WTF is misdemeanor reckless endangerment?! How is that even a thing?
this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2023
168 points (98.8% liked)
THE POLICE PROBLEM
2479 readers
213 users here now
The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.
99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.
When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.
When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."
When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.
Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.
The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.
All this is a path to a police state.
In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.
Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.
That's the solution.
♦ ♦ ♦
Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.
♦ ♦ ♦
RULES
① Real-life decorum is expected. Please don't say things only a child or a jackass would say in person.
② If you're here to support the police, you're trolling. Please exercise your right to remain silent.
③ Saying ~~cops~~ ANYONE should be killed lowers the IQ in any conversation. They're about killing people; we're not.
④ Please don't dox or post calls for harassment, vigilantism, tar & feather attacks, etc.
Please also abide by the instance rules.
It you've been banned but don't know why, check the moderator's log. If you feel you didn't deserve it, hey, I'm new at this and maybe you're right. Send a cordial PM, for a second chance.
♦ ♦ ♦
ALLIES
• r/ACAB
♦ ♦ ♦
INFO
• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Killings by law enforcement in Canada
• Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• Killings by law enforcement in the United States
• Know your rights: Filming the police
• Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)
• Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.
• Police lie under oath, a lot
• Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak
• Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street
• Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
• When the police knock on your door
♦ ♦ ♦
ORGANIZATIONS
• NAACP
• National Police Accountability Project
• Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
9News not allowing access outside of the US...FYI. No GDPR there
Pablo Vazquez, who parked his police unit on train tracks with a woman inside, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge as part of a plea deal. Author: Jeremy Jojola Published: 11:56 AM MST December 5, 2023 Updated: 7:38 PM MST December 5, 2023 GREELEY, Colo. — As a woman continues to recover with substantial physical injuries after getting hit by a train while in a police car, the officer who parked on train tracks during a traffic stop pleaded guilty on Tuesday to misdemeanor reckless endangerment.
The incident happened near Fort Lupton in September 2022. Pablo Vazquez, who was an officer for Platteville at the time, pulled over Yareni Rios on suspicion of road rage with a gun.
Vazquez parked his unit on train tracks during the traffic stop, while former Fort Lupton Police Officer Jordan Steinke placed Rios in the back of the police unit. Shortly after, a freight train collided with the police unit while Rios was handcuffed inside.
Rios survived the collision but suffered numerous broken ribs, a broken leg, a broken back and a traumatic brain injury. She has a pending lawsuit against Platteville and Fort Lupton.
Credit: Yareni Rios A photo of Yareni Rios before she was hit by a freight train while detained in a police vehicle. Vazquez was originally charged with five misdemeanor counts and pleaded guilty to one count of reckless endangerment on Tuesday in Weld County District Court.
A judge sentenced Vazquez to 12 months of unsupervised probation. If Vazquez stays out of legal trouble for the next year, the misdemeanor charge will be dismissed and the case will be sealed.
Vazquez gave the judge a very brief statement about what happened that night.
"Unfortunately the sequence of events occurred and one thing happened right after the other. That’s all I have to say, your honor," Vazquez said.
Attorney Christopher Ponce, who represents Rios, called the outcome of the sentencing “disappointing,” adding his client wished there was more of a permanent conviction.
"For her, the most important thing is that he just not go back to policing. I think for the sake of the community and for the sake of any other potential future person who might come into contact with him, I think that is the hope and that is yet to be seen," Ponce said.
Tuesday's guilty plea will not impact Vazquez's police certification, meaning it's possible he could be hired as an officer by another agency.
Vazquez is not working as an officer. He declined to comment to 9NEWS further after the hearing.
This summer, Steinke was convicted of misdemeanor assault and subsequently fired from the police department after a criminal trial.
A few free ways around paywalls, region-blocking, adblock-blocking, and URL glitches:
• archive.today
slow-loading, virtually unreadable without adblocker
• Ghostarchive
poor layout, spotty uptime
• Google Cache
frequently fails, but reliably captures video when it works
• Internet Archive (Wayback Machine)
slow-loading, but works
• One Foot Away
poor layout, quick-loading, spotty uptime
• 12-Foor Ladder
poor layout, quick-loading, spotty uptime, blocks major newspapers
If there are other workarounds, please let me know.
This stupid fuck should be in a cage for 10+ years.
No. The shitbag pig should be in general population and get shanked in the showers.