Denton Record-Chronicle: Officer In McKinney Resigns

Brandon Brooks

According to the Denton Record-Chronicle, the policeman on duty whose aggressive response at an unruly teenage pool party ignited a national controversy resigned on Tuesday, leaving critics relieved and supporters disappointed.

The Record-Chronicle states that McKinney police Corporal David Eric Casebolt is a 10-year veteran of the police department.

He voluntarily stepped down while an internal police investigation was going on and during heightened public pressure, including death threats.

The officer’s terse, “two-word” resignation did not include an apology or acknowledgment of wrongdoing, said McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley.  On Tuesday, Conley condemned Casebolt’s actions as “indefensible” and “out of control.”

The chief distanced himself from his former employee on the day his department dropped charges against the one person arrested at the scene, which signaled a swift shift in the police’s handling of the encounter recorded on video that went viral.

According to the Dallas Morning News, there were two competing narratives about the incident at the pool – either racist white residents of Craig Ranch and McKinney police harassed neighborhood black kids, or law officers safely dispersed a loud, out-of-control mob of interloping teenagers.

Those were the competing narratives circulating Monday about an incident that has become a national flashpoint about racism and police tactics.

In a strange turn of events, some white Craig Ranch residents said they were so frightened about the possible reaction that they were packing up and leaving their homes temporarily.

(Updated article)

http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20150609-mckinney-officer-in-video-resigns.ece?ssimg=2328358#ssStory2328360

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/mckinney/headlines/20150608-dueling-views-of-mckinney-melee-fault-intruding-teens-racist-adults-police-officer.ece

Corrupt Oklahoma ‘Good Old Boy’ System: Wealthy White Businessman Threatens To Get Cops Fired After DUI


Secular Talk

When interacting with police, does it matter if you have wealth, power, or influence?

According to Raw Story, police in an Oklahoma town said city officials tried to block the drunken driving arrest of a well-connected businessman and have threatened officers after they refused.

A wealthy businessman named Brian Haggard was stopped two months ago by Chelsea, Oklahoma, Police Officer Nicholas Pappe and charged with driving under the influence, according to KTUL-TV.

Police said they received telephone calls from influential officials in the city, including the police commissioner and city manager, asking officers to go easy on Haggard, according to Raw Story.

“If you would give me a free pass tonight, I would sure appreciate it,” Haggard told the officer on police dash cam video.

The officer continued the arrest, and Assistant Police Chief Travis Hogan said city officials have made clear since then they are unhappy with him and the police chief.

“We live in a good ol’ boy system here in this town,” Hogan said. “My officers have received threats. I personally and the chief has received threats to our jobs,” he said, according to Raw Story.

(Updated article)

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/we-live-in-a-good-ol-boy-system-ok-cops-say-officials-tried-to-block-businessmans-dui-arrest/

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/05/08/oklahoma-boys-threaten-cops-dui/

NYPD Officer Shot

NYPD officer shooting

A New York City police officer was shot in the head Saturday night, states the Associated Press.  The man accused of shooting the officer will be arraigned Sunday on charges including two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, officials said.

No evidence has been given that the shooting was related to protests or riots.

Demetrius Blackwell was arrested Saturday night in the shooting of Officer Brian Moore, who remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

The AP:  “Bratton said Blackwell has a criminal record that includes a weapons possession charge, but the suspect made no such anti-police postings and was being pursued by the anti-crime officers because of his behavior.”

Blackwell, 35, was expected to be arraigned Sunday afternoon, the Queens district attorney’s office said. It was not clear if he had a lawyer.

San Jose P.D. Cop Accused Of Rape Is On Suicide Watch

San Jose police officer Geoffrey Graves looks toward his lawyer, Darlene Bagley Comstedt, during his preliminary hearing at the Santa Clara County Hall of

When the woman said she didn’t want to stay home after arguing with her husband, the policeman took her to a hotel.

He waited in the parking lot until a second policeman left on another call. Then, according to an allegation, patrolman Geoffrey Graves returned to the room, where he shed parts of his uniform but left on his bulletproof vest — and raped her.

The actual incident supposedly took place in September 2013, and he was arrested in March of 2014.

On Friday, his hands were tied to a chain around his waist, and the San Jose police officer accused of rape appeared in court clad in full jail garb for the first time since his arrest more than 11 months ago, including a yellow and red uniform marking him as a maximum-security inmate on suicide watch.

Jail officials refused to comment Friday on whether they have Graves on a suicide watch, according to San Jose Mercury News.

However, under the jail’s classification system, inmates who need to be checked on regularly to make sure they don’t kill themselves are clad in yellow shirts, as Graves was wearing in court.

Officer Geoffrey Graves’ came to court for his preliminary hearing on Monday, March 9th in a white, cuff-linked shirt and black slacks.

At the time, he faced three felony charges that could put him in prison for about 13 years: the alleged Sept. 22 rape of a woman he met on a disturbance call and two counts of domestic violence against an ex-girlfriend, who works for San Jose police as a dispatcher.

After both witnesses testified, prosecutor Carlos Vega moved Wednesday to charge Graves with new no-bail crimes that could put him in prison for life, and he was taken into custody in tears. He remains on paid administrative leave.

(Updated post)

The Other Side Of The Coin? Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn

Video by Ashley Luthern.

Perhaps this video shows the “other side” of the coin and how hard it is to be a police officer.

In November, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn spoke to reporters after a Fire and Police Commission meeting concerning the shooting of Dontre Hamilton.

Hamilton was an unarmed black mentally ill man who was shot by a Milwaukee policeman last April.

The video has over 6 million hits since the November meeting.

St. Louis Prosecutor Charges Black Officer With Assault

Recently, a Black police officer in the St. Louis county police department was charged with a felony after hitting a person on the hand with his baton, even though officer Darren Wilson did not get charged with any crime at all.

Is this appropriate, and why would that be?

Dawon Gore, a Black 13-year veteran of the St. Louis County Police Department, was charged with felony assault after striking a MetroLink passenger on the hand with his expandable baton following an argument, according to CBS St. Louis.

CBS St. Louis reports, Gore is accused of using excessive force against an unnamed 24-year-old light-rail passenger in late April at the Hanley Road station in Clayton.

According to a police press release, the investigation was forwarded to prosecutor Bob McCullough, the same prosecutor who did not charge Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer in the murder of Mike Brown, an unarmed Black teenager.

The investigation was sent to McCullough with a recommendation to press charges, which is what he did. Gore, who is a 44-year-old Ferguson resident, was charged with second-degree assault. He was jailed on a $3,500 with a cash-only bond.

Sources claim Gore is currently in jail.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/07/25/st-louis-county-police-officer-charged/

A Now This video.