Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 4840 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: OCTOBER 2016 A federal appeals panel upheld a jury verdict that cleared the city of Los Angeles and two police officers of any wrongdoing in a lawsuit alleging they used excessive force against a former Deutsche Bank executive who said he was handcuffed, taken to a hotel and beaten with a baton. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also affirmed dismissals of separate claims brought by plaintiff Brian Mulligan against the L.A. Police Protective League and Eric Rose, who was then a media consultant for the police union. Mulligan sued the LAPD and two officers alleging they violated his civil rights, used unreasonable force and committed battery during a May 2012, arrest. Attorneys for the officers successfully argued that Mulligan was out of control on “bath salts” and had at- tacked them. The civil jury found in favor of the defen- dants after a three-day trial in January 2014. Mulligan sued the Protec- tive League and its then-con- sultant for allegedly retaliat- ing against him by issuing a statement and releasing an audiotape made days pre- viously in which Mulligan admits to using “bath salts” during an interview with a Glendale police officer. The Federal Court said, “It would be the height of irony, indeed, if mere speech, in response to speech, could constitute a First Amend- ment Violation. We affirm the judgments of the district court,” Judge Richard R. Clifton wrote in the appel- late opinion. “The statements alleg- edly made against Mulligan as joint state actions by the LAPPL were not suf- ficiently adverse to support a claim of First Amendment retaliation. Consequently, the district court’s grant of summary judgment for that claim was proper,” the judge wrote. “Similarly, the district court did not err in its deci- sions regarding Mulligan’s police negligence, excessive force and negligent supervi- sion claims.” Eric Rose said that he was pleased with the circuit court’s rejection of Mulli- gan’s attempt to quell public speech. “One cannot hold a high- profile news conference accusing public officials of misconduct and threaten those same public officials with liability for unlawful retaliation if they respond to those allegations,” he said. “As the 9th Circuit wrote in no uncertain terms, the First Amendment consti- tutional guarantee of free speech applies to public of- ficials, as well as citizens.” Baseless charges Two police officers cleared by jury These guys made quite the catch recently near a Davie, Florida, school. They nabbed an 11-foot alligator weigh- ing more than 400 pounds. The Davie Police Department posted a picture with four of their officers and the animal on Facebook. The officers found the alligator on a bike trail at a canal near Falcon Cove Middle School. The canal where the gator was caught is located south of the school, which shares property with Cypress Bay High School. It’s mating season in Gator Land and that means they tend to show up in weird places looking for dates and whatnot. Got the gator – see ya later! • Removes weight of duty belt off hips and lower back • Enables you to perform at maximum standards • Helps keep shirt tucked in during physical activity • No need to adjust duty belt when exiting vehicle • No need to hold duty belt when engaging in foot pursuits No more back pain The Back Defender is the only concealed belt suspension system approved for police duty WWW"ACK$EFENSE3YSTEMSCOM   (or)