Police Reform

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Vahakyla: May 3, 2013

The man was walking with his dick out in front of his squad car, in fulm view of the dash cam and the audio of body mic. What the hell was he expecting?

# ? Nov 21, 2014 03:01

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# ? May 28, 2024 20:29

Rah!: Feb 21, 2006

Hey look, here's an article about more cops doing a bunch of illegal stuff, but this time one of the cops actually testifies against the others:

quote:

Former SF cop testifies against partners in federal corruption trial
By Jonah Owen Lamb

Former San Francisco police Officer Reynaldo Vargas testified in a federal corruption trial Monday that he and two of his former undercover colleagues repeatedly robbed drug dealers starting in 2009.

In a rare case of police turning on police, a former San Francisco police officer testified Monday in a federal corruption trial that, starting five years ago, he and two other undercover officers repeatedly robbed drug dealers and split the proceeds.

Reynaldo Vargas, who was fired by the department in 2012 for falsifying timecards, took the stand in Judge Charles Breyer's federal courtroom Monday afternoon to testify against his former partners Officer Edmond Robles and Sgt. Ian Furminger.

"I recall at some point money being slipped into my pocket," said Vargas, adding that he was told: "Here's your cut."

Such was the beginning of his criminal career with Robles and Furminger at the Mission Police Station in 2009, he said. The trio's criminal behavior began almost as soon as Vargas was partnered with Robles and they were overseen by Furminger in a plainclothes unit, Vargas said.

Vargas has pleaded guilty to charges against him and admitted Monday to stealing cocaine, heroin and other drugs, as well as money and more from people he and his partners detained and arrested.

"I committed these crimes with Officer Robles and at times with my supervisor, Sgt. Furminger," he said as the two men sat not 20 paces away in court.

Much of their activity involved confidential informants who gave up other criminals who were then often robbed of drugs and money by the three officers, Vargas said. He added that drugs seized at crime scenes were often handed over to informants as payment for their efforts.

One informant in particular, Cesar Hernandez, testified that he had been a high-level drug trafficker before he fell on hard times and was pressured into working for the police.

"We all became pretty close to Hernandez," he said of the ex-drug dealer the three used mostly to set up other dealers whom they then robbed.

Hernandez was recruited in early 2009 by Robles, who called him "Yucca," and soon after was used to take down a petty criminal who lived near 22nd and Harrison streets.

"'It was really good,'" Vargas recalled Robles telling him of the bust. "I took that to mean there was a good amount of money."

But Hernandez wasn't always involved, and the criminality wasn't always planned, Vargas said.

In March 2009, Robles, Vargas and Furminger arrested an alleged drug dealer who operated near Union Square. Vargas said he stole Apple gift cards from the dealer's room after the officers searched it, and he and Robles later used the cards to buy an iPhone and an iPod.

"At times, if I saw something that I wanted, I took it," said Vargas.

Robles and Furminger, along with three other officers and Vargas, were all part of plainclothes investigation teams whose alleged misdeeds were captured on video discovered by the Public Defender's Office that was released to the media in 2011.

The officers' alleged actions mostly occurred at single-room-occupancy hotels in the Mission, the Tenderloin and on Sixth Street and included searching rooms without warrants.

All six men were indicted in February and suspended without pay soon after. Additional officers involved in the searches, whose alleged misconduct did not pass the federal criminal threshold, could face administrative penalties.

The federal charges against all six include constitutional-rights violations, extortion, lying in court and on police reports, and dealing drugs.

The allegations against Vargas, Robles and Furminger include stealing the Apple gift cards. The three are also alleged to have stolen money during four other searches in Newark and San Francisco between May and November 2009. The other officers indicted in February include Arshad Razzak, 41, of San Francisco; Richard Yick, 37, of San Francisco; and Raul Eric Elias, 44, of San Mateo. Their trials are expected to begin in 2015.

Vargas is expected to continue his testimony today at 9 a.m.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/former-sf-cop-testifies-against-partners-in-federal-corruption-trial/Content?oid=2912271

Plenty of details, but the article left out the part where they helped in an investigation at a drug dealers home in a neighboring county, and then stole heroin and $30,000 that were buried in the back yard.

Anyways, it's another nice SFPD corruption/incompetence story to add to the others, such as "feral cat infested evidence warehouse", or "let's beat/threaten people who saw us beat/threaten those other people", or "let's beat up some guys for their fajitas, and then try to cover it up", or "oops we shot innocent bystanders!", or "I'll rob a bank when I'm off duty!", or "I don't have to actually investigate this murder, looks like a suicide to me", or "the dead body that we were pretty sure was in that van, but never checked for, actually was in that van, and has been sitting in our impound lot all along, while the suspects escaped to Mexico!". And can't forget the classic "let's doctor violent crime statistics!"

# ? Nov 21, 2014 03:30

Berk Berkly: Apr 9, 2009; by zen death robot

Rah! posted:

Hey look, here's an article about more cops doing a bunch of illegal stuff, but this time one of the cops actually testifies against the others:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/former-sf-cop-testifies-against-partners-in-federal-corruption-trial/Content?oid=2912271

He will likely be pariahed and Seripco'd by the rest of the force until he retires or comes to an unfortunate accident.

# ? Nov 21, 2014 04:50

Dum Cumpster: Sep 12, 2003; *pozes your neghole*

Berk Berkly posted:

He will likely be pariahed and Seripco'd by the rest of the force until he retires or comes to an unfortunate accident.

Being fired in 2012 probably takes some of the worry out of that.

# ? Nov 21, 2014 04:55

Rah!: Feb 21, 2006

Berk Berkly posted:

He will likely be pariahed and Seripco'd by the rest of the force until he retires or comes to an unfortunate accident.

Well he was already fired two years ago for falsifying timecards, so I don't think becoming a pariah or getting Serpico'd will be a problem for him. That still leaves him open for an "unfortunate accident" though, I guess. Blender malfunction.

edit: beaten like a cop who wants to testify

# ? Nov 21, 2014 04:58

Berk Berkly: Apr 9, 2009; by zen death robot

Dum Cumpster posted:

Being fired in 2012 probably takes some of the worry out of that.

Didn't notice that part.

But its never too late for some retro-active police brutality.

# ? Nov 21, 2014 05:12

Dum Cumpster: Sep 12, 2003; *pozes your neghole*

Berk Berkly posted:

Didn't notice that part.

But its never too late for some retro-active police brutality.

Of course. I said some intentionally

# ? Nov 21, 2014 05:18

Chokes McGee: Aug 7, 2008; This is Urotsuki.

Vahakyla posted:

The man was walking with his dick out in front of his squad car, in fulm view of the dash cam and the audio of body mic. What the hell was he expecting?

This may stun you but there are a lot of really dumb cops.

If you want to sit down and breathe into a bag or something, I understand. Take your time. :ohdear:

# ? Nov 21, 2014 16:24

woke wedding drone: Jun 1, 2003; by exmarx; Fun Shoe

Rent-A-Cop posted:

Come on. Who wouldn't want to see this guy's dick?

I wonder if it's as long as his face?

Why is it photoshopped :stonk:

# ? Nov 21, 2014 16:25

Branis: Apr 14, 2006

http://www.policeone.com/police-products/body-cameras/articles/7830358-Mans-request-for-body-cams-has-Wash-PDs-rethinking-use/

i'm curious what you guys think of this. I'm 100% in favor of body cameras for everybody all the time, but how do you protect peoples privacy in situations like this? I know from my own experience that some people will be less likely to report things if they knew that video of them talking to the cops could be obtainable fairly easily.

# ? Nov 21, 2014 16:33

woke wedding drone: Jun 1, 2003; by exmarx; Fun Shoe

The way I figure it, if I am speaking to a cop my privacy has already been compromised. I'd much rather have continuous, unedited video of the interaction than the cop's recollection/misinterpretation/deliberate lies about it.

# ? Nov 21, 2014 16:37

Trabisnikof: Dec 24, 2005

Branis posted:

http://www.policeone.com/police-products/body-cameras/articles/7830358-Mans-request-for-body-cams-has-Wash-PDs-rethinking-use/

i'm curious what you guys think of this. I'm 100% in favor of body cameras for everybody all the time, but how do you protect peoples privacy in situations like this? I know from my own experience that some people will be less likely to report things if they knew that video of them talking to the cops could be obtainable fairly easily.

Blaming public records requests is such a BS issue. You comply, charge them up the wazzu, and make them pick it up in person.

# ? Nov 21, 2014 21:27

Branis: Apr 14, 2006

I don't really think public records should be withheld from a person who can't pay the sometimes ridiculous fees like we saw ferguson doing though.

# ? Nov 22, 2014 01:28

Trabisnikof: Dec 24, 2005

Branis posted:

I don't really think public records should be withheld from a person who can't pay the sometimes ridiculous fees like we saw ferguson doing though.

True, but its also not workable for taxpayers to foot the entire bill, especially for requests such as the afore mentioned "every day I will request every single police document or recording created". And to use that as an excuse to not create records/documentation is absurd.

# ? Nov 22, 2014 02:26

Pope Guilty: Nov 6, 2006; The human animal is a beautiful and terrible creature, capable of limitless compassion and unfathomable cruelty.

Trabisnikof posted:

True, but its also not workable for taxpayers to foot the entire bill, especially for requests such as the afore mentioned "every day I will request every single police document or recording created". And to use that as an excuse to not create records/documentation is absurd.

Is there a police department somewhere that's just swamped and unable to do their jobs due to constant FOIA requests or something?

# ? Nov 22, 2014 02:32

Untagged: Mar 29, 2004; Hey, does your planet have wiper fluid yet or you gonna freak out and start worshiping us?

I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Nightly Drunken Domestic are going to be thrilled they, their house, their kids, their IDs and Social Security Numbers, and their problems will be uploaded unedited nightly to YouTube.

But hey the first time the 30 year old son who lives in parents basement, is off his adhd meds, and smoking weed again against parents wishes call is put up for all to see D&D gonna throw a fit. Popcorn ready.

# ? Nov 22, 2014 03:26

Trabisnikof: Dec 24, 2005

Untagged posted:

I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Nightly Drunken Domestic are going to be thrilled they, their house, their kids, their IDs and Social Security Numbers, and their problems will be uploaded unedited nightly to YouTube.

Of course, that's not how freedom of information requests work when PDs do their jobs.

Pope Guilty posted:

Is there a police department somewhere that's just swamped and unable to do their jobs due to constant FOIA requests or something?

The above linked article has a PD "rethinking" cameras because someone has made a consistent and broad freedom of information requests. Its a BS justification.

# ? Nov 22, 2014 05:10

Berk Berkly: Apr 9, 2009; by zen death robot

Untagged posted:

I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Nightly Drunken Domestic are going to be thrilled they, their house, their kids, their IDs and Social Security Numbers, and their problems will be uploaded unedited nightly to YouTube.

But hey the first time the 30 year old son who lives in parents basement, is off his adhd meds, and smoking weed again against parents wishes call is put up for all to see D&D gonna throw a fit. Popcorn ready.

You aren't really this big of an idiot right? I mean, this is just roleplaying one, I assume?

Not that there isn't probably thousands of hours of smartphone and various cam recordings of domestic problems already on the internet. No one gives a poo poo for the most part. This is stuff COPS(the TV show) and goons like Jerry Springer and the like has been doing for decades.

This is 2014. Everything can be on the internet, probably already IS on the internet. And often uploaded by people voluntarily.

Like Cops give two shits about protecting people and their privacy anyway. And I sort of doubt the 'concern' over wanting to make information act are the assholes that body/dash cams are supposed to keep in check. That is obviously not really what they care about, only keeping their rear end out of the fire.

VVVV: That doesn't change anything. The footage can't be of a can't be of a criminal or civil case and the request can be narrowed. The whole point is to force police to actually look at and release their footage and not sit on it like it doesn't exist.

Berk Berkly fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Nov 22, 2014

# ? Nov 22, 2014 05:27

Untagged: Mar 29, 2004; Hey, does your planet have wiper fluid yet or you gonna freak out and start worshiping us?

You didn't read that article did you? It's ok. I'll paraphrase: It takes too many hours to review each and every tape for each instance of private information. So either the requests need to be amended or they have to give out that information. That or take years to complete just the one request at considerable expense. Also lol at the request of having it all directly uploaded to YouTube.

# ? Nov 22, 2014 05:48

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

I would think the police would be all for a thing to help protect their officers against false accusations by providing an incontrovertible recording of what happened.

# ? Nov 22, 2014 06:06

DARPA: Apr 24, 2005; We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.

katlington posted:

I would think the police would be all for a thing to help protect their officers against false accusations by providing an incontrovertible recording of what happened.

What are you implying? That an officer's word isn't currently incontrovertible proof of what happened?

# ? Nov 22, 2014 06:08

Trabisnikof: Dec 24, 2005

Untagged posted:

You didn't read that article did you? It's ok. I'll paraphrase: It takes too many hours to review each and every tape for each instance of private information. So either the requests need to be amended or they have to give out that information. That or take years to complete just the one request at considerable expense. Also lol at the request of having it all directly uploaded to YouTube.

Thus the point of charging the requestor for the amount required to review those tapes rather than not having cameras at all. If they want to pay for the full-time staff to respond to their request, let them!

# ? Nov 22, 2014 06:19

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

KILLOLOGY! loving lol.

quote:

This week, it was revealed by local KRQE News 13 that a retired Albuquerque Police Officer was teaching a class that was seemingly designed to instruct other cops on how to be more aggressive.

The class is run and operated by retired Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, and is called �killology � the study of killing.� The retired officer instructs a number of similar classes, including his most recent, �The Bulletproof Mind: Prevailing in Violent Encounters Before and After.�

Grossman Refers to himself as �World�s Leading Combat Authority.�

In his classes, Grossman instructs the officers to be �warriors�, and has even created promotional material for the classes that say �Are you prepared for battle?�

These classes were exposed earlier this month when officer Fernando Aragon promoted for one of Grossman�s lessons using a city email account...

The mayor and the police chief have both refused to comment on the issue, stating that it was none of their business.

Surely this is just some dumb wanna-be thing that the officer in Albuquerque found, right?
How common could this type of indoctrination be? http://killology.com/trainer_police.htm

# ? Nov 23, 2014 04:06

Technogeek: Sep 9, 2002; by FactsAreUseless

Sharkie posted:

KILLOLOGY! loving lol.

Surely this is just some dumb wanna-be thing that the officer in Albuquerque found, right?
How common could this type of indoctrination be? http://killology.com/trainer_police.htm

David Grossman had some minor infamy a while back for being on the "video games will turn your children into mass murderers" bandwagon, and was famously immortalized as a literal talking rear end in one of the Jeff K frontpage bits.

# ? Nov 23, 2014 05:30

Tiler Kiwi: Feb 26, 2011

criminal justice is weird when it comes to idiots

like on one hand, the stuff ive seen with criminal justice education is refreshingly sane and practical poo poo. it tends to be pretty heavily influenced by sociology and the thought that maybe most criminals arnt actually rabid dogs, and at worst its just pretty mushy about making judgements on "controversial" yet stupid stuff like the war on drugs. overall the thought behind questions like reasons for crime tends to focus more on unmet needs and societal disorganization rather than some ingrained hatred of law, and the conventional wisdom in the field about things is more or less "being an authoritarian poo poo is stupid, hating criminals is stupid and wrong, everyone is a criminal on some level, corporate crime does more damage to society than many other crimes", rather than people saying like "COPS SHOULD BE LIKE MARINE KILLERS HOORAH" or some poo poo

but then whenever an "expert" emerges from police organizations / prosecutors office or whatnot, its invariably a Very Serious Person who is deeply concerned about rap music and grand theft auto giving points for cop murder. or someone that comes in and talks about using polygraph tests and then spins around in awkward circles when its pointed out that its pseudoscience. or otherwise the sort of person you could picture arguing that its okay to shock a suspects genitals as long as youre pretty sure theyre guilty

kind of irritating

# ? Nov 23, 2014 09:44

computer parts: Nov 18, 2010; PLEASE CLAP

Tiler Kiwi posted:

criminal justice is weird when it comes to idiots

like on one hand, the stuff ive seen with criminal justice education is refreshingly sane and practical poo poo. it tends to be pretty heavily influenced by sociology and the thought that maybe most criminals arnt actually rabid dogs, and at worst its just pretty mushy about making judgements on "controversial" yet stupid stuff like the war on drugs. overall the thought behind questions like reasons for crime tends to focus more on unmet needs and societal disorganization rather than some ingrained hatred of law, and the conventional wisdom in the field about things is more or less "being an authoritarian poo poo is stupid, hating criminals is stupid and wrong, everyone is a criminal on some level, corporate crime does more damage to society than many other crimes", rather than people saying like "COPS SHOULD BE LIKE MARINE KILLERS HOORAH" or some poo poo

but then whenever an "expert" emerges from police organizations / prosecutors office or whatnot, its invariably a Very Serious Person who is deeply concerned about rap music and grand theft auto giving points for cop murder. or someone that comes in and talks about using polygraph tests and then spins around in awkward circles when its pointed out that its pseudoscience. or otherwise the sort of person you could picture arguing that its okay to shock a suspects genitals as long as youre pretty sure theyre guilty

kind of irritating

I think that's explained by a high variation in criminal justice education, a lag time in people being properly educated actually filling in the ranks, and a tendency for police to not require a criminal justice degree in order to be a police officer (mostly the last two).

# ? Nov 23, 2014 16:06

demonicon: Mar 29, 2011

I don't know why this is in the german news at all, but this is being reported nationwide. Your cops somehow managed to kill a 12 year old holding a toy gun?

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cops-kill-boy-12-carrying-airsoft-toy-gun-cleveland-n254251

Strange that this made breaking news in Germany

# ? Nov 24, 2014 00:36

demonicon: Mar 29, 2011

Why are Americans so deeply scared of everything?

# ? Nov 24, 2014 00:41

Magres: Jul 14, 2011

E: nevermind not starting gun chat

# ? Nov 24, 2014 00:43

Cole: Nov 24, 2004; DUNSON'D

I saw the edit and it's relevant that there is a gun for every nine out of ten people in the US when you combine it with such things as the fact that our media is also fear driven, among many other factors.

# ? Nov 24, 2014 00:45

woke wedding drone: Jun 1, 2003; by exmarx; Fun Shoe

Hopefully the coverage will educate parents that they need to tell their kids not to play wth realistic toy guns in public.

# ? Nov 24, 2014 00:46

Cole: Nov 24, 2004; DUNSON'D

SedanChair posted:

Hopefully the coverage will educate parents that they need to tell their kids not to play wth realistic toy guns in public.

This type of thinking is in line with why McDonald's has to warn that their coffee is hot.

Americans are also, as a whole, pretty loving stupid. So factor that into why we are scared of everything.

# ? Nov 24, 2014 00:48

Rah!: Feb 21, 2006

demonicon posted:

I don't know why this is in the german news at all, but this is being reported nationwide. Your cops somehow managed to kill a 12 year old holding a toy gun?

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cops-kill-boy-12-carrying-airsoft-toy-gun-cleveland-n254251

Strange that this made breaking news in Germany

It is kind of weird that specific incident is breaking news in Germany, because it happens all the time here, and it sounds like it was never breaking news in Germany before. The same exact thing happened in a suburb of San Francisco earlier in the year, for example.

Step your fear-driven media game up, Germany. You're missing out!

# ? Nov 24, 2014 00:56

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Cole posted:

This type of thinking is in line with why McDonald's has to warn that their coffee is hot.

Americans are also, as a whole, pretty loving stupid. So factor that into why we are scared of everything.

I'll have to get pedantic here and bring up that the warning is a piece of cya put on there after a woman spilled McDonald's coffee in her lap and got third degree burns to her thighs and genitals and required skin grafts. You can look up the NWS pictures if you want. She won the lawsuit in part because McDonalds knew they were serving their coffee too hot, having settled several similar cases out of court.

# ? Nov 24, 2014 01:06

Magres: Jul 14, 2011

Also she was suing for medical expenses and was awarded more than that as punitive measures to McDonalds

E:

Picture from the lawsuit

:nms:

as gently caress, BE FOREWARNED. poo poo'S GROSS

http://harmfuldruginfocenter.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/mcdonalds.jpg

# ? Nov 24, 2014 01:07

Cole: Nov 24, 2004; DUNSON'D

Sharkie posted:

I'll have to get pedantic here and bring up that the warning is a piece of cya put on there after a woman spilled McDonald's coffee in her lap and got third degree burns to her thighs and genitals and required skin grafts. You can look up the NWS pictures if you want. She won the lawsuit in part because McDonalds knew they were serving their coffee too hot, having settled several similar cases out of court.

I stand correct on the fact, but my point still stands.

# ? Nov 24, 2014 01:09

SpiderHyphenMan: Apr 1, 2010; by Fluffdaddy

It loving tears me up to say this but I can't blame the cops here, assuming they're telling the truth about the incident. The dispatcher neglected to tell them that the caller thought the gun could be fake, the orange tip had been removed, and the kid actually reached for the gun. No, he didn't deserve to die, that's loving monstrous. But honestly, considering how many times we've heard about a kid shooting themselves or their brother/sister/friend while playing with the gun they found in their parents' closet, I can't just say "he was 12, how could they think he was a threat?" Maybe it'll turn out that the cops that shot him were racist as hell and thought he was a gangster, but I think it's more likely that they thought he was a kid playing with a gun.
This is just a really lovely situation and I'd rather it be no one's fault than the fault of people who aren't going to see consequences for this.

# ? Nov 24, 2014 03:09

Nathilus: Apr 4, 2002; I alone can see through the media bias.

I'm also stupid on a scale that can only be measured in Reddits.

Cole posted:

I stand correct on the fact, but my point still stands.

No, it doesn't. McDonald's had to stop making their coffee so hot because it was way too goddamn hot, not because americans are stupid, and it has nothing to do with the kind of thinking that "maybe you shouldn't play with realistic looking guns in public" is an example of. Everything in your post is straight out wrong except "Americans are also, as a whole, pretty loving stupid" which is correct.

# ? Nov 24, 2014 03:13

Cole: Nov 24, 2004; DUNSON'D

Nathilus posted:

No, it doesn't. McDonald's had to stop making their coffee so hot because it was way too goddamn hot, not because americans are stupid, and it has nothing to do with the kind of thinking that "maybe you shouldn't play with realistic looking guns in public" is an example of. Everything in your post is straight out wrong except "Americans are also, as a whole, pretty loving stupid" which is correct.

Well that was literally my point... Which still stands.

So you uh... Owned me by explaining my point. Congrats?

Calm down buddy.

# ? Nov 24, 2014 03:21

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# ? May 28, 2024 20:29

Untagged: Mar 29, 2004; Hey, does your planet have wiper fluid yet or you gonna freak out and start worshiping us?

Oh the other thread got closed. Here comes the nonsense. :ohdear:

# ? Nov 24, 2014 04:49

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