ACLU Sues City Of Omaha, 32 Police Officers For Use Of Excessive Force, Warrantless Search And Seizure

from the slow-day-crime-wise-in-Omaha dept

Thu, Jan 9th 2014 5:47am — Tim Cushing

If there's any question as to whether the officers subduing Octavius Johnson (who was apparently asking why a vehicle was being towed) applied excessive force (looks like the officer gets a few swings in before other witnesses arrive), it was answered by the 20+ cops who stormed the house (without a warrant, obviously) in order to seize and destroy the footage of the arrest contained in Jaquez Johnson's cell phone. The fact that their wheelchair-bound aunt was thrown to the ground during this altercation is nothing more than a side effect of her inadvertently being between dozens of cops and the person they were pursuing.

The cops that stormed the Johnson house to destroy evidence failed to comprehend that everyone has a camera these days -- like, say, the neighbor across the street who obtained this footage of the excessive force and the blitzkrieg of Omaha cops that followed.

Omaha.com has a timeline of the incident, which begins at 5:23 pm when an officer responds to a call to check on an unoccupied vehicle. Two hours later, the aunt is on the way to the hospital while three of the Johnson brothers are being booked on a variety of charges. All three have one charge in common: the rather meaningless "obstructing an officer."

The neighbor's recording made it impossible for the Omaha PD to sweep this under the rug (not that it didn't try). The officers' own admission that they had seized Jaquez Johnson's phone and erased his recording made it impossible for the department to pretend everything that happened was purely legal. In the end, four officers were fired for their involvement in this situation. As PINAC reported back in May, even the county attorney was unable to find anything less than damning to say about the incident.

“The conduct inside after the officers went inside (the house) is much more disturbing” than what’s on the YouTube video.

Kleine on memory card: He said the knowledge that the memory card was taken by Officer James Kinsella “comes from Officer Kinsella himself and what he said to other officers.”

Kleine: ”The officer’s conduct in taking that memory card is so out of line, it’s criminal conduct. We don’t know what’s on that memory card” and that’s what we want to find out.

On OPD trying to hide misbehavior: ”It’s of tremendous concern to the chief and it’s a concern to us. We can’t have this type of conduct. It’s a betrayal of public trust.”

Now the ACLU is joining the Johnson family in suing the city of Omaha, along with the 32 police officers involved.

Members of an Omaha family filed a lawsuit in federal court today alleging that excessive force and a warrantless search and seizure were used in response to a parking incident in March 2013. The Johnson family has never received compensation for the damages to their property or their medical expenses resulting from the incident. All charges against the Johnsons were dropped. An internal investigation resulted in the termination of four officers and criminal charges being brought against two of the officers for either tampering with evidence or being an accessory.

Unbelievably, the entire situation was ignited by nothing more than a parking violation. By the end of it, the Johnson house had been swarmed by Omaha police officers, something the ACLU claims is not simply a misuse of public funds but a clear violation of citizens' rights.

"Despite the fact that no crime, drugs, or weapons were involved, more than twenty officers arrived at the Johnson's home, invaded their privacy, confiscated their property and unnecessarily injured four members of the family," said cooperating attorney Diana Vogt. "You do not lose your right to be treated with respect by law enforcement simply because of where you live in Omaha or the color of your skin."

"Pulling over twenty officers away from other parts of the city should sound an alarm for taxpayers," said ACLU of Nebraska Legal Director Amy Miller. "Omaha Police have already been warned by the ACLU about their failure to respect the rights of those filming law enforcement. This incident further reinforces that independent oversight is needed to help evaluate training practices and provide for responses when officers depart from their training and standards."

According to the ACLU's statement, the Omaha PD's actions have generated several reports of officer misconduct and racial bias over the past few years. The PD also seems to have a problem understanding that citizens have a right to record on-duty officers. The ACLU hopes this lawsuit will help change the PD's underlying culture.

In the lawsuit, the Johnsons ask for monetary damages for their medical bills, damages to property, lost time from work and other expenses. Additionally, the ACLU hopes for punitive damages against four officers along with mandatory training for all OPD officers in de-escalation and First Amendment rights of those filming police.

The firing of the four officers directly involved with the destruction of evidence is a good start. The fact that this escalated from a parking violation to 20 officers storming a house is a clear indictment of the mindset guiding Omaha's law enforcement entities. At no point did anyone try to defuse the situation or ask themselves why 32 officers were needed to arrest one man disputing his vehicle being towed. Notably, the first call for backup went out solely because "people were coming out of the house." If that's all it takes to shake an officer's confidence, any arrest happening in public is going to be a problem -- both for the skittish officer(s) and for any citizens who happen to be in the area, especially if they're carrying cell phones or cameras.

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Filed Under: excessive force, omaha, police, warrantless search
Companies: aclu

79 Comments

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Ninja (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 5:03am

Imagine if he ran a cyberlocker were that people could be using to store infringing files? I suspect nothing less than the SEALS would be storming into the house shooting heavy caliber weaponry while military helicopters and vehicles would be surrounding the house.

Ahem.
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- That One Guy (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 5:41am
  
  Re:
  And for anyone who thinks such a scenario is so insane that it would never happen:
  
  Kim Dotcom.
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  - That One Guy (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 5:49am
    
    Doh
    ... and right after posting that, I realized that was exactly who you were referring to.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    
    out_of_the_blue, 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:47am
    
    Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
    Totally stoopid false justification ya made up there. It's SO typical of Techdirt's wacky fanboys to reach for ANY way to justify taking what don't belong to 'em.
    Where fanboys assert that multi-billion industries are doing it all wrong!
    
    02:46:15[c-117-6]
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - silverscarcat (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:58am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      What New Zealand law did Kim Dotcom break? As far as I know, he followed NZ law, and he followed DMCA requests and, hmm, the only time he DIDN'T take something down was because, *gasp* horror of horrors, he was COMPLYING with the police to keep up the infringing file so that they could get someone else.
      
      out_of_the_blue just hates it when the lies of the Copyfraud Alliance are exposed.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Dark Helmet (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:07am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
      "Where fanboys assert that multi-billion industries are doing it all wrong!"
      
      Let me see if I have this right:
      
      1. If multi-billion dollar industries are doing it, it's correct....
      
      and
      
      2. The rich are horrible people and we should take all their money away.
      
      You're the kind of enigma that doesn't deserve an answer....
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - That One Guy (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:19am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
        There's no enigma or puzzle, #2 is nothing more than an act, while #1 is what blue really believes.
        
        Words are cheap, actions are what matters, and while blue may constantly claim to hate the 'rich', other than his/her Google fixation(which could cure cancer and world hunger and blue would still be claiming they were satan incarnate), every time a rich company, group, or especially one of the *AA's get caught doing something underhanded, illegal, or quasi-legal, you can be sure blue will show up in an attempt to deflect attention away from, or defend, them.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Ninja (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:25am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
        Plus last time I checked the top10 US industries the overwhelming majority were tech companies. Which obviously translating in real multi-billion revenues as opposed to the copyright morons that actually do get into the billions realm but not enough to make it 'multi'.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        PaulT (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:41am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
        In terms of industry, entertainment seems to fall around 11th (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States#GDP_by_industry).
        
        In terms of company, the biggest **AA member I could see on a quick glance was Disney at #66, though I might have missed a conglomerate owner somewhere. (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2013/full_list/index.html?iid=F500_sp_full)
        
        So yeah, all this sycophantic behaviour isn't even sucking up to the profits of the most successful companies and industries, let alone justification for trying to destroy the businesses of more successful companies in the process.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:12am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
      "It's SO typical of Techdirt's wacky fanboys to reach for ANY way to justify taking what don't belong to 'em"
      
      Could you please highlight where Ninja justifies taking things that don't belong to him as I think I missed that bit? (please take note of the spellings of these English words).
      
      Also its worth noting that KDC has yet to be proven to have done anything illegal (that's how it works by the way, innocent until proven guilty).
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Ninja (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:26am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
        I was wondering where I hid that information too >.>
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - That One Guy (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:13am
      
      The irony, it burns!
      ...reach for ANY way to justify taking what don't belong to 'em.
      
      You mean like when Dotcom's mansion was illegally raided, a whole bunch of stuff was illegally taken, and all his assets were frozen and therefor taken from him? That kind of 'taking what don't belong to 'em'? Or does it only count when you like the person/group?
      
      Also, regarding your tagline/cheerleading act for those businesses you 'claim' to hate, a few numbers:
      
      Digital(Record industry)
      US Recording Industry Revenues from Online: $1.1 billion (2006), $1.7 billion (2007), $2.2 billion (2008), $2.5 billion (2009), $2.8 billion (2010), $3.0 billion (2011)
      
      Physical(Record industry)
      US Recording Industry Revenues from Physical: $9.7 billion (2006), $9.1 billion (2007), $8.0 billion (2008), $7.1 billion (2009), $6.4 billion (2010), $5.7 billion (2011)
      
      Digital(Overall)
      US Digital Music Revenues : $1.9 billion (2006), $2.8 billion (2007), $3.7 billion (2008), $4.5 billion (2009), $5.2 billion (2010), $5.7 billion (2011)
      
      'Billion dollar industries', for now, if those groups you love and adore so much don't get their act together, it's only a matter of time until they are thrown in the dustbin and replaced by those that can adapt.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Ninja (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:35am
        
        Re: The irony, it burns!
        Wow so their revenue is even tinier than I thought (see my comment above). I'd guess they do have more spare money to throw at lobbying and propaganda though.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 9:50am
        
        Re: Re: The irony, it burns!
        Seriously, the Wrigley company, another old school player in another industry pulls in 6 billion alone from sales of chewing gum worldwide. And that's just one candy company.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - PaulT (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:16am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
      Nobody justified Dotcom's alleged crimes, they only made a comment implying criticism of the over-the-top military-style raid on an alleged non-violent criminal. Even if he is 100% guilty of the crimes he was accused of committing, this doesn't absolve the clearly documented violations of rights and laws committed by the enforcement officials themselves nor the ridiculous waste of resources in the capture.
      
      Yet again - ootb is so averse to reality, he has to create a fictional opinion for others in order to attack them. Sadly, the new year didn't provide medication for you to suppress your fantasies and hallucinations.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Ninja (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:38am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
      I'll reply to you this time.
      
      Where fanboys assert that multi-billion industries are doing it all wrong!
      
      Nokia was insanely huge, had the unquestionable lead in the mobile market. And they were doing it wrong. It's just that nobody was doing it right to overcome Nokia.
      
      Just because you make billions because of being an established industry it does not mean you are doing it right. Or even if you did it right at the beginning if you fail to adapt to new developments the right will inevitably become the wrong.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - PaulT (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:54am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
        Indeed. Just because you do the right thing to get to the top, that doesn't mean that you're doing the right thing to stay there forever. Criticising the latter in terms of a currently successful company doesn't mean you're denying the reality of the former. Market conditions and competition change constantly, and you never stay successful by pretending that you can tread water forever.
        
        Yet another basic logical concept that ootb fails to comprehend, rendering his argument a strawman at best. What a shock.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:57am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
        My dad has a nice book on that sort of subject of well established companies doing it wrong. It had three examples it covered fairly in depth.
        
        One was a manufacturer of heavy digging equipment. Backhoes and the like that used cables. They basically ignored changes in the market and technology until one day hydraulic backhoes improved to the point that the two began competing for the same market demand, and the cable technology lost out big time to the hydraulic technology.
        
        So yeah, established, successful companies can totally screw up and be doing it all wrong when technology changes the market.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        PRMan, 9 Jan 2014 @ 4:40pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
        But do you know how many cables they had in their warehouse?!? They couldn't WASTE them all! ;)
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Ruben, 9 Jan 2014 @ 9:43am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
      Where fanboys assert that multi-billion industries are doing it all wrong!
      
      Doesn't that summarize your position on Google?
      
      I expect nothing less from a Nazi loving hypocrite.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Dave, 10 Jan 2014 @ 2:05pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Police breaking laws in NO WAY justifies Kim Dotcom breaking laws!
      What has Dotcom got to do with this particular article? Typical OOTB in trying to bring his mindless copyright rants and raves in to ANY item that is nothing to do with alleged piracy. I may be wrong but it's my understanding that Mr. Dotcom has not been brought to trial, much less charged with anything, so it would appear that the accusation that he is "breaking laws" would appear to be totally unjustified, if not slanderous. If this comment were to appear during any trial outside of a courtroom, I would guess it might qualify for a judge's attention. OOTB, do NOT set yourself up as judge and jury. This point always seems to escape whatever pea-sized remnant of a brain you appear to have.
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- Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:07am
  
  Re:
  Well, they're black so they already got VIP treatment. It's probably about on par with if they were running a cyberlocker. It just would have been feds instead of locals.
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  - angeli, 9 Jan 2014 @ 11:55am
    
    Re: Re:
    Police did this to me raided my house as I just moved in it 1 week prior without warrant. Gave an excuse that a baby was being harmed. Had swat team and heli's shining lights in my windows. Too many cops I couldn't count. I and my other half was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Had no furniture at that time, to hear pounding on my door. They treated us just like that. Catch was they found NOTHING and asked where the baby is. I told them there is no babies yet. I was 4mths pregnant with twins. They left doors all the way open, and broke items,and made such a seen. I was so angry at the columbus, oh police department.
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    - John Fenderson (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 1:20pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      I hope, at a minimum, you sued them for the damage to your stuff.
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  - angeli, 9 Jan 2014 @ 11:57am
    
    Re: Re:
    Btw I am white, so it really doesn't matter what color skin you are. They plainly think they deserve so much control and respect when it's clear most of them do not.
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That One Guy (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 5:57am

12 police cars worth of officers for two people... 'Pathetic' would be putting it mildly.

I do have to wonder though, did the neighbor who's video provided such solid evidence receive a 'visit' or two one it became clear just who'd filmed the police playing 'SWAT team'? Given the cops broke into a house to steal a phone and delete evidence once, I'm sure it was only the fact that the video was already public that would have saved the person who took it a similar 'visit'.
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- R.H. (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:10am
  
  Re:
  This is part of the reason that all of my pictures and videos are automatically uploaded to a couple different locations as soon as they are taken. It's murder on my battery life but, after hearing all of this, I feel that a bit of paranoia is alright.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:05am

Omaha Police Force: Maybe if we called parking violations "terrorism" we could get away with it...
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:07am

Good thing they didn't have any glitter in the house.
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- Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:10am
  
  Re:
  http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131218/18215925613/oklahoma-cops-think-falling-glitter-might-be-b iochemical-attack-book-protesters-terrorist-hoax-charges-when-it-isnt.shtml
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
DannyB (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:11am

This is why
This is why everyone needs an app that immediately uploads video to a secure place where your friends can get to it in case your camera device is destroyed and you become inaccessible.

The abuses of police are only going to get worse not better.
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- lucidrenegade (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:22am
  
  Re: This is why
  The ACLU already has an app that does this for Android. Not sure about iOS.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - PaulT (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:30am
    
    Re: Re: This is why
    I don't know about a secure app in that manner, but if you have iCloud turned on in iOS7, it automatically syncs your photo stream (i.e. any new photos you take) to your iCloud account. I'm not sure if the default will work if you don't have a wifi connection or how much delay there is between taking the photo and it uploading, but I bet some people have this activated without realising.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - limbodog (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:41am
    
    Re: Re: This is why
    I believe that app only does audio (I have it for my iphone)
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- Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 11:57am
  
  Re: This is why
  https://openwatch.net
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 3:01pm
    
    Re: Re: This is why
    Their ssl cert has expired (or hijacked).
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 1:54pm
  
  Re: This is why
  The NSA has copies of everything.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 4:35pm
  
  Re: This is why
  Just So long the server is out-side the US. (sad really)
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Ed (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:16am

And they wonder why trust of police is declining... I'm a white, middle-aged man and I've had several family members who are/were police officers. But, in the last few years my trust of police has gone down to zero. I do not trust them to have my best interest at heart. I do not trust them to be honest.
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- madasahatter (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:29am
  
  Re:
  Agree to an extent. I think the problem is often with the local leadership. If the local leadership will not tolerate the Gestapo tactics and behavior then these problems generally do not occur. However, if they do tolerate Gestapo tactics this what eventually results. Also, once trust is destroyed it takes a lot of effort to rebuild it.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - DannyB (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:07am
    
    Re: Re:
    One thing I learned from Babylon 5 was that nobody looks in the mirror and sees a monster.
    
    They all think they are doing something good. They have their rationalizations, false perceptions, etc. How do you combat that?
    
    Gestapo tactics may be at least partly due to a strong "us vs them" mentality the police and its leadership have against the citizenry. This could be due to the fact that they work with some of the worst and most despicable human vermin that we don't generally see.
    
    The problem is that they then get to thinking that everyone who is not in the police department is part of "them".
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 8:37am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      One thing I learned from Babylon 5 was that nobody looks in the mirror and sees a monster.
      
      I think this is true for most. I can just imagine the people who work for the NSA feel they are doing their patriotic duty.
      
      What I can't understand, is how the police who closed down two hotels on the Blue Ridge Parkway and kicked an elderly couple out of their home during the government shutdown view themselves. I hope they see a monster every time they look in a mirror for the rest of their lives.
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      - John Fenderson (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 9:09am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        I can just imagine the people who work for the NSA feel they are doing their patriotic duty.
        
        I am absolutely certain that this is true, and it makes me sad.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - DogBreath, 9 Jan 2014 @ 9:32am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        I think this is true for most. I can just imagine the people who work for the NSA feel they are doing their patriotic duty.
        
        Seem to be using the same tactics as the Nightwatch, who thought they were also doing their patriotic duty.
        
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3VA9pZ_kY0
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McCrea (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:18am

Standard Operating Procedure
Cops were slacking. Can't imagine why they didn't shoot the dogs.
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- JT, 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:12am
  
  Re: Standard Operating Procedure
  Pretty sure i heard 'Shoot that fucking dog' from one of the cops when it barked at him (around 3:30). Obviously these cops have never come across dogs before so think that barking is like, a deadly attack or something.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:36am

you'd think there was a donut(doughnut) give away in that house..
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- athe, 9 Jan 2014 @ 8:50pm
  
  Re:
  Sh!t really hit the fan though when the cops realised the homeowners were out of coffee for dunkin'...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:48am

Can any one explain why US police hunt in packs, like wild dogs? It is a sure recipe for escalating a situation.
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- silverscarcat (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 3:59pm
  
  Re:
  Despite how this is, cops call for backup because they have NO idea how the suspect will react.
  
  Sometimes, like this time, they go completely overboard.
  
  Othertimes, however, you have suspects who struggle and thrash and can end up hurting either themselves or the officer, so they want backup just in case.
  
  I, myself, am around 6 feet tall and over 230 lbs. Do you think that it would be easy for a cop to take me down without resorting to their weapons if I put up a fight? And, let's be frank, if someone throws a punch at you, unless you've got your hand on your weapon and are lightning fast, you don't have time to pull out a billy club or mace.
  
  If I start thrashing and struggling, I could do some real damage to a police officer if it was just one person.
  
  Yes, it shouldn't require more than 2, but sometimes you find people on PCP or are on some other drug and whatnot.
  
  While that doesn't excuse the actions of bad cops, you have to understand why cops end up in packs like they do. There was no need for this response level from them for a video though.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 10 Jan 2014 @ 2:55am
    
    Re: Re:
    The response to that incident was not the provision of backup, it was a gathering of a pack. Far too many cops arrived, either because there was no one controlling the response, or because they decided to ignore the dispatchers. There is a pattern of this sort of behaviour like here and here. Calling for and receiving back-up is one thing, an overly aggressive and out of control pack is a very different thing, and the latter is something that should not happen in a disciplined police force.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - silverscarcat (profile), 11 Jan 2014 @ 9:16am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      I agree, this didn't seem like one of the "do not go without a lot of backup" places.
      
      http://www.cracked.com/article_20841_5-things-i-learned-as-cop-that-movies-wont-show-you.html - read more here from an ex-cop.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:17am

This should be framed as ACLU file suit against criminals that work for the police force.
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Spodula, 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:31am

I'm encouraged..
that 4 officers actually got fired over this. It usually seems to be impossible to get police officers fired, even under the worst of circumstances.

Still, its not nearly enough...
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- spodula, 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:35am
  
  Re: I'm encouraged..
  Ooh its better than that. Two of them are facing Felony evidence tampering charges. Thats practically unheard of.
  
  Saying that, i wonder if i'm being to cynical thinking "Scapegoat".
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- That One Guy (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:44am
  
  Re: I'm encouraged..
  While it's nice to see a case where the officers(at least some of them) are actually punished for going so far over the line, I can't help but wonder how different things would have gone if this video hadn't been taken, and it came down to how the cops spun the events('well the first guy was violently resisting, and even took a swing at me, so I had to gently restrain him for his own safety'), vs how the ones they arrested described the events.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 10:15am
    
    Re: Re: I'm encouraged..
    Not only wouldn't the cops have gotten in any trouble at ALL, but the poor guy who parked in the wrong place would be in jail for 10 years.
    
    Nothing like ruining the lives of a whole family to cover up that you are a dickhead.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:45am

'The fact that this escalated from a parking violation to 20 officers storming a house is a clear indictment of the mindset guiding Omaha's law enforcement entities'

and this only happens in Omaha, huh?

yeah! right!!
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- nasch (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 8:03am
  
  Re:
  and this only happens in Omaha, huh?
  
  I missed where he said that, can you point it out?
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 8:33am

All laws are ultimately enforced by a guy with a gun
All laws are ultimately enforced by a guy with a gun so every law should have to pass a sniff test as to whether it is worth shooting and/or killing someone over.
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- nasch (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 9:42am
  
  Re: All laws are ultimately enforced by a guy with a gun
  All laws are ultimately enforced by a guy with a gun so every law should have to pass a sniff test as to whether it is worth shooting and/or killing someone over.
  
  You're in favor of repealing all laws that could not justifiably involve a homicide?
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 8:47am

Police State
If you've ever doubted that America is a Police State... and always has been...
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Marcel Popescu (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 8:49am

SO WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO START SHOOTING THEM?
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Quiet Lurcker, 9 Jan 2014 @ 9:20am

And this is news?
I remember this case. And I saw the aftermath of the questionable shooting by OPD of a cousin of the victim.

This is nothing new, as far as OPD are concerned.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 9:24am

I clearly saw an incredibly vicious looking 40lb dog lunge at and menace the officers, they showed considerable restraint in not fearing for their lives and having to shoot such a vicious animal while in pursuit of such hardened criminals.

/sarcasm.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 9:38am

No comment this time?
Gee, I wonder where our resident cop-apologist asshole Christopher is on this one?
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David, 9 Jan 2014 @ 9:54am

Omaha police
If I was a taxpayer in Omaha I would be seriously questioning whether the police were extremely over-staffed if they were able to find all those officers for a minor incident. someone has to be paying for them. Guess who!
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Daemon_ZOGG, 9 Jan 2014 @ 10:10am

"ACLU Sues City Of Omaha, 32 Police Officers For Use Of Excessive Force.."
I refuse to believe any notion that this was the first time something like this has happened with OPD. That said, the OPD police chief should be publicly fired. The chief had to have already known about other previous incidents. A severe lack of proper leadership. And piss-poor personnel training. The fired officers should not be re-hired by the OPD at any future date. I fully agree with ACLU lawsuit.
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- BeeAitch (profile), 10 Jan 2014 @ 4:32pm
  
  Re: "ACLU Sues City Of Omaha, 32 Police Officers For Use Of Excessive Force.."
  The fired officers should not be re-hired by the OPD at any future date.
  
  The fired officers should not be re-hired by anyPD at any future date.
  
  FTFY
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Michael, 9 Jan 2014 @ 10:36am

"Unbelievably" sadly all too believably these days.
"Unbelievably"; sadly all too believably these days. A clear indication that various 'war on (segment of general population' and 'tough on crime' (irrespective of the type, lack of intent to harm, etc) has succeeded in creating the biggest organized gang of all time; the police.
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TheRules, 9 Jan 2014 @ 12:45pm

The cops broke several sacred rules during their home invasion:

Rule Number One:

ALWAYS SHOOT THE DOG. Always. Without hesitation. It's (pre-emptive) self-defense. No cop has ever been punished for killing someone's dog. (though a civilian defending herself against a police dog that's ripping her arm to bloody shreds commits a felony offense, as these trained attack dogs are deputized law enforcement officers)

Rule Number Two:

ALWAYS FIND SOMETHING ILLEGAL to justify a warrant-less search, especially a violent one. Drugs and guns are the standard choice. Ideally, the cop who finds it should not be the same cop who plants it.
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Cowards Anonymous, 9 Jan 2014 @ 1:21pm

OPD sure sounds like they're part of a loosely-organized hybrid gang rapidly expanding into many US communities to me. Time to add them to the FBI's National Gang Threat Assessment report.
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Sambo, 9 Jan 2014 @ 1:27pm

But it's all ok.

As the police are a Government dept, as such they have both oversight and checks & balances in place to prevent this kind of thing happening.

This must have been one of those accidental/inadvertent abuses of power.

Or something.
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ThePirate, 9 Jan 2014 @ 1:59pm

All of you pussy ass pigs in Omaha are all pieces of F'N shit so FUCK YOU MF'ers it is the opinion of some people that hopefully one day you pigs rush up on a house and are met with deadly force by the law abiding gun owning occupants standing up for their god given right to defend life and property and someone fucks up all you punk ass pigs. 25 pigs to handle 3 people in this video? Ever heard of the term abuse of power and police brutality? Because it is very clear from the video that Omaha police abused their F'N authority and I hope it cost you F'N Omaha assholes MILLIONS in the end. I don't care IF you assholes you don't like this comment because this is 1st amendment constitutionally protected freedom of speech
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:30pm

I suspect all this happened because the victim didn't "respect" the officer's "authority". Nothing pisses off an officer more than failure to respect his authority.
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- That One Guy (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 6:47pm
  
  Re:
  That may have been why the first guy was slammed to the pavement(seriously, watch the vid, the cop twisted him around and threw him onto the road), but the main reason the second person was targeted was to get rid of any 'inconvenient' footage they might have.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Jan 2014 @ 3:35am

Firing is not enough
Their conduct was downright criminal. They should be doing time in high security prison like all violent members of organized crime.
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Dan Nord, 6 Feb 2014 @ 12:15am

Omaha homes for sale
Get a Free Home Evaluation of your Omaha Real Estate. Search all Homes For Sale Omaha NE and Omaha homes for sale . Get advice from trusted Omaha Realtors.
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James Dean Foley, 19 Dec 2014 @ 1:18pm

Additional Defendant's
This was clearly an act of Domestic Terrorism perpetrated by the Omaha Police Department against American Citizens. When are we as citizens going to be protected from these scumbag terrorists? I didn't write Section 802 of the U.S. Patriot Act, I just follow it. It clearly defines this activity as being Domestic Terrorism. The ACLU should be adding US Attorney Gilg and deadbeat Kliene to the list of Defendants since they're handling the officers with kid gloves. Pathetic!!
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