highdesert wrote:

Jared Kushner, the lawyer for Teresa Graham, a woman who was the subject of a complaint against Mr Noor,....

Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau resigned Friday, less than a week after a city officer shot and killed a woman who had called officers for help. Harteau, chief since 2013, said the killing of Justine Ruszczyk was among several factors that led her to step down. "Last Saturday's tragedy, as well as some other recent incidents, have caused me to engage in deep reflection," she said in her own statement. "I've decided I am willing to step aside to let a fresh set of leadership eyes see what more can be done for the MPD to be the very best it can be."

Mayor Betsy Hodges said she asked Harteau to resign because "I've lost confidence in the chief's ability to lead us further -- and from the many conversations I've had with people around our city, especially this week, it is clear that she has lost the confidence of the people of Minneapolis as well." Ruszczyk's death didn't lead to street protests, but protesters drowned out Hodges when she tried to read a prepared statement Friday night at city hall.

"We don't want you as our mayor of Minneapolis anymore," shouted activist John Clark. "We ask that you take your staff with you. We don't want you to appoint anyone anymore." "Bye-bye, Betsy," the crowd chanted. Unable to finish her statement, Hodges and the city communications staff walked out of the room.

No charges have been filed, but the officers have been placed on administrative leave. Noor had been with the force for two years and was his precinct's first Somali-American officer. Police have not offered a complete explanation for the killing and the department has come in for heavy criticism because the two officers wore body cameras but had not turned them on.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is leading the investigation and her death is being investigated as a police shooting. Thursday, in her first comments on the case, Harteau said the shooting "should not have happened. ... On our squad cars, you will find the words: 'To protect with courage and serve with compassion.' This did not happen."

Harteau's resignation heartened protesters who came out to demonstrate against police violence Friday in Minneapolis.

"I think it's a really good sign," Laren Rice said. "I think you need to start with those people at the top, and when you have this many citizens involved, that's how it trickles down. It starts at the top, and the citizens just keep pushing for change." At a Friday meeting, city council member Linea Palmisano said the Castile shooting could have happened in Minneapolis. "I think we need to fundamentally change the way police operate in our city, and if this means a change in leadership ... then so be it, because we have a systemic problem," she said.

Harteau joined the Minneapolis Police Department as an officer in 1987, at age 22. She was the department's first female and openly gay chief. Hodges said she will nominate current Assistant Chief Medaria "Rondo" Arradondo as police chief.

Bang wrote:I guess the one good thing that might come out of police randomly murdering well off, pretty, blonde white women is that it could actually lead to some police reform. Black people are immediately labeled thugs and terrorists when there's a protest against police brutality and murders of minorities, but racists can't shift blame to the ignorant stereotypes they hold of minorities when the police are killing unarmed attractive white women in their pajamas.

Bang wrote:I guess the one good thing that might come out of police randomly murdering well off, pretty, blonde white women is that it could actually lead to some police reform. Black people are immediately labeled thugs and terrorists when there's a protest against police brutality and murders of minorities, but racists can't shift blame to the ignorant stereotypes they hold of minorities when the police are killing unarmed attractive white women in their pajamas.

There's a predictable pattern to the aftermath of too many deadly police shootings: Neighbors and anti-police brutality groups take to the streets. Groups supporting the officers stand up for them. Social media lights up over whether the victim "did something" to provoke the officer. But none of that holds true in the case of Justine Ruszczyk, a white Australian bride-to-be who was killed by Mohamed Noor, a Somali-American black police officer in Minneapolis. And that, say experts, speaks volumes about the state of America today.

What didn't happen the days after the shooting

Ruszczyk was shot to death on Saturday after she called 911 to report a possible sex assault in an alley near her home. A vigil was held for Ruszczyk, but there weren't widespread protest marches, like the ones Black Lives Matter held last year after Philando Castile's shooting death at the hands of an officer in nearby Falcon Heights. When one pro-police Blue Lives Matter website had a story about the shooting, it only offered a theory on why the officers' body cams were off.

Why the reaction is different this time

David Love, a Philadelphia journalist who's written about race issues for CNN and others, has a theory why. Because the race and nationality of the victim and police officer aren't what has typically garnered headlines, people who normally speak up aren't saying much. There is no centralized structure for the Black Lives Matter movement, which results in non-uniform response.

New York Daily News writer Shaun King wrote a column in which he said "Police brutality jumped a racial fence." Otherwise, Love says he hasn't seen too many people from the movement express any anger or outrage about the shooting. That's surprising, because in some past cases, Black Lives Matter has spoken up when the victim was white. As for those who "back the blue," Love says he hasn't seen a lot of pro-police groups rally to Noor's side, either. "It seems very often that their response is in the lens of 'black vs. blue,' which is unfortunate because life is a little more complicated than that," he told CNN.

What we're likely to see

Love theorizes a different group of people may take the lead in rallying for the victim in this case: "people who may not have emphathized with the victims (in police shootings in the past) because the victims have been mostly black." Love compares it to media coverage of murders during the civil rights era. Killings of black people in the South during that period often received scant national attention. But if the violence took the life of a white person -- such as the "Mississippi Burning" case -- more people across America paid attention.

What else accounts for the different response

Pro-police groups are often quick to speak out when an officer is accused in a fatal shooting. But Noor isn't white and that has made a difference, says Marcia Chatelain, a fellow at the New America Foundation and co-host of a podcast on the death of Freddie Gray.

"Because it's an officer of color who, so far, is the only one accused of something here, it has shaped the response from pro-police groups like Blue Lives Matter, which usually has a very defensive response to officer-involved shootings," she told CNN. Chatelain feels the media response has been different, too. "I'm pretty sure reporters haven't been digging into (Ruszczyk's) background, trying to find narratives to justify the shooting," she said. Too often in cases involving unarmed black men, Chatelain says, information on the victim's criminal history or prior arrests makes its way into stories -- even when they are irrelevant to the case.

What it says about America

So what does this say about America in 2017, where the race, gender or national identity of a victim or police officer can affect the public's reaction to a shooting? "It says despite the rhetoric about the US being a melting pot or whatever, people have different experiences based on their racial background," Love said. "Those experiences give us, sometimes, a different set of lenses and a different view of reality. And we have to find some way of bridging that divide ... to help people understand the experiences of other people."

The different reaction to the shooting also proves that America is still learning how to deal with its tortured racial past, said Phillip Atiba Goff, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and president of the Center for Policing Equity. "We haven't reckoned with our history," Goff told CNN, "so it shouldn't surprise us to see a different reaction."

What it says about America

So what does this say about America in 2017, where the race, gender or national identity of a victim or police officer can affect the public's reaction to a shooting? "It says despite the rhetoric about the US being a melting pot or whatever, people have different experiences based on their racial background," Love said. "Those experiences give us, sometimes, a different set of lenses and a different view of reality. And we have to find some way of bridging that divide ... to help people understand the experiences of other people."/quote]http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/19/us/minnea ... index.html

Bisbee wrote:

What it says about America

So what does this say about America in 2017, where the race, gender or national identity of a victim or police officer can affect the public's reaction to a shooting? "It says despite the rhetoric about the US being a melting pot or whatever, people have different experiences based on their racial background," Love said. "Those experiences give us, sometimes, a different set of lenses and a different view of reality. And we have to find some way of bridging that divide ... to help people understand the experiences of other people."/quote]http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/19/us/minnea ... index.html

Good article posted, Highdesert. This last line actually made me think of the thread I started regarding understanding Transgender folks. The youtube personality was speaking to the experiences of Trans-women and teaching cis-men (and women) about the trans experience and how to play nice. Replace "race" with "sex" and the above quote pretty much matches my thoughts on gender equality and the challenges of understanding a "new" people outside your personal experience growing up.

It would appear this "people relations" issue is really the challenge of our times. And the challenge starts from looking inside each of us, internally, to understand the nature of our joys and fears.

highdesert wrote:Someone said "prejudice can't survive proximity", I don't know if it's true in all cases but it helps. If you know someone who is black, Asian, Hispanic, gay, lesbian, transgender you have a personal connection to someone in that group so it's not "them" but someone you know. Nationalists like to point out differences to play up "us" against "them, but it's not only nationalists. Doug Criss wrote a very thoughtful article.

The personnel records for a Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an Australian woman were released Monday, providing some detail about the training courses the officer took but no insight into his performance on the job.

The records show Officer Mohamed Noor was hired as a cadet in March 2015. In September of that year, he received a letter saying he passed his Peace Officer Licensing Examination and was eligible to become a licensed, sworn officer.

The records also show Noor took multiple training courses, including recent in-service training about active shooter situations during the Super Bowl, which will be held in Minneapolis next year. His file also says he passed all of his annual semi-automatic, handgun and shotgun qualifications, but there are no additional details about how he performed.

Noor is on paid leave after he killed Justine Damond, a 40-year-old spiritual teacher who was engaged to be married, on July 15 after she called 911 twice to report a possible rape.

Noor, who was in the passenger seat of a squad car, shot across his partner in the driver's seat and hit Damond. His partner told authorities that he was startled by a loud noise shortly before Damond appeared at the police vehicle.

State authorities are investigating potential criminal charges. Noor also faces an internal use of force investigation.

Noor was one of several Somali-Americans hired by the department in recent years as part of the city's public effort to diversify so it better reflects the city.

Questions about police training were raised after details about the shooting were released. Last week, then-police Chief Janee Harteau criticized Noor's actions but defended his training, saying: "This officer completed that training very well. He was very suited to be on the street."

Harteau resigned Friday at the request of the mayor.

Minnesota is the only state that requires police officers to have at least a two-year degree, though many departments prefer four-year degrees. People who want to be officers either learn law enforcement degrees, or, if they have four-year degrees in other subjects like Noor, they can complete a certificate program.

Noor got a degree in economics and business administration before applying to become a police officer.

The records released Monday don't list any awards or commendations for Noor. Records previously released show he had three complaints against him, including one that was dismissed with no discipline and two that are pending.

The records also show that Noor got a raise in September and is earning more than $28 an hour.

One week after an unarmed Minneapolis woman was killed in an officer-involved shooting, street signs criticizing "easily startled" police have popped up in the Twin Cities.
The orange traffic sign lookalikes depict a police officer jumping in the air, discharging a gun with each hand. "Warning," the signs read, "Twin Cities Police easily startled."

Police in Minneapolis must now activate their body cameras during every call for service or any self-initiated work, officials said Wednesday, a change that comes amid a lingering controversy over an officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed Australian woman there earlier this month. An officer fatally shot Justine Damond, a 40-year-old woman who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault near her home, on July 15. For reasons that still remain unknown, one of the two police officers responding to Damond’s call shot and killed her, and neither officer present activated their body cameras.

Since her death, which sparked international outrage and prompted the ouster of the city’s veteran police chief, more questions than answers have surrounded the shooting. Authorities have questioned why Officer Mohamed Noor drew and fired his gun, and have been critical of the lack of video footage. Every patrol officer in Minneapolis is equipped with a body camera, and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges called it “unacceptable” that no footage existed of the shooting. A day after making these remarks, Hodges forced out Janeé Harteau, the Minneapolis police chief, saying she had “lost confidence in the chief’s ability to lead us further.”

Hodges, who has herself faced calls to resign since the shooting and is up for reelection, joined the new police chief, Medaria Arradondo, for a news conference Wednesday announcing the expansion of when body cameras would be utilized. “What good is a camera if it is not being used when it may be needed the most?” Arradondo said at the briefing. He added: “We are not passing judgment on a single officer nor are we looking at a single event.” While Arradondo said the change in body-camera policy has “been in process for a few months now,” the specter of Damond’s death loomed over this shift. The changed policy will go into effect on Saturday, two weeks after Damond’s death.

[Minneapolis mayor says it’s ‘unacceptable’ no police body camera captured an officer fatally shooting Justine Damond]

Under the previous Minneapolis police policy, officers have been required to activate body-worn cameras before any use of force or, if that is not possible, “as soon as it is safe to do so.” The new policy directs officers to activate their cameras before a wide range of actions, and no longer states that cameras must be activated before a use of force. Instead, it now states that the cameras must be activated for “any use of force situation.”

“It has been my expectation that our body camera program work for our city and work for our people,” Hodges said at the news conference. “It was my expectation then and it remains my expectation today that the program actually does what we want, expect and need it to do.” Mystery has surrounded Damond’s death for days, in part because no footage captured what happened leading up to the shooting. Noor, the officer who fired the fatal shot, has so far declined to be interviewed by state investigators, who say they cannot compel him to be interviewed. According to police records, Damond had twice called 911 the night of her death to report a possible sexual assault happening nearby. She first called to say she may have heard a rape happening, and then called eight minutes later to make sure officers had the right address.

What happened next is still not clear. The only account of the shooting that has been publicly released came from Officer Matthew Harrity, who was driving the squad car. Harrity told investigators that he was startled by a loud sound moments before Damond approached his side of the vehicle. Noor, in the passenger seat, then fired a single shot at Damond through Harrity’s open window, investigators said.

dougb wrote:1 ) How well do these cameras work in the dark? I don't know how much information they would provide, being in a darkened car in a dark alley.
2) What is the cameras field of view? Close up and either pointed at the dash board or covered by the gun arm, I don't see how there would be much more than audio.
3) Mayor is up for reelection this year. On the theory that the person in charge is responsible (used to whack the Chief), I believe the mayor should also resign.

Investigators say that before Justine Damond was shot to death by a Minneapolis police officer, a woman "slapped" the back of his patrol car. The search warrant issued by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) does not say if that woman was the Australian yoga teacher.

The document may shed light on the possible source of the "loud sound" that startled the car's driver. Damond was killed by Officer Mohamed Noor after calling 911 two weeks ago. The search warrant, which was provided to local news stations by investigators, stated: "Upon police arrival, a female 'slaps' the back of the patrol squad. "After that, it is unknown to BCA agents what exactly happened, but the female became deceased in the alley."

Mohamed Noor, who fired the fatal shot across his partner and through the driver's window, has so far refused to be interviewed by investigators. Officer Matthew Harrity, who was driving the police cruiser through the alley behind Damond's home, has told detectives that they were startled by a "loud sound" just before the shooting. Neither officer had turned on their body camera, which recently-adopted regulations require every officer to carry. Both men have been placed on paid administrative leave. The BCA report was compiled about seven hours after the shooting. Also detailed in the report are several items recovered from the scene and submitted for forensic examination by investigators.

A 9mm cartridge shell, Damond's mobile phone, blood from the rear driver's side door of the squad car, and fingerprints and spots on the rear and exterior of the vehicle were all recorded by the BCA. Investigators have determined that Damond, who moved from Australia two years ago, was unarmed when she was killed.
Damond, 40, had called 911 twice before midnight to report a possible rape in her upscale Minneapolis neighbourhood about 20 minutes before her death. Her death, as well as the deaths of black men Philando Castile and Jamar Clark at the hands of police, has led to criticism of the police department and forced the resignation of the police chief on Friday.

lurker wrote:

SilasSoule wrote:Minneapolis police reportedly searched police shooting victim’s home after killing her. “Investigators searched the house for ‘bodily fluids, controlled substances, and writings’, court documents revealed.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... polis.html

i bet the warrant for that search is a doozey.

"I don't understand why they're looking for bodily fluids inside her home," said Joseph Daly, an emeritus professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, referring to one of two recently-released search warrant applications.

"Whose bodily fluids are they looking for? Is she a suspect? I don't understand why they're looking for controlled substances inside her home. I don't understand why they're looking for writings inside her home. The warrant does not explain that to me."

"When I read that search warrant, I really cannot find probable cause to search her home," he continued.

According to court documents, investigators applied for the warrant on the following grounds:

- The property or things above-described was used as a means of committing a crime
- The possession of the property or things above-described constitutes a crime.
- The property or things above-described is in the possession of a person with intent to use such property as a means of committing a crime, or the property or things so intended to be used are in the possession of another to whom they have been delivered for the purpose of concealing them or preventing their being discovered.
- The property or things above-described constitutes evidence which tends to show a crime has been committed, or tends to show that a particular person has committed a crime.

Asked if that means the BCA considers Damond to be a suspect, spokesperson Jill Oliveira replied via email:

"No, an individual involved in the incident."

lurker wrote:apparently she planned to bleed on the officers, but they had the foresight to have the windows rolled up. realizing her evil plan had been frustrated, she viciously slapped the poor car, so to oblige her, the officers shot her. it all makes perfect sense.

highdesert wrote:The officer said it was a woman who "slapped" the cruiser, it might not have been Damond.

lurker wrote:

highdesert wrote:The officer said it was a woman who "slapped" the cruiser, it might not have been Damond.

in other words, they don't really know much of anything.

TrueTexan wrote:So the officer that did the shooting is refusing to be interviewed. If a non-LEO shoots somebody they don’t get an option to refuse to be interviewed. They would find themselves in a jail being questioned under extreme conditions. Must be nice to be a LEO and be special.