Northwest Indiana Discussion

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cops-smashed-window-tasered-passenger-traffic-stop-lawsuit-n219916

Passenger in Traffic Stop: Lawsuit

A family is suing a police department after a traffic stop ended with officers smashing a car window and using a Taser. The episode was caught on cellphone camera by the driver’s 14-year-old son who was on the back seat. Lawyers for Lisa Mahone and her boyfriend Jamal Jones say excessive force was used during the Sep. 25 incident in Hammond, Indiana, which began when Mahone was stopped and ticketed for not wearing a seat belt.

In the video, officers ask Jones, who was in the passenger seat, to show his ID. However, he did not have his license on him. Officers then appear to draw guns and order him out of the car, prompting Mahone to call 911. The video shows police smashing the passenger window and using a Taser on Jones. Lawyers say two children suffered minor cuts from flying glass. The lawsuit alleges excessive force, false arrest and battery. Attorney Dana Kurtz said the lawsuit "seeks to hold police accountable to this type of unnecessary violence can stop." Hammond Police did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News, but told another news organization that officers “were at all times acting in the interest of officer safety and in accordance with Indiana law,” adding that officers may ask passengers to exit a vehicle "for the officer's safety without a requirement of reasonable suspicion."

- Alastair Jamieson and Deb Huberman

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/10/07/hammond-family-sues-police-for-excessive-force-during-traffic-stop/


Hammond Family Sues Police For Excessive Force During Traffic Stop

October 7, 2014 7:14 AM


CHICAGO (CBS) – A northwest Indiana family has sued Hammond police, claiming officers used excessive force when they broke a car window and used a stun gun on Jamal Jones during a traffic stop last month.

CBS 2’s Jeremy Ross reports Jones, his girlfriend Lisa Mahone, and Mahone’s two children were driving to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County on Sept. 25, after Mahone got a call from doctors telling her that her mother was in grave condition.

Hammond police pulled their car over because Mahone was not wearing her seatbelt, according to the lawsuit.

Meantime, Mahone’s 14-year-old son Joseph was sitting in the back seat with his younger sister, and began recording the encounter with police on his cell phone.

Mahone claimed she admitted not wearing a seatbelt, and asked to be given a ticket right away, so she could get to the hospital to see her dying mother, but Hammond officers Patrick Vicari and Charles Turner demanded to see Jones’ identification.

Jones told police he did not have his ID, because he had recently been given a traffic ticket, according to the lawsuit. When he reached into the back seat to get the ticket, the officers drew their guns, and refused to take the ticket as a form of ID.

The family’s attorney has released a three-minute YouTube video (above) showing part of the traffic stop.

In the video, one of the officers can be heard telling Jones “Just so you know, we’ve got a camera recording here, you’re on a body mike, I suggest you come out of the car.”

Jones responds by asking to see a “white shirt,” meaning a supervising officer, and saying “I just gave you my information, I don’t know what’s going on right now.”

The lawsuit claimed Jones refused to get out of the vehicle, because he feared for his safety.

“Because of the officers’ aggressive demeanor and lack of any reasonable basis to believe that Jamal had committed any crime, Jamal and Lisa felt that they were in imminent danger,” the lawsuit claimed. “The officers had no reasonable basis to believe that anyone in the vehicle was a threat. The vehicles’ windows were clear and the officers had an unobstructed view of every person within the vehicle.”

Mahone claimed she called 911 to request a supervisor, while the officers continued ordering Jones out of the car. Police eventually broke Jones’ window with a large tool, shocked him with a stun gun, and dragged him out of the vehicle, according to the lawsuit. Officers then handcuffed and arrested Jones for resisting arrest.

“At no point during this entire encounter did Jamal physically resist the officers in any way,” the lawsuit claimed.

The lawsuit claimed Mahone’s son and 9-year-old daughter, Janiya, were hurt by the shattered glass from the broken car window.

The family and their attorney were scheduled to discuss the lawsuit Tuesday morning in Chicago.

The lawsuit claimed Vicari has been sued three other times for excessive force, and Turner has been sued one other time, but they have not been disciplined, and instead have been promoted to leadership positions.

You can read the full lawsuit here. https://cbschicago.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/hammond-lawsuit.pdf

Hammond police said they planned to respond to the allegations later Tuesday

Kirby Social Media Firestorm Continues With Cop Comments Link: http://nwigazette.com/2014/09/22/kirby-social-media-firestorm-continues-with-cop-comments/






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A statement purported to be from a police officer, suggests that Kevin Kirby was arrested as a result of comments made on social media. The controversy began last week when Kirby, who was out on bond on an unrelated felony charge, made a comment indicating that it would “be the best summer ever” if a Hammond Cop was shot. The comment came just after the funeral of Merrillville Officer Nick Schultz who was fatally shot in the line of duty on August 7, 2014. Gary Police Officer Jeffrey Westerfield was fatally ambushed in his car just two months before.

Kirby’s comments went viral and someone sent them to his employer. The employer released a statement saying that Kirby was no longer employed. Thereafter, the office of Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter filed a Motion to Revoke Defendant’s Bond on September 17, 2014. The matter was heard on September 17 and a warrant was issued and served on that date. Neither Kirby nor his attorney appeared at that hearing.

The following statement was received by the Gazette regarding the matter today:

If we support non-compliance, more people will bait officers by not rolling down car windows, and not providing id.... JUST to provoke officers into making them comply. Again, the media can help either set this right, or steer it wrong by condoning non compliance and future baiting and law suits. It's a shame that Hammond and it's officers are being portrayed in the national media as racist and violent. And yes, I feel bad for the children, but they also need to know that you must obey an officer or suffer the consequences.

Celtic, agree with you in principal, unfortunatley, the way this incident was/is handled by HPD and McDermott's administration, it brought un needed national attention, labeling Hammond and maybe justifiably so as racist. HPD's video was not released, why? maybe it supports the plaintiff's case?

Had there been more prudence in this matter, a couple of things would be fact. 1. Hammond would not have hit the national media. 2. It would be costing Hammond as an estimate $250,000 to $500,000 in legal fees plus settlement.

On the bright side Top's pal kevin gets to make some more of that taxpayer gravy money. and Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr history as a racist would have never come forward.

And as to a Post Tribune article today...The Post-Tribune filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain Hammond Police Department policy as it pertains to the use of force and the use of stun guns, but the information has not been made available.http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/30333311-418/traffic-stop-protocols-studied-to-protect-police-citizens.html

The couldn't get the policy, as there is no written policy.

In this case, someone was tasered and not shot to death! I think that in this case, where the passenger reached into a back pack, in the back seat, that the officer was justified in his actions. Given that we have had two officers killed in the line of duty in the past couple of months, I think the officers actions were appropriate. I am angry that these "supposed victims" are filing a lawsuit that we, the people of Hammond, will pay for. I don't want my hard earned money going to these criminals. I also don't want to see any more officers in northwest Indiana shot and dead!