December 11, 2008 – 3:05 pm
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 [...]
September 10, 2008 – 1:33 pm
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 [...]
February 29, 2008 – 9:48 am
The Springfield Police Department is looking into rolling out a program to install 50 video cameras Downtown, along with four microphones that can pick up the sound of gunshots. This program also plans to install video cameras in police cruisers, both to scan license plates in search of stolen cars, and to record police officers [...]