Tag: Police Brutality
Former Police Commissioner Testifies That The Shower Posse’s Code Of Silence Made It Impossible For Authorites To Investigate West Kingston Crimes
Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington yesterday gave the Tivoli Gardens Commission of Enquiry further insight into the power of the Presidential Click led by Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.
Ellington — who was responding to questions from attorney Alexander Williams, who is representing several Tivoli Gardens residents — said that the police never gave up on reaching out to the residents of the West Kingston community.
He said that an attempt was made to start a youth club there in the early 2000s, but the plan was resisted by the Presidential Click.
Ellington said that the club was eventually formed, but with the compromise that it be named after the criminal gang.
He said that after the 2010 operation to apprehend Coke, who was wanted in the United States on drugs and gunrunning charges, the club was relaunched and renamed the Tivoli Gardens Police Youth Club.
The former top cop said the police were then able to run the club as they do the other police youth clubs across the island.
During the afternoon session, Ellington — in a testy exchange with Independent Commission of Investigation (INDECOM) boss Terrence Williams — said that he wasn’t pleased with the compromise that was made.
He said the name Presidential Click was associated with a criminal organization and to brand the group like that would be like supporting the gang.
Earlier, during the morning session, the former top cop testified that the crime that took place in other communities across Jamaica also occurred in Tivoli Gardens.
He said, however, that the police were prevented by criminals from accessing the community to investigate these crimes, which included murders. He added that criminals there enforced a code of silence that made it impossible for crimes committed in the community to be investigated.
Jamaica Observer
Deputy Who Shot And Killed Man With Real Gun Instead Of Taser Avoids Murder Charge; Charged With Manslaughter
Robert “Bob” Bates, the Tulsa County reserve deputy who “inadvertently” shot and killed a suspect when he grabbed his gun instead of his taser, was charged with second-degree manslaughter Monday.
The incident occurred earlier this month during a sting operation when 44-year-old Eric Harris, a convicted felon, sold a 9mm handgun and ammunition to an undercover officer. As additional law enforcement closed in to make an arrest, Harris fled, leading officers on a foot pursuit. Recently released body cam footage captured the moments when everything went awry.
Officers attempted to subdue Harris, who was reported to have been reaching towards his waistband. Authorities were unsure at the time whether or not he was armed, but was aware that Harris had a history of violence, particularly toward law enforcement.
Bates can be heard saying, “Taser! Taser!” as they struggle to gain control of Harris, but moments later a single gunshot is heard, followed by Bates saying, “I shot him! I’m sorry!”
Another unidentified officer can be heard saying, “Oh shit! Shit man, you shot him! You shot him!”
Officers continue to restrain Bates, who said he was losing his breath. Another unidentified officer responds by saying, “Fuck your breath.”
Reports indicate that Harris continued to be combative and uncooperative even after paramedics arrived and tried to administer aid.
“No human being deserves to be treated with such contempt,” the family of Harris, who called the officers’ response “appalling,” said in a statement Monday, NBC News reported.
Initially, Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz stood behind Bates’ actions, cited the fatal shooting as an accident, and determined that no crime had been committed by Bates.
“He made an error,” Glanz said. “How many errors are made in an operating room every week?”
However, once the case was turned over to Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler, charges were announced. Kunzweiler determined Harris’ death was the result of “culpable negligence,” which he defined as “the omission to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the lack of the usual ordinary care and caution in the performance of an act usually and ordinarily exercised by a person under similar circumstances and conditions.”
Attorneys representing the Harris family have accused the sheriff’s office of being corrupt and Glanz being soft on Bates, who has donated thousands of dollars to Glanz’s campaign funds, as well as cars to the department.
Glanz denies such treatment.
Guns.Com
The Pen Hustle With Brandy Cavalli 
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