Loss of Privacy

Minnie Carey, then 61, was with three friends discussing funeral arrangements when police asked her to move. When Minnie asked why, she was arrested, handcuffed, and held by police for nine hours.

“I was blown away,” Carey told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I had heard about people in the community being harassed by the police … It really didn’t shock me as much as it probably would have if I had not heard of people going to jail for no reason. I figured I was just another one.

“But I had the right to ask ‘why’ I had to move,” she said.

The Citizen Review Board found that Atlanta Police officer Brandy Dolson had violated APD policies and had falsely arrested Carey.

In the meantime, Minnie had to go three times because the first time, there was no prosecutor, and the second time, the officer wasn’t there. This case should have been dropped the first time due to dereliction of duty on the part of the prosecutor.

Still, the board held back on its punishment recommendation to APD until the board’s investigator could gather more information about Dolson’s history with the department, how many public complaints had been filed against him, what kind of complaints have been brought and the outcome of those cases.

Kirschenbaum said in a hearing last week at least 18 complaints had been filed against Dolson since 2001, but only three – all those traffic issues – had been sustained while three other complaints are pending.

Currently, Dolson has 3 “sustained” complaints against him, 3 “under investigation” complaints against him and a dozen more incidents where someone filed a complaint which later were dropped because there was not enough evidence. He is presently suspended without pay for another unrelated incident. Yet, the APD wants more information before they can make a punishment recommendation?

I’m going to go ahead and ask WHY? It’s clear that this officer has a pattern of abuse, yet has been allowed to remain in the job. Why? Dolson willingly arrests people for no reason. Dolson skipped court so they judge couldn’t make a ruling, something Joe Citizen would have been found in contempt of court for. It is clear that Dolson cannot be trusted to perform the duties of a police officer correctly and should have already been dismissed.

Gerald Amidon was apparently sodomized by a taser, and then was threatened by four officers to be tasered in the testicles. Amidon apparently won at least a $150k settlement in court on Tuesday, although as a result, the settlement “contained a provision that officers were making no admission to violating the plaintiff’s civil rights”

You can find the full audio of the incident here.

Check out more discussion on reddit.

Police community support officers (PCSOs) stopped Italian student Simona Bonomo under anti-terrorism legislation for filming buildings in London. Moments later, she was arrested by other officers, held in a police cell and fined. She talks Paul Lewis through the footage she recorded of her conversation with the PSCOs.