WESTCHESTER NBPA AND YONKERS NAACP TAKE A STANCE AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY AND MISCONDUCT

On October 6, 2007 history was made in Westchester for the fight for justice for people of Yonkers. The Yonkers chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored Peopl( NAACP) and The Westchester Chapter of the National Police Association(NBPA) took a firm stance on Police Misconduct and Police Brutality.

"As the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), we applaud the federal investigation of the Yonkers Police Department. It is no secret to the law enforcement community in Westchester County, that the attitudes and actions of some of Yonkers Police Department professionals are appalling. Look at how they have treated the citizens that they protect and serve, especially the communities of color. We all can say that these are alleged complaints. The mayor and the police commissioner seem in complete denial about these alleged complaints. This is always the case when the victims are poor white, Black, and Hispanic citizens that lack the funds, knowledge and resources to fight City Hall", said Sterling Dixson Westchester NBPA President.

The Yonkers NAACP and the National Black Police Association are recommending:

More diversity on the YPD (currently approximately 35 African Americans are in the YPD, 38 Hispanics, no African-American Lieutenants, Captains, Deputy Chiefs in a department of approximately 650) to reflect the diversity of the City.

A newly created Independent Civilian Complaint Review Board or at least immediately, a police oversight committee within the City Council.

Police officers to reveal both their names and badge numbers while on duty

Cameras installed in patrol cars especially in the 3rd and 4th precincts

"The vast majority of Yonkers Police officers are professionals that put their lives on the line daily to protect the citizens of Yonkers. However, there are serious issues of abuse of authority and misconduct that need to be addressed. . The mere fact that the Justice Department has chosen to investigate serves notice that this indeed is a problem that we must face together and develop a process that will improve police professionalism," said Karen Edmonson President of the Yonkers NAACP


The police department has said that they have only 35 complaint and boasted that most of them came from people that had extensive police records.

"How many complaints are to many? I haven’t turned in complains in months because you cant rely on them to investigate. All the complaints I receive are forwarded to the Department of Justice." Said Edmonson

"It is the opinion of the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association, NE Region, that an "Independent Civil Complaint Review Board" (CCRB) is established as an effective mechanism to adjudicate the ongoing epidemic of Police Brutality within Westchester County." Said Westchester NBPA Second Vice President Ray Gonzalez

"Our criticism is not an attack on the YPD as a whole or the fine officers that serve and protect the Yonkers community. Instead we are demanding critical and fair accountability of the few police officers that cross the line and that the administration recognize and correct their failure to address this ongoing epidemic .As stated in previous press releases, it is no secret in the law enforcement community of Westchester that the attitudes and actions of some YPD professionals are appalling. These attitudes have been ignored for years. More often these negative attitudes are displayed in the underprivileged communities of color", said Westchester NBPA Executive Director Damon Jones

"Yonkers PD has 650 members and only 35 are Black and 40 are Hispanic (keeping in mind that the black population in Yonkers is 19%). At least half of the 35 are soon to retire. The last academy of police officers was completely white and the majority were children of white officers who are currently employed by the YPD. Where is community policing? Where are the young adults of color that wouldn’t want a job making good money and benefits? On the other hand, why would a young adult of color be a part of a system that they see on a day to day basis, abusing there authority and power over the powerless" Said Dixon

The situation in Yonkers is a sign of the rest of Westchester. Black police represent only 9% of the total police force of departments that have 100 or more full time employees. With over 15% of our young black males in Westchester caught in the criminal system (parole, probation, jail). It will be harder and harder to find black men to their place in the law enforcement ranks in Westchester.

"If we dont take a stance for our people the black cop will never be respected in the black communities like the white cop is respected in their own in Westchester. If we continue down this road. In the next 50 years there will be no black cop in Westchester ," said Jones

CORPORATE EXPLOITATIOIN OF PRISON CALLS

Ever thought about that? Many of us have heard that recording telling us the call is coming from a jail, the cost of which is $1.50 or more for the first minute or so, and that we should say “Yes” to accept the charges. Why do local calls from jails cost so much?

I thought all calls were pretty much the same. Long distance calls from prisons are expensive enough, and we know the phone carriers are ripping us off for them, but local calls? Why the exorbitant charge? That’s a rhetorical question, Brothers and Sisters—I know you know the answer.

Like other greedy, unethical, money-grubbing, corporate thieves, the phone companies that charge those outrageous rates for jail phone calls are among the list of profiteers that are steadily taking advantage of this country’s prison industrial complex by exploiting prisoners and their families.

Why do some local calls cost more than other local calls? The answer: Because the phone companies say they do.

I don’t know, but I would imagine that one of the rationales used to justify the high cost is the number of men and women who would be on the phones if the costs were normal. But, couldn’t that be solved by prison officials regulating the number of calls and the time spent on the phone by each prisoner?

This is probably a trivial point to many of you, but my reason for writing about it is to illuminate the fact that Black folks are, in many cases, allowing ourselves to be used as wealth creators for others, even to the ridiculous extent of doing stupid stuff that will land us in jail or prison. Then when we get to jail, we want to call our friends and families, at usury phone rates, to help get us out or just to “stay in touch.” Of course, that does not excuse the greed of the phone companies, and the only thing we can do about it is what Nancy Reagan said, “Just say no” to accepting the charges; but you know that’s not going to happen. We are going to continue to go to jail, and we are going to continue to accept the charges for the millions of phone calls that go out from jails and prisons everyday. Thus, a trivial thing like a phone call becomes a billion dollar advantage.
A close look at the jails will reveal that Blacks occupy the cells at a disproportionate rate.

Black people are not building jails, supplying the needs of the jails, doing the maintenance in the jails, or selling hair grease, toilet paper, T-shirts, jumpsuits, flip-flops, books, or anything else to the jails.

A multi-billion dollar industry located in our hometowns, in many cases funded by our tax dollars, and we have no economic interest in that industry. All we do is fill the cells.

Phone companies that charge $1.50 for a local call are ripping us off, but filling their coffers with the easiest money they have ever made.

No increase in their cost of goods sold, no added cost for personnel, and no additional expense for advertising and marketing; they are just sitting there raking it in, hearing cha-ching every minute of the day. Who’s the sucker in that scenario? We have given new meaning to the term, “phone home.”

It’s all about economics. The prison-jail system, both supply and demand, has grown exponentially, because of the high profit from prison-building and prisoner warehousing. We already account for the profit margins of many consumer product companies—that we do not own, spending our $800 billion willy-nilly on whatever someone else makes.

Now we are providing a huge profit margin for the prison industrial complex as we do our daily Bataan Death March into court rooms to stand in front of corrupt prosecutors and judges and be accused by “testi-lying” cops, in many cases. And the first thing we want to do when they escort us to that cell is make a phone call that cost the person on the other end an arm and a leg.

That’s stupid, as I have said before, especially if you intentionally do a crime or neglect to pay your child support or fail to show up for a court appearance for an outstanding warrant or traffic ticket. That’s stupid! It is also evil and just plain wrong if you are doing the more serious crimes like robbing, raping, assaulting, or killing. At the end of it all there will be someone, who looks nothing like you, who will profit from your stupidity and your evil deeds, while you sit in a cell and waste your life away.

When you get out of jail you look for a job, mostly from someone who does not look like you, and get frustrated because you can’t get hired. Then after so many turn-downs you decide to do something else stupid and go right back into the same system. Can’t you see the pattern here?
It is sad that Black people, especially, would subject ourselves to such a no-win situation, but we do it everyday. Even sadder is the fact that our illogical actions have a negative and exacerbating effect on our friends and families. We end up paying on both ends of the system folks.

This article started with a simple phone call, but you can see the implications of our behavior when it comes to crime and punishment—and, I might add, wealth. In a system, things work together, in conjunction with one another; everything fits together, Brothers and Sisters.
As for the money-making prison system, let’s stay out of the cells and get into sales—legal sales. In the meantime, maybe we should look into using carrier pigeons to talk to one another.

By James ClingmanNNPA Columnist

AMERICA SHOULD BE PROUD OF DENZEL

Denzel Washington and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio,Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers who have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the UnitedStates. There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses .

The Fisher House is a Hotel where soldiers' families can stay for little or no charge. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled most of the time. While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked howmuch one of them would cost to build. He took his checkbook out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.

Thanks Denzel

THE QUESTION IS

Why does Alec Baldwin, Madonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything and crazy lifestyles ???

Denzel Washington who is a true family man and now shows his Patriotism doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the Local newspaper in SanAntonio.

WE KNOW THE ANSWER ......... IF YOU REALLY THINK .... REALLY REALLY THINK...

YOU DO TOO

BLACKWATCH

WELCOME TO "JENA" NEW YORK

NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - Officials at Columbia University and the NYPD’s hate crimes unit say they are investigating the hanging of a noose on the office door of a Black female professor on Oct. 9.
The noose was found on the door of Teachers College professor Madonna Constantine who teaches a class on racial justice and has written several books on the topic, according to her online faculty biography.
The suspected hate crime comes less than two weeks after the appearance at Columbia University by Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the discovery afterwards of racist and Islamophobic graffiti at the same Teachers College, ranked the best graduate school education program in the nation.
Columbia University students staged a demonstration on the night of Oct. 9, chanting, “Not in my school!”
On the morning of Sept. 28, a janitor found a noose inside a locker room used by police officers at the Village of Hempstead police station in Long Island. Half of the officers serving on the Hempstead Police Department are people of color, 40 percent of which are Black, according to officials.
The New York daily Newsday recently reported that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Nassau County District Attorney’s office have created a joint task force to investigate the incident.
News reports indicate there is suspicion that the target of the noose was newly appointed deputy chief, Willie Dixon. At a press conference held on Sept. 29, Mr. Dixon, a 27-year police veteran, stated that he would not be intimidated: “The hangman’s noose is the ultimate symbol of disgust if you know American history, especially if you are Black.”
On Sept. 20, Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron, speaking to the hundreds that had gathered at Brooklyn’s Borough Hall, opened his speech with: “Welcome to Jena, New York.”
Councilman Barron shared what happened to a young Black man in Oceanside, Long Island, who was arrested on assault charges after he was assaulted by a gang of Whites. Aloysius Staton, 24, could face up to 25 years in jail if convicted, according to Marc Claxton of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care.
The councilman then explained that on Sept. 11, a group of White men allegedly attacked several Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Black basketball players and their coach.
“So, we don’t have to go to Jena to be brutalized,” Councilman Barron observed.
At a press conference on Sept. 19, BMCC coach Chester Mapp, 49, told reporters he had never witnessed the racism displayed as he did that day. “I’ve been all over this country playing sports, but never in my born days have I seen the kind of racism I witnessed right here in New York City,” Mr. Mapp stressed.
Several players had left practice and as they walked passed a bar, a group of White men shouted “n----rs” and “this is what slavery feels like.” According to the young Black men, someone in the crowd threw a bottle at them.
The young men say as they proceeded to their subway station they were jumped by “six” of the Whites. Marquis Scott, 18, the son of a New York City policewoman, said he was knocked to the ground and stomped. “When the police arrived they immediately handcuffed me,” Mr. Scott said. He was charged with misdemeanor assault, his attorney Benita Zelman told The Final Call.
“I am the victim and I get arrested,” Mr. Scott stated at the press conference.
Ms. Zelman explained that the initial police reports did not mention that the “n” word was used, which would make it a “bias crime.”
“It is outrageous that these young men and their coach were victims of a hate crime and the police wanted to sweep it under the rug,” commented Ms. Zelman.
Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-Queens), the deputy speaker of the council sent out a press release on Sept. 26, calling for the Manhattan District Attorney to drop the charges against Mr. Scott. In addition, he said, “As a New Yorker, I am appalled that such an attack would occur on the streets of New York City, much less on Sept. 11.”
Ms. Zelman has since informed The Final Call that the NYPD has charged the Whites with a hate crime, which is a felony. “What is outrageous is that the district attorney’s office has yet to indict them on the hate crime charge, and issue orders of protection against the White males, who also attend BMCC,” Ms. Zelman said. She added that her client, Mr. Scott, is suing the police for assault. Calls to the Manhattan district attorney’s office were not returned.
“Clearly, once again, the mindset of the NYPD is that all African American males are predisposed to be criminals,” Councilman Comrie told The Final Call.
“I think what has happened is that in New York we have had a protracted period without any really meaningful organizational push to address the issues of racism, but Jena has forced us to confront it head-on,” Mr. Claxton said.

By Saeed Shabazz

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF POLICE BRUTALITY

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF POLICE BRUTALITY ?

POLICE: An organized body of people trained in the methods of law enforcement and crime prevention and detection, and authorized to maintain the peace, safety, and order of the community.

BRUTALITY: The state or quality of being ruthless, cruel, harsh, or unrelenting.

Police brutality, police misconduct and police acting as judge, jury and sometime executioner is common practice in the black community. All of these abuses are not accidents or errors or simply acts of individual malice. They flow from the policeman's role as agents of an absentee white citizentry, which owns all property in the blacck community and/or have a stake in the political and economic status quo.

With this type of attitude , black people are at a tremendous disadvantage and can never hope to receive the service and protection from the police they are rightfully due.
If we, as law enforcement professionals, are sworn to protect and serve the community, how come so many people of color do not see it this way? To our own young we are seen as enemies of the community. Why are we so disconnected from the community? As Black Men ans Women in the position of power we have a duty to return to the community to reach and teach the young. If we do not respect our own, why would you think that law enforcement professionals of other races would respect them?

"We are going to elevate the black policeman in black community to the same image-status enjoyed by white policeman in the white community"
Afro-American Patrolmans League

No matter how you my think, "Self Preservation Is The First Law Of Nature". For those who say they are doing something, then show me. The African proverb says "you can judge the tree by the fruit it bares". With more black men in jail than in college and the the NY State recidivism rate at over 60% in our local and state facilities and with black children graduating without basic reading, writing and math skills, our tree is sick.

"We will no longer permit ourselves to be relegated to the role of brutal pawns in a chess game affecting the communities in which we serve. We are mothers,fathers,husbands,wives,brothers,sisters,neighbors, and members in the black community. Donning the blue uniform has not changed this. On the contrary, it has sharpened our perception of our responsibilities as black men and women in a society seemingly unresponsive to the needs of black people. We see our role as a protector of this community and that is the role we ented to fill"
Afro-American Patrolmans League

As Black Law Enforcement Professionals we know first hand that the legal system is against the poor of all races especially the people of color. We boast about our positions in public, however, we take a stance of fear at work and fail to challenge the status quo. Some feel that they are separate when they are promoted – that they have arrived. They don't need any association with the common body. This is not true brother/sister law enforcement professionals. If they didn't respect you from the beginning, you are really their Negro now - their little back flunky. Make no mistake they fear the ones with unity. They will not admit it to you but they fear organized thought that creates movement and motion. It has been the fear of this country organized black people in motion.

"Moreover, it should be stated here,that many black police are against the system and have been for many years. However, they know if they would have spoken out against it, they would be subjected to unbearible pressure and even might suffer loss of their job. Black police are at a disadvantage in numbers and political backing; therefore, they are afraid to challenge the police structure."
Afro-American Patrolmans League

ORGANIZATION: Something made up of elements with varied functions that contribute to the whole and to collective functions

Black police properly organized could lead the strongest most effective movement for change, while still being considered within the system.

Organized black police represent black police power and organized black police represent a real political and economical threat to the white power structure.

Black Law Enforcement Professionals organization are the key. We are the best educated and trained black men and women in the world equipped to deal with the social and economic ills of our community. We have the knowledge to create and implement programs for our community instead of allowing outsiders making their pockets fat of a grants and initiatives for our youth. We are far from the dreams of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, W.E.B Dubious, Elijah Muhammad.

So I ask you. ?

Is it the white cop (the usual suspect) that abuses his authority and commits POLICE BRUTALITY? Or, Is it the black law enforcement professional, the one that sees the ills in the community but does not have the testicular fortitude to stand up to power and claim his community?

YOU DECIDE.

FROM THE BLACKWATCH FILES

HATE CRIMES ON THE RISE IN THE US

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - A 10-day rash of racist crimes and Ku Klux Klan propaganda including nooses and racial torture spread over the National Capital area in mid-September, from Washington, to Prince Georges County, Md., even to a Maryland state prison, and to Virginia and West Virginia.
The bloodiest incident took place in a ramshackle trailer, deep in the rural hills of West Virginia, where for at least a week, a young Black woman was held captive, forced to eat animal waste, stabbed, choked and repeatedly sexually abused—all while being peppered with a racial slur.
Six people, all White, including a mother and son and a mother and daughter, were arrested in the suspected attack on 20-year-old Megan Williams, whose injuries included four stab wounds in the leg, and black and blue eyes. Her right arm was in a cast.
“I don’t understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter,” Carmen Williams said from the Charleston Area Medical Center, according to AP. “I didn’t know there were people like that out here.”
The woman was forced to eat rat and dog waste and drink from a toilet, according to the criminal complaint filed in magistrate court based on what the suspects told deputies. She also had been choked with a cord, it alleges. Deputies say the woman was also doused with hot water while being sexually assaulted.
At the University of Maryland in College Park, the administration reacted quickly to assure its community that they were devoting the utmost seriousness to the investigation of a noose found near the Nyumburu Cultural Center, home of the African American Faculty and Staff Association, and the Black Explosion newspaper.
“The University of Maryland will not tolerate discrimination, harassment or acts of hate,” University President Dr. C.D. Mote told a student “Speak-Out” Sept. 11.
“Our programming, which deals with progressive musical contributions of African Americans and people of the African Diaspora, in terms of whoever did this heinous act, it’s not going to stop us. We’ve been around too long. Our legacy is too strong, and our message is just too clear for us to step aside and let something like this deter us from moving on with our strong vision and mission,” Dr. Ronald Zeigler, Director of the Nyumburu Cultural Center told The Final Call.
But elsewhere in the state, in Westover, Md, a monthly newsletter published by a White supremacist group has sparked a controversy at the Eastern Correctional Institution, where the warden tried to ban the publication after an issue was sent to an inmate that included a cartoon of a Black woman drawn to resemble an ape. A White man in a suit makes a racist remark about her hair.
The publication, known as All the Way, is produced by the Nationalist Movement, based in Learned, Miss., and is edited by attorney Richard Barrett.
A spokeswoman for the Department Correctional Services said warden Kathleen Green banned All the Way out of concern for inmate safety. The Eastern Correctional Institution is Maryland’s largest prison, and about three-quarters of its roughly 3,100 inmates are Black.
Meanwhile, some Manassas, Va. residents complained that their neighborhood had become the target of the Ku Klux Klan, which left flyers some described as hateful. Several homeowners said they discovered flyers on their driveways which were apparently distributed along a 10-block stretch, according to broadcast reports. The flyer claimed to outline the history of the Ku Klux Klan.
Thousands of flyers were distributed over the weekend in Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia. Those messages listed a Compton, Arkansas address, where the person describing himself as the national membership director said in a statement read over the phone: “We had people in that area of Virginia; they see the problems and they’re looking for solutions.”
The membership director said someone in the area asked the Ku Klux Klan to distribute the flyers. Racial tensions have risen in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington over undocumented immigrant workers and local law enforcement of national immigration statutes.
The backdrop for all these incidents was a spirited rally Sept. 6 at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium. Nearly 2,000 students from predominantly Black Howard, Morgan State, and Bowie State Universities turned out to support the Jena Six, six high school students charged with beating a White student during a racially tense season which began with White students hanging three nooses at a tree where three Black students sat.
The Howard University rally was just five days after the Ku Klux Klan literature appeared in the area, and one day before the noose was found at the University of Maryland’s Nyumburu Cultural Center.
The Klan leafleting also drew public scorn in Manassas, Va.
“Today is not about immigration. It is about taking a stand against hate and intolerance,” said a Democratic candidate for a State Delegate’s seat told a rally according to a published report. “And it is about sending a message that the Klan is not welcome here.”
But Ricardo Juarez, a representative from Mexicanos sin Fronteras (Mexicans Without Borders), complained in a statement that Prince William County, Va.’s recently adopted resolution aimed at denying county services to undocumented immigrants helped “to create a hostile environment for people of color” and “opened the door to racist organizations that shared their goals.”

By Askia MuhammadSenior Correspondent

FINALCALL.COM

BOOT CAMP EMPLOYEES NOT GUILTY IN BLACK YOUTHS DEATH

PANAMA CITY, Florida (AP) -- Eight former boot camp workers were acquitted of manslaughter Friday in the death of a 14-year-old boy who was videotaped being punched and kicked. The scene sparked outrage and changes in the juvenile system, but it took ALL WHITE jurors just 90 minutes to decide it was not a crime.

Anger over the verdict was obvious outside the courtroom, where bystanders screamed "murderer" at former guard Henry Dickens as he described his relief at the verdict.
Martin Lee Anderson died a day after being hit and kicked by Dickens and six other guards as a nurse watched, a 30-minute confrontation that drew protests in the state capital and spelled the end of Florida's system of juvenile boot camps.

"I am truly, truly sorry this happened. Myself, I love kids," said Dickens, 60. He added that Anderson "wasn't beaten. Those techniques were taught to us and used for a purpose."
The defendants testified that they followed the rules at a get-tough facility where young offenders often feigned illness to avoid exercise. Their attorneys said that Anderson died not from rough treatment, but from a previously undiagnosed blood disorder.
The boy's mother, Gina Jones, stormed out of the courtroom. "I cannot see my son no more. Everybody see their family members. It's wrong," she screamed.
"You kill a dog, you go to jail," said her lawyer, Benjamin Crump. "You kill a little black boy and nothing happens." He spoke outside court, which is across the street from the now-closed Bay County boot camp.

Anderson's family repeatedly sat through the painful video as it played during testimony. They had long sought a trial, claiming local officials tried to cover up the case. The conservative Florida Panhandle county is surrounded by military bases and residents are known for their respect for law and order.

The guards, who are white, black and Asian, stood quietly as the judge read the verdicts. The all-white jury was escorted away from the courthouse and did not comment.
Special prosecutor Mark Ober said in a statement he was "extremely disappointed," but added, "In spite of these verdicts, Martin Lee Anderson did not die in vain. This case brought needed attention and reform to our juvenile justice system."
The defendants would have faced up to 30 years in prison had they been convicted of aggravated manslaughter of child. The jury also decided against convicting them of lesser charges, including child neglect and culpable negligence.

By mid-afternoon, about 150 people -- many from nearby Florida A&M University -- were protesting the acquittals outside the state Capitol. They chanted, "No justice. No peace!"
Several black legislators also expressed outrage. Anderson was black; the guards were black, white and Asian. The jury was all white.

"Ninety minutes of deliberation for a child's life, a child who we saw beaten to death on videotape over and over again?" asked Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. "Ninety minutes and not guilty. That's un-American. That is racist, discriminatory, bigotry."
Officials from the Department of Justice in Washington and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced they were reviewing the state's prosecution. Defense attorneys, however, said they considered a federal civil-rights case to be unlikely.

"With a 90-minute verdict after a three-week trial (in the state case), it would be the same result," said attorney Bob Sombathy, who represents ex-guard Patrick Garrett.
Aside from hitting Anderson, the guards dragged him around the military-style camp's exercise yard and forced him to inhale ammonia capsules in what they said was an attempt to revive him. The nurse stood by watching.

Defense attorneys argued that the guards properly handled what they thought was a juvenile offender faking illness to avoid exercising on his first day in the camp. He was brought there for violating probation for stealing his grandmother's car and trespassing at a school.
The defense said Anderson's death was unavoidable because he had undiagnosed sickle cell trait, a usually harmless blood disorder that can hinder blood cells' ability to carry oxygen during physical stress.

Prosecutors said the eight defendants neglected the boy by neglecting his medical needs after he collapsed while running laps. They said the defendants suffocated Anderson by covering his mouth and forcing him to inhale ammonia.

"You may not hear anything coming out of that video sound-wise, but that video is screaming to you in a loud, clear voice, it is telling you that these defendants killed Martin Lee Anderson," prosecutor Scott Harmon said in his closing argument.

Anderson died January 6, 2006, when he was taken off life support, a day after the altercation. The case quickly grew and shook up the state's boot camp and law enforcement system amid the boy's family alleging a cover-up.

An initial autopsy by Dr. Charles Siebert, the medical examiner for Bay County, found Anderson died of natural causes from sickle cell trait. A second autopsy was ordered and another doctor concluded that the guards suffocated Anderson through their repeated use of ammonia capsules and by covering his mouth.

"I am feeling a little vindicated. People got to see a lot more than what's been publicized in the media," said Siebert, who was widely criticized for his autopsy. He said he was going to celebrate with some of the guards.

Anderson's death led to the resignation of Florida Department of Law Enforcement chief Guy Tunnell, who established the camp when he was Bay County sheriff.

Then-Gov. Jeb Bush had been a strong supporter of the juvenile boot camps, but after Anderson's death he backed the Legislature's move to shut down the system and put more money into a less militaristic program.

Bush appointed Mark Ober, state attorney for Hillsborough County, as special prosecutor in the case. Bush also scolded Tunnell for exchanging e-mails with current Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, in which he criticized those who questioned the effectiveness of the boot camp concept. He also made light of the protesters in the state capital.

The Legislature agreed to pay Anderson's family $5 million earlier this year to settle civil claims.
CNN.COM