In a letter of “no confidence” sent to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, the 13 deputies accuse their chief of failing to take command of the Boyston Street bombing site, leaving the task fully to his inferiors while he stood idly by.The deputies also allege that in another instance where they were responding to a six-alarm fire, they witnessed their boss standing on a rooftop and watching. Instead of directing the response to the fire, the chief was allegedly taking photos of himself with flames in the background for “his scrapbook”. “His justification for failing to take action is indefensible,” the deputies wrote in the April 26 letter, which the Boston Globe obtained. “…You can unequivocally consider this letter a vote of no confidence in Chief Abraira.”The deputy chiefs argue that after the Boston Marathon attack, Abraira uselessly stood by as a spectator while the rest of the fire crew was “heavily involved” in the scene, searching the area for suspicious packages, additional explosives, and checking buildings for structural damage.The deputies claim that Abraira frequently “shields himself from immediate accountability while setting the stage for undermining the confidence and authority of his command staff. While acknowledging his ultimate accountability for department operations, he avoids on-the-scene responsibility.”In an interview with the Globe, Abraira denied the allegations, claiming he responded appropriately at the bombing sites. He said that chiefs are not required to take command of a scene, according to information he obtained from other big city fire departments.“When I got there I was comfortable with what was going on,” he said. “…The nationally accepted practice is that you only take command [as chief] if there’s something going wrong or if you can strengthen the command position or if it’s overwhelming for the incident commander, and none of those things were in fact happening.”Abraira also denied having ever taken pictures of himself while neglecting his duties, calling the accusation “just crazy”. He contended that his deputies are protesting his leadership because he came from outside the department. Abraira previously led the Dallas fire department and served as an assistant fire chief in Miami.A spokeswoman for the mayor said she has “full confidence in [Fire] Commissioner [Roderick] Fraser to do what’s best for the department.” Neither Fraser nor the mayor’s office publicly commented on the letter sent by the 13 fire chief deputies. … Read More
California cops defend phone confiscations as video of ‘constant bashing’ emerges
The Kern County Sherriff’s Office has responded to allegations of police brutality only by stonewalling reporters and the family of David Silva, 33, who died last week after witnesses say police took turns hitting the supposedly inebriated man in the head with their batons. Observers who phoned 911 to report the police abuse were later visited by detectives demanding they turn over any footage captured in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 8. The seven Kern County deputies officials say were involved in the incident (the number of California Highway Patrol officers present is still unknown) have not been placed on administrative leave, according to the Bakersfield Californian, and department officials have refused to explain why. “We’re following the same protocol, as far as the administrative process is concerned, that we’d follow in similar-type incidents,” said sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt. Other law enforcement higher-ups echoed a similar sentiment by implying their silence was warranted by an “ongoing investigation” that could last for months. The cause of death will be announced pending a toxicology report from the coroner as well as microscopic studies. But the delay in explanations fail to account for why witnesses told local and national media outlets that Silva appeared to die in front of them, after a police beating and while a canine unit looked on, apparently ready to intervene if Silva would have been allowed to stand. Melissa Quair told the Bakersfield Californian that aggressive deputies showed up at her door and blocked the exit as they seized her boyfriend’s phone, which contained video of the beating. She also asserted that her mother was forced to forfeit her phone, even after the police were told it did not contain any supposed evidence. “They used more force than was needed,” Quair said. “I told them that they didn’t have permission to say who could go in or out of my house. My mom is disabled and has a lot of doctor and medical numbers stored in her phone. But the detective didn’t care and they told my mom to write all her contacts down on a piece of paper and while she did they watched her like hawks.” Only one poorly-lit video of the beating has surfaced, but 19 blows are visibly delivered by three officers.“Constant bashing, this is constant bashing,” Chris Silva, brother of the victim, told KBAK-TV after the tape was broadcast on the local news. “You can count, you know – I can’t keep track. And it hurts my head looking at this.” … Read More
California dad ‘begged for his life’ as police beat him to death – witnesses
David Sal Silva, 33, allegedly resisted when police approached him to ask if he was who neighbors called about to complain of an intoxicated man in the area. The officers called for backup and, witnesses told the Bakersfield Californian, Silva was soon being beaten in the face and upper body by as many as nine policemen and their batons. At least one of the cops reportedly held a German Shepherd on a leash nearby.Witnesses who had recorded the events on their cell phone cameras had the devices confiscated by officers, who claimed the footage was part of a police investigation that could yield evidence. The Sherriff’s Department has released the names of seven officers who were on the scene, but the identities of the California Highway Patrol police who were also there have not yet been made public.“When I got outside I saw two officers beating a man with batons, and they were hitting his head so every time they would swing, I could hear the blows to his head,” said witness Ruben Ceballos, who told the Californian the noise was so loud it woke him up.“His body was just lying on the street and before the ambulance arrived one of the officers performed CPR on him and another used a flashlight on his eyes but I’m sure he was already dead.”Police have refused to comment, citing an ongoing investigation that could take years to complete, but relatives have demanded the cell phone footage be made public.“My brother spent the last eight minutes of his life pleading, begging for his life,” said Christopher Silva, 31. “The true evidence is in those phone witnesses that apparently the sheriff deputies already took. But I know the truth will come out and my brother’s voice will be heard.”An autopsy was completed Thursday but the cause of death’s release is pending a toxicology report and microscopic studies, the local coroner’s office told the Bakersfield Californian Friday.The family has hired attorney David Cohn, who told reporters they plan to file a civil rights lawsuit in federal district court next week. He sent a letter formally requesting that law enforcement agencies do not tamper with the video evidence on the phones.“We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words,” Cohn said. “And thank God we have concerned citizens who take video and pictures of incidents like this and who are ultimately policing the police … But we will get to the bottom of this and I ask the sheriff’s department once again, what are you hiding?” … Read More
30 Russian MPs divorced to conceal their incomes – report
The mass divorce took place two months before the deputies income declarations were published on April 15, the state-run news agency ITAR_TASS reported quoting an unnamed source in the State Duma.Parliamentarians have neither confirmed nor denied the report. “We do not possess any information on changes in the deputies’ marital status as compared to last year. Every situation is unique and we cannot get into details of every case,” said MP Andrey Andreyev, deputy head of the lower house’s ethics commission. At the same time Andreyev added that he “did not exclude the possibility” of fake divorces aimed at concealing the income information.Russian laws does not require MPs to report changes in their marital status, but it requires that parliamentarians mention their spouses’ property in their income declaration.The ITAR-TASS report was released at the same time as one of the MPs – Ilya Ponomaryov of the leftist opposition party Fair Russia – asked the ethics commission to verify the reports of divorce of Vladimir Zhirinovsky – the leader of the populist centrist party LDPR. Ponomaryov claimed that Zhirinovsky divorced his wife of 30 years in order not to mention the property registered in her name in his income declaration.The ethics commission said that Ponomaryov made procedural mistakes while filing his request, and refused to probe Zhirinovsky’s alleged wrongdoings.The LDPR leader told the press he was only married according to church law and did not have to report this in any official paper.Zhirinovsky also claimed that in 2011 and 2012 Ponomaryov received $750,000 in fees from a state-run innovation foundation Skolkovo for 10 lectures and one research paper that have never been delivered. Zhirinovsky openly accused Ponomaryov of corruption and said that the MP should be jailed for 10 years.Ponomaryov said that the contract with Skolkovo existed but everything in it was legal and he mentioned the income in his last declaration.The head of the Russian presidential administration Sergey Ivanov told reporters on Friday that the income declarations of all officials will be verified, that the checks will start in about 15 days’ time and that there will be no witch hunts in the process.In early April President Vladin Putin signed two decrees detailing the measures to tighten the anti-corruption measures. The decrees give powers to certain officials to check the income declarations by making enquiries to banks and federal financial intelligence. … Read More
‘Minister’s job no popularity contest’ – Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev was delivering the report on government performance in 2012 to the State Duma and had to answer MPs’ questions afterwards. Igor Lebedev of the opposition party LDPR asked if the PM had thought about firing Education Minister Dmitry Livanov and backed the questions with sharp criticism of the official’s performance.However, Medvedev defended his subordinate, saying that the criticism was an inseparable part of the government work.“A minister is not a ruble coin for everyone to like him. A lot of positions in the government can be called an execution list and the education and health ministers are examples of such posts,” he responded.Medvedev asked the MPs if they could recall a single occasion when someone in the parliament had said something good about these officials.“I think that the minister who is liked by everyone simply is not fully performing his professional duties,” he added. However, he said that the government officials must remain in contact with the community and praised the criticism, as it was not just the right, but a duty for the State Duma deputies.Medvedev also admitted that the current state of Russian education, especially postgraduate education, could be improved.“There are institutes that will make you feel shame if you walk inside. It is sad to see who lectures there,” the PM noted. He also called for a critical review of the system that has been driven solely by inertia over recent years.Medvedev also warned about the dangers of fully relying on digital systems that were created to fight plagiarism, saying that scientists and scholars could use quotes once it is done properly.Lately, Livanov has been often targeted by colleagues and politicians both for his work and his public statements. His conflict with the Russian Academy of Sciences spilled far beyond the educational sphere after the minister called the academy ‘archaic’ and ‘non-viable’ in a radio interview and likened it to a property-managing institution that was not making any input into the fundamental sciences.Academicians replied with an open letter demanding a public apology and threatening to ask for Livanov’s dismissal from the minister’s post if they did not get one.Livanov apologized, but the demands for his dismissal still followed. … Read More
Florida man arrested for flashing penis at cable company worker
Sheriff’s deputies in Lee County, Floria arrested a Ft. Myers man for exposing his genitals to a female cable company worker. According to Ft. Myers’ ABC Channel 7, 61-year-old Allen Jones was taken into custody on charges of disturbing the peace. “Dude, really?” the cable…
Brickbat: Might As Well Jump
Two Sarasota County, Florida,
sheriff’s deputies seemed a bit miffed when Charles Ross jumped
over a
picnic table they were sitting on. But when they noticed he was
recording them they got really angry. Threatening to ruin his day,
they pulled him to the ground, handcuffed him and arrested Ross for
breach of the peace and disorderly conduct. … Read More
