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, Atlanta settles with the family of Rayshard Brooks; San Francisco police propose giving robots the license to kill; the Connecticut cops who paralyzed Randy Cox face accountability; and more!
FEATURED STORY
NBC News: Atlanta to Pay $1M to Rayshard Brooks’ Family After Deadly Police Shooting
“‘This grieving family has been through so much during this process. Although the children of Mr. Brooks have lost their father, settling the case will undoubtedly assist them with future plans as they come of age,’ attorneys representing Brooks’ family said in a statement.”
Read more here.
NEW YORK
A federal judge has ordered a new report examining violent activity at the “dysfunctional” Rikers Island jail complex be kept hidden from the public. Although disappointed at the lack of transparency, the Legal Aid Society said they “appreciate the court’s demand of the city for swift and serious action.”
Read more here.
In New York City, citizens are facing greater punishment for exercising their First Amendment right to film the police, troubling new data reveals: arrests are up 14%, criminal summonses are up 242%, and civil summonses are up 611% since 2021.
Read more here.
Daniel Prude’s brutal, officer-involved death in March 2020 highlights a decades-long struggle against corrupt, racist policing in Rochester, New York, a city that has dealt with “an overwhelmingly white force,” despite being “almost 40 percent African American.”
Read more here.
MARYLAND
Brian Frosh, Maryland’s attorney general, has released the first report conducted by the Independent Investigation Division, an office established by the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021. “For the first time, Marylanders who died at the hands of police would not have their deaths investigated by the same police agency that employed those of officers. It was a true step toward impartiality and fairness,” Frosh said.
Read more here.
A group of attorneys allege that Maryland’s former chief medical examiner deliberately pushed falsehoods about drug abuse to cover up the 2018 police killing of Anton Black—even after the examiner’s “own comprehensive toxicology results confirmed…that Anton did not have controlled substances in his system.”
Read more here.
ILLINOIS
In 2020, Chicago Officer Melvina Bogard shot and injured Ariel Roman at a subway station. Bogard claimed she was acting in self-defense, even though footage of the incident showed that Roman, who was unarmed, posed no mortal threat. Last week, a judge acquitted Bogard of all misconduct charges.
Read more here.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
The Verge: San Francisco Police Consider Letting Robots Use ‘Deadly Force’
The San Francisco Police Department is proposing a new policy that would give robots the license to kill….The draft policy, which outlines how the SFPD can use military-style weapons, states robots can be “used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option.”
Read more here.
WTNH News 8: 5 Officers Charged for Involvement in Arrest That Left New Haven Man Paralyzed
“‘We need to be transparent and accountable. Period,’ said New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson. ‘You cannot treat people the way that [Randy] Cox was treated.’”
Read more here.
Los Angeles Times: A Dismissal at Customs and Border Protection Shows How Hard Law Enforcement Reform Can Be
“[Chris] Magnus’ dismissal is a glaring example of a long-standing pattern in this country, including in the Biden administration, of calling for broad changes to reduce law enforcement harm and ensure accountability but refusing to support those brought on to actually make that change.”
Read more here.
WBUR: ‘Officer Shuffle’: Some Ousted Cops Find Jobs at New Departments in Mass.
“Massachusetts is in the process of setting up a statewide system to license officers and track officer misconduct, potentially making it harder for problem officers to get new jobs in the future. But a planned public database of officers disciplined for wrongdoing doesn’t exist yet. That makes it harder for departments to research an officer’s past.”
Read more here.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Man Says He Was Wrongly Jailed for Months. St. Louis Officials Aim to Dismiss His Suit.
“Lawyers for the city of St. Louis are asking a judge to throw out a suit from a man claiming he was mistakenly jailed in the city for eight months after his charges were dropped…[arguing] in federal court Thursday that the case should be dismissed because the city has qualified immunity.”
Read more here.
The Washington Post: Officer Gets Less Than 2 Years for Killing Unarmed Black Man
“‘I wasn’t surprised, but I was disappointed,’ [Dennis] Plowden’s widow, Tania Bond, said outside the courthouse….‘Who wastes five years to come to court and hear 11 to 23 months? Did we value Dennis’ life or did we just throw something out there to feel like we shut the family up and feel like we satisfied?’”
Read more here.
Spread the word for accountability—submit a letter to the editor to your local newspaper.
Stay atop of new state QI updates by signing up for our email list here