Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Bad policing equals lost revenue.

It is getting uglier here in Philly with every passing day as it relates to some of our boys in blue.


"Seven Philadelphia police narcotics officers at the center of a federal corruption probe are also named in scores of civil lawsuits that add more claims of thievery, intimidation and brutality to those described in their criminal indictments, according to court records.

The potential financial impact of these suits, along with any others that may be filed, could expose the City of Philadelphia to millions of dollars in damages or settlements.

Officers Thomas Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, John Speiser, Michael Spicer, Linwood Norman and Perry Betts allegedly formed an out-of-control band of rogue officers who conducted illegal stops and searches as pretext to rob people, particularly those they believed to be drug dealers, according to the indictment filed last month. Jeffrey Walker, who is named in the indictment but charged separately, has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his role.
Those same officers are the subjects of at least 81 pending federal lawsuits filed between November 2011 and this month, according to a search of court records.


At least 78 of the suits also name the City of Philadelphia as a defendant, claiming the police department’s alleged failure to properly train, supervise or discipline officers fostered a culture of indifference to constitutional rights."

Sadly, this scandal is going to cost the taxpayers of the city millions of dollars, while yet another story surfaced yesterday about a police officer who was assaulted by....wait for it.....his fellow police officers. Yep, you read that correctly.


I actually saw Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey of all people, commenting about Ferguson last week on MSNBC.


As Kat Williams would say, "The audacity of this N****r!"


Memo to Chief Ramsey: You might want to get your own house in order before you have a sit down with Spittle Matthews to discuss good policing.


"Scores of brutality lawsuits are filed against the Philadelphia Police Department every year. But it’s unusual for an officer, a sergeant no less, to make those charges.

In a suit filed Monday, Sgt. Brandon Ruff did just that.

Ruff claims he was roughed up by seven officers from the 35th District when he attempted to anonymously turn in three handguns at the precinct. Ruff, who says he suffered two sprained wrists and two sprained shoulders in the fracas, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

Ruff, an eight-year veteran assigned to the 16th precinct, said the acts of the 35th District officers “were committed willfully, wantonly, maliciously, intentionally, outrageously, deliberately and/or by conduct so egregious as to shock the conscience.”

The City of Philadelphia, he said in his civil suit, encourages and is deliberately indifferent to the abuse of police powers. Among other accusations, Ruff claims the city tolerates officers who misrepresent facts in order to establish probable cause, and allows officers to have persons falsely arrested or maliciously prosecuted. He also asserts the city permits the continued employment of officers who are psychologically or emotionally unfit to serve.

Ruff is currently under investigation by Internal Affairs in connection with the incident. 

In his suit, Ruff said a friend asked him to turn in three firearms the friend had bought from neighbors “in a proactive attempt to stop violence.”

Ruff, who was off duty, checked to make sure the guns were unloaded and then drove to the 35th District station at Broad Street and Champlost Avenue. When he arrived at the precinct, he told an officer he wanted to turn in some firearms. The officer asked who owned the guns. Ruff – who refused to identify the owner -- said he was turning them in under a “no-questions-asked” policy and asked to speak to a supervisor, the suit states.

But according to a police spokesman, a “no-questions-asked” policy does not exist outside of periodic gun-amnesty programs.

“Can you drop them off like a baby? Typically, no,” said Lt. John Stanford, a department spokesman. “That’s only done when we do buybacks.”

After a supervisor failed to appear, another officer demanded to see Ruff’s identification. He told her that he didn’t have a state ID on him but had his work ID instead. Ruff asked to make a phone call outside the building. As he walked out, someone shouted, “There he is,” the suit states. Another officer came up behind Ruff and twisted his right hand behind his back. More than five officers ran to the scene. At that point, Ruff used a code number to identify himself as a fellow officer and said that his ID was in his pocket, according to the suit.


Two of those police officers held Tasers to his chest and rib cage and threatened to activate them. One of the officers spotted a weapon holstered to Ruff’s hip and demanded, “Why the hell would you come into a police station with a gun on your hip? Where is your permit to carry?” Ruff responded that his police officer ID was his permit to carry, according to the suit.

After being held for six hours, Ruff was released. On Aug. 4, he went to Chestnut Hill Hospital, where he was treated for injuries he said he received during his arrest and detention." [Source]


Things got really rough for Officer Ruff in the 35th there for a minute. (Ok, that was too easy)


Seriously, though, this is no laughing matter. There has to be some institutional control and proper policies and procedures set in place in these police departments all over the country. I bet that there would be less Mike Brown type situations if we did.


And, let's not forget, the police---especially in cities like Philadelphia- do have a tough job to do. It's literally a war zone on some of these mean streets, and in our rivers.


A friend of mine is an attorney who represents the police union and we were just chopping it up recently about what some of the stuff these cops go through.


Needless to say my man had some stories.


It's a tough job, but it's one they all signed up for, and if they can't do it right they should be in another line of work. Hopefully something legal.













 


42 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:38 PM

    Field, as I see it, the police are running the show now. There won't be any indictments. Corruption is the rule of law these days in Philly.

    Nothing is going to happen to Chief Ramsey.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lilacpr8:46 PM

    It's not easy when they arrest someone that's selling and his daddy hires a lawyer and the guy walks out of court laughing at the officer. But,never the less those are the breaks of that job.

    I agree, there definitely has got to be an enforced and monitored code of conduct in the police force across the board.

    You have the rotten apples in all the precincts. The problem is that the higher ups look the other way.
    Sometimes out of fear of peer retaliation, or just plain indifference. Of course there's no valid excuse for that though.

    But did Officer Rough actually expect his fellow officers at the desk to accept guns with no id and that may or may not have been used for illegal purposes?

    That sounds kinda crazy because there are procedures for all of those things! I think that there's much more to this than has been said.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, if a fellow officer, especially one in a supervisory role, gets housed what chance does an average joe have?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:02 AM

    ST. LOUIS (AP) — "Donors have given nearly $700,000 to online fundraising sites set up to collect money for the family of a black 18-year-old and the white police officer who fatally shot him in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

    The Michael Brown Memorial Fund has raised almost $280,000 from more than 9,300 people in 13 days. Two sites supporting police officer Darren Wilson have drawn nearly $410,000 from nearly 10,000 contributors. The donations have come through the site GoFundMe.com."

    FYI: It looks like Darren Wilson is being supported far more than Michael Brown. It's understandable. White must show its power, might and it is always right.

    This is depressing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:45 AM

    From the previous thread:

    Blogger PilotX said...
    "Stop it! You are not black and you know it."

    I hope they're not because if you are and QLB is watching your back you've got serious issues. Ha!

    -----------------

    This remark by PX PROVES he is stupid. What I said in the previous thread was the truth. QLB or anyone else has nothing to do with it.

    PX, remember this great truth:

    "TRUTH NEEDS NO ALLY." The truth always wins. Stupidity always loses. It can never be on top because it sets itself up to be on the bottom while it stupidly calls all the others above it "stupid". How stupid is that?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous1:02 AM

    "And, let's not forget, the police---especially in cities like Philadelphia- do have a tough job to do. It's literally a war zone on some of these mean streets, and in our rivers."

    Now this is a lie. Citizens don't shoot cops. Cops shoot citizens most of whom are Black.

    Mr Field, there is no war zone out there for cops, but there IS one for citizens, esp Blacks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. teh stupid2:43 AM

    "How stupid is that?"

    You outta know. Just keep shuffling and cooning.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous2:45 AM

    "Stupidity always loses. It can never be on top because it sets itself up to be on the bottom while it stupidly calls all the others above it "stupid".

    Whomever write this shit should kill themselves immediately.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:38 AM

    Goggle Barbara Brooks. She is a 64 year old married black woman convicted of raping (the term used was "gross sexual imposition") children in her care.

    Barbara Brooks was a licensed day care provider in the Cincinnati area. She was sentenced to 7 years in prison. If the case had gone to trial she could have gotten life in prison. She apparently was related to the children she sexually abused.

    If you look at her picture she looks like a typical older black woman. She looks like someone you could safely leave your kids with.

    This is yet another indicator of how perverted SOME black women are these days.

    Several years ago an HIV positive black woman had unprotected intercourse with two 14 year old black boys and was sentenced to 1 year in jail by a black female judge. This incident also happened in the Cincinnati area.

    Quality black men, who are looking for quality wives, are correct to look outside the black collective for quality spouses to be the mothers of their children. Large numbers of black men, especially those in their 20s and 30s, know what time it is and are doing just that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous6:01 AM

    Btw, Candace Morris is the name of the HIV positive black woman who had unprotected sex with the two underage boys.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Why the rant about Ms. Brooks? Sexual predators come in all shapes and sizes.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous7:10 AM

    @FN
    You know as well as I do that when you think of a sexual predator you don't usually think of a woman. And you definitely don't think of a 64 year old married woman being a sexual predator. You KNOW this.

    You normally think of a 64 year old black woman as being a church lady (which she may have been).

    ReplyDelete
  13. Field, you really need to consider hiring new A$$nons, the ones here now are just weak!

    ReplyDelete
  14. AweDip10:28 AM

    Bad policing= enforcing the law. Black logic. Keep it real.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous12:06 PM

    the anons here have always been weak.

    They write comments on everything except the actual blog post topic!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Brother Repub12:09 PM

    Where is brother Kinky on this fine morning?

    Oh that's right, he sleeps late...

    ReplyDelete

  17. field negro said...
    Why the rant about Ms. Brooks? Sexual predators come in all shapes and sizes.


    True.

    But you ONLY write about white republicans.



    It's almost as if fox news has intimidated you into not speaking out against black democrat child rapists.

    Kinda like defending michael brown by stating he didn't beat the cop as bad as fox news reported.




    ReplyDelete

  18. Things that makes democrats go crazy...

    Self-defense killings rise in New Orleans even as murders fall
    http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/08/justifiable_homicide_new_orlea.html


    When you can't trust the police to protect you, you got to protect yourself.



    If democrats got their way, only cops and criminals would have guns.



    Rich white democrats know the police won't shoot their kids in the street.


    ReplyDelete
  19. Yes Bill, but not nine year old girls.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Bill is a F'n retard1:48 PM

    Bill is a Republican plant. A stupid one but a plant nonetheless. Bobby Jindal was right.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous2:12 PM

    "Bill is a F'n plant."

    Don't flatter yourself. fn isn't that important and neither are the Negroes on it.

    Republicans have much bigger fish to fry.

    And who cares what Jindal said? Get real.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous2:17 PM

    Brother Field, your blog is so depressing. It's a miracle that no one on your blog has committed suicide.

    Brother, I hope you and some of the regulars on fn are taking your meds on a regular basis?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous4:51 PM

    Those officers should be commended for proactively tazing a black guy who walked in with a gun. It's just common sense.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Depressed Negro, America can be a depressing place at times.

    This is not how the whole "pursuit of happiness" thing is supposed to work.

    ReplyDelete
  25. the GOP6:20 PM

    "Republicans have much bigger fish to fry."

    Yeah, like watching clapping monkeys on their desks. You're right.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Paranoid White Guy6:21 PM

    "Those officers should be commended for proactively tazing a black guy who walked in with a gun."

    Maybe if we start tazing white guys with guns we'd have fewer school shootings unless of course they give them to 9 year old girls.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous6:52 PM

    Paranoid White Guy-- beautifully said. You made my day.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous7:18 PM

    "Privileged White Guys On Fox News Agree: There's No Such Thing As White Privilege"

    Brother Field, you need to read this article that has gone viral. Now I understand why Officer Darren Wilson has raised twice the dollars as the Brown family.

    This shit is so depressing. I mean, racism has been persistent since the birth of America and it is just persistent and strong today as then.

    I wonder how Blacks can feel good about Whites or themselves? This is a stinking depressing mess that is hopeless and depressing for Blacks. It's never going to change. America smells like a skunk when it comes to racism perpetuated by the evils of the majority.

    It's damn depressing.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous7:37 PM

    Please, Blacks kill each other wholesale. When YT gives you a little help you get pissed off.
    Meanwhile in Chicago- the 46th confirmed murder of the month has been recorded with the weekend shit show fast approaching. The latest two are simply classic.

    QLB

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous8:00 PM

    Brother Field, I forgot to leave you the link re: There is no White Privilege:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/28/white-privilege-conservatives_n_5723842.html?utm_hp_ref=media

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous8:28 PM

    The latest from Chiraq. It seems that Chicago honor student # 1 shoots and kills Chicago honor student # 2. Honor student #1 is observed by the po po and in the ensuing gunfight is made good. Family and friends then attempt to attack the po po for killing a killer. For the interested honor student # 1 goes by nic of 'lil Crack. LIke I said, simply classic.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous9:05 PM

    Who the hell wrote tha t comment at 8:28pm? It's bullshit.

    No honor roll student carries a gun, let alone shoot a fellow student. Get real.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous9:12 PM

    It's hyperbole you blithering nitwit. But I guess they don't have that in Ebonics.

    QLB

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous10:29 PM

    Do you know what hyperbole means? It's not what you think, genius.

    ReplyDelete
  35. No she doesn't know what it means. She doesn't have a college degree.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I mean, do you have a college degree QLB?

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous3:23 AM

    Maybe if QLB spent as much time studying as she does posting crime stats she could have a degree.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous4:47 AM

    Why are some of you people concerned about whether QLB has a college degree or not?

    There are plenty of racist white people who do have college degrees and plenty of racist white people who do not have college degrees.

    Why are presumably sensible black people arguing with racist white people (degreed or not) about ANYTHING?

    ReplyDelete
  39. Anon, it's called playing the dozens, QLB likes to dish it (see how it refers to blacks as "chimps") so it gets called out.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous7:22 PM

    That's not true. When Blacks rioted in Ferguson I didn't even all them feral, though to many that might have been an accurate description of the looters.

    QLB

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous9:13 AM

    Philly is getting exactly what it deserves for hiring that idiot Ramsey. He was a big mistake for DC, but Philly hired him anyway. No sympathy from me.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous2:00 AM

    so.. the 35th precinct forgot they had brown people on the force. nice touch SMH

    ReplyDelete