Ex-Cop Charged in Taped Beating Found Dead - Police Need Seperate Rules !

Ex-Cop Charged in Taped Beating Found Dead - Police Need Seperate Rules

news.aol.com

The body of Lance Schilling, 30, was found Sunday in a Metairie home. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot to the roof of the mouth, Jefferson Parish coroner's office said.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Mod edit: removed all caps in title

[edit on 6/12/2007 by Gools]

When reading this story I felt alot of different emotions come over me ...

1. I am saddened by the loss of life here.

2. I am wondering what all was entailed in the beating of this person that has filed charges against this officer.

3. How come our celebrities get special treatment in Jail (EXAMPLE : PARIS HILTON) but our Officers that are out risking thier lives everyday are simply thrown to the wolves (so to speak)
4. I am not a big Cop lover or anything ... Actually, I have had my fair share of Policemen being 100% RUDE .... and how should I say ... NOT PROTECTING AND SERVING.

news.aol.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I'm not too clued up on this case, but as an ex policeman myself, i have to ask why police need seperate sets of rules?

If this guy has indeed been caught on tape beating someone inappropriately, maybe guilt just got the better of him?

Could it not be just that?

Sad yes, but the police should abide by the rules they dish out.

Like i said though, i don't know enough about this case.

CX.

As a civilian, I completely agree. The police should live by the same rules everyone else does. I don't know how many times I've seen a cop turn on his lights just to get through a red light, and then turn them off...or speeding with no emergency lights on...or failing to use a turn signal...things that any average citizen would be ticketed for. It aggravates me to no end that cops can pretty much get away with whatever they want, especially in small towns, because there is no one to police the police.

Just my $.02

That could very well be the reason .. But , why would we put him in the pen with convicts that he has probably put away ... The convicts will kill him ... POINT BLANK ... No cop will last in Jail ... this is just common sense ... Anyways ... Why would we let Paris Hilton get outta jail and go back to court and then put more news about her SOBBING to the press then about a Officer that has taken his own life ...

Originally posted by CX
I'm not too clued up on this case, but as an ex policeman myself, i have to ask why police need seperate sets of rules?

If this guy has indeed been caught on tape beating someone inappropriately, maybe guilt just got the better of him?

Could it not be just that?

Sad yes, but the police should abide by the rules they dish out.

Like i said though, i don't know enough about this case.

CX.

I am not saying that the POLICE do not do these things ... And maybe you are onto something .... The police should possibly be POLICED .. Possibly by the National Guard ???? Is a thought anyways ...

What I am talking about is when policemen go to jail .. They should never be allowed in the same cell as people that they have possibly put away ... or people that would possibly be a threat to them which is basically anyone that has been put in jail by an OFFICER ..

Originally posted by keeb333
As a civilian, I completely agree. The police should live by the same rules everyone else does. I don't know how many times I've seen a cop turn on his lights just to get through a red light, and then turn them off...or speeding with no emergency lights on...or failing to use a turn signal...things that any average citizen would be ticketed for. It aggravates me to no end that cops can pretty much get away with whatever they want, especially in small towns, because there is no one to police the police.

Just my $.02

Originally posted by Deus_Brandon


What I am talking about is when policemen go to jail .. They should never be allowed in the same cell as people that they have possibly put away ... or people that would possibly be a threat to them which is basically anyone that has been put in jail by an OFFICER ..

Agreed...if cops are sent to jail, it would be more dangerous for them to be housed in the general population (cruel and unusual maybe?) It would make sense for there to be a separate jail for cops. I just think that they hold themselves to a different standard than they hold eveyone else, and we shouldn't put up with it any longer. However, since I live in a small town with a corrupt police force, I don't know what I can do other than stay out of their way.

I am glad that someone else sees this besides for me ... Although I believe if an officer that has that much authority to do what they do is taking advantage of said Authority then they outta be dead ... Some or most of you probably do not believe that way ... Yet, when I tell you cops should be treated differently when it comes to them goign to JAIL ...

This is my hometown .... url=http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2006/05/officer-from-disbanded-troup-pd-gave.html]Troup Texas [/url]

There are numerous others in Texas that how should I say ... not FULLY LAW ABIDING .. There is actually a book wrote on Smith County but it was OUTLAWED to be in any libraries ... ODD ENOUGH ??

I can see your points there, and part of me tends to agree with the fact that the last place a police officer needs to be is in a jail full of the very people them put away.

That was always a good enough deterrent for me though!

The thought of doing time in Colchester as an MP did'nt bare thinking about!

I do feel sorry for police that end up in that situation when theres any doubt upon thier guilt, but when it's a clear cut case of a bent copper or a definate abuse of power.....they deserve anything they get.

CX.

[edit on 12/6/07 by CX]

Originally posted by CX
I'm not too clued up on this case, but as an ex policeman myself, i have to ask why police need seperate sets of rules?

If this guy has indeed been caught on tape beating someone inappropriately, maybe guilt just got the better of him?

Could it not be just that?

Sad yes, but the police should abide by the rules they dish out.

Like i said though, i don't know enough about this case.

CX.

In LA twice the cops were taped slamming the of a suspect once agains a glass window and another time against the hood of a car, according to the cops the suspects did it on purpose because they knew that someone was taping the incident........ you should have seen the tape.....disgusting.

When there is no true justice against cops then there cannot be any justice for all.

From the link in the OP:

Schilling's attorney, Franz Zibilich, said he was saddened by his client's death. He believed the suspected suicide had no connection to the pending trial, which had been set for June 29. The former officer faced five years behind bars if convicted of a second-degree battery charge.

So Schilling's attorney-- with seemingly nothing to lose or gain at this point, seeing his client is dead --- has gone on record with his opinion that Schilling's suspected suicide was not motivated by the upcoming trial.

Staying with Schilling's attorney for a moment: why would he state this opinion to the media? Obviously not to shore up Schilling's defence at trial, because Schilling's gone.

Maybe Schilling's attorney was anxious to avoid damaging Schilling's co-defendent's chances (the other officer, who still has to face trial) ?

If Schilling's death is officially announced as suicide, it will undoubtedly reflect negatively on the other officer, even if not from the legal standpoint. People will say: ' Well, obviously they were both guilty as hell, to the point one of them -- knowing he would be going to jail for the offences -- chose quick-suicide in preference to a certain 5 years amongst guys he'd put behind bars'. So the other officer's morale must have hit the floor when he learned his partner Schilling was dead via suspected suicide. The second officer must be feeling very alone at this point. No-one to substantiate his defence: his partner having apparently taken the easy way out.

On the other hand however, Schilling's attorney may have claimed to the press that his client's suspected suicide was not motivated by the forthcoming trial because that is the truth (as far as Schilling's attorney is concerned).

Schilling's attorney may also have wished it to be known that Schillng's death may not necessarily have been the result of suicide --- despite the seeming 'evidence'.

Gun-shot to the roof of the mouth is usually suicide.

Most would believe it to be suicide.

Most would decide that Schilling killed himself because he knew the evidence against him was overwhelming and/or that he was guilty and was destined to spend jail-time surrounded by felons who on principal would give him a very rough time.

But What-If ?

What if Schilling and his partner had been acting on orders when they beat up the victim ?

Some crazy stuff was happening then, much of it seemingly inexplicable.

Conspiracy theories abounded re: Katrina. Some senior politician's names were deeply involved within those conspiracy theories and within survivor's claims. 'Levies deliberately blown', for example: inhabitants threatened at gun-point to evacuate, even from areas seemingly not under severe threat: tense and irrational officers' treatment of civilians' rational requests and urgent needs.

For several weeks, conspiracy theorists debated the true reason for the authorities' reported brutal and unreasonable attitudes. They claimed Katrina had conducted an impossible, right-angled turn: clear evidence, according to conspiracists, that HAARP and other weather-weapons had been used against NO (and its population ! ) by the authorities/government.

There were suspicions that NO was being 'cleansed' of its current occupants in favour of large oil deposits said to lie below and/or that NO was to be rebuilt for the allfluent, by companies in which major US politicians and their buddies held shares.

The crime: a 64 yr. old retired school-teacher returned to his home several weeks after the worst of the disaster, to check on his home and possessions. Does this mean that his home was not submerged? Was he one of those who were forced to evacuate as a precaution, rather than necessity? Many claimed they were needlessly forced to evacuate. Afterwards, they were prevented from returning to their virtually unscathed homes. (This conspiracy doesn't receive much band-width these days, having become submerged beneath Washington madams and Paris Hilton, Britney Spears shaved skull, etc. etc.)

Schilling and another former officer were accused of beating Robert Davis, 64, a retired schoolteacher who had returned to New Orleans to check on his property several weeks after the storm

Schilling and his partner were allegedly videotaped in the process of beating the victim.

An Associated Press Television News team recorded Davis being kneed and struck at least four times on the head by two police officers the night of Oct. 8, 2005.

Davis was booked on municipal charges of public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. All charges were later dropped.

The article linked by the OP seems to imply that the beating of Davis was filmed by an Associated Press member, who was in turn roughed-up by a third officer:

In a related matter, charges against a third officer accused of a misdemeanor charge of simple battery against APTN producer Richard Matthews were dismissed on June 1

The reasons the two officers beat the victim Davis are unknown.

They may have been simple bullies.

They may have been suffering sleep-deprivation, exhaustion, severe stress, etc.

The victim (Davis) was initially charged with drunk/disorderly/resisting arrest, etc. These charges were subsequently dropped.

Was Davis drunk? Did he insist on lengthy investigation of his property (in the dark?) despite considerable risk posed by infected flood-waters and debris, broken power-lines and sewage drains, etc.?

Was it simply a case of exhausted officers over-reacting to an intoxicated and difficult civilian, under what had undoubtedly been several trying weeks for all involved?

Or was it something else? Had Schilling and his partner been instructed (unofficially?) to ensure that no-one, under any circumstance, was to enter that particular (sensitive?) area?

There were numerous reports, in the weeks and months after Katrina, claiming that resisdents were being prevented from returning to their properties, despite that such properties were not within the disaster zone. There were a number of reported 'stand offs' between residents and 'authorities'. And claims that these properties were located on 'prime real estate', which many believed the authorities intended to 'grab' illegally, in order to resell at phenomenal profit, when Katrina was 'cleansed' of its original population. Was Davis' property one of these?

Schilling may -- in order to clear his name and avoid jail -- may have made it known that he intended to reveal the orders under which he was operating when he and his partner beat up Davis.

If this was the case, or even an approximation of it, those who gave such orders/instructions to Schilling and his partner may have killed Schilling in the usual 'suicide' manner.

If so, it would be double effective: it silenced Schilling permanently. And most assuredly ensured his partner will keep his mouth shut at trial. Or will cut a deal: his silence in exchange for no jail time.





[edit on 12-6-2007 by Dock6]

Dock, that is a very interesting concept.

More deep than I had thought of especially set up as he was if he was indeed set-up.

Yet, I am still flabbergasted that they would even consider putting this officer that once upheld the law in such a place.