police misconduct

Beatings, buried videos a pattern at Louisiana State Police

By Jim Mustian and Jake Bleiberg AP NewsSeptember 14, 2021

The most violent videos languished for years, lost or ignored in a digital vault. Louisiana State Police troopers and top brass alike would often look the other way, even as officers took to official messaging channels to banter about their brutality.In one video, white troopers can be seen slamming a Black man against a police cruiser after finding marijuana in his car, throwing him to the ground and repeatedly punching him — all while he is handcuffed.

News Political

Bill to Ban Police Gangs Headed to Governor’s Desk

Sentinel News ServiceSeptember 14, 2021

Last week, the Legislature overwhelmingly approved Assembly Bill 958, authored by Chair of the Select Committee on Police Reform, Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson). AB 958 seeks to ban police gangs in every law enforcement agency in California and will make an officer’s participation in a police gang grounds for termination.

National News

New Study: Innocent Blacks Seven Times More Likely to be Wrongfully Convicted of Murder Than Innocent Whites

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMediaMarch 4, 2021

The nonprofit legal organization committed to exonerating wrongly convicted individuals also noted that Black people are more likely to be wrongly convicted of murder when the victim is White. Among Black people exonerated of murder convictions, approximately 31 percent were wrongly convicted of killing White people. However, only 15 percent of homicides by Black people involve White victims, the National Registry of Exonerations reported.

National News News (Business)Political

Biden Administration to Appoint Kristen Clarke to Key Civil Rights Post

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National CorrespondentJanuary 21, 2021

Clarke’s appointment adds even more diversity to an incoming administration that has kept its campaign promise to ensure that top staff and cabinet members reflect all of America. “Our first-rate nominees to lead the Justice Department are eminently qualified, embody character and judgment that is beyond reproach, and have devoted their careers to serving the American people with honor and integrity,” Biden said in a statement.

Larry Aubry Op-Ed Opinion

Thirteen Years After Devin Brown, Has LAPD Changed?

Larry AubryNovember 29, 2018

A charade going on at the Los Angeles Police Commission meeting every Tuesday. It goes like this: The public, mostly Black Lives Matter members, are chastised and even arrested for allegedly violating house rules and protocol. The ritual involves the presence of hordes of cops, presumably to “control” boisterous, “irreverent” members of the public. Has the Commission and LAPD changed appreciably over the past decade? No, given continuing police brutality, ongoing refusal to respect the right of the public to be heard, lack of transparency and widespread community distrust, respectively. On January 26, 2007, this column was titled, “Devon Brown