I just watched the video of the Walmart brawl between the Gaver family and the police in Cottonwood.
I was stunned, stunned that this went on for nearly 10 minutes. The lesson here is that white folks get a shitload of leeway and get to punch and kick and wrestle eight cops for what seems like forever.
If this had been a black family, they would all have been dead within seconds.
Given the racial demographics of Arizona, it would seem the chance of it being a black family is quite small, as in <5% (and they’d doubtless be described as a “gang” v. “family”).
I’m not sure what the demographics matter—they were from out of town anyway.
But yeah the word gang would probably have been turned around.
It’s been an open secret for as long as there have been police that the police quite frequently act like thugs- it’s always been a question of proving it in any particular instance. And in the rare cases when it was you’d get a pious speech about how shocked- SHOCKED the authorities were that such a thing could happen. But now with civilian video becoming nearly ubiquitous, the light of day is finally shining down. I wonder if we’re seeing the start of a social revolution as a result.
Funny how, with the advent of nearly everyone having a video recorder handy, the incidence of UFO sightings has gone way down, while the incidence of police brutality has gone way up.
At my age, I don’t change long-held opinions easily, but I’ve really lost faith in the police over the last few years. In this latest incident, the video shows needless brutality even apart from the guy getting shot — there was a huge guy mashing his face into the pavement with his knee. I find it very difficult to believe that most, if not all, cops aren’t aware of this stuff going on, even if they don’t do it themselves. If they don’t report it, they’re part of the problem.
Have you been near a woman in labor? Nasty, nasty creatures. They’ll kill you dead if you displease them.
My J school didn’t even mention “lede,” expecting us to know how to spell. I think they were more interested in turning out editors than competent reporters. See my classmate in the second entry for January 15: American Journalism Review - Archives (She turned out okay and is now a philanthropist of some sort.)
The other big reveal to me at least is the wildly different treatment directed at people of color. I figured that if you complied you would be ok: having some familiarity with assholes I guessed that some couldn’t do that: see the Gaver family video for an example. But there are vids of arrestees who are in compliance mode and are receiving more than a couple of punches.
Vox on the Tulsa shooting of alleged meth dealer and ex-con Eric Harris by reserve deputy Robert Bates. What we know about the police shooting of Eric Harris in Tulsa County, Oklahoma | Vox
Using the benefit of compressing history there have been no end of stories about bad policing or controversial policing in Britain over the last 40 years. I have no idea whether, adjusted for a smaller population and factoring in that British police are not routinely armed the situation is as bad as in the USA or not.
There have been stories of individual officers who are corrupt, violent, racists, rapists or whatever.
However some of the bigger stories over the years:
The SPG (Special Patrol Group). A specialist and prestigious police unit in London set up to deal with violent disturbances. After a black man, Balir Peach, was killed (by a blow to the head) at an Anti-Nazi demonstration, the SPG were investigated and found to routinely carry illegal weapons including metal bars and baseball bats. They already had - in the media - a reputation for thuggish violence and were disbanded in 1987. No one was ever convicted over the death of Blair Peach - a respectable teacher.
The Stephen Lawrence case. Two young black men minding their own business are walking through London in 1993 when a gang of white thugs chase them and Stephen Lawrence is stabbed to death. A gang of five white guys - some the sons of notorious criminals - were identified as suspects but the police investigation was botched and initially none were convicted. Eventually, 18 years later, two would be convicted after the law on “double jeopardy” was changed.
The public outcry at the murders not being convicted led to an inquiry investigating witness intimidation, police corruption and most famously it was concluded the Metropolitan Police (the London Police) were “Institutionally Racist.”
More recently there have been several cases across the UK where gangs of (British nationality but ethnically) Pakistani men have targeted vulnerable young (13 or even younger so underage) white girls and sexually abused them (repeated rape and enforced prostitution) for years. That these crimes continued for years is being blamed on police forces across the country too afraid to investigate crimes by asians in case they get accused of institutional racism again.
Victim Blaming in The Police 1982. Thames Valley Police (Outer London and covering one of the most prosperous parts of the UK) allowed a “Fly on the wall” documentary to be made. Infamously it showed three middle aged police officers questioning a vulnerable young woman about her rape: The usual stuff about her clothes, her sex life… The policemen later claimed they were being supportive but public outcry at how rape victims are dealt with led to changes in the law and in procedure.
Rachel Nickell 1992. A shocking murder as an attractive young mother was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in a London park during the day in front of her infant child. Her attractiveness and the story she was discovered with her three year son hugging her, pleading “Wake up mummy” after he had placed a piece of paper on her wounds as a makeshift sticking plaster caught the public attention and the police were under enormous pressure to find the murderer.
The police fancied a local weirdo (a virginal, unemployed loner) called Colin Stagg (if it is important he is white like the victim) who had no previous criminal history of this nature and there was zero forensic evidence linking him to Nickell but he was a local, considered a weirdo and did routinely walk in the park. He was questioned, released but the police were so convinced he was their man they sent a large breasted (but otherwise largely untrained and unqualified) policewoman to go undercover and befriend him, seduce him and ultimately make him an offer: If he admitted (in the bedroom) he murdered Nickell she would have sex with him. The virginal Stagg never actually admitted murder (in this “social” environment) but he did “play along” with undercover “Lizzie” and eventually the police pounced.
It was thrown out of court as wholly unacceptable entrapment and Stagg eventually got a formal apology from the police and £706,000. The policewoman resigned from the police and got £125,000 while the whole police investigation cost at least £3 million.
Eventually the real killer - a violent madman who had killed before - was convicted after a cold case review in 2008. Along the way the Metropolitan police were slated for blatant entrapment, use of an undercover policewoman who had no training in undercover work plus collusion with the press - the police had been releasing damaging stories about Stagg as they built their case against him and tried to reassure the public a murderer would soon be caught.
I could go on but this is already long enough. But there are many, many more stories if required.
TCMF-2L
Fascinating read. Thank you.
Actually there is another, more recent case, I remember. There have been endless cases where black people complain they are constantly pulled over by the police for the supposed offence of “Driving a nice car while black” or searched for drugs while “walking through a built up area after 11PM in a loud shirt while having dark skin” but here is a variation on that which involved far greater depth of (alleged) complicity from the wider police force.
Plus the victim is white…
The short version:
Pretty blonde haired Katie Bowman, then 18 years old, reports a crime to the police. A PC (basic grade British policeman) naughtily (to put it mildly) takes her phone number from the reports and begins a relationship which includes - because she has an interest in police work - driving her around in police cars without permission. She finds out he is in another relationship, dumps him and reports him.
Predictably… For over two years after Katie is then regularly stopped by police from the same force, searched for drugs, has her car seized at least 6 times (costing her £1,000 to retrieve) and the only two charges ever bought are thrown out when the cases go to court. I can only find cites for “over 70 incidents” of interactions with the police including 54 breath tests in a year although my memory insists she once claimed it was “hundreds of occasions”.
Meanwhile Katie is studying Forensic Science and still wants a career alongside the police so has concerns the (reputedly) massive “Case File” will bar her from her chosen profession. Some reports say she has been turned down from jobs after CRB (Criminal Records Bureau - a criminal record check) barred her. She has, incidentally, never been found guilty of even the most trivial offence.
She contacts her local MP (member of Parliament) who luckily for her was Dominic Grieve. He’s also the Attorney General - the most senior political / legal position in the UK. He took Katie’s version and wrote a letter of complaint to the police force in question - The Thames Valley Police who (if it is important) had a female Chief Constable.
Conclusion? The police twice look at her file and did throw out some of the reports but it is believed they are still keeping numerous reports on file. They did finally issue an apology but it was mealy mouthed suggesting the events of what was by then “five years ago” were “historic” and investigated by “people no longer in the Force”…
So white, educated, law abiding and have the backing of the Attorney General but if you make a complaint against a PC you can expect his police officer mates to make your life hell and you can expect the whole Thames Valley Police to close ranks against any complaint.
An account including the apology:
Here is a more lurid (and one day earlier) report which mentions how PC Ash (the police officer who took her out in the first place) is still a serving police officer, works in the traffic division plus he is quoted saying all sorts of nasty things about Katie. He’s accusing her and yet in the above story his Police Force are apologising?
TCMF-2L
It’s gotten to where you can tell whether the non-cops in one of these stories are black or white, without any pix or mention of anyone’s race.
And today is the first anniversary of the Cliven Bundy standoff. I doubt we’ll see a similarly large and well-armed group of black people gather in one place anytime soon, but if it should happen, I bet they get treated rather differently.
“Fuck your breath” is really cold in the context of murder but is perfectly understandable in the context of running and evading.
Same goes for a knee in the head. It’s brutal when Harris is obviously not resisting and in distress, being shot and all, but I’m not going to cry for every scumbag that hits the pavement hard.
I just watched the 8 minute dash cam video of the Wall Mart parking lot hullaballoo. That video made me angry, but not at the cops. The cops’ initial request was to split up the group so that they could be questioned seperately. Not an unusual request. But for some lunatic reason, this request does not sit well with the family. It’s too bad one of them got killed while scuffling with a cop, but this was hardly the random, unnecessary shooting some of the other recent instances were. Hell, with the decision making prowess this family shows on the video, I’m kind of sirprised any of them made it to adulthood in the first place.
Not to understate the importance of any of the cases you linked to, but I am immediately struck by the lack of people getting routinely shot in the back by British Police. Only one black man killed by police officers? And that nearly 20 years ago? That shower are really falling short in the whole “routinely killing people” department.
Even more examples but brief ones so the descriptions are potentially missing relevant details:
In 2011 Mark Duggan was shot dead by armed police who had been tailing him. After a long enquiry the official conclusion, reached this year, was (alleged serious criminal) Duggan had been carrying a gun, discarded it (and was therefore unarmed) when he saw the police approaching but they shot him believing he was reaching for a weapon. And the court found their belief justified. The gun was found about ten feet away from the car Duggan was in. Duggan is black (mixed race I believe.)
In 2008 White lawyer Mark Saunders starting firing a shotgun in the middle of London - presumably mental health issues. Police marksmen shot him dead. Family complain the lawyer needed help and police should have waited longer.
Various police officers convicted of rape. Two rapes convicted 2014 Kevin Storey:
Two rapes Stephen Mitchell 2010
2014 Nick Lidstone 3 rapes and child sex offences
John Travis historic rapes of a young girl who came forward as a adult years later. Convicted 2 rapes 2014
There are loads more rapists (including ex-police officer rapists and rapists who “only” raped their daughters at home) but another problem is officers having inappropriate sex, consensual, with victims or in this famous case:
Armed police officer Shaun Jenkins (a specialist officer who would patrol while armed which is unusual in the UK) had sex while on duty. With a married woman. Her husband found out and made a complaint against the officer which eventually focussed on whether he could be sacked for dereliction of duty.
It becomes unintentionally humorous that since he kept his gun belt on (round his ankles) his weapon was never “out of control” (stop sniggering) and he was capable of “responding to an emergency.” So - officially - quick sex with a married woman while on armed duty was no more than equivalent to a dinner break and the Force couldn’t touch him. In fairness the police force wanted to sack him but couldn’t.
This 2005 story introduced the expression “Spit Roast” into the wider domain. Two predatory police officers attended a call to a drunken woman and proceeded to have simultaneous sex with her. Cleared of rape despite other, earlier accusations Mark Witcher and Andrew Young still got jailed.
I mentioned earlier the Stephen Lawrence case where police corruption, incompetence and “Institutional Racism” let the murderers get away with it. There was another famous crime - quite a lurid case for the UK - back in 1987 where a Private Investigator was murdered by a axe being buried in his head. Linked to both crimes is John Davidson who is now retired but is thought to be in the pocket of serious criminals including the father of one of the suspects in the Stephen Lawrence case.
Another recent story in the UK is a look at the behaviour of police officers who were sent undercover for extended periods in the 70s, 80s and 90s. First problem is they were infiltrating left wing, environmental and animal rights organisations and while some of those groups can have violent, even terrorist elements, some of these groups are not really that much of a threat. The even bigger problem being the male cops began relationships and then had children with various activists as part of “maintaining their cover.”
The police have seen trials collapse with suggestions the undercover police were involved in encouraging criminality. Police officers have complained they were not given support, training or guidance and mothers have had payouts from the police of up to £400,000.
There are reportedly 147 officers who have been sent undercover this way over the previous 40 years and it is suggested many, if not most, will have had sex so it is estimated there could be 100 children out there all due a payout - if their fathers can be outed as officers.
The police say officers should never have sex while undercover - I’m sure there is a joke in there somewhere.
TCMF-2L
To be honest in the first bunch of crimes I reported I was looking for the ones which involved whole groups (the now notorious SPG) or led to national scandal such as the Lawrence case having the Metroplitan Police labelled officially “Institutionally racist.”
However if you want an example of UK police, racism and death try the case of Christopher Alder:
By the time they arrived at the station his condition had deteriorated so he was basically dragged in and thrown to the floor of a holding cell. He was unconscious, his trousers had been dragged down his legs and he had soiled himself (urine and excrement) and was handcuffed.
Officers watched this brave soldier who had fought for his country on the closed circuit TV and noted a pool of blood forming around his head - coming from his mouth. They also noted he was making gurgling noises but rather than go to the cell the various police officers of Hull police started discussing whether he was faking distress and also began amusing themselves by making “monkey noises” - an obviously racist mocking of the man.
Finally officers wandered into the cell and did remove the handcuffs but made no further attempts to aid the man. No attempt was made to bring him to consciousness - there were discussions about how he was “obviously” faking it. Away from the cell officers animatedly discussed what charges they should bring.
Lets not exaggerate. It was barely 15 minutes later Hull police decided the bleeding, unconscious man in a growing pool of blood, urine and excrement was actually ill and called the ambulance. Too little, too late he was dead.
The initial inquest into the death saw the five officers involved decline to answer questions on 150 occasions and after the findings the police legally challenged the ruling of unlawful death.
Later criminal trials and internal police complaints investigations failed to find the officers guilty. There was some enthusiasm to try them again in a criminal court but “double jeopardy” protected them. A new internal police enquiry resulted in them taking early retirement on “stress” grounds and getting payouts as compensation plus their generous pensions.
The wikipedia page about him includes the interesting statistic - surprising to me - “Between 1990-2011 a total of 980 suspects died in police custody. Only one police officer has ever been successfully prosecuted for such a death.”
TCMF-2L
One of the very rare PROVEN cases of UK police brutality leading to a conviction. And it is a sorry tale although you have to go back to 1969…
David Oluwale
Oluwale was an illegal immigrant from Nigeria to Britain arriving in 1949 aged 19. He was caught and given 29 days in jail but then allowed to stay, found a job in Leeds (major Northern town), married and had two kids. In 1953 he was arrested by the police at a nightclub in a raid and given another 28 day jail term.
However in jail he suffered hallucinations - possibly caused by police truncheon blows to the head during his arrest - and he was hospitalised in a mental hospital for the next eight years. He was given ElectroConvulsive Therapy and drugs. Medical records of his exact treatment were lost and are not known.
On his eventual release he was a black man in a decidedly non-racially friendly UK with mental issues and a record of hospitalisation for mental issues… He was unemployed, unemployable and started living on the streets.
He moved around the UK (Leeds, Sheffield and London), complained about the police harassing him and eventually spent another two years in mental hospital.
By 1968 he was living back on the streets of Leeds - which he felt was his home - and began to receive regular “attention” from the police but especially Sergeant Kenneth Kitching and Inspector Geoffrey Ellerker (Inspector being a senior rank in the UK police.)
These two actually asked all calls relating to Oluwale be passed to them. They would deliver beatings including kicks in the groin. They would urinate on him. They would make him bow (in “penance”) on his hands and knees before kicking his arms away so his head hit the ground. They racially abused him. They would regularly put him in a car and drive him to the outskirts of Leeds to get him to leave but he kept returning.
In spring 1969 he was sleeping in a doorway when the two policemen beat him with their truncheons and the final sighting of him was running away. Two weeks later he was found dead and no one could have cared less. It would have ended there except…
Ellerker came under investigation in 1970 for unrelated fraud charges and rumours of his treatment of Oluwale surfaced and were now followed up.
Oluwale was described as dangerous and violent in court. Statements calling him unassuming were not heard in court. The judge called him a “dirty, filthy, violent vagrant”. It was noted official police forms from earlier arrests had written “wog” under nationality but the trial ignored any racist component in the crimes.
However the officers were convicted of assault - not murder, not even manslaughter and not even GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm.) They got 3 years (Ellerker) and 27 months.
Sorry it is a 1969 crime but it is rare for a UK police officer to get a criminal sentence for this sort of crime.
TCMF-2L
Cite for an instance of the police gunning down an entire family of African-Americans “within seconds”?
UK policeman murders black suspect?
Back in 2005 Azelle Rodney - a serious criminal - was shot by an armed British Police Officer.
Rodney had been under surveillance for days and was being followed by armed units while he was in a VW Golf (VW Rabbit in the USA I believe so a small car) with two colleagues. The police decided he needed to be stopped immediately. Police cars blocked the golf and special shotgun rounds were fired into the tyres to puncture them.
However an experienced (20 years) armed officer then fired EIGHT rounds at Rodney hitting him 6 times in the face, neck and chest.
Three weapons were found in the car (one a key-fob sized type weapon) and a “significant quantity” of crack cocaine would later be found at his house. His mother was informed of his death 24 hours later…
Various trials took place against the villains (the other two in the car got 7 years and 6 years on drugs and firearms offences) but also the police operation and obviously the officer who shot Rodney. He claimed he believed Rodney was about to fire an automatic weapon but other testimony suggests Rodney was never holding a weapon and testimony also varies on the weapons found in the vehicle. Some reports saying the guns were inactive and hidden away out of immediate reach.
The mother went to the European Court of Human Rights to get a Public Inquiry and was successful getting one in 2010. The legal process slowly proceeded and by 2013 it was declared there was “no legal justification” for the police to open fire. In 2014 it was declared the officer - now publicly named as Antony Long - would be charged with murder.
However the trial won’t start until June this year (nine years later) so there could be more twists and turns before the truth is determined.
TCMF-2L