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| NEWS > 09 April 2008 |
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Iraqi police chief arrested fo
A Sunni police chief praised by U.S. forces for clearing his city of insurgents has been arrested following an investigation into alleged murder, corruption and crimes against the Iraqi people, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
Col. Hamid Ibrahim al-Jazaa, his brother and 14 bodyguards were taken into custody Tuesday in the city of Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, according to a statement by the public affairs office of Multinational Corps-Iraq.
“The apprehensions were the result of an investigation which alleges murder, corruption and crimes against the Iraqi people. The appre... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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The Times-Picayune
09 April 2008
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Officer as perpetrator
The man did nothing to provoke him, but still New Orleans police officer Donald Battiste struck him hard in the back with his elbow. The blow, described by those who saw it as "karate-like," dropped the man to his knees. Officer Battiste then handcuffed the man, led him to the police cruiser where he stole $251 of the $510 the man carried in his pockets.
Such behavior from the city's police officers makes everyone afraid. When a person is attacked by another civilian, there's always the expectation that the police can be summoned. But when a police officer is the perpetrator, the crime is worse because the victim rightly feels that the law isn't working for him.
Last week in federal court Mr. Battiste pleaded guilty to using unreasonable force against the man he arrested and to illegally taking his money. The man had committed no crime, but was a decoy taking orders from the Police Department's Public Integrity Bureau.
That investigative arm of the department set up a sting operation in October 2006 after receiving numerous complaints that Mr. Battiste, a nine-year veteran of the force, was stealing suspects' money. He resigned after he was booked with the crimes.
Why Mr. Battiste was still on the force in 2006 is a legitimate question. In 2003, the Police Department conducted a similar sting operation and caught him using unauthorized force and stealing money from a suspect's wallet. No criminal charges were filed. Mr. Battiste was issued a letter of reprimand.
He won't be sentenced for last week's federal guilty plea until July. He faces up to five years in prison for each of the two counts, a $250,000 fine or both. Last year he pleaded guilty to state charges of malfeasance in office and was sentenced to a year in prison.
There's no telling how many more suspects were beaten up and robbed because police brass didn't get rid of Mr. Battiste in 2003. A letter of reprimand certainly didn't communicate the severity of his offense, and nobody in the department should have been under the illusion that it would have.
Treating violently corrupt officers with leniency imperils the whole city. There should be no tolerance for officers who beat up suspects and rob them. Mr. Battiste got such leniency in 2003, and that's to the Police Department's shame.
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