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1

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/civil/inmates-untreated-fatal-stroke-results-in-1-million-settlement-by/2130278

Unfuckingbelievable. Just when you thought they found bottom. A new low. Super douchey to be referred to as “inmate” when he never actually did anything wrong. Seems like another crime of blackness.

[SIZE=“5”]Inmate’s untreated, fatal stroke results in $1 million settlement by Hillsborough sheriff, jail medical provider[/SIZE]

TAMPA The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the private company that provides medical care to county prisoners paid $1 million in a wrongful-death settlement this year to the children of a Tampa man who spent approximately 36 hours in jail without treatment while suffering a fatal stroke.

Allen Daniel Hicks Sr., 51, was found stopped in his car on the side of Interstate 275 by a sheriff’s deputy and a Florida Highway Patrol trooper the morning of May 11, 2012. Passers-by had called 911 after they saw Hicks’ Chevy Cavalier swerving west into a guardrail, records of the incident show.

Speaking incoherently and unable to move his left arm, Hicks was arrested on a charge of obstructing a law enforcement officer when he did not respond to commands to exit his car. Just after noon, he was booked into the Orient Road Jail.

Hicks did not receive a medical screening, but was put in a cell where he lay facedown on the floor or tried to crawl using the one working side of his body. On the night of May 12, soaked in his own urine, his brain choked of blood, he was at last taken to Tampa General Hospital and diagnosed with an ischemic stroke. He slipped into a coma and died within three months.

The troubling story of Hicks, a popular baseball coach and former employee of the Hillsborough County School District, is illuminated in court records that describe jail officials’ hefty payout to his children as well as ongoing litigation against other agencies. Internal Sheriff’s Office memos and jail surveillance video largely corroborate the account in legal documents.

The failure to provide potentially life-saving treatment for Hicks as he suffered the early stages of a stroke raises questions about the quality of medical care in Hillsborough County jails, where for years a South Florida company has held a lucrative contract to treat prisoners.

That company, Armor Correctional Health Services Inc., paid $800,000 to Hicks’ estate, according to an out-of-court settlement approved in February by a probate judge. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office paid an additional $200,000.

“It is clear that mistakes were made by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office employees and contracted medical staff employed by Armor Correctional Health Services” in the handling of Hicks, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement about the case to the Tampa Bay Times. “The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office took immediate responsibility for its actions and accountability for its mistakes by conducting a thorough review of the entire matter and working with Hicks’ family through their legal representatives to reach an amicable settlement.”

Sheriff’s Office documents also indicate the agency instituted new training on recognizing stroke symptoms for deputies and revoked the security clearance of two Armor administrative employees, effectively removing their ability to work in the jail. (The company is still under contract to provide medical services for Hillsborough County prisoners.)

Armor Correctional officials declined to comment on Hicks’ case, citing patient privacy laws.

In a general statement about the company’s practices in Hillsborough County, spokeswoman Melisa Chantres said Armor “has nurses around the clock at the jail conducting immediate health screenings for each person entering they seek to identify all medical and mental health problems, including acute conditions such as stroke and injury or chronic illnesses such as diabetes and schizophrenia.”

Hicks’ story is all the more notable at a time when doctors and nurses are striving to drive home to the public the importance of promptly recognizing strokes, whose harm to the brain is compounded every minute that passes without treatment.

“I think (his death) could have been avoided had proper procedures been followed,” said Vernon Slater, baseball coach at Middleton High School and a close friend of Hicks. “It was just bad the way they handled things with him, because I really think it could have been prevented.”

Under the settlement terms, Hicks’ children and their attorneys cannot discuss the circumstances of his death. His sister-in-law, Edna Hicks of Tampa, said his relatives are “still angry” about the episode.

“It’s been almost a year, but we’re still trying to get past it,” she said. “It’s been rough on the family.”

‘An erratic state’

Slater said he had known Hicks for about 15 years and spoke to him almost every day. The men shared a passion for baseball. Slater said Hicks was a coach with him at Middleton for six years, and the two also coached Little League together.

Slater said one story about his genial and outgoing friend always comes to mind. He and Hicks were once trying to prod a reluctant group of Little League ballplayers to take the field on a rainy day. While the team cowered in the dugout, Hicks took a lap of the bases and dove into a mud-encircled home plate with a head-first, Pete Rose-style slide.

See? He said, according to Slater. It’s not going to hurt you.

“The kids loved him, man,” Slater said. Hicks was employed as an aide for students with special needs in 2005 and 2006, according to Hillsborough School District records.

Shortly before 9 a.m. on Friday, May 11, 2012 two days before he was scheduled to coach a Little League game Hicks was observed driving erratically in the northbound lanes on I-275 near Bearss Avenue. Another driver had called 911 about a “possible drunk driver,” according to a sheriff’s report.

Hicks’ criminal record before that morning consisted of arrests in 2003 and 2011 on charges of driving with a suspended license, according to state and local records. Hillsborough sheriff’s records indicate he was also detained in 1995 for contempt of court.

Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Lunsford arrived, along with Highway Patrol Trooper Richard Guzman and a Hillsborough Fire Rescue engine. Hicks’ car was stopped against the guardrail in the left emergency lane and his driver’s side mirror was broken off, Lunsford’s report states. Someone had placed Hicks’ keys on the roof of his car.

Lunsford noted that he “did not detect the odor of any alcoholic beverages” on Hicks and that he was “behaving in an erratic state when asked for his driver’s license he picked up the lid to the center console and dropped it closed.” Hicks continued to claw at the console until Guzman reached inside it for him and retrieved his wallet.

Lunsford and Guzman became worried when Hicks did not obey commands to show his hands and exit the car. Seeing that Hicks’ left hand was drooping into the side pocket of the driver’s door, the officers pulled their handguns.

Hicks still acted befuddled, saying to Lunsford, “that’s a 9-millimeter semiautomatic gun that you have,” the report states. After ascertaining Hicks was unarmed, Lunsford and Guzman pulled him out of the car through the passenger door and handcuffed him.

In a lawsuit filed last month against Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, agencies that have not reached a settlement with Hicks’ heirs, attorneys for his estate say he was examined at the scene by paramedics who “found no medical problems.” The paramedics nevertheless suggested Hicks be transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, according to the complaint.

Capt. Nancy Rasmussen, spokeswoman for the Highway Patrol, declined to comment on the incident, citing the pending litigation. Hillsborough Fire Rescue spokeswoman Jessica Damico also declined to comment because of the lawsuit.

Guzman is also named individually as a defendant in the estate’s complaint. Guzman could not be reached for comment.

Lunsford’s report makes no mention of plans to take Hicks to a hospital. In fact, Hicks was not taken to St. Joseph’s, but was transported by Guzman to the Orient Road Jail, where he was booked at 12:23 p.m. on May 11, jail records show.

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‘Time is brain tissue’

Like a heart attack, ischemic stroke is a medical catastrophe that stalks the adult population of the United States. Accounting for roughly 9 in 10 strokes, according to the American Stroke Association hemorrhagic stroke, involving bleeding within the brain, is far less common an ischemic stroke occurs when a clot blocks a vessel that carries blood to the brain.

Prompt treatment is key. Kelly Cullen, director of patient care services at Mease Dunedin Hospital, said the most effective treatment a “clot buster” drug injected into the bloodstream that dissolves the obstruction to the brain can be used with success for up to four and a half hours after the onset of a stroke.

After that, treatment can still be applied for another several hours, albeit with a lower success rate. Beyond eight hours, Cullen said, a stroke has usually caused irreversible damage to the parts of the brain where blood flow was blocked.

“When you’re having a stroke, time is brain tissue,” Cullen said. “The earliest intervention that you can do for a stroke has the best outcome for a patient.”

Health professionals are taught to watch for a recognizable cluster of symptoms caused by loss of blood to the brain during ischemic strokes notably impaired speech, confusion and weakness or lack of coordination on one side of the body.

When he was jailed on May 11, Hicks was showing at least several of these signs.

Surveillance video provided by the Sheriff’s Office in response to a request from the Times shows Hicks’ inert left leg was dragging from the wheelchair deputies used to move him into the jail. According to his estate’s lawsuit, he was unable to wield a pen to sign intake forms.

A Sheriff’s Office internal review later found Hicks was put in a holding cell without a medical screening, despite the presence of three nurses who stood watching him. One nurse, the investigation states, “apparently determined that Hicks was feigning injury and could walk.”

Jail surveillance video shows Hicks lying on the floor of the cell, face-down and mostly motionless. From time to time his right limbs twitched, or he tried to crawl forward using only the right side of his body.

Hours passed. At 3:25 p.m. he received his first medical assessment, according to the internal review. Armor personnel did not diagnose his stroke, but suggested he be monitored as a psychiatric patient. In conversations with jail personnel, Hicks attributed his lack of mobility to chronic back problems.

At about 5:30 p.m. he was transferred to the Falkenburg Road Jail, where deputies checked on him every 15 minutes. Not until 12:10 p.m. on May 12, a full day after he was booked, did he finally receive a psychiatric evaluation by a social worker.

“The employee noted that (Hicks) could not engage, smelled of urine, and complained of incontinence, and indicated that he could not use his legs or walk,” the lawsuit states. “His behavior was inappropriate, he had decreased psyc****tor activity” and was “delusional with a poor memory.”

It was not until later that night that Armor employees began to come to terms with Hicks’ serious condition. According to the Sheriff’s Office review, medical notes indicate Hicks was found “lying in urine in the cell.”

At 10:24 p.m., the review states, a nurse who examined him concluded he “displayed symptoms of a potential stroke.” But two more hours passed as Armor health workers continued to assess Hicks and debate the right course of action.

He was finally transported to Tampa General Hospital at 12:20 a.m. on May 13, according to the sheriff’s investigation.

It had been 35 hours and 57 minutes since Hicks was booked into the Orient Road Jail.

Internal review

At the hospital, the lawsuit states, he “was diagnosed as having suffered a subacute ischemic stroke, which he had been suffering from for a considerable length of time he had suffered severe brain damage and it was too late to administer the appropriate treatment.”

According to an internal memo on the legal settlement by Thea Clark, an attorney for the Sheriff’s Office, an unidentified neurosurgeon who treated Hicks at Tampa General was “extremely critical of the medical care provided by Armor, as well as Armor and HCSO’s delay in transferring Mr. Hicks to the hospital.”

It is unclear exactly when Hicks’ stroke began, though the circumstances of his arrest suggest its onset could have occurred while he was driving his car the morning of May 11. But the outcome is not in question: Hicks entered a coma and died from the stroke and related complications on Aug. 7.

In an internal memo dated July 19, 2012, Hillsborough sheriff’s Col. James Previtera presented the findings of the agency’s internal review of the jail’s handling of Hicks.

Previtera wrote that “there is basis for immediate retraining related to the signs and symptoms of specific medical conditions, especially those subtle indicators of stroke.”

He also removed the jail security clearance of an Armor administrator and his assistant, citing “improper handling” of Hicks’ medical records and “conflicting statements about the existence of the records.”

The Sheriff’s Office stopped short of a broader rupture with the Miami-based company, which according to its website provides medical services at jails in Florida and four other states. Armor still handles inmates’ care in Hillsborough County.

The terms of the firm’s contract with the Sheriff’s Office allow for a base pay rate ranging from roughly $53,000 to $60,000 per day, depending on the size of the jail population.

Previtera wrote in his memo that he had been in touch with Armor CEO Bruce Teal to express “extreme dismay with the manner in which his staff assessed and treated Mr. Hicks. The matter is the subject of continued internal review by Armor and corrective action is expected.”

Meanwhile, Clark’s internal memo on the case suggested the settlement with Hicks’ heirs, while sizable, was in the best interests of the Sheriff’s Office.

“There is no doubt in my mind,” she wrote, “that if plaintiff’s claims were presented to a jury, plaintiff would receive a judgment against HCSO in amounts that far exceed $200,000.”

Timeline

Nearly 36 hours before getting help

May 11, 2012, 8:30-9 a.m.: The Florida Highway Patrol, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue make contact with Allen Daniel Hicks Sr. after passers-by report that he is swerving into a guardrail on Interstate 275 north of Bearss Avenue.

12:23 p.m.: His left leg dragging from a wheelchair, Hicks is booked into the Orient Road Jail and placed in a holding cell, where he lies facedown on the floor.

3:25 p.m.: Hicks receives his first medical assessment by Armor Correctional Health Services personnel. Stroke is not diagnosed, but a psychiatric evaluation is recommended.

5:24 p.m.: Hicks is transferred to the Falkenburg Road Jail.

May 12, 12:10 p.m.: Hicks is given a psychiatric evaluation by a social worker.

10:24 p.m.: A nurse examines Hicks and concludes he displays “symptoms of a potential stroke.”

10:42 p.m.: Hicks is removed from his cell, where he is found lying in a pool of urine, and taken to the jail infirmary.

May 13, 12:20 a.m.: Hicks is transported to Tampa General Hospital and diagnosed with ischemic stroke. A neurosurgeon at the facility says he has suffered severe brain damage. The doctor is “extremely critical” of the care Hicks received in jail.

Aug. 7, 2012: After slipping into a coma, Hicks dies of his stroke and related complications.

Nice huh…!!! 1 million doesn’t even come close. Punitive damages should be in the 8 digit range. They got off easy on this one.

3

Prisoners are treated badly every day.
I don’t think this is anything different.

It’s unfortunate that the guards were too poorly educated to recognize what was happening.

4

When the police do this to people, there is no law. By clawing at the glove box and acting incoherently and not being drunk, the man was obviously showing signs of some kind of heart attack/ stroke-like symptoms.
The problem with institutions, whether it’s the education system, a police dept., or even a hospital is there will always be arrogant people working there. Total arrogance, total lack of human understanding, no sensitivity to people’s real needs what-so-ever.

5

Greetings,

The family should have never settled. They would have gotten BANK.

mickey

6

[QUOTE=David Jamieson;1243162]Prisoners are treated badly every day.
I don’t think this is anything different.

It’s unfortunate that the guards were too poorly educated to recognize what was happening.[/QUOTE]

This is more than just poorly educated guards. A: the police that arrested him failed. B: whoever booked him in failed. C: the contracted medical staff failed… Not to mention he had been transferred during this whole episode. This is more than “bad guards”.

7

Some perspective

This is a horrible event for this family, how or why the Sheriff didn’t agree to send him for a medical eval at a hospital is very curious to me. As somone who works in an ER and sees lots of strokes, drug and alcohol addicts, heart attacks, pysch patients…its not always easy to figure out whats going on.

In fact many of the stroke symptoms do resemble DUI behaviors, loss of coordination, slurred speach, and disorrientation or unresponsiveness. If this patient had suffered a stroke of this magnitude, even taking him to the ER may not have saved him. If he has had a history of previous mini strokes or a previous stroke that could account for why the family settled for those amounts. Again if they suspected DUI, he should have been tested for blood alcohol levels or taken down for a pysch eval for erradic behavior.

The only sure fire way to tell if its a stroke is an immediate head CT, the Jail Nurses don’t deal with many strokes nor are the equiped to deal with them. The immediate treatment is to stop cranial bleeding with drugs and blood anticoagulents…even then there is no guarrantee that a patient will recover. Many times even if you do recover, your quality of life is horrible.

To give you an idea how challenging it can be to diagnose, I have had two of my hospital coworkers who were having strokes while at work and their behavior was noted as ‘altered’…one attributed it to her medication change and resisted going in to have it looked at. She even had a head CT that came back negative only later to discover she was having massive strokes. The other one wasn’t diagnosed till he kept crashing into things because of temporary blindness due to the stroke. He swore he was fine. Its called the silent killer for a reason.

Another point I would just through out there is that law enforcement and medical staff deal with lots people who fake having seizures, heart attacks, amnesia, memory loss, being catantonic, suicial ideation for a variety of reasons…they do bring them to our ER all the time to get cleared. It doesn’t surprise me that some of the jail staff thought he might have been faking symptoms. Locally, the Boarder Patrol goes out of its way to ensure the health of its detainees even though they suspect its’ BS. Its often a judgement call…I’ve seen where a Doctors and Nurses have completely different opinions on wether a patient was faking a seizure or having a ‘psuedo seizure’.

I just think there’s lots of missing information from this story, not the full picture and in cases like this there is usually more than one bad decision that leads to someone’s death.

8

Thanx for your perspective.

Question: How many people show symptoms like this for 36 hours when it’s not a medical issue? In your opinion, do you think it would be a waste of time and money to play it safe in these types of scenarios? Cause it is true, it usually is just some douche who is intoxicated and/or high. How long should they wait before taking action? What about breathalyzers and dip tests? They just assumed he was a bad guy.

And I agree, this was not one bad decision. I think this was a colossal failure on many levels by many people.

IMO any first responder should be equipped to deal with roadside emergencies. What is truly outrageous here is the assumptions that were made. Had this been an older white lady, we all know this would have gone down differently.

Anyone hear about the 95 year old man in Chicago that was tazed and beanbagged by cops in riot gear? That one is a beauty. I’ll post the article a lil later. Another head scratcher!

9

There are lots questions I have…what were his vital signs? How often were they monitoring him? If the nurse suspected stroke why wasn’t he taken down to a hospital? How were they planning on treating him? Just hoping he’d sober up?

36 hrs is a long time, but people under alcohol/drug/ and medication overdoses (even accidental ones) can take 24-48hrs to come out of it, they will urinate on themselves, sleep a lot, make complete non sense, and loads of other bizarre behaviors especially if they already have existing psych issues. Even previous head injuries can make people act pyschotic. We don’t know this guys’ med or police history.

Most law enforcement officers deal with all kinds of issues in the field. I don’t know what his rationale was for taking him to the jail. The Medics on site didn’t sound convinced either and they would be the ones with the best chance of IDing the stroke. It’s also wierd to know how little training and how little money most medics make and so many lives are dependent on their quick decisions.

I know there is lots of questionable behavior from law enforcement and black america.

10

My father is a retired Firefighter Captain. Believe me, I’ve heard all the stories. They have a rocky working relationship at best. My dad had an officer arrested once. When there is an accident or hazardous situation, the police can’t move in till cleared. This is quite often a problem. But the bottom line is that incident command rests with the FF’s until they clear the scene. My dad’s biggest complaint is that quite often the officers ignore the warnings and feel they are alpha and anyone who questions that is treated poorly.

A friend of ours is a paramedic supervisor, he has the same complaints. Seems to be an attitude problem. Too much “us vs them” and not enough protecting and serving. In my own experience, I find quite often that officers protect and serve their own interests above all others. Not to say that most of my contact goes that way, I’m just sayin… when there is an issue, it usually runs along those lines. Being treated poorly when doing nothing wrong. Too much of a shoot first ask questions later attitude. I’m not some big scary dude that mean mugs everyone I see, and I’m not “known to be a threat”.

I was taken down by a SRU team once when I was a teen. I was at the bus stop. It didn’t come or I missed it, so I walked to the next one, then the next one and so on. Apparently this was suspicious enough for them to gear up and take me down. They said that I “matched a description”. Now, I’m no saint, but that night I was just waiting for the bus to go home after playing a show. Perfectly straight and dressed for the occasion. I was pretty surprised to find a rifle levelled at my head while 4 others held me down. I offered no resistance, yet kept hearing don’t resist. I’m pretty flexible, but the hammer lock was way too harsh. No warning, just SUV’s at top speed and significant overkill. I understand that they need to protect themselves, but it’s a dangerous job and they shouldn’t be harming people just because they feel they may be in some form of danger. It’s just wrong.

The 95 year old man story is a perfect example. Riot gear? Tazers? Bean bags? You freakin kidding me? This stuff is happening way too often. The militarization of the police is not cool. Don’t wanna risk your life? Don’t be a cop.

I feel kinda sorry for the good ones who are demonized by the actions of the bad ones. But with so many incidents of abuse of power, it’s hard to just give them all the benefit of doubt sometimes. I mean, I have personally been assaulted for not consenting to random search. It’s bullshit. I can only imagine how I would feel if I was a big black dude.

11

For every one of these awful stories there are 10 more to counter it that are never told. Because it doesn’t get reported. As a former LEO, I’m saddened by how quick people are to bash police officers and other public servants because of the horrible stories that do get national attention.

12

http://rt.com/usa/unarmed-florida-man-firing-squad-765/

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/hostile-policing/Content?oid=17445843

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/02/prweb1946004.htm

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bmJukcFzEX4&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DbmJukcFzEX4

13

The officer in that last one spent less than one year behind bars. Tell me this problem isn’t systemic.

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[QUOTE=MarathonTmatt;1243170]When the police do this to people, there is no law. By clawing at the glove box and acting incoherently and not being drunk, the man was obviously showing signs of some kind of heart attack/ stroke-like symptoms.
The problem with institutions, whether it’s the education system, a police dept., or even a hospital is there will always be arrogant people working there. Total arrogance, total lack of human understanding, no sensitivity to people’s real needs what-so-ever.[/QUOTE]

That’s true of any workplace.

15

Quad Cities Police Officer Caught Beating Female Shoplifter In Shocking Leaked Video

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/07/quad-cities-police-office_n_3720974.html?utm_hp_ref=chicago

Well handled. Way to keep it professional. Use of force isn’t authorized when beaked off. This girl was charged for assault.

Another example of law enforcement not policing their own. No real action was taken.

16

Nice way to wake up! More overkill and negligence. This is what bullshit assumptions get you.

http://www.latimes.com/mobile/la-ln-lancaster-sheriffs-shooting-20130814,0,6527295.story

[SIZE=“4”]Lancaster couple awarded $4.1 million in sheriff’s shooting[/SIZE]

A federal judge has awarded $4.1 million to a couple shot 15 times by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies while the man and woman were homeless and living in a shack.

Angel and Jennifer Lynn Mendez were lying on a futon in a wooden shack in the backyard of a private Lancaster residence in October 2010, when two sheriff’s deputies, Christopher Conley and Jennifer (Pederson) Ballis, entered unannounced, according to court documents.

The deputies were searching for a parolee-at-large, whom they believed to be armed and dangerous, court documents state. The couple alleged in the lawsuit against the sheriff’s department that the deputies had no search warrant.

The deputies entered the 7-feet-by-7-feet shack without knocking and saw a BB gun Angel Mendez kept to shoot rats and other pests, according to the decision signed by U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald.

When the deputies entered the shack, they saw the BB gun, and Conley yelled “Gun!” according to the judge’s decision. When they started firing, the deputies did not see Jennifer Mendez, who was five months pregnant.

Angel Mendez was shot 14 times, according to the couple’s lawsuit, and his right leg was amputated below the knee. Jennifer Mendez was shot once, according to the lawsuit.

The deputies testified they did not think the shack was a habitable structure and the only person who would have been in it would have been the parolee trying to hide, according to court documents. The parolee was not found on the property.

The court awarded Angel Mendez $3.9 million based on his claim of excessive force by the deputies, documents state. The award was to cover past and future medical care, future surgeries and loss of earnings.

Jennifer Mendez was awarded more than $222,000.

17

Here’s a fun story from Texas. Another example of EXTREME overkill. Good thing they seized that okra and rooted those damn sunflowers!

[SIZE=“4”]Texas Police Hit Organic Farm With Massive SWAT Raid[/SIZE]

A small organic farm in Arlington, Texas, was the target of a massive police action last week that included aerial surveillance, a SWAT raid and a 10-hour search.

Members of the local police raiding party had a search warrant for marijuana plants, which they failed to find at the Garden of Eden farm. But farm owners and residents who live on the property told a Dallas-Ft. Worth NBC station that the real reason for the law enforcement exercise appears to have been code enforcement. The police seized “17 blackberry bushes, 15 okra plants, 14 tomatillo plants … native grasses and sunflowers,” after holding residents inside at gunpoint for at least a half-hour, property owner Shellie Smith said in a statement. The raid lasted about 10 hours, she said.

Local authorities had cited the Garden of Eden in recent weeks for code violations, including “grass that was too tall, bushes growing too close to the street, a couch and piano in the yard, chopped wood that was not properly stacked, a piece of siding that was missing from the side of the house, and generally unclean premises,” Smith’s statement said. She said the police didn’t produce a warrant until two hours after the raid began, and officers shielded their name tags so they couldn’t be identified. According to ABC affiliate WFAA, resident Quinn Eaker was the only person arrested – for outstanding traffic violations.

The city of Arlington said in a statement that the code citations were issued to the farm following complaints by neighbors, who were “concerned that the conditions” at the farm “interfere with the useful enjoyment of their properties and are detrimental to property values and community appearance.” The police SWAT raid came after “the Arlington Police Department received a number of complaints that the same property owner was cultivating marijuana plants on the premises,” the city’s statement said. “No cultivated marijuana plants were located on the premises,” the statement acknowledged.

The raid on the Garden of Eden farm appears to be the latest example of police departments using SWAT teams and paramilitary tactics to enforce less serious crimes. A Fox television affiliate reported this week, for example, that police in St. Louis County, Mo., brought out the SWAT team to serve an administrative warrant. The report went on to explain that all felony warrants are served with a SWAT team, regardless whether the crime being alleged involves violence.

In recent years, SWAT teams have been called out to perform regulatory alcohol inspections at a bar in Manassas Park, Va.; to raid bars for suspected underage drinking in New Haven, Conn.; to perform license inspections at barbershops in Orlando, Fla.; and to raid a gay bar in Atlanta where police suspected customers and employees were having public sex. A federal investigation later found that Atlanta police had made up the allegations of public sex.

Other raids have been conducted on food co-ops and Amish farms suspected of selling unpasteurized milk products. The federal government has for years been conducting raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in states that have legalized them, even though the businesses operate openly and are unlikely to pose any threat to the safety of federal enforcers.

Radley Balko is a senior writer and investigative reporter for The Huffington Post. He is also the author of the new book, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces.

This story has been updated to clarify that a federal investigation found that the Atlanta police officers who raided a gay bar had made up the allegations of public sex.

This is a problem, and those who don’t see that are also a problem. I have no doubt that if this trend continues to increase, there will be some more problems. I am starting to understand why some of the 2nd amendment freaks are citing police as a reason for building an armory.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/texas-swat-team-conducts-_n_3764951.html

Ahhh, there are so many current ones to post, but these last two I found interesting. More to come, of that there is NO DOUBT!

After 9/11 a ton of money went to supplies for local depts. Like having a shiny fancy car, why take the Corolla when you can take the Bentley. Gear up and roll out. It’s like a LE wet dream.

18

Another crime of blackness?

You have to wonder what the outcomes would have been had he looked different. Big black guy banging on doors at night, that is beyond scary for some folks. Had it been a white man of the same shape and size in a suit, would we be reading this story?

[SIZE=“5”]N.C. cop shot ex-football player 10 times[/SIZE]

[SIZE=“4”]
Jonathan Ferrell was seeking help after a car wreck early Saturday. Officer due in court Tuesday on manslaughter charge[/SIZE]

An unarmed former Florida A&M football player killed early Saturday by a North Carolina officer was shot 10 times, police said Monday.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Officer Randall Kerrick gunned down Jonathan A. Ferrell while responding to an alleged break-in. Police said the 24-year-old Ferrell walked about a half-mile after surviving a serious car crash and was seeking help at a home about 2:30 a.m. The homeowner call 911.

Officers reported that Ferrell ran toward them and did not stop after being shot with a Taser. The 27-year-old Kerrick fired 12 rounds, hitting Ferrell 10 times, with several bullets hitting him in the chest.

Kerrick, who joined the force in April 2011, was charged with voluntary manslaughter and freed on $50,000 bond. He is due in court Tuesday.

Police initially called Kerrick’s actions “appropriate and lawful” but later Saturday determined that the shooting was “excessive” and that Kerrick “did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter.” A police statement Monday reiterated the subsequent findings.

“The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department reiterates that this is a very unfortunate incident and it has devastated a family as well as caused a great deal of sadness and anxiety in our organization,” the statement said.
At a morning news conference, Ferrell’s mother said she has forgiven Kerrick.

“I just hope he gets off the force,” Georgia Ferrell said, the Charlotte Observer reported.

“He took a piece out of my heart that can never be put back,” she added. “A piece of me is gone.”

She described her son as “a great guy, a very successful man” who had moved to Charlotte to continue his education and improve his life. He was working two jobs, at Dillard’s and Best Buy, and was recently engaged to be married.

Ferrell played safety for FAMU during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Family attorney Christopher Chestnut questioned whether race was a factor in the shooting.

“The officer is white, Mr. Ferrell is black,” he said. “This might be more of a reflection of where we are as a country.”

He added, however, that “violence in this country … might be the real issue here.”

When did people become such pussies?

19

Did you move to the states or something? I thought you were a BC dude.

20

There are so many examples I want to post but it’s just so much that I cherry pick ones that are more relevant here. I considered posting about the appeal for the perjury acquittal stemming from the Dziekanski hearings, but I figured most people here wouldn’t know the story. There are dozens of good ones from my own backyard. Like the inmate that got shot in the head in the interrogation room while cuffed or the guy that was shot like 14 times from 25 feet away because he had a chain. The list is long, so I cherry pick. Know what I’m sayin? Or how bout your backyard. The kid on the bus would be a good one. Interesting to see a murder charge for a change. Very rare.

I am from BC, but I lived in Cali too. I’m not a US citizen, but their police culture fascinates me on a few levels. Plus there is a way bigger pool to choose from.