According to the ACLU #Ferguson police report on Michael Browns death violates the law. They released a heavily edited document that covers up key public information. The two-page document, which the Ferguson Piggy Department released only after pressure from journalists and civil liberties advocates, is largely edited or in some areas left blank. The worst omissions are the victim’s name and a description of the offense – the fatal shooting of Brown. “They are breaking the law,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri. The report, obtained through the Missouri Sunshine Law, lists only the date, time and location. Fields for the type of incident, name of the complainant, and a summary of the circumstances are redacted. “I’ve never seen an incident report that didn’t contain a description of the incident, at least on some basic level,” said Don Tittle, a veteran Texas civil and criminal attorney. “It makes you wonder if they don’t want to commit to a story.” Missouri’s Sunshine Law states law enforcement agencies must promptly provide incident reports that include among other things, “name of the victim and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding the initial report of a crime or incident.” Devin James, a contract spokesperson hired by the City of Ferguson since Brown’s death, said the following in response to questions about the report’s missing information. “These questions are beyond the scope of what my team can respond to.” He referred questions to City Attorney Stephanie Karr, who didn’t immediately reply. Murderer Wilson, 28, is STILL on paid leave pending the outcome of multiple investigations. A St. Louis County Circuit Court grand jury began hearing testimony about the shooting this week. The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating possible civil rights violations. The state investigation is being conducted by the St. Louis County Police Department. A copy of their offense report does list Brown as the victim, but doesn’t give a summary of what happened. The county’s report reveals that the larger metro department didn’t receive a call on the Aug. 9 shooting until 12:43 p.m., about 40 minutes after Brown was killed. “So we have no idea what happened during those 43 minutes,” Rothert said. “It just adds to the complete lack of transparency about what happened.” Last week, Chief Jackson gave members of the media 19 pages of police documents, photos and video from a convenience store robbery that occurred shortly before the fatal shooting. Police said they believe Brown and Johnson had just stolen cigars at the store before crossing paths with Officer Wilson on their way home. “They have obviously taken the shooting of Michael Brown less seriously than the alleged robbery of cigarillos,” Rothert said. “That’s pretty disturbing.” #DONOTCALMDOWN
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 12:54:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015