This week, law enforcement officers in Paris, Texas, were videotaped in a prime example of police brutality after stopping Cornelius Gill and his friend. The video has received national coverage online (HuffPo) and on television (CBS News), which provides us all with this telling, and disturbing tale:

Police Chief Son’s Known Mental Illness Issues

The police chief’s son was known to have mental health issues.  His live-in girlfriend (and the mother of the Chief’s grandson), Misti Conaway, told Lancaster cops when they responded to her domestic dispute call earlier in the day that David Brown Jr., 27, was bipolar.  (She also told them that he had taken drugs that day, and was acting as if he were on PCP.)

School authorities already knew that David Brown Jr. had hit his 10-year-old son, and the local authorities were investigating the boy’s black eye as suspected child abuse. 

Seven hours before the tragedy, David Brown Jr. was seen brandishing a gun at the apartment complex swimming pool as he danced around, humming to himself, wearing only boxer shorts and sunglasses. 

Lancaster Cops Interviewed David Brown Jr. and Left Him There

When Misti Conaway called the cops, they went to the scene and left with Conaway and her two sons. 

They interviewed David Brown Jr., and they checked the apartment.  Today, these cops stand by their story that he seemed fine to them, not a danger to himself or others at the time.  He wasn’t arrested.  He wasn’t taken in as an involuntary commitment.   

Their actions are recorded on a dash cam video.  Reportedly, you can hear Brown yelling about the kids not reading their Bible …. One last thing before they left: they left a voice mail message for Chief Brown, telling him they’d stopped by his son’s place and everything was fine. 

David Brown Jr. Shot and Killed Two Before Dying in Gun Battle with Police

Within hours, David Brown Jr. took a handgun (assumedly the same one he’d been threatening folk with at the pool) and grabbed a rifle, and shot and killed a man driving into the complex with his girlfriend and two young kids, Jeremy Jontae McMillian, 23.

Brown Jr. then fatally shot Lancaster Police Officer Craig Shaw, 37. It’s no surprise that the next thing to happen in this sequence of events was David Brown Jr. dying in a shootout with police in the parking lot of the apartment complex.

It was Father’s Day.  Chief Brown had been on the job for 2 months.

Today, it’s still national news that the Dallas Police Chief’s son was killed in a gun battle with local police, after killing two men.  Chief Brown issued a statement on Tuesday.  It was gracious and expressed sincere condolences to both of the victim’s families.

Should Chief Brown Resign?

There’s lots of talk that Chief Brown will resign.  However, many see that as the wrong response.  Even the girlfriend of slain Jeremy McMillian doesn’t want this: she’s quoted as saying that Brown Jr.’s actions were those of an independent adult, and not to be attributed to the Police Chief. 

What About those Lancaster Cops?

Meanwhile, what about those Lancaster cops?  One has to wonder why Brown Jr. was left there that day, obviously suffering from some type of mental break — he’d been acting strangely all day. 

• Why didn’t they learn about Brown Jr.’s antics at the pool? 
• Why didn’t they find the handgun (the girlfriend told them one was there)?
• Why didn’t they take Brown Jr. in for evaluation?
• Was it because they were afraid that Chief Brown would be upset with them? 
• They made sure to touch base with the Police Chief by calling him on the phone to tell him about their visit.  Why do that?

You gotta wonder if David Brown Jr. would have been left there on Sunday if those two patrolmen weren’t so impressed with his dad being the Top Dog of Dallas Cops. 

Let’s hope their actions are fully investigated.

Sincerely condolences to the families of all those who died in this horrible tragedy.  Including especially Dallas Police Chief Brown.  

What they got instead was to witness a Fort Worth police officer Taser Michael to death when it appeared Michael might try and run away  – after the cops had sent away the EMS unit. 

That stun gun’s electric shock ran through Michael Jacobs’ body for 54 seconds.  After he fell to the ground, and had stopped breathing, the cops handcuffed him and called the ambulance to return.  By the way, Michael Jacobs was not armed.  He was just threatened to flee – to run off.  There’s no crime here, folks.

His mother and father witnessed their son’s stun gun death.  Imagine this afternoon for them.  Taking care of a mentally ill child, trying to protect him, and then watch your worst fears realized. 

Biggest Settlement Ever – From the City of Fort Worth

Yesterday, the Fort Worth City Council announced it was unanimously approving a settlement offer in the amount of $2,000,000 in the civil rights/wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of Michael Jacobs.  This is the biggest settlement that Fort Worth has ever paid for an death or injury caused by one of its own. 

By the way,  even though Michael Jacob’s death was clearly murder — the Tarrant County Medical Examiner ruled it a homicide — the Fort Worth Police Department cleared the police officers after their internal investigation.  And, a Tarrant County Grand Jury did not issue an indictment against the cops.

The City paid.  The cops didn’t.

You’d think that a boy being raised by all these members of law enforcement — those who are sworn to “protect and serve” would be safe.  Extra-safe.  Super, duper safe.  And you’d be wrong.

Court documents made it plain.  Examinations by physicians detail the harm.  This 11-year-old boy, while in his own home there in Allen, was struck on his head with a metal spoon by his mother, as well as being hit with her hands (fists?) in the face.  She also spanked him with a belt, with enough force to leave marks and bruises. 

Mom Melissa did this, why?  According to the arrest affidavit, the boy was “disrespectful” to her.  He “rolled his eyes” and made “sarcastic comments” to her.  So, the trained police officer lost it and went after her boy.

But wait.  There’s more. 

Not too long after this abuse happened to the kid, the step-father comes home.  (Remember, he’s a cop, too.)  Once he gets home and after hearing what happened — quoting now from the affidavit, he “handcuffed the victim, threw him to the ground, strangled him, picked him up and placed him in a car and transported him to the Allen Police Department.” 

Both Mom Melissa and Step-father Bob have been arrested for this.  Step-father Robert Darren Smith has been charged with a misdemeanor, official oppression, while mother Melissa Smith faces felony charges, injury to a child. 

Geez.  If these two cops would do this to their 11 year old SON, one can only wonder how they would treat — and HAVE treated — the citizens of Texas whose paths they’ve crossed out there.  

There’s no excuse for this behavior.   

Stupid risk analysis, right?  While $28,000 isn’t chump change, is it really worth the risk of 20 years behind bars and a $250K fine?  Really??? And, that’s even before we add in the Big Twist to the story:  the robber here was a TWENTY-TWO year veteran of the Conroe Police Department.

That’s right.  A cop who’d been on the job since 1988 was the robber who was busted, charged, tried, convicted.  That’s a long time to be a police officer.  Twenty-two years ago a postage stamp cost 24 cents, a gallon of gas was 91 cents, Ronald Reagan was President and Michael Jackson had a big hit with “Dirty Diana.” 

So a cop who should have known better instead got into some money trouble, and having some knowledge of the First Bank of Conroe since he’d worked there part-time as a security guard for NINETEEN years, put on a White Motorcycle Helmet, rented a car, and walked into the bank demanding money.

The bank clerk recognized his voice.  Others at the bank recognized him by the way he walked, as well as his clothing.  They found the helmet at his home. 

Try this. Put a helmet on your head, or a bag, or a pillowcase, and walk into any place where you’ve hung out for a 19 years, say something like “This is a HoldUp” and see if they are shocked, shocked, shocked and don’t have any idea who you are. 

Please.  With this prime example of the Conroe Police, you gotta wonder if some professional thieves aren’t reading this story and thinking about Conroe as something akin to Nirvana.

How’d they get into a pawn shop from a police evidence room? No one knew, and an investigation began.

Now, it seems that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Texas Rangers are working together to solve this mystery.  Their latest tally?  Over 500 guns are missing from the Cleveland Police Department. 

While the FBI and the Texas Rangers both keep their ongoing investigations pretty darn quiet until they’re good and ready to reveal things, they do have to file a document in court now and then in order to do their job. And, the media has been monitoring court documents with both the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle keeping tabs on this Missing Gun Mystery.

Piecemealing so far, we know that a Liberty County Sheriff’s Department Captain, name of Harold Kelley, together with some others whose names we don’t know (yet) were allegedly in a gun-trafficking scheme.  Seems Captain Kelley was the Custodian of the Evidence Room, and had one of only two keys for the place.  Who had the other key?  Man name of Henry Patterson …  Henry was serving as the assistant police chief at the time. 

And, here’s the smoking gun — Kelley’s signature was on the official evidence files for 98 of those guns found in the Humble pawn shop.  He’d signed to confirm that the guns had been destroyed.

What about the rest of the 500?  The Texas Rangers and the FBI are out there, looking for them.  Betcha they find them, too ….

Policeman Gives Sworn Statement, Dallas County Prosecutor Told Him (as Sole Eyewitness) Who to Point Out At Trial

Just this past week, another Texas scandal involving the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office is brewing. The ONLY eyewitness in a trial back in 1995 has now come forward, and given a sworn statement that the prosecutor coached the witness to take the stand and point the finger at defendant Richard Miles.

The “eyewitness” is now a police officer in Oklahoma, has signed an affidavit just this month, swearing that he was told where Mr. Miles would be sitting in the courtroom, and that he needed to point the finger at this man — even though the guy in the courtroom didn’t look like the man that Miles saw shoot a pistol into a car, killing one man and injuring another.

Miles isn’t going to be released based upon this Oklahoma cop’s affidavit because he’s already out — freed after 14 years behind bars — because a memo was discovered in an old Dallas County District Attorney file that identified someone else as the suspect … a memo that was never, ever turned over to the defense.

And this happens everywhere, apparently, since just this past week, over in Fort Lauderdale  ….

Before someone starts labeling this a rogue incident, an exception the rule of prosecutors being trustworthy, consider this new story that hit the stands this same week.  Over in Florida, the Public Defenders Office – supported by the Broward County Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers – has made public a letter that was sent to the office of State Attorney Mike Satz.  In it, the Public Defender’s Office flat out accuses the Florida prosecutors of routinely playing outside the rules.

The letter charges, in part, that the state attorneys there are not only routinely holding back evidence from defense attorneys that is helpful to the defendants, but they’re also covering up for bad cops and helping out those who come through their offices who happen to be of a higher socioeconomic level — the rich and powerful. (And you thought this only happened on Miami Vice reruns.)

The letter was sent just last Tuesday by Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, where he writes that he’s been forced “…to the inescapable conclusion that the [Florida] State Attorney’s Office, either through neglect or by design, has been non-compliant with its obligation to disclose favorable evidence to criminal defendants.”

Just Some Bad Actors, or Corruption in the System?  Hmmmm……

Of course, some might say that Broward County is a bad example.  It’s been labeled corrupt, and over the past two years alone there have been five arrests of elected officials, six cops have been sent to prison, and the city manager’s been tagged for embezzling a half-million bucks.

But then, maybe they haven’t been watching the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office much.  Heck, just last month the county commissioners voted to settle the lawsuit brought against Dallas County by a former investigator in the DA’s office, who had sued for wrongful termination alleging that he’d been fired for reporting the unethical behavior in the Dallas DA’s Office.

Curiouser and curiouser….

That’s right: cops could buy a house for 50 cents on the dollar, as long as they bought in certain sections of town, and lived in the home for 36+ straight months.  It’s called the Good Neighbor Next Door/Officer Next Door program. 

It didn’t turn out so well for Irving police officer Ramon Anthony Reyes, Jr.

Over in Irving, a cop named Ramon Reyes, Jr. learned of the HUD program and got ideas.  On the force since 1998, Reyes knew the local area and its crime statistics well enough. He also knew his real estate.

In 1998, Officer Reyes bought a home in Grand Prairie.  In 2007, he bought another home, using the HUD funds, on Palo Alto Drive in Mesquite.   Officer Reyes transfered the title of the Grand Prairie house to his uncle … but he never moved from there, never changed over the utilities, and still paid the property taxes on the Grand Prairie residence.  Du-oh!!!!

Officer Reyes was caught by the federales and charged with filing a false statement with HUD (you know, where he swore he was living in the HUD house).  He pled guilty.  Now, he’s not a cop (he resigned on January 5th) and he’s facing two years in the federal pen plus a fine of $250,000.  He’s scheduled to be sentenced in April. 

Is Reyes the only one who’s seeing the HUD Program as an Investment Vehicle?

As for the HUD Program, it’s open not only to cops, but also to pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers and firefighters/emergency medical technicians so they can “contribute to community revitalization” by buying homes in these “declining” communities and live there for three years. 

Now, three years (36 months) isn’t a short trip – but is anyone else thinking that Reyes’ idea of using the program as a way to get real estate cheap wasn’t that unique?  He may have not followed the requirements, but it would be interesting to see how many of these homeowners aren’t just landlords for houses they got cheap as soon as their 36 month stint is up.

In September, while in the role of Police Chief of Little River Academy (a small town near Waco), Meissner was arrested on the charges of promotion of prostitution, possession and promotion of child pornography and sexual performance of a child. Evidence supporting the Tarrant Country charges allegedly included text messages sent by Meissner to young boys, inviting them to sex parties (whatever that means).

Meissner resigned as chief of police following his arrest.  He sat in Dallas County Jail for one week, and then all charges were dropped and he walked out the doors a free man — and he’s stayed that way.  Neither the Dallas County District Attorney nor the Tarrant County District Attorney are going to prosecute this guy. 

Meissner’s position is that this is all based on a vendetta that’s been pursued by a fellow cop, John Hoskins — who by the way, was the investigating officer that allegedly found the sex party invitation texts involving Meissner, while he investigating another law enforcement officer who was with the Combine Police Department.

Meanwhile, as the mystery continues, video of the cops executing a search warrant on Meissner’s home and the involvement of Kopbusters in the whole story is playing on YouTube.  This is the same Kopbusters who exposed the corruption in the Odessa Police Department last year,and you can watch them in the Meissner sting here: 

Looks like this may be a big deal….

Not only does the time involved in this FBI probe alone suggest that a lot of bad stuff has been discovered by the Feds, the media reports are suggesting it.  The Express-News points to deputies living a lot larger than their county salaries would allow, with groups going on vacation to Las Vegas and the discovery of one deputy’s large land purchase (bet it’s a ranch) down in the Valley.

FBI Initially Looking Into One Thing, Discoveries Kept Coming According to Express-News Reports

Careful to reference several sources for their news reports – since the FBI won’t comment on an ongoing investigation – the Express News reveals that the FBI began checking into complaints about civil rights violations, and things grew from there.   According to the sources, there are lots of complaints about the BCSD narcotics division — particularly, a group of 4 -5 “rogue cops” who are arresting folk without cause, stealing money and property, etc.  

They may be doing bad things both on the job and off — there aren’t a lot of details yet.  It is reported that deputies who are working second jobs as security guards at local apartment complexes have shaken down the tenants there.  Wow.  There are also complaints off-duty deputies have used threats that are backed by the fact that work for the Sheriff’s Dept. and that they’ve used excessive forces.

Who All Knows and Looks the Other Way Regarding the Rouge Cops?

Apparently, there are also FBI feelers checking out who all may know about these rouges within the department but are not coming forward to stop the wrongdoing.    FBI agents are even going so far as to interview criminal defense attorneys practicing in the criminal courtrooms of the Bexar County Courthouse to see what they may know about these bad actors. 

Looks Like the Pot is About to Boil Over ….

According to the Express-News, several Bexar County Sheriff’s Department deputies have already hired criminal defense lawyers to represent them — and we all know, you don’t start paying for a criminal lawyer until things are pretty far along.

This looks to be a major story that is just breaking today — hats off to Guillermo Contreras of the San Antonio Express News along with Staff Writer Eva Ruth Moravec for their work here.