The police killed an unarmed, prone woman. Lied. And now they're taking a damn POLL. We can help.

[pnwmom]

The cops in Redmond WA shot Andrea Thomas Churna, the 39 yr. old mother of a 7 year old, and killed her last September. The original police statements said she’d been pointing a gun at police when she was shot. But according to two recent reports in the local media, she was actually unarmed, and she was shot in her back while she was lying on the floor.

Other than the cops, no one knows exactly how she died because there were no witnesses, no body cams, and no report has been released. After 8 months.

So now, after an NPR article in April, and a TV news segment this week, the police suddenly posted a 1 question poll on their department webpage -- asking whether people support the police wearing body cams or not -- and they’ve announced that they’ll be bringing the result to a town meeting.

Here is a link to the poll:
https://www.letsconnectredmond.com/RPD?fbclid=IwAR3RD5D9kTyzH8Atd6Rb_lYq4auvnzvK0AnOG7OSIkdoEPzvBFzPQ06Osns

And guess what? After several days of “voting,” an overwhelming majority of the more than 11K respondents to this self-selected poll -- 88% -- say NO, they don’t support body cams.

This is a town of about 55K in a county that gave 75% of its Nov. vote to Biden. No way 11K of them participated in a poll on a police web page that’s had a tiny amount of publicity -- AND voted against body cams.

So can you please help, by going to the link, and saying you support body cams?
That’s it. They won’t ask if you’re a town resident, or any identifying info.
It’s just your typical garbage poll -- except they’ve announced they’ll be taking the results
to a town meeting.


Here’s the heartbreaking story this week from KOMO news, with interviews of the woman’s parents.

https://komonews.com/news/operation-crime-justice/family-still-seeking-answers-in-death-of-redmond-woman-last-year-by-police

Link to tweet

Here’s the infuriating story from NPR/KUOW in April, written by the first reporter who ever questioned the police departments lies.

https://www.kuow.org/stories/redmond-woman-was-on-the-ground-for-three-minutes-when-she-was-fatally-shot-by-police-records-show

Link to tweet

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Yikes! It's up to 88%!!! I voted - We definitely need to DU this poll

And KOMO News needs to hear from real people - last I knew it was the ABC affiliate in Seattle (I used to edit the newspaper TV listings for channels in the Pacific Northwest) - and this reminds me of election nights in the "old days" here when we'd "DU" news polls to beat out those from Free Republic.

[hlthe2b]

2. That news station needs to conduct its own statistically valid poll.

That online poll (and all others) are invalid and are the problem.

[pnwmom]

4. They won't. It's a rightwing station now and I'm shocked they're the first TV station here

to even cover the story.

Last fall the police released their lying statements with headlines like "Police fatally shoot armed Redmond woman" and none of the media here followed up on it -- until the NPR station wrote that long piece in April.

[SunSeeker]

3. I just voted and it showed the current totals as 12% YES, 88% NO. WTF

That's a garbage poll alright. I bet all the cops are pinging that poll repeatedly with NO votes.

[pnwmom]

5. I actually tried and I couldn't vote more than once. So that's not what's happening.

Maybe they're getting votes from Russia or something . . . .

[5X]

6. Close, police unions.

[pnwmom]

7. Yeah, that's certainly possible. The argument they've been making is that Redmond,

home of Microsoft, etc., one of the wealthier Seattle suburbs, can't afford what Seattle and a couple less well-off suburbs near the airport can.

That's a crock. It's not money that's driving this decision.

[Yonnie3]

18. I am able to vote more than once

Perhaps it is because I open the poll in a private window.

Edit to add: This shows it is just another internet poll with no validity.

[pnwmom]

30. Yes -- thank you! I tried switching browsers but couldn't figure out how to vote twice.

No wonder they were able to get numbers so high.

[happybird]

8. Voted, it's at 87% now

They definitely have it rigged.

[JT45242]

9. Still at 13

Seems like entrance and exit wounds should be easy to determine in an independent autopsy....


Let's all vote and beat MAGAts trolls

[pnwmom]

23. They haven't released an autopsy or the weekly reports state law says they're supposed to. nt

[johnthewoodworker]

10. Republican/Nazis don't need no stinking badges. They shoot and shut up.

[diverdownjt]

11. Does nobody else have a problem with the fact she was unarmed...

and prone...they didn't cuff her(why?)...control the scene right cop's?...f-ing basics here. When you have her down
and cuffed she wont reach for the door...if that's what happened...and besides 2 big cop's one little girl and you can't get that
shit right. Reaching for a door shouldn't get you shot...but cop's these day's it's all about them...and no one else.
If your that scared to be out there then don't...................

[diverdownjt]

12. And before any of you go off on me...

I have had a police firearm pointed at me at close range in the middle of the night.
Backed out of my driveway at 1 am like every day for 10 years...turn on my headlight's
and proceed to the end of the block where an Adam's county deputy flew around the corner
stopped his vehicle got and pointed his firearm at my face. Dark window tint rolled down
as I was doing that anyway when I saw him stop. I was going to ask if there was danger
and should I go back home when the gun was in my face and he was visibly shaking.
Good thing I had pooped before I left the house or it would have happened right there.
Some thing was happening I said hey wait I'm just going to work...to which he replied
Why were you driving with no light's on like the gang banger's do? I said I wasn't...and that
I had just pulled out of my driveway to go to work...he asked with gun pointing down at my
door instead of my head.....I don't turn on my light's right away because I don't want my
decent neighbor's waking up with me every night I go to work....than he waved his gun
dismissively and I went to work calling my wife to tell her to stay inside because she would
follow to work an hour later. I was one inch away from a very twitchy...scared... cop
who was to scared to do his job w/o intimidation and recklesnes.

[pnwmom]

22. What a scary, scary story! I'm so glad you stayed calm and didn't set that guy off.

Of course it shouldn't be up to you to control HIM, but it kept you alive through what could have been a nightmare.

[pnwmom]

21. Of course diverdownnjt! It's outrageous. Thank you for reading about what happened.

I also don't understand why the Seattle Times and the other TV stations aren't covering this.. . I've sent some emails.

[dhol82]

13. Well, now it's down to 86%

The interesting part is that after you vote, you can access the results. They then say you can change your vote if you want. Geeze! Wonder how many people look at the skewed results and think they should go with the majority?

[KS Toronado]

14. 14 yes vs 86 no right now, 7:00 am

Wonder if they have their counting computer set to flip every yes vote into a no vote , and every no into a yes?
Common sense tells us most people believe i body cams.

[JanMichael]

15. The same numbers at 8:16am EST. nt

[rgbecker]

16. The only information provided about the program is the cost.

This is so typical of how the "Conservatives" operate. Talk only about the cost, which to any ill informed person would seem high, and never have to do anything. Goes for school improvements, libraries...just about anything. No discussion about number of cops, number of arrests per year, number of community complaints about police overreach etc. This poll is not going to get any better. Everyplace I've lived has the same result if the all talk is about money and not the benefits.

[Baitball Blogger]

17. Sounds like a hit job. What did this poor woman have on the police?

[BeerBarrelPolka]

19. 75% Now

And I was able to vote twice. This is a BS poll.

[pnwmom]

20. Interesting! I tried but I couldn't, even on a different browser. nt

[BeerBarrelPolka]

29. Just

Just clear your browser cookies. I just voted for a third time. It's now at at 64%.

[pnwmom]

24. 66% THANK YOU, EVERYONE! It is making a difference! We have till Sunday!

The no's are down to 66% now, from the 88% of a few hours ago. I don't know where all those NO's are coming from, but it's not that little town, for damn sure.

[dalton99a]

25. Kick

[pnwmom]

26. Thank you!

[pnwmom]

27. Even if we don't succeed in turning their NO, into a YES, our numbers will help prove

that this poll was rigged.

Everyone will know that this many Redmond people could not have voted in this asinine poll.

[pnwmom]

28. 63%! And 15K votes we know didn't come from Redmond people

who probably don't even know about this thing on their town's police dept. page.

[Metatron]

31. I voted.

Thanks for posting this.

[Mosby]

32. It's at 63% now.

[pnwmom]

33. Yes! I'd just edited my post when I saw you got there first. I knew DU could help on this!

Thanks everyone!

[pnwmom]

34. There are only 33K registered voters in Redmond, and half that number now appear

to have voted in this crap poll. We're getting there.

https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/research/city-registration-demographics.aspx

[malaise]

35. I m so tired of police killing citizens

and not just in the USA

[pnwmom]

36. I know, malaise. And the militarization of the police. A friend was pointing out

that just ten years ago police didn't come in armed with assault rifles the way they do now. What has happened?

[Hekate]

58. Apparently a lot of them think they are an occupying army, not a CIVILIAN force. ...

I see too many news stories that indicate they think they can execute people in cold blood, or beat the crap out of them just because. It must take a real manly-man to shoot a prone woman in the back 6 times. It must also take a real manly-man to grab an 80 pound woman in her 70s out of a field where she was picking wildflowers to arrest her on a shoplifting charge and dislocate her shoulder and break her arm. And then fcking show the video and laugh about it.

Two things I think are a huge problem:
*. Police forces were given military weapons after 9-11 as part of “homeland” security
*. Apparently there are now a slew of non-departmental instruction courses teaching cops how to be “warriors” and otherwise view the entire civilian population from birth through death as a personal threat to themselves

Both of those need to go away, be expunged, be outlawed, gotten the hell out of our CIVILIAN police and sheriffs’ departments.

[pnwmom]

61. Thanks for the reminder, Hekate. I'd forgotten that 911 was when we had that major transition

to a militarized police force.

[Hekate]

64. I don't think anyone even needed to spend much money on it; iirc it was Military Surplus....

Our Sheriff got himself a fancy helicopter, which at least makes a little sense because it’s a geographically large county. Other places have gotten tanks, for gods’ sake.

It made me angry then, on the basis of “what could possibly go wrong with this plan?!” And it makes me furious now.

I didn’t even know about the extracurricular motivational classes until recently, so I don’t know how long they’ve been going on and becoming real popular. But everything I’ve heard about the values and attitudes they inculcate tells me they are totally contrary to the work I used to do with my county’s Affirmative Action Commission (I was on it for 13 years, half that time as chair, and only left when Californians decided we didn’t need AA any more). If I’d heard about any such thing in those long-ago days, I and my fellow commissioners would have gone very publicly ballistic.

[pnwmom]

37. Kick!

[ananda]

38. Geez, it's 60% against.

Arrgghh

[Yonnie3]

39. In just a few hours it moved from 88% against.

making progress

[pnwmom]

40. That's actually progress. It was 88% a few hours ago. This is obviously a scam

but they must have been looking forward to bringing their poll showing overwhelming opposition in the town.

And if they find more people to vote NO, it's just going to make the poll numbers look that much more ridiculous, since there are only 33K people registered for REAL votes in this town. So whatever we accomplish, we'll have shown what a bogus poll this is.

[pnwmom]

41. YOU GUYS ARE GREAT! The no's are down to 58% now, with 18K votes.

11K had voted several hours ago, with 88% saying no.

And they won't help their cause much if they start voting in higher numbers, because they only have 33K registered voters in the city. The scam nature of this poll will be obvious for anyone to see.

[Nictuku]

42. Try voting with a different browser (I have 3) and then on different computers.

[Yonnie3]

43. That poll was at 94% approval a couple of days ago.

My suspicions have been proven true. That it is a manipulated poll.

Redmond police see widespread community support for body cameras


Author: Angeli Kakade
Published: 8:54 AM PDT May 20, 2021
Updated: 8:54 AM PDT May 20, 2021


REDMOND, Wash. — The city of Redmond could be one step closer to investing in both body-worn and in-car cameras for city police thanks to a community poll put out by the Redmond Police Department.

According to Police Chief Darrell Lowe, the poll is one of the most successful community polls the city has had with more than 1,400 people having taken it so far. A total of 94% of respondents voted yes to the city spending money to get cameras onto police.

The poll runs through May 23.

Lowe hopes to include these favorable results when he takes his budget pitch to the city council next month. Lowe will give his pitch during the Public Safety Committee of the Whole meeting on June 15.

... snip ...

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/redmond-police-body-camera-funding/281-d517528c-c68b-4b78-8469-3ea32d4b61e5

[pnwmom]

44. Yes -- and it says it was one of the most successful polls ever, with 1400 participating.

How are they going to explain 18,000 votes or 20,000 votes or 25,000 votes on this poll, more than 10 times polls in the past???

[Yonnie3]

45. The article seems to paint Chief Lowe as supporting the cameras

just an observation

[pnwmom]

51. Maybe he did. Or maybe that was an act he was putting on for the cameras.

He's put on a couple other acts -- saying that the woman was shot after she pointed her gun at the officer. And even now he says he has no reason to expect criminal charges.

[Yonnie3]

55. politics with a little p is likely in this instance

He needs to project agreement with those he "serves." The wording of the poll focusing solely on costs projects a different view.

[pnwmom]

56. I agree. The wording of the poll shows this wasn't an honest attempt to survey the public.

On top of the fact that it was a fake survey without a randomized sample.

[cayugafalls]

46. If they collect IP's from the votes they will see people voting from out of district.

Thus invalidating the poll, as it should be, since there is no requirement to prove residency.

This should have been a local referendum rather than some bs internet poll.

[pnwmom]

60. Right. But if they'd gotten the results they wanted, when there were 11K participants

and 88% were against body cams, I bet they wouldn't have publicized IP's.

Yes, this should have been a local referendum, or at the very least a randomized, scientific poll done by a reputable pollster.

[Hekate]

47. Done. Yes 43%. No 57%. Total votes 19547 ...

I am out of words for what I think of cops and departments like that, though in brief , “godless, soulless, murderers” comes to mind.

[Sur Zobra]

48. Just voted

# of votes: 21,934
%: 43 yes, 57 no

Almost 22,000 voting in a poll in a town of 33,000

[Solly Mack]

49. K&R

[Prairie_Seagull]

50. Done

Now 45% N, 55% Y.

[vercetti2021]

52. Done and done

It's getting higher in the yes. Let's keep at it.

[pnwmom]

54. THANK YOU! I'm so glad I thought of DU to help with this. n/t

[pnwmom]

53. DU- you're doing GREAT. The NO's have plummeted from 88 to 55 --- and the 27K votes,

compared to 33K registered voters, help prove what a crap poll this is.

Thank you -- and please keep it up. Maybe we can get to a majority before this is over tomorrow.

[scipan]

57. Just voted. 46 yes, 54 no.

[pnwmom]

59. They're down to 53% NO votes now, with over 32K participants, in a town with 33K registered voters.

Thank you, DU, for helping to make a laughingstock out of this poll.

They're clearly fighting back, but all that's doing is driving the participant numbers up -- which show what a scam this is.

In an earlier report, they were crowing about having 1400 participants, which they called one of the most successful polls they'd ever had. Well, with some DU love, this must the the most "successful" poll of all time!

Thank you everybody for your help. Please keep up the good work!

[IcyPeas]

62. we don't need no stinkin' polls

They should have damn body cameras. that's all.

I voted.

[pnwmom]

63. Thank you, IcyPeas. You helped to get it down to 52% opposed now! nt

[Hekate]

65. 35,949 votes: not bad for a town that size ;) Yes vs No almost even just now

The number of votes is going up quite fast at this point. If they want an actual poll they should do it professionally, but you already knew that.

[Yonnie3]

66. I'm getting "CLOSED: This quick poll has concluded. "

I can no longer see the totals.

At 49% for and 51% against and 36 or so thousand votes the last I looked.

[pnwmom]

67. Damn. I wish I'd taken a screen shot. n/t

[Yonnie3]

68. did you check?

I've been there a lot today and I might have been singled out.

[pnwmom]

70. No, I looked from more than one site, too. A couple local sites had links to it,

and it's the same everywhere. But the ones I see don't mention that it was a quick poll that had concluded. They just have the paragraph about body cams and no poll below it.

[Yonnie3]

71. The closed message is gone now for me.

and it is now like you describe.

It isn't quite the 23rd. yet I wonder what they will take to the council.

Thanks for pointing out this poll for me.

[pnwmom]

72. Thank you for helping!

I wonder about the timing of this, too. Sooner or later they're going to have to release some kind of report about Andrea Churna's death. Were they hoping to get this data point about public opposition to body cameras before that happens?

Because once an autopsy is released, if it shows all the bullets went into her back (as appears from the police report, which says she was lying on her stomach), they're screwed. It won't matter what kind of story they make up.

[pnwmom]

69. GREAT JOB, DU! You made them shut down their garbage poll, which was set to go on thru Sunday.

Instead, they shut it down by the time it got to 49% approval for body cams, and with more than 35K thousand votes.

They wanted to use this to help them avoid body cams, and they weren't expecting this kind of opposition.

I just wish I'd gotten a screen shot . . .