The Washington Post has been doing some of THE BEST reporting on policing, police brutality and killings by police officers. This is a very long read with embedded videos and pictures so I'm only posting part of it. See the link for the full story.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...police-agencies-tighten-control-over-footage/
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a four-part series. Read the first part here.
The emergence of video, whether it’s dash-cam video, security camera video or footage shot with a cellphone, has dramatically altered the power dynamic in police-citizen interactions. In South Carolina, the shootings of Walter Scott and Levar Jones resonated across the state because of powerful video that contradicted police accounts of the incidents and demonstrated to most viewers that the shootings of both men were clearly unjustified.
The sudden widespread availability of video of these and other disputed incidents has also raised questions about the checks that are supposed to hold abusive police officers accountable. In South Carolina, video has shown that local prosecutors can be too quick to believe the police narrative about an incident. In some cases, even video that directly contradicted the officer’s account hasn’t been enough to merit charges or discipline — accountability came only after the video was released to the public, bringing national headlines and public criticism.
The Levar Jones case is a good example. South Carolina state trooper Sean Groubert pulled Jones over on Sept. 4, 2014, for not wearing his seatbelt. In the dash-cam video, Groubert asks Jones for identification. When Jones then reaches into his truck to obtain his license, Groubert opens fire, shooting Jones four times. The damning video resulted in Groubert’s dismissal from the South Carolina Highway Patrol and eventual guilty plea to a felony charge of aggravated assault and battery.
But Groubert’s dismissal and criminal charges came only after the video was released to the public. According to some sources inside the state, Solicitor Dan Johnson initially said the shooting was “clean.” (Johnson, who is black, worked for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department for eight years before he was elected solicitor.) The video changed the narrative.
Video can also demonstrate the futility of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the state police agency that investigates most officer-involved shootings. Critics say it isn’t necessarily the conclusions SLED investigators draw that are problematic, it’s that they often neglect to pursue inconsistencies between video and officer statements. Worse, each time a new video demonstrates one more of these problems, the state’s law enforcement officials seem to tighten their grip on how and when video gets released to the public — or attempt to prevent it from being released at all.
The raid that took the life of Ernest Russell, Jr. is a good example. In October 2011, several officers from a multi-jurisdictional anti-drug task force conducted a no-knock raid on the Darlington home of the 54-year-old. According to the search warrant affidavit filed by Sgt. Clyde Sheppard of the Darlington Police Department, a confidential informant had obtained audio and video recordings of “illegal gambleing [sic] and betting on sports games” inside Russell’s home. Assuming those allegations were true, under South Carolina law, the no-knock raid was over what would have amounted to misdemeanor charges. It ended with Russell lying dead on the floor of his living room.
According to his statement to SLED investigators, Darlington Sheriff’s Office deputy Benjamin Weatherford identified himself as a police officer at least seven times upon entering Russell’s home. Weatherford claimed he told Russell to put his hands up another five times, and instructed Russell to drop his gun at least four times. Between commands, Weatherford also claimed to have seen his informant walk across the room, saw Russell pick up a revolver, saw Russell place the gun on a counter, saw Russell look at him with his hand on the revolver, saw him grasp the revolver again, and then finally saw him raise the gun toward Weatherford. The officer claimed he still then had time to look both look down the barrel of the revolver and see “every hole in the cylinder.” Only then did he decide he’d given Russell enough warnings, and he began shooting. Hartsville Police Department officer Robert McIntyre then started shooting, too. The two officers shot Russell eight times, including in the head, neck, and torso.
Here’s the relevant portion of Weatherford’s statement. It picks up just after McIntyre unsuccessfully attempted to smash open Russell’s back door with a battering ram:
The door did not move at all, as if something was behind it. I then headed to the front door. I opened the screen door and checked the other door. It was open. As I opened the door I yelled “Sheriff’s office search warrant”. As I entered, I pulled out my weapon. I yelled again “Sheriff’s office”. I looked at the CI walking away from the counter to my right. The CI had her hands in the air saying something but I don’t remember what. I told her to get her hands up and then I went on past her. I then saw a subject bending over behind the counter. I yelled several times “let me see your hands, Sheriff’s office, search warrant”. I continued to yell “let me see your hands”, but he would not show me his hands. He then looked up at me. I looked him in the eye and yelled “Sheriff’s office put your hands up”. That’s when I saw a gun in his right hand. It was a silver/rusty color revolver. He then laid the revolver down on the counter and looked at me but never took his hand off of it. I started yelling “put the gun down sheriff’s office”. He then picked it up and he was leaning on his right elbow with the gun pointing towards me. I yelled several more times “drop the gun, drop the gun”. He then looked right at me and raised the gun towards me. I could see down the barrel. I could see every hole in the cylinder. Feeling that my life was in jeopardy, that is when I shot.
But it turns out that the officer behind Weatherford, Hartsville officer John Specht, was wearing a body camera. According to the footage from Specht’s camera, approximately 4.5 seconds passed from the time Weatherford entered the building until he began firing at Russell. Here’s the video:
Watch: Video of police raid on Ernest Russell Jr. (see sourcelink)
Play Video1:06
The footage, taken by Hartsville Police Officer John Specht's body camera, shows the raid that ended with Rusell being shot eight times by Darlington Sheriff's Office Deputy Benjamin Weatherford and Hartsville Police Officer Robert McIntyre. (Robert Phillips)
Immediately after the shooting, Weatherford and McIntyre refused to be interviewed by or give statements to the SLED investigators, as is permitted under South Carolina law. But this means that Weatherford’s improbable narrative wasn’t even given in the heat of the moment. Nor was it given before he was aware of or before he could view the body-camera video. It came five days later, after he had viewed the footage, and after he had consulted with an attorney.
Three policing experts who viewed the video for this series found it alarming. “There are some real problems here,” says Walter Katz, the current independent police auditor in San Jose, Calif. “The video simply isn’t consistent with the officer’s statement.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...police-agencies-tighten-control-over-footage/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...police-agencies-tighten-control-over-footage/
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a four-part series. Read the first part here.
The emergence of video, whether it’s dash-cam video, security camera video or footage shot with a cellphone, has dramatically altered the power dynamic in police-citizen interactions. In South Carolina, the shootings of Walter Scott and Levar Jones resonated across the state because of powerful video that contradicted police accounts of the incidents and demonstrated to most viewers that the shootings of both men were clearly unjustified.
The sudden widespread availability of video of these and other disputed incidents has also raised questions about the checks that are supposed to hold abusive police officers accountable. In South Carolina, video has shown that local prosecutors can be too quick to believe the police narrative about an incident. In some cases, even video that directly contradicted the officer’s account hasn’t been enough to merit charges or discipline — accountability came only after the video was released to the public, bringing national headlines and public criticism.
The Levar Jones case is a good example. South Carolina state trooper Sean Groubert pulled Jones over on Sept. 4, 2014, for not wearing his seatbelt. In the dash-cam video, Groubert asks Jones for identification. When Jones then reaches into his truck to obtain his license, Groubert opens fire, shooting Jones four times. The damning video resulted in Groubert’s dismissal from the South Carolina Highway Patrol and eventual guilty plea to a felony charge of aggravated assault and battery.
But Groubert’s dismissal and criminal charges came only after the video was released to the public. According to some sources inside the state, Solicitor Dan Johnson initially said the shooting was “clean.” (Johnson, who is black, worked for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department for eight years before he was elected solicitor.) The video changed the narrative.
Video can also demonstrate the futility of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the state police agency that investigates most officer-involved shootings. Critics say it isn’t necessarily the conclusions SLED investigators draw that are problematic, it’s that they often neglect to pursue inconsistencies between video and officer statements. Worse, each time a new video demonstrates one more of these problems, the state’s law enforcement officials seem to tighten their grip on how and when video gets released to the public — or attempt to prevent it from being released at all.
The raid that took the life of Ernest Russell, Jr. is a good example. In October 2011, several officers from a multi-jurisdictional anti-drug task force conducted a no-knock raid on the Darlington home of the 54-year-old. According to the search warrant affidavit filed by Sgt. Clyde Sheppard of the Darlington Police Department, a confidential informant had obtained audio and video recordings of “illegal gambleing [sic] and betting on sports games” inside Russell’s home. Assuming those allegations were true, under South Carolina law, the no-knock raid was over what would have amounted to misdemeanor charges. It ended with Russell lying dead on the floor of his living room.
According to his statement to SLED investigators, Darlington Sheriff’s Office deputy Benjamin Weatherford identified himself as a police officer at least seven times upon entering Russell’s home. Weatherford claimed he told Russell to put his hands up another five times, and instructed Russell to drop his gun at least four times. Between commands, Weatherford also claimed to have seen his informant walk across the room, saw Russell pick up a revolver, saw Russell place the gun on a counter, saw Russell look at him with his hand on the revolver, saw him grasp the revolver again, and then finally saw him raise the gun toward Weatherford. The officer claimed he still then had time to look both look down the barrel of the revolver and see “every hole in the cylinder.” Only then did he decide he’d given Russell enough warnings, and he began shooting. Hartsville Police Department officer Robert McIntyre then started shooting, too. The two officers shot Russell eight times, including in the head, neck, and torso.
Here’s the relevant portion of Weatherford’s statement. It picks up just after McIntyre unsuccessfully attempted to smash open Russell’s back door with a battering ram:
The door did not move at all, as if something was behind it. I then headed to the front door. I opened the screen door and checked the other door. It was open. As I opened the door I yelled “Sheriff’s office search warrant”. As I entered, I pulled out my weapon. I yelled again “Sheriff’s office”. I looked at the CI walking away from the counter to my right. The CI had her hands in the air saying something but I don’t remember what. I told her to get her hands up and then I went on past her. I then saw a subject bending over behind the counter. I yelled several times “let me see your hands, Sheriff’s office, search warrant”. I continued to yell “let me see your hands”, but he would not show me his hands. He then looked up at me. I looked him in the eye and yelled “Sheriff’s office put your hands up”. That’s when I saw a gun in his right hand. It was a silver/rusty color revolver. He then laid the revolver down on the counter and looked at me but never took his hand off of it. I started yelling “put the gun down sheriff’s office”. He then picked it up and he was leaning on his right elbow with the gun pointing towards me. I yelled several more times “drop the gun, drop the gun”. He then looked right at me and raised the gun towards me. I could see down the barrel. I could see every hole in the cylinder. Feeling that my life was in jeopardy, that is when I shot.
But it turns out that the officer behind Weatherford, Hartsville officer John Specht, was wearing a body camera. According to the footage from Specht’s camera, approximately 4.5 seconds passed from the time Weatherford entered the building until he began firing at Russell. Here’s the video:
Watch: Video of police raid on Ernest Russell Jr. (see sourcelink)
Play Video1:06
The footage, taken by Hartsville Police Officer John Specht's body camera, shows the raid that ended with Rusell being shot eight times by Darlington Sheriff's Office Deputy Benjamin Weatherford and Hartsville Police Officer Robert McIntyre. (Robert Phillips)
Immediately after the shooting, Weatherford and McIntyre refused to be interviewed by or give statements to the SLED investigators, as is permitted under South Carolina law. But this means that Weatherford’s improbable narrative wasn’t even given in the heat of the moment. Nor was it given before he was aware of or before he could view the body-camera video. It came five days later, after he had viewed the footage, and after he had consulted with an attorney.
Three policing experts who viewed the video for this series found it alarming. “There are some real problems here,” says Walter Katz, the current independent police auditor in San Jose, Calif. “The video simply isn’t consistent with the officer’s statement.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...police-agencies-tighten-control-over-footage/
