07 January 2004

Otherwise, so far it's been a bad week for law enforcement:

(1) "[A] report by [Philadelphia's] Integrity and Accountability Office stated that rogue officers eluded discipline or received light punishments, even after being found guilty of egregious misconduct from sexual harassment to falsifying police reports.

It also said the department failed to implement reforms suggested two years ago, and concluded that an outside agency be called in to take over discipline."


(2) "Federal officials are investigating the death of a black teenager shot three times in the back last week by a Louisville police officer, an FBI spokesman said Tuesday.

Officer McKenzie Mattingly, working undercover, shot Michael Newby in the back Saturday night after they struggled for Mattingly's service handgun, Police Chief Robert White said. Mattingly was trying to buy drugs from Newby when the deal went wrong, White said.
"

O.K. I get a struggle for the gun, I get that the suspect can get shot multiple times by an officer fighting for his life and reacting with an adrenaline rush BUT . . . 3 shots in the back? Yeesh. I hope, for the officer's sake, that there is more to it than is in this article because that's awful hard to justify.

(3) "A San Francisco police officer is facing disciplinary charges for allegedly using jagged glass to gouge into a handcuffed suspect's face after the man was caught failing to pay cable car fare."

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