TheAgitator.com
Update in Chesapeake
Thursday, February 28th, 2008Chesapeake police have seized Ryan Frederick’s phone records from the night of the raid. I can see several reasons for this, I guess. Did the informant call Frederick that night? Did Frederick talk to anyone the police suspect of being involved with drug distribution? I remember early on reading somewhere that Frederick dialed 911 at some point during the raid, but I can’t remember where, and haven’t seen anything about it since. Of course if he did, those records would be available through the 911 line. They wouldn’t need to seize Frederick’s phone records for that.
What’s strange is that this was reported in a couple of local media outlets. Seems like this would be a pretty routine part of this kind of investigation. Perhaps it’s an indication of just how secretive the police department has been in all of this. Maybe the local media is hungry for information, caught wind that something related to the case had just been filed in court, and felt the need to report it. But the mere fact that they’re reviewing the phone records doesn’t really indicate much of anything.
In related news, the Virginian-Pilot has published a new staff editorial that’s pretty critical of the police department’s secrecy in the case. The editorial notes that public opinion is growing skeptical of the way the raid and investigation were conducted, and growing particularly wary of the way Chesapeake officials have clammed up since the raid went down. They’re calling for more disclosure.
Huh. It seems that Kerry Dougherty’s editorial and the first report (that I saw) were so biased, that they are now having to even things out in order to not make it look like the position of the Virginian Pilot is that he should hang.
The other stuff that I’ve seen on their website can’t be called “fair and balanced,” so much as just reporting some of the facts. A more responsible journalistic approach would have been to use those stories to call attention to the reader that there is a lot missing and messed up. This… just seems like a good CYA piece.
Maybe the cops haven’t put out more info because they’re still rehearsing their story.
Just kidding. I know conspiracies don’t really happen.
I thought cops believe that withholding info and refusing to answer questions makes one look guilty.
I just noticed Frederick’s gun was a .380 pistol. For those not familiar with this cartridge, it is a very slow, low-powered round with little capacity for penetration. You NEVER see a cop carrying a pistol chambered for this cartridge. I am extremely suspicious of a claim that it traveled thru a door, thru an arm, and deep enough into Shivers chest to quickly kill him.
A rifle chambered for .223 Remington, fired by a panicked colleague, could have easily caused the reported wound to Shivers, however.
Does anyone else wonder what happened to the bullet that came from the ejected .223 casing found at the scene? Could it be that the cop was killed by ‘friendly fire’?
Many of us want an explanation of the .223 casing. That being said, if the prosecution knows Det. Shivers was killed by friendly fire, then they’ve got some ’splaining to do. I think that it is more likely that some officer popped off a round in response to Frederick’s shots. But this - like so many other questions - is unanswered.
The simplest and most likely possibility is That Det. Shivers was wielding the ram to break down the door and hence was side-on to the door or nearly so. This allowed a bullet fired from inside to hit his shoulder and enter the chest from the side bypassing his armour. Acconts suggest that the shot entered the armhole of the armour. I think Kukulcan gave the most likely source of the .223 round.
Accounts suggest that Det. Shivers usually wielded the breaching ram. Was he too keen to use it? Is there a culture of excitement-seeking in The Chesapeke PD? We have reason to suspect this but can’t know for sure yet.
“I think that it is more likely that some officer popped off a round in response to Frederick’s shots.” says Kukulkan about the .223 casing.
Let me add this. I always figured/guessed the reason the police took the T.V. was that is where the .223 projectile ended up.
The phone records taking a month to gather, just throws another wrench into the works for CPD as a pile on that DID NOT do their investigation work!
I can think of exactly two reasons why the police would seize the phone records:
* They’re committed to pursuing their case against Frederick, and are desperately scrounging for ancillary dirt they can use to poison the jury during the trial. E.g., did the guy who sold him Japanese maples also have a nice bong collection for sale on eBay?
* There’s something they’d like to make disappear (the afore-mentioned informant theory).
They would be remiss if they didn’t check the records, since it is a homicide investigation, and we know how willing some are to call their thoroughness into question
“But the mere fact that they’re reviewing the phone records doesn’t really indicate much of anything.”
Exactly, so why again are you reporting it?
“But the mere fact that they’re reviewing the phone records doesn’t really indicate much of anything.”
“Exactly, so why again are you reporting it?”
Because, so far, the police investigation has been full of suspicious lapses of judgment. It took FIVE DAYS for the police to hold a press conference. It took even longer for them to disclose that Fredericks was NOT growing pot and that he had only a small, personal amount in his possession. We still don’t know who the informant is, or if the informant was the same person who broke into Fredericks’ house three days before–although there are strong suspicions amongst his neighbors and friends. And what ABOUT that .223 shell casing that hasn’t yet been traced to anyone’s gun? We know it wasn’t Fredericks’: his gun was a .380 handgun, as noted above. Are we looking at another Magic Bullet Theory?
This sudden seizure of phone records smells and looks like CYA and, as with other police statements and actions in this case, we must be skeptical. In answer to the old question, “Who polices the police?” the answer seems to be, “Just us.”
Let’s not get past the point of the entire thread: SWAT tactics are used everyday to go after stoners. You know, the guys that say “peace” all the time and eat pizza and play too much playstation. Yeah, send the SWAT team after those guys.
I found a recent update to the story.
http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?s=8338638
So this is all over a jealous friend who falsely tipped off the cops and as a a result 1 dead cop and 1 wrongfully jailed person. They should just legalize cannabiss for people over 21 like alcohol and this situations would never happen.