POLICE BRUTALITY CASES: WALTER SCOTT MURDER & MORE

[sally]

I think what he meant by saying he looks like a "bad dude" is that he looks big and tough. Either way that cop is a fucking idiot as well as the dumb bitch that shot the poor guy.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

One of the reporters I follow just tweeted that the DA has bought charges of 1^st degree manslaughter on Betty Shelby. I can't find any mainstream media reporting it yet though so...

https://twitter.com/tiffanyalaniz/status...D=ref_fark

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Yep, they charged her
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationw...story.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Yep, they charged her
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationw...story.html

That's good news, Six. It'll be interesting to see and hear more of the evidence. I think Tulsa PD was wise and right to release the police cam footage quickly instead of floating a false narrative and creating more speculation.

Over in Charlotte........it's a different story. The Chief of Police (Kerr Putney) said in a press conference today that he ain't releasing the police cam video of the fatal shooting of Keith Scott to the public. The community continues to demand transparency and push for its release.

The protester who was critically shot last night in Charlotte died this evening (neither the shooter nor the victim has been identified to the public yet). A curfew was put in place for midnight tonight until 6 am Friday.

Chief Putney also said that he's reviewed the cam footage and there's nothing to indicate that Mr. Scott pointed a gun at the officers on the scene (NC is an open-carry state). Chief Putney said in today's press conference that he would allow the family of Mr. Scott to view the footage if they so desired, which they did this evening. The family's attorney told the media that it's unclear what Mr. Scott was holding, but he was clearly backing away and wasn't being aggressive or threatening anyone when he was shot dead.

I hope the police cam footage is released to the public soon.

[Love Child]

Why was there a helicopter present? Was that standard? Was it already in the air?

[Duchess]

Over in Charlotte........it's a different story. The Chief of Police (Kerr Putney) said in a press conference today that he ain't releasing the police cam video of the fatal shooting of Keith Scott to the public. The community continues to demand transparency and push for its release.

Did you hear or read that there were several officers present and not a single one had their body cams turned on?

[Duchess]

Why was there a helicopter present? Was that standard? Was it already in the air?

I haven't heard anything regarding that. I did hear early on that the female cop who shot him had come upon him while responding to a domestic violence call but I haven't heard any more about that.

[HairOfTheDog]

Why was there a helicopter present? Was that standard? Was it already in the air?

I'm not sure if it's standard procedure to dispatch helicopters to highway incidents where detours, road blocks, and such might be needed, or if the copter was sent to the scene to assist with the detaining of Terence Crutcher. I'm curious about why the copter was on the scene as well, but haven't heard that point addressed by LE yet.

Police sources have reported that Officer Betty Shelby's husband, Dave Shelby, was in the copter by happenstance. Betty's attorney and a local reporter said that Dave Shelby wasn't the cop in the copter who said that Terence looked like a bad dude. The police chief said that Betty wouldn't have been able to hear the copter radio chatter on the scene in any case.

However, according to what I just read, Dave Shelby was the pilot. The first thing he said when he arrived on the scene was, 'alright Betty-Jo, where are you?' The transcript of what he and another copter cop named Mike said during the incident (along with related police radio comments captured on the copter audio) can be found here. It's interesting context and raises some questions for me. COPTER TRANSCRIPT: http://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/tuls...l-shooting

Did you hear or read that there were several officers present and not a single one had their body cams turned on?

I hadn't heard that specifically, but I wouldn't doubt it. Fortunately, there was dash cam and copter cam rolling. But, if Betty Shelby had been wearing turned-on body cam, it sure would have been helpful. I think body cams which are TURNED ON should be mandatory for all police officers when they are interfacing with the public.

Did you see Terence's twin sister Tiffany speak to the media yesterday? She is reportedly a doctor and she sure is articulate, level-headed, and determined to get a prosecution and a conviction. She and Terence turned 40 last month.

Edit: Oops, I now see you were referring to the Charlotte shooting, not the Tulsa shooting, Duchess. I wouldn't be surprised if none of the Charlotte cops were wearing turned-on body cams either. I'm glad that the shooting of Keith Scott was caught on video anyway, but it's reportedly not very clear footage. I'm also glad that the protests in Charlotte last night were peaceful and the curfew wasn't necessary or invoked after all.

[HairOfTheDog]

Charlotte officials will be giving a press conference to update the public on the shooting of Keith Scott. The press conference will be starting soon.

The Mayor, Jennifer Roberts, is now saying that she wants the police video footage released to the public, for transparency's sake. But, it's not her call to make.

The police chief and the family members who've reviewed the footage privately agree that it doesn't provide definitive answers as to what went down. That isn't quelling protesters in Charlotte from demanding its release, but the chief so far hasn't budged. Keith Scott's family has asked for the chief to release the video to the public.

[HairOfTheDog]

Charlotte PD Chief Putney just confirmed that there is at least one body cam video and one dash cam video of the shooting of Keith Scott.

Chief Putney says he does not want the videos released to the public at this time because evidence is still being gathered and the footage alone could only fuel speculation and further inflame people since it doesn't tell a complete story.

The investigation has been turned over to the North Carolina state police. So, it will be up to the state to decide if and when the videos will be released.

[HairOfTheDog]

Keith Scott's family in Charlotte decided not to wait on LE to release dash or body cam.

Turns out, Scott's wife taped the encounter on her cell phone. It's pretty heartbreaking stuff.



Keith Scott was involved in a bad accident about a year ago and had a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). His wife was trying to get him to get out of the car while telling the police that he was not a threat.

Police say they found a gun at the scene and later produced a photo, but they have not released the police cam footage. Some people who've watched/listened to Mrs. Scott's video say it's clear there was no gun at the scene; they believe police later planted it.

I'd really like to see the police cam footage.

[HairOfTheDog]

^ I feel bad for Keith Scott's wife and loved ones. The couple was married for decades and have 7 children; watching her husband get killed like that has gotta be unbearable.

But, personally, it seems very likely to me that he did in fact have a gun in the vehicle and was acting erratically. From the cell video Mrs. Scott released, he wasn't following police commands, perhaps because he had TBI and was confused. Keith Scott was reportedly sitting in his vehicle when he was swarmed upon by unmarked police cars out to serve a warrant (they got the wrong vehicle/person) after his wife left for a few minutes to retrieve a cell charger from their apartment, nearby where they were waiting for their young son.

Charlotte was peaceful again last night, but the community is adamant that LE should release the police cam footage so people can see what went down.

[Duchess]

the community is adamant that LE should release the police cam footage so people can see what went down.

They should because as it stands now it looks like they are trying to hide something.

[Midwest Spy]

I agree about releasing videos and/or bringing charges or some other statement from either the police department/independent investigators in a much more timely manner.

Very frustrating to have these incidents essentially pushed to the back burner while the public simmers.

Philando Castille?

Guess what. Still waiting on video as the investigation apparently bogs down. This incident happened the first week of July.

WTF?

[HairOfTheDog]

I keep checking for updates on the Philando investigation, MS. Nada. It really is frustrating.

Charlotte PD has just released some police video of the Keith Scott shooting to media outlets.

I agree with you and Duchess, releasing it to the public is the right thing under the circumstances. The Chief made some statements right after the incident that were completely favorable to the officers, a couple of which he later side-stepped. He put a narrative out there when he could have held off, so I don't think it's too much to expect him to back it up with the video.

Over the last couple of years, we've seen many early narratives from LE officials, police officers, and police union heads which were later fully contradicted by witness or surveillance video.

When Chief Putney told the press today that he was now ready to release some video, he said Mr. Scott was in the process of committing a crime when he was mistakenly approached by all those plain-clothes cops. What crime, you ask? Rolling a joint while minding his own fucking business sitting in his parked vehicle. It's unclear if the marijuana was "medicinal" and the medicine his wife was referring to in the cell video which was released to the public yesterday.

[Carsman]

Actually PO commands "extensive training" classes need to be conducted!

Classes for "anyone" who can't seem to understand and or follow "PO" commands! Or maybe the fact is they just don't feel they have to obey the commands, because they are who they think they are.

Seemingly easy commands to follow, like "get out of the car", or conversely "don't get of the car", "put your hands up", "drop the gun", or whatever other PO commands given.

They have to be taught if they don't obey the PO commands, "consequences" will have to be paid, some of them could be serious consequences!

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, good one, Cars.

Even police chiefs and union heads across the country are admitting now that officers need more training in de-escalation, recognizing/handling citizens with disabilities, and other tactics that will reduce police killings of citizens.

Over the course of less than 2 years, several cases have been posted in this and other threads where such training could have saved a life, a police officer's career, and a PD or city government from paying out millions of dollars in civil suit settlements for wrongful death.

We've seen video of an officer shooting to death a naked crouching young black man in a parking lot. The young man was a veteran who fought for our country and came back with PTSD. He obviously had no weapon, wasn't threatening anybody, but was unable to respond to 'PO' commands. After a while, the cop just shot him fucking dead. That cop is charged with murder. As it should be.

Just a couple of months back, we watched cops shoot a man who was trying to help his mentally disabled client up out of the street. The unarmed man worked as a caregiver at a group home. He was black, so he was smart and put his hands up in the air when cops rolled up, as he sat in the street with the very large disabled boy he was trying to protect and coax out of the street. The caregiver told the cops repeatedly what was happening. Still, he was shot right there in the street by a cop (thankfully his disabled client wasn't) for supposedly not following commands and posing a threat (later proven false by witness cell video). The caregiver fortunately wasn't killed and his disabled client was unharmed, but the cop who shot the caregiver is paying some serious consequences. As it should be.

Then there are the people in wheelchairs who were shot because they didn't follow "PO" orders. And, the schizophrenic man who was beaten to a bloody pulp by a gang of cops who knew the man had a mental condition and took turns kicking and puching him while he was fully subdued, dying, and crying out for his dad. And the children who were shot to death by cops for committing the crime of being tall/large for their ages and bearing toy guns when the gung-ho cops approached them in a manner which was incorrect and outside policy. Not to mention all of the unarmed bystanders who were shot to death or killed in police car chases because they were taken completely off-guard by 'PO' orders and had no opportunity to react quickly enough to save their own lives.

It's doesn't bother me that you, Cars, are apathetic about it all and figure those people and others like them had it coming. But, fortunately a growing number of people across the country, including many good cops and city officials, do give a shit and are affecting change when it comes to community policing and criminal justice.

[HairOfTheDog]

As for Keith Scott, he had a traumatic brain injury. His wife told the cops that before he was shot, as can be heard in her cell video of the incident.

I personally believe he probably did have a gun and may have been acting erratically, but he wasn't endangering anyone when approached and taken off-guard by plain-clothes cops.

I don't have an opinion as to whether it was a justifiable shooting or not yet; not enough evidence has been released. In either case, if his brain injury prevented him from understanding what was going on around him, I consider his death tragic and don't believe that he asked or deserved to be killed for 'not follwing PO orders' alone.

[Carsman]

Wow, you could filibuster for the Democrats any time chatterbox!

Don't presume to put words in my mouth about apathy! Training is required for all!

Of course it goes without saying people with disabilities need to be treated accordingly.

My post was directed at those "with attitude", not disabilities.

Next time don't presume, ask for clarification.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, Cars, if your pithy "the public needs to be trained to follow PO commands or face the consequences!" wasn't in response to the two cases we're discussing or ones like them, you got some chatter to remind you what we're talking about. I don't charge by the word, so it doesn't cost you anything.

Anyway, it's not a political/partisan issue or a pro-police vs. anti-police issue. There are plenty of Republicans, Democrats and Independents who are committed to much better screening and training of POs in order to reduce deaths at the hands of cops who weren't defending their lives or the lives of others when they killed members of the community they were sworn to protect (and often later created false narratives to cover their asses and suffer no consequences).

Police aren't legally allowed or justified in killing people for not obeying 'P.O. commands' (whether that real or perceived lack of compliance is due to criminal attitude, confusion, disability or irrational fear on the part of the officer). They can only use lethal force in defense of their lives or the lives of others. Cops need to be better at distinguishing between those situations and handling them appropriately.

We need much better screening and training of police officers. Your call for more conditioning of citizens to accept that any failure to obey PO Orders has predictable consequences, including death, only increases the problem.