CORRUPTION ACROSS AMERICA PART 5
THE LAW ENFORCEMENT EDITION!
AND A VERY SPECIAL SURPRISE ON STORY # 25!
359. Between 1999 and 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) convicted 14,405 officials—7,762 federal officials, 1,971 state officials, and 4,672 local officials—in public corruption cases. Most of these cases resulted in resignation, removal from office, and/or a prison sentence.
When elected officials corruptly abuse the power of their office, they are aggressively investigated, prosecuted, and often convicted.
360. If you have been reading my Blogs you would know that I am pro Police. I always have been. Without the police we don’t have a society. It’s really that simple. Take a look at all those cities who have implemented “Defund the Police” measures. Not only would I not live in any those cities, I wouldn’t even visit them. Most of them have turned into shit holes. But like all professions you have good cops, bad cops and then you have the ones who cross the line into corrupt and criminal activity. I have always had a healthy respect and fear of police. So, I want to dedicate this Blog to the good cops, while highlighting some who betrayed their oath, badge and their integrity. So here we go. And don’t forget to read story # 25 in today’s Blog. It’s a beauty.
361.
STORY # 21
Moment Louisville Metro Police officers filmed themselves throwing SLUSHIES at unsuspecting residents after slowing their cop car down to sneak up on victims
Bryan Wilson (left), 36, and Curtis Flynn (right), 40, recorded themselves attacking innocent pedestrians on the streets of West Louisville, Kentucky, between August 2018 and September 2019, in what later became known as 'Slushygate'
Shocking phone videos filmed by Louisville Metro Police officers capture them throwing slushies at unsuspecting residents after slowing their unmarked cruisers down to sneak up on victims.
Curtis Flynn, 40, and Bryan Wilson, 36, recorded themselves attacking innocent pedestrians on the streets of West Louisville, Kentucky, between August 2018 and September 2019, in what later became known as 'Slushygate.'
The video, obtained by the Courier Journal under the state's open records law, only reveals a part of the 24 assaults identified by the outlet.
The officers shared the videos with colleagues in a group chat and huddled around their phones during breaks, as reported by the publication.
Wilson and Flynn pleaded guilty to federal charges for violating the rights of West Louisville residents through the arbitrary use of force in October 2022.
'That is an unacceptable set of incidents,' Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said in an interview with WHAS11, adding that the assaults happened years before he became the mayor.
Flynn was sentenced to three months in prison, and Wilson to 30 months after the two pleaded guilty to civil rights violations.
In the video, an officer can be heard saying, 'Dude, I actually feel bad about that one.' The other responds, laughing, 'I know. I got it on film.'
In another disturbing clip, one officer says, 'Up against the building. Oh, she's done.'
'Don't miss,' he said as the police vehicle approaches an unsuspecting woman walking on the streets.
'Get her,' the officer is then seen throwing a large cup of drink on the innocent citizen, and the two erupt into fits of laughter.
According to the local reports, officers said on police radio in one incident: 'Someone was thirsty' and 'thirsty fam.'
In another attack, an officer can be heard yelling: 'Hey baby, you got change for a dollar?' before asking, 'How about a drink!'
An officer then launched his drink at the woman walking with an umbrella outside a pizza restaurant in the South End, a disadvantaged area of the city.
In a total of 24 random attacks, at least one victim was knocked to the ground.
'Dude just fell down!' an officer exclaimed in the aftermath of the assault.
Flynn and Wilson were part of NinthMobile, an elite police unit tasked with preventing drug and gun crime in Louisville, but also known for their brutality and abuse of power.
'The reputation was they were getting a lot of guns off the street. They were making a lot of arrests,' Louisville Metro Police Deputy Chief Steve Healey said.
'You didn't really hear about all of the other stuff until you would see the news reports come out, you would see the complaints come out.'
'That's really bad. And it's such a petty way,' said Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore Police officer who now teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, about the attacks.
He added the fact that officers were sharing the video with colleagues only make it worse, 'because it does reflect horrible contempt for the community.'
LMPD Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel suspended four officers who were aware of the incidents but did not report them and a fifth who drove the cruiser during the attacks.
'I thought this is just some dumb prank stuff that specialty units do,' Detective Joseph Howell, who received a 10-day suspension earlier this year, told investigators.
Howell, who commented on a particular Slushygate attack, said: ‘And everybody seems to be OK with it.'
Detective Beau Gadegaard, who was also suspended for 10days, said: ‘If I would have went to the [commanding officer] at the time, I 100 percent would have been cut out of it. I would have been isolated, without a doubt.'
Detective Jonathan Robbins said the unit had 'a culture of what happens in the house is addressed in the house and the rest of the department doesn't need to know our dirty laundry.'
Sgt. Kevin Casper texted, 'y'all need to use the slo mo feature' when one of the videos was shared in the group message.
He denied knowing assaults but was suspended for 30 days for supervisory failure. He is appealing his suspension.
At least five officers who were either directly involved in the Slushygate attacks or were aware of them and commented on the incidents are still part of the police force, the Courier Journal reported.
Three of them are part of the Criminal Interdiction Division, the successor of Ninth Mobile after it was disbanded in 2019.
Mayor Greenberg said the attacks took place before he and the current LMPD Chief Villaroel were in office.
'We are focused on improving the culture of LMPD where we proactively work with community, build trust with the community, and we want to have an LMPD that everyone trusts and respects,' Greenberg said.
'We are focused on a very different way of training, we've improved focus on supervision. Incidents like that will not be tolerated by Chief Gwinn-Villaroel or myself.'
After the videos were released, an LMPD spokesperson responded by saying the incidents are a painful part of LMPD's history.
'It is understandable that the videos of the drink throwing incidents from 2018 to 2019 are upsetting and disturbing to the public,' the spokesperson said in a statement.
'For context, the individuals responsible for throwing the drinks faced federal prosecution and others that were involved are no longer employed by LMPD and/or have been disciplined.'
'The department has implemented reforms that emphasize constitutional policing while rebuilding community trust.'
'We have improved supervisory oversight and revamped our Training Academy to include greater emphasis on duty-to-intervene, de-escalation and officer accountability.
'LMPD has sound [internal affairs] units. The Accountability and Improvement Bureau has been established; we consistently self-evaluate to ensure best practices and promote constitutional policing.'
COMMENTS
“I found some home video of these two.”
STORY # 22
Cop recognized as OnlyFans model by subscriber she pulled over, now facing probe: ‘Saw you, your husband last night for $29.99’
The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating an officer for her side gig as an OnlyFans model after she pulled over a subscriber during a recent traffic stop.
The unidentified cop, who works in the city’s 4th Precinct, is being probed for any policy violations she may have committed running the adult-content subscription service while working for the department.
The driver said it took him 10 minutes to recognize the 35-year-old officer as someone he’s seen over the past five months have sex and post explicit photos online.
“We were doing a little talking and checking and I was like, ‘Man, she got an OnlyFans page. I’m on her OnlyFans page,’” the driver told Fox 9.
“You got to go to the VIP and you get to see the videos of her and her, I guess husband, I guess that’s who it is, they do full sex videos.”
The department opened an investigation into the account, which states that she is “Free spirited, Overly Optimistic, Creator of Sexy Content to Please Others!,” according to a screengrab from Fox 9.
“We take any allegations of policy violations seriously and the chief has ordered an investigation,” Chief of Police Brian O’Hara said in a statement to KSTP.
The MPD’s off-duty employment policy prohibits officers from working in any business that “is not compatible with police work,” including “any establishment that provides adult entertainment in the form of nude, semi-nude or topless exhibitions.”
“If all we’re talking about is naked pictures behind a paywall, the mayor has no issue. However, the chief will determine if there are any policy violations,” a spokesman for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
The driver had a problem with the officer’s authority after realizing who she was.
“You can’t arrest me no more; I’ve seen your private parts,” he told Fox9.
“I wouldn’t want her to be arresting me and I just saw you and your husband last night for $29.99 have sex on OnlyFans. I just can’t respect you or the precinct that you’re working at.”
A timeline for the department’s investigation hasn’t been released.
STORY # 23
New Chapel EMS deputy responds to concerns after chief, former sheriff arrested
The Need for Action Among Newly Elected Officials
Among other things, former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel is accused of using funds from New Chapel EMS to buy cars and even a plane for his personal use.
But the deputy chief of New Chapel EMS – where Noel is still technically the chief – tells WLKY News the scandal has not hurt the nonprofit's ability to provide local communities with fire and ambulance service.
"All of our people are coming to work, all of our trucks are going out, all of our payroll is being met," said Matt Owen, who, in Noel's absence, now effectively runs New Chapel EMS.
Owen's assurances come after two communities have announced they are considering parting ways with New Chapel EMS.
In Floyd County, where New Chapel currently provides EMS services, commissioners have issued a request for proposals for a new contract.
And in Clarksville, the local fire department has proposed getting into the ambulance business. New Chapel currently serves Clarksville and all of Clark County.
Leaders from both communities have said they want more control and accountability over their services.
"Our communities have a responsibility to ensure that services remain unimpeded, and we understand that," Owen said. "We have been very communicative with all of our elected officials, with all of our community stakeholders to reassure them that we are not, we don't have any impeded service here."
New Chapel EMS also provides fire protection to Utica in Clark County and parts of the New Albany Township District outside the city of New Albany, which is in Floyd County.
Owen declined to comment on the charges Noel is facing, citing the ongoing court case.
STORY # 24
Kenosha Applebee's arrest incident likely headed for lawsuit, but first the mayor can intervene
Now that charges have been dropped against Shanya Boyd and Jermelle English, the mistaken identity arrest at a Kenosha Applebee's is likely headed for a lawsuit, but first the attorney for the Illinois man and woman would like to extend an offer to the mayor of Kenosha.
Kevin O'Connor, the attorney representing Boyd and English, said the Kenosha Police Department violated his clients' constitutional rights and Mayor John Antaramian has an obligation to address the policies, procedures and actions of the department.
O'Connor said the department's handling of footage release in November shows that Police Chief Patrick Patton was "doubling down" on the belief that KPD conducted itself in an appropriate and lawful manner.
Patton acted as a narrator during KPD's footage release in which the department provided bodycam footage from the officers involved in the incident and other details about the arrests of English and Boyd.
The Zion, Illinois, residents and their 1-year-old son went to the Kenosha Applebee's off Highway 50 on July 20 when they were mistakenly identified as suspects in a nearby hit-and-run crash. The people believed to be the actual suspects were in a bathroom of the restaurant.
The evening was captured on surveillance and cellphone footage by restaurant employees and soon a viral clip showing English being forcefully arrested while holding his baby led to reaction from lawyers, advocates and a police department in a city that is no stranger to strife.
Despite having nothing to do with the crash, prosecutors charged Boyd with resisting an officer, disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana. English was charged with resisting an officer and disorderly conduct.
Soon, rapper Jay-Z announced that he was hiring acclaimed attorney Alex Spiro for English and prosecutors filed a motion to drop the charges last week, which a judge approved.
"Any reasonable person that has a legal mindset knows that in most jurisdictions you can't charge someone with resisting arrest unless you charge them with an underlying crime," O'Connor said.
"I think the DA looked at this and said clearly the police acted inappropriately, clearly they acted excessively, and these charges should not even been brought against them."
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley and Kenosha police did not immediately respond to questions on Wednesday.
KPD did suspend two officers as a result of their actions that evening. Michael Vences, who was seen in the video striking English, was suspended for four days. Luke Courtier was suspended for 10 days after he did not decontaminate Boyd after she was pepper sprayed. Both officers failed to properly fill out police reports as well.
This was racial profiling, attorney says
O'Connor said Kenosha police "have a poor reputation with dealing with Black and Brown people" and this incident is another example. Activists and advocates have long noted strife between police and people of color.
Kenosha, in particular, is where the police shooting of Jacob Blake occurred. The shooting touched off days of violent protests in Kenosha, during which Kyle Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 28.
A jury later acquitted Rittenhouse of all charges in the case after determining he acted in self-defense.
O'Connor believes that Boyd and English were targeted by police because witnesses described Black people running away from the scene of the crash while holding a baby. More than two adults were found in the bathroom and no baby, but it was likely that one adult was carrying a disabled adult.
English and Boyd were targeted for being Black and having a baby, O'Connor said.
"Their crime was eating while Black in Kenosha after 10 o'clock," he said. "This is a family with a baby that got targeted and mistreated for no good reason other than the color of their skin. If this was a white family, I don't think this would have ever happened.
"If they would have just pulled the tapes instead of rushing to judgment because they're Black this would have never happened."
O'Connor says police chief should 'stop playing lawyer'
O'Connor said he is currently drafting a letter to Mayor Antaramian. O'Connor has represented clients across the U.S. and in some cases has received responses from officials, who he then works with to change policies and procedures instead of filing a lawsuit.
He isn't optimistic about Kenosha officials however. "It's been five months" and if they haven't reached out yet they probably won't, he said.
Chief Patton's handling of the video release is a sign that the department needs to change internally, O'Connor said.
"We have a police chief, Patton, who played lawyer if you will and said, look, I'm gonna give you a closing argument and here is why everything the officers did was correct. “Which makes it sounds to the public that we did everything right and these charges are legitimate," O'Connor said.
"He needs to stop playing lawyer and start acting more like a police chief and take some action, make some changes within that department because if he's telling these officers and publicly saying you didn't do anything wrong, you acted appropriately, he's sanctioning their conduct, and it's gonna happen again, and instead of the next time somebody pulling out pepper spray, they're gonna kill somebody.
"This is what leads to people getting wrongfully killed in situations like this where they haven't even committed an underlying crime."
Accompanying the 11-minute footage release posted to YouTube was several hours of bodycam footage and a news release, which announced the officers' suspensions following an investigation by the West Allis Police Department.
O'Connor will file a federal lawsuit if mayor is unresponsive
O'Connor said it is Antaramian who "has the right to remove, or discipline, or do something to the police chief, or tell him to change his ways or you could be out of office."
"You really shouldn't have to go into court to make these changes," O'Connor said. "They are public servants. They should be doing what's right for the public. And if the mayor can recognize and see what the DA saw perhaps we can get some changes internally, voluntarily, with the department maybe along with the NAACP and the other groups that are involved."
If the mayor is not open to that, O'Connor said he has no choice but to file a lawsuit in federal court.
Antaramian did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday.
Boyd spoke out last week
O'Connor was accompanied by Boyd, her son, and her mother, at a news conference Friday outside the restaurant.
Boyd said it's been a rough few months with pending criminal charges hanging over her head but what she feared most was the safety of her child, during the incident and also whose custody her child would be in while she was unavailable.
"I have no explanation as to why this happened to me," she said. "I was just a mother protecting her child."
The charges being dropped were a relief but the whole experience was traumatizing for Boyd, who said she has never been arrested or booked at a jail. She said she and her son have trouble breathing and sleeping still.
Boyd questions where she'd be today had video not emerged.
"What would the charges be if they would have got away?" Boyd said. "Would I still be the hit-and-run person? Did I really do the crime if them people was not caught in the washroom? That's what I want to know. If they was not caught would I still be the person that supposedly did the hit-and-run, me and my family?"
Boyd said she wants to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. O'Connor is requesting an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
326.
STORY # 25
MY COMMENTS
”ACTUAL PALACE FOOTAGE”
“FOOTAGE FROM 1915”
As they say, timing is everything and today as I was writing this Blog the following story popped up on my news feed. I have talked many times about these “bar checks” or walk throughs” and how much I hate them. I think they are useless and ineffective and serve no purpose. They put a wedge between the police and the public and they affect that business in a very negative way. In my opinion the police and others have weaponized that procedure in our case to try and damage our business.
Remember this request I sent to Chief Alexander on September 13, 2023? (See below)
Hi Chief,
I was just curious about the unannounced police walk troughs that the SPD conducts.
I am not asking about the Palace Bar, just the policy in general.
1- When or what year did this policy start?
2- Who's idea was it?
3- Are there any stats that exists to their effectiveness?
Thanks,
Brian
And remember his less than factually satisfying response? (See below)
Good morning Brian,
As long as I have worked at SPD, so over 25 years, there has always been an expectation to perform bar checks. There is no written policy on it just something that was passed down from the Command Staff to Sergeants and then Sergeants would disseminate to their patrol shifts. My experience has been that all establishments should occasionally get walked through and then places where we were seeing more police calls would see more visits. Certainly some of the visits are nothing more than community policing and making contact with the public even when nothing criminal is going on. I am not sure who created the idea or concept but it was before my time here at SPD. I am not aware of any statistics that we have tracked to identify the effectiveness. Overall in policing the concept of presence has been identified to have a positive impact on reducing crime and improving community relations.
Remember this request I sent to Chief Alexander on September 25, 2023? (See below)
Hi Chief,
In the text below between Officer Jago and Melissa Hyatt, Jago tells her that
" I have a meeting with the Mayor on Thursday and officers have been assigned
to walk into the bar and check in back minimum of twice a night for the next
three months."
Could you tell me who is responsible for this decision and/or take me through the process
of the decision. And what I mean by that is giving me the names of the people who were
involved in the decision. I am not really interested in why the decision was made. I think
Melissa has already spelled that out for all of us,
Thanks,
Brian
And remember his confused and wishi-washi response? (See below)
Hi Brian – I contacted Officer Jago and he recalls this direction be provided to him by Captain Paul Winterscheidt who is the Patrol Division Commander. I do not specifically recall what advice or involvement I may have had as there were frequent complaints made by Melissa but I am sure that I likely at some point suggested to Paul, and/or the Mayor that increased police presence and some dedicated/directed patrol were options to consider. Captain Winterscheidt is the Patrol Division Commander so I would allow him to formulate response plans to complaints, concerns, hot spots without much further coordination from my office other than me providing some ideas.
Well apparently I’m not the only one concerned about this. It seems that my new BFF, none other than America’s Mayor Eric Adams, the Mayor of New York City, America’s largest city seems to agree with me. This story was published on December 28, 2023. So, here is Story # 25.
Mayor Eric Adams dismantling ‘disruptive’ NYC task force accused of heavy-handed raids at bars, venues
Mayor Eric Adams, an avowed booster of New York City’s nightlife scene, is dismantling a decades-old, multiagency enforcement task force that has long been accused of using heavy-handed tactics during inspections at bars and venues across the Big Apple.
The so-called MARCH task force, which has comprised the NYPD, the Department of Buildings, the FDNY, the State Liquor Authority and other agencies, will be replaced by a new initiative called CURE— Coordinating a United Resolution with Establishments — that’s going to focus on “compliance and education, not over enforcement,” Adams told reporters Thursday.
“This is an era of no more demonizing successful businesses, but promoting, lifting them up,” Adams said during a press conference at the Paragon nightclub in Bushwick, Brooklyn. “We want to continue to be the city that never sleeps.”
The NYPD-led MARCH initiative, which was launched by Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the 1990s, has drawn the ire of nightlife establishment owners for decades over its SWAT team-like surprise raids during peak business hours in response to noise complaints, health code violations and other community grievances. The raids resulted in either fines or mandatory closures of nightlife spots.
“It was a very frustrating and confusing process,” said John Barclay, Paragon’s owner, who was subjected to MARCH raids at other establishments he’s operated.
CURE, by contrast, will not have such raids be part of its regular operations, according to City Hall.
Rather, it’ll require police precincts to establish direct lines of communication with bar and restaurant owners and inform them of any suspected violations at their establishments, including noise complaints. Owners will then have 30 days to address any infractions, according to City Hall.
“The only venues who can expect to see significant enforcement actions are those that intentionally ignore community concerns,” said NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, the city’s highest-ranking uniformed cop.
“We have other things to do in the city than to chase business owners around,” Maddrey added. “We want to take care of real crime.”
Another shakeup is that the CURE effort won’t be spearheaded by the NYPD. Instead it’ll be overseen by Office of Nightlife Executive Director Jeffrey Garcia, the city’s so-called “nightlife mayor,” who was tapped for his paid gig last month despite a hiring freeze enacted by Adams across all municipal agencies due to budgetary concerns.
Adams, who’s known to frequent high-end nightclubs across the city, like NoHo’s Zero Bond, said he was on hand for a MARCH inspection that took place at a Brooklyn bar he was socializing at while borough president.
“It was just so disruptive,” Adams said.
Adams and members of his inner circle have a history of clashing with agencies policing the city’s nightlife sector.
Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ chief adviser at City Hall, helped East Williamsburg club Avant Gardner get meetings last year with a top aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul to resolve issues it had with the State Liquor Authority after the agency accused the venue of turning a blind eye to “rampant” drug use at its premises that had resulted in multiple fatal overdoses, as first reported by Gothamist. The club’s attorney used to be Frank Carone, Adams’ former chief of staff and longtime political confidant.
When asked about the Avant Gardner situation earlier this year, Adams suggested the State Liquor Authority should be blacklisted from operating in the city. “I’m hoping that eventually we’ll get to the day that the state SLA is handled on a city level,” he said then.
While Adams’ abolishment of the MARCH task force was welcomed by business owners, at least one Council member voiced skepticism after Thursday’s announcement.
“Eliminating MARCH operations might inadvertently send the wrong message to the scofflaws,” said Queens Councilman Robert Holden, a conservative Democrat who’s typically supportive of Adams. “More layers of bureaucracy will only prolong the existing quality-of-life issues. I hope this does not backfire.”
FINAL THOUGHTS
I wonder if what is happening in Superior is even legal, and if it is, are there procedures that are in place so that they cannot be used to weaponize a business. Just wondering. I will have a lot more to say about this and more when I do a “Safety Blog” down the road soon. But I will leave today’s final word to My Man, A Man Of The People, My New BFF, The Mayor Of America, ERIC ADAMS. See you soon, Brian
FINAL WORD
