"News4's Pat Collins has reaction from the community after police in Alexandria announced they'd arrested people in connection to two separate murders in popular parks. Investigators say the cases appear to be connected to gang violence."
A federal appeals court last week endorsed the arrest of a motorist who waited too long before using his turn signal. A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals examined the case that began when Officer Brandon Brooks stopped Tracy Williams as he drove home from work on State Road 37 through Noblesville, Indiana on October 5, 2011.
Williams pulled his Chrysler 300 into the left turn lane, but Officer Brooks claims the man failed to use his turn signal until he ... (more)
Once again, a New York City police officer was exposed as a liar by surveillance video.
This time, it was an undercover NYPD named Winston McDonald, a 2012 "Cop of the Month" recipient, who claimed four men tried to mug him at knifepoint outside a Brooklyn hardware store last month.
The suspects, however, claim the cop approached them i... (more)
Anyone with an oven and a recipe should be able to have a baking business -- but that is not the case in Wisconsin, where selling baked goods made in your home kitchen is punishable by up to $1,000 in fines or six months in jail.
Wisconsin is one of only two states (the other being New Jersey) to ban the sale of home-baked goods.
An Arizona lawmaker has introduced a bill, that if passed, would criminalize filming the police in certain circumstances.
Rationalizing that recording cops can put officers in danger by distracting them in tense situations, Republican State Senator John Kavanagh says Senate Bill 1054 would make it illegal for someone to film police within 20 feet of an officer without permission.
... (more)
Queens, NY – Three NYPD cops were recently busted extorting $1,000 per week from the owner of a pizza shop in Queens. Besnik Llakatura, Denis Nikolla and Redinel Dervishaj, all New York police officers, were involved a scheme where "protection" money was coerced out of business owners under the threat of having their businesses shut down. Last month, Llakatura pleaded guilty to the charges against him. Denis Nikolla and Redinel Dervishaj are scheduled to appear in court in March, and it ha... (more)
An as yet unnamed man killed by police in Rawlins, Wyoming, on December 30, after they were called to a convenience store about a person believed to be selling drugs in the parking lot, and Burlington, Vermont, resident Kenneth Stephens, 56, shot and killed by a state trooper and a DEA agent on December 22 when he met them with a rifle as they raided his apartment, were ... (more)
Baltimore, MD — Baltimore City police sergeant Francisco Hopkins sent Maryland State Troopers on a high-speed chase early in the morning hours of New Years day. Hopkins was reportedly off duty at the time and was pulled over around 3 a.m for not having a front tag on his vehicle.
Allegedly frustrated by the fact that he was pulled over, Hopkins became belligerent with the officer who stopped him, and demanded special treatment. When it seemed like the trooper may treat him l... (more)
So much for the Fourth Amendment. Even though a field test for marijuana returned false results twice and a SWAT team raid of Robert and Addie Harte's house turned up no drugs or paraphernalia, the cops involved have been let off the hook by a federal judge. Radley Balko runs down the details of the decision in his post entitled "Federal judge: Drinking tea, shopping at a gardening store is probable cause for a SWAT raid on your home."
Athens, GA -- On the off chance further evidence was needed that Orwell's dystopian portent has become reality, the stunning case of Officer Jay Park proves it, hands down.
In September, a University of Georgia student, concerned his underage friend had imbibed far too much alcohol and might need medical attention, contacted campus police for help. When Park arrived at the scene, his... (more)
York County, PA — A California police officer was recently busted after driving 247 pounds of marijuana all the way across the country. Yuba County Deputy Christopher M. Heath was caught in York, Pennsylvania with a shipment of marijuana that was worth over $2 million. Heath was reportedly on vacation from his job at the Yuba County Police Department at the time of his arrest.
The York County Police Department has been cautiously silent about the investigation, and they have... (more)
Princeton, OR — On Saturday, multiple armed 'militiamen' took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge HQ to protest the sentence handed down to two Oregon ranchers accused of arson.
The ranchers accused of arson are Dwight Lincoln Hammond, Jr., 73, and his son, Steven Dwight Hammond, 46, both residents of Diamond, Oregon. They were each sentenced to five years in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken for alleged arsons they committed on federal lands.
<... (more)
Riverside County, CA — Simply put, the War on Drugs is a war on people. One of the more despicable ways in which it manifests is the manipulation of vulnerable school kids by undercover cops. These "drug stings," better known as entrapment, typically prey on special needs students who have a hard time making friends.
The case of Jesse Snodgrass, a student at Chaparral High School with autism, bipolar disorder and social problems, recently gained attention again when a Rivers... (more)
2015 saw several high-profile killings of officers around the county, leading police supporters and pundits the nation over to rail against a perceived “war on cops.” But what was the truth of the matter?
According to data collected by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which tracks police deaths, there is no upward trend in the killing of officers. In fact, the data shows t... (more)
Bal Harbour, FL -- The village of Bal Harbour, population 2,513, may have a tiny footprint on the northern tip of Miami Beach, but its police department had grand aspirations of going after international drug traffickers, and making a few million dollars while they were at it.
The Bal Harbour PD and the Glades County Sheriff's Office set up a giant money laundering scheme with the purported goal of busting drug cartels and stemming the surge of drug dealing going on in the are... (more)
Weber County, UT — Enedina Stanger is a wife, a mother of two, and now, thanks to the state of Utah, a convict. She also suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlo Syndrome (EDS).
Stanger, who relies on a wheelchair to move around, has been battling EDS for most of her life. Stanger's EDS causes her excruciating pain because of the disorder's tendency to cause joint dislocation.
Police brutality and misconduct lawsuits are a point of growing contention for many involved in the political arena.
Obviously, victims of police abuse deserve to be compensated for their damages. The problem is that it isn’t the police departments or the at-fault officers themselves that are monetarily held accountable in a misconduct lawsuit. It is the hard working taxpayers of a certain geographical area.
In a recent open-source effort launched by MuckRock.... (more)
Police unions are working tirelessly towards destroying any remaining shreds of respectability. Presumably, they once served a purpose roughly aligned with the public good. Now, they serve the singular purpose of ensuring our nation's law enforcement agencies will always be forced to keep the abusive, incompetent officers on their payroll.
No entity has spoken out more frequently about the supposed damage body-worn cameras will do. Meanwhile, many officers appear to have made ... (more)
Henderson, NV — On January 30, 2015, a health food store in Henderson called the police after a disgruntled customer, attempting to return some protein powder, allegedly threatened to rob them. The store described the suspect to police as a black male wearing a black and tan t-shirt who left in an SUV.
Three years ago a couple was stopped by an armed gang and robbed of over $100,000. The facts are not in dispute. The perpetrators are known. And yet the criminals have not been punished, and the property has not been recovered. Why? Because the perpetrators wear badges.
Since late 2012, when Adam and Jennifer Perry were robbed by the Illinois State Police, they have been trying to retrieve their stolen property. It has been a challenge, however, because when "law enforcers" rob yo... (more)
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”—George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Vol. 1
In Harold Ramis’ classic 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, TV weatherman Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) is forced to live the same day over and over again until he not only gains some insight into his life but changes his priorities. Similarly, as I illustrate in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we in the emerging Amer... (more)
Text messages have emerged from the North Port Police Department in Florida showing a disturbing and morbid conversation between K-9 unit officers before one of the cops allowed his animal to maul an unarmed and reportedly troubled teen.
The messages, which were sent via the officers’ police cruiser mobile digital terminals, were obtained by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune as part of an 18-month investigation into the unit.
