Before Secret Video Was Revealed, This Was The Official Police Statement on Walter Scott Murder:

[kpete]

:large
http://www.abcnews4.com/story/28725562/coroner-identifies-man-shot-killed-by-north-charleston-police-officer
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-is-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html?_r=0
VIDEO quite disturbing:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/07/officer-michael-slager-shoots-man-in-back-video_n_7021134.html

[First Speaker]

1. Nothing the police say can be regarded as trustworthy anymore...

...my God. How long can we continue as a functioning society if this goes on?

[Moostache]

33. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

It is literally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves?", found in the work of the Roman poet Juvenal from his Satires (Satire VI, lines 347–8).

Who indeed?

[riqster]

75. Shows how long this sort of thing has been going on.

[Deny and Shred]

79. The same idea is found in Machiavelli's "The Discourses"

It completely undermines Plato.

NM believed that for a Republic, it takes robust, even riotous political action for the interests of the people to be heard. This in turn promotes keeping corruption in check. We the People could use a couple Tribunes these days.

[RoccoR5955]

83. When the hell could it? They ALWAYS lie under oath too

Here's a link to an editorial in the NY TIMES: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/why-police-officers-lie-under-oath.html?_r=0
One of the dirty little not-so-secret secrets of the criminal justice system is undercover narcotics officers intentionally lying under oath. It is a perversion of the American justice system that strikes directly at the rule of law. Yet it is the routine way of doing business in courtrooms everywhere in America.”Feb 2, 2013

And this is not just for drug offenders. The word of the police seems to hold more clout in court than that of a normal person. I don't understand why this should be, as the police want to arrest more people and see them in jail to justify their jobs. If there is no crime, then we need fewer or no police. So they have made a long time habit of lying, even under oath. So I am not surprised when they do this sort of stuff.

[tabasco]

2. Police routinely lie in court

Our quasi-police state/oligarchy is rotten to the core and getting more rotten every day.

[GoneFishin]

3. Same bullshit line from Ferguson. It's a good thing there is clear video this time.

[joshcryer]

18. Yep.

Similar scenario as well. Guy yards away without being a threat at all.

[Stuart G]

34. This clear video will shock everyone.

It even has the cop throwing down something.

So honest vs the cop's lies.
So clear. so obvious.
The video could (I am saying it could)...really alter this discussion for ever...

Maybe something good could come out of this...

It is so very sad..

[bl968]

56. He was modifying the evidence to fit his upcoming statement

He picked up the taser from where the guy knocked it out of his hands before he ran and moved it over to the body. There should be added charges of tampering with evidence, and making false statements added.

The mayor said that the case could have ended differently if it weren’t for the footage. But Summey said he couldn’t speculate about what would have happened. “Without the video ... it would be difficult for us to ascertain exactly what did occur,” Summey said. “We want to thank the young person who came forward ... because it has helped us resolve the issue.”

So if the man had not videoed the Officer, he might have gotten away with murder... This was the initial report of the incident before the police knew of the existence of the bystander video....

"A statement released by North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said a man ran on foot from the traffic stop and an officer deployed his department-issued Taser in an attempt to stop him.

That did not work, police said, and an altercation ensued as the men struggled over the device. Police allege that during the struggle the man gained control of the Taser and attempted to use it against the officer.

The officer then resorted to his service weapon and shot him, police alleged."

Which as you can see from the video isn't what happened at all.

[mythology]

72. I don't understand how the cop thought he was going to make

The evidence fit, what with all the bullets being fired into the victim's back.

I imagine it's pretty hard to fire a tazer facing away from the target.

[Journeyman]

4. Kinda throws into question every testimony this officer's ever made under oath in court. . .

He can't rightly recall if the suspect from an incident the day before was facing towards him or away, or if he was moving towards the officer or away.

I'm certain he'll have difficulties as well explaining how he fired his service revolver into the face of a man "scuffling" with him yet struck that man 8 times in the back without leaving any close-quarters gun residue.

If I was sitting in a cell because of this clod's testimony, I'd be on the phone with my attorney first chance I got.

[Rex]

13. Me too!

How may innocent people did this asshole put away, just as if it was business as usual? How many did he plant in the ground, then call it self-defense?

[valerief]

15. Also throws into question the myth of the "good" cop. If they all cover for each other and

so many behave like this one, what is "good?"

[RealityAdvocate]

21. They arrested him.

[valerief]

24. And then they'll let him off. It's how it works. nt

[workinclasszero]

55. Yeah thats what worries me. /nt

[tkmorris]

26. Yeah, after the video came out

[RealityAdvocate]

31. Clear and compelling evidence does tend to speed up an investigation.

This would have been a good case study to see what the charging decision would have been and THEN release the video.

[tkmorris]

40. I think we both know what the decision would have been

[libdem4life]

28. Only After the video surfaced. Oopsie.

[frylock]

81. did they arrest the officer that watched him plant that drop piece?

[RealityAdvocate]

84. Watch the whole video he set it down and picked it back up.

The black officer likely called him on it.

[Dragonfli]

22. Easy, all the "good" ones get away with it.

We have a great many "good" cops

[zentrum]

17. Really good point n/t

[Logical]

5. Without this video this is another cop getting away with murder. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. Video would have been confiscated and erased if the cop knew it existed

[Logical]

8. Yep, in a minute. He was praying that the video started after the shooting I bet. nt

[Lochloosa]

9. ^^^tHIS^^^

[Rex]

11. Another cop, being the key words here.

AND there would be a million people defending the cop on the internet/media doing their best to do damage control for a murderer!

[Logical]

12. Yep, telling us how dangerous of a job it is. When it really isn't. nt

[Rex]

14. Seems that the only thing dangerous about it, is getting caught red handed by a cell phone. nt

nt

[Logical]

16. Yep! nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

63. One of the things we have looked at is crime rates

I probably should do more if it bleeds it leads, (Trust me, it is click bait) but... ever wondered why it feels like the media is telling you it is extremely dangerous out there, but your personal experience (outside very specific neighborhoods) says otherwise? It is because crime rates are as low as they were in the early 1970s, in a few cases as low as the late 1960s.

The job of police is still dangerous... but not for the reasons they like to speak off. While a police officer has a higher chance of getting assaulted on the job than you or me, actually higher than EMS which also gets assaulted regularly, but you rarely hear of it, it is nowhere where it used to be. Most officer injuries and deaths these days come from... drum roll... car accidents and NOT wearing a seat belt, or other silly reasons, or bad health. I could go on.

The deaths in the line of duty due to getting shot... have also gone down at the same rate as the crime rate. Crime (and officer injuries and deaths) peaked at the same time, 1992.

Here, for some of the research we did on this

http://reportingsandiego.com/2014/11/18/crime-rates-in-the-united-states/

And an even more detailed look at one jurisdiction, San Diego

http://reportingsandiego.com/2015/02/26/crime-drops-in-san-diego/

A lot of assumptions start to peel off once you actually start to look at this crap in detail.

here is data, enjoy, with this critical point buried, should be lead

Based on established incidence rates, law enforcement officers sustain approximately 106,950 injuries per year, only 15,000 to 16,000 of which are attributable to assault (U.S. Department of Labor, 2011).

https://webapps.icma.org/pm/9502/public/cover.cfm?title=The%20Necessary%20Truths%20about%20Police%20Safety%20&subtitle=Insights%20into%20developing%20a%20culture%20of%20safety%20and%20wellness&author=Darrel%20Stephens%20and%20Leonard%20Matarese

Some data from EMS

Between 1992 and 1997, the study finds 114 EMTs and paramedics were killed on the job, more than half of them in
ambulance crashes. That's an estimated 12.7 fatalities per 100,000 EMS workers, making it close to the death rates for police (14.2) and firefighters (16.5) in the same time period, the study says. And it's more than twice the national average for all workers (5.0).

"The profession is much more dangerous than most people realized," says Brian Maguire, MSA, EMT-P, chief researcher
and study author. "I don't think people know this is almost as dangerous as firefighting or police work." He says even
EMTs and paramedics who respond to emergencies every day don't realize the toll their job could take.

http://www.emsedsem.org/Prior%20Articles/EMS_Fatalities%20from%20JEMS.pdf

Just needed to find it (again) and I removed my collection of links to the external drive.

Final, final edit, for clarity.

[drray23]

35. i am sure there still will be

People who will say it was justified because he did not obey the officer. I am surprised we have not gotten one of those posts yet. Its probably already the narrative on RW blogs.

[leveymg]

76. This clearly implicates the second officer as an accomplice to murder after the fact.

The other cop didn't own up to what he saw - if nothing else, he saw the shooter moving the taser closer to the body.

Do cops have classes where they learn to cover up, tamper with evidence, and falsify reports - or are they just scared to break the code of silence?

[Logical]

80. They want to cover other cops asses so the next cop covers theirs. Like you said, code of silence. n

[frylock]

82. paying it forward

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. omg

[Rex]

10. His service weapon? Yes, make sure the firearm even sounds patriotic.

Yes yes...I know that is what they call it, but STILL. Another MURDER by a white cop, except this time the cop fucked up...he did not arrest and take away the cell phone of the person recording.

My question is who are these witnesses? Are they the same kind that made sure Wilson stayed a free man?

I hope this sends shockwaves around the country. It is high time the PTB get with the program.

[joshcryer]

23. Crony prosecutor got Wilson off.

Witnesses are a mixed bag, some are good, some are bad. The prosecutor made no effort to make a proper case. The literally crazy people (woman who made up a fake journal) would've never been used.

[Rex]

29. If only there would have been cell phone coverage of the incident.

True, that was a different. Still, it does make ya wonder just how deep down the rabbit hole some of these PDs go in protecting cops that do these things.

And I read that some places want to ban people from recording cops in public!

YIKES.

[Faryn Balyncd]

62. Needs to be revised to "his murder weapon"

[jtuck004]

19. Citizens are arrested for lying to the police. Until we start charging and arresting the police for

lying to the citizens, this is just a plantation.

[truebrit71]

45. ^^^This^^^

n/t

[Downwinder]

48. If they don't have a body cam video, throw them out of court.

[erronis]

20. Cell phone camera images need to be automatically fed to the internet

If your cell phone takes a video it is normally stored on your phone until you decide to upload it (at least I think that's the case.)

I'd like to propose a simple app that samples the video images that your are recording and uploads those sampled images to a personal website such as most of us have. It doesn't have to be any more than one frame every 2-3 seconds so the bandwidth would not be an issue.

If this were in place, the cops might confiscate your phone and beat it into a mash of wires and silicon but enough of the imagery would be available (and probably the cops' actions) on the internet to seriously harm their consistent defense - "I was threatened", etc.

[RealityAdvocate]

27. This is already a thing.

[drray23]

36. already exist.

In fact this is what the ferguson protesters were using with cameras. It also allowed them to live stream.

[tkmorris]

39. There are apps that do exactly that

I have 3 on my phone right now.

[Sienna86]

50. Is there an app where one could say "start recording"

I'd be fumbling for my glasses, looking for he right app, etc.

[tkmorris]

52. Yes there is

[libdem4life]

25. A coroner knows if a person was shot at close range, i.e in a scuffle, or in the back and

many feet away. There was a case, even without the video...how do you justify 8 shots in the back at long range and the coroner says nothing?

[bonniebgood]

32. libdem4life this is however, South Carolina. it has many coroners ready to

cover for this murderer.

[libdem4life]

38. Well, now they, too, must fear the potential of the lowly cell phone. It will change.

Technology will ultimately win this. Body and dash cams...mandatory. Just one less civil rights ruling will pay for the cameras. The public should demand it. Public surveillance video we old Boomers would have called Big Brother...bring it on.

[L0oniX]

30. *

[Stuart G]

37. Thank You for posting this information..

This is extremely important to see what the cop says happened.

[beam me up scottie]

41. "Police reports say that officers performed CPR and delivered first aid to Mr. Scott."

When?

I didn't see them trying to help him at all.

[Mariana]

64. Maybe he did perform CPR and delivered first aid

after he was sure Mr. Scott was dead.

[beam me up scottie]

69. Or after he realized he was being filmed.

I wonder how many other murders have been covered up because there was no video.

"If you make a bad decision"???

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

42. This IS very disturbing

I really hate to think about a jury in that neck of the woods not returning a guilty verdict if this goes to trial.

[Vattel]

43. Looks like a murderer is gonna get his just deserts.

[Pisces]

44. The police are the new KKK. It's absolutely insane how much this is happening and caught on tape.

The should fire anyone who has drawn their weapon and start over. I hear there is still high unemployment. I'm sure
a lot of people would love a government job with a pension.

[Jesus Malverde]

46. I couldn't see any reference to the camera man but he was incredibly brave to capture this...nt

[Sienna86]

49. I hope I would have the presence of mind to video something similar

And the dexterity to make the phone work in a timely manner.

[SummerSnow]

47. yes...

[deurbano]

51. Another pointless tragedy.

Thank god for the video. At least there is a chance of some justice. Total lying sacks.

[Bonobo]

61. Tragedy is too generous of a word. It didn't just "happen".

It was a murder. A callous murder.

[IHateTheGOP]

53. Cops are out of control

America breaks my heart.

[workinclasszero]

54. If the camera would not have been there

it would've been just another run of the mill assaulting a police offer/self-defense kinda thing.

How many people especially Black males have been murdered like this over the years?

Thousands and thousands and thousands?

Of course a jury still can let this killer with a badge off scott free like the NYC cops that murdered the guy on the street for selling cigarettes in full view of cameras.

[leveymg]

57. The cop would have shot the person filming this with the same indifference

Clear case of cold blooded murder. Would have killed again.

There are many more out there like this.

[Historic NY]

58. The other officer watched him drop the taser & says nothing....

shooting officer had to drop the taser and unholster his handgun to shoot.

[Ineeda]

71. I wonder what that second officer's report says.

I'm guessing it corroborates the 'official' story. That blue line is consistent. The report would have been submitted almost immediately, giving no time to alter it to reflect the actual event. The second officer should be charged also if it backs up the lie.

[Kablooie]

59. When I was a juror I used to assume the police were basically telling the truth.

If I do jury duty today I think I would tend to discount the police testimony as a lie unless there was compelling evidence.

I now know that finding a weapon that corroborates the police story is not compelling at all.

[lumberjack_jeff]

60. I've always been against the death penalty. This is the exception. n/t

[lostnfound]

65. Professional skills of reporters and integrity of police PR departments.. Also should be scrutinized

Because of the video, we know that the cop is guilty of murder. Lots of attention will hopefully be given to the cop's actions, as it should be.
But While we are at it, let's also pay attention to the sloppy reporting and unspoken biases that arise in reporting on police shootings; and to the outright lies propagated not only by the cop himself but by the police department spokesmen everywhere.
The article says that "Police and witnesses say Scott tried to run from Slager before turning to fight for the officer's Taser." What witnesses? Why does the article present that as a fact, without actual witnesses to whom the reporter has personally spoken? The article says, "the shooting unfolded.." Why does language get so weirdly passive when the cop is the shooter, while active language would be used for shootings by anyone else? Police department spokespeople routinely describe events based solely on the officer's version of events, and thereby allow the shooter to provide "corroboration" for his own story.

The "spokesman" and the reporters (who by necessity depend on those same spokespeople for information on routine crime stories) create a perception of fact or objectivity, when in reality, the story should have stated "officer so-and-so claims.." Or "officer so-and-so says..." Police departments who release such routine statements ought to have a degree of professionalism and integrity in their work..but they don't. They need to be held accountable for the lack of self-policing and lack of critical oversight of their own cops.

In the book "Manufacturing Consent" by Noam Chomsky and Edward Hermann, the authors describe how hidden biases embedded in news media structures make defending the status quo and "worthy institutions&quot relatively easy (requiring little or no burden of proof) while story lines that run counter to the status quo or challenge "worthy institutions" require very high burdens of proof.

[Bonobo]

66. +1 nt

[Phentex]

68. Good point!

there's more than just bad police work going on here.

[robinlynne]

67. good catch.

[samsingh]

70. blatant lies from the org that is supposed to protect the law

[myrna minx]

73. K&R- until I saw the full video on Lawrence and not just clips, I didn't realize how

Exposed the cameraman was and didn't realize the extent of his bravery. He's a hero.

[stevenleser]

74. Retch-worthy, and hauntingly familiar.

[Octafish]

77. Official Reality

Different from Reality.

[CincyDem]

78. Videos get trials but they haven't led to any indictments/guilty verdicts.

Who you gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?

Good to see the first glimmer of hope but until we start seeing cops like this held accountable, it's just another Eric Garner story waiting to happen.

Let's see if it gets to a jury, what they have to say about it.