The "shoot first, ask for immunity later" mentality of today's law enforcement officers is perfectly highlighted in this story about a US military veteran finding himself on the receiving end of a military-style raid… all because a "helpful" neighbor reported him for being in the "wrong" apartment. (via Amy Alkon)
Alex Horton, an Iraq war veteran, was having some work done on... (more)
Cincinnati, OH — Wednesday afternoon, University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing was indicted for the murder of Samuel Dubose.
The incident occurred after Tensing pulled over Dubose for a missing license plate. According to the police account, Dubose refused to provide officer Tensing with his driver's license, producing a bottle of alcohol instead and refusing to exit the vehicle.
Tensing originally gave two different accounts of why he shot Dub... (more)
South Holland, IL — A south suburban cop is being “investigated” after a video was uploaded to Facebook showing him seething with his authoritarian power.
The officer, whose name was not released, was caught on camera during a traffic stop in which police were looking for allegedly suspect.
NBC Chicago reports:
Harvey resident Rodney Wilson, 19, was dropping some friends off in South Holland when he was pulled over by pol
"The Fourth Amendment was designed to stand between us and arbitrary governmental authority. For all practical purposes, that shield has been shattered, leaving our liberty and personal integrity subject to the whim of every cop on the beat, trooper on the highway and jail official. The framers would be appalled."--Herman Schwartz, The Nation
A Dallas County cop was arrested Tuesday on allegations he shoplifted several times from a grocery store while in full uniform.
Darrell Moore, who makes more than $58,000-a-year, would walk into the Tom Thumb grocery store in Garland, make some purchases and help himself to items on display on his way out.
The store’s surveillance system has video of him shoplifting ... (more)
Those are the helpful words Albuquerque, New Mexico 911 dispatcher Matthew Sanchez spoke before hanging up on a panicked young girl who called 911 to get help for her dying friend who was shot in a drive-b... (more)
In response to a popular online petition calling for pardoning Edward Snowden, the White House says the former NSA analyst should return home to “be judged by a jury of his peers." The 2013 petition calling for a pardon drew 167,000 responses.
"Instead of constructively addressing these issues, Mr. Snowden’s dangerous decision to steal and disclose classified information had severe consequences for the security of our country and the people who work day in and day out ... (more)
Aberdeen, SD — Earlier this month, Sarah Lee Circle Bear, a Lakota woman, was jailed on an alleged bond violation over a suspected DUI charge. Circle Bear was booked into jail on July 6th, and would not leave alive.
According to authorities, Circle Bear was found unconscious and not breathing in her Brown County holding cell on Sunday, July 12.
According to KELO,
Brown County Coroner Mike Carlsen says the results of an autopsy conducted
Sarasota, FL — One of Sarasota’s finest has been suspended after video footage emerged showing him taunting a homeless man like an animal at the zoo.
Officer Andrew Halpin is seen on CCTV from inside the Sarasota County Jail throwing peanuts at Randy Miller, a homeless man arrested for trespassing. Halpin is seen taunting Miller, who’s obviously in a diminished mental state, like a child would taunt an animal at the zoo.
Miami-Dade police entered the backyard of Vivian Lopez last week and killed her 8-year-old daughter’s beloved American Bulldog, Tyson, and the police are refusing to provide her with any answers as to why.
When Lopez inquired as to why the South Florida cops were even on her property, she told the local news outlet WSVN that she received conflicting stories, but she did say one officer told her they were searching for suspected car thieves in the area. ... (more)
The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office Narcotics Task Force, Houma Police Department, State Police Narcotics Division and the DEA working in cahoots for eleven months succeeded in busting a couple of teenagers for a few grams of marijuana, or as they call it, "high-grade marijuana," and a couple pills of ecstasy.
Houma Today reports:
Medford, MA — A Massachusetts man had a dangerous run-in with one of Medford’s finest Saturday night, which has led to that officer being placed on administrative leave.
According to the YouTube description, the man was simply lost in a different part of town and made a mistake in traffic. He was subsequently detained and threatened by Medford Police Detective Stephen Lebert.
"Driving home today I got lost and made a wrong turn. In an unfamiliar
HAMMOND, IN — Police showed up in force to shut down a concert fundraiser one minute after the holographic likeness of an “unacceptable role model” was projected on stage: rapper “Chief Keef.”
The show, dubbed “Craze Fest,” attracted approximately 2,000 fans to the Wolf Lake Pavilion in Hammond on the evening of Saturday, July 25th, 2015. The rap show had a “Stop the Violence” theme, and was raising money for Dillan Harri... (more)
DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report on the DEA's use of confidential informants has been published. (We're still an unknown amount of time away for his report on the agency's use of administrative subpoenas.) And it's still incomplete. Horowitz has been fighting the FBI and DEA every step of the way, as both agencies have proven not only unwilling to turn over needed docu... (more)
Last year RT reported that overcrowded prisons were forcing the White House to think about victimless crime. The outlay for federal prisons had swelled quickly to $6.9 billion in a "growing crisis," according to the Inspector General.
Then, in July of this year, President Obama took the shocking action of granting freedom to dozens of nonviolent drug offender... (more)
A Florida man was confronted by a county environmental specialist this week and absurdly ordered to keep the smell of his BBQ from leaving his property.
Video of the incident, originally posted to Facebook Wednesday by homeowner Scotty Jordan, shows Pinellas County Environmental Specialist Joe Graham discussing the alleged infraction with Jordan and friends after a nearby neighbor a... (more)
A man was recording a police investigation from his own back yard when he was approached by an officer of the Chicago Police Department. One of the officers notices the man filming and claims that the video may contain evidence. It is important to note that as defined by the Fourth Ame... (more)
San Bernardino, California police are posing as homeless panhandlers to get a close look into peoples' cars so they can ticket them for using their cell phone or driving without their seat belt.
Standing on highway off-ramps while holding cardboard signs which say in small lettering that they're "not homeless," but instead "SB police looking for seat belt/cell phone violations," police in four hours ... (more)
A Pocatello Police officer has been charged with assault. Detective Steven Westfall is on paid administrative leave and is charged with one misdemeanor count of “unnecessary assault by an officer.”
The incident started after someone called police claiming that James Rutherford was trespassing on IRS property and was possibly armed with a knife. As police were walking Rutherford back to the patrol car, a shouting match breaks out between Rutherford and the police. Aft... (more)
The use of unmarked police cars in many states puts motorists in a bind. When they see flashing lights in the rear view mirror, they can either pull over immediately in a dark, sketchy location and take their chances that the lights are not those of an impersonator, or they can drive for a few moments to stop in a safe, public location and risk being treated to a hostile stop and search of their vehicle by legitimate police. A precedent ... (more)
King County, WA — City bus driver, Kelvin Kirkpatrick purchased a set of glasses that take HD video as a means of feeling safe in the event the Metro Security cameras on his bus failed. However, these camera glasses would prove to be incredibly valuable in an entire other sense.
Kirkpatrick was becoming frustrated with the lack of security provided by two King County sheriff's deputies assigned to the protection of buses on the Metro Transit squad. ... (more)
New York, NY — Video has surfaced of a New York City police lieutenant assaulting an 11-year-old girl on a Bronx street corner. The incident happened six months after Eric Garner's death but is now being brought to light after a battle with the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York.
In the video, the large male cop forced the girl against the wall, then grabs her around the neck and throws her to the pavement, where he back cuffs her before leading her away.
... (more)
The "Ferguson effect," you might remember, is a phenomenon law-and-order types have been throwing around in an effort to blame police brutality on protesters and public officials who actually try to hold bad cops accountable for an alleged increase in violence, both general violence and violence against police officers.
The problem is that there's no real evidence to sugge... (more)
Jail guards smuggling dope, cops helping drug dealers, cops ripping off drug dealers. Familiar stories, repeated over and over. Here's this week's bunch. Let's get to it:
Habersham County, GA — In May of last year, Bounkham "Baby Bou Bou" Phonesavanh, 19-months-old, was asleep in his crib. At 3:00 am militarized police barged into his family's home because the sheriff’s department claimed that an informant had purchased $50 worth of meth from someone who once lived there. During the raid, a flash-bang grenade was thrown into the sleeping baby's c... (more)
An Oklahoma state audit reveals a prosecutor used seized asset forfeiture funds to pay off his student loans and another took someone's seized home to live in rent-free for years.
