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Springettsbury Police Chief: Police brutality allegations investigation will be 'open and transparent'
Three officers have been placed on administrative desk duty during the investigation.
On Tuesday morning, Springettsbury Township Police Chief Thomas Hyers said he hadn't yet been formally served with the lawsuits filed last week against his department alleging two instances of police brutality.
But he chose to call a news conference to address them, saying he was concerned about how the public perceives his department.
"The fact that we're being open and diligent in this investigation should build confidence in this department," he said.
The cases involve the arrests of two people - Debra Williams in April 2011 and Steven Landis in August 2012 - recorded by video cameras onboard township police cruisers.
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| A handful of people showed up along Mount Zion Road outside the Springettsbury Township Police Department during Tuesday's news conference to protest alleged police brutality. (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- PAUL KUEHNEL) |
"I think they speak for themselves," Hyers said of the videos, "and now the matter is under investigation."
Hyers pledged that the investigation, conducted independently by the York County District Attorney's office and state police, would be "open and transparent."
"We choose to be open and transparent with everyone," Hyers, a 31-year police veteran, said. "That's how we operate our department, an open book."
The case, he said, "gives us the opportunity to gauge the performance of our officers out on the street."
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| Officer Gregory Hadfield, named Officer of the Year for 2006-2007, was one of those named in a lawsuit alleging police brutality. The suit accuses him of punching a woman in custody at least two times in the face and upper body and grabbing her neck. (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- PAUL KUEHNEL) |
That wasn't enough for attorney Devon Jacob, representing Williams and Landis in their suits.
"The videos themselves are probable cause to arrest the police officers," said Jacob, a former State College police officer and deputy attorney general who has represented police in the past. "When a suspect is handcuffed in the back of the police car, that's the end of it."
Jacob is not confident that the district attorney's office can conduct an impartial investigation, saying the district attorney "has already taken sides" by prosecuting his clients.
Williams pleaded guilty to assault - related to the original domestic dispute that led to her encounter with police that night - in return for having resisting arrest and other charges dismissed.
Landis still faces charges of resisting arrest and other offenses related to the warrant police were serving when he was arrested. At the time, he was being sought by Northern York County Regional Police on a warrant related to a domestic dispute.
In Landis' case, Jacob said a family member went to police a day or two after his arrest - while Landis was still in the hospital with five broken ribs - to lodge a complaint.
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| Springettsbury Township Police Chief Thomas Hyers says Tuesday March 19, 2013 that allegations of police brutality leveled against his department, outlined in two civil rights suits filed last week and accompanied by videos showing officers striking two citizens, would be investigated in an "open and transparent" manner at the department. (Daily Record/Sunday News -- Paul Kuehnel) |
"If this happened in State College, these officers wouldn't be on the street. They would have been charged," Jacob said. "If anything, I'm trying to better the police department. These officers shouldn't be on the street."
District Attorney Tom Kearney, speaking later Tuesday, said in the Williams case, the charge she pleaded guilty to was related to the domestic incident. Charges related to conduct in the police car were dismissed.
In that case, his office did not prosecute Williams on any charges related to the alleged police brutality so he doesn't believe his office took any stand on the police brutality allegations.
Addressing the assertion that he would not be impartial, Kearney said, "As a practical matter, every time there is a police incident, the community has elected me to make a decision based on the evidence. I don't see this as a conflict. I will make the best decision I can based on the evidence presented to me."
Since the videos provide the most compelling evidence in the case, Hyers said he's been asked several times whether he regrets having cameras in his department's cruisers.
"Not at all," he said. "The cameras did exactly what they're supposed to do - record our police officers and the people they have contact with."
In protest
Outside the Springettsbury Township Police Department, along Mount Zion Road Tuesday, a half-dozen protesters held up signs that read, "Stop Police Brutality."
One of the protesters, Steven Kline, 28, of Yoe, said police should be able to defend themselves, but in the cases that are subjects of the lawsuits, he believes they went too far.
"In reality, you shouldn't be able to go online and put in 'police brutality' and call up 10,000 videos of police brutality, just in Pennsylvania," he said. "It's not right. I'm out here because I want my son to grow up in a safe world and learn that he should respect the police, not be afraid of them."
Watch the full version of both videos below.
Editor's note: This video contains strong language.
More
Two lawsuits allege police brutality. See the videos.
Check out York County's crime map
Read other local and national crime stories
Read York County's 911 Log
Veteran crime reporter Rick Lee's court blog
Who is in York County Prison today?
http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_22821798/springettsbury-police-chief-address-allegations-police-brutality?source=most_viewed
Man who didn't rob White Jewelers wants charges dropped
Attorney for Deaundre Blount argues there is no evidence trio planned to rob White Jewelers.
The attorney for Deaundre T. Blount, who remains in York County Prison
in lieu of $100,000 bail, filed the motion for dismissal Monday in
Common Pleas Court.
York Area Regional Police arrested Blount, 23, and Harold A. Dorman, 26, both of Washington, D.C., and Johann B. Campbell, 35, of Temple Hills, Md., outside of White Jewelers in October after receiving a dispatch concerning three suspicious men.
The jewelry store in the 200 block of St. Charles Way had been robbed by several men in July. Owner John White was shot three times and one of the robbers apparently was shot by his own partner.
Three months later, an obviously nervous employee pushed the silent alarm after deciding Campbell, who was in the store negotiating the price of a watch, "was suspicious in nature," Blount's attorney, Kevin Hoffman, said in his brief.
While police were responding to that alarm, Hoffman said, Blount and Dorman were next door at the UPS store.
Police stopped Campbell as he left the jewelry store and asked him for identification, according to reports. Campbell replied "No" and tried to flee, dropping a handgun in the process. He was taken into custody.
Because of call about three suspicious men, officers then stopped Blount and Dorman. Hoffman said both men were frisked and police found pepper spray and gloves on Blount. Blount also gave officers a false name.
Hoffman is arguing that, according to information provided him by the prosecution in discovery materials, there was;
--- No threat made by Campbell to the jewelry store employees;
--- No theft from the store;
--- No overt step taken by any of the defendants to commit a robbery;
--- And no evidence to link Campbell to Blount.
A hearing on Blount's request for to dismiss the charges is scheduled for April 19 in the county Judicial Center before Judge Gregory M. Snyder.
http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_22826426/man-who-didnt-rob-white-jewelers-wants-charges?source=most_viewed
York Area Regional Police arrested Blount, 23, and Harold A. Dorman, 26, both of Washington, D.C., and Johann B. Campbell, 35, of Temple Hills, Md., outside of White Jewelers in October after receiving a dispatch concerning three suspicious men.
The jewelry store in the 200 block of St. Charles Way had been robbed by several men in July. Owner John White was shot three times and one of the robbers apparently was shot by his own partner.
Three months later, an obviously nervous employee pushed the silent alarm after deciding Campbell, who was in the store negotiating the price of a watch, "was suspicious in nature," Blount's attorney, Kevin Hoffman, said in his brief.
While police were responding to that alarm, Hoffman said, Blount and Dorman were next door at the UPS store.
Police stopped Campbell as he left the jewelry store and asked him for identification, according to reports. Campbell replied "No" and tried to flee, dropping a handgun in the process. He was taken into custody.
Because of call about three suspicious men, officers then stopped Blount and Dorman. Hoffman said both men were frisked and police found pepper spray and gloves on Blount. Blount also gave officers a false name.
Hoffman is arguing that, according to information provided him by the prosecution in discovery materials, there was;
--- No threat made by Campbell to the jewelry store employees;
--- No theft from the store;
--- No overt step taken by any of the defendants to commit a robbery;
--- And no evidence to link Campbell to Blount.
A hearing on Blount's request for to dismiss the charges is scheduled for April 19 in the county Judicial Center before Judge Gregory M. Snyder.
http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_22826426/man-who-didnt-rob-white-jewelers-wants-charges?source=most_viewed
2 legislators hope to lure gunmakers to Pennsylvania
Representatives Seth Grove, R-Dover Township, and Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler County, issued a joint news release Monday that announces they are reaching out to several out-of-state gun and gun component makers, including Beretta, Magpul and Remington, and encouraging them to move to the Keystone State.
"We'll be more than happy to have additional manufacturing," Grove said. "Pennsylvania is known all over the country for clinging to its guns, and it's time that we use this reputation to our advantage."
In reaching out to the companies, Pennsylvania has joined a long list of states that have already done so.
Hopeful: With a high number of gun owners and supporters of the Second Amendment and a pending bill would make any new federal gun control laws unenforceable in Pennsylvania, Metcalfe said, the state is a good fit for gun manufactures.
"With America's single largest per capita representation of National Rifle Association members and more than one million licensed hunters and anglers ... Pennsylvania is a natural fit for any of our nation's major producers of guns, ammunition or accessories that are currently looking for a new home," Metcalfe said.
Of the three companies, Grove said it would be logical for Accokeek, Md.-based Beretta USA Corp. to move north of the Mason-Dixon Line, hopefully to York County where "world-class employees" reside.
In light of the Maryland legislature's advancement of a ban on assault weapons coupled with Beretta's history of moving operations, Grove said the company could opt to move out of the state.
West Virginia and Virginia are also looking to capitalize on the company's dissatisfaction with the measure.
Jeff Reh, a member of the Board of Directors for Beretta U.S.A. Corp. testified last month before Maryland state officials that Beretta has two other companies in Maryland that import or sell firearms. Together, the companies employ about 400 people in the state. Reh also noted that the companies are projected to pay about $31 million in taxes to the state from 1997 to 2014.
Reh testified that the nearly 500-year history of the Beretta family shows commitment to the community in which it locates its business. The state, however, isn't reciprocating by advancing the gun-control bill, he said.
"Instead we are confronted with a state government that wants to ban our products at a time, by the way, when numerous other state governments are courting our investment," Reh said in written testimony to a Senate panel. "It is worth noting that these states also do not try to blame a product for human misconduct."
Unlikely: Grove cast doubts that Colorado-based Magpul and Remington Arms, based in New York state, would move to Pennsylvania. Remington, which makes guns and ammunition and employs about 1,000, has been based in the same town for more than 200 years.
Pennsylvania is one of a number of state to approach the company after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law regulations earlier this year that have been touted as the "toughest gun control laws in the nation."
Magpul, which makes gun components, including high-capacity ammunition magazines, threatened to leave the state if it bans individuals from owning magazines with more than 15 rounds. The company employees 200 people.
Since the company is nearly across the country, Grove said its unlikely Magpul would move east to Pennsylvania.
Metcalfe and Grove are also calling on Pennsylvanians who support gun rights to attend the state's annual Second Amendment Action Day on Tuesday, April 23 at 10 a.m. in the State Capitol Rotunda.
Supporters can also sign the Armed Pennsylvania: Say to No Gun Control petition by visiting RepMetcalfe.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. - Reach Greg Gross at ggross@yorkdispatch.com.
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/ci_22818905/2-legislators-hope-lure-gunmakers-pennsylvania?source=most_viewed
Freedom Outpost
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Artist Makes Portrait Of Former Pope ... Out of 17,000 Condoms
When Niki Johnson, an artist in Milwaukee, heard former Pope Benedict XVI say in 2009 that using condoms could increase the AIDS epidemic in Africa, her creative juices started flowing.
"I just thought, whoa," Johnson told The Huffington Post in an interview. "'I need to do something.'"
The 25-year-old responded with "Eggs Benedict" -- a portrait of the Roman Catholic leader created with 17,000 colored, non-lubricated condoms.
Through this, she hopes to take aim at the church's stance on using condoms, but also promote sexual diversity and a more open discussion about sexual health.
The entire project took 270 hours spread over three years to complete, Johnson estimated -- 135 hours individually opening the condoms, laying them out and planning, and 135 hours threading them through wire mesh. She finished in late 2012 and plans to display the piece in about a month but hasn't worked out the details yet.
The Vatican never retracted the former pope's 2009 statement, but in 2010, in an interview for the German book, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times, Benedict said that while condoms are not a moral solution to stopping AIDS, in some cases using them could represent a first step in assuming moral responsibility "in the intention of reducing the risk of infection."
Church doctrine still forbids artificial birth control, but Benedict's 2010 statement was significant because it addressed a taboo topic.
Johnson's more than aware of the varying opinions surrounding the church's position.
Backlash from "Eggs Benedict," started when Shorewood Patch reported on the project on Tuesday.
"I find people's anger toward it very interesting," she told HuffPost. "Someone said that if I'd made a portrait of Muhammad, I'd have been stoned or something. I just thought, but the great thing about this country is that we have a freedom of expression and we can stand up for what we believe in."
Of course, the piece is meant to be controversial, she added, but it's more than that.
"I see it as an inclusive piece," she said. "Yes, it says something about the church's position on sexuality, but it also embraces diversity with humor and irony."
Johnson chose to use condoms to promote discussing sexuality in general. When you view the portrait from the front, she said, you can't even tell they're condoms. But from the back, you can.
"Condoms aren't things that people typically break out in their houses or discuss openly with their children," she said. "I think the portrait demystifies the condom and makes it about something other than just sex."
Johnson said her choice to use several colored condoms, sometimes layering them to make new hews, also promotes diversity in sexuality -- the portrait is quite literally "very rainbow."
Johnson said she hopes people take away the beauty of the portrait, while also being inspired to start making a change.
"The church and other world leaders should do a lot more," she said in regards to HIV and AIDS prevention. "People need to start thinking about embracing sex health."
H/T Shorewood Patch
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/20/niki-johnson-condoms-pope-benedict-portrait_n_2916024.html
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