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Steven Headrick and his wife had spent two weeks cleaning up trash at Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff, Arizona, when park police approached them and asked them to leave. National parks have a 14-day limit to visitor stays, but this regulation does not apply to official volunteers. Headrick explained to the park ranger that he was still awaiting his volunteer paperwork to be finalized, but that his nonprofit had already communicated that volunteers would be present in the park. The officer said he would call the nonprofit to confirm and left. As the co-founder of the nonprofit, Headrick expected to receive a call from the rangers, but never got one. The same officer returned and attempted to forcibly remove Headrick and his wife. He told Headrick he was under arrest for “noncompliance” and ordered him to the ground. When Headrick refused, the park ranger tased and then tackled him. Headrick reports that his wife’s arms were also severely bruised by the officer. Headrick joins Police Accountability Report to talk about his ordeal, which fits into a common pattern of law enforcement resorting to violence for frivolous “compliance”-related matters.

Studio: Stephen Janis
Post-Production: Stephen Janis, Adam Coley


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Host & Producer
Taya Graham is an award-winning investigative reporter who has covered U.S. politics, local government, and the criminal justice system. She is the host of TRNN's "Police Accountability Report," and producer and co-creator of the award-winning podcast "Truth and Reconciliation" on Baltimore's NPR affiliate WYPR. She has written extensively for a variety of publications including the Afro American Newspaper, the oldest black-owned publication in the country, and was a frequent contributor to Morgan State Radio at a historic HBCU. She has also produced two documentaries, including the feature-length film "The Friendliest Town." Although her reporting focuses on the criminal justice system and government accountability, she has provided on the ground coverage of presidential primaries and elections as well as local and state campaigns. Follow her on Twitter.

Host & Producer
Stephen Janis is an award winning investigative reporter turned documentary filmmaker. His first feature film, The Friendliest Town was distributed by Gravitas Ventures and won an award of distinction from The Impact Doc Film Festival, and a humanitarian award from The Indie Film Fest. He is the co-host and creator of The Police Accountability Report on The Real News Network, which has received more than 10,000,000 views on YouTube. His work as a reporter has been featured on a variety of national shows including the Netflix reboot of Unsolved Mysteries, Dead of Night on Investigation Discovery Channel, Relentless on NBC, and Sins of the City on TV One.

He has co-authored several books on policing, corruption, and the root causes of violence including Why Do We Kill: The Pathology of Murder in Baltimore and You Can’t Stop Murder: Truths about Policing in Baltimore and Beyond. He is also the co-host of the true crime podcast Land of the Unsolved. Prior to joining The Real News, Janis won three Capital Emmys for investigative series working as an investigative producer for WBFF. Follow him on Twitter.