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Sep 19

2018

Police policy seen as lacking on de-escalation

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The Buffalo Police Department’s use of force policy lacks “important provisions” and is “very weak” on the de-escalation of crisis situations, two national experts have told Investigative Post. The shortcomings, first documented by Investigative Post two years ago, are again open to question following the fatal shooting of Rafael “Pito” Rivera, 32, by a police officer last week. Video tape shows Rivera was running away from police when he was shot three times, including once in the back. No gun is readily visible on Rivera in the video, although police maintain he was in possession of a handgun and posed[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 15

2018

Video shows deadly police shooting

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 A video of the shooting of Rafael “Pito” Rivera shows he was running from police when an officer shot him twice at close range, according to an Investigative Post review of the footage. The video shows Rivera falling as he turns off Plymouth Avenue into the parking lot of the former School 77 about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday. He crawls several feet, gets up and runs several steps until a police officer about 10 to 15 feet away fires two shots. Rivera falls to the ground, motionless. Rivera does not point a weapon at officers in the video, which shows[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 14

2018

Attorney: Video shows “bad shoot” by police

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Rafael “Pito” Rivera was running from police and posed no threat to officers when one of them shot him several times in the back, the attorney representing Rivera’s family has told Investigative Post. Steve Cohen made his claim of a “bad shoot” based on a video taken from a surveillance camera that captured the shooting at 454 Plymouth Ave., on the city’s lower West Side. Cohen said he viewed the video early Friday evening with the family. “There could be no interpretation of that video that [concludes] Mr. Rivera was pointing a gun at the police when he was shot,”[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 13

2018

Attorney senses a police coverup is afoot

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Steve Cohen – a civil rights attorney retained by the family of Rafael “Pito” Rivera, who was shot dead by police Wednesday – told Investigative Post he suspects Buffalo police are engaging in a coverup. Cohen, in an exclusive interview with Investigative Post, said police have been uncooperative, to the point of refusing to allow the Rivera family to view the body or provide basic information about the fatal encounter. Police, he said, are typically quick to share information in the case of justifiable shootings. “When the police refuse to interact with the family, refuse to interact with the family’s[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 13

2018

Dispute over Tonawanda Coke soil study

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Residents who live near Tonawanda Coke want to know whether pollution from the plant has contaminated the soil in their yards and their children’s schools and playgrounds. A federal judge agreed and ordered the Tonawanda Coke Corp. to fund a $711,000 study investigating how the plant’s foundry coke emissions have contaminated soil in surrounding communities. It’s being conducted by a research team from the University at Buffalo. That study is now the subject of a dispute between the mayor of the City of Tonawanda and researchers from UB. Mayor Rick Davis said he decided to pull the city’s support for[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 12

2018

Council presses mayor’s staff on fair housing

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 The Common Council has asked the Brown administration to account for its enforcement of – or, failure to enforce – the city’s fair housing law. Last week, the Council asked for a report on the city’s handling of housing discrimination complaints over the past three years. At a brief appearance before a Council committee Tuesday, Harold Cardwell, the city’s fair housing officer, agreed to provide that report within 30 days. The Council’s request, initiated by President Darius Pridgen, came after Investigative Post reported in July that City Hall has largely failed to enforce the fair housing law. The law[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 12

2018

A looming threat to the Niagara River

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Researchers are concerned that climate change could be helping to lay the groundwork for an eventual collapse of the Niagara River’s ecosystem. Populations of the Emerald Shiner, a minnow that serves as the foundation of the river’s food chain, have been cut drastically this summer. Researchers worry that as the region heats up, this could become the new norm. The Emerald Shiner is the primary source of food for many of the larger sporting fish in the Niagara River, such as bass, trout and walleye. Birds also feast on both the minnows and the larger fish that eat them. Because[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 7

2018

Heaney talks primary on ‘Pressroom

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Jim Heaney tells Susan Arbetter of WCNY’s The Capitol Pressroom that few candidates for statewide office have campaigned aggressively in Western New York during this primary season. He also said the next state attorney general needs to focus on dealing with state corruption. Give a listen.  

Posted 7 years ago
Investigative Post