police

Corruption, bribes, forged evidence – confessions of a Russian officer

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:52:38 +0100

A senior Russian police officer who dared to denounce the corruption of his olleagues in a YouTube video has been fired just two days after his confession.

So scandalous was the content of his upload, Major Alexeï Dymovsky managed to reach his desired destination - Vladimir Putin. Posted on Friday (Nov. 6), the seven minute confession has been viewed over 100,000 times in just three days. His main complaints: that young recruits only sign up to earn money through bribes, and that high-ranking officers order staff to forge evidence against innocent people in order to boost statistics.

Nothing new there - the police are thought to be the Russian public's least respected institution. For an officer to say it himself, however, is quite something. Indeed; an internal investigation was immediately launched by the Interior Minister. The result came 48 hours later: "These claims are not verified". By nightfall, Dymovsky had been discharged. The story doesn't end there however. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who the video was addressed to, says he is aware of it.

Rio police leave victim to die, free killers

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:51:48 +0100

A 42-year-old was beaten up and shot by two robbers last Sunday in downtown Rio de Janeiro. CCTV footage which emerged on Tuesday shows that the charity worker was still alive when two police officers passed by. But instead of stopping to help, they let go his killers and drove away.

Evandro Joao da Silva died from a bullet wound to the abdomen on 18 October. When the CCTV footage of his murder emerged a few days later, the police were forced to admit that they thought he was a beggar. So far, only one of the two attackers has been arrested.

According to the autopsy, Evandro died around ten minutes after he was shot. However, a colleague of the victim who rushed to the scene says that he was still breathing some 50 minutes after the attack.

Police use 'sonic weapon' to break up Pittsburgh protests

Team Observers — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:42:15 +0200

One thousand protesters gathered outside the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday. When they hurled bricks, police responded with a new, painful weapon: a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) used in Iraq and against Somali pirates.

The LRAD (Long-Range Acoustic Device), also known as sonic weapon, was originally used to warn US navy vessels when enemy ships were approaching. It has become the latest non-lethal weapon used to control hostile crowds . Remaining near one of these machines when in use is extremely painful, and can inflict permanent hearing damage.

Police were already equipped with these machines in New York during the 2004 national Republican Convention, but they weren’t used at the time. The Pittsburgh G20 summit was therefore the first time US forces used the sonic weapon against fellow citizens. One LRAD even resonated during a live CNN report.

Unknown location. Posted on Youtube by Booku4

On Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh. Posted on Youtube by ndromb.

Millwall vs West Ham carnage - “The police shouldn't have let it happen”

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:02:41 +0200

For the first time in four years, bitter football rivals West Ham and Millwall FC met for "England's most violent derby" on Tuesday. The result: ten arrests, one stabbing, and three invasions of the pitch. Two West Ham fans tell us why they think the police are at fault.

Violent outbursts erupted before, during, and after the Carling Cup match between the East End teams. Held at West Ham's modern Upton Park stadium, 25,000 people turned up for the 7.45pm kick-off. Fights broke out outside the stadium at 6pm and continued until midnight, leading to clashes with riot police, fires being lit and the hurling of bricks and bottles. Meanwhile, fans fought with security stewards inside the stadium and West Ham supporters stormed the pitch for each of the three goals scored by their team. (The end result was 3-1 to West Ham).

An investigation into the violence was launched by the Football Association today. The Football Supporters' Federation however, says that "hysterical reactions" should be avoided.

Russia to launch nationwide citizens militia

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:30:28 +0200

Nashi volunteers patrolling with a policeman. © Nashi

The Russian government is planning to allow pro-Kremlin volunteers to set up a nationwide youth militia by recruiting 100,000 destitute 17- to 25-year-olds to patrol the streets in return for food and shelter.

The news comes just months after a similar initiative was set up in Italy. Is Europe seeing a return to citizen policing?

If approved by the government, the plans would see the Dobrovolnye Molodezhnye Druzhiny (DMD), or All-Russian Association of Voluntary, in action across the country by December this year.

Behind the proposed militia is the Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth movement which has already been criticised by liberals for recruiting skinheads to "patrol" opposition marches.

Set up in 2005, the movement is considered an initiative by President Vladimir Putin and it remains faithful to the current prime minister. On 3 August, they announced their proposal to the government to nationalise youth patrols.

The group already supervises some youth patrols in the country, but the movement is not widespread. Branches are largely disorganized, funded by churches or local businesses and without any authority. Unarmed, they are unable to arrest people.

The law proposed by the Nashi would allow volunteers to carry Tasers and give them the power to stop and search people. The groups would be directly funded by the government and work in collaboration with the regional police. The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, will vote on the law in October.

Protestor crushed by military, caught on amateur video

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:10:11 +0200

Violent clashes continue in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa after President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a military coup on Sunday. This amateur video, filmed on Monday, appears to show a presidential supporter run over by a military vehicle.

The coup took place the day Zelaya had arranged an unofficial referendum to ask the country's citizens whether he could stand for a second term in office - something which the constitution does not allow. Parliamentary speaker Roberto Micheletti was voted in by Cogress later that afternoon, while ousted President Zelaya remained in Costa Rica, where he had been hastily sent into exile, while still in his pyjamas.

Protestors supporting Zelaya took to the streets the same day and were met with riot police, leading to violent clashes. Media reports of events however were scarce and contradictory after a media blackout was enforced by interim President Micheletti. The following amateur video was posted by a citizen media website called Habla Honduras, which says that the man hit by the vehicle is 30-year-old Rosel Ulises Peña, a state telecommunications worker.

How to disperse a protest, Chinese style

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:55:14 +0200

Last Tuesday we published a post about the violent clashes between protesters and the police in the central Chinese town of Shishou. This photo, published by a Chinese weekly paper, shows the technique the riot police use in order to push back the crowds. Each time the police gain around 20 metres of ground, they form a wall of officers to secure the area. Is this a method specific to China? If you know something about the way riot police work, leave a comment.

Photo: Southern Metropolis Weekly

Police cover-up of Amazon clashes?

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:52:51 +0200

The police say they were attacked by spear-wielding indigenous protesters; the indigenous protesters say they were subject to a massacre at the hands of the authorities. Dozens have been killed, but the public still doesn't know what really happened on the morning of June 5 in Peru's Bagua province.

The crackdown began in the early morning of June 5 when 400 police troops stormed a roadblock staged by indigenous activists protesting a trade agreement which allows foreign companies to drill for oil and gas in the area. The protesters say that the agreement will lead to destruction of the land.

The authorities reported the incident as a gruesome rebellion in which 25 policemen were murdered and nine civilians killed, after which 43 were arrested.

The protesters and their supporters however, say that dozens of indigenous people were shot dead by police, hundreds more injured and more than 150 have gone missing in what they describe as a massacre.

Supporters of the protesters now say that the police are attempting to cover up the extent of the brutality by removing bodies from hospitals and dumping them in a ravine from a helicopter.

AK-47s in the suburbs: police “don’t want to die for a crappy wage”

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:06:35 +0200

La Cité des 4,000 in La Courneuve. Photo posted on Flickr by "Linkef".

A police van travelling through the north Paris suburb of La Courneuve came under fire from Kalashnikov automatic rifles on Sunday. Luckily, no-one was hurt.

The use of AK-47s against police officers takes violence in the Parisian suburbs to a new high. In response to the attack, a company of the notorious CRS riot police and around 40 extra officers were sent to the area to reinforce the local forces. Two of our Observers - a resident and a police officer working in La Courneuve - give their views on the deteriorating situation.

When the SWAT turn up at your neighbour’s

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:51:57 +0200

The operation, which lasted almost six hours and saw three suspects shot dead, was captured on film and posted online by web users.

Local news reported that the officers came to arrest members of a gang suspected of robbing and seriously injuring a group of Chinese businessmen, one of whom died. Three of the 11 suspected gang members, aged in their mid-twenties and believed to be of Arabic origin, were hiding in the residence. All three were killed in the incident, which took place March 14, 2009.

This post was compiled with help from one of our Observers for Russia, Ostap Karmodi.