DOJ Issues Perhaps The Last Law Enforcement Investigation Report We’ll See For The Next Four Years – Above the Law

This
is
probably
it
for
awhile.
The
DOJ
Civil
Rights
Division
most
likely
will
be
sidelined
for
at
least
the
next
four
years
as
Trump
returns
to
office
and
his not-so-latent
desires to
impose
a
police
state.
Notwithstanding
his
supporters’
apparent
willingness to
assault
officers who
stand
between
them
and
a
“stolen”
election,
Trump
has
always
let
his
blue
line,
freak
flag
fly.

So,
this report [PDF],
issued
by
the
DOJ
just
four
days
before
the
inauguration
is
something
of
a
relic
even
though
the
ink
has
barely
dried.
Like every single
investigation
ever
mounted
by
the
DOJ
Civil
Rights
division,
this
report
is
full
of
civil
rights
violations
committed
by
people
who
have
sworn
to
uphold
the
law
and
respect
the
Constitution.

The
Louisiana
State
Police
(LSP)
has
been
a
mess
for
years.
The
agency’s
previous
appearances
at
Techdirt
make
that
pretty
clear.
In
February
2023,
the
cop-friendly
Fifth
Circuit
Appeals
Court denied
immunity to
LSP
troopers
who
decided
the
best
way
to
investigate
the
killing
of
a
person
by
local
police
officers
(who
shot
Miguel
Nevarez
20
times)
was
to
get
a
warrant
to
search
the
dead
man’s
house
for
evidence
of
crimes
it
couldn’t
possibly
charge
him
with.
A
year
later,
another
trooper
was
being denied
immunity by
the
same
court
for
shooting
an
unarmed,
fleeing
man
in
the
back.

In
the
first
case,
the
court
noted
the
only
reason
for
this
search
of
Nevarez’s
house
was
to
construct
a
narrative
that
would
justify
his
killing
by
Hudson
police
officers.
In
the
latter
case,
the
litigation
exposed
the
trooper’s
lies
about
the
shooting
(undercut
by
a
nearby
home
security
camera),
as
well
as
her
long
history
of
“failing”
to
activate
her
body
camera
when
engaging
in
stops
or
other
interactions
with
the
public.

That’s
just
a
couple
of
peas.
Here’s
the
rest
of
the
pod:

In
July
2018,
a
trooper
shot
and
paralyzed
a
white
teenager—who
was
a
passenger
in
a
car
stopped
for
a
minor
traffic
violation—when
he
tried
to
run
away
from
the
car.
In
March
2019,
a
trooper
grabbed
a
Black
man
in
his
early
20s
by
his
hair
and
repeatedly
slammed
his
head
into
the
hood
of
a
car.
In
May
2019,
a
trooper
hit
a
handcuffed
45-year-old
Black
man
18
times
with
a
flashlight
as
other
troopers
watched,
breaking
his
jaw,
wrist,
and
three
ribs.
In
July
2019,
troopers
handcuffed
a
Black
man,
slammed
him
against
a
police
car,
threw
him
to
the
ground,
and
repeatedly
punched
and
kneed
him.
In
May
2020,
at
least
seven
troopers—including
one
who
was
involved
in
Ronald
Greene’s
death—gave
a
29-year-old
Black
man
a
“whoopin”
that
would
give
him
“nightmares
for
a
long
time,”
as
the
troopers
later
wrote
in
text
messages.
One
trooper
told
him,
“I’m
going
to
punish
you,
dumb
bitch.”
Troopers
pulled
his
hair,
punched
him,
and
repeatedly
hit
him
in
the
head
with
a
flashlight.

Well,
maybe
not
the
“rest”
of
the
pod.
The
tip
of
the
iceberg
is
more
like
it,
even
if
that
means
irresponsibly
mixing
metaphors.

We
found
that
LSP
troopers
across
the
state
use
excessive
force.
Though
LSP’s
use
of
unreasonable
force
was
not
limited
to
any
one
type
of
force,
we
found
LSP’s
use
of
Tasers
particularly
concerning.
We
also
found
that
troopers
use
excessive
force
to
immediately
control
encounters,
often
within
the
first
few
moments
of
encountering
a
person
and
without
giving
the
person
a
warning
or
an
opportunity
to
comply.
They
also
use
force
on
those
who,
because
they
are
restrained
or
otherwise
unable
to
flee,
do
not
pose
a
threat
or
a
flight
risk.
Additionally,
LSP
uses
excessive
force
on
people
who
run
from
troopers,
even
when
that
person
is
only
suspected
of
a
misdemeanor.

The
next
several
pages
detail
the
atrocities
committed
under
the
color
of
law
by
LSP
troopers,
including
tasing
people
who
are
handcuffed,
tasing
someone
just
because
“they
ran”
(even
though
they
were
just
passing
the
scene
of
the
arrest
and
then
decided
to
accelerate
their
pace
after
witnessing
a
separate
deployment
of
excessive
force),
leaving
people
hogtied
in
the
back
of
patrol
cars
for
up
to
an
hour
at
a
time,
pepper
spraying
people
initially
resistant
to
other
threats
of
police
violence,
tasing
a
woman
suffering
a
mental
health
crisis
while
she
was holding
her
young
child,
and
so
on.

The
problem
starts
at
the
top,
which
has
allowed
it
to
pervade
the
rest
of
the
LSP
org
chart.

LSP’s
system
to
review
use
of
force
by
troopers
is
ineffective
because
it
permits
supervisors
to
ignore
and,
in
some
cases,
condone
problematic
behavior,
including
excessive
force
by
troopers.
Policy
requires
that
troopers
report
all
deadly
and
“nondeadly”
force
and
notify
their
supervisors
about
the
facts
and
circumstances
surrounding
their
use
of
force
through
written
use-of-force
reports.
LSP
supervisors
must
review
these
reports
to
assess
the
troopers’
actions
and
adherence
to
policy
and
training.
However,
in
almost
all
the
incidents
we
reviewed
where
we
found
unreasonable
force
or
other
problematic
tactics
or
behavior,
supervisors
signed
off
on
use-of-force
reports
without
identifying
problems
or
indicating
that
they
took
steps
to
correct
trooper
behavior.

These
are
not
good,
responsible
people
capable
of
being
trusted
with
the
power
they’ve
been
granted.
These
are
sadists
who
are
paid,
praised,
and
promoted
for
being
sadistic.
Here’s
how
one
police
pursuit
ended:
with
a
hail
of
bullets
fired
at
a
car
(and
driver)
that
was
already
immobilized.

The
driver
drove
the
vehicle
backward
and
forward
about
5
to
10
feet
in
either
direction
and
became
stuck
in
the
mud.
Troopers
asked
for
permission
from
the
LSP
sergeant
on
scene
to
shoot
at
the
vehicle.
The
sergeant
gave
the
order
to
“take
it
out,”
and
the
sergeant,
together
with
two
LSP
troopers
and
two
local
officers,
fired
at
the
vehicle
from
about
15
to
20
feet
away. After
shooting
at
the
vehicle
15
times
with
his
handgun,
one
of
the
LSP
troopers
said,
“He
has
no
tires,
he
ain’t
going
nowhere,”
and
then
continued
shooting
19
more
times
with
a
rifle.

Surprisingly,
the
driver
only
suffered
some
cuts
from
a
broken
window.
In
total,
officers
fired
61
bullets
are
car
they
all
agreed
wasn’t
“going
nowhere.”

It’s
a
shit
show
up
and
down.
The
LSP
routinely
“fails”
(to
use
the
DOJ’s
word)
to
open
investigations
when
complaints
are
filed
against
officers.
The
Internal
Affairs
department
is
compromised,
filled
with
investigators
who
have
little
desire
to
investigate
their
fellow
officers
or
even
recommend
troopers’
supervisors
might
want
to
take
a
closer
look
at
citizen
complaints
or
observed
patterns
of
misconduct.

Where
does
this
go
from
here?
Presumably
to
the
scrap
heap
of
history.
The
DOJ
will
need
to
move
forward
with
a
consent
decree
to
institute
reforms.
Without
this
backing,
the
LSP
is
free
to
continue
being
as
terrible
as
it
has
been.
But
Trump’s
last
term
shows
he
has
no
interest
in
using
the
DOJ
to
go
after
people
he
considers
to
be
allies,
no
matter
how
horrible
those
people
might
be.
If
anything,
Trump
has
gotten
even
worse
during
his
four
years
away
from
the
White
House.
He’s
more
petty
and
vindictive
than
he
was
the
first
time
around.
Chances
are
good
this
will
just
become
an
unofficial
memorialization
of
the
LSP’s
awfulness.
The
resources
expended
to
get
to
the
bottom
of
this
rotten
barrel
of
apples
will
ultimately
be
wasted.

DOJ
Issues
Perhaps
The
Last
Law
Enforcement
Investigation
Report
We’ll
See
For
The
Next
Four
Years

+263 242 744 677

4 Gunhill Avenue,

DOJ Issues Perhaps The Last Law Enforcement Investigation Report We’ll See For The Next Four Years – Above the Law