Copblock Radio EP 124 “Accountability Doesn’t Exist”

This week on Copblock Radio our hosts were myself (Severin Freeman) from Lehigh Valley Copblock, Matt Taylor of Carbon County Copblock, and Amanda Bergquist from Minnesota Copblock. Once again, we attempted to have the call lines running. We were able to take one successful call before it crashed again. We apologize for the glitches and are working to resolve them.

We opened the show with several updates from our copblocking efforts: My lawyer filed the lawsuit for our illegal arrest a few months ago, the cop who assaulted Rick from Allentown Copblock is still on duty & Internal Affairs is on vacation. Also, I was contacted by & accompanied a victim to Bethlehem PD to help him file a complaint. We also announced the creation of Carbon County Copblock’s YouTube channel!

Next, we watched the video from the victim I assisted in filing a complaint. It features Lt. Leardi Jr from BPD bullying & chasing the victim away from his brother’s house (where he was invited to go). The victim is walking backwards & the cops continue to herd him. Despite being informed a complaint has been filed against him by the victim, Leardi continues to be aggressive. It seems Leardi hates his job as he has a LinkedIn profile stating he’s looking for a new one.

Then, we discussed a story which made me sick to my stomach all day. A few weeks ago, we reported on Officer DeJesus, whom punched a woman and smashed her cell phone (as featured in this report). Today, all criminal charges against him were dismissed! What the hell?! It just goes to show that as time passes, things get swept under the rug and officers get away with corruption!

Afterwards, we talked about a SWAT team that served an eviction notice AFTER the suspect was in custody! Since when does it take a SWAT team to serve a simple eviction notice?! And why was it necessary to do so AFTER the person it was addressed to was already in police custody?!

Following our long break, we discussed two stories brought to us by Amanda. The first was about a Minneapolis police officer being convicted of conspiring to steal money from an organization designed to help low-income residents. The second was a video from the Battousai, in which he converses with an officer about why he films police (FYI: the conversation happens about seven minutes into the video).

Then, we discussed our main topic for the night: Accountability doesn’t exist. Cops don’t get punished for their crimes, presidential candidates want to give the police more power, and when we catch cops red-handed breaking the rules, they still get off without punishment. With all of this happening, what’s the point of activism & trying to hold them accountable?

Next up, we talked about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling which allows evidence police find during illegal stops to be admissible in court. As long as the officer can find some outstanding warrant in your name, the court will excuse the officer’s illegal stop. This ruling curtails our fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Finally, we gave yet another update on the Oakland sex scandal. Celeste Guap, the young woman at the center of the Oakland PD underage sex scandal (which has grown to involve over 30 employees of 6 police departments) revealed how it all began and her part in it. The revelations are a damning indictment of the character of Guap herself, as well as a disturbing look at police culture.

Tune in  July 6, 2016 for a new episode of Copblock Radio! We air 10pm EST on LRN.fm or at copblock.org/show. Subscribe to the Youtube channel for alerts when we go live. Download the LRN.fm app to hear our radio feed. As always, remember: badges don’t grant extra rights!

Source Article from http://www.copblock.org/162422/copblock-radio-ep-124-accountability-doesnt-exist/

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