Author: scott prell

Perfect Example of the Damage to Police from a Progressive Prosecutor – Commentary

Incident

This is one copy of the video of the incident found on Twitter. The incident allegedly began with an argument between Jeremy Brown and Carlishia Hood. The argument escalated with Brown punching Carlishia Hood. Apparently Carlishia Hood was able to contact her 14 year old son to bring her firearm and come in the hotdog stand to help her. The son entered the establishment saw the altercation and shot Brown. The according to news reports (below) Carlishia Hood instructed her 14 year old son to go after and continue to shoot Brown and then attack another patron that was laughing during the incident.

The Arrest

There was a decision to Arrest Carlishia Hood and her 14 year old son. I don’t know all the facts in the case but I can see how Chicago PD (CPD) made this decision. The main issue is Carlishia Hood having her 14 year old son shoot Brown and then when the threat stopped have her son continue to pursue Brown and kill Brown. Then if the allegation is true to have he 14 year old son to attack a second person for laughing during the incident, which was asked but didn’t happen.

It makes sense that CPD would arrest Carlishia Hood and her 14 son for the death of Brown and then Carlishia Hood for endangering the welfare of her 14 year old child. Then the prosecutor would prepare a case against Carlishia Hood and then it becomes the defendant’s burden to raise the motion of self-defense and prove it. By the prosecutor dropping the case it opens up the police officers involved and police department to a lawsuit even though they acted lawfully when they made the arrest.

Keep in mind that (this is only looking at the video) Carlishia Hood had to text her 14 year old son to get the gun before she was punched. No one reacted in the video by leaving or running away until the 14 year old son shot Brown. Was anyone in fear of their life?

Video about the arrest: https://wgntv.com/news/chicagocrime/woman-14-year-old-charge-in-fatal-shooting-on-far-south-side/

Charges dropped

This is an example of a slippery slope for police that Progressive Prosecutors artificially create. This is an example of one instance that police act lawfully and the prosecutor should have followed through with the charges, however they drop the charges leaving police officers and the police department exposed to civil liability. It appears that the police officers acted improperly, but they didn’t.

There are other examples like when Progressive Prosecutors make their own special policy on which crimes or under what circumstances they will prosecute arrests. The law hasn’t changed just the prosecutor’s discretion.

For example in New York is a person shoplifts and during the shoplifting crime and the offender’s escape the offender displays a hammer and says “If you try to stop me I’ll smash your head in”. This act would raise the shoplifting to a robbery, but not in Manhattan under DA Bragg. In DA Bragg’s “Day One Memo” he stated:

a) An act that could be charged under PL §§ 160.15 (2, 3, or 4), 160.10(2b), or 160.05 that occurs in a commercial setting should be charged under PL § 155.25 if the force or threat of force consists of displaying a dangerous instrument or similar behavior but does not create a genuine risk of physical harm.

So if the NYPD made the correct arrest they would have arrested the offender for robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, and larceny. Who knows how DA Bragg’s assistant prosecutors would have handled the case. They might drop the whole case which would leave the NYPD and the officers open to a civil lawsuit.

Video about charges dropped: https://wgntv.com/news/chicagocrime/charges-dropped-against-mother-and-14-year-old-son-in-fatal-shooting/

Lawsuit

Video about the lawsuit: https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/mother-in-deadly-maxwell-street-express-shooting-expected-to-speak-after-charges-dropped/

Chicago’s consent decree woes offer a warning as Minneapolis police face federal oversight

As Minneapolis prepares to negotiate a federal consent decree that would install an independent monitor of its embattled police force, potential pitfalls can be sidestepped if officials are mindful.
— Read on www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chicagos-consent-decree-woes-offer-warning-minneapolis-police-face-fed-rcna90186

Police Operations and Staffing – City and County of Denver

We audited police operations and staffing by the Denver Police Department to evaluate the effectiveness of the department’s recruitment and retention practices and to assess its use of data to ensure effective operations.
— Read on denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Auditors-Office/Audit-Services/Audit-Reports/Police-Operations-and-Staffing

Report shows persistent racial disparities in Kentucky juvenile justice system | WKMS

Despite reforms to Kentucky’s juvenile justice system over the last decade, data shows Black kids continue to disproportionately end up in youth detention compared to white and Hispanic children.
— Read on www.wkms.org/criminal-justice/2023-06-21/report-shows-persistent-racial-disparities-in-kentucky-juvenile-justice-system

Creating a nexus between workload and costs: A case study from Ocean View PD

By analyzing the type and frequency of calls for service, chiefs can ensure they are using resources effectively and efficiently while maintaining officer well-being
— Read on www.police1.com/chiefs-sheriffs/articles/creating-a-nexus-between-workload-and-costs-a-case-study-from-ocean-view-pd-tfQ6Vcx1tUNcNgh7/

Covering Democracy: Protests, Police, and the Press

Here is an interesting report from a a website that I just learned about. The only issue I have with the issue of the press and riots and getting arrested is that everyone holding a smartphone thinks that they are the press and that can’t be the case. During tense and violent situations an person can’t yell “PRESS” and hold up their phone and not follow orders from the police and then wonder why they are arrested. Especially during violent and dangerous times when other persons from the real press know that safety wins out and they moved so the police can perform their job.

Otherwise checkout what the report has to say. There are 5 Chapters and all the links can be found on this webpage.

A report investigating a major threat to press freedom

In recent years, hundreds of journalists who have been covering peaceful protests, public demonstrations, and acts of civil unrest in the United States have been arrested, physically assaulted, or otherwise forcibly deterred from doing their work by law enforcement personnel. The frequency and intensity of these incidents are alarming, threatening press freedom and undermining fundamental rights at the heart of American democracy. See more HERE

Assessing the Effectiveness of Pretrial Special Conditions – Full Findings from the Pretrial Justice Collaborative

Below is an interesting report on electronic monitoring for pretrial conditions. More information is at the website and there is a link below for the report.

The analysis found that:

Being released on EM or sobriety monitoring did not significantly improve court appearance rates. The analyses found that the special conditions and non–special conditions groups had similar pretrial court appearance rates. These results were consistent across jurisdictions.

Being released on electronic monitoring did not significantly increase the percentage of people who avoided a new arrest during the pretrial period. In fact, the analysis found that the EM group had a higher pretrial rearrest rate than the non-EM group, a result that was consistent across the two jurisdictions in that analysis. While the factors causing the results are not definitively known, the difference may be a supervision effect: people may be more likely to be arrested if their actions are more closely monitored, compared with others who are less closely monitored. Alternatively, the result may reflect unmeasured differences between the EM and non-EM groups that could not be controlled for in the analysis.

Being released on sobriety monitoring did not significantly improve the percentage of people who avoided a new arrest, but there was variation in this effect among jurisdictions. In two of the four jurisdictions studied, people who were assigned to sobriety monitoring were more likely to avoid new arrests, while in the other two, the result was the opposite.

Get the report HERE