Category: Uncategorized

Man sues parole agent, Columbia police claiming excessive force used

A Columbia man claims in a federal excessive force lawsuit that a state parole agent shocked him with a Taser two years ago, then either the agent or a borough police officer kicked him in the head, while he was unconscious.
Matthew Allen Grab, 39, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in April.
Parole agent Scott Lapp, the borough, Chief Jack Brommer and a John Doe officer are named as defendants.
MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/man-sues-parole-agent-columbia-police-claiming-excessive-force-used/article_4bcfdfe4-bb14-11ea-bb82-1fc999bd4ebf.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share 

Columbia councilwoman's calls to make police use-of-force policy in borough public are hindered

Columbia Councilwoman Sharon Lintner has been trying to get a copy of the borough police department's use-of-force policy since June 4.

She still doesn't have it.

She said she tried to get her concerns about getting access to the policy addressed at a council executive session after a council meeting earlier this month, but it wasn't discussed.

MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-councilwomans-calls-to-make-police-use-of-force-policy-in-borough-public-are-hindered/article_9ff5b1f0-baf3-11ea-824c-eb4f6cc81c63.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share 

About Town 6/28/2020

This week’s photos of Columbia

Three fawns visited Laurel Hill Cemetery recently:

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The Punisher symbol

Rolling along at Chiques Rock Outfitters

Another weigh-in on the personnel issue

Aftermath of the second Stover’s break-in, which occurred June 21.
The police report is HERE.

“A Daughter of the American Revolution” medallion

The Columbia Life Network sign newly mounted at the new location at 18 South 4th Street

Filling a trench on South Market Street

Linda Stoltzfoos has been missing for a week. 
A Facebook page has been created for information on the case.

They’re back.

This light on the Veterans Memorial Bridge is part of a lighting study to study mayfly behavior.
Mayflies typically swarm the bridge at this time of year. The aim of the study is to find a lighting combination that will minimize the swarms.

As is this one.

A look downriver

Making waves

Madonna and child at Holy Trinity Church

Two crosses

A few utensils for those who like to be spoonfed their news

A few knockoffs hanging around at the pawn shop on Locust Street

Big man on the job at 9th & Walnut

Up on the rooftop

Curb appeal on the 100 block of Walnut

Check!

Out on Purples Lane (here and below)

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Bear decked out for the Fourth on Ironville Pike

Dragonfly on the wicker

On guard

On the road to ruin?

His constant companion

The gnome can’t stop laughing.

Why are Columbia's mayor and council resistant to transparency?

From Columbia News, Views & Reviews:

It’s not so hard to digest that Columbia’s mayor hates transparency; he’s been obdurate about policing transparency for years — think wrecked patrol cars and promises made and not kept.

What is hard to understand is that a majority of the borough council is transparency resistant. Seemingly, a majority of the newly elected (in November) councillors is. Not surprisingly, three of the entrenched from a previous council administration lean toward non-transparency. What is so hard to understand is the incoming councillors campaigned on a platform of transparency; yet now the majority appear to want to quell it.
MORE:

https://columbianewsandviews.com/2020/06/27/todays-news-items-6-28-2020/ 

Posters for missing woman appear in Columbia

POSTERS FOR MISSING WOMAN APPEAR IN COLUMBIA 
(Posters like the one shown above were posted along 3rd Street in Columbia recently.)
FROM LNP:
Crews are continuing a search for a missing Amish woman who police said never returned from a church service on Sunday. 
Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, of Upper Leacock Township, was last seen in Bird-in-Hand wearing a tan dress, white apron and a white cape, according to East Lampeter Township police.

Columbia Borough Council goes behind closed doors to discuss police use-of-force policy

Use-of-force policies as public records: 
Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel at Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, noted use-of-force policies are public records under the Right-to-Know Law, and the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has ordered agencies to provide public access to them when materials that truly risk safety are redacted.
Mayor not in attendance: 
At the end of the public meeting, Mayor Leo Lutz declined to attend the executive session. In an email exchange after the meeting, Lutz said he and police Chief Jack Brommer had no advance notice of the executive session, and that it would have been a waste of their time to join a discussion “without the necessary information to answer any questions that may arise.”
MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/regional/columbia-borough-council-goes-behind-closed-doors-to-discuss-police-use-of-force-policy/article_3f967e94-b813-11ea-a273-4bf44f7ee168.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share 

York City Police's use of force policy now available to the public (Columbia Borough's policy is still not available to the public)

The City of York has released to the public its police department’s use of force policy, which is currently being evaluated to ensure that it aligns with national recommendations, according to a news release.
The 22-page policy is available on the front page of the city’s website, www.yorkcity.org.
The policy details when police officers can use chemical agents, such as pepper spray; conductive electrical weapons, such as a Taser; physical strikes, and deadly force. It took effect in November 2014 and was revised in March 2018.
MORE:

https://www.ydr.com/story/news/2020/06/25/york-city-polices-use-force-policy-now-available-public-chokehold-pepper-spray/3258308001/ 

Over 50 gather at prayer vigil in front of borough hall to address racial inequality

 Reverend Dr. Patricia McAllister of Columbia’s Mt. Zion AME Church

A peaceful prayer vigil organized by “Power Lancaster County” took place at 4 p.m. today in front of Columbia’s police station and borough hall. Over 50 people attended, among them pastors, two school board members and a councilwoman. Some displayed signs remembering those who died at the hands of law enforcement. Pastors addressed the issues of social justice and racial inequality and led prayers.

At the direction of Reverend Dr. Patricia McAllister of Columbia’s Mt. Zion AME Church, the group paused for 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence, the amount of time that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin officer kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck on May 25, ultimately killing Floyd, a 46-year-old black man.


The following photos were submitted (name withheld by request):