The vast majority of police officers in the US are decent, hard-working people who may never fire their weapons once in the line of duty. Law-enforcement personnel are members of the DailyKos community. We have relatives who are cops. But too many Americans suffer from incidents of police brutality, abuse, or even murder, as these two back-to-back chilling cases demonstrates. Vetting processes for hiring and maintaining people who will become armed police officers requires serious overall at the local levels in the US.
(Case 1) A former deputy in New Mexico for the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to violating the rights of a female arrestee by sexually assaulting her inside his interceptor.
Michael A. Martinez (34) also pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by attempting to destroy the recording of the incident, captured by equipment inside his patrol car. On 30 April 2023, Martinez responded to a car accident, where he arrested the victim for DUI and careless driving. After taking her to medical care, he confessed to handcuffing her and putting her back in his patrol car -- where he sexually assaulted her before locking her up. Prosecutors do not rule out the possibility of other victims. Martinez has previously worked with NM State Police and Hatch Police. The FBI advises if anyone thinks they were victimized by this predator to call them at (505)-889-1300 or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
(Case 2)
Elias Huizar, a fugitive ex-cop from the Yakima Police Dept in Washington state allegedly killed his ex-wife and 17-year-old girlfriend. Following a high-speed chase and an exchange of gunfire in Oregon, the suspect crashed into a vehicle. Huizar was then found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His one-year-old son was found safe in the car.
The victims in these two cases were four women, two of whom are dead and two sexually assaulted. There may be more sexual assault victims in New Mexico. This is unacceptable. The US needs a national standard for hiring police officers which should probably include psychological testing. Moreover, a federal database would track abusive or dangerous law-enforcement personnel so they can’t be re-hired in another city, county, or state.
Sources:
www.justice.gov/…
policebrutalitycenter.org/...
kvia.com/...
www.hngn.com/…
apnews.com/...