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[WaTcHeR]

Officer Michael Olsen


Videos on the link below

When UT junior Jeffrey Thornton went to Sixth Street on June 20, 2002, he said he didn't expect to end the night in jail for being a pedestrian in the roadway.

He didn't expect to be repeatedly slammed against the hood of a squad car, either. He didn't expect to be involved in a law suit against the police department, and he didn't expect to see the same officer again five years later, this time on the news for shooting Kevin Brown.

On that night in 2002, Thornton had gone to Club Rehab with a friend to celebrate Juneteenth. After clubs closed at 2 a.m., Thornton observed an altercation in the street. Two men were horsing around but stopped as Sgt. Michael Olsen, the officer involved in the Brown shooting, approached.

Olsen ordered one of the men to go home. Thornton was nearby and said Olsen picked the man up by his shirt and shoved him while telling him to "go the fuck home."

In a court deposition, Olsen admitted to using profanities during the incident, which is against Austin Police Department policy. Olsen said profanity is sometimes necessary to convey immediacy in certain situations.

After Thornton commented to his friend about how Olsen was handling the man, the officer approached Thornton, telling him to get out of the road before he got a ticket. Thornton said he was one of more than 100 people in the road.

Thornton said he complied, but Olsen said he wasn't moving fast enough and would get a ticket.

Olsen then took Thornton to his squad car, where he slammed him against the hood twice, after which Thornton stood up and called to his nearby friend to call his mother. Thornton stood up once more, and Olsen slammed him against the hood a third time. Thornton slid off the hood of the car to the pavement, where he briefly lost consciousness.

When Thornton awoke, his head was bleeding. When he opened his eyes, he said it felt like they were burning, and when the officer picked him up he felt dizzy and collapsed repeatedly.

An EMS unit came to the scene to take Thornton to the hospital and began to drive off, with Olsen accompanying Thornton. Olsen insisted that Thornton was faking, and soon the ambulance stopped. Officers helped Thornton to a squad car and took him to jail.

After Thornton spent 36 hours in jail for being a pedestrian in a roadway, authorities released him.

"It felt like six years," he said.

Thornton filed a complaint with internal affairs at the APD, and an investigation began. After a surveillance video of the incident emerged, confirming Thornton's account of the events, the charges against him were dropped.

Olsen was suspended for 60 days for inappropriate use of force and falsifying his account of the incident, according to a police department memo.

However, Thornton wasn't done. He contacted the Texas Civil Rights Project, and project director Jim Harrington filed his lawsuit. After a year and a half of litigation, the city settled the suit for $31,000.

"Right off the bat I was very impressed with Jeffrey himself," Harrington said. "I know that there is a lot of excessive force on Sixth, so I wasn't surprised by the story at all."

Harrington and the project did all the work pro bono. After the settlement, Thornton donated $5,000 to the project.

"They went above the call of duty," Thornton said. "I felt like their only client. I got to the point where I got really tired of them calling me. Everyone knew my name, and I felt welcome."

Thornton, who is black, said race most likely played a part in the incident.

"I really think if I was white, this shit would never have happened, and I'm going to stand by that," he said. "I hate to pull the race card, but in that situation I think it would never happen. Some people said I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn't one of those situations. I was celebrating."

Three years later on June 3, Olsen shot Kevin Brown, a 25-year-old black male, twice in the back, killing him.

News that the same officer was now involved in a use-of-force investigation against another black male stunned Thornton.

"I was in disbelief," he said. "It shook me and it really hurt me. That could've been me. I still can't believe it."

Harrington had a similar reaction to the news.

"What a colossal series of mistakes by the Austin Police Department," Harrington said.

The next day, UT graduate Paul Merryman, who graduated in the spring of 2006, uploaded a video to YouTube.com titled "APD: Downtown Discipline." The documentary video, which details Thornton's incident with APD, was made in 2005 as a project for a radio-television-film class.

Merryman said he made the video because he witnessed police brutality on Sixth Street against a friend of his who is a black male. Officers encircled Merryman's friend with horses, Tasered him and used pepper spray.

The video calls into question the disciplinary procedures of APD, placing the blame on a police union, which Merryman said is too powerful to allow the department to properly discipline officers.

According to meet-and-confer procedures, which determine officer promotions, disciplinary actions play no part in the process of promotions. Since Thornton's incident, Olsen has been promoted twice.

Thornton is now a neurobiology junior at UT, having transferred from Austin Community College. He's currently on track to graduate next spring.

Despite his past with APD, Thornton now does forensics work for the department.

"Its kind of ironic," Thornton said. "We are our own division, but on a whole, it's a part of the APD. I have no interaction with APD, which is a good thing, yet we do all the crime scenes."

Thornton said what fascinates him most about forensics is the fact that trace evidence can lead to capturing a criminal. He said he hopes to become a full-fledged forensics investigator.

Harrington and the Texas Civil Rights Project are now involved with Antoine Thompson, a witness to the Brown shooting who came forward recently saying he was brutalized by police officers that night, and that Brown was shot while pleading for his life.


http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2007/06/15/TopStories/Seen-It.All.Before-2915430.shtml
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Officer Michael Olsen is a danger to the citizens of Austin Texas and something needs to be done with him, one way or another.
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

A Travis County grand jury has declined to indict Austin police Sgt. Michael Olsen in the death of 25-year-old Kevin Brown, whom Olsen shot twice in the back outside a popular East 12th Street nightclub in June.

Grand jurors issued their one-page decision Thursday, saying that they had labored over the case and had found no criminal wrongdoing. They made no other statements about their opinion.

State District Judge Wilford Flowers, who had impaneled the group — composed of six African American, three white and three Hispanic jurors — did not make public Thursday a list of jurors' names.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said in a statement that grand jurors heard evidence and testimony for 10 days beginning in late June, including observations from 12 witnesses: seven civilians, four expert or law enforcement witnesses, and Olsen.

According to his written statement released Thursday, Olsen told investigators hours after the shooting that he was "100 percent sure" Brown had a gun when he shot him during a foot chase. He said he decided to shoot when he saw Brown reach toward his waistband as if retrieving a weapon and that "I was confident I had a clear shot and a high probability of hitting the target."

Olsen said he fired several rounds, that Brown fell facedown and continued reaching around his waist.

"I still felt threatened by his actions and thought he was still trying to get the gun out," Olsen said. "I paused and hesitated, especially because he was facedown and on the ground, before making the decision to shoot several more rounds to ensure I ended the threat.

"I remember thinking that I really didn't want to shoot him again, but that I still felt he was trying to get a gun and was still a threat to my life," Olsen said in his statement.

Investigators questioned dozens of people about the incident, but none said they saw Olsen fire the shots. Police later recovered a gun in the courtyard, about 30 feet from Brown's body.

Attorney Jason Nassour, who represented Olsen in the grand jury proceeding, said his client was "confident that once the facts were revealed, he would be exonerated."

"Sergeant Olsen acted with professionalism and courage in the face of an extremely dangerous encounter where his life, the lives of other officers and the lives of bystanders were at risk," Nassour said in a statement. "Sergeant Olsen has personally taken this very hard, and extends his condolences to the family of the deceased."

The grand jury decision ends the criminal investigation into the shooting of Brown, who had been a patron at Chester's Club on June 3. Authorities from the U.S. Department of Justice are still investigating the shooting to determine whether Olsen violated Brown's civil rights.

Austin police also are doing an internal investigation. Olsen, who has been disciplined in the past for using excessive force, remains on administrative leave with pay.

"We will look at everything," Police Chief Art Acevedo said Thursday. "It will be a very comprehensive review."

Brown's mother, Ethel Washington, declined to comment Thursday. Family members had described him in a news conference shortly after the shooting as a sports fan who loved video games and cherished his 5-year-old son. Court records show Brown spent time in jail for a felony assault conviction as well as for a conviction on a misdemeanor drug charge.

Austin attorney Adam Loewy, who is representing Brown's family said, "Kevin Brown's family is very disappointed with the grand jury's decision not to criminally indict Sgt. Michael Olsen. It is clear that Sgt. Olsen violated Kevin Brown's civil rights when he shot Kevin Brown twice in the back. We believe a civil jury will hold Sgt. Olsen accountable for his unlawful actions and use of excessive force." He said the family plans to file a lawsuit.

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the decision "is the latest in a series of despicable and cowardly acts by grand juries where African American suspects were shot and killed by white police officers."

Police have said that Olsen, who was working an overtime assignment in the area around the club, was investigating a report that Brown had a gun. Brown began fleeing when Olsen tried to question him, running into an apartment complex courtyard, police said.

The district attorney's office Thursday released copies of hundreds of pages of witnesses' statements, diagrams and other documents in the case. The information provides a more specific accounting of what happened minutes before and after the shooting.

According to Olsen's statement, he had just finished a traffic stop on East 12th Street, almost directly in front of Chester's, when a club security guard flagged him down about 4 a.m. and told him that a patron had reported being threatened.

Olsen said the guard told him that the customer thought the man had a weapon. The security guard initially described a possible suspect, but later told Olsen that the first man had handed a gun to another patron, later identified as Brown.

Olsen said he walked toward Brown, who then "stepped back away from me. At that point, I had a distinct gut feeling something was wrong and the hair on the back of my neck stood up."

Olsen said he decided to go "hands on" and tried to grab Brown's hands. He said Brown stepped back, pushed him and started to run.

"Had I known I was just arresting him for drugs or something, I would have just wrapped him up and tackled him," Olsen said. "Because I thought he had a gun, I was more hesitant and was trying to keep an eye on his hands."

Olsen said Brown ran toward the back of the parking lot and that he radioed a description of Brown to other officers in the area. He said Brown plunged down a large drop-off and ran into an apartment complex courtyard.

Olsen said he yelled several times at Brown to stop and show his hands, but that Brown kept his hands in his waistband area.

"After a short distance, he slowed and turned slightly towards me, looking directly at me," Olsen said in the statement. "I don't remember exactly how far he turned his body towards me, but it was coming towards me, and his head was turned towards me, looking at me.

"He was clearly digging his hand into his waistband, and I feared he was trying to pull the gun on me. ... I feared for my life and made the decision to shoot him to defend myself from imminent attack."

According to the autopsy report, the bullets entered Brown's body midback on the right side, and travelled from the back of his body to the front, right to left, and down. The bullets entered on the right side and fractured three of Brown's left ribs.

The shooting happened two days after city officials announced that the U.S. Department of Justice would review how Austin police officers use force, particularly against minorities.

It is unclear how long its inquiry into the shooting will take.

Acevedo said the internal affairs investigation will seek to determine whether Olsen violated any department policies in the shooting, and that he wants to complete the investigation during the next four to six weeks.

"We have a responsibility to the community and our officers to make sure we take our time to get a complete and accurate picture of what happened," Acevedo said.


THE STORY SO FAR ...

Use of force in question

Police Sgt. Michael Olsen fatally shot Kevin Brown shortly after 4 a.m. June 3 following a chase near Chester's Club in East Austin. Olsen said he thought Brown had a gun. The shooting occurred two days after city officials said the Justice Department would review how Austin police officers use force, particularly against minorities. Olsen is white; Brown was African American. The Justice Department is investigating to determine whether Olsen violated Brown's civil rights. The Austin Police Department is conducting an internal investigation.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/10/0810nobill.html
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[KC]

Austin City Manager Toby Futrell has ordered a review of the internal affairs investigation into the June shooting death of Kevin Brown after investigators said they could not determine whether Sgt. Michael Olsen "unnecessarily used deadly force in this encounter."

Internal affairs detectives concluded that Olsen's tactics leading up to the shooting outside an East Austin nightclub violated department policy, but they did not come to a resolution on the question of whether his force was justified, according to a memo Police Monitor Cliff Brown sent Futrell late Tuesday.

"Based on the facts and circumstances of this case, as I understand them, it is my belief that an independent review of these findings is in the best interest of the community," wrote Brown, who is not related to Kevin Brown. "I believe that an independent review will provide a measure of transparency that will increase the community's trust and confidence in the Austin Police Department."

The independent review, which will be done by two experts from the national consulting company Kroll Government Services, will examine how detectives looked into the incident, according to a memo to City Council members from Futrell. It will examine "the thoroughness and appropriateness of their investigatory techniques, analysis and conclusions."

The call for a review is the second time in recent months that decisions by internal affairs investigators have come under scrutiny.

Chief Art Acevedo said in September that he was concerned that investigators had concluded that an officer was justified in using his Taser stun gun on a man he stopped for driving 5 miles per hour over the speed limit.

In another case, internal affairs detectives said former officer Julie Schroeder did not violate department policy when she fatally shot Daniel Rocha during a June 2005 traffic stop. Former Chief Stan Knee later fired Schroeder, who appealed his decision. An arbitrator upheld the termination.

Acevedo said Wednesday that he has reviewed several internal affairs investigations since taking office in the summer and was "very satisfied." However, he said, he is evaluating how the unit does its job as part of an ongoing assessment of the department.

Also Wednesday, an attorney representing Kevin Brown's family announced that they have filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that Olsen violated Brown's civil rights and used excessive force. Adam Loewy said the suit was filed independently of the outcome of the internal affairs investigation.

The suit, which names the city and Olsen as defendants, claims that Olsen used excessive force and that the city maintained a practice of using too much force against minorities.

Brown was fatally shot twice from behind after a foot chase. Olsen had pursued Brown to see whether he had a gun outside Chester's Club on East 12th Street. In August, a grand jury declined to indict Olsen.

According to his written statement to homicide detectives, Olsen said he was "100 percent sure" Brown had a gun when he shot him. Olsen said he fired when he saw Brown reach toward his waistband as if retrieving a weapon. Olsen said that he fired several rounds and that Brown fell facedown and continued reaching around his waist.

"I still felt threatened by his actions and thought he was still trying to get the gun out," Olsen said. "I paused and hesitated, especially because he was facedown and on the ground, before making the decision to shoot several more rounds to ensure I ended the threat."

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he welcomed the outside scrutiny.

"The questions raised in the Brown shooting deserve a very thorough and very detailed analysis," he said. "The community deserves to know that all the facts have been examined fairly."

George Vanderhule, president of the Austin Police Association, said he is angry because the city violated its employment contract with the union by ordering the investigation. He said the monitor may seek an independent investigation only if a majority of the office's residents review panel votes in favor of it.

City officials said Futrell has the right to call for an independent investigation of officer conduct at any time, under any circumstances.

Tonight, the monitor's office and a panel are scheduled to hear results of the internal affairs investigation in a private meeting. They will then vote on whether to recommend that Olsen be disciplined.

Acevedo has the final decision about Olsen's future with the department.

The city will pay Kroll President Jeff Schlanger and fellow consultant Jeffrey Noble $325 and $275 per hour, respectively, for the review. The pair will not conduct interviews or recreate the shooting and will only review the work of investigators, city officials said.

Schlanger was appointed deputy monitor of the Los Angeles Police Department in July 2001 and leads a team that is overseeing reforms in the Detroit Police Department. Noble is a retired Irvine, Calif., police commander.

The review should be completed by Nov. 27.

According to state civil service law, Acevedo must decide whether to discipline Olsen within 180 days of the shooting. The deadline is Nov. 30.

This is the third time the monitor's office has asked for an independent investigation since it was created in 2001.

An independent investigation into the 2002 police shooting death of Sophia King, a mentally ill woman threatening her apartment manager with a knife, found that the shooting was unavoidable.

An outside review of circumstances surrounding the deaths of a commander and her husband in a December 2004 motorcycle crash concluded that it was not "readily apparent" to other officers at a charity event that the two were too drunk to drive.

tplohetski@statesman.com; 445-3605


Story so far

June 1: City officials announce that U.S. Department of Justice will investigate how Austin officers use force, especially against minorities.

June 3: Sgt. Michael Olsen fatally shoots Kevin Alexander Brown near Chester's in East Austin.

June 7: Autopsy results show that Brown was shot twice in the back.

June 19: Department of Justice officials add shooting to their inquiry.

Aug. 9: Travis County grand jury declines to indict Olsen in shooting.


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/11/15//1115shooting.html
_________________
www.policecrimes.com

[WaTcHeR]

Officer Michael Olsen


Kevin Brown


Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo on Wednesday fired an officer who fatally shot a man during a foot pursuit outside an East Austin nightclub in June, saying in a blistering 10-page report that Sgt. Michael Olsen unnecessarily fired a second shot into the man's back as he lay facedown before giving him a chance to comply with an order to show his hands.

Acevedo said in the disciplinary memo that Olsen repeatedly demonstrated poor judgment, showed a lack of common sense and failed to follow his training in the moments before the June 3 shooting, including not waiting for backup to investigate whether Kevin Brown had a gun outside Chester's nightclub on East 12th Street.

He said it was conceivable that the first shot that struck Brown, hitting him in the back, may have been within Police Department policy but that Brown did not pose an immediate threat after he fell to the ground.

"The totality of the circumstances do not justify or support a reasonable belief that an ordinary or prudent officer would act or think in a similar way that Sergeant Olsen did," Acevedo said in the memo. "Consequently, when Sergeant Olsen made the decision to shoot at Mr. Brown after he was wounded and lying face down on the ground, that use of deadly force was not justifiable."

In an interview Wednesday night, Olsen defended his actions and said, "I am very disappointed that this chief who came in and said he was going to support his officers ... went back on that. If I can't defend myself when I feel a deadly threat from a man who has a gun, what do officers have to do? Do they have to wait to see a gun or be shot at? If that's the case, we'll be at a lot of police funerals."

Olsen's attorney, Jason Nassour, said his client has filed an appeal to the city's civil service commission, which must have a hearing and issue a ruling within 30 days. If the commission does not give him his job back, Olsen will appeal to a state district judge, Nassour said.

"The chief is a coward," Nassour said. He accused Acevedo of "trying to be liked instead of respected by the public."

Olsen has said that he was investigating a report that Brown had a gun and that Brown began to flee. He said he fired when Brown reached toward his waist, as if drawing a weapon.

According to a statement to homicide investigators made public in August, Olsen said he was "100 percent sure" Brown had a gun when he shot the man.

Olsen said that he fired several rounds and that Brown fell facedown and continued reaching around his waist.

"I still felt threatened by his actions and thought he was still trying to get the gun out," Olsen said. "I paused and hesitated, especially because he was facedown and on the ground, before making the decision to shoot several more rounds to ensure I ended the threat."

Documents said Olsen fired four rounds, two of which hit Brown.

A gun was recovered at the scene about 25 feet from where Brown was shot.

A Travis County grand jury reviewed the case and in August declined to indict Olsen on any charge.

Acevedo said that ruling "has no bearing" on his decision, which was unanimously supported by a residents panel for the police monitor's office that reviewed the case. The panel is made up of community leaders, including a small-business owner, two attorneys and a couple of retirees.

Among Acevedo's other findings:

Olsen's in-car video camera recorded a comment he made to another officer in which he said he had gotten angry with residents twice that day. "This revelation leads me to question whether Sergeant Olsen was predisposed to lose his temper that night, which might have affected his judgment," Acevedo said in the memo.

Despite requesting backup and knowing that another officer was only seconds away, Olsen decided to go "hands-on" and confront Brown, which Acevedo said he should not have done without a sufficient number of officers.

Olsen did not communicate with other officers to develop a "measured and coordinated" response, for which he was responsible as the supervisor at the scene. Olsen left his partner during the chase and created a potential cross-fire encounter in which the officers could have accidentally shot each other.

Olsen could have dropped to the ground, hidden behind a tree or positioned himself at the corner of a building if he thought Brown was going to shoot him.

The firing of Olsen is among the most crucial decisions Acevedo has confronted in his four months in office, potentially placing him at odds with some community leaders and the rank-and-file, both of whom have praised the new chief.

It is the second time he has fired an officer who used deadly force. Acevedo also dismissed officer Wayne Williamson, who fired several shots March 14 while chasing a burglary suspect outside a shopping center near U.S. 183 and Manor Road. The shots did not hit anyone, but one bullet struck a van with two children inside.

Williamson finished a 10-month Army tour in Iraq last year. He and his lawyer have said that his experience in a war zone probably blurred his split-second judgment and affected his decision to shoot.

In a statement from the Austin Police Association, the union said it "adamantly supports Sgt. Mike Olsen's right to pursue the appeal of his indefinite suspension."

The shooting involving Olsen happened two days after city officials announced that the U.S. Justice Department would investigate how Austin officers use force, particularly against minorities. Brown, who had a felony assault and misdemeanor drug conviction, was African American; Olsen is white.

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Acevedo's decision Wednesday "sends a powerful message to the entire city that all human life is important and that if you use deadly force, you should be sure it is absolutely necessary."

Adam Loewy, who is representing Brown's family in a federal lawsuit against Olsen and the Police Department, also praised Acevedo's decision, saying it is "evidence that officer Michael Olsen employed excessive force against Kevin Brown and violated Kevin Brown's civil rights."

"We applaud the department's decision, but it should have never come to this point, because we don't believe Sgt. Olsen should have been working that night to begin with," Loewy said. "The red flags were present."

Olsen, whom friends and co-workers have described as a church-going father and conscientious police officer, was suspended for 60 days after an incident in 2002 in which he assaulted a bystander on Sixth Street and was accused of lying about it in his police report. He was indicted on three charges of tampering with a government record, but the cases were dismissed.

Two years earlier, he was involved in the in-custody death of a man who was drunk and high on cocaine when he was confronted by police for shooting at parked cars.

Olsen was one of the officers who cuffed and tussled with Steven Bernard Scott while he struggled with police. Scott died after the encounter.

Acevedo cited Olsen's history with the department as a reason for the dismissal.

Internal affairs detectives also had said that Olsen violated policies concerning the use of good judgment and common sense in his tactics leading up to the Brown shooting, according to Olsen's attorney. However, the investigators said they could not determine whether Olsen "unnecessarily used deadly force in this encounter."

City Manager Toby Futrell hired a consultant this month for an independent review of that internal affairs investigation.

According to that review, the results of which were released Wednesday, the internal affairs investigation fell short by failing to more fully explain the ballistics evidence and trajectory of the shots and by not including in their analysis Olsen's credibility, given that he's been accused of lying in the past.

Although the investigation used video from Olsen's patrol car as evidence, the report noted that video from all units that responded to the scene should have been viewed as well.

Video from one of the patrol cars at the scene, which was not used in the investigation, captured the sound of gunshots, the report said.

However, the three-member review team said the internal affairs investigation's conclusions were "ultimately correct."

"It is clear that Sergeant Olsen's tactics lacked sound judgment and unnecessarily and unwisely placed himself and (another officer) in mortal danger," the document said. "This ultimately led to the situation where Sergeant Olsen felt that the use of deadly force against Mr. Brown was his only option."


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/11/29/1129olsen.html
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[KC]

Austin police Sgt. Michael Olsen "chewed out" a motorist he stopped for playing his music too loud hours before fatally shooting a man outside an East Austin nightclub, according to more than 100 pages of investigative reports released Friday.

He said the suspect, who was not identified in Olsen's statements to Detective Sam Kreider, was "mouthing off" and wouldn't stay in his car after officers told him to do so.

"He was just pushing my buttons, and I chewed him out, and probably used some language I shouldn't have used," Olsen said. "I regretted doing that, because it was not as professional as ... it should have been.

Olsen also told internal affairs detectives that he was frustrated about staff shortages in his patrol area that evening.

"On a normal night, he would have gone to jail, but we were short and we were handling certain things," he said. "And I was trying to avoid putting him in jail. I felt like I lost my temper on that."

Police Chief Art Acevedo cited Olsen's attitude in his reasons to fire him Wednesday, saying that "it might have affected his judgment" on the night he fatally shot Kevin Brown after a foot pursuit outside Chester's nightclub on East 12th Street.

Olsen said in his internal affairs statement that his behavior was "not acceptable" during the stop but did not affect how he interacted with the public the evening of the shooting. He said he acted professionally after that.

Acevedo also said Olsen used excessive force against Brown, who was shot twice in the back, and that Olsen demonstrated poor judgment, showed a lack of common sense and failed to follow his training in the moments before the shooting. Olsen fired four times, hitting Brown twice.

In a 10-page disciplinary memo, Acevedo said Olsen's in-car video contained a comment he made to another officer in which he described losing his temper with citizens twice that day.

Austin city officials declined to release a copy of that video, saying it was part of a homicide investigative file. They said they may withhold such documents, unless the case results in a conviction.

A Travis County grand jury in August declined to indict Olsen on any charge, ending the criminal case against him. He is appealing his firing.

The city released numerous other internal affairs documents Friday, including statements from Olsen's fellow officers and witnesses as well as forensic reports, most of which had already been made public.

Olsen has said he fired at Brown as Brown reached toward his waist as if drawing a weapon. He fired again after Brown was facedown on the ground because he said Brown continued to move.

Acevedo has said that the first shot may have been within policy, but that the second shot was unnecessary.

According to an internal affairs summary, some facts of the case indicated that he followed the department's use-of-force policy, including statements from Olsen that he thought Brown posed an ongoing threat.

"If the scenario did present itself in this manner as Sgt. Olsen described, then it could be considered reasonable to continue firing at a perceived threat, even if the subject is on the ground," the summary said.

"This would indicate that the entire series of shots fired were all in response to the same perceived threat, and therefore, could be considered justified."

However, the detectives said other facts indicated that Olsen had used excessive force.

For instance, they said Brown was not armed at the time of the shooting. Investigators later found a gun about 25 feet from where he was shot.

Detectives also said that after firing the first shot, which knocked Brown to the ground, Olsen could have had time to find cover, removing the need to fire again.

"Finally, we are left with the possibility that Mr. Brown's actions never did rise to the level of a substantial threat that a reasonable officer would have felt the need to respond with deadly force," the summary said.

Investigators ultimately decided that they could not determine if Olsen used excessive force.

However, they said Olsen made a series of missteps that included not waiting for backup before confronting Brown and not taking cover during the pursuit.

"(Internal affairs) concludes that the face-to-face confrontation between Sergeant Olsen and Mr. Brown, and the use of deadly force that ensued as a consequence, were a direct result of the decisions made by Sergeant Olsen," the summary said.

In his statement to internal affairs investigators, Olsen did not address a second incident of losing his temper.

Olsen told investigators that after the incident with the motorist, he told another officer in his patrol car that he was disappointed with himself and was trying to show the officer that what he had done was wrong.

"If I screw up, I'll own it," he said.


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/01/1201IA.html
_________________
www.policecrimes.com

[WaTcHeR]

In his final moments, Kevin Alexander Brown, who was shot twice in the back by a police sergeant, appears to have told officers that "I'm going to die" and repeatedly asked them to turn him over, according to police videos released Wednesday.

The videos from the patrol cars of officer Michael Olsen and officer Michael Chancellor captured other crucial moments in the June 3 shooting outside Chester's Club in East Austin, including when Olsen first approached Brown and said, "Let me see your hands, man. Put your hands up."

City officials released the videos a week after Police Chief Art Acevedo fired Olsen for using excessive force, saying in a disciplinary memo that a second shot to Brown's back as he lay facedown was unnecessary and that Olsen fired before giving Brown time to comply with an order to show his hands.

The city last week had declined to make the videos public and said the Texas attorney general's office supported its decision. City lawyers said the videos were part of the criminal investigative file in the shooting, which is protected by state law unless the case results in a conviction.

On Wednesday, however, city spokesman Gene Acuna said attorneys changed their position after meeting with Acevedo, who was unaware until the American-Statesman contacted him Monday that the videos had not been made public.

Adam Loewy, an attorney representing Brown's family in a federal lawsuit against Olsen and the city, said the family supported the release."The public has a right to know what transpired that night, and we believe all the information should be released so the public fully understands how tragic Kevin Brown's death was, and how brutal the death of Kevin Brown was, and how much he suffered."

Olsen has said that he was investigating a report that Brown had a gun outside Chester's on East 12th Street and that Brown fled on foot when Olsen tried to question him. Olsen said he fired a first round after Brown appeared to be drawing a weapon. He said he fired again after Brown was on the ground because he thought Brown still posed a threat.

A Travis County grand jury in August declined to indict Olsen.

None of the videos released Wednesday captured the shooting. However, Olsen's wireless microphone recorded the first seconds of his encounter with Brown. The video captured only Olsen ordering Brown to show his hands.

Olsen's audio apparently failed as he chased Brown away from the patrol car.

Chancellor, who arrived at the scene within seconds of the shooting, recorded Brown's request to be turned over. It was unclear why Brown wanted to be moved.

Assistant Police Chief David Carter, the department's chief of staff, said police officials were unable to find the video of a traffic stop hours before the shooting in which Olsen told internal affairs investigators that he had "chewed out" a motorist who was playing his music too loud.

Carter said the recording of that incident was taped over before internal affairs investigators became aware of the stop.

"I think what we have learned is that our process has not done a service to the officers of this department or the community," he said. "We recognize that."

Carter said the department has extended the time it keeps such tapes from 90 to 180 days. He said detectives who investigate shootings will put more emphasis on studying officers' behavior and temperament in the hours before an incident, in part by reviewing their videos.



http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/06/1206olsen.html
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

I think officer Michael Olsen would look good with a noose around his neck. Drop him off on the East side and see what happens.
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Officer's firing overturned after appeal on use of force - Police officials cited Griffin for 2006 incident with man at bus stop

An arbitrator has overturned the firing of an officer who was dismissed nearly a year after police officials said he used excessive force on a man with mental retardation during a traffic stop, according to the officer's attorney.

A copy of the arbitrator's opinion was not immediately available today. The arbitrator heard the case as part of an appeal filed by Austin police officer Gary Griffin. According to court documents, Griffin responded at about 10:50 p.m. on July 1, 2006, to a "person down" call at a bus stop in the 2300 block of East Seventh Street, where he tried to wake Joseph Cruz, 24. Cruz, who suffered a broken nose during the incident, was arrested and later indicted on charges of assault on a peace officer and resisting arrest. However, prosecutors dismissed the charges against Cruz after reviewing the evidence and opened an investigation into Griffin's actions. A Travis County grand jury declined to indict Griffin, but an internal police investigation led to his dismissal last December.

Cathy Ellison, former acting police chief, said in a disciplinary memo that Griffin failed to identify himself as a police officer during the incident, and Cruz later told police he didn't know who was waking him.

She also said Griffin's report did not accurately reflect what was on a video recorded by a camera in his patrol car and that Cruz's actions were defensive in nature and not an attempt to assault Griffin.

"Mr. Cruz was not the imminent threat to his safety that Officer Griffin makes him out to be and the amount of force was unreasonable," Ellison said in the memo.

In addition to Griffin's termination, Austin police Cmdr. Michael Nyert and Lt. Deborah Sawyer were suspended for one day, and Cpl. Andy Haynes was suspended for three days after police officials said they failed to properly review the incident.



http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/07//1207griffin.html
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

As long as you have a corrupt District Attorney by the name of Ronnie Earle and high officials in the Austin police department and the police union that is on the payroll of the Mexican mafia, Austin Texas will always be a unsafe place to live and raise a family.
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

A video/audio of a spineless motherfucker, punk ass cop by the name of officer Michael Olsen who enjoys shooting black men in the back.


http://www.statesman.com/news/mplayer/m/45996
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

AUSTIN -- When an Austin police officer shot Kevin Brown twice in the back outside a night club, it was like a replay of an old scene: White officer. Black suspect. Deadly force.

Episodes like that one in June are too common, civil rights activists say, and expose a disturbing underside of life in Austin, where racial divides run deep despite the city's image as Texas' most laid-back, liberal town.

In one five-year period, 11 people died in confrontations with Austin police. Only one was white; the other 10 were blacks and Hispanics, according to the Austin NAACP.

Officers' use of force against black and Hispanic residents is the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, and mending damaged relationships with the city's minority communities is a top priority for new Police Chief Art Acevedo.

So far Acevedo is winning cautious praise from longtime critics of the department.

"I see a lot of good stuff happening," said Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. "It's going to take a long time. This doesn't happen overnight. It'll take years, but progress goes step by step."

Acevedo signaled change was in the air in late November when he fired Sgt. Michael Olsen for using excessive force in the fatal shooting of Brown. The chief said a second volley of shots, fired at Brown as he lay wounded face down on the ground, was not justifiable.

"We just felt the force under the circumstances was not appropriate -- the second volley," he said. "So we terminated him."

The shooting came after a foot chase by the white officer. Olsen said he thought Brown had a weapon and posed a deadly threat. A gun was found about 25 feet from Brown's body.

Acevedo said Olsen used poor judgment and unsafe police tactics. Olsen is appealing his firing. A grand jury declined to indict him.

Three days after disciplining the sergeant, Acevedo spoke at an Austin NAACP banquet, a first for an Austin police chief. His message to the crowd of about 600 people was "that he was going to hold the department accountable, to a much higher standard," said Austin NAACP president Nelson Linder. "He's trying to turn things around."

Acevedo, the city's first Hispanic police chief, arrived in July from Los Angeles after a long career with the California Highway Patrol.

At the NAACP banquet, he said, he asked the group to help him by taking notice of good police behavior so it can be reinforced in the department.

"The vast majority of police officers are outstanding," Acevedo said. "Unfortunately, sometimes in law enforcement, people are real quick to criticize."

The Justice Department investigation was announced in June, before Acevedo arrived and right before the Brown shooting death. The NAACP filed a complaint in 2004 citing a series of police actions between 1998 and 2003 involving unarmed black and Hispanic victims.

Most Austin residents, 53 percent, are white. About 31 percent are Hispanic, 10 percent are black and 5 percent are Asian, according to the most recent U.S. Census.

Sophia King, a 23-year-old black woman with a history of schizophrenia, was shot and killed by an officer in June 2002 as she was chasing and threatening to stab a local housing authority supervisor. The NAACP complaint said the supervisor and Austin officers provoked a confrontation with her, knowing she was mentally ill.

Twenty-year-old Jesse Lee Owens, a black man, was shot by an officer as he tried to flee an arrest in June 2003. Police said he was suspected of driving a vehicle with stolen plates.

"This pattern of unnecessary killings by the police has inflicted a deep wound on the African American and Hispanic communities in Austin," the NAACP complaint stated.

The Austin American-Statesman reported in 2004 that over a preceding five-year period, police were twice as likely to use force against blacks as they were against whites and 25 percent more likely to use force against Hispanics than whites.

Acevedo said he expects a written response from the Justice Department probably in the next two months and hopes it's in the form of a technical assistance letter, the least severe outcome for the department. The federal agency could take much more stringent action, up to seeking a court-ordered remedy.

"It's a pretty serious investigation. The consequences could be great," said Linder of the NAACP. "Force should be the final option, the last option, when there are no available alternatives."

A Justice Department spokesman did not return calls from The Associated Press.

Acevedo said he is already implementing new reporting and investigating procedures for use of nondeadly force while maintaining strict rules for reviewing deadly force.

Rifts between Austin's minority and white communities aren't limited to police actions, Linder said. He and others contend the city is in many ways racially and ethnically divided.

That may be news to those who view Austin as an easygoing, music-loving town and a Democratic political bastion in conservative Texas.

But Linder said, "I don't think the city is really that liberal."

It's well known that Interstate 35 running through the center of Austin divides people by color and socioeconomic status in places.

Even the migration of more whites across I-35 into east Austin, where they are buying homes and gentrifying old minority neighborhoods, contributes to division because blacks and Hispanics are being priced out and displaced, Linder said.

Unlike many other cities in Texas and elsewhere, which elect city council members by ward or district, Austin still elects its council in at-large citywide elections. Linder said that allows powerful whites to decide in a "gentleman's agreement" which people of color get elected.

The city is studying a switch to single-member districts, which would assure each a council representative.

Shortly before Acevedo took over as chief, the police department and city leaders found themselves in an internationally embarrassing situation involving race after a group of three or four people beat to death a passenger in a car that struck a child.

Initial statements from the police department said the crime was committed by a mob of up to 20 people and occurred near a crowded Juneteenth celebration, a gathering to commemorate June 19, 1865, when word reached Texas that slaves had been declared free.

Police and city officials soon called a news conference to say they weren't trying to link the black celebration and the attack.

Besides building relationships with all communities, Acevedo said, one of his top goals is getting accurate information to the public fast.

That, he said, will prevent chasms between the police and local residents from widening.

"If we make a mistake," he said, "hiding it doesn't help."
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[KC]

Officer Michael Olsen

In the months before he fatally shot Kevin Alexander Brown, former Austin police officer Michael Olsen killed a dog he said was "barking aggressively" and posing a public threat, and a cat that had been hit by a car, according to documents obtained this week.

The shootings of the animals apparently were never properly reviewed by two supervisors required to write memos about their findings and forward them to higher-ranking department officials.

Both supervisors previously have faced scrutiny because of their follow-up in high-profile use-of-force incidents.

Lt. Jason Dusterhoft was criticized by fellow officers last month for sitting on a disciplinary panel for Olsen in November after having lobbied the police union to pay more in legal fees for Olsen's defense than it traditionally does.

Lt. Deborah Sawyer was suspended for a day in December 2006 after department officials said she had failed to properly review the actions of an officer accused of using excessive force on a man with mental retardation. She appealed the discipline and lost.

Olsen's shooting of the dog, an 85-pound pit bull, happened 12 days before Brown was killed and has raised concerns for a former Travis County sheriff who reviewed it this week.

Police Chief Art Acevedo said he learned about the animal shootings only recently, after he had fired Olsen. Acevedo declined to comment further because of Olsen's pending appeal to get his job back.

Austin police policy allows officers to shoot "attacking or dangerous animals" or those that have been seriously injured. It requires officers to write a memo detailing the circumstances of such shootings and says supervisors must put their findings in writing.

The American-Statesman this week asked for the supervisors' memos about the incidents, but Acevedo said the department had no information responsive to the request. He declined to comment further, saying he was prohibited from doing so by state law.

Dusterhoft declined to comment; Sawyer could not be reached.

Olsen has said he shot Brown outside of Chester's Club in East Austin on June 3 while investigating a report that Brown had a gun. He said he fired when Brown appeared to be reaching toward his waist, as if drawing a weapon. Brown was shot twice in the back.

A Travis County grand jury declined to indict Olsen in August.

The shooting of the dog took place about two weeks earlier, on the evening of May 22. According to incident reports obtained under the Texas Public Information Act, a man on East Second Street called police to report that he was afraid to get out of his pickup because of an "aggressive pit bull."

Dispatchers called for the city's animal control unit, which responded but left a short time later because the dog was under a house, records show.

Dorinda Pulliam, an assistant director for the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department who is responsible for the city's animal services division, said the animal control officer told the homeowner that he would return the next day to trap the dog but that safety guidelines prohibited him from entering confined spaces with animals.

Olsen said in his report that he decided to get the dog from under the house so the owner could go inside. He said that he first tried using pepper spray but that the effort failed.

He said he then instructed two other officers to bang on the house, hoping the dog would move closer to him.

"When I rounded the corner, the dog saw me and began barking again and coming towards me," Olsen wrote. "I shot at the dog twice from about 20 feet, hitting it on the first shot somewhere on the side of its body."

He said the dog then dashed back under the house and he fired again, striking the dog again in its side.

Moments later, Olsen said, he heard several shots from another officer. The dog then came out from under the house and began running down the street.

Olsen said he and other officers chased the dog five blocks while yelling for residents to stay inside their homes. Olsen said he eventually cornered the dog between two homes and shot at it six times, "finally putting it down."

"The dog was still whimpering and moving a little, so I closed in further and shot it a final time in the head to put it out of its misery."

Although the dog wore two collars, police said, neither identified the dog's owner.

Former Travis County Sheriff Margo Frasier, now an assistant professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University, reviewed Olsen's report of that incident at the Statesman's request and said, "It seemed like he was looking for the fast solution, as opposed to getting animal control back there.

"Sometimes, people look for the quickest solution, as opposed to the right solution."

The other incident was in February, when Olsen fatally shot a cat that had been hit by a car.

According to a report, Olsen said he called animal control officers and described the cat's condition. An officer told Olsen that he would need 45 minutes to arrive at the scene and that Olsen could take the cat to a clinic, where it would be euthanized, or kill it himself.

"Rather than tie up an officer for an hour and pay overtime to the animal control officer, I decided to put the cat out of its misery," Olsen wrote.



http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/17/0117olsen.html
_________________
www.policecrimes.com

[WaTcHeR]

Officer Michael Olsen

Fired officer says he felt comfortable with most actions on night of fatal shooting. In hearing to get job back, Olsen says, in hindsight, he should have waited for backup.

Fired Austin police Sgt. Michael Olsen said Thursday that he "felt comfortable" with most of his actions the night he fatally shot Kevin Alexander Brown but that he could have delayed approaching Brown until more officers arrived.

The encounter quickly led to a foot pursuit outside Chester's Club in which Olsen shot Brown twice in the back.

"Hindsight 20-20, I would have waited for more officers," Olsen testified at an appeal hearing in which he is seeking to get his job back. "Knowing what I know now."

Olsen discussed the June 3 shooting for nearly four hours on the third day of testimony, including how he thought he gave "sufficient" information to his patrol partner about why he was approaching Brown and why he was "100 percent sure" Brown was armed.

Police Chief Art Acevedo fired Olsen in November, saying that he used excessive force and demonstrated poor tactics and judgment during the incident.

Olsen has said that he was investigating a report that Brown had a gun and that he fired when Brown reached toward his waist, as if drawing the weapon.

Olsen is appealing the termination before the city's civil service commission, which is expected to decide next week whether to reinstate him.

The commission on Thursday postponed deciding whether to suspend the hearing after Olsen's lawyers objected to them moving forward. Attorney Tom Stribling, said the commission violated state law by not agreeing with his client to a deadline on when they would rule.

During his testimony, Olsen said that he had communicated with Officer Ivan Ramos about which club patron might have a gun and that he knew a third officer was moments away. He said officers often investigate such reports without backup.

He said that he initially was unsure whether Brown had a gun and that he had hoped Brown would consent to a pat-down search. He said his concern heightened after Brown shoved him away and ran.

Olsen said that at first he was only trying to catch Brown but that he became worried that Brown was going to fire at him after Brown began "digging" at his waist.

"I believed he was trying to pull that gun out and shoot me," Olsen said.

Olsen said he kept firing after Brown had fallen to the ground because Brown was still moving, perhaps for the gun, and that the shots were consistent with his training.

"I still felt the deadly threat," he said. "We are taught to end the threat, and I wanted to go home and see my kids."

Acevedo has said that the first shots at Brown may have been within Police Department policy but that the second round of shots violated such rules.

Assistant City Attorney Michael Cronig questioned Olsen about his history with the department. The shooting was the third incident in which Olsen was found to have violated the department's use-of-force policy.

Olsen also was suspended for 60 days after an incident in 2002 in which he assaulted a bystander on Sixth Street and was accused of lying about it in his police report.

Cronig also questioned whether Olsen's account of what happened that night could be trusted.

"We should believe you because you tell us that's the truth?" Cronig asked.

Olsen responded, "Yes sir."

Near the end of his testimony, Olsen told the commission that his termination could have a lasting impact.

"There are going to be officers who are going to be afraid to pull their trigger to save their life or the life of another," he said.


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/22/0222olsen.html
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Assistant police chief says fired officer 'seemed rather proud' of actions
Ex-sergeant's attorney says Olsen should be reinstated because appeal hearing came too late.

Fired Austin Police Sgt. Michael Olsen "seemed like he was rather proud" of his actions leading up to the fatal shooting of a man in June, an assistant police chief testified Wednesday during an appeal hearing in which Olsen is trying to get his job back.

Assistant Police Chief Leo Enriquez said that Olsen repeatedly erred in his tactics during the June 3 incident involving Kevin Alexander Brown but that he did not seem to second-guess himself during a November disciplinary hearing at which he was fired.

"It just sort of took me aback," Enriquez said. "When a man's got a gung-ho attitude like that, I don't think you can change that."

Enriquez's statements continued a day of lively — and at times tense — testimony in Olsen's appeal case and a challenge from Olsen's lawyers about whether the hearing can legally continue.

Police Chief Art Acevedo fired Olsen in November, saying that he used excessive force and poor judgment and tactics during the shooting outside the former Chester's club in East Austin.

Olsen has said that he was investigating a report that Brown had a gun outside the club and that Brown fled when he tried to question him. Olsen has said he fired at Brown after Brown reached toward his waist, as if drawing a weapon.

The second day of the hearing began with a request from Olsen's lawyers to immediately end it and a concern about whether the civil service commission still had authority to consider the matter.

The three-person panel decided to continue moving forward Wednesday but is expected to decide today whether to proceed, a decision that Olsen's attorneys said could automatically lead to his reinstatement if the panel decides to end the hearing.

Attorney Tom Stribling told the group that state laws required the commission to consider Olsen's appeal 30 days after it was filed or that they must agree with Olsen on a new deadline.

Olsen never consented to the new date, Stribling said.

"We think that because of this fact, there is nothing more you can do in this case," Stribling said. "You don't have jurisdiction to hear this appeal any further."

Stribling said that he asked for the hearing to be delayed to a point past 30 days but additionally had requested in writing that it be completed by Feb. 19.

The city's attorney, Michael Cronig, declined to comment on Stribling's objections, other than to say that he disagrees.

Enriquez testified he did not think that Brown posed an immediate public threat during the encounter with Olsen. "It would have been better to just have let him go," he said.

Enriquez also said he thinks that Olsen made several tactical mistakes, such as separating from his partner and not seeking cover if he thought Brown was dangerous.

During questioning, Olsen's lawyers challenged Enriquez's characterization of Olsen's attitude at the disciplinary hearing.

Attorney Michael Rickman said Olsen had told supervisors at the hearing that he regretted the incident. "So it's not like he came in there proud of what he did or that he didn't seem remorseful," Rickman said.

Assistant Police Chiefs David Carter and Patti Robinson said they also thought the shooting was avoidable.

However, Robinson testified that Olsen's lieutenant, Jason Dusterhoft, disagreed during the disciplinary hearing and did not support Acevedo's decision to fire Olsen.

During his objection about whether the hearing should continue, Stribling also said he disagreed with the city's hiring of a Fort Worth lawyer to represent the commission.

Attorney Bettye Lynn has built a practice representing cities in such matters, which Stribling said would be similar to the commission using an attorney who has traditionally represented police officers.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/21/0221olsen.html
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

City panel upholds firing of Austin officer - Group finds that Olsen used excessive force in June shooting.


Officer Michael Olsen


A city panel responsible for deciding whether fired Austin police officer Michael Olsen should get his job back upheld his termination Friday, ruling that charges of excessive force in the fatal shooting of Kevin Alexander Brown "are true."

The three-member civil service commission also agreed with Police Chief Art Acevedo, who fired Olsen in November, that Olsen had demonstrated poor judgment and tactics in his actions leading up to the June 3 shooting outside Chester's club.

Panel members made no public comments, other than reading aloud their written order, which said they found that Olsen had not used "the minimum level of force reasonably necessary to bring an incident under control."

Their opinion came after a six-day appeal hearing that included testimony from Olsen, Acevedo and other officers.

Leaders of the Austin Police Association, who had previously declined to issue an opinion about whether Olsen should have shot Brown, sided with him after the ruling.

"The decision to use lethal force often highlights the difficult environment and dangers of being a police officer and the split-second decisions officers make while putting their own lives at risk," union Vice President Wuthipong "Tank" Tantaksinanukij said. "These decisions are almost always subject to months and years of intense review with the clarity of 20-20 hindsight."

Tantaksinanukij said the union had refrained from making a decision about whether the shooting was justified because it had asked the community to do so until facts of the case were made public.

Olsen shot Brown twice in the back after investigating a report that Brown had a gun outside the popular nightclub.

Olsen has said that he fired after Brown reached toward his waist, as if drawing a weapon, during a foot chase. A gun was later recovered in an apartment complex courtyard where Brown was shot.

Olsen testified at the hearing that he was comfortable with most of his actions, but said he now realizes he could have waited for more officers before approaching Brown.

Acevedo testified that Olsen should have waited for backup and should not have separated from his patrol partner, Ivan Ramos. He also said that Olsen has a history of impulsiveness and not following his training, and that the shooting was avoidable.

Olsen declined to comment Friday, other than to say that he will pursue appeal options, including possibly taking the case to state district court.

Acevedo, who was present for the ruling, said at a news conference that he had based his decision to fire Olsen on facts of the case.

"When it comes to accountability, we have to hold people accountable," he said.

Acevedo also asked the community to no longer liken the shooting of Brown to the fatal police shooting of Sophia King in 2002. King was shot and killed by Officer John Coffey as she was lunging at her apartment complex manager with a knife.

Acevedo said he had reviewed the King case and thought Coffey was justified.

During closing statements Friday, attorney Tom Stribling, who is representing Olsen, told the panel that Acevedo had failed to adequately show why Olsen should have been fired.

Stribling also reminded the panel that officers who have worked in the department's training academy testified that Olsen had been taught to continue firing at a threatening suspect, even if the suspect had already been hit and was injured.

"He did exactly what he was trained to do, and now he is being fired for that," Stribling said. "If you don't like the policy, change the policy. But don't make him the scapegoat."

Assistant City Attorney Michael Cronig urged the panel to consider Olsen's previous disciplinary history, including a 60-day suspension in 2002 for violating the department's use of force and honesty policies. Olsen was accused of lying about an incident in which he slammed a man on the hood of a police car on East Sixth Street, causing him to lose consciousness.

In its one-page order Friday, the commission said they had considered Olsen's past.

The written order also said the panel had given Olsen a chance to introduce all evidence and call any witnesses and that they think they had retained the right to hear the matter.

Last week, Olsen's attorney had argued that the group had lost its jurisdiction by failing to agree with Olsen on a deadline for hearing the case, as required by state law.

Tanktaksinanukij also said union officials think Olsen's rights were violated during the appeal. The city violated its contract with the union by releasing confidential information about the investigation, he said.

The commission illegally denied Olsen's request to take his case to an independent arbitrator, Tanktaksinanukij said.

"The association's primary role has been, and will always be, to ensure that the officer's rights and due process are protected, just like the rights of any other citizen," he said.


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/03/01/0301olsen.html
_________________
Cops that lie, should die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[KC]

Austin City Council members today are expected to approve a settlement of between $1 million and $1.5 million to the family of Kevin Alexander Brown , who was fatally shot last year by an Austin police officer.

Three city officials familiar with the tentative agreement between Brown's family and the city confirmed the amount of the pending settlement Wednesday but requested anonymity until council members consider the matter. As part of the agreement, a pending lawsuit against the city will be dropped.

Both sides negotiated the settlement last month in mediation headed by state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, a former mayor of Austin. One of the sources said the amount is in line with other settlements families have received in similar police shootings across the state and nation.

"I'm glad we have reached a settlement and hopefully some closure to this incident that impacted the entire community," said City Council Member Sheryl Cole, who also declined to discuss the amount of the settlement.

The settlement by the city is the first in at least a decade involving a police shooting in which a person was killed.

Attorneys for the city prevailed in court after it was named in lawsuits involving the shooting deaths of Sophia King, a mentally ill woman, in 2002, and Jesse Lee Owens in 2003.

A lawsuit against the city in the 2005 shooting death of Daniel Rocha is still pending.

The city has settled other excessive force cases in recent years that did not involve fatalities for generally less than $50,000, said Anne Morgan, chief of litigation for the city.

Morgan said city attorneys worked to settle the case after "taking the totality of the circumstances in" but declined to elaborate.

Police Chief Art Acevedo fired Sgt. Michael Olsen for using excessive force and poor judgment and tactics leading up to the shooting outside Chester's Club in East Austin last year.

Olsen has said that he fired at Brown after Brown reached toward his waist, as if drawing a weapon. Investigators later recovered a gun they thought Brown was carrying about 25 feet from his body.

Olsen appealed the firing to the city's civil service commission this year and lost.

A Travis County grand jury reviewed the case and declined to indict Olsen on any charge.

Attorney Tom Stribling, who is representing Olsen, declined to comment Wednesday.

Attorney Scott Ozmun, who is representing Brown's family, said the settlement would be paid to Brown's parents, Freddie Brown and Ethel Washington. Ozmun would not say how much the family requested from the city or how much they will receive.

"We are very pleased we were able to come to an agreement with the City of Austin and put this matter behind us," Ozmun said. "To his credit, the police chief showed up at the mediation and was helpful in getting this case resolved."

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he also is pleased that the city is settling the matter.

"They were obviously liable for his death," Linder said. "But you can't put a monetary value on someone's life."


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/11/06/1106brown.html
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