Re: Reasons for creating volunteer civilian review police bo
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:52 pm
Link du jour
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.3332780
https://www.americanswhotellthetruth.or ... sha-mayers
http://www.occurrencesforeigndomestic.c ... o-fencing/
https://www.vera.org
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gam ... -1.3331258
http://www.slcgov.com/civilianreview
http://www.occurrencesforeigndomestic.c ... ning-life/
http://ticklethewire.com/2017/07/16/sec ... book-post/
Secret Service Investigating Lawmaker over ‘Aggressively Sarcastic’ Anti-Trump Facebook Post
By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The Secret Service is investigating a state lawmaker in Maine after causing alarm over a Facebook post about President Trump.
Rep. Scott Hamann called Trump a “half-term president, at most, especially if I ever get within 10 feet.”
The Democrat later said he regretted the social media post, describing his comments as “aggressively sarcastic and inappropriate.”
A Secret Service spokesman confirmed the investigation to Fox News.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.3331723
Australian woman living in US fatally shot by Minneapolis police after she called 911 to report a 'possible assault
Monday, July 17, 2017, 4:08 AM
A 40-year-old Australian woman who was engaged to be married was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer after she called 911 to report a possible assault in the alley behind her home.
One of the two officers who responded to the scene shot and killed Justine Damond, the Star Tribune reported.
Police arrived in a squad car and the officer seated in the passenger seat shot the Sydney, Australia, native through the driver's side window, sources familiar with the incident told the media outlet.
The two officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave.
Minn. cop shoots two dogs while investigating canceled alarm
"Two Minneapolis police officers responded to a 911 call of a possible assault just north of the 5100 block of Washburn Avenue S, just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday," the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a news release.
"At one point, an officer fired their weapon, fatally striking a woman," it adds.
"The BCA's investigation is in its early stages. More information will be available once initial interviews with incident participants and any witnesses are complete. ... The officers' body cameras were not turned on at the time and the squad camera did not capture the incident. Investigators are attempting to determine whether any video of the incident exists."
The woman was not named by police but people at the scene confirmed her identity, according to the Tribune.
NYPD may use body camera vids to fight false claims against cops
Justine Damond was fatally shot by police Saturday after she called 911 to report a possible assault in an alley behind her home.
Justine Damond was fatally shot by police Saturday after she called 911 to report a possible assault in an alley behind her home. ( INSTAGRAM )
No video of the incident has been released, and investigators are working to determine whether any exists.
The officers' body cameras were not turned on and the squad camera did not capture the incident.
Police didn't say why the body cameras were turned off.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges also questioned the circumstances.
KING: Seattle-area officers killed man wielding pen for no reason
"I have questions about why the bodycams weren't on," she said in a press conference Sunday.
Minneapolis police officers are required to activate their cameras during "critical incidents," according to department policy.
A "critical incident" includes "any action by an officer that causes or is intended to cause Death or Great Bodily Harm."
The 40-year-old's death was not captured on police body camera.
Justine Damond was engaged to Don Damond, 50, whose 22-year-old son, Zach Damond, was at the scene Sunday morning.
"Basically, my mom's dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don't know," he told the Tribune. "I demand answers. If anybody can help, just call police and demand answers. I'm so done with all this violence," he said.
Zach said Justine called police after she "heard a sound in the alley," which neighbors described as being well-lit at night.
They also described Justine as "a beautiful light" who was "so in love" with her fiance.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/poli ... imination/
FBI agent was Ex-Las Vegas prosecutor, key player in Russia probe, cited for sex discrimination
Greg Bower, a former top prosecutor who currently is the FBI’s top liaison with Congress during its investigation in Russian election meddling, has been cited for misconduct in an 8-year-old sex discrimination case.
While Bower was in charge of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada from January 2008 to October 2009, a former female prosecutor was subjected to sexual discrimination and retaliation, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
An administrative judge said Brower acted hostilely toward a prosecutor after she alleged he had made a sexist comment.
“While acts of discrimination and retaliation are no doubt common within the federal service, it is extremely rare to see such a finding against the U.S. attorney’s office, which is charged with upholding the laws of this country,” said Las Vegas attorney Adam Levine, who has represented clients in the federal equal employment opportunity process. “If any agency should be aware of the prohibition against retaliation, it is the U.S. attorney’s office.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc ... -1.3330069
Off-duty correction officer arrested for fondling himself in front of Staten Island neighbor
Sunday, July 16, 2017, 3:44 AM
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... les-killed
Seattle insists it's a model for progressive policing – so why was Charleena Lyles killed?
On 18 June, two white police officers shot dead a black pregnant mother of four, in a city where, family members say, police are ‘trained to kill’
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.3331683
Cops in truck run over two beachgoers on Long Island
BY LEONARD GREENE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 17, 2017, 3:03 AM
http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2017/ ... rimes-fbi/
Federal agencies fail to report hate crimes to FBI
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from ProPublica
In violation of a long-standing legal mandate, scores of federal law enforcement agencies are failing to submit statistics to the FBI’s national hate crimes database, ProPublica has learned.
The lack of participation by federal law enforcement represents a significant and largely unknown flaw in the database, which is supposed to be the nation’s most comprehensive source of information on hate crimes. The database is maintained by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, which uses it to tabulate the number of alleged hate crimes occurring around the nation each year.
The FBI has identified at least 120 federal agencies that aren’t uploading information to the database, according to Amy Blasher, a unit chief at the CJIS division, an arm of the bureau that is overseeing the modernization of its information systems.
The federal government operates a vast array of law enforcement agencies — ranging from Customs and Border Protection to the Drug Enforcement Administration to the Amtrak Police — employing more than 120,000 law enforcement officers with arrest powers. The FBI would not say which agencies have declined to participate in the program, but the bureau’s annual tally of hate crimes statistics does not include any offenses handled by federal law enforcement. Indeed, the problem is so widespread that the FBI itself isn’t submitting the hate crimes it investigates to its own database.
“We truly don’t understand what’s happening with crime in the U.S. without the federal component,” Ms. Blasher said in an interview.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ign-policy
War with Iran is back on the table – thanks to Trump
Trita Parsi
Obama knew the only way to avoid conflict was to agree on the nuclear deal. Now its future is in question
Trita Parsi is the author of Losing an Enemy - Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy and president of the National Iranian American Council.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.3329709
Indiana bride-to-be cancels wedding and throws party for the homeless instead
BY MEGAN CERULLO
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Saturday, July 15, 2017, 10:51 PM
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/ ... -cri-index
Trump's tax proposal would push US below Greece on inequality index
Researchers say tax reform plan would increase gap between rich and poor
US already does ‘very badly’ on global inequality index
Sunday 16 July 2017 19.01 EDT Last modified on Monday 17 July 2017 09.36 EDT
Donald Trump’s tax reform plans would, if enacted, increase the gap between rich and poor Americans and see the US slip below Greece on a new global index of inequality.
According to the Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) index, developed by researchers at Oxfam and Development Finance International, the US already distinguishes itself among wealthy countries by doing “very badly” at addressing inequality.
Which countries are the most (and least) committed to reducing inequality?
Read more
But it would fall a further six places from its ranking of 23rd overall if Trump’s tax reform effort is successful, with the US’s specific rating on tax policies plummeting 33 places from 26th to 59th – just below Peru, Chile and Sri Lanka.
“When you already have countries like Portugal and Slovenia ranking higher than the United States on the overall index, we think that’s a concern considering the wealth of the US,” Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s vice-president for policy and campaigns, told the Guardian.
If the White House passes its budget, which would slash social service spending and could leave millions of Americans without health insurance, the US would fall behind Greece, which is crippled by a debt crisis; Spain, which for 10 months in 2016 did not have a government; and Argentina, which has been plagued by high inflation, according to the report.
O’Brien said global understanding of inequality has grown significantly in the past decade, but this awareness has not led to the creation of pervasive government policies. Compilers of the index spent a year looking at policies around taxation, social service spending and labor in 152 countries.
“The reason we did this comparative index,” O’Brien said, “is in large part to challenge policymakers like President Trump to look to other economies and other societies, to give people smarter ways to give everyone an opportunity to lift themselves from poverty.”
The US performance on the index is strikingly bad compared to other wealthy countries, including the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These countries account for 63% of the world GDP. The US is ranked 21st among them in the inequality index, despite being the wealthiest country in the history of the world.
Threaded through the new report are stark facts that explain some of the ways the US has earned its low ranking. In 2012, 43.3% of corporations in the US paid no federal income tax. US employers are required to provide zero days of paid maternity leave, while Sweden offers 480 days. The US federal minimum wage of $7.25 is well below the $10.60 an hour needed for a family of four to stay above the federal poverty line.
The report makes clear that inequality in the US could get worse if efforts to reform tax and repeal the Affordable Care Act are successful. If, instead, Trump decided to attack inequality in the US, O’Brien said he would need to create a more progressive tax system that lessens the burden on the poorest people, improve labor laws, and “ensure that investments in healthcare, education and social protection gave all Americans an equal shot at the American
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... l-election
Member of India's lowest caste expected to be elected president
Ram Nath Kovind, nominee of Narendra Modi’s party, is from dalit (Untouchable) community, the country’s most oppressed
Monday 17 July 2017 06.33 EDT Last modified on Monday 17 July 2017 09.32 EDT
A member of India’s poorest and most oppressed caste is expected to be elected president.
Ram Nath Kovind, the governor of Bihar until last month, was announced as the nominee of Narendra Modi’s government in June, in what was widely seen as part of a decades-long strategy by Hindu nationalists to win over members of the dalit (Untouchable) community.
Nearly 5,000 Indian state and federal members of parliament took part in a secret nationwide ballot on Monday to decide the next president using specially designed violet ink pens with unique serial numbers.
The five-year post has significant responsibility under India’s constitution, but similar to other Westminster-style governments, it is largely ceremonial in practice.
India's caste system: ‘They are trying to erase dalit history. This is a martyrdom, a sacrifice’
Read more
The result of the collective parliamentary votes will not be known until Thursday, but Kovind, 71, has secured wide cross-party support and is expected to comfortably beat Meira Kumar, the former diplomat and MP nominated by the opposition Congress party and its allies.
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780842023382/U ... ion-System
Unlocking the Files of the FBI
A Guide to Its Records and Classification System
DAVID A. LANGBART AND GERALD K. HAINES
This volume is the first comprehensive guide to the records of the FBI. At last historians have clear descriptions of the FBI's documents and how to gain access to them.
Dr. Gerald Haines, who was a... more »
Book Details
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 352 • Trim: 6 1/2 x 9 1/4
978-0-8420-2338-2 • Hardback • January 1993 • $111.00 • (£75.00)
Subjects: History / United States / General
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/eri ... -1.3332952
Eric Garner’s daughter blasts de Blasio’s talk of ‘progress’ on third anniversary of chokehold death
BY ERIN DURKIN LEONARD GREENE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 17, 2017, 2:58 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politic ... -1.3332373
Bernie Sanders’ wife Jane slams ‘sexist’ attack behind federal bank fraud probe
BY MEERA JAGANNATHAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 17, 2017, 10:30 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.3332780
https://www.americanswhotellthetruth.or ... sha-mayers
http://www.occurrencesforeigndomestic.c ... o-fencing/
https://www.vera.org
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gam ... -1.3331258
http://www.slcgov.com/civilianreview
http://www.occurrencesforeigndomestic.c ... ning-life/
http://ticklethewire.com/2017/07/16/sec ... book-post/
Secret Service Investigating Lawmaker over ‘Aggressively Sarcastic’ Anti-Trump Facebook Post
By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The Secret Service is investigating a state lawmaker in Maine after causing alarm over a Facebook post about President Trump.
Rep. Scott Hamann called Trump a “half-term president, at most, especially if I ever get within 10 feet.”
The Democrat later said he regretted the social media post, describing his comments as “aggressively sarcastic and inappropriate.”
A Secret Service spokesman confirmed the investigation to Fox News.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.3331723
Australian woman living in US fatally shot by Minneapolis police after she called 911 to report a 'possible assault
Monday, July 17, 2017, 4:08 AM
A 40-year-old Australian woman who was engaged to be married was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer after she called 911 to report a possible assault in the alley behind her home.
One of the two officers who responded to the scene shot and killed Justine Damond, the Star Tribune reported.
Police arrived in a squad car and the officer seated in the passenger seat shot the Sydney, Australia, native through the driver's side window, sources familiar with the incident told the media outlet.
The two officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave.
Minn. cop shoots two dogs while investigating canceled alarm
"Two Minneapolis police officers responded to a 911 call of a possible assault just north of the 5100 block of Washburn Avenue S, just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday," the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a news release.
"At one point, an officer fired their weapon, fatally striking a woman," it adds.
"The BCA's investigation is in its early stages. More information will be available once initial interviews with incident participants and any witnesses are complete. ... The officers' body cameras were not turned on at the time and the squad camera did not capture the incident. Investigators are attempting to determine whether any video of the incident exists."
The woman was not named by police but people at the scene confirmed her identity, according to the Tribune.
NYPD may use body camera vids to fight false claims against cops
Justine Damond was fatally shot by police Saturday after she called 911 to report a possible assault in an alley behind her home.
Justine Damond was fatally shot by police Saturday after she called 911 to report a possible assault in an alley behind her home. ( INSTAGRAM )
No video of the incident has been released, and investigators are working to determine whether any exists.
The officers' body cameras were not turned on and the squad camera did not capture the incident.
Police didn't say why the body cameras were turned off.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges also questioned the circumstances.
KING: Seattle-area officers killed man wielding pen for no reason
"I have questions about why the bodycams weren't on," she said in a press conference Sunday.
Minneapolis police officers are required to activate their cameras during "critical incidents," according to department policy.
A "critical incident" includes "any action by an officer that causes or is intended to cause Death or Great Bodily Harm."
The 40-year-old's death was not captured on police body camera.
Justine Damond was engaged to Don Damond, 50, whose 22-year-old son, Zach Damond, was at the scene Sunday morning.
"Basically, my mom's dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don't know," he told the Tribune. "I demand answers. If anybody can help, just call police and demand answers. I'm so done with all this violence," he said.
Zach said Justine called police after she "heard a sound in the alley," which neighbors described as being well-lit at night.
They also described Justine as "a beautiful light" who was "so in love" with her fiance.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/poli ... imination/
FBI agent was Ex-Las Vegas prosecutor, key player in Russia probe, cited for sex discrimination
Greg Bower, a former top prosecutor who currently is the FBI’s top liaison with Congress during its investigation in Russian election meddling, has been cited for misconduct in an 8-year-old sex discrimination case.
While Bower was in charge of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada from January 2008 to October 2009, a former female prosecutor was subjected to sexual discrimination and retaliation, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
An administrative judge said Brower acted hostilely toward a prosecutor after she alleged he had made a sexist comment.
“While acts of discrimination and retaliation are no doubt common within the federal service, it is extremely rare to see such a finding against the U.S. attorney’s office, which is charged with upholding the laws of this country,” said Las Vegas attorney Adam Levine, who has represented clients in the federal equal employment opportunity process. “If any agency should be aware of the prohibition against retaliation, it is the U.S. attorney’s office.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc ... -1.3330069
Off-duty correction officer arrested for fondling himself in front of Staten Island neighbor
Sunday, July 16, 2017, 3:44 AM
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... les-killed
Seattle insists it's a model for progressive policing – so why was Charleena Lyles killed?
On 18 June, two white police officers shot dead a black pregnant mother of four, in a city where, family members say, police are ‘trained to kill’
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.3331683
Cops in truck run over two beachgoers on Long Island
BY LEONARD GREENE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 17, 2017, 3:03 AM
http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2017/ ... rimes-fbi/
Federal agencies fail to report hate crimes to FBI
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from ProPublica
In violation of a long-standing legal mandate, scores of federal law enforcement agencies are failing to submit statistics to the FBI’s national hate crimes database, ProPublica has learned.
The lack of participation by federal law enforcement represents a significant and largely unknown flaw in the database, which is supposed to be the nation’s most comprehensive source of information on hate crimes. The database is maintained by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, which uses it to tabulate the number of alleged hate crimes occurring around the nation each year.
The FBI has identified at least 120 federal agencies that aren’t uploading information to the database, according to Amy Blasher, a unit chief at the CJIS division, an arm of the bureau that is overseeing the modernization of its information systems.
The federal government operates a vast array of law enforcement agencies — ranging from Customs and Border Protection to the Drug Enforcement Administration to the Amtrak Police — employing more than 120,000 law enforcement officers with arrest powers. The FBI would not say which agencies have declined to participate in the program, but the bureau’s annual tally of hate crimes statistics does not include any offenses handled by federal law enforcement. Indeed, the problem is so widespread that the FBI itself isn’t submitting the hate crimes it investigates to its own database.
“We truly don’t understand what’s happening with crime in the U.S. without the federal component,” Ms. Blasher said in an interview.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ign-policy
War with Iran is back on the table – thanks to Trump
Trita Parsi
Obama knew the only way to avoid conflict was to agree on the nuclear deal. Now its future is in question
Trita Parsi is the author of Losing an Enemy - Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy and president of the National Iranian American Council.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.3329709
Indiana bride-to-be cancels wedding and throws party for the homeless instead
BY MEGAN CERULLO
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Saturday, July 15, 2017, 10:51 PM
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/ ... -cri-index
Trump's tax proposal would push US below Greece on inequality index
Researchers say tax reform plan would increase gap between rich and poor
US already does ‘very badly’ on global inequality index
Sunday 16 July 2017 19.01 EDT Last modified on Monday 17 July 2017 09.36 EDT
Donald Trump’s tax reform plans would, if enacted, increase the gap between rich and poor Americans and see the US slip below Greece on a new global index of inequality.
According to the Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) index, developed by researchers at Oxfam and Development Finance International, the US already distinguishes itself among wealthy countries by doing “very badly” at addressing inequality.
Which countries are the most (and least) committed to reducing inequality?
Read more
But it would fall a further six places from its ranking of 23rd overall if Trump’s tax reform effort is successful, with the US’s specific rating on tax policies plummeting 33 places from 26th to 59th – just below Peru, Chile and Sri Lanka.
“When you already have countries like Portugal and Slovenia ranking higher than the United States on the overall index, we think that’s a concern considering the wealth of the US,” Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s vice-president for policy and campaigns, told the Guardian.
If the White House passes its budget, which would slash social service spending and could leave millions of Americans without health insurance, the US would fall behind Greece, which is crippled by a debt crisis; Spain, which for 10 months in 2016 did not have a government; and Argentina, which has been plagued by high inflation, according to the report.
O’Brien said global understanding of inequality has grown significantly in the past decade, but this awareness has not led to the creation of pervasive government policies. Compilers of the index spent a year looking at policies around taxation, social service spending and labor in 152 countries.
“The reason we did this comparative index,” O’Brien said, “is in large part to challenge policymakers like President Trump to look to other economies and other societies, to give people smarter ways to give everyone an opportunity to lift themselves from poverty.”
The US performance on the index is strikingly bad compared to other wealthy countries, including the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These countries account for 63% of the world GDP. The US is ranked 21st among them in the inequality index, despite being the wealthiest country in the history of the world.
Threaded through the new report are stark facts that explain some of the ways the US has earned its low ranking. In 2012, 43.3% of corporations in the US paid no federal income tax. US employers are required to provide zero days of paid maternity leave, while Sweden offers 480 days. The US federal minimum wage of $7.25 is well below the $10.60 an hour needed for a family of four to stay above the federal poverty line.
The report makes clear that inequality in the US could get worse if efforts to reform tax and repeal the Affordable Care Act are successful. If, instead, Trump decided to attack inequality in the US, O’Brien said he would need to create a more progressive tax system that lessens the burden on the poorest people, improve labor laws, and “ensure that investments in healthcare, education and social protection gave all Americans an equal shot at the American
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... l-election
Member of India's lowest caste expected to be elected president
Ram Nath Kovind, nominee of Narendra Modi’s party, is from dalit (Untouchable) community, the country’s most oppressed
Monday 17 July 2017 06.33 EDT Last modified on Monday 17 July 2017 09.32 EDT
A member of India’s poorest and most oppressed caste is expected to be elected president.
Ram Nath Kovind, the governor of Bihar until last month, was announced as the nominee of Narendra Modi’s government in June, in what was widely seen as part of a decades-long strategy by Hindu nationalists to win over members of the dalit (Untouchable) community.
Nearly 5,000 Indian state and federal members of parliament took part in a secret nationwide ballot on Monday to decide the next president using specially designed violet ink pens with unique serial numbers.
The five-year post has significant responsibility under India’s constitution, but similar to other Westminster-style governments, it is largely ceremonial in practice.
India's caste system: ‘They are trying to erase dalit history. This is a martyrdom, a sacrifice’
Read more
The result of the collective parliamentary votes will not be known until Thursday, but Kovind, 71, has secured wide cross-party support and is expected to comfortably beat Meira Kumar, the former diplomat and MP nominated by the opposition Congress party and its allies.
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780842023382/U ... ion-System
Unlocking the Files of the FBI
A Guide to Its Records and Classification System
DAVID A. LANGBART AND GERALD K. HAINES
This volume is the first comprehensive guide to the records of the FBI. At last historians have clear descriptions of the FBI's documents and how to gain access to them.
Dr. Gerald Haines, who was a... more »
Book Details
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 352 • Trim: 6 1/2 x 9 1/4
978-0-8420-2338-2 • Hardback • January 1993 • $111.00 • (£75.00)
Subjects: History / United States / General
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/eri ... -1.3332952
Eric Garner’s daughter blasts de Blasio’s talk of ‘progress’ on third anniversary of chokehold death
BY ERIN DURKIN LEONARD GREENE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 17, 2017, 2:58 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politic ... -1.3332373
Bernie Sanders’ wife Jane slams ‘sexist’ attack behind federal bank fraud probe
BY MEERA JAGANNATHAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 17, 2017, 10:30 AM