Welcome to the weekly update from the Campaign to End Qualified Immunity! Here, we give you a wrap-up of the latest developments and notable news as we continue our state-focused fight to abolish the unjust rule.
This week, civil rights advocates continue the push for federal police reform; criminal justice experts slam Cop City; San Antonio arrests officers who unjustly used deadly force; and more!
FEATURED STORY
WREG: Push for Police Reform: Still No Action on Bill Named for George Floyd After Death of Tyre Nichols
“Demands for police reform at every level grew louder after Nichols’ death, some of which began three years ago with the killing of George Floyd. While elected leaders in cities like Memphis have passed some police reform measures, the same hasn’t happened on the federal level.”
Read more here.
NEW YORK
In a cost-cutting measure, New York City’s Department of Corrections is terminating social services such as drug relapse prevention and job training for incarcerated individuals. At the same time, the department has purchased over $90,000 worth of heavy weapons to arm corrections officers.
Read more here.
VERMONT
The Vermont Criminal Justice Council has officially decertified Shaun Smith. The now-former Springfield police officer resigned in late 2020 after he was accused of “engaging in gross professional misconduct…inappropriate conduct toward the public and neglect of duty.”
Read more here.
MARYLAND
On Wednesday, David Crawford, the former police chief of Laurel, Maryland, was handed multiple life sentences for committing a series of vicious arson attacks over the span of a decade. “As opposed to protecting and serving and living a life of honor and respect, keeping our community safe, he chose to inflict harm, he chose violence, he chose fear,” said Howard County State’s Attorney Richard Gibson.
Read more here.
ILLINOIS
After Chicago passed reforms in 2021 aimed at preventing botched police raids, the city saw a substantial drop in residential searches—183 last year, compared to 509 in 2020. Attorney Al Hofeld Jr. says this is a “positive thing,” as the trauma of raids “erodes the community’s trust of the police.”
Read more here.
In the last 4.5 years, the Chicago Police Department’s bureau of internal affairs has conducted over 11,000 investigations involving bribery, corruption, unreasonable force, and other alleged acts of officer misconduct. “The lion’s share of bureau of internal affairs cases come via referrals from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability,” notes the Chicago Tribune.
Read more here.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
Saporta Report: ‘Cop City’ Policing Is Ripe for a Federal Civil Rights Investigation
“As two experts at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law told me, Atlanta and ‘Cop City’ are part of a national structural problem with protest policing, where local authorities seize on the federal government’s overbroad terrorism laws and rhetoric to criminalize protests and stigmatize dissent on topics they don’t like.”
Read more here.
Mother Jones: After the Police Kill Your Loved One, Who Can You Lean On?
“Police who kill often receive therapy, paid leave, and lawyers—much of it publicly funded—but there’s usually little to no government support for families. In that absence, [Bianca] Austin and her close friend Jacob Blake Sr., whose son was shot by a cop in Wisconsin, travel around the country supporting surviving family members by, as Blake puts it, ‘making yourself available to them any way they want.’”
Read more here.
Reason: Police Let Their K-9 Maul on the Wrong Guy. They Arrested Him Anyway.
“While [Sean] Davis’ ordeal is disturbing, it’s unclear whether he will be able to succeed in his lawsuit, as police officers are protected by…qualified immunity protections that make it extremely difficult to sue them over civil rights violations—no matter how obvious.”
Read more here.
The Guardian: West Virginia State Police Face Damning Claims: ‘The More We Dug, the Worse It Stunk’
“One of the most disturbing claims involves at least one alleged hidden camera that was placed in the women’s locker room at the West Virginia state police academy. On 23 March, attorney Teresa Toriseva filed the first of four notices of legal action to Morrisey and Chambers, who replaced former superintendent Jan Cahill after his resignation in March.”
Read more here.
San Antonio Report: City Officials Move Swiftly to Arrest Officers Following Shooting of Woman Having Mental Health Crisis
“‘This should never happen,’ [City Manager Erik] Walsh said. ‘Any person experiencing a mental health crisis should be greeted with compassion and support. We will work to continue to enhance the way SAPD and other resources respond to these calls for service.’”
Read more here.
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