Welcome back to this brand-new, explosive, visionary, investigative edition of Light 'Em Up.

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Without fear or favor, we shine the antiseptic light of the truth on any topic that we undertake and report on.

On this episode we focus on and explore emerging ways of addressing critical issues in the criminal justice system and policing — drilling down on and beginning a focused conversation as to:

Rethinking how law enforcement is deployed and all too often traffic stop by police.

Public safety has long been treated as the near-exclusive province of law enforcement agencies.

Police are tasked with countless challenging and many dangerous duties, including but not limited to:

— Responding to active crime scenes

— 911 calls for service (that are made all the more unpredictable by the prevalence of guns on our streets and gun ownership in the U.S.)

— People who are in the grips of a mental health crisis
— Domestic violence situations

The most common 911 calls include: business checks, disturbances, suspicious persons, and complaints.

Simply put, the police are over-tasked and vastly undertrained to deal with a myriad of complex issues that 21st Century Policing encounters and demands — especially those that center around mental health.

The risk of being killed while being approached or stopped by law enforcement in the community is 16 times higher for individuals with untreated serious mental illness than for other civilians.

For the safety of the public and law enforcement officers equally, we have to begin to re-think, re-examine and re-engineer these concepts, whether it be the biased enforcement of traffic laws by police which drive racial disparities in the criminal justice system or topics like we’ve covered in the past such as “DWB” or Driving While Black in America.

— Police in the U.S. conduct more than 20 million traffic stops per year
— Some 42% of African Americans say that police have stopped them just because of their race

— 59% of the U.S. public believes that this practice of racial profiling is widespread

— 81% disapprove of it — or at least express the concept that they do

Civilian first responders dedicated to traffic and road safety can better serve communities by resolving traffic and safety issues without the potential for punitive law enforcement action.

Racial profiling is a significant policing and social problem. We all witnessed how fast the police incident with Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill escalated quickly from the body worn camera of the officer on scene.

To mitigate the risk of harm to both the police and the public, many municipalities have tasked unarmed, non-law enforcement responders to address nonviolent social and medical issues such as mental health crises or have narrowed the scope of police discretion and duties in traffic enforcement.

How many times have we seen in the past where a citizen is pulled over for a minor traffic infraction and it has escalated into a deadly encounter?

— An expired registration
— A crack in a windshield
— Littering

It happens every day, don’t be fooled!

Click here to see the list of the top jurisdictions that have first responder programs across the U.S.

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Welcome back to this brand-new, investigative, in-depth, exposé exclusively featured on Light 'Em Up.

We're actively being downloaded in 114 countries, globally.
Thank you for your unwavering, support.

Without fear or favor, we shine the antiseptic light of the truth on any topic that we undertake and report on.

Tonight, we examine the officer involved shooting of Michael Jones — by our very own Akron Police Department in the early morning hours of August 17th outside of a Duke and Duchess gas station, in Akron, Ohio. The 15 second unnecessary struggle took Jones' life and re-opened deep wounds between the people and the police in Akron.

Jones, a 54-year-old black man, was shot at point blank range and killed by an APD Officer during an altercation inside a U-Haul Rental Truck.

In a Light 'Em Up Exclusive Visual Investigation we've analyzed the body worn camera (BWC) of the officer involved shooting — frame by frame, meticulously we've rolled back the footage of the fatal traffic stop to examine the causes and consequences of the "officer created jeopardy" in this specific case.

With Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Tyreek Hill in the news for being dragged out of his car in Miami Gardens, FL — this fact pattern put the issue of excessive force and officer created jeopardy at the forefront of countless discussions.

Our learning objectives for this intense episode — which may very well save your life or that of a loved one — will be to drill down on:

— The fact-pattern in the killing of Michael Jones
— Reasonable, Articulable, Suspicion (RAS)
— and introduce to you the concept of "Officer Induced Jeopardy".

In the realm of criminal law and law enforcement, the term Reasonable, Articulable, Suspicion holds significant importance. It serves as a critical legal standard that determines whether law enforcement officers have sufficient grounds to justify various actions, such as: stopping individuals, conducting searches or making detentions. If you are under arrest, you must be told of the charge you are in custody for and immediately read your Miranda rights.

Understanding RAS is crucial for both law enforcement officials and individuals to ensure a balanced approach to justice.

To help you better to understand we'll delve into the:
— Concept of RAS
— Its legal significance
— and its impact on various aspect of law enforcement practices.

As case studies we'll discuss 2 cases regarding the concept of "Officer Induced or Officer Created Jeopardy".

"Officer Induced Jeopardy" involves situations in which police officers unwisely put themselves in danger and then use deadly force to protect themselves. It can include the actions of officers who, without sound justification, willingly fail to take advantage of available tactical concepts like distance, cover and concealment, willingly abandon tactically advantageous positions by moving into disadvantaged positions without justification — or act precipitously on their own without waiting for available assistance from backup.

Grave tactical errors such as:

— walking into the path of a moving car
— reaching into the window
— jumping onto a moving vehicle
— then using lethal force to defend against the danger — as appears to have been the case in the killing of Michael Jones.

We'll interrogate the "final frame" approach found in Graham v Connor where the U.S. Supreme Court says, "courts should not second guess the "split second" judgements officers make in the heat of the moment".

Vehicle stops happen more than 50K times a day on average across America — by far the most common interaction between the police and the public, which disproportionately impacts drivers of color.

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Welcome to this incendiary, probing, brand-new installment of Light ‘Em Up.

We’re currently being actively downloaded in 1⃣1⃣3⃣ countries globally! Thank you, for your constant support!

In this intensive episode we’ll investigate and unpack the cold-blooded killing of Sonya Massey — a 36-year-old mother of two and resident of Springfield, Illinois. Ms. Massey was concerned for her safety and called law enforcement to her home for protection.

Sonya Massey, was fatally shot in the head by the now terminated and criminally charged former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Sean Grayson in her own kitchen over a pot of water that was heating on the stove.

Today, with all the tangible evidence from a multitude of past deadly incidents with law enforcement — the argument could be made that it no longer seems safe for individuals of color and/or anyone who may be “spiraling downward” in the grips of a mental health crisis to call law enforcement for any assistance.

When a person is stuck in the unrelenting grip of a mental health crisis and they are rapidly spiraling downward — they need help, compassion, empathy and understanding. They don’t need to be shot in the face and killed.

Law enforcement simply is not trained to properly handle such emergencies. A crystal-clear example of this was what happened to Daniel Prude in Rochester, NY.

Far too often the fact pattern turns out to be identical to the last senseless killing.

The officer dispatched to the call shows up on the scene:

— terrified (having little direct exposure to those who don’t look identical to him)
— short on time
— short on patience
— and far too often short on the requisite racial sensitivity for the communities they are charged with protecting and serving
— short on the requisite “humanity” one needs to see people who need help as people, not as constant and potential threats

Many aspects of this case are perverted. This case serves as a textbook example of “officer induced jeopardy”.

As we press deeper, farther and wider we’ll uncover the ever-expanding and troublesome issue of “Wandering/Roaming Cops”.

Wandering/Roaming Cops are law-enforcement officers fired by one department — sometimes for very serious misconduct, who then shortly thereafter find work in another agency.

A perfect example of this would be Timothy Loehman, who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio.

The defendant, Former Deputy Sheriff Sean Grayson, had not one, but two previous DUI convictions and a history of personnel problems, but was still hired by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.

Through an extensive number of exclusive Freedom of Information Act Requests (FOIA) we’ve obtained the:

💥 direct audio of Sonya Massey’s mother, (Donna Massey) calling 9-1-1 emergency dispatch providing the dispatcher with advanced notice about her daughter’s mental state.

💥 the last extensive communication from Sonya Massey as she called 9-1-1 emergency dispatch to notify them of a “prowler” at or nearby her home.

💥 the troubling, gruesome, audio from the body worn camera video in the kitchen where Ms. Massey was fatefully gunned down.

💥 Finally, Light ‘Em Up was extremely fortunate to receive a sound bite from the Governor of Illinois, the Honorable J.B. Pritzker — specifically on the Massey tragedy.

Don’t move a muscle. Tune in to hear the shocking, sickening facts of this case.

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