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NEWS > 22 March 2006

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"Policeman used excessive forc
A URANQUINTY man struck repeatedly with a police baton and sprayed in the face twice with capsicum spray has made an official complaint of excessive force, Wagga District Court was told yesterday.


The complaint was revealed by David Barron, solicitor for Lance Hume Hull, during 69-year-old Hull's appeal against jail terms handed out in Wagga Local Court on February 17, after he pleaded guilty to common assault, resisting arrest and three counts of possessing a prohibited weapon without a permit.

Mr Barron said Hull wrongly believed the tasers were legal and objected to t... Read more

 Article sourced from

San Jose Mercury News - CA, US
22 March 2006
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Auditor criticizes Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz police ``more than likely'' violated the civil rights of organizers of a zany New Year's Eve Parade by using undercover officers to monitor their planning meetings, according to the city's police auditor.
The auditor, Palo Alto attorney Robert Aaronson, concludes in a 34-page report that police were too quick to send two undercover cops, posing as surfer dudes, to infiltrate the meetings.
``Less intrusive alternatives were available, but none were tried,'' Aaronson wrote.
One such option previously suggested by Aaronson: simply telephoning the parade organizers to see what they were up to.
The controversy began after the city decided it could no longer afford to pay for First Night Santa Cruz, an alcohol-free New Year's Eve celebration that for years kept the downtown safe for families. So a small group of artists vowed to stage a ``do it yourself'' parade instead -- with no organizers and no parade permits.
The group billed the event as a ``people's parade,'' Santa Cruz-style. Police smelled anarchy.
Police brass have called the dust-up a tempest in a teapot, arguing that police had every right to investigate the group -- Last Night DIY -- to ensure that its permitless parade came off peacefully.
But local activists, with support from the American Civil Liberties Union, have accused the department of needlessly spying on a community group. They have called it part of a chilling, post-Sept. 11 pattern.
Police Chief Howard Skerry said today that he respected Aaronson's role in the process.
``The public's trust is very important to me,'' he said. ``You have to respect individual rights. I'm not sure where we go from here, but it's important for people to know that a decision was made early on to make this process as open as possible.''
Skerry said he was happy that Aaronson acknowledged that case law outlining when it's OK to infiltrate community community groups was not completely clear.
Wes Modes, one of the parade organizers, said his group felt vindicated by Aaronson's report.
``It's what we've been saying all along,'' said Modes, an artist and a carpenter from Felton. ``He just shatters a lot of the arguments police have made.''
 

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