The Fairfax County Police are out of control and need oversight but are slick enough to organize "Campaign contributions" during election time to avoid it.

Neighbors demand police accountability


Syracuse – Dozens of complaints about police have been filed with the Syracuse Citizen Review Board for the past two years.
Members of United as One believe there is a systematic problem with police misconduct in Syracuse that will require a cultural shift and more accountability within the ranks.
“That means checking misconduct, correcting misconduct when it occurs and not relying on a member of the public, who perhaps has been charged with a crime, to come back and complain and perhaps put themselves at risk,” said Barrie Gewanter, Director of the local chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Members of United as One asked neighbors to share their stories Wednesday night, in an effort to ensure that alleged cases of police misconduct aren't overlooked.
"The police are constantly 24/7 policing this place and everywhere you look they've got some kid thrown against the wall, some kid down on the ground,” said Cheryl Ross, who lives in Syracuse.
The meeting comes weeks after a video emerged showing a disabled man being tased by Syracuse Police after he refused to leave a bus.

The story prompted Syracuse Common Councilors to review the police department's taser policy. 

New York City Council passes police oversight measures


To cheers from the audience, the New York City Council voted to institute tough new rules regulating the city’s police department.
“The Committee of the Whole recommends passing both bills, the objection of the Mayor notwithstanding.”
The votes override a veto by Mayor Michael Bloomberg from earlier this summer. The new rules put oversight measures in place, like adding an inspector general position and streamlining community claims of discrimination by the department. The votes come about two weeks after a federal judge ruled the NYPD’s stop and frisk policies violated civil rights. Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Christine Quinn said the new inspector general will ensure stop and frisk comes to an end…
“But as importantly, we'll help make sure that no other police practices in the future ever get to the point where a federal judge has to intervene and tell us that our police department has been acting unconstitutionally.”
Mayor Boomberg has said the stop and frisk ruling and the oversight legislation undermine public safety. Last Friday, the city appealed the federal ruling.


Detroit police oversight board functions curtailed


Detroit— The Board of Police Commissioners, the citizen oversight board that rules on Detroit police policy and personnel matters, is in limbo.
The board can’t make decisions because there are only three members, one short of a quorum — and even if all the seats were filled, an executive order by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr gave Police Chief James Craig the ability to bypass the board on personnel matters, one of its most crucial functions.
Commissioner Jerome Warfield is planning a public meeting to let residents know what’s going on. He said he’s made several requests to Orr to appoint at least one member to give the board a quorum, but hasn’t gotten an answer.
“It’s important that the citizens don’t lose their voice and power,” Warfield said. “We need the EM to make a decision — either the board is still in effect or not. And, if not, let’s stop the charade and stop meeting every week.”
Although the board’s powers are limited under the emergency manager, Orr spokesman Bill Nowling said it still performs a valuable function.
“I hear the criticism, but just because the board doesn’t have a quorum, there’s still a process for citizens to air grievances, and for questions to be asked and looked into,” he said.
Voters approved a civilian Board of Police Commissioners in 1974, with its five members to be appointed by the mayor. Under the new City Charter that passed the 2012 ballot, the board will have 11 members, seven of whom will be elected, with the remaining four mayoral appointments.
Regarding the appointment of a board member, Nowling said Orr is likely to take the same approach he’s taken with City Council members who’ve abdicated their positions: “He’s chosen not to replace them, and will let the electoral process take care of that in November,” he said.
Currently, Warfield, Chairwoman Jessica Taylor and Donnell White are the three board members. When Toney Stewart’s term ended recently, he was not replaced. The board has been operating for months with only four commissioners, although that was enough for a quorum.
According to its website, the board’s mission is “to increase public confidence in the Detroit Police Department by providing accountability through competent, objective and effective civilian oversight.”
That confidence is eroding, said Ron Scott, director of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, who raised the issue at Thursday’s board meeting.
“I’ve had it up to here with this dictatorship,” Scott said. He asked Warfield to hold a hearing to let the public know what the board’s role is.
“I agree, the idea for a hearing is timely,” Warfield said. “We’ll schedule that meeting.” No date has been set.
Scott said the board’s denuding has set the city back “all the way to 1959.”

“Citizen oversight is just that,” Scott said. “That’s not what’s happening now. If the police commission has been gutted, then all the reforms that took place are nullified.”

ACLU, Albuquerque reach settlement in police oversight commission lawsuit


ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and the city of Albuquerque reached a settlement Wednesday in a freedom-of-speech lawsuit against the Albuquerque Police Oversight Commission.
Under the terms of the settlement, the city agreed to move to increase the public comment limit from two to three minutes before the commission and permit some speakers to donate their time. The city also agreed to pay $14,000 in damages and attorneys' fees.
"We are very pleased that our rights to Free Speech were affirmed through this settlement," said plaintiff Kenneth Ellis, Jr., in a statement released by the ACLU. "As the father of a son who was wrongfully killed by Albuquerque police, I must speak out about the problems with the police and the Police Oversight Commission — even when the government doesn't like what I have to say."
Early this year, the Ellis family won one of the biggest awards in city history — $10.3 million — stemming from an officer-involved shooting. In that case, Officer Brett Lampiris-Tremba fatally shot Iraq War veteran Kenneth Ellis III in the neck during a nine-minute encounter with police in which Ellis held a gun to his own head.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit after the civilian board limited the public comment period during a mid-December meeting.
The commission reviews allegations of police misconduct and excessive force.
Albuquerque's police department has been plagued by a number of high-profile cases alleging excessive force. Since 2010, the city also has seen more than two dozen officer-involved shootings.