News — police

Jamal Derek Jr. Francique, a 28-year-old father of two who was active in the Mississauga music scene, was gunned down by a Peel Regional Police officer on January 7, 2020. He died in hospital three days later.

Details of the circumstances surrounding Francique’s death are scant and contradictory. On the evening of January 7, plainclothes officers investigating drug activity at a housing complex on Winston Churchill Boulevard, south of Eglinton Avenue and Southampton Drive in Mississauga, Ontario, fired multiple shots into Francique’s vehicle while he was driving. The officers had intended to arrest Francique who was a “person of interest” but, as Constable Sarah Patten told reporters at the scene, Francique had allegedly driven towards the officers and so they opened fire on his car. According to supporters of the slain man’s family, Francique had been shot in the back of the head. A cellphone video taken by a nearby resident shows several Peel Regional Police officers gathered around Francique after he had been pulled out of his vehicle. An officer can be seen kicking the fatally wounded man while he lay on the ground.

Francique’s grieving family wants to know what happened. They do not understand why the investigation has taken so long or why it took eight police officers to arrest one man. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU), a police watchdog that has been accused of holding a pro-police bias, issued a report on January 20, 2021, in which it said there were no reasonable grounds to charge the officer who shot Francique in front of his parents’ home. Knia Singh, the lawyer for the family, says the report contains major inconsistencies that demonstrate that the SIU does not conduct thorough and accurate investigations.

The story of Jamal Francique’s death might have remained unknown were it not for worldwide protests against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The Peel Regional Police shooting of D’Andre Campbell in Brampton, Ontario, and the police intervention that resulted in the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto have sparked a growing concern in Canada about systemic racism and police brutality. On June 13, 2020, several hundred people attended a “Justice for Jamal” vigil in Mississauga to honor him and to shine a light on his case. Author-journalist Desmond Cole addressed the gathering: “Everywhere we look in this country, it’s the same story with police and Black and Indigenous people, and we are tired. But we are not defeated by any means.”

Clive Mensah died at the hands of police in his own back yard in Mississauga, Ontario, a city west of Toronto, on Nov. 20, 2019. In March 2021, the Ontario police watchdog unit ruled there would be no criminal charges against the officers involved in his death. The unit’s report concluded that, while the officers applied “significant force” against the unarmed, mentally ill Black man, it was “not unlawful.” That force included hitting him with six electric shocks from Tasers and spraying him with pepper spray, after he had obeyed their orders to lie face down.

Mensah was born in Scarborough, Ontario, in 1989, but spent much of his childhood in his parents’ home country of Ghana, where he pursued interests in music and basketball. Returning to Canada at age 18, he worked at grocery stores and as a warehouse forklift driver. In 2014 Mensah experienced several psychotic episodes and a psychiatrist diagnosed him with possible schizophrenia.

Drawing on an interview with the Peel Regional Police officer who arrived first the night Mensah died, the postmortem report indicates Mensah was walking on a sidewalk by his home in the early hours of Nov. 20, 2019. The officer, responding to calls by neighbors about a man causing a disturbance, found Mensah “flailing his arms and making unintelligible noises.” The officer had thought it was clear from Mensah’s behavior that he needed help but did not summon a 24-hour crisis response team; such teams pair a plainclothes officer with a mental health official. Two other police officers arrived, and the three followed Mensah into his backyard.

Mensah complied with their orders to lie down but after his arms flailed when told to put them behind his back, one officer fired a Taser at him. The report said Mensah got up and advanced toward them. Again an officer fired a Taser at him, after which Mensah fell face down to the ground and went rigid but was still “aggressive and combative.” The officers moved to restrain him, again fired a Taser at him, sprayed pepper spray toward the back of his head, and handcuffed him. He became unresponsive. By the time another officer arrived, he found Mensah face down with foam coming from his mouth and no pulse, and the officer began life-saving measures until paramedics arrived, at which point a fifth officer arrived and removed his handcuffs. During this time, Mensah never spoke. A hospital report noted that paramedics were delayed in reaching the stricken man because police cruisers blocked the roadway. Less than an hour passed from the time police were first called at 3:15 a.m. and when Mensah was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after 4 a.m.

Two of the three officers involved in Mensah’s death refused to speak with investigators from the Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU), whose role is to determine whether there has been police wrongdoing. SIU cannot legally compel officers to speak to investigators or turn over their notes.

Mensah’s only family in Canada, his uncles William Owusu and Stephen Boakye, said they’ve never heard from Peel police about Mensah’s death and never received an apology. They waited nearly 18 months for the SIU’s report and “now, we see no one will be held accountable.”

The deaf community in the United States is condemning the actions of North Las Vegas police officers who allegedly handcuffed a deaf motorist in the presence of her 11-year-old twins and then made the minors interpret for them, FOX5 reports.

The incident reportedly occurred when the woman, identified as Andrea “Dre” Hollingsworth, went to her former landlord to collect a rent refund after moving out early. The landlord, however, called the police on her and when they arrived, a confrontation ensued.

In an interview with the news outlet, Hollingsworth said she was unable to effectively communicate with the officers due to her condition, adding that she also did not know why she was pulled over.

“I don’t know, I’m being pulled over and he is interrogating me … I am black, I am deaf, George Floyd just happened,” Hollingsworth, who streamed the encounter on Facebook Live, said. “The police officer pulled my arm … and I was like, ‘whoa, why?’ I have never experienced anything like that in my life.”

Hollingsworth’s twin daughters were in the car during the stop and the officer also ordered them to exit the vehicle. Meanwhile, Hollingsworth said she told the officer the only way they could communicate was through texting and writing but “he just kept on talking.”

In the video, the officer is heard telling the twins their mother is being investigated. One of the girls also tries to explain what their mother is doing in the area. “She is just here because she needs her money back from her friend,” she tells the officer.

The confrontation, however, escalated and Hollingsworth said the officer forcefully made her sit on the curb of the road after she came out of her car. She was later handcuffed while her children watched screaming. From that point, Hollingsworth said she was unable to sign.

“Tell her to put her hands behind her back,” an officer is heard saying in the video. “One of you guys need to talk some sense into her.”

Responding to the incident, the North Las Vegas Police Department said Hollingsworth “initially refused to comply with requests and was briefly detained until police completed their investigation.”

Speaking to FOX5, deaf rights lawyer Andrew Rozynski said the officers making Hollingsworth’s twins interpret for them was illegal. “Requiring an 11-year-old to interpret in a police situation is against the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are regulations in there that expressly prohibit children from being used as interpreters,” he said.

Quite a handful of police departments reportedly have round-the-clock interpreter services to facilitate effective communication in these kinds of scenarios. “There are services out there such as video relay, in which someone can bring up an interpreter on an iPhone or iPad,” Rozynski revealed.

Hollingsworth said the incident likely left her twin daughters scared and devastated. “I never thought this would happen to me because I am not a criminal,” she said. “My kids are afraid because of all the incidents that have been happening recently. They are raised Black in this community, so when they see a police officer, they are also on high alert.”

To prevent future occurrences of such nature, the Black mother said she wants to see reform in the city’s policing. “I really want all of Las Vegas police to change, because it is really scary how deaf people are treated. If my kids weren’t with me, then I would have died that day. My kids saved my life,” she said.

Dr. Sheryl Victorian has been named the chief of police for the City of Waco, Texas. With her wealth of experience and education, her appointment was a no-brainer for City Manager Bradley Ford as he recommended Victorian.

As we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month, her historic appointment makes her Waco’s first Black and first female police chief.

Victorian began her law enforcement career as a police cadet in Houston in 1993. In 1995, she was recognized as the 100 Club of Houston’s “Rookie Officer of the Year”. She worked with the Houston Police department for 28 years, rising to the rank of Assistant Chief. On February 16, the Waco City Council voted unanimously to confirm Victorian as city’s police chief.

She was one of four finalists for the position after the department received 43 candidates from 17 states.

Of her nomination, she said, “It is a privilege and honor to have my name forwarded to the city council. Maintaining the trust of the community, adopting, and improving our department to meet the changing needs and demands of policing, and keeping our officers and citizens safe are my objectives from day one if council approves my selection.”

“It would be an honor to lead the department and I look forward to working proactively to keep Waco a great community to work, live and raise a family.”

Many gathered at the Waco Convention Center on the day of her swearing-in to witness a historic moment as Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, her former boss, pinned on her new badge.

“I will push to become the model city for public safety, and police-community partnerships, and building trust and legitimacy in policing,” Chief Victorian said to the crowd.

Not only does being the first Black female chief bring diversity to the role, but Victorian’s innovation over the years in whatever capacity she has served is also always in tandem with her community’s vision and she always delivers.

“Sheryl’s depth of hands-on management experience, her educational background, and her support for innovative programs all stood out,” Ford said.

“Sheryl shared our community’s vision for a leader who embraces continuous improvement, community policing, and a commitment to serving and protecting all of our citizens.”

Victorian holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Affairs from Texas Southern University, a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from The University of Houston, and a doctorate in Administration of Justice, also from Texas Southern University.

Aside from heading the City of Waco police department, Chief Victorian is also an assistant professor at Southern New Hampshire University where she teaches Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice, Ethics, and the Graduate Capstone course, according to the city’s site.

Talk of a decorated police chief, Victorian is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and numerous nationally accredited leadership programs. She holds a Texas Master Peace Officer’s license and has received numerous awards and commendations over her career with Houston PD, reports.

Waco NAACP President Dr. Peaches Henry did not miss the swearing-in ceremony because she has openly supported Chief Victorian not just because she is Black and a woman but because she has all the experience and qualifications to head the City of Waco’s police department.

“The fact that she is African-American, and female is wonderful, but without all of her outstanding qualifications, it would be meaningless. So, we are delighted to see her,” Henry said.

Chief Victorian is now the 28th police chief heading the department with 266 commissioned officers and 100 civilian staff. She’s going to be a blessing. I’m so happy for her and Waco,” Houston Police Chief Acevedo told news.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police on Sunday arrested a man accused of murdering four family members and shooting a fifth following a dispute over stimulus money. Neighbors said Malik Halfacre, 25, shot the mother of his child and killed four of her family members Saturday night at a home on North Randolph Street in Indianapolis.

Halfacre is facing preliminary charges of murder, attempted murder and robbery in connection with the quadruple homicide, police said.

Halfacre on Friday had an argument with Jeanettrius Moore, the mother of his child, about the $1,400 stimulus check issued to assist Americans to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Wendy Johnson, cousin of Moore, told WXIN. “She had just gotten her money, and he wanted half of her money,” Johnson told the news station.

Moore, who works at a beauty supply shop, gave Halfacre $450 but he left unsatisfied, Johnson said. On Saturday evening, he came back to the house demanding to know where the stimulus money was, Johnson said. Halfacre then began searching Moore’s purse in front of her family members. An argument ensued, and in the process, he pulled out a gun and opened fire, injuring Moore and killing her mother, Tomeeka Brown, 44; brother, Daquan Moore, 23; her cousin, Anthony Johnson, 35; and her daughter, Eve Moore, 7, Johnson said.

Halfacre fled with Moore’s other daughter (the one she shares with him), Johnson said. Moore, injured, ran to a neighbor’s house to ask for help. “She was frantic,” neighbor Craig Jackson told news station WISH. “She was hysterical. She was in pain. She said her baby daddy shot her, and he shot her, her mother and the kids. She said she was the only person who got away.”

Jackson called the police, who started searching for Halfacre. The following morning, the couple’s missing child, Malia, was found, unharmed. Halfacre was also arrested Sunday evening following a four-hour-long stand-off with a SWAT team at an east Indianapolis home.

A Black man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department alleging he was violently arrested for no reason whatsoever during an incident that left him with facial injuries last year.

In an interview with KABC-TV, the plaintiff – Leroy Kennedy IV – reiterated his innocence, saying the incident has left him traumatized. Kennedy said he ended up spending four days in jail and an aggravated battery of a police officer charge against him was later dropped.

“It left me feeling traumatized. Man, I ain’t gonna lie. You get nervous. You get even more nervous once you see the police,” he said.

Kennedy said the incident occurred when he was on his way to a store in Humboldt Park. He alleged he was confronted by two Chicago Police officers who roughed him up and slammed him to a brick wall, adding that his head was also hit against a sidewalk more than once. The incident was reportedly witnessed by angry bystanders who called the officers out for their actions. Kennedy told the news outlet he suffered a concussion and injuries to his wrist and hand. The arrest also left him with visible grazes on his face.

“I told him like ‘Sir, I’m not resisting. I just want to get my glasses,” he told the news outlet. “He slammed me again thinking I’m resisting.” The video camera footage of the incident also shows Kennedy walking unsteadily as the officers escort him into a patrol car in handcuffs.

Per the police report, the officers wrote they confronted Kennedy as he had “a shocked look on his face” when he saw them, adding that they suspected he was “attempting to conceal a firearm,” KABC-TV reported. Kennedy was, however, not armed and he did not also have any drugs on him. The officers could not also fully explain the motive behind the arrest to supervisors when they arrived.

“The police couldn’t even pretend he did anything,” Kennedy’s attorney said. “So you have a police report which gives no description of a crime and no reason for approaching him, other than his bulging eyes.”

The lawsuit states Kennedy is seeking “compensatory damages and because defendants acted maliciously, wantonly, or oppressively, punitive damages against the individual (officers) in their individual capacities,” CNN reported. Additionally, the plaintiff also seeks court as well as attorney fees.

Almost two years ago, the Chicago police raided the home of Anjanette Young with their guns drawn and a warrant in search of a suspect. Young, who had just returned from her shift at the hospital as a social worker, was naked at the time the police broke down her door.

Startled and demanding to know what was going on, she was handcuffed – while still naked – and ignored while her home was searched. It later turned out to be a botched raid. They got the wrong house. Following the incident, Young filed a lawsuit against the police.

Young, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) she filed last year, also requested the bodycam footage of the incident be turned over so the public could also see what actually happened that night, CBS 2 reported, adding that they also filed the same request. The Chicago Police Department, however, refused to release the footage.

A court recently ordered the police department to turn the videos over to Young as part of her lawsuit. “I feel like they didn’t want us to have this video because they knew how bad it was,” she told the news outlet. “They knew they had done something wrong. They knew that the way they treated me was not right.”

Per the footage of nine body cameras, a group of male officers reportedly barged into Young’s home after breaking her door with a battering ram on the night of February 21, 2019. The social worker, who had just arrived from work, was naked in her bedroom when she initially heard the noise from beyond her door.

“It was so traumatic to hear the thing that was hitting the door,” she told CBS 2. “And it happened so fast, I didn’t have time to put on clothes.”

The officers, who entered her home with their weapons drawn, made it known they had a search warrant and shouted: “Hands up, hands up, hands up.” Naked, Young complied with their orders despite being startled and terrified. She was then handcuffed while still naked.

In the footage, Young asked the officers: “What is going on? There’s nobody else here, I live alone. I mean, what is going on here? You’ve got the wrong house. I live alone.”

“It’s one of those moments where I felt I could have died that night,” she told CBS 2. “Like if I would have made one wrong move, it felt like they would have shot me. I truly believe they would have shot me.”

Young was later covered with a short coat but it did not completely hide her nakedness. An officer later covered her with a blanket. Crying, Young continued to ask the officers what was going on.

“They just threw something over me, and my hands are behind me and I’m handcuffed,” she said. “So there’s no way for me to secure the blanket around me.”

Elsewhere in the video, Young was heard telling the officers they were in the wrong house. “Tell me what’s going on,” she asked. “You’ve got the wrong house, you’ve got the wrong house, you’ve got the wrong house.”

A sergeant then asked her: “There’s no one else who lives in this apartment?”, to which she replied: “No, no one else lives here.” CBS 2 reported Young told the officers they were in the wrong home at least 43 times. She said the officers also ignored her when she demanded answers.

“When I asked them to show me, when I asked them to tell me what they are doing in my house, and their response to me was just, shut up and calm down, that’s so disrespectful,” she said. Young was allowed to dress after a female officer arrived 13 minutes later, but she was handcuffed again afterward.

Per investigations from the news outlet, the police could have avoided wrongly breaking into Young’s home had they cross-checked to confirm if that was the address of the suspect they were after. They obtained the search warrant and conducted the raid following a tip from a confidential informant.

The informant in question told the lead officer of the raid – known as affiant –  that he had recently seen the suspect with a gun and ammunition a day before the raid. After the informant confirmed the identity of the suspect after the officer ran his image through the database, the informant took the officer to the suspect’s alleged location – which was a wrong address. Without running any further background checks, a search warrant was obtained.

CBS 2, however, reported the officers could have accurately located the suspect, who was a known felon, because he was wearing an electronic monitoring device. The suspect also lived in the residential complex next to Young’s. “That piece of paper [search warrant] gives them the right to, you know, that says you can do X, Y, Z based on what’s on that paper,” Young told the news outlet. “So if you get it wrong, you are taking 100 percent control of someone else’s life and treating them in a bad way.”

After the police realized they were in the wrong home getting to the end of the raid, they freed Young. “I do apologize for bothering you tonight,” the sergeant said. “I assure you that the city will be in contact with you tomorrow.” The sergeant also asked: “Is there anything I can do right now?”, to which Young replied: “Just leave and let me move on, this is so crazy.”

Young was only contacted by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) nine months after the February 2019 incident, and that was only after CBS 2 first reported the story. COPA said they’re still looking into the incident.

“If this had been a young woman in Lincoln Park by herself in her home naked, a young white woman — let’s just be frank – if the reaction would have been the same? I don’t think it would have been,” Keenan Saulter, Young’s attorney, said. “I think [officers] would have saw that woman, rightfully so, as someone who was vulnerable, someone who deserved protection, someone who deserved to have their dignity maintained. They viewed Ms. Young as less than human.”

Prior to the footage being aired by CBS 2, the law department of the office of Mayor Lori Lightfoot filed a federal motion seeking to block the station from showing it. Their request was, however, denied by a judge.

Black or Latinx drivers are more likely to be pulled over by the police than their White counterparts in random traffic stops. David Price, wanting to reduce the casualties during these altercations, created the ‘Safety Pouch’ so Black drivers and even the police can feel safer during traffic stops.

A study by Stanford University in 2019 confirmed that out of 100 million stops, Black and Latinx drivers were stopped and frisked for far less evidence than White drivers.

Price is a 19-year-old sophomore at Loyola University and as part of a project to design something that could bring about societal change, he created the Safety Pouch, an idea he had conceived three years prior to the project.

The young entrepreneur unearthed his skills in an Introduction to Entrepreneurship class in the fall of 2019 when his professor told students to “envision a product that might somehow bring about societal change.”

As an African American, it is apparent that things could get messy with the police during routine traffic stops. So, when Price first got his driver’s license at age 16, his parents, like most Black parents do with their children, had the infamous “talk” with him on how he should handle himself when stopped by an officer.

“The talk started getting more and more serious as I came to driving age,” Price said. “When I turned 16 and I got my driver’s license and they got me my car and they sat me down and had to talk with me, it was just much more in-depth. There was no sugar-coating involved.”

Katina Price, David’s mother, who is a social worker, told her son that “You may mistakenly grab something, like ‘Oh, I forgot to get something, and the police can misread your actions and take it for something else, and react in a different way that you might not be prepared to deal with.”

According to Price, the inspiration for the design is very relevant today even though it was designed before police brutality protests swept the U.S. The bright orange pouch has a transparent film and four card-sized sleeves that drivers can store essential documents such as license, insurance, and car documents.

It can easily be clipped onto a vehicle’s sun visor or on the window so the driver’s hands are visible to the officers during a stop. Price worked with his professor, a designer, and several police officers to come out with the final product.

“I figured people would respond that way because of what the product was and what it was going to solve,” Price said. “But I never thought it would have gained as much ground as it has. I didn’t think so many people would be interested in it.”

Tina Knowles, T.I., Erykah Badu and other celebrities have reached out to Price commending him on his innovative design that will help mitigate the horrific experiences Black drivers encounter on the daily with officers.

“My goal with The Safety Pouch is to hopefully use it to kind of help build trust back up,” he said. “Just a little bit to help bring unification back … I think how a lot of things are portrayed in the media is not necessarily how it really is.”

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly two-thirds of Black adults have reported being in circumstances where people were suspicious of them because of their race or ethnicity.

“So, my goal is to hopefully just show more of a human side of how we can solve the problem versus just adding fuel to the fire,” Price said.

The Minneapolis City Council, which tried and failed to dismantle the police department in the wake of George Floyd's death, voted early Thursday to shift nearly $8 million from next year's police budget to other city services as part of an effort to "transform" public safety in the city.

The controversial plan was approved unanimously as part of the city's 2021 budget.

Mayor Jacob Frey had earlier threatened a veto to the budget, calling the police cuts "irresponsible" as the city confronts an unprecedented wave of violence and scores of police officer departures since Floyd's death that have left the department struggling to respond to emergencies.

But in a statement early Thursday, Frey praised the council for removing language that would have permanently shrunk the size of the force by about 130 officers in what he described as a "defining moment for our city."

Council members who supported the "Safety for All" plan argued the city could no longer tolerate what they described as a broken system of policing and a department that has been resistant to reform.

“Believe me, this is not an easy vote to take, but I believe it is right,” said Andrea Jenkins, a council member who represents an area of South Minneapolis adjacent to the street corner where Floyd was killed.

The vote came after days of contentious public hearings and deeply emotional debate among council members, who have openly struggled to balance concern about historically high crime across Minneapolis against public calls to reform a police department that has long been accused of racism and excessive force, especially against residents of color.

The budget fight unfolded six months after Floyd’s death, which sparked worldwide protests and a national reckoning on issues of race, social justice and policing.

The 46-year-old Black man died after being handcuffed and restrained face down on a South Minneapolis street by police responding to a 911 call about a counterfeit $20 bill that had been passed at a local convenience store. Following a struggle, then-Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as the man repeatedly complained of struggling to breathe.

Chauvin, who was with the department for 19 years, has been charged with murder, and three other officers at the scene — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane and Tou Thao — have been charged with aiding and abetting. All four were fired from the police department and are scheduled to go on trial in March.

In June, days after Floyd’s killing, a majority of the city council promised to defund and dismantle the department and replace it with a new agency focused on a mix of public safety and violence prevention. But some elected leaders have backed off those promises in recent months.

“If we’re considering taking everything out of MPD that’s not an officer with a gun, I don’t believe in that,” Alondra Cano, a council member whose district includes the South Minneapolis intersection where Floyd was killed, said during a hearing Monday.

Frey had proposed a $179 million police budget for 2021, a cut of approximately $14 million from the approved 2020 budget because of declining city revenue related to the coronavirus pandemic. But under the budget approved Thursday, the council would divert $7.7 million from law enforcement to fund alternatives to policing, including mental health crisis teams and additional staffers in the city’s office of violence prevention.

About $5 million of that money came from cuts to a budget for police overtime — a move that Police Chief Medaria Arradondo had strongly discouraged, calling overtime a “necessity” for the department as it copes with staffing shortages and prepares for the trial of the four former police officers charged in Floyd’s death.

The department had been funded for about 880 officers in 2020. But Arradondo told council members Monday that, as of Dec. 1, the agency was down 166 officers — some of whom have permanently left the force and others who have been out on long-term medical leave, many citing post-traumatic stress disorder from the civil unrest that erupted after Floyd’s death.

In a last-minute debate, council members rejected a motion that would have reduced the number of full-time officers to 750 — essentially not replacing the officers who have left. Supporters argued that the amendment would simply take the open positions off the books, as the staffing shortage is unlikely to be solved in the coming year.

“It’s not possible to magically recruit more officers,” said Steve Fletcher, a council member who represents part of downtown Minneapolis. “Open positions do not solve crimes. Open positions do not write tickets. Open positions do not prevent anything. They do not deter anything. They do not create a sense of safety.”

Under the budget plan approved early Thursday, the council set up an $11.4 million reserve fund that would include about $6 million Frey had budgeted for two future recruiting classes, as well as an additional $5 million for police overtime. The police department would have to get city council approval to access the funds — an effort to increase accountability for the department, council members said.

Ahead of Thursday’s vote, council members, meeting in a virtual hearing because of the pandemic, heard hours of testimony from hundreds of Minneapolis residents who phoned in their comments about the proposed cuts.

Many invoked Floyd’s police custody death to argue for reduced funding for an agency they said cannot be reformed. Many callers who identified themselves as residents of the South Minneapolis neighborhoods that were burned and destroyed during the civil unrest that erupted after Floyd’s killing blamed police for inflaming the protests and doing little to stop the looting and burning of businesses.

“The actions of the MPD after George Floyd just showed to me how the MPD is irredeemable,” a South Minneapolis resident named Paul, who gave no last name, told the council. “They don’t care about us. They all live in the suburbs, and they don’t prevent any crime. All they do is escalate the situation.”

Others accused the council of acting rashly by reducing funding for the department at a crucial moment in the city and without proof that the alternative policing methods it is embracing will work quickly enough to contain the surging crime and violence.

Doug Tanner, a resident of South Minneapolis, told council members his wife had been carjacked, robbed and assaulted.

“The fact that this council does not even acknowledge there is a problem is irresponsible,” he said. “The crime rate is at an all-time high, and you want less cops on the street. Where does common sense come into the equation?”

Homicides in Minneapolis are up more than 50 percent, with nearly 80 people killed across the city so far this year. Nearly 530 people have been shot, the highest number in more than a decade and twice as many as in 2019. And there have been more than 4,600 violent crimes — including hundreds of carjackings and robberies — a five-year high.

On Monday, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced five homicide charges against a former police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Black man during a 2017 incident. In a statement, District Attorney Chesa Boudin said this is believed to be the first time the city has ever charged a San Francisco Police Department officer with on-duty homicide.

The charges against former cop Chris Samayoa include voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, assault by a police officer and discharge of a firearm with gross negligence. The victim in the shooting was identified as 42-year-old Keita O’Neil.

“For too long, we have seen the failures of our legal system to hold police accountable for the violence committed against the members of the public they are entrusted to keep safe.  In my administration, police officers are not above the law,” Boudin said in the statement. “Police officers are obligated to follow the law when using force—even when responding to serious crimes.  As District Attorney, I will continue to hold accountable officers who inflict unlawful violence and breach the trust the public places in them.”

The December 2017 incident occurred when O’Neil, a suspect alleged to have carjacked a California State Lottery minivan, was being followed by Samayoa and his partner. After O’Neil drove to a dead-end during the pursuit, he got down and took to his heels, the statement said.  

In an attempt to get away from other patrol cars that were preventing him from escaping, O’Neil ran past the vehicle Samayoa and his partner were in. Samayoa, who was in the passenger seat of the police car, opened fire, fatally striking an unarmed O’Neil. His death was ruled as a homicide.

Though Samayoa only turned on his bodycam afterward, the gadget still recorded the shooting as the body cameras are set up to automatically record thirty seconds before its activation, according to the statement. Samayoa was fired from the force in the aftermath of the incident.

“Body camera footage shows that not a single other officer pulled out their service weapon or pointed at Mr. O’Neil,” Boudin said during a press conference on Monday, KQED reported. “As a result of Officer Samayoa’s terrible, tragic and unlawful decision to pull and fire his gun that day, Mr. O’Neil was killed and my office is filing charges today.”

Responding to the announcement of the charges, O’Neil’s family expressed their satisfaction. “I am happy to hear this news, and hoping it brings some justice to our family,” the deceased’s aunt said.

Shamann Walton, the Supervisor whose district the shooting occurred, said the “prosecution is an important, historic step towards showing that Black lives matter and that unlawful police violence will not be tolerated.”

“Bayview residents deserve to know that law enforcement officers who inflict violence and harm in our community will be held accountable,” he said.

A civil rights attorney and former Police Department Commissioner, Angela Chan, also said the charges are justified as they have to “confront the problematic culture of SFPD that allows officer involved shootings to occur without serious and objective investigations.”

“For many years, the highest ranks of SFPD have rewarded officer involved shootings by awarding medals of valor when an officer shoots and kills a community member, particularly Black, Latino, and Asian American community members, and even when an internal affairs investigation is pending,” Chan added.

A warrant for Samayoa’s arrest was signed by a judge with a $1,000 bail.

The Albany Police Department has announced plans to fire an officer on its force after he was recorded calling Black people “the worst f__ing race” during a conversation with a county sheriff’s deputy.

According to the Times Union, Officer David W. Haupt, who has been on the city’s police force since 2016, was handed a 30-day suspension on November 11 pending investigation after the recording was uncovered by the sheriff’s department during a routine department review of body camera footage. The footage in question was recorded by the body camera of the sheriff’s deputy he was having the conversation with. The footage was handed over to the Albany County district attorney’s office, and they subsequently gave it to the city’s police department to investigate on November 12.

Responding to the recording, the city’s Black police chief, Eric Hawkins, said Haupt’s comments was one of the most “shocking and appalling” things he had heard in his 30-year career as a law enforcement officer.

“It’s inappropriate; it does not reflect the values of the men and women in this department,” Hawkins said.

The city’s mayor, Kathy Sheehan, also referred to Haupt’s comments as “blatantly racist”, adding that she expects him to be fired after investigations are concluded.

“As mayor, I wanted to ensure that this individual was not on the job until we have an understanding of what occurred here,” she said. “And that statement in and of itself can be construed no other way that being a racist statement that does not reflect the values of the Albany Police Department.”

Hawkins further revealed Haupt had completed training courses on racial diversity and workplace violence organized by the department just last month, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Though Hawkins declined releasing the November 1 footage of the incident, citing the ongoing investigations, the Times Union was able to obtain a transcript. The conversation between Haupt and the deputy took place when they were filling gas into the officer’s patrol car. The news outlet reports the body camera of the deputy may have been accidentally turned on while the two were talking.

“Literally it does get old,” the deputy said in the recording. “Because literally every day, it’s not like it’s an overwhelming 50-percent-to-50-percent shot where you get a call and they’re like, ‘Yeah, a white male — ,’ or, you know what I mean.”

Haupt responded and said: “My buddies listen to the scanner and they send me texts all the time, and they go, ‘Is the suspect ever a white male?’ and I go ‘No.’ I know it sounds terrible to say, but I don’t give a f__ what anybody says, I sincerely don’t. Because bro, they are the worst f__ing race and I don’t — you can’t deny, like, over the last X amount of months, they are — you know because we work together — they are getting worse and worse, and people are defending that. Are you f__ing kidding me?”

The unnamed deputy responded to Haupt by saying “Uh-huh” but did not say anything else afterwards. Albany County Sheriff, Craig Apple, said he’ll talk to the deputy in question though he feels the deputy’s comments in the recording does not implicate him and wouldn’t warrant any disciplinary action. He, however, said the department will undergo another sensitivity training.

Following the discovery of the video, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, Cecilia Walsh, said they’ll be reviewing all previous cases Haupt has been involved in and would reach out to defense attorneys.

Though the department has signaled its intention to terminate Haupt, he could still be on payroll if he decides to contest his dismissal due to terms of the police union contract, the Houston Chronicle reported. The arbitration process for that could also take months.

The Nigerian Police Force has a long history of brutality and harassment which the government has fought to end by adopting many different reforms, to no end. This is majorly due to the cloak of invincibility, born out of their total lack of accountability, which shrouds the force.

Although the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has been dissolved, police brutality and harassment will continue until the police force is held accountable for its actions by a body that is completely independent of it. A wake-up call for the Nigerian Police as well as the Nigerian government.

During the heavy days of massive protests against police brutality across the country, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, announced the establishment of the Special Weapon and Tactics (SWAT) to replace it’s greatly detested unit, SARS, notorious for brutality, harassment, and extortion. 

The SARS, formed in 1992, was a solution to curb the excesses of the force after a Nigerian Army officer, Col. Rindam, was killed by police officers at a checkpoint in Lagos. Unfortunately, the seeming solution has now become the problem—even worse—despite several acclaimed reforms. What is the guarantee that SWAT won’t be the demon we will be fighting tomorrow?

In its report about Nigeria’s coronavirus lockdown period, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it had found 11 separate incidents of extrajudicial killings, seven of which came from the Nigerian Police Force.

The recommendations from the 2018 NHRC panel for the reform of the SARS and other such reforms attempted by the government in recent times yielded no improvements on the activities of the SARS and the entire police force in general. This is largely due to the power wielded by the police force which stems from their historical lack of accountability. In order to implement a reform that would be effective, there is a need to cut down on and reduce their power by increasing their accountability.

What to do

First, enough of the docile Police Service Commission; she has to wake up to its mission “to improve service delivery in the Nigeria Police Force by promoting transparency and accountability in the police”. It needs to be more accessible to the public and it should work hand in hand with the local communities. It should also be less populated by members of the police force, retired or not to ensure objectivity and transparency.

Police officers need to know that there is a body that has just as much power over them as they have over the citizens. Offenses committed by the police should not be investigated by the police. Citizens need to be assured that the police cannot get away with their offenses against them and violations of their rights.

Also, the Nigerian government needs to regulate the use of firearms in the police force. Members of the Nigerian Police Force go around with assault and semi-assault rifles for tasks as mundane as patrol. This, again, gives them an air of invincibility. Not only are these firearms unaccounted for, but police officers also walk free in obvious cases of misuse and abuse. Regulation should not only come in the form of laws, some officers should not even be allowed to carry firearms at all.

In February 2018, the Inspector General of police gave the order for the recovery of illegal firearms, ammunition and weapons from bandits, militia and vigilante groups in their committed efforts to protect the lives and properties of the people. Efforts like this will, however, be useless for as long as men of the Nigerian Police wield firearms, unregulated.

A police recruit earns less than a hundred and ten thousand Naira in a year. There should also be a better remuneration package for police officers. This would ensure that they perform their duties with no grudge or ill will towards the state or its citizens. This would also go a long way to ensure that they perform their duties with utmost dedication.