Dutch Cops targeting kids who ‘look’ too poor for their clothes
Stop, frisk and strip!
Dutch police have launched a controversial new program that targets youth who “look” too poor to own the expensive clothes and jewelry they’re wearing, according to reports.
For the pilot program — which critics say goes far beyond New York City’s highly criticized stop-and-frisk policing strategy — cops in Rotterdam will stop young people on the street and question them about how they afforded their designer duds and bling, a high-ranking police source told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
n some cases, police will “undress” the youth and force them to hand over the upscale gear, Rotterdam police chief Frank Paauw told the paper.
“They are often young guests who consider themselves untouchable. We’re going to undress them on the street,” Paauw said, according to a translation by the UK Independent.
“We regularly take a Rolex from a suspect. Clothes rarely. And that is especially a status symbol for young people. Some young people now walk with jackets of €1800 [$2,230]. They do not have any income, so the question is how they get there,” the police chief said.
The young men targeted by cops often have no income and are already in debt from fines stemming from previous convictions, he added.
That “undermines the rule of law” and sends “a completely false signal to local residents,” he said.
But critics say the policing strategy is a recipe for racial profiling.
“We realized that [they] do not want to create the appearance that there is ethnic profiling but the chances of this happening are very large,” city ombudsman Anne Mieke Zwaneveld told the paper.
It’s legally hard to prove that cops are justified in stripping people of their clothing on the street, she said.
“It is not forbidden to walk around in the street. In addition, it is often unclear how such a piece of clothing is paid and how old it is.”
Jair Schalkwijk,a spokesman for a national anti-profiling group Control Alt Delete, said the program flies in the face of a law enforcement promise not to target people who look like “typical criminals.”
The pilot program launched in the Rotterdam West section of the city.
Police say they will target one gang in particular, along with people linked to drug crimes and illegal gambling.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/01/23/cops-targeting-kids-who-look-too-poor-for-their-clothes/
Naked teacher chases kids on playground in bizarre video
A physical education teacher was caught stripping naked and chasing children around a playground in a bizarre video circulating online.
Parents are outraged after footage surfaced of the Carthay Center Elementary School teacher exposing himself to nearby second-grade and fifth-grade students Friday on the Los Angeles campus, news station KCAL reported.
The video was reportedly captured by a construction worker who started filming the man, who was not identified, as he put his pants back on in the middle of the playground.
“He was supposed to be helping them learn P.E., run around and have fun,” a parent told KCAL. “But he undressed and started chasing the kids while he was naked, and then the kids ducked and dodged, ran into some of the classrooms and got safe haven that way.”
School officials reportedly notified parents of the horrifying episode in a robocall and letter sent home with students.
Counselors were also made available to students in light of the incident.
No charges have been filed against the man but authorities are investigating the case, KCAL reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/01/23/naked-teacher-chases-kids-on-playground-in-bizarre-video/
Man mistakes house for his own, kills neighbor thinking he was an intruder
RAYTOWN, Mo. — A Missouri man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after he allegedly went to his neighbor’s home, thinking it was his own, then choked his neighbor to death on the victim’s front yard.
Police believe Michael G. Augustine was drunk at the time he allegedly killed 60-year-old Clifton King, according to WDAF.
King died in his front yard Friday night, after he came to his door to find Augustine trying to come inside.
Neighbors told WDAF that Augustine, who lives down the block, believed the home was his and that King had broken in.
During the incident, Augustine called 911 to report that he had an intruder in a chokehold.
But when officers arrived at Augustine’s address, no one was there. They later found both men about a block up the street at King’s house.
According to court documents, police believe Augustine was drunk because his speech was incoherent and officers noted a strong smell of alcohol.
A neighbor, who did not want her face to appear on camera because the incident has made her concerned for her own safety, said she watched paramedics try to revive King, a military veteran, for about 30 minutes.
“He served our country and that was not an honorable way to treat him,” the woman said. “I think that it’s sad. It’s sad. Someone had to give up their life because someone was so messed up they didn’t know it wasn’t their home.”
Other neighbors said that King had been homeless at one time in his life because he couldn’t find a job but as long as he lived in their neighborhood, he was friendly and kind.
Some neighbors said they feel guilty about not immediately calling police themselves when they heard the commotion. They said there are often arguments on the block, and some thought it was better for them not to get involved.
Prosecutors have charged Augustine with first-degree involuntary manslaughter. Neighbors said he’s already posted bond and moved out of the area.
There was no answer at his door when WDAF tried to speak with him.
Burned baby’s leg amputated; grandmother and godmother arrested
OKLAHOMA CITY – A baby’s grandmother and godmother were arrested Monday after the baby they were meant to be watching was burned so badly that his leg had to be amputated.
Cordette Cole and Breanna Cole were arrested on child abuse and child neglect charges, according to KFOR.
The 11-month old was taken into OU Children’s Hospital on Christmas Day, allegedly for breathing problems, according to the affidavit. However, when doctors saw him, they discovered he had severe burns from above his belly button down to his feet.
The affidavit also states he had bruises on his head and neck, one of his front teeth had been knocked out and he had a subdural hematoma, also called a brain bleed.
The burn wounds were so bad that his leg had to be amputated.
Investigators with the Oklahoma City Police Department learned Cordette and Breanna were taking care of the baby while his mother took care of her other sick child.
They told police that on December 10th the baby accidentally pulled a teapot with boiling water on himself when he was having a seizure. Breanna told the detective they tried to treat the wounds themselves, even after his skin was lifting off of him.
It wasn’t until two weeks later, December 25th, that she said she brought the baby into the hospital with breathing problems.
After talking with doctors, detectives said the story had discrepancies and couldn’t be true. According to the affidavit, when these were pointed out, Breanna kept changing her story.
The affidavit states a doctor told investigators, if the baby had “received proper medical treatment immediately, he would have not had to have his leg amputated.”
The two women were each booked with a $1 million bond.
via: http://pix11.com/2018/01/23/burned-babys-leg-amputated-grandmother-and-godmother-arrested/
Kentucky school shooting: 2 students killed and 17 others injured
Another high school has turned into a scene of carnage, this time in western Kentucky.
Article via: https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/23/us/kentucky-high-school-shooting/index.html
Amazon pulls kids clothes bearing ‘Slavery gets shit done’ slogan
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Children’s clothes bearing the slogan ‘Slavery gets shit done’ have been pulled from sale by online retail giant Amazon.com Inc after criticism from shoppers and anti-slavery groups.
A range of products featuring the slogan, from mugs and bags to T-shirts modeled by young children, were listed by third-party sellers and have been removed from sale, Amazon said.
“All Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account,” an Amazon spokesman said in a statement. “The products in question are no longer available.”
While the slavery-themed products are no longer available to buy on Amazon’s UK website, bags bearing the slogan were still on sale on the U.S.-based Amazon.com on Monday.
The sale of such items by a major retailer trivializes the global drive to end modern slavery, said charities Anti-Slavery International (ASI) and International Justice Mission (IJM) UK.
“If it is meant to be funny, it fails miserably,” Jakub Sobik of ASI told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
More than 40 million people were living as modern slaves last year – either trapped in forced labor or forced marriages – according to the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) and human rights group Walk Free Foundation.
“Children the same age as those modeling the T-shirts will be forced to work long hours for no pay in desperate conditions where starvation, beatings and sleep deprivation are common,” said David Westlake, chief executive of IJM UK.
“Rather than trivializing slavery, companies and the global community must recognize the vast injustice of modern slavery and work together to end it for good,” he added.
The imagery linked to slavery, and the issues it raises over history and identity, has stirred increasing debate with deep division over the fate of slavery-era statues in the United States, and worldwide outrage about slogans and pictures used by big brands.
British supermarket Waitrose this month pulled a brand of coffee off its shelves after shoppers noticed the packaging featured images of 19th-century slaves working on plantations.
Man accused of impersonating doctor at California hospital
SAN DIEGO – A man arrested for impersonating a Harvard-educated doctor at a Southern California hospital pleaded not guilty in court Friday.
Prosecutors say Zaid Jeorge had fooled both doctors and staff at Sharp Grossmont Hospital for weeks, according to KSWB. He was seen periodically at the hospital beginning sometime after Christmas until a hospital administrator discovered his alleged ruse on Jan. 11. When that medical manager questioned him in the doctor’s lounge, he gave her a story she said didn’t check out.
Jeorge told the manager that he was an anesthesiologist for Sharp Healthcare, but when she ran his name in the hospital database there was no record of him. He then told her he went to Harvard Medical School and was an intern working with a doctor at the hospital, but that story was also a lie.
In reality, Jeorge is a 27-year-old Iraqi national with a Swedish passport. He has family in San Diego. His defense attorney says he legally entered the U.S. on a visa but it expired last month.
“Mr. Jeorge had obtained a Sharp lab coat, embroidered it with his own name, anesthesiologist and M.D. written on it, and then he went into Sharp Grossmont and impersonated being an anesthesiologist,” said Deputy District Attorney Paul Reizen.
Sharp Healthcare released a statement that reads in part: “We are pleased that we have no evidence of patient interaction or access to patient information. We are also continuing to evaluate this event and reinforcing and enhancing Sharp HealthCare’s security measures.”
Prosecutors allege Jeorge is a threat to the community. The judge granted their request to set his bail at $100,000.
“Obviously when you have someone impersonating a doctor who has gained access to a hospital, they have the ability and obviously the mental capacity to think of certain things that could put the public’s health in danger,” said Reizen.
via: http://pix11.com/2018/01/20/man-accused-of-impersonating-doctor-at-california-hospital/
Former Assistant Police Chief Told Recruit ‘If Black, Shoot Them’
A former Kentucky assistant police chief reportedly told a new recruit to shoot a juvenile if they are black and caught smoking marijuana.
Todd Shaw, who resigned from the Prospect department last year, made the comments in Facebook messages to a Louisville Metro Police Department recruit.
The recruit reportedly asked Shaw what the “right thing” to do would be in a situation where he caught minors smoking marijuana.
“Fuck the right thing,” Shaw said according to documents obtained by the Courier-Journal. “If black shoot them.”
When asked with how to deal with parents of the minors, Shaw then told the recruit that he should conduct sexual acts on the parents but said: “Unless daddy is black. Then shoot him.”
Shaw also told the recruit that “ML King was nothing but a raciast (sic) womanizer … but because someone shot him, I get a day off with pay each year.”
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell called the messages “highly disturbing, racist and threatening” in a letter to Prospect Mayor John Evans, according to The (Louisville) Courier-Journal.
The department suspended Shaw in September while investigating his behavior following the county attorney’s letter. Shaw’s messages, which were sent to the recruit between September and October of 2016, were made public this week. Before his resignation in November, Shaw had spent more than 20 years on the police force.
Mayor Evans sent out a press release where he quoted the police chief saying that it was “apparent to him” that Shaw had violated police conduct, according to WDRB. Shaw had requested that his messages be kept private in court after media outlets began requesting them but a judge later denied his request.
“Throughout his career, he treated all people fairly and respectfully regardless of their race,” Shaw’s attorney, Michael Burns, told the Courier-Journal.
Prosecutors discovered Shaw’s messages after the former assistant chief was placed under investigation for “allegedly interfering in the sexual abuse probe of the Louisville Metro Police’s Explorer program,” according to WDRB.
“There is no place in police departments for men or women who hold such strongly held prejudices, including recommending shooting people simply because of their race,” O’Connell said in his letter.
via: http://www.newsweek.com/if-black-shoot-them-former-kentucky-assistant-police-chief-wrote-786167
Mother Arrested on Manslaughter Charge After 1-Year-Old Toddler Dies From Burns at SW Miami-Dade Home
A mother is facing a manslaughter charge after police say she didn’t get help for her 1-year-old child who died after he was severely burned at their home in southwest Miami-Dade Thursday.
Christina Marie Hurt, 35, was arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter and booked into jail early Friday morning, records showed.
Hurt was arrested after a woman called police shortly after 11 a.m. after seeing her place the boy on a mattress outside a home near the 12000 block of Southwest 217th Street in Goulds.
Police found the unresponsive child and took him to the hospital, where he later died. He was identified as Ethan Coley.
According to an arrest report, police say the mother of three – who has previously lost custody of her children before – became worried on Wednesday when her four-year-old child burned the toddler with hot water when trying to give him a bath at their Homestead home.
Hurt allegedly refused to seek medical attention for Coley, who had burns to his torso and toes, instead consulting friends and giving the child Tylenol and juice – telling police she was afraid of losing her children again, the report said.
After driving her older kids to school Thursday, police say Hurt went to the friend’s house in Goulds and continued trying to give the child first aid before he became unresponsive.
Police say witnesses told Hurt to take the child to a hospital, but she refused. Coley had severe burns from mid torso to the toes, the report said.
One witness who tried to help revive the boy said it was the worst thing he’s seen in all his life.
“I hear them screaming across the street ‘please help save my baby!’ so I said I’m going to go and see what’s going on over there. It’s a little child, I have to go,” Randolph Joseph said. “So I run over to help, when I go I see them shaking the baby but the baby was gone already so we tried to do CPR.”
Police said Hurt had previously been under investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families for child neglect, where she temporarily lost custody of her children.
Hurt was being held on $10,000 bond Friday, records showed. Attorney information wasn’t available.
Pope Francis ‘slander’ comment angers Chile abuse victims
Pope Francis has triggered anger in Chile after accusing victims of a pedophile priest of slander
Francis said there was “no proof” for their claims that abuse by Father Fernando Karadima had been covered up by another man, Bishop Juan Barros.
“There is not one single piece of proof against him (Bishop Barros). It is all slander. Is that clear?” the Pope said.
One Karadima victim said the Pope’s earlier plea for forgiveness over clerical sex abuse was “empty”.
The Pope made his comments on Thursday before celebrating Mass outside the city of Iquique in northern Chile.
“The day someone brings me proof against Bishop Barros, then I will talk,” the Pope told journalists.
Lifetime of penance
Juan Carlos Cruz was one of the bishop’s accusers who was quick to condemn the Pope’s stance.
“As if I could have taken a selfie or photo while Karadima abused me and others with Juan Barros standing next to him watching everything,” he tweeted.
“These people are absolutely crazy, and @Pontifex (the Pope’s Twitter handle) is talking about reparation to the victims. Nothing has changed, and his plea for forgiveness is empty.”
Bishop of Osorno, Juan Barros, denies allegations he covered up his mentor’s abuse of boys
Another Barros accuser, James Hamilton, told a news conference the response revealed an “unknown face” of the pontiff.
“What the Pope has done today is offensive and painful, and not only against us, but against everyone seeking to end the abuses,” he said.
Earlier in his Chile trip, Francis had met victims of sexual abuse by priests in the country. He cried with them and said he felt “pain and shame” over the scandal.
The US-based NGO Bishop Accountability says almost 80 members of Catholic clergy have been accused of child sex abuse in Chile since 2000.
- Why Pope’s trip to Chile is a challenge
- Protesters challenge Pope on Church sex abuse
- Chile churches attacked before Pope visit
The Church suffered a body blow in Chile in 2010 when Father Karadima was publicly accused of molesting several teenaged boys in the capital, Santiago, starting in the 1980s.
Mr Cruz claims Bishop Barros was present when Father Karadima – then the bishop’s mentor – kissed and groped him and another boy.
While Bishop Barros has not been accused of abuse, the Pope has been criticised for appointing him bishop of Osorno in 2015. Barros’s ordination ceremony had to be cut short over protests in the cathedral.
Father Karadima was found guilty by the Vatican of abusing teenage boys in 2011 and sentenced to a lifetime of “penance and prayer”.
He never faced criminal prosecution in Chile as too much time had passed, but the judge who heard victims’ testimony in a year-long investigation described them as “truthful and reliable”.
Pope Francis arrived in Peru late on Thursday for a three-day visit which will conclude his two-nation South America trip.
Article via: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42745170