Shared cast members with The Wire

hearings on tasers

In case the name Oscar Grant is unfamiliar to you, he was the victim of a police shooting in the Bay Area, sometimes known as the BART shooting. The shooter, former officer Johannes Mehserle, was arrested on suspicion of murder, which was a reasonable charge to anyone with an internet access and a functional sense of decency. Kevin has video of the incident here, to which I direct you with a strong trigger warning. It is very upsetting to watch.

The prosecution was never able to convince the jury of intent, which is a requirement for convicting a defendant of second-degree murder. The jury's instructions stipulated that second-degree murder occurred if, "When the defendant acted, he had a state of mind called malice aforethought." Malice aforethought was defined for jurors as "a mental state that must be formed before the act that causes death is committed."

Of course, this understates the case a wee bit. Mehserle, along with several others BART cops, had Grant pinned face first on the ground when he very deliberately pulled out his gun and shot Grant in the back. Mehserle's defense is that he meant to pull out his taser but mistakenly pulled out his gun instead. This is, needless to say, pretty hard to accept, and there's little question that there's a jury anywhere in the country that would have bought this story from anyone who wasn't a police officer. You can judge for yourself in the cell phone video taken by a witness (the clearest view starts around the 1:45 mark).

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division will investigate a white former transit officer who was convicted in state court of killing an unarmed black man - a verdict that touched off angry protests and more than 80 arrests in Oakland.

In a move reminiscent of the Rodney King beating case in Los Angeles, the federal government said it intends to investigate Johannes Mehserle, who was found guilty Thursday in state court of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant.

The Root spoke to the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton about what it takes to defuse the ongoing tension between the police and the black community.

Recently, a new study discovered that the most common model of Taser used by police officers are far more hazardous than the company claims, capable of firing dangerous levels of electricity that can raise the risk of heart attack by as much as 50 percent. Shortly after the release of the findings, Canadian police departments pulled Tasers from their forces. ("Police departments in the United States, however, appear to have taken no similar action," reported the Arizona Republic.)

With this verdict, the jury essentially affirmed their belief that Mehserle, while guilty, had made a "mistake".  As someone who has observed juries deliberate, the idea this jury could reach a concensus so quickly in such a complicated case makes me wonder how many of the people sitting in the jury box actually listened to what they heard.

Tracking and reporting on pre-trial, extra-judicial death penalty, because it's 21st century lynching, by another name.

He was just trying to teach the little bastard a lesson by swearing at him and then shooting him full of electricity while he was already on the ground. People have to learn to obey transit police officers unquestioningly and when they curse you out and threaten you out of the blue you have an obligation as a citizen to take whatever they mete out --- including death if they accidentally pick up their torture device instead of their killing device. Shit happens.

Taser International Inc. is no stranger to lawsuits, but it got zapped with a zinger this time. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the Scottsdale, Arizona manufacturer is getting sued in a taser lawsuit by the family of a Las Vegas doctor who died in 2008. A Nevada Highway Patrol officer allegedly tasered him when he got pulled over on his way to work in Interstate 15 which allegedly caused him to turn blue at the scene and die. He was only 33 years old. The lawsuit serves as another example of what some see as a risk of death posed by taser use in certain situations.

Like so many other Oakland residents, I've waited anxiously all week to hear whether justice would be served for Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old black youth who was shot by a BART officer last year. And now our answer's arrived. The verdict for Johannes Mehserle — the officer who shot him — is in: involuntary manslaughter. Crowds are gathering downtown to protest the outcome, and Bob Marley is getting wafted over speakers to try and keep folks calm.

I'll be ducking in and out of the Oscar Grant-shooting trial in Los Angeles as it unfolds over the next few weeks. Yesterday was day four, and it was dominated by testimony from law enforcement training and weapons experts as the prosecution tried to chip away at the idea that Johannes Mehserle's shooting of Grant was an understandable mistake.

After a swift but dramatic three week trial, a Los Angeles jury will likely begin deliberating today in the trial of ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle, who has been charged with murder for shooting the unarmed Oscar Grant in the back on New Year's Day 2009. The jury will now decide whether the shooting was a tragic accident, as Mehserle argues, willful murder or something in between.

Cheryl Contee

The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, formed in 1938, is charged with the responsibility of enforcing traffic laws on state and federal highways. Mississippi's state troopers must be prepared to assist local law enforcement agencies and to respond to statewide emergencies at the request of the governor. The officers of the patrol exemplify the agency's motto of Courtesy, Service and Safety. The mission of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol is to:
Encourage and promote the safe operation of vehicles on Mississippi's state and federal highways;
Enforce traffic laws and other applicable laws in a fair, impartial and courteous manner;
Function as guardians of public safety in a professional capacity;
Assist other law enforcement and criminal justice agencies; and
Enhance the public esteem for law enforcement by precept and example of each member of the department.

America's police force is killing people on a weekly basis with taser guns. There are not many states in the nation who have not been involved in a taser-related death this year. Tasers are now deployed in law enforcement agencies in 29 of the 33 largest U.S. cities.

Jon Burge grew up in a South Side neighborhood not far from the police headquarters where he would make his name, first as a smart detective with a bright future and then as the infamous commander who special prosecutors say tortured suspects.

The city of New Orleans needs money, and corporate sponsors are now lining up for the city's biggest event.

Bitter outrage marked a hearing on police arrests and other law enforcement strategies in the city held on Jan. 5 at the War Memorial Building in downtown Baltimore. A thick mantle of anger weighed heavily on the packed room, woven by tales of police brut

Videotape was rolling March 14 when the 5-year-old girl swung again and again, her bantam punches landing on the outstretched palms of Nicole Dibenedetto, the new assistant principal at Fairmount Park Elementary.

USCCR Report

report does not seem to be on the website

Bureau of Labor and Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook