Did you know there are over 708,000 full-time law enforcement officers in America? Assuming they all work about 255 days each year, that works out to a meager 180,540,000 man-days of work (or lady-days for the women in blue). Like the average gun owner, these are overwhelmingly good people doing good work. They protect and serve generally speaking. Occasionally they come to the rescue of people.
From right here in Illinois a similar case:
Cops also rescue kids from bad actors.
They also usually show poise and professionalism when dealing with a-holes.
This state of your entitled youth! Smh! ♀️ How the offícer says calm is beyond me! pic.twitter.com/uGRO1bieLA
— Kathleen Winchell ❤️ (@KathleenWinche3) March 3, 2024
But a tiny handful should never have become cops. Their actions tarnish the badges of all officers.
And sometimes their actions are so utterly egregious that their actions achieve national attention. As such, they become the poster children for reforming so-called “Qualified Immunity” which makes it exceptionally difficult to hold bad cops and other government officials accountable for gross violations of other people’s constitutional rights
Take what happened in Animus County, Colorado recently. A power-tripping lunatic with a badge cost his county $1.5M after an incident from 2022. Frankly, $1.5M wasn’t enough. And the money should come out of the cop’s pocket. And at least one blog suggested taking these settlements and judgements out of the police pension funds. Why? It would help motivate cops to do more aggressive self-policing of bad apples behind the Thin Blue Line.
Kenneth Espinoza has reached a significant settlement of $1.5 million with Las Animas County and other parties, following an incident two years ago where he was subjected to excessive force by law enforcement officers. The settlement, announced by Espinoza’s attorney, Kevin… pic.twitter.com/g98bAXoCrX
— Githii (@githii) March 8, 2024
Self-policing. Apparently nobody at Animus County thought Lt. Henry Trujillo was a problematic individual unsuited for wearing a badge. Even after what happened with Espinoza, they returned him to duty. Then this happened… From the NY Post:
A Colorado deputy was put on administrative leave without pay after video emerged of him getting into a fistfight with a teen over an alleged road-rage incident.
A law firm representing the teen released the video Tuesday showing Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Henry Trujillo and a 16-year-old motorcyclist swinging wildly at each other on Santa Fe Trail Drive, KKTV reports.
The fight broke out on June 18, with the camera capturing the moment the boy stopped at the side of the road with Trujillo following suit and stepping out of his Buick, according to the police report.
Again, $1.5M wasn’t nearly enough. The decimal point is in the wrong place for starters. Furthermore, without bodycams, Mr. Espinoza would probably be looking at prison time.
The other question: Where in Henry Trujillo working today? I feel sorry for whatever town signs his paycheck now… Frankly, it’s too bad he wasn’t criminally charged for his actions against Mr. Espinoza.
Here’s another case of criminal negligence by a bad cop. This one is in Maryland just outside of Baltimore. It features Officer Braxton Shelton with the Prince George’s County Police Department. Responding to a potential burglary in progress call, he finds a door ajar, kicks it open and without identifying himself as a police officer, he starts barking orders for those inside to show him their hands.
“Show me your hands! Show me your hands! Who are you?” Officer Braxton Shelton screamed.
Officer Braxton Shelton has no business wearing a badge or a uniform at anywhere except perhaps the Menard’s lumberyard behind the store. Failing to identifying while barking commands and then shooting an unknown person in their own residence? There’s no way that scenario ends well. In this case, he killed Mr. Green Hoodie.
Most of the time this would be a bad day for the resident. For those with skill sets and who practice “home carry”? Officer Braxton Shelton gets two to the face for his troubles. And the homeowner will have to spend six figures on a good lawyer to put it behind him… and then move away to avoid retaliation from the remaining members of the department.
Interestingly, when I called Prince George’s County PD to give them some feedback on their style of policing as evidenced by Mr. Shelton, they claimed that the incident didn’t involve their department.
Yep, pretend like it never happened. That’s the solution.
Hopefully the homeowner’s next-of-kin in that case gets a good lawyer and a seven-figure settlement – or better yet, and eight-figure judgement – against Prince George’s County. Would it help reform the attitudes that allow this sort of behavior – or at least turn a blind eye towards it – if that money came out of the pension fund? It seems a little unAmerican to penalize those who weren’t responsible for bad policing. But then again, that’s kind of what we’re doing making the whole community pay for these settlements.
Then there’s the SWAT team in Elyria, Ohio…
All that for allegedly a 14-year-old who might have a gun. Problem is the 12-year-old and his family hadn’t lived at the rental house target of the raid for over a year.
Yes, it’s time to start the process to reform qualified immunity.
Meanwhile, Elyria, OH is looking for a few good men and women. The comments on their Facebook post are brutal… Seems Elyria can’t even keep up with deleting the negative feedback.
Jason Neal J Ayers
Nobody wants to work for tyrants who lie about flashbacks having no chemicals in them and who are so bad at their job they get the wrong house and then try to cover it upCynthia L Davis
So embarrassing… I wouldn’t want to work for a PD that hurts babies and pretends they didn’t. Let’s not forget to mute your body cams so you aren’t transparent or honest….Tom Rhyne
Criminals welcome. Join your friends!Mollie Marie
Stop hiding comments and accept your incompetence injured a BABY.Ashley Nicole White
But have you done anything for the family whose baby you put in the hospital for over a week? This is sickening. I hope she seeks out a lawyer…Andy Peter
I’d love to flashbang infants. I’d love to become a high ranking officer and write fictitious excuses or explanations that I’m relying on a gullible public to accept. LT, you’re writing checks your rank and public trust can’t cash.Kim Smith
Awesome. Please start lighting up the ones with extremely loud exhaust systems. A modified exhaust waking someone up at 330am frequently is not cool.Irene Snook
Will u teach them to lie when they cause Injuries to babies when they get the wrong address…..Jason White
Is attacking babies required or only encouraged for applicants?Tyler Russom
Please explain to the public why this deaprtment thinks it is ok to flashbang infants?Andy Burton
They realized they need more help with the next babyJordan Rodriguez
Do y’all have a rigorous acorn obstacle course for them to train on?Balázs Somogyi
Is being able to read addresses a requirement or is the desire to flashbang babies enough ?Andy Burton
But have no respect for family’sJason Neal J Ayers
Notice how they took off messaging cowards every single one of youJason Neal J Ayers
Keep hiding comments cowards you will pay for your crimesNoah Guy
Now hiring certified baby flash bangers!Right Wing Basher
Now hiring pedos and Domestic terroristsLana Haynes
Have you ever thought about turning your precinct into an abortion clinic since your so good at harming babies?Gino Costantini
Nobody wants to be a anymore, across the country you all have broken the trust of the people.Justin Koch
Shooting innocent dogs that haven’t even bit anyone is a requirement for the Elyria Police DepartmentThomas Myers
Their looking for a few more fycking clowns like there’s not enough now.Stephen Portsmouth
More officers needed to blow up more innocent houses and hospitalise even more babies. And don’t forget to mute your camera, wouldn’t want to look too transparent and honest now would we? After all you’re ONLY a police force…Alex Velasquez
Make sure to put in the job description that you have to be okay with flash banging babiesRyan Panzegraf
Are these the new officers that won’t break into a lady’s house and try to kill her baby?that would be helpful?
Qualifed Immunity was created by SCOTUS in 1967 out of whole cloth. John’s idea to make any payments come out of the pension fund is spot on. That gives the whole department a reason to police their own. Hopefully, this SCOTUS will rein this imagenary right in. If the error was due to poor (or no) training, the hiring agency should pay also.
Yes, the police have a different situation from us peons, but they should be held to a standard that makes sense. Wrong address? That should be punishable by jail time it someone innocent is hurt. Maybe they should all read the warrant again carefully and out loud to the entire team before busting down the door. Each officer should sign his name to it that he read it and checked all details for accuracy. Surely, that should be the rule before you gear up to knowingly confront someone with lethal force. After all, if one of us did that, the settlement would be in the millions out of our pocket, and we would be in jail for a few years.
Yes, qualifies immunity is a huge problem. It is a flawed doctrine, and I do feel improperly created much like Roe v Wade. Bad cops who are bullies hiding behind their badge will always exist. Incompetent cops who don’t know ‘the law’ can easily turn into these types not by force of will or mental defect simply through ignorance and fear. A large part of this problem is PROPER and PERTINENT training. This training does not occur as a regular rotation at police departments. Add to this the lack of suitable candidates, lowering of education and physical requirements, ‘defunding’, and the poor showing of the current generations entering age eligibility for these jobs in the area of ‘adulting’, the law enforcement community has a mess on their hands. The other problem is lack of support with DEI and social justice being ‘culture’. Too many bad factors aligning at once. I retired in 2017 when this tide began coming in, 7 years later those at my former department I thought would be to 28 or thirty years are retiring with 20 or 23 years. Few staying even 25 anymore. This was unheard of when I came on in 1988. This will not get better soon. I believe we are living through the collapse of our society.