Police Officer violating Civil Rights beaten a man while restrained in a wheelchair.

I wonder why some fellow Citizens refuse to call to Police for help.!!!!!!!!!!.
A Chicago police officer pleaded guilty today to violating the federal civil rights of a man whom the officer struck repeatedly with a dangerous weapon while the man was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Loretta King, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office announced.

William Cozzi, 51, pleaded guilty to a one-count information in U.S. District Court in Chicago, admitting he used excessive or unreasonable force while acting under color of law. Cozzi joined the Chicago Police Department in 1992 and was assigned to the 25 th District at the time of the alleged incident. He was subsequently suspended from duty. Cozzi was indicted in April 2008 for depriving the victim of his civil rights.

On Aug. 2, 2005, while performing his duties as a police officer, Cozzi admitted that he used a “sap,” a dangerous weapon similar to a blackjack, to repeatedly strike the victim who was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair at Norwegian American Hospital, resulting in bodily injury. At the time, the victim was awaiting treatment in the hospital emergency room after being stabbed in the shoulder.

“The defendant violated the public trust by abusing his law enforcement authority,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King. “This prosecution demonstrates that the Civil Rights Division is committed to aggressively prosecuting law enforcement officers who willfully use excessive force.”


“No law enforcement officer may use unreasonable force with impunity and every citizen, regardless of being in police custody, has a constitutional right to be free from the use of excessive force,” U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald said.

Cozzi pleaded guilty while reserving his right to appeal a ruling last year denying his motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that the prosecution was based in part on compelled statements he made to the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards and during a police review board hearing.

According to a plea agreement, Cozzi was dispatched to the hospital to respond to the stabbing and approached the victim who was being loud and verbally abusive while awaiting treatment for the stabbing. Shortly after approaching the victim, Cozzi placed him in handcuffs and left the emergency room to retrieve leg shackles, which he then placed on the victim. With the victim restrained, Cozzi used a sap to repeatedly strike him in the face and body. According to the plea agreement, at the time of the assault the victim posed no physical threat to Cozzi or anyone else at the hospital.

Cozzi also admitted that he subsequently prepared a false arrest report and misdemeanor complaints stating that the victim attempted to punch him and two hospital security guards, as well as a false tactical response report stating that he used an “open hand strike” on the victim but omitted that he struck the victim with a sap.

U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning set sentencing for March 26, 2009. Cozzi faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Drury from the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and Trial Attorney Betsy Biffl of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Secrecy or Transparency: Shed sunshine on police records of drunk arrests.

Why it's not obviously silly for police to enforce and prevent public intoxication laws in bars. Whatever the legal justification for the policy in question, it still ought to be abandoned if it doesn't produce results than just racial profiling and lawsuits.
And I check on the internet and I found out a good evidence that there is a controversy on arresting people specially latinos. Check this site: Where it clearly denoted that 3/4 of those arrest are Latinos or Hispanics.

Shed Sunshine on Police records of drunk arrests.
By Skyler Porras is the director of the San José office of the ACLU of Northern California.

Amid the swirling controversy over the San Jose Police Department's practice of arresting large numbers of people — especially Latinos — under the state public-intoxication law, the department is damaging its reputation by choosing secrecy over transparency.
Before the city council hearing on Nov. 18, the American Civil Liberties Union submitted a formal request that these arrest reports be made public under the state open-records law. But days after the mayor and council said they wanted "broad-based community input" on the issue, the police department refused to publicly release the arrest records.
The council has directed the city manager to form a task force of community stakeholders to address this issue. But how will the task force members accurately identify the scope and nature of the problem if they are denied access to the most important records documenting it?

Simple questions

The Mercury News' reporting on this subject and analysis of the available arrest data have put two very simple, if uncomfortable, questions at the feet of local public officials:
Has the police department been making large numbers of false arrests for public drunkenness?
If so, are Latinos much more likely to be the victims of these bad arrests?
According to state law, people cannot be lawfully arrested for public intoxication unless they are so intoxicated that they are a danger to themselves or others or are obstructing use of sidewalks or streets. Officers must document these facts in a police report. Therefore, the obvious starting point for any serious examination of whether police are misusing this law is to review the police reports for these arrests. As the Mercury News reported, there were a whopping 4,661 of them in 2007. Fifty-seven percent of those arrested were Latinos.
The law is crystal clear that police officials have the discretion to release these records. But in the absence of a strong local sunshine ordinance in San Jose, as exists in some other California cities like Oakland and San Francisco, they do not have to do so.
The official justification for stamping these arrest reports "top secret" was the claim that they are "records of investigations." But releasing the police reports wouldn't compromise any future investigations because simple intoxication busts don't lead to any further investigation. And any prosecutions or further proceedings for public intoxication arrests that took place in 2007 were closed long ago.

Secrecy is bad policy

Chief Rob Davis has been a vocal opponent of a local sunshine ordinance that would require the police to make these sorts of records public. It's not a big surprise that a police agency would act to shield unlawful and embarrassing tactics from public scrutiny. But it's poor public policy to allow it. Unnecessary secrecy has a corrosive effect on public trust and closes doors to cooperative approaches.
Stonewalling community concerns about possible police misconduct doesn't lead to resolution. It leads to lawsuits. It leads to investigations by outside agencies — like the about-to-be-revived Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice: During the tenure of the presumptive Obama Attorney General Eric Holder at the Justice Department, the agency targeted local police departments for investigations specifically if they appeared to be stonewalling legitimate local concerns.
A well-conceived sunshine law would create a strong local legal presumption in favor of openness. Isn't it time for San Jose to adopt one?

Police Officer Indicted in Violated Federal Civil Rights

Police Officer Wayne Simoes, of Yonkers, New York, has been indicted for lifting Irma Marquez off the floor and slamming her to the ground during a March 2008 incident at a restaurant. In the moments leading up to the assault, Marquez appears in a surveillance tape of the incident to be somewhat agitated as she tries to get a better look at the medical treatment being rendered to her niece -- the reason police were on the scene. Subsequent to being "restrained," the 44-year-old woman was charged with obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct. She has since been acquitted of those charges.

Marquez suffered a broken jaw and other injuries from Simoes's attack.

Simoes appears to be just the latest cop to to not understand that police misconduct is just a little harder to get away with in the age of video recording and the Internet. If convicted, he'll have up to ten years behind bars to contemplate the changing world.

The Indictment charges SIMOES with one count of violating federal civil rights laws, which make it a crime to willfully deprive a person of rights secured and protected by the Constitution of the United States, in this case the right to be free from the use of excessive force by a law enforcement officer in the course of an arrest, stop, or seizure. If convicted, SIMOES faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Unsurprisingly. the Yonkers Police Department faces an 11-million-dollar lawsuit in the case.

Mississippi Police Office sentenced to life in prison for Violating Civil rights

FORMER JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING A DETAINEE.

WASHINGTON - Maceo Simmons, a former officer with the Jackson Police Department in Jackson, Miss., was sentenced to life imprisonment on Aug. 4, 2008, for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman he had detained after a traffic stop, the Justice Department announced today.

The sentence arises out of an incident that occurred on Sept. 19, 1999. The victim was a passenger in a car, which was pulled over by Jackson police officers for running a stop sign. Simmons handcuffed the victim and placed her in the back of his patrol car. He and another officer then drove her to a remote and isolated location, where Simmons repeatedly raped the victim while the second officer acted as a lookout. Simmons was originally sentenced to a term of 20 years imprisonment, but that sentence was reversed on appeal.

"The court's sentence reflects the gravity of the defendant's egregious conduct," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "Although nothing can erase the scars of a rape, hopefully, the court's action will help the victim feel safer knowing that the perpetrator is behind bars for life."

The convictions resulted from an investigation by Special Agent Brendan Sheehan, formerly with the Jackson office of the FBI, Special Litigation Counsel Paige Fitzgerald and Trial Attorney Karima Maloney from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division

It's time for Arpaio to go. Aren't you proud of Arpaio Lou.!!!!


What crime the childrens committed to be terrorized at gun point? That's the Arizona Police Standard.!!!!!!. It's Very disgusting, very depressing and very sad. Joe Arpaio is out of control.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wants to know what you think about
his approach to illegal immigration. Well, only if you agree with him.

But we encourage those who disagree with him--or outright

hate what he's doing--to flood a special hotline he's set up for his
supporters and give him a piece of your mind. And don't stop at just
criticizing him over illegal immigration; there are a host of other
problems within his administration that deserve your rapt attention.

Here's Arpaio's number: 602-876-1350.


Arpaio announced his "hotline" last month, after finding out that
Governor Janet Napolitano had taken away more than a million dollars
in state funds from his anti-illegal-immigration program. (Arpaio
admitted he first learned of the governor's action by reading this
blog. You can also read my follow-up article here.).

Joe claims a dedicated phone line is necessary to help people who want
to donate to the Sheriff's Office in the wake of Napolitano's
decision. Arpaio's office put out this press release with the phone
number. But local news publications, perhaps believing Arpaio gets
enough coverage, didn't reprint it.

Arpaio's not embarrassed at all to be asking for your hard-earned
dollars in a time of economic uncertainty. Or after he's wasted
millions upon millions of dollars on lawsuits that wouldn't have been
filed had he been runing a professional jail system. Or after using
public RICO money to finance what amounts to paid vacations for his
deputies (including highly compensated Chief Deputy David Hendershott)
in Honduras--under the lie that he's somehow preventing gang members
from flooding into Maricopa County. From Honduras?!

Oh, your tax dollars are also financing the hotline.

If you want to part with your gasoline money to pay the Sheriff's
Office to round up hard-working mamacitas in minivans with cracked
windshields, that's your business. But the neat part about the hotline
is that anyone can leave a message after hearing a short (and stilted)
speech by Joe.

Now, as we suggested above, don't feel restricted to just commenting
about how the Sheriff's Office treats Mexicans--there are plenty of
other good topics to scream about. Let him know how you feel about:

* Inmates who die or become injured under suspicious circumstances
in county jails.
* Third World jail conditions.
* The $41 million-plus paid by taxpayers for Sheriff's Office
lawsuit judgments and settlements.
* Targeting political enemies with abusive and questionable police
investigations.
* Throwing newspaper owners he doesn't like in jail.
* Withholding public records and trying to intimidate news media
that don't do his bidding.
* Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars working with Honduran
police on a program that has no apparent merit to county taxpayers.

Really, any criticism is fair game--the self-described "toughest
sheriff in America" should be able to take it (though we all know how
sensitive he is; see fourth bullet item).

Now all the hotline needs is a title: We haven't given it much
thought, but "The Great New Times Memorial Sheriff Arpaio Blast Line"
has a ring to it.

Outrageous. Every morning is the dawn of a new error.




Police say DUI suspect went to bar instead of jail.

ERIE, Pa. - A woman charged in the drunken-driving death of her son went to a bar after his funeral instead of reporting back to jail, state police said

A judge had given Erin Howard, 26, of Corry, permission to leave the Erie County Prison for 24 hours to attend her son's funeral in Ohio, with orders to return to the lockup by 3 p.m. Saturday.

Instead, Howard went to a bar in Hamilton, Ohio, about a mile from the church where the funeral for 6-year-old Samuel Carpenter was held, police said.

Calls to Howard's public defender went unanswered after business hours Monday.

Howard had been in prison in lieu of $75,000 bail on charges that she was driving drunk when she crashed into a creek bank near Corry, killing Samuel on June 14 — her 26th birthday.

Pennsylvania police found out Sunday morning that Howard had been arrested in Ohio after her son's father allegedly tipped off authorities to her whereabouts. She was being held in Ohio awaiting extradition to Erie.

Howard has now been charged with escape in addition to involuntary manslaughter, drunken driving, child endangerment and other charges related to the crash.

Members Embarrasing the Minuteman group.

FORMER LOS ANGELES POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED FOR CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.



WASHINGTON - Former Los Angeles police officer William Ferguson was sentenced today in federal court in Los Angeles, for his role in a series of home invasion robberies over a two-year period, the Justice Department announced today. Ferguson was sentenced to 102 years in prison and 5 years of supervised release.

On Jan. 30, 2008, a Los Angeles jury convicted the defendant of conspiracy to violate civil rights, deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute, possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, and several firearms offenses. The defendant's brother and co-defendant, former Long Beach police officer Joseph Ferguson, was also convicted of participating in these conspiracies and was sentenced to 97 months imprisonment and four years of post-incarceration supervised release on May 5, 2008.

The evidence at trial showed that the defendant and his co-defendants were members of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy, led by former Los Angeles police officer Ruben Palomares and including other law enforcement officers and drug dealers. Together, they committed more than 40 burglaries and robberies throughout the Los Angeles area between early 1999 and June of 2001. The robberies generally were committed after the group received information that a particular location was involved in illegal drug trafficking. The robbery teams usually consisted of multiple sworn police officers in uniform or displaying a badge, who would gain access to the residence by falsely telling any occupants that they were conducting a legitimate search for drugs or drug dealers. Victims often were restrained, threatened or assaulted during the search. These assaults included firing a stun gun at a victim, striking victims with police batons, and putting a gun in the mouth of a victim. When the group stole drugs, they would use co-conspirators to sell the drugs and they would split the profits among the group.

In all, 17 defendants, including law enforcement officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Long Beach Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and the California Department of Corrections have been convicted of federal crimes in connection with the conspiracy.

"This former police officer violated his oath as a public servant when he, along with his co-defendants, began engaging in violent criminal conduct," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "While the vast majority of law enforcement officers carry out their difficult duties in a professional manner, the Department of Justice will not hesitate to prosecute those who cross that line."

"William Ferguson not only violated the oath he took to become a police officer, he abused citizens as he and his partners attempted to obtain drugs and money," said U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien. "His conduct shocks the conscience and certainly warrants the lengthy sentence he received today."

This case was investigated by Special Agent Phil Carson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of Steve Sambar, Roger Mora and Mark Bigel of the Los Angeles and Long Beach Police Departments. This case was prosecuted by Department of Justice Special Litigation Counsel Jeffrey S. Blumberg, Department of Justice Trial Attorney Josh Mahan, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas M. Miller.

The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of every federal criminal civil rights statute, such as the laws that prohibit the willful use of excessive force or other acts of misconduct by law enforcement officials. The Division has compiled a significant record on criminal civil rights law enforcement prosecutions. In fiscal year 2007, the Criminal Section convicted the highest number of defendants in its history, surpassing the record previously set in fiscal year 2006. During the last seven years, the Criminal Section obtained convictions of 53 percent more defendants (391 v. 256) in law enforcement prosecutions than the previous seven years

CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY VIOLATING FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS OF MAN BEATEN WHILE HANDCUFFED IN WHEELCHAIR.









A Chicago police officer was indicted for violating the federal civil rights of a man whom the officer allegedly struck repeatedly with a dangerous weapon while the man was restrained, federal law enforcement officials announced today.

The defendant, William Cozzi, was charged in an indictment returned yesterday by a federal grand jury in Chicago with one count of violating the victim’s civil right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a person acting under color of law.

The charge was announced today by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division; and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Cozzi, 50, of Chicago, joined the Chicago Police Department in 1992 and was assigned to the 25th District at the time of the alleged incident. He was subsequently suspended from duty. The indictment alleges that on Aug. 2, 2005, while performing his duties as a police officer, Cozzi used a dangerous weapon to repeatedly strike the unnamed victim, identified only as “Victim A,” who was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair at Norwegian American Hospital, resulting in bodily injury to the victim.

“Every citizen, regardless of being in police custody, has a Constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by law enforcement officers,” Mr. Fitzgerald said.

Cozzi will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

The Government is being represented in court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Drury and DOJ Trial Attorney Betsy Biffl. If convicted, the civil rights violation carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt

Unbelievable and unethical action from Police Officer using his power to have a sexual encounter with a minor.
Why he should be beyond the law? Why he is not register as a child molester?

Medina police officer fired for sex with 16-year-old girl
By Peyton Whitely

A Medina police officer has been fired, and the King County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing the possible filing of criminal charges after the officer admitted having sex with a 16-year-old girl.

The 27-year-old officer was fired Sept. 20, Medina Police Chief Jeffrey Chen said today.

Chen said he wouldn't identify the officer, but added that the case has been referred to the prosecutor's office for review.

Chen said the officer was hired by the Medina department in February and went through 4 ½ months of law-enforcement training-academy coursework before joining the department in June. He had been on a one-year probation.

The investigation began in September, Chen said, when the department learned about possible contacts between the officer and the girl. The case then was turned over to the Seattle Police Department for further investigation to avoid potential conflicts of interest, Chen added.

That investigation discovered the officer met the girl through an Internet advertisement and that they later had sex.

The age of consent for sexual intercourse in Washington state is 16. Chen said it's not clear whether any crimes took place and that all the activities occurred during the officer's personal time.

Regardless of whether any crimes were committed, the officer was a probationary employee of the department, said Chen, and the relationship was not acceptable.