Tuesday, March 17, 2015

California Cops Want Your DNA

It's for the database. Who could be against that?

"Calif. police seek fixes to crime law OK’d by voters" Associated Press  March 02, 2015

SACRAMENTO — Four months after California voters lowered penalties for certain crimes, state lawmakers and law enforcement officials are lining up with proposals to repeal portions of the new law, which they say created unintended consequences, such as reducing the number of DNA samples taken from suspects.

Proposition 47 has been a success in easing punishments for drug crimes and thinning crowded jails. But police say it also has contributed to a rise in property crimes, to a decrease in the number of drug users getting the treatment they need, and to lowering the deterrent for stealing guns or possessing date-rape drugs.

The ballot measure changed shoplifting, forgery, fraud, petty theft, and possession of small amounts of drugs from felonies that can carry lengthy sentences to misdemeanors that can bring up to a year in jail.

“I don’t believe the voters truly knew what they were signing up for,” Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said. “We’re not asking that it be abolished. We’re asking for some adjustments to help us do our jobs.”

Yeah, you stupid voters who don't know what you are doing in the greatest democracy ever, blah, blah, blah.

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Maybe they might help solve this crime:

"LA police say man killed on Skid Row reached for officer’s gun" by Tami Abdollah, Associated Press  March 03, 2015

LOS ANGELES — Police fatally shot a homeless man on Skid Row on Sunday during a ‘‘brutal’’ videotaped struggle in which a rookie officer cried out that the man had hold of his gun before three other officers opened fire, the Los Angeles police chief said Monday.

Chief Charlie Beck said video showed the man reaching toward the officer’s waistband. The officer’s gun was found partly cocked and jammed with a bullet in the chamber and another in the ejection port, indicating a struggle for the weapon.

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Beck’s presentation, which included photos showing the condition of the gun, came amid heightened attention to killings by police officers that have led to protests, some violent, across the country.

Activists called on Governor Jerry Brown to appoint a special investigator to examine the killing. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, head of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, called on the city Police Commission to hold a special hearing on use of force by officers in Skid Row, which is home to a large population of street dwellers.

The shooting is being investigated by the Police Department’s inspector general and the Los Angeles district attorney. Among the evidence are two videos shot by bystanders and two shot with cameras worn by a sergeant and another officer who fired their weapons.

Cop will be cleared.

‘‘The video is disturbing,’’ police spokesman Andrew Smith said Sunday. ‘‘It’s disturbing any time anyone loses their life. It’s a tragedy.’’

After the shooting, police are seen drawing their batons and warning an angry crowd to step back. 

Nothing has changed since Ferguson, folks. Not a damn f***ing thing.

Several people shouted at the officers, accusing them of going too far.

Sunday’s violence had echoes of the police shooting of 25-year-old Ezell Ford, whose death in a struggle with LA officers in August brought demonstrations in the city. Ford was unarmed. Police said he was shot after reaching for an officer’s gun....

They always say they were coming right for us and they had a weapon!

The shadowy video does not clearly identify the man’s race, but witnesses said he was black, as was the officer....

No racial angle then, just a tyranny issue of authority against citizenry. Must be why the fans were not flamed up on this one by the Jewish media.

Police were investigating a reported robbery when they tried to talk with the suspect and he refused to obey their commands and started fighting, Beck said.

Witnesses said the man had been on Skid Row for months, living amid the tents, sleeping bags, and trash that are common in the area.

And yet the wealthy elite and their areas are flourishing!

On the video, which drew millions of views, six officers are at the scene. They begin wrestling with the man as he takes swings at them.

It was 6 against 1 and they killed him?

Two of the officers break away to subdue and handcuff a woman who had picked up one of their dropped batons.

The struggle becomes increasingly blurry and distant, but shouting can be heard, followed by five apparent gunshots.

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Then the Globe's interest in that case skidded to a halt.