Police News: Not A Good Month

Plymouth, Ind. – A new state law of evidence requires electronic video and audio recording of all statements by criminal suspects charged with a felony. Written statements alone will no longer be admissible in court. The law states that the recording must include the image and voice of the suspect, and the voices of the officers conducting the interview. The cost of the new equipment that’s required to satisfy the law…around $7,000.

Adams Mass. – A police sergeant, Alan C. Vigiard, faces child pornography charges after being caught in a rather embarrassing position in the department evidence room. He was discovered viewing pornographic images of children while…let’s just say he was alone doing what it normally takes two to do. Vigiard has since received two new child pornography charges for posing children in a state of nudity. These images were discovered as part of the original investigation. Vigiard is listed on the Adams Police Department’s website as a member of their Sexual Assault Unit. He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing in June.

DeKalb County, Ga. – A 5′-3″, 350lb woman ran through her apartment complex frantically screaming that someone was trying to kill her. She attempted to steal a car and was apprehended by police during the act. The officers attempted to calm the struggling woman but were unsuccessful, so they shot her with a Taser, twice. She died a short time later.

This was the second death in the area within a week involving a Taser. On May 9th, officers tased Audreacus Davis five times during a struggle. Paramedics had been attempting to treat the man for a possible drug overdose when he became violent. That’s when police arrived and found the 6′-4″, 375lb man foaming from the nose and mouth and defecating all over the room.

Three Taser-involved deaths in the county jail have also occurred since officers began using Tasers as part of their non-lethal toolbox.

Seven-Year-Old Aiyana Jones Killed By Police Gunfire

Detroit – Police raided a home searching for a murder suspect. They gained entry to the residence after deploying a distraction device (a flash-bang grenade).

Window broken by flash-bang device during raid of Jones home

During the raid a 7-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by a police officer. Officers say a member of the raid team collided with a family member during the entry, causing his gun to accidentally discharge. The family’s attorney tells a different story. He says a video of the raid clearly shows the grenade being deployed, and the officer firing a shot into the home while standing on the front porch.

The attorney also says the child’s body was severely burned as a result of the flash bang either landing on, or near the child when it came through the window.

The truth will surely come out since a camera crew from the TV show The First 48 videotaped the event.

Source – Associated Press report

Charles Jones, father of 7-year-old Aiyana

Aiyana’s mother

The murder suspect was later located in an upstairs apartment.

*Attendees of the Writers’ Police Academy will have a first hand look at the use of flash bangs. We will be deploying the devices during the academy.