Airborne Combat Engineer

Excessive LE behavior 20070718

We need law enforcement, OF COURSE, but sometimes officers abuse their position of authority and the fact they have a loaded firearm. They are also (somewhat understandably) a bit paranoid, given the bravado bad guys are showing of late. This appears to be such a case.

A jury acquitted a man Tuesday on charges that he pulled a gun on a deputy and other allegations.

Sterling Charles Endsley was acquitted on charges of assault with a firearm on a peace officer, exhibiting a firearm in the presence of a peace officer, obstructing or resisting an officer, possession of a firearm by a felon and participating in a criminal street gang.

He was convicted on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing or resisting an officer, which could give him a year in custody. But he will likely spend little more time in jail because he has been in custody so long, his attorney, Richard Terry, said.

Kern County sheriff's Deputy Art Rummel testified that he shot at Endsley because he thought he was holding a gun when he got out of his car, the defense attorney said.

The Sheriff's Department Incident Review Board ruled Rummel was justified in shooting at Endsley Jan. 20 because he believed he was carrying a firearm.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said he still stands behind the decision Rummel made, the decision the board made and the decision to prosecute Endsley.

"If someone were pointing a gun at you and you thought he was going to shoot, what would you do?" Youngblood asked.

Only problem: He apparently WAS NOT holding a gun.

Terry said the jurors did not agree. They questioned why the case was brought to trial, Terry said.

The defense attorney said several witnesses saw the officer firing at Endsley as soon as the officer got out of his car.

Terry said there were several bystanders, one of whom had to duck to miss being hit by the flying bullets.

How pitiful is this?

Endsley is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.

JL / Backersfield Californian

optional ACE comments in the continuation

War on Drugs run amuck

What started with a few bags of marijuana being planted near a suspected street dealer quickly spiraled out of control. Narcotics officers lied to a judge, illegally broke into 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston's house, fired 39 shots at her — and then one handcuffed her as she lay bleeding before he planted drugs in her basement.

The events of Nov. 21, outlined in court documents, were almost an "inevitable" outcome of a troubled police unit, a federal prosecutor said Thursday as two former Atlanta narcotics officers pleaded guilty and promised to cooperate in a wider probe of the department.

[AJC]

Perhaps the Dems should force an end to the War on Drugs. It meets all their criteria for when to throw in the towel and admit it can't be won by force.

Grand jury results on death of 92-year-old

Grand jury results regarding the three officers who killed a 92-year-old Atlanta woman while serving a warrant will be released today.

Two will plead guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to violate a person's civil rights ending in a death and state charges that include voluntary manslaughter. The third [who may be charged with murder] is claiming he was the junior man on the narcotics team and the victim of other officers' bad habits.

Under the deal, the officers will cooperate with federal authorities who are investigating "systemic corruption" in the way narcotics officers obtained and filled out applications for warrants. Under the deal, the officers will cooperate with federal authorities who are investigating "systemic corruption" in the way narcotics officers obtained and filled out applications for warrants.

[AJC]

Excessive police force?

Civil rights activists and family members of a 26-year-old man shot and killed outside a bar Sunday by Fulton County police accused officers of excessive force.

Fulton County police Cpl. Gary Syblis declined to address the allegations, but said Ron Pettaway and his brother, Roy Pettaway III, 27, also wounded in the shootout, got into an altercation with officers when they arrived to break up a fight at the Frozen Palace at 2395 Flat Shoals Road near College Park.

Ron was shot in the head, the Fulton County medical examiner's office said. Roy Pettaway III was wounded in the back, family members said.

[AJC]

optional ACE comments in the continuation

Speeding officer withdraws stalking charge

The Kennesaw (GA) officer who sought the arrest of a Bartow County couple in regard to them recording his vehicle with a camera and radar gun dropped his complaint Wednesday in Bartow magistrate court.

Officer Richard Perrone alleged that Lee and Teresa Sipple stalked him after they purchased $1,200 in video surveillance and radar equipment that allegedly tracked Perrone speeding past their home, which lies at the end of a steep hill, up to 17 miles over the speed limit.

Kennesaw Police say they are investigating and have counseled Perrone before for improperly flashing his badge at the Sipples.

[Officer.com]

We've all seen cops disregard speeding signs, knowing they'd give us a ticket for the same offense. Is there any reason cops shouldn't obey traffic laws when they are not in an emergency situation with their lights and sirens flashing?

This one, when confronted, tried to put the heat on the reporting citizen. Hopefully, he'll stop speeding in the neighborhood, and the homeowner will stop threatening his job.

Pentagon yard sale for LE

According to an analysis by The Associated Press of government records, the Defense Department gave 3,425 items valued at more than $1.8 million to more than 100 agencies in Georgia in fiscal year 2005. The recipients ranged from the State Patrol and the Atlanta-centered Fulton County Sheriff's Department to much smaller agencies such as the police departments in towns like Varnell, Mount Zion and Tallapoosa.

"The program includes vehicles, boats, helicopters, clothing, helmets, computers, office furniture _ almost everything you can imagine," said Buzz Weiss, public affairs officer with Georgia Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the state's excess property program.

Each certified law enforcement agency in the state can access a password-protected Web site where they can shop for surplus items that are offered by the Pentagon for free. If there's a particular item an agency is looking for but it isn't available for free, it usually can be purchased at about 40 percent off the regular price, Weiss said.

[AP, 28JAN07]

Other than turning LE agencies into paramilitary units (as the John Birch Society says in an article linked here yesterday), this is possibly the best use of surplus military items.

Unfortunately, undesirable buyers, such as Iran, are shopping these sales also. See the continuation.

Will LE abuse use of ray guns, once it gets them?

The DoD elected to publicly announce the Active Denial System (ADS) Thursday (even though it's been reported on since 2004 or earlier. [BBC, 25JAN07] The John Birch Society (yes, it's still around) suspects it will be abused by LE once it filters down to local police departments, like the Taser has.

"... police agencies have been equipped, via federal grants, with the latest military antipersonnel warfare equipment, up to and including armored personnel carriers.

For the same reason Tasers are being employed more frequently than might be necessary, the new military and civilian ray guns may be similarly abused."

[AS, JBS, 27JAN07]

It's a little early to worry about this.

Hero police dog euthanized

A decorated police dog that was shot in the line of duty in 2004 has died, police said Wednesday.

Aryn, a 12-year-old German shepherd, was euthanized Wednesday after a series of ongoing health problems, Gwinnett County police spokesman Cpl. Darren Moloney said. Gwinnett County police Cpl. Mike Waddell, the department's K-9 unit trainer, had taken Aryn as his pet after the dog retired.

Police credit Aryn with helping protect Wadell's life while chasing a murder suspect in 2004. Aryn and Wadell had been chasing Terry Chaney on a January night after Chaney allegedly shot and killed Tucker High School coach Billy Venable and his son Bill, a varsity football player.

[GC, AJC, 24JAN07]

God bless him.

ATL officers in deep doo doo

An Atlanta police narcotics officer has told federal investigators at least one member of his unit lied about making a drug buy at the home of an elderly woman killed in a subsequent raid, according to a person close to the investigation.

In an affidavit to get a search warrant at the home Nov. 21, narcotics officer Jason R. Smith told a magistrate he and Officer Arthur Tesler had a confidential informant buy $50 worth of crack at 933 Neal St. from a man named "Sam."

But narcotics officer Gregg Junnier, who was wounded in the shootout, has since told federal investigators that did not happen, according to the person close to the investigation.

[BT, AJC, 11JAN07]

Must admit ACE's first assumption was the police had justification. We like to think our "finest" are doing their best.

Cop involved in shooting of elderly woman retires

An Atlanta narcotics officer wounded in a November drug raid that killed an elderly woman has retired from the force.

Gregg Junnier, 40, who has 18 years on the force, turned in his letter Tuesday, said his attorney Rand Csehy.

The attorney said Junnier was struck in the eye by a ricocheting bullet in the Nov. 21 shootout that killed Kathryn Johnston, who has been listed as both 88 and 92 years old. Two other narcotics officers, Gary A. Smith and Cary A. Bond, also were wounded in the Nov. 21 raid on the city's northwest side.

[Bill Torpy, AJC, 06 JAN 2007]