A 14 year old boy was killed in a high speed pursuit initiated by Buffalo Police that ended in a crash.

Buffalo police claimed in a news release that the incident began when Northwest District officers saw a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed south on Elmwood Avenue near Hertel Avenue at about 11:30 p.m on November 10th, 2024. Officers allegedly “attempted to catch up to the vehicle with lights and sirens engaged,” according to the department.

CW // Police Violence

Around 12:30 AM on July 9th, Buffalo Police Officers Ronald Ammerman and Jonathan Crawford pulled over Dae'von Roberts, a 25 year old Black man, for speeding and having tinted windows on the East Side of Buffalo. Roberts was driving a family members vehicle and had a 6 year old in the front seat.

Individuals organized outside of Hochstetter Hall at UB's North Campus to call for a ceasefire to the genocide in Gaza and for the University at Buffalo and the UB Foundation to divest from Israel. Specifically, SUNY Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) “wants financial divestment of all stocks, funds, partnerships, endowments and other monetary instruments from companies complicit in human rights abuse in Palestine, an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and universities, and they demand financial investments into education on Palestinian culture, literature, social movements, history and diaspora.”

On April 11th, 2024 Chief of Narcotics and Intelligence for the Erie County Sheriff’s Department Daniel "DJ" Granville, negligently, recklessly, and carelessly drove his county-owned vehicle into eight parked cars on Buffalo’s West Side. 911 recordings from that night reveal multiple callers reporting a hit-and-run. The owner of one of the damaged vehicles claimed in a lawsuit that Granville "was in an impaired condition" at the time of the crashes.

Buffalo Police Officers Joshua Slupinski and Andrew Lewis fired 20 rounds at Edward Holmes, hitting him twice after Holmes attempted to discharge a round and then lowered his 12-gauge shotgun. Officers told Holmes to put down the gun several times, but no other de-escalation tactics were used. The shotgun malfunctioned when Holmes tried to fire a round, becoming jammed in the receiver. It is believed that this is what led Holmes to lift the gun at a 45-degree angle in an attempt to clear the obstruction.

Police officers responded to a call regarding an attempted suicide on Tonawanda St. Jon Battison, a 36-year-old man, was observed with a long pellet gun aimed at his own head. He never directed it towards the police.

Battison asked the officers whether they were going to shoot him given that he was holding a gun to his own head. Subsequently, the officers shouted at Battison to lower the pellet gun, and no further efforts at deescalation were undertaken.

One officer declared an intent to shoot. "OK," responded Battison, maintaining the pellet gun pointed at his own head.

Outcome

A 30-year-old man was allegedly attempting to leave a CVS store with items he didn't pay for. An off-duty Buffalo Police officer working as the store security guard shot the man, hitting him in the hand. He was transported to ECMC for what according to police were non-life-threatening injuries.

Outcome

No publicly available information has been released regarding disciplinary action.

Buffalo Police Officer's recklessly left a sniper rifle on a tripod unattended at the edge of a rooftop overlooking a St. Patrick's Day Parade, and it fell to the street after an alleged gust of wind. The rifle fell within feet of parade spectators. It was then secured by another officer and removed from the scene.

Outcome

Buffalo Police confirmed the incident saying it did happen, and that Internal Affairs will look into the matter. No other information regarding disciplinary action has been publicly released.

Buffalo Police Officer James McAndrew grabbed a 32-year-old man and shoved him into the side of a staircase, damaging the railings. McAndrew also pushed a woman who tried to get between him and the other man.

Outcome

McAndrew was arrested and temporarily suspended by the department without pay. He pled not guilty and was released on his own recognizance, according to court records. He was charged with two misdemeanors – fourth-degree criminal mischief and second-degree trespassing – as well as second-degree harassment.

James R. Kaska, a retired Buffalo police detective hid inside a woman's vehicle that was parked in a driveway. He then confronted the woman inside the car and as she tried to leave he pushed her back in the car, hit her arm, and held her wrists. He also took her cellphone away as she tried to call 911. Police had previously asked Kaska to leave the home following a domestic incident.

Outcome

13 days before a white supremacist lynched ten Black people in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, Police Captain and head the Behavioral Health Team, Amber Beyer read aloud a Facebook post by a resident with a mental illness that the behavioral team was going to check on. In the post, the resident freely used a racial slur that targets Black people. Beyer yelled out the word as she read the post to members of her team,

30-year-old Black man experienced a mental health crisis and was shot by two Buffalo police officers multiple times outside his apartment building on Hertel Avenue.

A homeless man barely moved while two Buffalo police officers stood over him on a sidewalk while one struck him with a baton six times before jamming it into his upper body.

The man was on the ground in a fetal position and showed no signs that he was resisting arrest.

A local resident who witnessed the March 13 incident captured about 40 seconds of the encounter on her cell phone, and said she was disturbed by what she saw.

One woman was killed and others were injured in a high speed pursuit initiated by Buffalo Police that ended in a crash. Authorities say patrol officers began pursuing a suspicious vehicle at 3:45 a.m. near Sycamore and Fillmore avenues. The vehicle was traveling south on Bailey Avenue at an apparent high rate of speed, police say, when it allegedly ran a red light and was hit by another vehicle.

A female passenger in the vehicle was declared deceased at the scene.

Outcome

According to the Sun, Harris was involved in the asphyxiation of victim, a black man who died after Rochester authorities placed a hood over his head and pressed his face into the ground.

Bradstreet was involved in the pepper spraying and use of extreme force of a nine-year old child who was in the midst of a mental health crisis. The episode was filmed by multiple body cameras and brought nationwide attention to the troubling abuse. Four officers were involved.

Outcome

All four officers have been suspended or placed on administrative leave. Bradstreet, with the department 4.5 years, is currently on administrative leave. RPD Chief Cynthia Herriot-Sullivan and the Locust Club have defended the actions as 'necessary.'

According to D&C, Lombard pepper sprayed 9 year old girl while in custody in the back of a police car

Outcome

Suspended with pay

The Democrat & Chronicle said Lombard sprayed a chemical irritant in the face of a 9-year-old Black girl as she was handcuffed in the back of a police car.

Outcome

Suspension with pay

RPD arrested Abdul Hadi during a traffic stop as a means to prevent him from reaching his house when his wife, Aqueelah El Bey, called him for help when CPS misused police to do a raid on their home to remove their children for "Educational Neglect."

Body-worn camera footage located at: https://youtu.be/9hrV8eeztzg

Officer Dylan Minnick deliberately turned off his body-worn camera at two instances during this arrest interaction. In the BWC footage, Minnick turns his camera off at the:
a) 12:41 minute marker, the time stamp jumps from 13:12:42 to 13:16:45.
b) 13:58 minute marker, the time stamp jumps from 13:18:02 to13:20:41.

RPD arrested Abdul Hadi in a "traffic stop" to prevent him from reaching his home after his wife, Aqueelah El Bey called him for help as CPS violated their rights by calling RPD to raid their home to remove their children from the home for "Educational Neglect."

BWC footage: https://youtu.be/9hrV8eeztzg

Officer Wassinger deliberately turns off his body worn camera at the 47:54 mark. The time stamp jumps from 13:12:42 to 13:13:00. This arrest is done in conjunction with Officer Dylan Minnick (Badge #2024) who also deliberately turned off his body-worn camera twice during this arrest. See Officer Minnick's record for more details.