Cops Don't Want To Be Caught Doing Something Bad--They Turn Off Cameras.

LAPD Officers Tamper With Recording Devices To Conceal On-Duty Activities

April 10, 2014 by Ben Bullard 

 

THINKSTOCK

An internal inspection at the Los Angeles Police Department has revealed an unknown number of patrol officers tampered with the communications and geolocation equipment on dozens of patrol vehicles in order to conceal the officers’ whereabouts and activities while on patrol.

According to the Los Angeles Times, an internal LAPD investigation found that antennas had been removed from nearly half of all the patrol cars in one South Los Angeles division, making it impossible for those units to record officers’ actions and speech while on duty.

Most of the transgressions emanate from the area of LAPD coverage that encompasses Watts and other neighborhoods in South Los Angeles, where tensions between residents and the police department have remained high. Out of a total of 160 antennas installed in cruisers that patrol that division, 72 had been removed, along with an additional 20 from other divisions.

LAPD leadership knew about the ongoing corruption before the most recent investigation, according to the Times, but elected to address it through memos and blanket security checks rather than pursue individual officers responsible for compromising their vehicles:

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and other top officials learned of the problem last summer but chose not to investigate which officers were responsible. Rather, the officials issued warnings against continued meddling and put checks in place to account for antennas at the start and end of each patrol shift.

Members of the Police Commission, which oversees the department, were not briefed about the problem until months later.

Cameras in the patrol cruisers are designed to switch on automatically whenever a cruiser’s emergency lights are activated, and can also be activated manually at other times. They record video of events that transpire in front of the vehicle; the officers also carry microphones and wireless transmitters that record audio from distances “hundreds of yards away from the car,” according to the Times.

“On an issue like this, we need to be brought in right away,” said Steve Soboroff, president of the Los Angeles Police Commission — the board of officials charged with oversight of the LAPD. “This equipment is for the protection of the public and of the officers. To have people who don’t like the rules to take it upon themselves to do something like this is very troubling.”

Police Chief Charlie Beck told the Times his department had not intentionally withheld information about the tampering from the police commission. The LAPD is only a year removed from an ongoing arrangement with the U.S. Department of Justice in which a Federal court had authorized the DOJ to monitor the department’s practices.

“The [Federal] judge agreed to lift the oversight, in part, after city and police leaders made assurances that the LAPD had adequate safeguards, such as the cameras, in place to monitor itself,” reported the Times.

Travesty--No Justice For LA Police or Benghazi Victims

Can you imagine having your truck shot up by out-of-control cops when you were completely innocent? To make things worse, the cops break promises to replace your truck by offering a used one? The coupe d' grace occurs when the cops offer you a new truck with the caveat that you must pay the taxes on it!  This is the situation two women in Los Angeles are facing.

As this situation clearly illustrates, government cares not about the citizens but rather about the perpetuation of itself. We can see this attitude not only in LA but also with our President and his Administration. It is for this reason that we get no explanation of the tragedy in Benghazi, for example.  Don't we as citizens have the right to know why our Ambassador and three others were killed? Shouldn't we know why our President did not send support to these beleaguered citizens? Why did the President go to sleep knowing that the Consulate was under attack--should we not know?

Instead, our government acts like we are 5 year olds and cannot handle the truth. Mrs. Clinton tells Congress that it doesn't matter what happened, we have four dead people. Wrong, we do need to know and it is their responsibility as our "employees" to investigate and to make changes that it never happens again.

The only answer is that there is a cover-up and as long as they can keep us away from learning the truth, the better. However in Benghazi and LA, we know the truth, people in charge screwed up and will not take the blame. They refuse to be adults and face the music.  It is time that we bring those who made the mistakes to take responsibility  for their misdeeds.

Conservative Tom

LA Women Must Pay Taxes For Getting Shot Up By Cops

March 14, 2013 by Sam Rolley 

SPECIAL

During the manhunt for Christopher Dorner, Los Angeles police officers shot two women in this Toyota Tacoma.

Recent headlines following up on some of the events tied to ex-Los Angeles cop Christopher Dorner’s revenge-murder rampage last month demonstrate the particularly disturbing willingness of the state to trample innocent citizens whenever it feels it is threatened.

While Los Angeles police officers were on their trigger-happy hunt for Dorner, it seems everyone in the City of Angels started looking a bit like a 6-foot, 270-pound black man.

The city became a particularly dangerous place for anyone unfortunate enough to own a pickup that looked anything like Dorner’s 2005 Nissan Titan. Two women delivering newspapers found that out the hard way when, early Feb. 7, LAPD officers riddled their blue Toyota Tacoma with bullets. The officers managed to shoot 71-year-old Emma Hernandez in the back and injure 47-year-old Margie Carranza with shrapnel and bits of flying glass.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck categorized the shooting as “a tragic misinterpretation” by officers working under “incredible tension” hours after Dorner allegedly shot police officers.

Of course, Carranza and Hernandez were not the only innocents attacked by LAPD officers during the manhunt. The same morning the women were shot, David Perdue, a white man, was on his way to go surfing in a pickup similar to the fugitive’s when a squad car slammed into his vehicle and an officer opened fire. Perdue was not hit.

LA blogger Davey D offered a good assessment of the situation:

TV news stations in LA are warning people not to drive pick up trucks in LA and to obey all traffic laws or rick being shot by police who are all stressed out and tense.. This is happening right now.. Its no exaggeration… I don’t care whats going on, we pay officers to be have professionally under the most stressful situations.. No excuse for this bullshyt

Beck promised the mother and daughter whom his officers shot up that their truck would be replaced regardless of whether they decide to sue the department. But it seems the state wasn’t finished trampling on Hernandez and Carranza after officers of the law recklessly pumped the women’s vehicle and bodies full of lead.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Glenn Jones, an attorney representing the women, says they are still without a vehicle.

“After they shot my clients… this broken promise of a truck donation and the nonsense that followed is a slap in the face,” he said.

According to the attorney, LAPD first attempted to give the women a used truck; when that was refused, they were offered a Ford lacking four-wheel drive to replace their four-wheel-drive Toyota.

The LAPD’s ill-attempted benevolence also comes with stipulations. The women were told they would have to agree not to sell the truck for a period of one year and that the new truck must be considered a gift for tax purposes. That means, not only were the women shot and had property destroyed by one agency doing the bidding of the State but that they also must pay a tax collector for the privilege of being abused.

But, come to think of it, that’s really what we are all forced to do, isn’t it? We pay taxes to cover the salaries of government officials, militarize police departments and provide all of the tools necessary for those in positions of authority to abuse their power.

Perhaps if the women are going to continue having to traverse the streets of LA alongside officers notorious for using excessive and unwarranted force with near impunity, they should request that LAPD upgrade the Tacoma to something with armor and bulletproof glass.