The Murder of Otto Zehm

[Pistolwiz]

http://lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w240.html

I have not the words to express my anger. :mad:


RIP Otto.... You didn't deserve this.... :sad:

[carguym14]

Damn....

:mad: :sad: :mad:

[4duece]

Where are are all his fellow swine on this board to come to this guys aid and defend his actions. This is really disgusting to see or hear about this ongoing trend. These guys need to be sent into combat in groups of just 2 or 3 with just their "Police Gear". See how long they would last up against a well armed and well trained advesary instead of some mentally challanged person. Poetic justice in its trueist form.:wink: :cry:

[Jailguard]

I say he did the crime let him do the time. No room for Officers like him.

[carguym14]

Originally posted by Jailguard
I say he did the crime let him do the time. No room for Officers like him.


Kudos to you.

If more officers stepped up with that thinking in regards to the shitbags,there would be a lot less hostility towards cops,IMO.

[SWOHFAL]

http://media.spokesman.com/photos/2009/02/28/PX00128_91.jpg

The victim looks like a real threat to me. :rolleyes:

[sld]

What about the other six? And the superiors that covered for them.
All that happened is after a long fight he got thrown under the bus, but nothing has changed the same people that helped and enabled him are still on the job.
Just ask Mexico even they have figured it out, nothing will change until somebody cleans house and gets rid of the rest of the conspirators.

[the gman]

Right guy went to jail and how on earth the Spokane PD can get away with investigating their own use of force cases that involve a death is way beyond me.

At the minimum, another agency should have been brought in, if not the State Police. That is how it would be handled at my agency and the only investigation that would be in house would be the IA on the incident. I would really like to see the video but from the description, the cop was overly aggressive and a thug.

I have handled several "suspicious behavior" calls and while you need to be alert, you don't need to treat the person like a dangerous criminal from the get go. Assess the situation and talk to the reporting party FIRST. Ask them questions; what did the person do that made you suspicious/uneasy/call 911? Was he violent/make threats/make obscene gestures/swear/spit or ??

AFTER that, you can go talk to them and see where you're at. Some folks call 911 for silly reasons, some don't. I always work on the premise that if someone calls, they have a right to expect LE to show up and investigate. If, on investigating, no threat or issue exists, no problem.

We all view actions from different perspectives but unless Otto had physically assaulted the females who called 911, I sure as hell wouldn't be using a baton on the guy from the get go.

Not all cops are good guys and guys like this who abuse and kill fellow citizens are a disgrace to those of who have chosen to serve. I'm still stunned that Spokane investigated this incident themselves. I have no doubt the civil settlement will be huge; just a shame it isn't coming out of the pockets of the cops who committed and aided and abetted this disgusting incident.

[Beckman]

Originally posted by the gman
... I would really like to see the video but from the description, the cop was overly aggressive and a thug... This page was one of the links in the OP's linked story. There are four videos from the security cameras. I can't see enough in the vids to make a determination about what happened, but maybe you can see something that I missed:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2006/jul/14/video-shows-zehm-backed-away/?video

[the gman]

Originally posted by Beckman
This page was one of the links in the OP's linked story. There are four videos from the security cameras. I can't see enough in the vids to make a determination about what happened, but maybe you can see something that I missed:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2006/jul/14/video-shows-zehm-backed-away/?video

I clicked on what I thought was the link but it took me to the civil litigation complaint. Followed your link but couldn't see very much other than a very small part of the murderer beating the guy with his baton.

Good riddance to a thug in uniform. Pricks like him make my job 10 times harder.

[Andy the Aussie]

Originally posted by 4duece
Where are are all his fellow swine on this board ....wow....this must be such a shitty place for you to hang out then...... no defense for what happened in that case but to throw this broad stroke of the brush out really does you no credit at all.

[TOWS220]

Sadly this doesn't really surprise me, if one wants to see what happens when a whole department decides to stop upholding the law and start terrorizing a populous check out the New Orleans pd during katrina. Some people just get their kicks from the oppression of others.

[Beckman]

Originally posted by the gman


I clicked on what I thought was the link but it took me to the civil litigation complaint. Followed your link but couldn't see very much other than a very small part of the murderer beating the guy with his baton.

Good riddance to a thug in uniform. Pricks like him make my job 10 times harder. Yes, I had tried that mislabled link, too, and got the same result that you did. Then, I tried other links until I found the one with the vids.

Although the video doesn't clearly demonstrate to me what happened during the initial confrontation, the coroner's report indicated that the cause of death was, "lack of oxygen to the brain due to heart failure while being restrained on his stomach," and it was ruled a homicide.

Officer Karl Thompson may have been solely responsible for assaulting Zehm during the initial contact, but who was responsible for hog-tying Zehm and putting the mask on his face? That isn't clear, but those are the officer(s) who are directly responsible for Zehm's death. Even if Zehm had assaulted Thompson -- and the evidence indicates otherwise -- the officer(s) responsible for Zehm's death should be tried for manslaughter, at a minimum, or murder.

[Thomas Paine]

Reading the complaint, and the column the officer in question got less than he deserved. While We as officers have to make split second decisions in certain encounters based on training , that does not mean we are to leave our common sense at the door . I have worked for 2 departments in my career and reserved at 2 all of those departments had the chance of dealing with handicapped or mentally ill folks and I recieved extra training in it. The rest of LE is just begining to catch up with that and I started in this business 22 yeasr ago.

I am now within 5-8 years of retirement and I am so glad .I'm gonna take early retirement, and go do somehting else for the rest of my productive life , as I do not like the way the business has changed since I started.

[CTW]

I say he did the crime let him do the time. No room for Officers like him.

I agree these guy's give the rest of us wearing a uniform a bad image.