This blog stays updated with cases of Police Brutality against Black Men and the Black Community. These are just the cases that we are fortunate enough to hear about. But, there are several "unsung victims" whose story has never been told or videotaped. Infamous cases such as Rodney King and Oscar Grant are not isolated incidents. They exist amongst a corrupt system of impunity. Who am I? I am a “Concerned Member of the Black Community.”
North Chicago has fired a police officer and paid $40,000 to settle a complaint that he allowed a police dog to bite a fleeing suspect repeatedly and break his leg.
The beleaguered department has also been sued over an incident caught on video in which an officer appears to punch a docile suspect in a police lockup.
Compounding the controversy, a high-ranking retired officer said she warned last year that excessive force was "getting out of control" but was ignored.
Those are among the latest developments since the death of Darrin Hanna in November unleashed a spate of police brutality accusations, protests and investigations in North Chicago.
Hanna died a week after he was arrested by officers responding to a call that he had battered his pregnant girlfriend. The Lake County coroner attributed Hanna's death in part to being beaten and shocked with a Taser by officers, but also to the 45-year-old's health problems and drug abuse.
The arrest that led to the latest firing occurred in April 2011, when Walter Wrather, then 23, was allegedly driving without a license and Officer William Bogdala tried to stop him. Wrather fled at high speeds but eventually abandoned his car and ran into a warehouse district, where Bogdala commanded his police dog to chase and bite Wrather, city attorney Chuck Smith said.
Wrather contends Bogdala let the dog hold on for some time and bite him repeatedly, fracturing a bone in Wrather's calf. Police photos of the bites show several deep puncture wounds.
Wrather's attorney, Muriel Collison, said witnesses reported that Bogdala posted a picture of the wound on his Facebook account, with a message warning against running from police. Bogdala denied doing that, records show, but city officials concluded that he had violated the city's social media policy.
Bogdala was the subject of other complaints of excessive force, including one from a woman who said he broke her eye socket, and one from a man who said he also required medical intervention after an encounter with the officer, Smith said. Also, Bogdala pulled a gun on another motorist in an off-duty altercation in Gurnee in 2010, Smith said.
The attorney said that in 2008, Bogdala had signed a "last chance" agreement with the city, putting him on probation and warning that another incident would result in his dismissal.
Smith called the $40,000 payment to Wrather "fair" given the trauma he suffered. Wrather was convicted and served jail time for the incident.
Collison said Bogdala, who was dismissed on June 29, was given too many chances. "This should never have happened," she said of his run-in with Wrather.
Reached Friday, Bogdala said he would "love to" comment but deferred to his Fraternal Order of Police attorney, who did not return phone calls.
Last week, Collison filed a new suit against the city on behalf of Paul Smith, a Waukegan man who, according to video taken inside the local police lockup in 2010, was punched in the back of the head, choked and slammed against a wall by an officer, despite no obvious signs of resistance. The officer, Emir King, was suspended without pay after the video became public earlier this year.
Collison also released a sworn statement by a former high-ranking officer, provided as part of the litigation against the city, that Collison said helps substantiate what she claims is a pattern of police brutality in North Chicago.
Crystal Phillips, the former No. 2 in command at the department as operations commander, retired last July.
In the statement, Phillips said the department typically got three to four complaints a week about alleged excessive force and verbal abuse by police.
She identified several officers who she said were the subject of a lot of complaints. She also said she warned the department not to let Bogdala become a canine officer.
She said she raised concerns with Chief Michael Newsome, but he never took action. Newsome resigned in February.
"Couple of times I told him that he needed to start doing some discipline because if he didn't, it was going to get out of control," she said. "They were going to get to the point where they were going to get too aggressive with the citizens to the point where something serious was going to happen."
Phillips could not be reached for additional comment.
Attorney Laura Scarry, who represents the seven officers who have been sued in connection with the Hanna case, questioned Phillips' credibility, noting that much of what she said was based on hearsay from other officers and that Phillips was not cross-examined.
"She was giving opinions on issues that she has no personal knowledge of," Scarry said.
After Hanna's death, the city hired Robert Johnson, a former Illinois State Police regional commander, to investigate. The inquiry found that excessive force was used against Hanna, leading to the firing of Officer Brandon Yost and the 30-day suspension of Officer Arthur Strong.
Smith, the city attorney, said Johnson has finished his investigation of several other brutality allegations, but the city has not released the results.
Smith said Yost and Bogdala are both challenging their firings through the Fraternal Order of Police union.
Mayor Leon Rockingham could not be reached for comment. Some city officials, along with theRev. Jesse Jackson, have asked theU.S. Department of Justiceto investigate the allegations against police.
A man who died in the custody of Clayton Sheriff's deputies had attacked a judge in court before he was injured, a video leaked.
The video footage shows Kevin Guerrier run from the defendant's table and toward the bench of Clayton County Magistrate Court Judge Richard on April 6. Guerrier later succumbed to an injury that was believed to have left him comatose and eventually to have killed him.
Two deputies are on administrative leave while the GBI and the sheriff's office investigate Guerrier's death. The man's family, through their attorneys, are demanding answers.
"Clearly, the conduct in the courtroom was inappropriate," attorney Robert Bozeman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "But it was not cause for the death penalty."
Following the courthouse incident, the 25-year-old Guerrier began having seizures and was taken to Southern Regional Hospital in Riverdale. There, hospital staff later told Sheriff Kem Kimbrough that Guerrier was "brain dead." Guerrier died on April 16.
Guerrier was before Judge Brown on April 6 for failing to pay $750 in child support, according to court officials. While in court that day, he was issued a temporary protective order, forbidding him from contacting the child's mother in any way.
The video footage shows him running from the defendant's table and toward the judge's bench, where he was intercepted by a pair of deputies who tackled him to the ground. The deputies then handcuffed Guerrier and carried the still-struggling man into an adjacent holding room.
As one deputy emerged back to the courtroom, the door to the holding room flew open, and the deputy ran back into the holding room. Later, the deputy re-emerged, and nothing unusual happened from that point until the end of the video.
A man died in police custody after being Tasered over the weekend. Now, the victim’'s family is looking for answers. At this point police can't say what caused the 29-year-old father of two to die late Saturday.
Wall and Huntington join the family of a beaten, mentally impaired and mentally ill man, in demanding change in the way the mentally ill are treated while in custody.
Last Nov. I was standing on the bus stop on the 7700 block of South shore Drive on the south eastside of Chicago, with my younger brother when an unmarked police suv pulled up while my back was turned hopped out an pushed me to a gate to search me and my brother. When they found out we didnt have anything i asked why was i being frisked and handled very violently he replied "Because you are a NIGGA with DREADS". He then kept me and my brother detained to further harrass me and called me names until he was satisfied or so i thought... As i was walking away after he made me find another bus stop to wait on cause i told him i was aware of my rights and he was violating them, he then chased me down grabbed me by my neck threw my head into a black metal bar gate picked me up and started puching me in my face then put the hand cuffs on me and began punching me agin until he threw me in the car. While on the way to the station he began taunting me calling me a smart NIGGA.. "Who are u Malcolm X u going stand up for your rights"? My charge was resisting arrest now almost a year later the same officer, officer ALDO BROWN from the 5th District is at it again but this time its my lilttle brother who was at work when this happened u be the judge dose this look like resisting arrest to u???? I NEED EVERY BLACK MALE AND FEMALE TO STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS POLICE BRUTALITY IS WRONG!!!!!!!!
NORTH CHICAGO — New photos of the bloodied, bloated and deformed face of Darrin “Dagwood” Hanna, shown during this week’s meeting of the North Chicago City Council, caused some in attendance to yell “murder” and jeer official findings that police used reasonable force in Hanna’s Nov. 6 arrest.
The photos, obtained by Hanna family attorneys under a Freedom of Information Act request, were taken by arresting North Chicago police officers inside Hanna’s apartment shortly before he was carried to an ambulance.
They show severe wounds to Hanna’s head and numerous marks, likely inflicted by a Taser, to his back. Hanna died at Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan a week after his arrest for the alleged battery of his pregnant girlfriend.
Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Waller, in a review of findings in a four-month long investigation into the incident by the Illinois State Police Integrity Unit, as well as an autopsy and pathology reports undertaken by the Lake County Coroner’s office, declared March 20 that “police utilized reasonable force” in subduing and arresting Hanna, 45.
But attorneys for the Hanna family, who filed a federal wrongful death suit in December, point to discrepancies in police statements and question other aspects of the 300-plus page ISP investigative report, obtained by the Lake County News-Sun through a FOIA request.
Police narratives in the report assert that injuries to Hanna’s face are the result of two “quick, closed-fist strikes” by Officer Brandon Yost and, perhaps, from hitting a wood floor after a tackle by Officer Tristin Borzick.
“What these photos show doesn’t happen from two punches or a face hitting the ground,” said Attorney Kevin O’Connor, who hopes to prove that police beat Hanna after he was handcuffed.
“There is no way two hits could swell both eyes, bust a forehead, a nose and tear into a mouth,” O’Connor said. “Nobody reports striking him in the back. But we counted at least 15 marks on him. An officer beat him with a baton to the legs, in addition to him being Tasered.”
The ISP report also fails to accurately detail, O’Connor said, the extensive dry Tasering done to Hanna. In a dry Taser, the implement is held directly against the skin. Officer Gary Grayer admits to applying the Taser only twice, apparently because he didn’t believe it was working properly.
The Taser might have provided video evidence of its use, had its battery not been removed. According to the ISP report, no one at the NCPD knew how to retrieve the video from the Taser, so a representative from the company was summoned. The expert told investigators that “the battery had been removed from the Taser for a period of time” causing a “corruption” of data including dates, times and discharge statistics for accompanying videos.
O’Connor said the Taser taken into evidence contained 360 videos, none of them of the Hanna arrest.
According to the ISP report, Hanna lunged at Borzick after he was confronted by arresting officers inside his dark apartment. Officers report that Hanna, his fists clenched, yelling “Shoot me, shoot me,” appeared on the heels of his girlfriend, Dionne Wilcox, who ran screaming and naked from the couple’s bedroom. Immediately tackled by Borzick, according to arresting officers, Hanna resisted handcuffing.
An official autopsy found Hanna died from a combination of sickle cell crisis, kidney problems, uncontrolled high blood pressure, cocaine abuse, and physical and Taser restraint.
The city of North Chicago is conducting its own internal investigation of Hanna’s arrest. Both Interim Police Chief James Jackson and special investigator Robert Johnson, a retired State Police lieutenant colonel, will decide if the seven officers involved in the incident complied with department policy and procedure.
This photo of Darrin Hanna was taken after North Chicago police used a stun gun on him during a struggle on Nov. 6, 2011. Hanna died about a week later.
'Put me down, please, I was down,' suspect is heard yelling on tape
The 2011 beating death of a 45-year-old man in North Chicago, Ill. was reclassified as a homicide Tuesday, the latest development in an emotional case that has drawn the ire of community members who say they are still waiting for justice to prevail amid allegations of police brutality.
The reclassification in the case of Darrin Hanna's death by Dr. Thomas Rudd, the new Lake County Coroner, differs from last year's ruling of Artis Yancey, the county's previous coroner, that the cause of Hanna's death was "undetermined," NBC Chicago reports.
Still, Rudd has been careful to note that his ruling in Hanna's death does not imply criminal intent on the part of the police officers who, on Nov. 6, 2011, responded to a report of domestic battery and, after a struggle that included multiple discharges of a stun gun and left the 45-year-old with injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, detained Hanna.
Hanna, who suffered from sickle cell anemia, had been accused of striking his pregnant girlfriend and attempting to drown her in a bathtub. He died several days after his arrest.
"Homicide occurs when a person’s death results from a volitional act committed by another person to cause fear, harm, or death," Rudd told CBS Chicago, clarifying his assessment. "Intent to cause death is a common element, but is not required for classification as a homicide."
Two of the seven North Chicago officers suspected of being involved in Hanna's beating death previously faced disciplinary action, one of them -- Brandon Yost -- was immediately discharged from his post in April, while the other -- Arthur Strong -- was suspended for 30 days without pay. Police Chief Michael Newsome was also suspended and then resigned following the brutality scandal.
No criminal charges have been filed against any officers involved in the incident -- and that is not expected to change following Tuesday's homicide reclassification.
Nevertheless, the Tuesday development has reignited the hopes of family and supporters of Hanna in a pending civil rights lawsuit filed by Hanna's family against the city. Hanna's family engaged in a heated exchange with the attorney representing the seven officers named in the lawsuit outside the North Chicago City Council chambers Tuesday (watch the exchange embedded above).
"We've been saying it was homicide since 2011. Here it is 2013 and they're just now realizing it," Hanna's cousin Ralph Peterson told the Tribune.
In a Tuesday statement, North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. noted that he respectfully disagreed with Rudd's findings and reiterated that the city will not be changing its position on the case, ABC Chicago reports.
Last spring, audio recordings, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, went public that showed Hanna begging for his life and shouting "They're killing me" during the struggle with police. The tape was not included in original police reports on the incident.
April 10, 2012 | By Robert McCoppin and Susan Berger, Chicago Tribune
An audio recording, apparently captured during a violent encounter between North Chicago police and a man who later died, renewed controversy over the case Monday when the tape was played during a City Council meeting.
The quality of the tape is poor but the subject of the arrest, Darrin Hanna, is seemingly heard yelling, "Put me down, please, I was down," after an officer is heard telling him in a calm, even voice: "You are OK. You're safe. Relax. Calm down."
Hanna, 45, died a week after the early November encounter, in which officers tackled, punched and Tasered Hanna while trying to subdue him after reports that he was beating a pregnant woman, according to a state police inquiry. His death prompted a spate of other brutality claims against the city, a lawsuit by Hanna's family and the departure of the police chief, though county authorities determined there were no grounds to press criminal charges against the six officers involved.
As they have since his death, though, relatives of Hanna and other critics of the Police Department crowded into the council chambers Monday night and continued their call for disciplinary action against the involved officers, who have been on desk duty since the incident. Just before the meeting Monday, Hanna's mother, Gloria Carr, began wailing and crumpled to the floor, where she was assisted by paramedics. She complained that she had been harassed and that her home was egged, and Mayor Leon Rockingham said he would increase patrols around her home.
The audio recording was not released along with the state police report, but Muriel Collison, an attorney for Hanna's relatives, said it was released to them through a Freedom of Information request. Rockingham confirmed the tape's authenticity, though it's unclear whether it was edited or exactly when during the arrest it was recorded, apparently by an officer's radio. It was played at the City Council meeting by a cousin of Hanna, Ralph Peterson, who asserted the city had tried to cover up the contents of the tape.
City officials did not address the content of the tape Monday evening. But Rockingham pleaded for patience, saying the city needs more time to complete its internal investigation. And he said the city has not ruled out dismissal as a possible consequence.
"I told you I would do everything and review every policy," the mayor said. "It comes from our chief regarding discipline or dismissal, and we are in the process of completing our investigation."
Carr, Hanna's mother, was apparently overcome after seeing newly revealed photos, apparently taken of an unconscious Hanna before he was taken to the hospital following the encounter with police. They show him on the ground, his head bleeding, bruised and swollen. The photographs were shown at an earlier City Council meeting and passed around again Monday by Peterson, who asserted they cast doubt over authority's determination of what happened to Hanna.
According to the state police, the North Chicago officers said Hanna charged them with fists clenched yelling, "Shoot me!" They said one officer tackled him head-first to the wooden floor, and when he continued to resist, one officer punched him twice in the face, and other officers hit him repeatedly with batons on the back of his legs and tried to shock him twice with a Taser, before subduing and handcuffing him.
Hanna died from multiple causes, according to the Lake County coroner's autopsy, which blamed chronic cocaine use and sickle cell disease along with police restraint and trauma.
Kevin O'Connor, another attorney for the Hanna family, argued that the tapes show police had subdued Hanna within 12 seconds, that he was compliant, not combative, and coherent but terrified. Yet by the time an ambulance took him away, he was beaten almost unconscious, and was mumbling incoherently, according to the state report.
In contrast to officers' description of Hanna as an out-of-control aggressor, O'Connor said, the tape suggests the officers were in control while Hanna was begging for his life.
"This is the smoking gun that was never talked about by the state's attorney or state police," O'Connor said. "It's the complete opposite of what they reported. And nobody analyzed it because nobody wanted to analyze it."
The autopsy describes six wounds on his face, yet police describe only the fall to the floor and two punches.
The autopsy also describes 11 Taser marks on Hanna's back, yet the officers mention only two or three attempts to Taser him without apparent effect.
Peterson also and announced plans for a protest march to the North Chicago Police Station and City Hall on April 21.
Newly-uncovered audio recordings show that a suburban Chicago man who died after a physical altercation with police was begging for his life during the struggle.
A group of North Chicago, Ill. residents have been clashing with local police over the death of Darrin Hanna, 35, whose case community members say represents the most severe in a long series of excessive police force in their area.
Hanna's relatives played police-recorded audio they obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request for city council members Monday, CBS Chicago reports. In the recording, Hanna can be heard pleading for his life. "They're killing me," Hanna can be heard shouting in the tape, which was not included in original police reports on the incident.
Police officers were responding to a report of domestic battery last November and detained Hanna, who had been accused of striking his pregnant girlfriend, according to ABC. Hanna struggled with police, sustaining injuries consistent with blunt force trauma and multiple discharges of a stun gun, and died several days later.
Hanna's death was officially attributed to several factors, including physical trauma and restraint and cocaine use that exacerbated his existing sickle cell anemia, according to the Chicago Tribune. But Carr's family says police officers involved should be held responsible.
Hanna's mother, Gloria Carr, became hysterical when new photos of Hanna's face shortly before his death were displayed at Monday's meeting.
(See footage from the meeting above.)
Council members did not formally respond to the new evidence Monday, and an internal investigation into the alleged police brutality is ongoing.
North Chicago community members campaigning for more accountability in the Hanna case are planning a protest at the North Chicago Police Station April 21.
Before you watch these videos you need to know what went down before the camera rolled: This teenage girl was unruly, loud, and having words with a woman and being disruptive on 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. When the police arrived she ran and got one block away with two officers in pursuit. They caught up to her and dropped her on the sidewalk. The two officers jumped on her, kicked her, cuffed her, smashed her face into the sidewalk, dragged her up and lifted the cuffs behind her back as to put pressure on her shoulders, her pants were falling down and they raced her back to the police car. She was crying and screaming the whole time. When back at the police car the two officers put her in the car and then pulled her out- this is when we began filming. As you watch note how many police officers, cars arrive. Note the tone of the officers as they speak to the young girls who arrive on the scene, note the panicky energy as they tell us to move back (they have a teenage girl cuffed on the ground, not a hulking brute) and you can see the non-"courtesy professionalism and respect", note the woman with a little dog in her hand instigating the young girls who are upset at seeing a peer in pain, this woman who is doing nothing but trying to rile up the crowd... A few others showed up with cameras and that made the police very aware and agitated. WHY WHEN SHE WAS IN THE CAR DID THEY NOT DRIVE HER TO THE PRECINCT TO DIFFUSE THE SITUATION OR EVEN AROUND THE CORNER? WHY DID 20PLUS OFFICERS SHOW UP FOR A TEENAGE UNRULY GIRL? WHY DID THEY KICK HER AND TREAT HER LIKE AN ANIMAL?
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