Non-violent grass roots reform and Democracy: A Brief History of Cops Convicted of Murder

On New Years Day Pittsburgh's new police chief, Cameron McLay, held a sign that says: "I resolve to challenge racism @ work;" and this was met with mixed reactions. (Police Chief's Anti-Racism Sign Lauded, Criticized 01/05/2015) Mayor Bill "Peduto said he believes the chief was simply recognizing that racism exists and acknowledging there's work to be done restoring trust between the city's police and the black community."

I'm waiting for a police chief to hold a sign saying, "I resolve to protect and serve all equally, whether they donate to political campaigns or not."

I won't hold my breath, since the rules are designed to give campaign contributors preferential treatment.

However the police union seemed to think that he might implying that all police were racists. There was also debate about the rules governing the use of social media. This is often selectively enforced but that is for another discussion.

It seems to me that this is just part of a larger movement about a variety of problems with the police and it isn't limited to racism. His posting of this sign might actually show that not all police are racist at all since it indicates acknowledgement of the problem and a willingness to change it. There is good reason to believe that many other police officers also acknowledge some of these problems and they're the ones that seem to demonstrate that not all police at corrupt or abusive.

These problems of course include the police shootings of unarmed black men that led to the black lives matter movement and many other shootings including much more that were clearly murders and actually led to convictions. Even the FBI's own figures of what they call "Justifiable Homicide" reached a high of 461 in 2013; and it doesn't appear as if they track many other killings that might be considered questionable or murder. However a growing number of citizens activists are compiling a much longer list which indicates that this may actually be less than half of the total number of police killings. The most comprehensive collection of these stories that I have found to date covering police shootings since 2013 has collected 1100 reports of people Killed By Police in 2014 and they include links to news stories so that they can be fact checked. These are in order based on the date of the killing, justifiable or not; so it is unlikely that there is much if any redundancy.

Compared to the long list they provide this "History of Cops Convicted of Murder" is relatively brief, even though it closes with another long list that goes back decades, but isn't nearly as thorough.

There are about 15,000 murders every year, although it has been dropping somewhat steadily over the past several decades and has been between 14 and 15 thousand for the past several years. This means that according to the FBI's own acknowledged figures police kill more than 3% of the total number of people murdered, although they classify them as Justifiable Homicides; but the higher figure backed up with a specific list indicates that the figure may be over 7%.

This is a somewhat rough assessment, which hasn't been peer reviewed yet however there have been other studies including at least two that indicate that in addition to the high number of shootings there is also a big problem with domestic violence among police officers. This has been demonstrated by articles including Police domestic violence nearly twice average rate and Police Have a Much Bigger Domestic-Abuse Problem Than the NFL Does. As I reported previously part of the reason for this is almost certainly Hazing and Bullying in the Police Academy as reported by former police Chief David Couper, who is one of the reformers that demonstrate a sincere effort to address the problem.

Also as I have indicated previously the biggest problem is probably not the police but the events that happen before confrontation with police become necessary. I explained this in a series of posts starting with Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows; and most recently Grass roots efforts reduce crime; Politicians steal credit. It is far more effective to reduce crime by addressing the root causes of violence before it escalates starting with child abuse and bullying that escalate to more violence later in life and escalating with hazing and bullying that occurs in both the military and police academies.

Even though many of the problems seem to come from the police the bigger problem is the politicians that arrange their training and ignore the root causes of crime before they escalate. These same politicians count on police to enforce rules that leave large segments of society at a disadvantage while their campaign contributors often get away with enormous amounts of white collar crime.

And a review of some of the past police murder cases, as well as other incidents, might indicate that politics is often a large driving force rather than figuring out whether murder charges are justified. Prior to 2013 the records are probably not nearly as comprehensive but some efforts are being made to compile them as well and determine if this is a growing trend or it is decreasing. Some of these murders date back decades or more than a century including one of the earliest well known murder cases against Charles Becker who supposedly ordered the murder of a Manhattan gambler, Herman Rosenthal in July 1912.

Many of them also indicate how politics is often more important than evidence; however it would take much more time to figure out how often this happens, especially since some of the highest profile examples may not be statistically representative. In many cases they don't involve killings in the line of duty at all; on some occasions they involve domestic violence in the families of police officers and even disputes between police. In addition to a large number of minorities being shot there are also many stories of returning veterans involved in shootings with police, including some in a growing number of "no-knock raids" for non-violent offenses, justified or not

According to the Wikipedia article about Charles Becker he was tried, convicted and executed for the murder of a Manhattan gambler, Herman Rosenthal in July 1912. Murderpedia and other sources also provide additional information. These sources indicate that at the time there were several investigations into police corruption and at times Becker was the one investigating others including Police Inspector Max Schmittberger who was investigated for corruption while he was investigating others for corruption. Becker was of course later investigated for corruption himself; and this trial indicates one of the early stages of police organizing to defend each other, justified or not. Clearly the jury came to the conclusion that it wasn't justified.

Whether it was for political reasons or not this is one of the relatively rare cases where a police officer got a major conviction and sentence. Those who oppose the death penalty might think that it went to far; however this was over a century ago and few would have opposed the death penalty at that time, whether they agreed with this example or not.

In the seventies there was another high profile case, from Texas, where there was hardly any doubt about guilt and the officer was also convicted but he was only sentenced to five years and served two and a half years following his appeal.

How The Death Of A 12-Year-Old Changed The City Of Dallas 07/24/2013

Forty years ago, thousands of Mexican-Americans in Dallas, Texas came together for a protest at city hall. Four days earlier, a white police officer had shot and killed 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez. The death of Rodriguez sparked a riot. Eventually, it later spurred change that led to political representation and more Mexican-Americans on the police force.

On July 24, 1973, Santos Rodriguez and his 13-year-old brother David were pulled from their home, handcuffed and put inside a police car. Officers accused them of robbing $8 from a vending machine at a nearby gas station. They denied it. Officer Darrell L. Cain decided to play a game of Russian roulette to force the boys to confess to the crime.

Nothing happened the first time the officer pulled the trigger on his .357 Magnum. The second time, the gun fired. Twelve-year-old Santos died in that squad car, his blood soaking his brother's feet.

Cain was eventually convicted of murder and sentenced to five years but was released after two and a half years. Complete article

Additional information is provided in this article about his appeal, Darrell L. Cain, Appellant vs. The State of Texas, Appellee March 9, 1977. It is hard to imagine how any police officer might have even considered such a tactic against a 12 year old; however this was far more common in many areas than many people want to admit, especially in the south before they faced major political organization as described in the complete article, but there are also many examples of other abuses from large cities.

It is also hard to imagine why they would have let him off with such a light sentence. Another officer who was also convicted in the 1970s, this one from New York, received a much harsher sentence. He was convicted of killing a pimp and a prostitute in 1968 who supposedly refused to pay him a bribe. He wound up serving 33 years before being released on parole.

There may be one problem with this conviction though.

He probably didn't do it.

Or at least he probably didn't commit the murder.

However there is no doubt that William Phillips was heavily involved in police corruption. This was first demonstrated when he was caught on tape by the Knapp Commission and when offered a deal he agreed to wear a wire and testify against other police officers.

It was only after he testified and he appeared on TV that someone allegedly said he recognized him and eventually he was convicted, in the second trial after the first one ended in a hung jury where ten jurors were voting for acquittal.

Journalist Geoffrey Gray investigated this decades after he was convicted in Patrolman P and he provides a compelling case indicating that he may have been innocent and that the detective that was investigating it might have been pressuring people to testify against him as revenge for his partner's suicide, which was allegedly because he thought Phillips was going to expose him; but it turned out that he wasn't wearing a ire when he talked to him.

In the documentary he tells his story to, Bob and Kim Geis, two former New York police officers that are now retired and working as a husband and wife private detective team. They seem sympathetic and volunteered to help. At first they seemed to think that he was probably innocent. The wife described the hung jury with ten people leading towards an acquittal as being pretty good, which seemed to imply that she might have thought he was innocent.

The leading testimony came from two witnesses, including one that was also shot during the incident and saw the person who shot him and another who didn’t see it but allegedly saw someone shortly before it happened. Charles Gonzalez, the one that was shot was dead by the time Gray was doing his investigation; but someone told him that he was always nervous after returning from an interview with Detective Justy and said that he was being pressured to identify Phillips. And a prison guard told him that Detective Justy showed him a photo of Phiilips in the stairwell ahead his interrogation, which is against regulations since his identification is supposed to be impartial.

F. Lee Baily, who defended Phillips in the first trial also pointed out that there were discrepancies in his original description of the shooter including pock marks on his face and the wrong height.

The other witness recanted and said that it wasn’t him at all, and that she only said it was under pressure. She said at one point she told Detective Justy that it wasn’t him and he responded by saying, “What difference does it make; he’s guilty anyway.”

The husband expressed some skepticism later on and asked him to take a lie detector test, which he agreed to. This was administered by Ralph Nieves, another former New York police officer. After the lie detective test the officer that administered it told them that there was “no deception indicated,” and that he would let them know the final results when he was done examining them.

When he did complete the test he told them that although there was “no deception indicated,” he did find something that made it inconclusive.

At this point the husband and wife team became less sympathetic and the wife said that even if they accepted his claim that he was innocent of the murder he was still guilty of corruption and that he spent 33 years in jail for that. She says “to turn on people to save yourself, that's low, that's really low.” However that doesn't seem to apply to most police officers when they try to get non-police to testify agaisnt co-conspirators, which indicates a blatant double standard for police. She also dismisses people that believe that believe that there is a "conspiracy theory" but the entire investigation into police corruption involves a conspiracy theory that has been acknowledged by just about any rational person.

This is a common tactic of dismissing what some people consider fringe fringe conspiracy theories without addressing the details or acknowledging the fact that many admitted conspiracy theories do exist or that the establishment also promotes many of their own conspiracy theories. By seeming to be supportive at first then turning around and opposing him so much later on in the investigation some people might get the impression that Kim and her husband might be involved in a conspiracy to sabotage the investigation; however if that was the case then the more effective way to go about it would have been to stay out of it from the beginning. By changing their position they did more harm than good to the reputation of the NYPD; and this would have been predictable.

If they were involved in a conspiracy and it was effective then it must have been a bizarre conspiracy that was designed to reinforce the impression of a corrupt force. If something happened to change their position it may be far more likely that they really were supportive at first but then perhaps they might have faced pressure from other in the police community.

However saying or implying that he deserves to serve 33 years in jail for corruption, even if he didn't commit the murders, when many other police who are convicted and actually did commit the murders don't serve that much time, including the officer that killed 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez, hardly seems like a reasonable perception of justice by other officers who are supposed to uphold the law. This may not be a perfect comparison, since they're from two different states under different circumstances; but the discrepancy is pretty dramatic and there are plenty more cases, including the ones listed below that can be added to the comparison.

At one point when Bob Geis is interviewing Phillips he tells him about a separate occasion when he was in a fight with another suspect and he stabbed him before trying to run away; then Phillips said he shot him as he was running away. Bob Geis says that they would have indicted him for that today and Phillips responds by saying that they didn't do that back then though.

Actually in most cases they wouldn't have indicted a cop for that even today, which is why they're having all these protests. As a result of the protests a modest percentage of them are being indicted but they don't face the most serious penalties if they do go to trial, certainly not 33 years.

They're supposed to sentence people for the actual crime they're tried for not some other crime and this wouldn't be considered acceptableness if the defendant had political power.

Many other people that have covered it don't seem to agree that he spent time in jail for being corrupt, including Leonard Levitt, who wrote Crooked Cop Bill Phillips: The Perils of Testifying 09/24/2007, saying, "Beware of testifying before an outside agency investigating the police department if there is evil in your past," and "Do not embarrass the big boys."

He almost certainly went to jail for turning on other cops, not for corruption or murder.

Village Voice also did an article on him in 2006, Freeze Frame on a Bad Cop: Still stuck in prison for three decades: the once famous, now forgotten, Bill Phillips. They cited Frank Serpico who they interviewed for the story and he said, "The feelings I had back then, was I wouldn't put it past certain elements of the department to do that." And, 'There was no physical evidence, and most of the witnesses, as Judge John Murtagh noted at the time, were "creatures who are in the depths of depravity." '

This sounds like just the type of case that "Truth in Justice.org" is trying to correct, as their opening statement indicates:

Wrongfully Convicted Cops

The practices employed by bureaucratically corrupt police and prosecutors to convict innocent citizens of crimes they did not commit -- coerced confessions, planting evidence, suborning perjured "snitch" testimony -- are brought to bear with a vengeance on their fellow officers. Why? Self-promotion and career enhancement. Bagging one police officer for crimes he did not commit -- or crimes that never happened in the first place -- can do more for a crooked cop's career than putting away 100 real criminals. What is worse, the practices of the crooked cops have so tainted public perceptions that when they accuse a fellow officer, juries are predisposed to convict. Complete article

This is one of the few organizations that I know of that claim that there is an excessive effort to convict police officers of crimes that they didn't commit. This organization is presumably supported by Police Unions, including The National Police Defense Foundation, which is listed at the bottom of the page; however they don't provide clear information about who is financing this organization.

However, regardless of who is financing it, even though it seems to fit the description of William Phillips case they don't mention him at all. Instead they mention a large number of other police including many that are charged with domestic violence against their own family.

The existence of this web site plus numerous other web pages created to defend individual police when they're charged with crimes, including David Camm who was cited by Truth in Justice.org and was acquitted on his third trial with the help of ex-FBI agent Gary Dunn who worked at no charge. This is a clear example of how much more resources the police have to defend them, whether they're innocent or not than the rest of society.

Behind the Blue Badge has been documenting a large number of domestic abuse cases involving police and how hard they are to convict including at least 41 [U.S.]Said-Suicides of Law Enforcement Officer's wives, girlfriends, dates, and ex's 09/30/2013 and this might raise doubts about whether or not there really is a major effort to convict police of crimes they didn't commit. Many of the women that allegedly committed suicide were also police officers dating or married to other police officers. In one comment about the acquittal of Clyde Ray Spencer also cited by Truth in Justice.org they said:

[WA] Jailed nearly 20 years - Ex-Officer Spencer's now-grown children say the abuse never happened

.... Why would a police officer (harder to convict than citizen joe) plead "no contest" to 11 counts of child sexual abuse when he was innocent? Spencer said he didn't remember if he molested the kids or not? He pled no contest because he thought he would be found guilty? There was no provided medical evidence of crimes - that according to Spencer on the Dorie Monson Show - included full penetration.

What about the judge? The judge didn't ask for medical evidence? What about Spencer's attorney? What did he get paid for?

I think the media is leaping on this without asking some important questions. I feel we are hearing exclusively from one side that 2 people could bend the whole system to give a police officer two life sentences for penetrating kids without a shred of physical evidence. It doesn't make sense that two people are the only ones who'd be held to blame for that. This had to be big... and serious.

As one caller to the radio show said, Spencer had a whole department of police officers that could have helped him establish his innocence to false charges. If they didn't, why? ..... Complete article

This police officer was later awarded $9 million, whether the concerns expressed by Behind the Blue Badge are justified or not, Wrongfully convicted ex-cop imprisoned almost 20 years is awarded $9 million by jury 02/06/2016

Dateline did a show on at least two high profile cases where wives of law enforcement officers, or one security guard who was about to start as a prison guard, were tried for killing their wives. One of them was the case of 'The Officer's Wife' where Levi Chavez was charged with killing her. In the ninth part, "An expert comes to court to show how she pulled that trigger to kill herself, but his demonstration backfires." The defense virtually proved that she couldn't have pulled the trigger on the stand but they had doubts anyway and acquitted him. This was covered more in Reasons Why Levi Chavez’s Acquittal Deemed an Injustice by Victim’s Family. (9/20/13)

The other one involved Seth Techel, an Iowa security guard faced 3rd trial in death of pregnant wife 07/14/2014 Seth Techel, a security guard who was hired to began working as a prison guard at the time of his arrest, was later convicted of killing his wife Lisa Techel, who was already working as a prison guard and was the daughter of Todd Caldwell a sheriff's deputy.

This particular case didn't involve a police officer, as a defendant, but he did have close connections with the police and might ahve become one eventually if not for the killing of a daughter of a police officer. And there are more examples of police fighting with each other than the vast majority of the public are aware of. One of the most famous is Christopher Dorner, or at least he was famous for a while; however the media and police practically never speak of him now that he is out of the spotlight so many people might already forget about him. His manifesto, which was mentioned when he was in the media described numerous examples of police brutality and racism, and some of it was confirmed independently. Although the fact that he wrote a manifesto on Facebook was mentioned in the media the details would have been available only to those that looked for them; and limited efforts were made to find out if there was any truth to his claims.

Instead he was killed by police, it was declared justifiable homicide and to the best of my knowledge little or no effort was made to review or change the practices within the Los Angelas Police Department, at least not publicly. His manifesto makes claims against other officers but it doesn't present himself in a great manner either. Instead he clearly seems to be acting out of anger and extremism. After reviewing the manifesto it is hard to image that someone who was trying to make either Dorner or the LAPD look good would have faked it in this manner.

Christopher Jordan Dorner's "Manifesto"

From: Christopher Jordan Dorner /7648

To: America

Subj: Last resort

Regarding CF# 07-004281

I know most of you who personally know me are in disbelief to hear from media reports that I am suspected of committing such horrendous murders and have taken drastic and shocking actions in the last couple of days. You are saying to yourself that this is completely out of character of the man you knew who always wore a smile wherever he was seen. I know I will be villified by the LAPD and the media.

Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name. The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse. The consent decree should never have been lifted. The only thing that has evolved from the consent decree is those officers involved in the Rampart scandal and Rodney King incidents have since promoted to supervisor, commanders, and command staff, and executive positions.

The question is, what would you do to clear your name? ....

In 8/07 I reported an officer (Ofcr. Teresa Evans/now a Sergeant), for kicking a suspect (excessive force) during a Use of Force while I was assigned as a patrol officer at LAPD’s Harbor Division. While cuffing the suspect, (Christopher Gettler), Evans kicked the suspect twice in the chest and once in the face. The kick to the face left a visible injury on the left cheek below the eye. Unfortunately after reporting it to supervisors and investigated by PSB (internal affairs investigator Det. Villanueva/Gallegos), nothing was done. I had broken their supposed “Blue Line”.

Unfortunately, It’s not JUST US, it’s JUSTICE!!! In fact, 10 months later on 6/25/08, after already successfully completing probation, acquiring a basic Post Certificate, and Intermediate Post Certificate, I was relieved of duty by the LAPD while assigned to patrol at Southwest division. It is clear as day that the department retaliated toward me for reporting Evans for kicking Mr. Christopher Gettler. The department stated that I had lied and made up the report that Evans had kicked the suspect.

I later went to a Board of Rights (department hearing for decision of continued employment) from 10/08 to 1/09. During this BOR hearing a video was played for the BOR panel where Christopher Gettler stated that he was indeed kicked by Officer Evans (video sent to multiple news agencies). In addition to Christopher Gettler stating he was kicked, his father Richard Gettler, also stated that his son had stated he was kicked by an officer when he was arrested after being released from custody. This was all presented for the department at the BOR hearing. They still found me guilty and terminated me.

What they didn’t mention was that the BOR panel made up of Capt. Phil Tingirides, Capt. Justin Eisenberg, and City Attorney Martella had a signigicant problem from the time the board was assembled. Capt. Phil Tingirides was a personal friend of Teresa Evans from when he was her supervisor at Harbor station. That is a clear conflict of interest and I made my argument for his removal early and was denied. The advocate for the LAPD BOR was Sgt. Anderson. Anderson also had a conflict of interest as she was Evans friend and former partner from Harbor division where they both worked patrol together. I made my argument for her removal when I discovered her relation to Evans and it was denied.

During the BOR, the department attempted to label me unsuccessfully as a bully. They stated that I had bullied a recruit, Abraham Schefres, in the academy when in reality and unfounded disposition from the official 1.28 formal complaint investigation found that I was the one who stood up for Abraham Schefres when other recruits sang nazi hitler youth songs about burning Jewish ghettos in WWII Germany where his father was a survivor of a concentration camp. How fucking dare you attempt to label me with such a nasty vile word. I ask that all earnest journalist investigating this story ask Ofcr. Abraham Schefres about the incident when Ofcr. Burdios began singing a nazi youth song about burning jewish ghettos.

The internal affairs investigation in the academy involving Schefres was spurned by a complaint that I had initiated toward two fellow recruit/offifcers. While on a assigned patrol footbeat in Hollywood Division, Officers Hermilio Buridios IV and Marlon Magana (both current LAPD officers) decided that they would voice their personal feelings about the black community. While traveling back to the station in a 12 passenger van I heard Magana refer to another individual as a nigger. I wasn’t sure if I heard correctly as there were many conversations in the van that was compiled of at least 8 officers and he was sitting in the very rear and me in the very front.

Even with the multiple conversations and ambient noise I heard Officer Magana call an indivdual a nigger again. Now that I had confirmed it, I told Magana not to use that word again. I explained that it was a well known offensive word that should not be used by anyone. He replied, “I’ll say it when I want”. Officer Burdios, a friend of his, also stated that he would say nigger when he wanted. At that point I jumped over my front passenger seat and two other officers where I placed my hands around Burdios’ neck and squeezed. I stated to Burdios, “Don’t fucking say that”. At that point there was pushing and shoving and we were separated by several other officers. What I should have done, was put a Winchester Ranger SXT 9mm 147 grain bullet in his skull and Officer Magana’s skull. .... Complete article

His claims about the incident involving Christopher Gettler were partially confirmed in, Point Loma Ca. locked down briefly during manhunt for Navy veteran and LAPD officer Christopher Dorner 02/07/2013; however they provided very little details and as far as I know there was little or no efforts to either confirm or refute the rest. Christopher Jordan Dorner (Murderpeida article), was trained by both the Navy and the LAPD and presumably went through hazing practices during boot camp of both training period. His description of the incident involving Abraham Schefres sounds potentially like a common practice during hazing rituals. As I previously stated this is part of the process to indoctrinate recruits to blindly obey orders and reinforces the "Blue wall of silence." This is partially confirmed by the article cited by David Couper.

This isn't the only story about potential police violence against each other based on potential racial bigotry, The Free Thought Project: NYPD Cop Says He Was Racially Profiled, Assaulted And Wrongfully Arrested By Other Cops 12/11/2014 and Addicting Info: Off-Duty Black Police Officer Racially Profiled, Assaulted By Group Of Cops (VIDEO) 12/13/2014 both report about NYPD officer Harold Thomas was profiled by fellow NYPD officers. Both these reports came from alternative outlets which some people might consider biased against the police; however time has also covered it based on a Reuters article, Black Cops in NYC Recall Being Profiled by White Officers. 12/23/2014 A close review of the coverage about these incidents and the possibility that they're often reported much earlier by alternative media outlets than they are by the traditional press might indicate that the traditional press is actually more biased than some of the alternative media outlets. If they had reported on these subjects adequately it is much more likely that action would have been taken before many of these incidents happened. Unfortunately when they do report on them they quickly forget about them and there is often little or no change.

The New York Times reported about Bias Seen in ‘Police-on-Police’ Shootings 05/27/2010 five years ago, but the article has long since been forgotten by most people. They wrote, " The report by the task force found that 26 police officers were killed in the United States over the past 30 years by colleagues who mistook them for criminals. It also found that it was increasingly “officers of color” who died in this manner, including 10 of the 14 killed since 1995. More specifically, in cases involving a victim who was an off-duty officer, the task force reported that 9 of the 10 officers killed in friendly fire encounters in the United States since 1982 were black or Latino ..... The last killing of a white off-duty officer by an on-duty colleague in a mistaken-identity case in the United States happened in 1982. ...."

These reports don't include many other incidents that aren't as serious and are almost certainly much more common. It is much more difficult to avoid reporting an incident when it involves a shooting and especially when there is a dead police officer. And there is ample evidence to indicate that police are much less likely to report on their own problems.

New York State Task Force on Police on Police Shootings: Reducing Inherent Danger: Report of the Task Force on Police on Police Shootings, late 2009 PDF

Conflicts with among police are probably more common than most people realize. There are also some rare examples where police wind up in conflicts with politicians with political clout and apparently in at least one example an Arizona cop was charged as a result of it when he pointed a gun at a former Arizona state lawmaker, Ofc. Jeremy Sweet, an On-duty Phoenix officer arrested for pointing gun at Armando Ruiz, a former Arizona state lawmaker 10/28/2014 Date of alleged incident: 10/27/2014 an update added to this story indicates that he plead guilty and, it still seems to claim that he is an upstanding member of the force and attempts to argue that it was justified even while pleading guilty.

Many people might wonder if the same activity would have been taken seriously if it was against someone who wasn't a former state lawmaker.

The most extreme case of a cop being convicted of a major crime agaisnt another politician and sheriff is When Sidney Dorsey was defeated for sheriff in a 2000 runoff by challenger Derwin Brown, he arranged for Brown to be killed.
Derwin Brown's assassination: A year later answers to killing slowly surfacing 12/15/201 Date of Murder: Dec. 15, 2000 This case has almost been forgotten by most people but it received national attention for a little while before being quickly forgotten. There are many other high profile murders that get much more attention by the media and are often mentioned over and over again but that doesn't seem to be the case with most incidents involving police.

Some of these incidents include bar room brawls, including one where police in Massachusetts called in reinforcements to help kill someone that got in a fight with off duty police officers; an ex Wyoming police officer that was involved in a shooting with South Dakota police; several incidents from New Orleans including one that involved a cover up for a shooting after Hurricane Katrina and more.

Craig Brewer an Off-duty cop arrested after fight with deputies 12/30/2014 Date of alleged barroom brawl: 12/24/2014
Craig Brewer a Memphis Tenn. Police Officer arrested after Christmas Eve barroom brawl 12/30/2014 Date of alleged barroom brawl: 12/24/2014 This article doesn't mention that the brawl was against additional officers made clear in previous article.

Man accused of shooting South Dakota trooper is former Wyoming police officer 01/12/2015 Date of shooting: 01/08/2015

A murder 20 years ago, by Len Davis, a patrolman known as “Robocop” marked low point for New Orleans Police Department Date of Murder: Oct. 13, 1994

5 former New Orleans cops get stiff sentences, between 6 and 65 years, in Katrina bridge shootings, cover-up 04/04/2012 Date of Murder: Sept. 4, 2005

NYT: John McLeod and Richard Aiello, 2 of 5 Officers Found Guilty of Murder and one John Macauda, of Manslaughter in Motel Brawl May 13, 1983 Date of Murder: July 1982
Boston Globe: Memories of police brutality still fresh, 30 years after King Arthur trials 06/23/2013 Date of Murder: July 1982

Another incident involves a Mass. Cop Shoots Fellow Officer Then Takes Own Life, Police Say (02/25/2012 Date of Murder/suicide: 02/24/2012); according to Beverly police report: Officer shot by Hamilton police sergeant said sergeant’s wife ‘poured her heart out to me’ 03/15/2012 this might be another example where an affair or perceived affair among people in the police community might have led to the shooting.

At least two police officers, Craig Peyer and Josh Griffin were convicted of kidnapping raping and killing a woman while on duty or shortly after getting off duty and still using their patrol car. Several other incidents whee police have been accused of sexual misconduct while in uniform include, Stephen Maiorino, a Boynton Beach Fla. officer accused of on-duty rape seeks release from jail 01/23/2015 Date of alleged rape: Oct. 15 2014; La'Cori Johnson a Dallas Tx. Police Officer Arrested, Accused of Sex Assault While On-Duty 01/29/2014 Date of alleged sexual assault: Sept. 9, 2013; Officer Chris Collins Gets Sued After Giving a Woman a Ticket, Then Asking Her Out on a Date Jan 05, 2012; and Illegally Park-ed: An Irvine Ca. cop ejaculates on a motorist but escapes criminal liability. 02/09/2007

Another example of sexual misconduct involves an off duty officer, Paul Allen Derrick a Drunken off-duty SC deputy tried to arrest female soldier at bar when she resisted his advances 10/15/2013 Date of incident: October 7th 2013
Thomas Fallis a Former Colorado Cop Arrested for Wife's Murder Nearly Three Years Later 11/20/2014 Date of Murder: 01/01/2012

There are many more that I have compiled and listed below in chronological order. There is good reason to believe that in addition to being at least twice as likely to be involved in domestic violence than the rest of the population, as indicated in the two studies cited above, police may be as likely if not more likely more likely to commit murder than the rest of the population, although I am not aware of a peer reviewed study on that. I will follow up on that more in another post along with additional discussion about how some of the recent data about police being subject to violence from criminals is almost certainly exaggerated, and a rough statistical review of those in Murderpedia, among other things. There have apparently been more NYPD officers that died in the last ten years (2005-2014) than there were in the seventies; however close to if not more than half or two thirds of them are a result of diseases related to 9/11. If not for 9/11 there would be much less and fewer of them would have been a result of shootings. After all the hype about the two police officers that were shot I found that there were only two others in that year and five the year before that died.

The impression of police being under attack is almost certainly based primarily on hype and a few rare incidents, that although more than we should have, probably aren't nearly as common as when police shoot people in the line of duty or shoot their own family members.

Non-violent grass roots reform and Democracy

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Thursday, February 26, 2015

A Brief History of Cops Convicted of Murder

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