MAY 2023 - Blues Vol 39 No. 5

AROUND THE COUNTRY yrs.

AROUND THE COUNTRY yrs. ACROSS THE US WIDOW OF SLAIN MN DEPUTY SAYS GOVERNOR NOT WEL- COME AT FUNERAL The widow of Pope County, MN, Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Owen who was killed in the line of duty on Saturday night has told Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz he is not welcome at her husband’s funeral. Deputy Owen’s wife, Shannon, confirmed to Alpha News that when Gov. Walz called to offer his condolences, she told him not to show up on Saturday because “he does not support law enforcement.” Her family also stands by the decision and said Deputy Owen would want it that way. Funeral services for Owen will be Saturday at the Minnewaska Area High School in Glenwood at 10:30 a.m. Deputy Owen died Saturday after being shot on his 44th birthday while responding to a domestic assault call in the town of Cyrus. TYRE NICHOLS FAMILY FILES 0M LAWSUIT AGAINST CITY, MEMPHIS CHIEF, AND FORMER OFFICERS The family of Tyre Nichols, the man who died three days after Memphis police officers beat him following a Jan. 7 traffic stop, has filed a 0-million lawsuit naming the City of Memphis, Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, the five officers involved, two additional officers, and three fire department employees. The suit, filed Wednesday morning in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, alleges negligence by the city in hiring Davis, along with asserting Davis’ culpability in lax hiring processes, and the development of the SCORPION Unit’s “oppression style of policing” and poor training, reports the Commercial Appeal. The lawsuit claims the City of Memphis should have been aware of Davis’ ties to the Atlanta Police Department’s RED DOG Unit stating, “Much like the RED DOG Unit, SCORPION Unit officers were encouraged by the chief of police and supervisors to engage in searches and seizures when there was no basis to do so in violation of the Fourth Amendment.” Former Memphis police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills, Jr. have all been charged with one count of second-degree murder, aggravated assault-acting in concert, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct, and one count of official oppression, court records show. The five officers had been fired by Davis, who said they were directly responsible for “physical abuse of Mr. Nichols.” IOWA OFFICER LOSES FIN- GERS DEPLOYING SPIKE STRIP TO END PURSUIt An Indianola, IA, police officer lost some of his fingers while deploying spikes to end a vehicle pursuit earlier this month. At around 8:00 a.m. on April 1, Sgt. Scott Dwyer was attempting to stop a female suspect in a high-speed chase barreling towards Indianola at 90 miles an hour. The deployment did not go as intended. Windy conditions caused the spikes to blow around and get caught underneath the suspect’s vehicle. Dwyer told WHO13, “When they got caught under the vehicle it got caught under and what I believed happened is that cord came up and severed my fingers.” Dwyer was rushed to a local hospital as other first responders searched for the missing pieces of his hand. “They brought my fingers into the ambulance but unfortunately they weren’t able to put those back on,” Dwyer said. GRANT HELPS OHIO SHERIFF’S OFFICE OUTFIT 100 DEPUTIES WITH BODY-WORN CAMERAS. By Denise G. Callahan Journal-News BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio — The Butler County Sheriff’s Office has a three-year, 1,712 contract to outfit about 100 deputies, and 48 The BLUES The BLUES 49