THIS BLOG is NOW RETIRED

I began this blog in May 2009 following the death of Marcia Powell at Perryville State Prison in Goodyear, Arizona. It is not intended to prescribe the path that leads to freedom from the prison industrial complex.

Rather, these are just my observations in arguably the most racist, fascist, militaristic state in the nation at a critical time in history for a number of intersecting liberation movements. From Indigenous resistance to genocidal practices, to the fight over laws like SB1070 and the ban on Ethnic Studies, Arizona is at the center of many battles for human rights, and thus the struggle for prison abolition as well - for none are free until all are. I retired the blog in APRIL 2013.

Visit me now at Arizona Prison Watch or Survivors of Prison Violence-AZ
BLOG POSTS
Showing posts with label police misconduct. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police misconduct. Show all posts

Friday, February 24, 2012

Prosecuting Innocence: The Scottsdale Police shooting of David Hulstedt

follow link to:




Another victim of Scottsdale police violence has come to my attention this weekend, thanks to one of the local activists hot on the Scottsdale Police Department's tail, who posted the link to this guy's family's website to Facebook.

David has a psychiatric disability, according to court records, and was having a crisis at the time this all happened - they'll try to make that work against him, so don't let that keep you from supporting him. In fact, it makes it all the more imperative that the community embrace him and his family right now to assure that he's not further brutalized by the criminal justice system - at least, not without a world of witnesses. 

Let the following be a lesson to all who own a video camera - keep it out and use it whenever you see the police stop someone. You never know whose life you may save. If we're truly dedicated to fighting police brutality, the place to start would be to see him through the effort to criminally prosecute him after he filed suit against the bastards. 
If David or his family are out there and want some support from other folks who are fighting police and prison violence, let me know. My name is Peggy, my number is 480-580-6807


------this occurred in 2008. David's prosecution is on-going------ 

This is the story of David Hulstedt, the young man shot in the back as he walked away from officers Scottsdale, Arizona police officers on November 7, 2008. David, who was unarmed, and carrying his toddler, is now paralyzed. David's little daughter suffered a fractured skull when she fell to the ground. As widely reported in the media, Mr. Hulstedt was undergoing treatment for a mental health condition when he called 911 asking for help from the Arizona Governor. Instead of responding with calm and caring, a Scottsdale police dispatcher broadcast that there was a "crisis" at the residence, and that a little girl was crying in the background, and that his parents were trying to get the little girl away from David who was refusing to give back the baby.

That little girl was just David's daughter who was crying because she needed a new diaper.

The Inappropriate Police Response.

Within minutes, Scottsdale officers ordered David's parents out of the home. David repeatedly called his father, pleading for him to return to the house. His father asked to go back to the house but police would not let him. David also repeatedly called his brother, Eric. In the video to right, Eric explains that he asked police to let him go to his brother. Police refused. David’s father called his lawyer who tried to speak with David, until Police intervened and ordered him to stop.

As you'll hear and see through the video clips to the right, David's family urged the police to let them help David, but police refused. David said he would give his daughter to his brother. Time after time, the family made progress. But the police did everything the could to stop that progress, and even confiscated the cell phones being used by the family.  Police intentionally isolated David from the very support group that he needed. David was never armed. David never threatened police. David never threatened his family. Minutes after police took away David’s lifeline to his family, lawyer and minister, David in desperation allegedly told police: “If you don’t let my brother come inside, I’ll pile drive my daughter into the ground.” But David would not and did not do that. Over the next 20 minutes police negotiators told David that they were there to help him. They were not going to hurt him. They proclaimed themselves “professionals.” They guaranteed David that they would not hurt him. All he had to do was come out with his daughter.

He did.

The Shooting.

David walked outside the house and asked officers to back up. He wanted to go to his Dad. He wanted to go to the street to see his family, not knowing the family had been held in seclusion by Scottsdale Police. Four officers, staged immediately outside the front door, took a couple of steps back to give David some space.

Arizona police officers are trained to safely resolve problems with people in mental crisis by assigning one person to  calmly speak with the patient. Instead of following training, police yelled at David. He was given opposing commands to put up his hands, put down the baby. He was not told he was under arrest. Confused by the contradictory orders, David raised his daughter up over his head and began to walk to the street. He wanted to be with his family. David and the police negotiators wanted a peaceful resolution. As he walked to the street an officer armed with a military assault rifle yelled at him. From across the street another officer armed with an assault rifle joined in the chorus of shouts. David turned to go back to the safety of the home.

The two officers fired their military assault rifles striking David down after he took 3 to 4 steps back towards the home. He was immediately paralyzed and fell forward. David lost his grip on his daughter and she flew down hitting her head on the concrete front walkway. Police, unbelievably, then DRAGGED David's paralyzed body hundreds of yards over rocks and gravel, ripping through his skin, exposing bone.
 
Police Claims.

Police  claimed that the baby was bleeding from her ear when David first walked out of the house. Police claimed they saw blood on the front of David’s shirt. Police claimed that the left side of David’s daughter’s face was deformed and there was blood mixed with mucous coming from her nose. Police claimed that the little girl slid down the front of David and fell from his knee. She fell, police claimed, on the gravel of the front yard. Police told the news media that blood was found inside of the house. Police told medical staff attending to both David and his daughter that David held the girl upside down and threatened to pile drive her into the ground causing police to shoot him. Police dragged David, paralyzed, more than 100 yards over rocks and rough terrain, ripping through his skin and exposing his kneecaps.

Police said David would be arrested when he recovered.  They asked the county prosecutor to charge David with kidnapping and child abuse.
 


Caught On Tape.

Police were unaware for almost two hours after the shooting that the family’s neighbor had videotaped the entire event, including David's attempt at surrender, and the shooting. There was no blood inside the house. There was no blood on the front of David’s shirt. His daughter was not bleeding from either of her ears. But because police told the hospital and Child Protective Services that the little girl was bleeding before David was shot, the little girl was subjected to full body scanning. That proved police fabricated their story. There was no evidence of abuse. 
David is a Victim.

Police have asked that David be criminally charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping and child abuse.  Scottsdale police department's claim that David injured his daughter inside the home was without a basis.  The former Maricopa County Medical Examiner commented that the daughter’s injury was consistent with being caused by falling to the concrete walkway.  The truth that she fell after her father was shot made its way into medical records, despite the false statements made by police officers.  And, the photographic evidence proves how she was injured.

David himself asked  the prosecutor’s office to tell a grand jury the facts, and asked that the two officers who shot him be charged.  Officers who were sworn to protect him, but instead fabricated a crisis situation, then shot him in the back multiple times, ripped skin from his knees -- clear to his bone --  left him paralyzed for life, then created a fictional account for the media about what happened.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Arpaio should resign over botched sex-crimes investigations.

"In El Mirage alone, officials discovered at least 32 reported child molestations — with victims as young as 2 years old — where the sheriff's office failed to follow through, even though suspects were known in all but six cases. Many of the victims, said a retired El Mirage police official who reviewed the files, were children of illegal immigrants."



Amid Calls for His Resignation, Arpaio Apologizes for the Mishandling over 400 Sex-Crime Cases

The controversial Arizona sheriff, who calls himself the "toughest Sheriff in America" and has in the past made headlines for his hard-line stance toward immigration, apologized Monday to potential victims for his office's botched investigations of over 400 sex-crimes cases.

Facing rising criticism for his office's management, Sheriff Joe Arpaio held a news conference to discuss the investigations in the city of El Mirage a day after The Associated Press ran an article outlining some of the bungled cases.

His office said 432 sex-crimes investigations from El Mirage and other parts of the county were reopened after his office learned of cases — including dozens of alleged child molestations — that hadn't been investigated adequately or weren't examined at all over a three-year period ending in 2007. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office was under contract to handle law enforcement duties in the city on the edge of Phoenix at the time.

"If there were any victims, I apologize to those victims," the sheriff said in his office's most detailed public comments about the cases.

Chief Deputy Sheriff Jerry Sheridan said the sheriff's office is poised to take possible disciplinary action as early as this week against the employees responsible for the cases.

The reopened cases resulted in 19 arrests, a figure the sheriff's office considers to be average and equal to the number of sex-crimes arrests made so far this year countywide.

Still, Captain Steve Whitney, the official in charge of criminal investigations, said there might have been more arrests had there been more timely investigations.

In El Mirage alone, officials discovered at least 32 reported child molestations — with victims as young as 2 years old — where the sheriff's office failed to follow through, even though suspects were known in all but six cases. Many of the victims, said a retired El Mirage police official who reviewed the files, were children of illegal immigrants.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, whose district doesn't include Arpaio's jurisdiction, issued a written statement saying the sheriff should immediately resign before more damage is done to public confidence in law enforcement. He and other critics say Arpaio puts too much emphasis on rounding up illegal immigrants at the expense of more important law enforcement responsibilities.

"The picture emerging — no follow-up, no investigation, no prosecution, no justice and a shield of silence after the fact — is not how we conduct law enforcement in this country," Grijalva said. "Enforcing laws against violent crime, whatever a victim's legal status, is mandatory and not something we leave to individual communities as an open question. Selective enforcement undermines respect for our brave legal officers and is rightly not tolerated by the public."

Arpaio rejected the congressman's criticism. "I am not going anywhere," Arpaio said.

The botched sex-crimes investigations have served as an embarrassment to a department whose sheriff is the self-described "America's Toughest Sheriff" and a national hero to conservatives on the immigration issue.

Sheridan said pending disciplinary action prevented him from explaining why the cases weren't investigated, but he acknowledged that employees of the sheriff's office made mistakes. "Once initial information came out, some detectives decided not to follow up," Sheridan said.

Whitney said the sheriff's office has since made changes to better track cases, and enacted more training and moved certain employees out of the sex-crimes squad.

Of the 428 reopened investigations that have been completed, 116 were deemed to have no basis in fact to move forward or had accounts that didn't add up. More than 220 were turned down by prosecutors or didn't have enough evidence to bring to prosecutors.

Sixty-nine cases had no further information to pursue or couldn't be advanced further.

The sex-crimes cases had been reported earlier by The Arizona Republic, the East Valley Tribune, KNXV-TV and other media outlets.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.

Exceptionally cleared by Arpaio: no investigation, no arrests, no justice.

"Hey DOJ: It's long past time..."
4th Avenue Jail, Phoenix
National Chalk the Police Day, 2011



Before he runs for office again, please...


----great editorial below from Laurie Roberts at the AZ Republic----

Sheriff's 'apology' does 432 victims no good

A 15-year-old girl bursts into an El Mirage store and reports that she's just been raped by two men in a nearby ditch. A 9-year-old tells a school counselor that her grandmother's boyfriend comes into her room at night and molests her as she tries to sleep.

A 13-year-old opens the door to a man whose car had supposedly broken down. He knocks the girl out and sexually assaults her.

In each case, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office was called to investigate. In every one, the "investigation" ended with that call.

They are among 432 sex crimes reported to the Sheriff's Office between 2005 and 2007. Reported and ... nothing.

No investigation, no arrests, no justice.

It's a been a rough year for America's most-dumbfounded sheriff, what with rogue operations, misspent funds and $177 million in lawsuits. And now, national headlines about bungled investigations into sex crimes against victims as young as 2 years old.

On Monday, Sheriff Joe Arpaio held a press conference to offer what apparently passes for an apology in Joeland.

"If there were any victims," he said, "I apologize to those victims."

If there were any victims?

If there was any accountability, we would know the details of how and why Arpaio's office ignored reports of serious crimes while the sheriff spent years running around the county, talking tough and arresting illegal immigrants in order to get on the evening news.

Something more, that is, than the explanation offered by Arpaio's new chief deputy, Jerry Sheridan. "Once initial information came out, detectives decided not to follow up," Sheridan said at Monday's mea culpa, adding that disciplinary action could come later this week.

That would be well over three years after these cases first came to light.

In fact, they've been written about locally several times. In 2008, the East Valley Tribune wrote about dozens of cases that went uninvestigated. In May,The Republic and others reported that there were 432 botched sex-crime cases and that then-Chief Deputy Dave Hendershott had blocked an internal investigation to protect a sergeant involved in one of his famed corruption probes.

The bungling became national news on Sunday, when the Associated Press ran a story that was picked up across the country, prompting Arpaio's pseudo apology.

The second of two halfhearted apologies in one week, as it turns out.

Last week, Arpaio issued a bizarre letter of recommendation for Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson. Yeah, the same Sandi Wilson whom he had accused of civil racketeering; the very one he tried to indict for using public funds to sweep county offices for bugs.

Now, Arpaio writes that Wilson is "a valuable asset, competent and professional."

"That's not an apology letter -- no way," Arpaio told The Republic's Yvonne Wingett Sanchez. "I just appreciate what she's doing."

Wilson is among several county employees who are suing -- the only actual outcome of Arpaio's and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas' probe into county corruption. Wilson has said she'd settle for an apology. This, apparently, is as good as it gets.

The victims whose rapes and molestations went uninvestigated didn't get much better.

Of the 432 botched cases, Arpaio's detectives were able to go back and make only 19 arrests. An additional 116 were declared unfounded, and 67 were classified as "cold cases" (cold, as in Ice Age). Meanwhile, 221 were "exceptionally" cleared, which is code for we can't solve them but we're going to close them anyway to boost our clearance rates.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva -- he of boycott- Arizona fame -- has called on Arpaio to resign.

The more likely response will be an immigration sweep. There's nothing like a good immigration sweep to take the faithful's minds off mismanagement and corruption.

And now, of 432 potential sex crimes ignored.

Among them, a 2-year-old taken to the hospital with vaginal pain and bruising after a stint with a baby-sitter. And three sisters, ages 4 to 10, who did what children should do when perverts put their fingers in places they don't belong. They told.

And it didn't make a darned bit of difference.

Recently, Arpaio told me that he plans to run for a sixth term next year, when he is 80 years old, and he expects to win. Every Republican presidential candidate sought his endorsement, he pointed out.

"Nothing is going to change," he told me.

That's what I'm afraid of.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com