“And you would have had an indictment. And you would have had a trial,” Wood said.

The former cop said he believed Wilson ultimately would have been exonerated because from a law enforcement perspective, the shooting was justified.

“We would have at least heard the case. The problem is, the police walk away with nothing. That’s why when you see the indictments — South Carolina, there was no uprising,” he said.

In June, a grand jury indicted Michael Slager, a white South Carolina police officer, for murder. Slager was caught on video shooting unarmed Walter Scott in the back while he ran away.





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Similarly, six police officers were charged by Maryland Attorney General Marilyn Mosby in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died of serious injuries while being transported in their police van.

Part of the problem with policing, he said, is that officers are ingrained with fear early on and feel everyone is a threat.

“They run around with fear, and they will shoot in a heartbeat because they are so afraid,” he said.

In a June interview with the Washington Post, Wood described an awakening he had while working as a police officer in which he realized he was part of a system that was biased and wrong. While doing surveillance, Wood discovered how much he had in common with people the police department often targeted.

“You start to see the cycle of how these kids get put in the system at a young age, often for doing nothing wrong, and how that limits their options, which pushes them into selling drugs or other crime,” he said. “You start to see that they never had a chance.”

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Blogger-In-Chief
Roger West

STAY CLASSY NYPD - SOCIETIES RULES, CONSIDERATIONS BE DAMNED

POLICE BANNER DEFYING NYPD MAYOR

Stay Classy NYPD:

Most people respect the police, including myself, but to see how quick some of them can turn into a horde of tea party type whiners - over taking some criticism for bad conduct committed by their fellow brethren, is really something that should not be done, especially by adults who are sworn to protect and serve.

Are police officers supposed to be immune from all criticisms and honest observations about some them because it will hurt their feelings? Are they supposed to be granted privileges and immunity because they wear a badge?

49 officers of the law were slain this year while dawning the blue uniform, in the same breath, every 28.8 hours an African-American is killed by a uniformed officer.

If they are so angry and feel this is justified, then why are they hiding behind the cloak of anonymity when asked who paid for the banner?

Plane Flying Over NYC: "De Blasio, Our Backs Have Turned to You"

Friday morning, a small plane flew over New York City with a banner attached that read: "De Blasio, Our Backs Have Turned to You." The sign, a reference to some NYPD officers protesting against Mayor de Blasio following the shooting deaths of Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos last weekend, was the work of a "large and unified group of current and retired NYC Police Officers, Detectives, & Supervisors," according to blogger and former cop John Cardillo.

Ashley Chalmers, the owner of the plane, told the New York Daily News that the people who rented it "wish to remain anonymous," though Cardillo said he was contacted by the NYPD group on Friday and asked to release a statement. The statement, via Cardillo's blog, is below.

As a large and unified group of current and retired NYC Police Officers, Detectives, & Supervisors, we are outraged by the mayor's incendiary rhetoric, and for facilitating the current hostile climate towards the NYPD. We understand that the department and even our own unions can only go so far in their public condemnation of the mayor as to not irreparably damage the working relationship with the city, or future contract negotiations.

"It is our opinion that Mayor de Blasio's dangerous and irresponsible comments about his and his wife's concern for their son's safety at the hands of the NYPD fueled the flames that led to civil unrest, and potentially to the deaths of PO Wenjian Liu and PO Rafael Ramos, as well as the continued threats against NYPD personnel. The Mayor shows us no respect, and encourages the public to follow his lead.

"Mayor de Blasio clearly doesn't understand nor care that every man and woman of the NYPD would give their life to protect his son, his family, and every other resident of New York City. Tragically, two of our Finest made that ultimate sacrifice days before Christmas.

"We no longer have confidence in Mayor de Blasio, nor in his ability to lead New York City and promote the values that both the NYPD and the good law abiding citizens of the city hold dear. Mayor de Blasio turned his back on us long before we turned our backs on him."

If the mayor, telling his "bi-racial" son - warning his son, that probably in his young life, that a NYPD officer will indeed stop and frisk him unwarranted, that he will be pulled and found guilty of driving a vehicle while black - this is a 100 percent probability, and somehow this offends you as an officer of the law - then might I suggest another career for you!

Mayor DeBlasio should be held as a poor parent, had he not had this communiqué with his son.

A-typical of a human under fire [no pun intended] - do they always deflect from the problem, and point somewhere else.

NYPD, the mayor is not the fault of these two slain officers, nor is Obama, nor is the protesting movement of bad policing tactics in this country, this was a "lone wolf" [what we call white people who kill with guns], a mentally ill human with 21 registered crimes reported by the system who was allowed to get a gun. A country who fails its mentally ill and a country with way to many guns [over 400 million to date]. This is your problem NYPD, any other way you spin this is pure immaturity and ignorance on your part.

It has been my experience that employees who lash out at their boss, these are typically the ones who do the worst kind of job.

This story is more than a classless act by NYPD, this is defiance in the face of their civilian authorities and the people who pay them, the tax payers. Essentially a police state. They are responsible to no one, they investigate themselves. As a result, they hold themselves above all criticism and they consider those who question the consequences of their military style occupation policing the enemy - as we aren't intelligent enough to see society from their lens. Because they have voluntarily chosen a career field that requires them to put their lives and safety on the line, they play by no ones rules but their own ... societies rules and considerations be damned.

RELATED: How Guns make police less safe, their jobs more difficult, and communities less trusting.

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

DARREN WILSON VIDEO SHOWS NO EVIDENCE OF "EYE SOCKET FRACTURE" OR ANY OTHER INJURIES FOR THAT MATTER

All the hyperbole over whether Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson had a "broken eye socket" from his "brief" encounter with Michael Brown - all claims can now be quashed as unequivocally false!

Below is Darren Wilson, his union lawyer Greg Kloeppel, and two police officers leave the Ferguson police station for the hospital at 2:08 p.m. on Aug. 9, the day Wilson shot Michael Brown Jr.

THE MURDERER JUST AFTER THE KILL




WILSON RETURN BACK TO STATION




The brief encounter with Brown happened at 12:02 noon time, the first video above with Wilson is exactly two hours and six minutes removed from the killing. Either Darren Wilson cleans up very well or his healing powers are immaculate.

Often if a story smells like shit, it is shit.

NFTOS

Blogger -In-Chief

Roger West

WHAT RACIAL PROFILING?

Ferguson, Missouri has erupted in anger after Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot to death by a police officer on Saturday.

Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis -- as of the 2000 census, the ninth most segregated city in America -- was mostly white until school desegregation, when white families moved further out.

Today, the town of 21,000 people is two-thirds black, yet the town's leadership and police force are mostly white.


MADDOW ON THE FERGUSON POLICE PROBLEM




The Los Angeles Times surfaced some alarming statistics about racial divisions in the town that help to put that anger in context:

Ferguson’s police chief and mayor are white. Of the six City Council members, one is black. The local school board has six white members and one Latino. Of the 53 commissioned officers on the police force, three are black, said Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson.

Blacks in Ferguson are twice as likely to be stopped by police as whites, according to an annual report on racial profiling by the Missouri attorney general. Last year, 93% of arrests following car stops in Ferguson were of blacks. Ninety-two percent of searches and 80% of car stops involved blacks, the report said.

That report also showed that police were less likely to find contraband on the black drivers they stopped. (Police found contraband on 22 percent of black residents they stopped, compared to 34 percent of white residents.)

There have been conflicting accounts of what happened the night Brown was shot. A witness reports that when an officer opened his car door, it hit Brown and then bounced back on the officer, enraging him. He grabbed Brown and shot him. Brown and a friend ran and the officer then shot Brown in the back. Brown stopped, turned around and put his hands up, before the officer shot him an additional several times at close range, killing him.

Residents told the LA Times that these dynamics contribute to the "racial powder keg" that's developed in Ferguson. (Read the full report here).

It's time to wrangle the police in, its time that all police be suited with cameras with microphones, its time to hold police accountable, and it's time to stop the "police state" that's occurring across our country!

Rachel Maddow's clip should be a stark reminder that, with regards to race and police, we have a long way to go. It's bazaar that in circa 2014, in America, that we are confronted with these types of actions from the police, whether it be Michael Brown, or Eric Garner, this shit has to stop!

Michael Brown was killed for walking in the street, Eric Garner was killed for selling illegal cigarettes, what the fuck is wrong with our police? 

NFTOS

Editor-In-Chief

Roger West

TWENTY FOUR PERCENT OF BLACKS EXPERIENCE POLICE UNFAIRNESS

Cross posted from thinkprogress

Almost one in four young black males have experienced recent unfair treatment by the police, according to a newly released Gallup Survey. Among black males between ages 18 and 35, 24 percent said they recalled an instance within the last 30 days in which they were treated unfairly during dealings with the police. For all African Americans, that number was 17 percent. Here’s Gallup’s breakdown by category:

Twenty-four percent of African Americans also reported unfair treatment at a store, while 16 percent reported mistreatment in a restaurant, bar, theater, or other entertainment place within the last 30 days.

Police targeting of young black men has drawn new attention with the acquittal of George Zimmerman, but it is not a new phenomenon. Reports of police mistreatment of African Americans reached their peak in 2004, when 25 percent of all blacks surveyed by Gallup reported police mistreatment within a one-month period. In 2011, the New York Police Department made more stops of young black men than the number of young black men in all of New York City. Personal experiences have prompted even some of the most prominent and powerful African Americans to advise their sons on avoiding mistreatment by police, including former Reading Rainbow host Levar Burton, and Attorney General Eric Holder. After a jury found Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman not guilty, MSNBC Host Melissa Harris Perry said she was relieved when her ultrasound revealed that she was pregnant with a girl because of the adversity she feared a boy would face. “I will never forget the relief I felt — I’m a sexual assault survivor — and yet the relief I felt at my 20-week ultrasound when they told me it was a girl,” she said. “And last night I thought, I live in a country that makes me wish my sons away, makes me wish that they don’t exist because it’s not safe.”

What is most remarkable about the Gallup poll is that it captures only unfair treatment by police within a random 30-day time period — a duration during which most Americans probably have no interaction at all with police.




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STAFF WRITER

JUSTICE FOR TRAYVOM MARTIN

Trayvon killing eyewitness on CNN: I offered to show police scene of the crime, they declined!

Ashleigh Banfield, substituting in for Anderson Cooper last night, spoke to an anonymous eyewitness to the death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman about what she saw that night. She had already spoken out anonymously, but she came forward yesterday with more information. She revealed that after the police brought her in for questioning, she offered to bring them to the scene of the crime and show them what happened, but they declined her offer.

She told Banfield that she heard two cries of help, the second one more of a “devastating, desperate” yell. She said she believes that the yell came from Martin, and heard them loudly arguing outside her window, even if she couldn’t precisely decipher what she was saying. When Banfield asked if it sounded like a confrontation, she agreed. The eyewitness did call 911 and mentioned that she did hear a gun went off. She described the experience as like watching a movie and telling the dispatcher what was happening outside her home, play-by-play.

At one point, she held up her phone near the screen door so the dispatcher could hear what was happening. Banfield asked, when the gun went off, who it looked like was on top. The eyewitness answered that it looked like “the larger man,” meaning Zimmerman, was on top of Martin. At one point, Zimmerman started walking closer to where the eyewitness could see him, but could not discern whether his face was bloodied or not. When she was called in for questioning by the police, she said their questions did not necessarily have some depth to them, but merely just them asking her for a basic recap of what happened.

She offered to take them to the location of the crime, but claims that they were not interested. Banfield pressed her to explain why, but she said the police could answer that question better than her. And, in fact, the lead investigator told her that she misheard, and that it was Zimmerman who cried for help, not Martin. Following a community meeting to discuss the issue, she said she contacted the police two more times, but they did not get back to her.





Trying to understand George Zimmerman and the Sanford police department -it's like trying to pick up the clean end of fecal matter!


NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West