More police misconduct?? Officers caught on camera fabricating police report

In the aftermath of the Henry Louis Gates incident, not only has dialogue opened up nationwide regarding race relations, but police conduct has also been thrown into the spotlight.

A few days ago, another situation involving "questionable" police behavior was uncovered. Back in February, police officers in Hollywood, Florida charged 23 year-old Alexandra Torrensvillas with DUI and a traffic violation following a fender-bender where the officers ran into the back of her car.

Upon questioning Torrensvillas admitted that she had been drinking. The officers were caught on the dashboard camera devising a plot to spin the story to make it appear as if the accident was a result of Torrensvillas driving under the influence and not the fault of the officers who were following too closely.

Check out the news story:

Now in the Gates situation, there is some fuzziness surrounding the details and who is most at fault, but here the facts are clear cut and officers are clearly in the wrong.

Sgt. Dewey Pressley, a 21-year veteran on the force is can be heard on the tape saying "well, I don't lie and makes things up ever because it's wrong, but if I need to bend it a little to protect a cop, I'm gonna."

To make matters worse, Pressley then goes on to direct another officer on how to write the report.

"I will write the narrative out for you. I will tell you exactly how to word it so it can get him off the hook. You see the angle of her car? You see the way it's like this? As far as I'm concerned, I am going to word it she is in the left hand lane. We will do a little Walt Disney to protect the cop, because it wouldn't matter because she was drunk anyway.."

Wow..Talk about abusing the law. The officers have since been placed on desk duty and the charges against Torrensvillas have been dropped.

Now I know the Gates incident and this have little in common other than the fact that police behavior in both situations have come under scrutiny. If anything, police behavior and the officers' commitment to enforcing not abusing the law should be the common thread these incidents share. Unfortunately that's not the case.

In another incident, an openly gay attonery from D.C. was arrested and ticketed after police officers overheard him telling his friends that he hates the police. Apparently, officers handcuffed him without giving their reason and then told him to "just shut up fa**@!"

Henry Gates is a prominent scholar, and because of that he was able to draw attention to his plight, even gaining sympathy/support from the President of the United States. Alexandra Torrensvillas had the good fortune of a dashboard camera to capture her arresting officers transgressions. The prominent lawyer in D.C. has his reputation and legal knowledge to aid him in his battle. Not everyone is that lucky, and the fact that these incidents happened in different parts of the country under different circumstances tells me that this is not a racial/class struggle between police and civilians, but rather a culture of superiority over the law within police departments nationwide. These cops are setting a dangerous precedent, and the issue needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

In the mean time, I'll just make sure to be on my P's & Q's when I see Johnny Law approaching and let N.W.A comment on my feelings about coppers...

Chris Brown apology...what a joke

Have you ever seen a more scripted, insincere apology than this pile of crap offered up by Chris Brown??

After jet-skiing at Diddy's estate, laying low for a few months, then getting shut down from the BET Awards by Jay-Z, Chris makes his first public statements since that fateful night when he assaulted Rihanna from the drivers seat of his car.

If this is the best he could do, he shouldn't have said anything. Watching this makes me even question if he's truly remorseful for what he did or remorseful over the fact that his actions have affected his public image...Chris and his lawyer should be ashamed of themselves for this one.

You be the judge:

President Obama comments on the Henry Louis Gates situation

President Obama addressed the nation again in prime time; this time to garner support, and emphasize his desire to reform America's health care system. I won't bore you with the details of the speech if you missed it. Get the rundown here.

The highlight of the night in my opinion came when President Obama fielded his final question from the throng of White House correspondents present for the address.

A woman asked the president what he thought about the Henry Louis Gates incident that occurred a few days ago. If you haven't heard about it, read up on it here.

President Obama replied by saying that "the police acted stupidly" and "what we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately."

See for yourself:

Uh oh...so much for being PC. President Obama "kept it real," and gave his honest, unscripted opinion on the matter. I hope there isn't much backlash for those remarks. Obama acknowledged that Gates is a personal friend and that his opinion may be a little biased, but still...

Then again, isn't that what you want from a leader? Someone who will tell the truth and/or make decisions because those are right things to say and do, not because they are popular?

What about the "...here I'd get shot" comment? I laughed at the time when I heard it live as did the press members in the audience. I just hope that news outlets and the GOP don't replay/spin those bytes continuously down the road (re-election time if not sooner) to portray Obama in a negative light.

There is no question that what happened to Professor Gates is an unfortunate situation that probably could have been resolved differently. I hope that President Obama's approval ratings/political initiatives/respect from other politicians and world leaders do not waver in the aftermath of those comments; especially since it was not absolutely imperative that the president address that situation at all. That my friends would truly be an unfortunate situation.

Video of LeBron James getting dunked on..

Sports enthusiasts have been hearing about this and anticipating the footage for weeks now... The footage of Jordan Crawford, the sophomore at Xavier University who dunked on LeBron James at his Nike sponsored skills camp.


Well, after some internet scouring BDumasonline has found the video. See the dunk for yourself:

If you're not aware of the situation, my boys over at the Campus Socialite have a good synopsis of what happened.

Essentially, LeBron James was dunked on in a pickup game...A semi-embarrassing moment for the league MVP. Nike confiscated all videos of the dunk, saying it is against policy to film pickup games... Right. Nike/LeBron were just trying to save face.

I wonder what Bron Bron's response to this mishap will be?? Look for King James in the NBA Finals next season. As for the collegiate Jordan Crawford...I hope that dunk will not be the crowning achievement of his basketball career. It remains to be seen.

Happy Birthday America!

A few photos that I snapped from a friend's balcony yesterday..