The bill faded away until this year. On Wednesday, after it had passed through the state legislature, Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill that allows Briarwood Presbyterian to create its own police force to enforce the law at its church and school campuses. The bill allows the church to ‘appoint and employ one or more suitable persons to act as police officers to keep off intruders and prevent trespass upon and damage to the property … These persons shall be charged with all the duties and invested with all the powers of police officers, including the power of arrest for unlawful acts committed on the property.’ The law is set to come into effect this fall. DailyKos online article 21 June 2019 Walter Einenkel, ‘Alabama governor signs law allowing church to have its own police force’
In 2017 an 18-year-old went public with allegations that shook the country. Anna Chambers polarised opinion and seemed to draw attention to an under-reported problem: police sex crime. For two years she turned down many interview offers. Abused by the Police? ***** BBC 2019
She was brought up in this working-class neighbourhood near Coney Island. The park where the alleged attack happened is just around the corner. ibid.
‘He pulled my head to his dick and just making me blow him … and just shoved it inside of me. I was just screaming … The black guy … was just looking in the mirror … like it was nothing … They just left me there. ibid.
Back home her dad sent her to hospital to do a rape test. A nurse alerted the police. ibid.
DNA was found on Anna’s body. A DNA test confirmed a positive match with the semen of NYD detectives Richard Hall and Eddie Martins. ibid.
After two weeks no arrests have been made. ibid.
‘The case of a women who says she was raped in the back of a police van is drawing attention to an apparent loophole in some state laws that may allow police to escape sexual assault charges by claiming sex acts were consensual.’ ibid. television news
One case in particular catches my attention: I found another case with a woman in Chicago. She says she was raped by two police officers after a night out drinking. It seems to have striking similarities to Anna Chambers. Two on-duty police officers and a DNA match. ibid.
The investigation went on for three years … Eventually, the officers were offered a plea deal: they accepted one count of official misconduct in exchange for two years probation and dropping the sexual assault charges. ibid.
In 2016 more than a dozen Oakland police officers for sexual misconduct involving an under-age girl. ibid.
‘You run the risk of being exiled. They vandalised your car, your home. You may receive physical threats … We had cops who had 20 or 30 complaints against them for brutality, for stealing, for planting evidence, and nothing ever happens to them. And they’re not afraid; they’re not afraid of Internal Affairs … I can recall complaints where sex workers were coerced into performing sex acts on an officer to avoid going to jail. There were some sex workers who complained that officers harassed them. There were cases where sex workers were sexually assaulted, raped, robbed, and officers and detectives wouldn’t take their complaint seriously. Or would threaten them with jail.’ ibid. Internal affairs insider
We reveal how hundreds of police officers are betraying the public and abusing their powers by sexually exploiting the people they are meant to help. For the first time we uncover the full scale of the problem. Across England and Wales a police or community support officer is convicted or dismissed for sexual misconduct every five day. Exposure: Predator Police Uncovered, ITV 2019
When it comes to sexual misconduct, can the police be trusted to police be trusted to police themselves? ibid.
‘The police were absolutely hostile to begin with.’ Catching Britain’s Killers: The Crimes that Changed Us III ***** introduction, justice lady, BBC 2019
The confession was king and police were a law unto themselves. ibid.
A miscarriage of justice so shocking it exposes the dark secrets of the police interrogation room and transforms the rights of us all. ibid.
‘Establishing time of death is terribly important: it is absolutely vital to get it right or the wrong people could finish up being convicted.’ ibid. Dr Cameron
Radio Times: After the body of Maxwell Confait was found in his south London bedsit in April 1972, three boys were quickly arrested and questioned. Confait had been strangled, and the trio – Colin Lattimore (18) who had learning difficulties, Ronnie Leighton, 15, and Ahmet Salih, 14 – confessed their supposed involvement to police. ibid.
In the early 1970s the questioning of a suspect often took place in a cellblock, and with no independent witness, the only version of what was said came from the police themselves. The three boys were taken to Lewisham police station. ibid.
All three boys were being tried for arson, but Colin and Ronnie were also standing trial for the murder. They all pleaded their not guilty and protested their innocence. ibid.
‘The confession had been obtained under threats, duress, without strong strong evidence … The police behaved badly.’ ibid. brief
‘Colin’s alibi was absolutely superb.’ ibid.
Life sentences with no time limit. ibid.
Four years after Pace, a case in Cardiff would publicly expose the dangers of a police service that still chased confessions. On Valentine’s Day 1988, 20-year-old Lynette White was found stabbed to death in her flat in Butetown near the Cardiff docks. 10 months later her ex-partner Stephen Miller was arrested on suspicion of murder and questioned at Cardiff police station. After five days of interrogation he confessed to Lynette White’s murder … At his trial Miller was found guilty of murder along with two other men both implicated by his taped confession … ‘They’ve become known as the Cardiff 3: serving a prison sentence for life for a murder they say they didn’t commit.’ ibid. television news
We’re the Sweeney, shithead, and you’re nicked! The Sweeney 2012 starring Ray Winstone & Ben Drew & Hayley Atwell & Steven Mackintosh & Paul Anderson & Alan Ford & Damian Lewis & Allen Leech & Steven Waddinton & Carolin Chikezie et al, director Nick Love, Regan
The problem is a significant number of legal cases mounting against your unit. ibid. CI Lewis
I hold you alone responsible for what happened. For my wife. You’re a dinosaur. ibid.
Tonight: cops in lockdown. How crime carries on despite the virus. The gangs exploiting the crisis. And what next as the lockdown is lifted. Tonight: Policing Britain: Cops in Lockdown, ITV 2020
Police have received around 200,000 tip-offs and it isn’t long before a report comes in of a pavement barbecue. ibid.
Stop and Search, one of the UK’s most controversial police tactics. Supporters say it’s needed to get weapons and drugs off our streets. But how is it being used? And are innocent children being targeted? Tonight: Stop & Search: Policing the Streets? ITV 2022
The use of Stop & Search by the police is on the rise. And following changes earlier in the year, it’s now even easier for these powers to be used. There have been some shocking cases recently involving searches of children. ibid.
One sweltering evening on the streets of Minneapolis yet another black man falls victim to police brutality. The killing of George Floyd has sparked outrage not only across America but also across the entire world. It is the latest chapter in the history of race injustice that is as old as the country itself. 8 Minutes & 46 Seconds, Sky Witness 2020
Derek Chauvin – In that time over a dozen complaints have been lodged against him. ibid.
But in 24 hours the death of another black man in police custody unleashes a fury that has existed for generations. ibid.
On Monday July 13th [2015: at 8:58 a.m. jailers went to cell 95 and observed Miss Bland hanging from the privacy partition in her cell. Say Her Name: The Life & Death of Sandra Bland ***** HBO/Sky Documentaries 2020
Sandra Bland Rest In Power. Arrested for Traffic Violation: Killed in Police Custody. ibid. protest banner
‘You just slammed me head into the ground. Don’t you even care about that?’ ibid. Bland arrest filmed after rozzers’ assault
Cell 95: ‘Where she was didn’t have cameras … You have a thirty-gallon trash can in the inmates’ cell that gives her access to a plastic bag. If she was in as much pain as she said she was in, I just don’t see how she could have tied that perfect – very perfect – noose.’ ibid. family
‘Step out or I will remove you … I’m gonna yank you outta here … You are under arrest … I’m gonna drag you outta there.’ ibid.
‘That man [arresting rozzer] slapped her. You can hear it.’ ibid. lawyer
‘You are about to break my wrist! Can you stop?’ ibid. on arrest
‘The destruction of evidence on this family when they [rozzers know they [family] were about to bury her. You don’t release a body if there’s more tests that you need on that body.’ ibid. lawyer
‘I don’t think there’s ever been an issue like this.’ ibid. mother