Police Accountability News
Milwaukee County Jails to equip officers with tasers
September 21, 2011 - COR-SPEC-OPS
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke recently announced preemptive force is the new policy for corrections officers in Milwaukee County. The "strike first before being struck" stance comes after five correctional officers were assaulted and injured over the weekend.
Officers will be looking for the usual indicators that lead to attacks such as belligerence, cursing and swearing at an officer. Those things will now be viewed as an act of aggression.
Ill. high court probes evidence, appeal process in conviction of man claiming police torture
September 15, 2011- The Washington Post
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Supreme Court justices challenged prosecutors Thursday about the strength of their evidence in the rape conviction of a man who says he was tortured into confessing by Chicago police officers.
Police in Puerto Rico Are Accused of Abuses in Justice Dept. Report
September 8, 2011 - The New York Times
WASHINGTON — In a blistering condemnation of the second-largest police force in the United States, the Justice Department is accusing the Puerto Rico Police Department of a “profound” and “longstanding” pattern of civil rights violations and other illegal practices that have left it “broken in a number of critical and fundamental respects.”
Illinois prison conditions deteriorate
August 27, 2011 - Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
With 49,000 inmates in August, the Illinois prison system has reached 147 percent of its rated capacity. The prison population has grown by 4,000 since Democratic Governor Pat Quinn cancelled an early release program last year.
Thompson, Stevenson seek hearing on police torture claims
August 10, 2011 - Chicago Sun-Times
Former Gov. Jim Thompson, former U.S. Sen. Adlai Stevenson III and other legal and political heavyweights are asking the Illinois Supreme Court to order hearings into claims by prisoners that they were tortured by former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge and his detectives.
Judge: Daley can be sued for alleged Burge-era brutality
August 10, 2011 - Chicago Tribune
Decision means former mayor can be deposed in police torture lawsuit
A federal judge has ruled that former Mayor Richard M. Daley can be sued for alleged police brutality conspiracies that happened under former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge.
APD Gets Taser Shotguns
July 25, 2011 - KRQE News
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - Albuquerque police officers now have taser shotguns in their arsenal.
For now, only the SWAT team and officers in the special investigations division have the X12 taser shotguns.
The new tool packs a pretty mean punch. Continue reading...
Shootings by Chicago cops on rise in 2011, but why?
July 23, 2011 - Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Police officers have shot 40 people this year, nearly as many as in all of 2010.
No one knows for sure why police-involved shootings are up.
But Officer Danny O’Toole — who killed a suspect in 2009 and was wounded in a shootout just two weeks later — thinks he knows why. Continue reading...
Federal Jury Awards $10 Million Against TASER International for Teenager's Death
July 19, 2011 - PRNewswire
CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Attorneys John Burton and Peter M. Williamson announce that at 2:30 p.m. EDT today, a federal court jury returned a verdict for wrongful death in the amount of $10,000,000.00 against TASER International Inc., for the wrongful death of 17-year-old Darryl Turner, who collapsed and died in a Charlotte, North Carolina supermarket on March 20, 2008, following shocks to the chest from a TASER Model X26 electronic control device.
