Springfield cops are fully armed — with high-powered weapons supplied by the military. Which war do they think they’re fighting?
State plans a review of weapons program
The Republican
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
By ANGELA CARBONE
acarbone@repub.com
A federal program that hands out surplus military equipment, including high-powered weapons, to local police departments has come under fire from the state.
Local law [...]
The following three articles are by George Ciccariello-Maher and were originally published in Counterpunch. They follow the uprisings in Oakland after the killing of Oscar Grant by BART cops.
Popular Fury at Yet Another Police Murder
Oakland’s Not For Burning?
Arrest and Containment Fail to Blunt Anger in the Streets
“Oakland is Closed!”
From Oakland to Santa Rita, the [...]
Early on New Year’s Day, the BART cops shot and killed Oscar Grant, a 22 year-old father, at the Fruitvale station in Oakland. The train was stopped and Grant and others pulled off because they were allegedly involved in a brawl. The BART cops restrained him, shot him in the back, and then cuffed him. [...]
The cops who shot Louis Jiles last summer have been cleared. At a traffic stop, the police mistook a beer bottle in Jiles’ hand for a gun, and shot him in the wrist. Months later, “independent arbitrators” and the Hampden County District Attorney rule that the cops did nothing wrong.
So, what’s the punishment for these [...]
By now you’ve likely heard about the police repression of protesters at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota last week. Police made a massive show of force, arresting over 800 people, making a special effort to target journalists who were documenting the protests and the police violence going on.
Perhaps more shocking and concerning [...]
Thanks to A.Z. for bringing this story to our attention:
Family questions death of former Southwick man arrested after Celtics’ win
by The Republican Newsroom
Monday June 30, 2008, 5:26 PM
By DAN RING
dring@repub.com
BOSTON - Police did not use excessive force while arresting David J. Woodman of Southwick last month, according to a preliminary review, the Boston police [...]
Western Mass. Copwatch is outraged but not surprised that Holyoke police officers Sean Shattuck and Joseph Wilson have been cleared of all charges stemming from the December 18, 2007 incident that landed 23-year-old Holyoke resident Christopher Martinez in the hospital ER with a smashed-up face. Now that these armed and dangerous thugs in blue are [...]
The Republican has reported on numerous street sweeps of prostitutes in both Holyoke and Springfield. Police policy refers to this as part of “quality of life” initiatives, that often results in more aggressive use of force.
(view recent articles here, here, here, and here).
These policies are enacted presumably to improve the quality of life in the [...]
On December 18, three off-duty Holyoke Police Department officers beat up Christopher Martinez, a Holyoke resident, outside of Pal Joey’s, a bar on Route 5. At a pre-trial conference this week, the date for the cops’ (the two who are being tried) trial was set: May 27, 2008, in Palmer District Court. Until then, the [...]