Criminal law, Politics, Society

Iowa Officer Beats Woman Because She Appeared “Willing To Fight” . . . Police Chief Refuses To Fire Him And Says Such Things Just “Happen From Time To Time.”

s-QUAD-CITIES-POLICE-OFFICER-SHOPLIFTER-largeDavenport police are facing an outcry over the treatment of an alleged shoplifter, Brandie Redell, in custody after a videotape surfaced showing clear contradictions with what the officer stated in his report. The report states that Redell was the aggressor and the officer her victim despite serious injuries to Redell that required medical treatment. Officer Scott Crow hit Redell repeatedly because he says that the woman appeared to be “willing to fight.” It is not clear what that means but the video shows the woman seated when Crow hits her and throws her to the ground.

Crow says that Redell swore at him and “Brandies hands were clenched” and she “appeared willing to fight.” That is clearly not enough to justify such an assault. She is shown upset and agitated but sitting in the chair and crying. That is when Crow lunges at her.

Crow says that he used “two quick jabs to the side of her head”, another “closed fist strike to the side of her head to distract and disorientate” after she bit him. When that did not work, he says that he “directed her head into the back of the chair, “then decided to try some distraction strikes to the back of her head.”

751204924027498Despite the contradictions found in the video and what he describes as excessive force, Davenport Police Chief Frank Donchez has refused to fire the officer. Instead, he respond “Let me ask you this, in every case of excessive force, should the officer be fired?” Many people would of course say yes, but that is not the answer Donchez is looking for. In the meantime, the County Attorney has declined to bring charges against the officer.

Donchez not only does not appear to view excessive force as a firing offense but what appears to be false statements written in a police report and during an investigation. He is quoted as saying “I’m not making excuses for the officer that deviates from policy. I’m a realist. It’s going to happen from time to time.” Well, I can see why it would happen from time to time given the response from Donchez.

Source: WQAD

50 thoughts on “Iowa Officer Beats Woman Because She Appeared “Willing To Fight” . . . Police Chief Refuses To Fire Him And Says Such Things Just “Happen From Time To Time.””

  3. Chief Donchez needs to be fired, this is beyond unacceptable. The Police officer should lose his job, be sued for a substantial amount of money and go to prison. Big question how long in prison. Neither men should be allowed to be in law enforcement ever again, anywhere.

  4. http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/08/22/60517.htm

    Thursday, August 22, 2013Last Update: 7:15 AM PT

    Doctor Must Answer for Diabetic’s Death in Jail
    By ELIZABETH WARMERDAM

    (CN) – The 7th Circuit denied immunity to a doctor and nurse over the death of a schizophrenic prisoner whose diabetes went untreated after he was arrested for a misdemeanor.
    Phillip Okoro had been jailed in Williamson County, Ill., for 69 days in late 2008 after he was arrested on suspicion of having committed a misdemeanor property crime.
    While Okoro waited for a probable cause hearing, his family called the jail to inform it that Okoro suffered from Type I diabetes, which was controlled with careful monitoring of his blood sugar levels. Because Okoro had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia as teenager, he had difficulty monitoring and caring for his diabetes himself.
    Okoro collapsed in his cell on Dec. 23, and was pronounced dead at the Heartland Regional Medical Center. He was 23 years old. A medical examiner found that the young man died of diabetic ketoacidosis, a buildup of acidic ketones in the bloodstream that occurs when the body runs out of insulin. continues…

  5. http://qctimes.com/police-punching-victim-gets-two-years/article_34120a2e-9e7e-57f3-b8ee-28159e6b5d2b.html

    Police punching victim gets two years

    by Kurt Allemeier

    The woman who was punched by a Davenport police officer during her shoplifting arrest in February was sentenced to prison Friday as a civil rights activist vowed to “financially break” the city for that and other incidents he said have come to light.

    Brandie Redell, 34, of Davenport, was sentenced to two years in prison by District Court Judge Douglas McDonald who noted her lengthy record in the sentencing. She was sentenced on two counts of theft third for the Feb. 18 incident at the Von Maur store at NorthPark Mall, Davenport, and an April incident at a Walmart store on Elmore Avenue, Davenport.

    McDonald went against a prosecution recommendation to make the two terms consecutive. Assistant County Attorney Steve Berger made the recommendation based on a lengthy criminal record of theft, deceptive practices perjury and obstructing justice.

    “You keep on doing the same thing over again,” he said. “You need to know that if you do this, there is a price to be paid.”

    Following the sentencing, David Lowery, a civil rights activist from Davenport who runs the Living and Driving While Black Foundation in Chicago and who has taken up Redell’s cause, said he knows of cases similar to Redell’s involving Davenport police officers.

    He declined to provide any details of those incidents.

    I’ve had four or five women who were beaten by the Davenport Police Department that will become clients of the (Anthony J.) Peraica law firm (in Chicago),” he said. “We’re going to financially break the city of Davenport.”

    End of article

  7. If this cop would do this when he knows the cameras are rolling, you can bet he’s administered a lot of beatings, maybe killings, under cover of darkness.

  8. Hmm, well Chief Douchez or whatever your name is, I’m a realist too. You need to understand that ‘killed in the line of duty’ happens too. Your constituents watch this stuff and it continues to perpetuate and grow the Us vs Them atmosphere that pervades police/community relations. Personally, I wish you’d just do the honorable thing – but the concept of honor is foreign to you, I’m sure.

  9. This sort of thing has been going on for decades. If people gave a shit about their children, cops would be extinct.

  10. If Chief Donchez truly believes that it is acceptable to retain a police officer who beats a suspect just because he can, Davenport should be looking to replace both.

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