The Houston KMart mass arrest saga continues. The arrest of 278 people, many seemingly innocent, for trespass in a KMart parking lot was hotly discussed
here as
was the Chief's suspension of the Captain in charge of the raid. The Chief later suspended an additional twelve officers. Apparently, the captain and the chief have a running feud from well before this raid, which has now led to the chief being indicted for perjury and stepping down until his trial is over.
posted by caddis
on Sep 6, 2002 -
10 comments
From The Slow Wheels of Justice [Department] we read that "there have been persistent complaints of excessive force by officers of Prince George's County Police Department, Maryland over many years. Cases of concern include police shootings; deaths in custody from dangerous restraint holds or other force and unresisting suspects mauled by police dogs....In November 2000 the US Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into the police department to determine whether it engaged in a "pattern and practice" of brutality and racial discrimination....However, after 20 months of investigation, the Justice Department has not yet issued any public findings or recommendations to the police department."
posted by fold_and_mutilate
on Aug 30, 2002 -
7 comments
In a zone of their own. Despite restrictions and police enforcement, protesters tried to make their voices heard. When did these "Free Speech Zones" start. Maybe they have always been around but I don't recall hearing that you had to be cordoned off to express peaceful dissent.
posted by bas67
on Aug 24, 2002 -
18 comments
The Insider's Guide to Real Policing. It's a job that connects all your favorite pastimes—sitting around, eating, bullying people, writing incomplete sentences. After years of research and development, our investigators have found that policing is the easiest job in the District. from Washington DC's
City Paper.
posted by Ty Webb
on Aug 21, 2002 -
8 comments
Kids got sunburnt A deputy doing round at a county fair in Ohio noticed three children walking with their mother. Their faces sunburnt like they were "dipped in red paint". Their mother is charged with felony negligence and is facing a 15 year sentence if convicted.
I remember getting a sunburn back in grade school, what's the statute of limitations on charging my 1st grade teacher?
posted by omidius
on Aug 21, 2002 -
55 comments
Cops Abuse New Anti-Terror Law. The raid was perhaps the state's first known instance of law enforcement officers using new anti-terrorism police powers in a case unrelated to terrorism... Ahh, yes. The War On Drugs meets The War Against Terror.
posted by fnord_prefect
on Aug 5, 2002 -
13 comments
It is not a crime to look at bomb-making websites... or so says Lieutenant Jason Ciaschini, police spokesman in Punta Gorda, where a Briton who was using a computer to look at bomb-making websites is now being held at Charlotte County Jail on immigration violations.
Florida police had evacuated the library and arrested him after he looked at bomb-making websites, and found suspicious liquids in his backpack.
"
Looking up stuff on the Internet - everybody has freedom to do that," he also said.
posted by Blake
on Jul 30, 2002 -
6 comments
"
It is not an overstatement to describe the arrests in Tulia as an atrocity. The entire operation was the work of a single police officer who claimed to have conducted an 18-month undercover operation. The arrests were made solely on the word of this officer, Tom Coleman, a white man with a wretched work history, who routinely referred to black people as "niggers" and who frequently found himself in trouble with the law."
posted by artifex
on Jul 29, 2002 -
29 comments
WHAT IS THE CBDTPA? The law would force all new personal computers and digital home entertainment devices sold in the United States to have government-approved "policeware" built-in.
This policeware would restrict your use of copyrighted material on these devices -- including music files and CD's, video clips, DVD's, e-books, and more.
posted by Niahmas
on Jul 18, 2002 -
6 comments
Thank God for Police hypocrisy for keeping me so amused. Seriously though, this is one of the best articles I've read in a long time. It's a five part series regarding the controversy of redlight cameras, and the evidence that those that administer them are in it for the $$$. For one, they seem to be placed on high-traffic / short yellow light intersections instead of the high-accident intersections. Oh, and it's made D.C. alone over $15 million in two years. Read it to find out how the researchers stretched numbers to get " tiny 3 percent increase in rear-enders" from a 767% increase.
posted by LuxFX
on Apr 9, 2002 -
35 comments
The male, heterosexual victims of spousal abuse. "Blood streamed down my face. Internal injuries dislocated my ribs. Lacerations and multiple abrasions marked my back and groin. My attacker had no injuries. I told the officer that I wanted the crime report to note my injuries and the names of witnesses. He responded, 'We ain't takin' a report from you, buddy.'" The officer refused to take Stanley seriously because he was a man who had been beaten by his wife.
posted by moz
on Mar 28, 2002 -
82 comments
Police offers will soon have to disclose why they have stopped someone - I thought this sounded like a reasonably good idea... especially since on more than one occasion I've been pulled over just so they can "check my car over"... until I read this:
"Forces will be told to set up panels of community representatives to scrutinise stop and search records and check that ethnic minorities are not being targeted disproportionately.". Can anyone else see where this is going? "Oh, I'm afraid we can't arrest Mr. X, because we've arrested too many [insert random racial group here] this month".
posted by robzster1977
on Mar 11, 2002 -
17 comments
Discarding evidence because of a possible
Miranda violation. Sure, Miranda serves a (good) purpose but are the scales of justice tipped a little too much in favor of the accused when the entire chain of evidence can
be discarded because of a confession of a
possibly dubious nature?
posted by owillis
on Feb 16, 2002 -
16 comments
Oh, I got it now. One "
rowdy" group in the streets lights bonfires, climbs lightpoles, blocks traffic, dances on cars and a police van as "bemused" riot cops looked on. Another group "
allegedly committed vandalism" and were consquently arrested in droves. See, if you generally run wild in favor of the status quo, the cops are your friends. If you march in opposition to the status quo you get arrested.
posted by raaka
on Feb 6, 2002 -
18 comments
NDb -(60% x Nc/Nt +40% x Dc/Dt) x 17,585 "Mathematicians called in by the Metropolitan Police think they have worked out the best way to beat crime in the capital."
Are there any UK mathematician/cops out there that know what the variables actually are?
posted by badstone
on Jan 17, 2002 -
8 comments
Could you join The Specials? No, not
those Specials,
these Specials. If you live in and around London and have 96 hours to spare annually, this might be just the volunteer track for you. However, participation in the Special Constabulary of the Metropolitan Police Force is steadily shrinking despite enthusiastic
members and recent attempts at
compensation.
So is this kind of community stewardship no longer valid? And with the current re-appreciation of U.S. policemen, could a similar program work here in the states? I mean, the
Flash animation almost swayed me...
posted by grabbingsand
on Dec 4, 2001 -
5 comments
weekend drug use ok? Interesting article... I hesistate to sign my neam this time though - i wouldn't want to put anyones nose out of joint.
posted by Spoon
on Nov 20, 2001 -
14 comments
"A Spear Avenue resident reported a male-type human in his backyard performing the specialty of the breed - stumbling around and cursing. The interloper without portfolio wandered off in a
random direction." This quote and more can be found in the Arcata Eye police blotter. (From
Cruel.com; also mentioned in a
comment in an older thread.)
posted by moz
on Nov 14, 2001 -
19 comments
BROWN v. MUHLENBERG TOWNSHIP A municipal law enforcement officer violates the Fourth Amendment when he intentionally and repeatedly shoots a pet without any provocation and with knowledge that it belonged to a family readily available to take
custody.
posted by espada
on Oct 15, 2001 -
8 comments
Cop uses helicopter for doughnut run, gets investigated. Any real life incident involving cops & doughnuts is farcical. But should this guy be disciplined? Cops use their cruisers for this purpose all the time. Maybe he shouldn't have had the pilot land in a open field, though. Also debatable: why am I reading about cops & doughnuts at 11pm on a Fri. night?
posted by espada
on Oct 5, 2001 -
23 comments
Oysterhead is Primus bassist Les Claypool, Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, and Police drummer Stewart Copeland. Having listened to sample cuts from their forthcoming debut album, all I can say is:
omigod! What would be your musical dream team?
posted by scottandrew
on Sep 28, 2001 -
55 comments
10 police officers found. I hope this isn't another mistake, but "A report just in says ten police officers missing since the collapse of the World Trade Centre buildings have been found alive under the rubble." Post details as you find them.
posted by krisjohn
on Sep 13, 2001 -
9 comments
NYC police scanner (RealAudio) reveals that officers are closing off a five-block area due to a bomb threat on the 44th floor of the Empire State Building. No officers are to report to that location.
posted by droob
on Sep 12, 2001 -
21 comments
America's Finest! I don't know what my favorite part of this article is, the quote "their hearts were in the right place" (as well as other body parts) or the law that says police officers can have sex if they are in a dangerous or "life-threatening situation."
posted by sassone
on Sep 8, 2001 -
6 comments
Another benefit of globalization: Third World-style political oppression right here at home. From the Ottawa Citizen (of all places): "Officers from various police forces and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have infiltrated, spied on or closely monitored organizations that are simply exercising their legal right to assembly and free speech. Targets of such intelligence operations in recent years... [include] a senior citizens' satire group that sings about social injustice... Individuals have been arrested for handing out literature condemning police tactics... "
posted by tranquileye
on Aug 20, 2001 -
5 comments
It's not up to the standards of the beating that Rodney King took, but it seems less called for than the punch
John Prescott threw. A policeman in Wakefield (UK) is videoed applying some, uh,
instant justice.
posted by Cuppatea
on Jul 24, 2001 -
2 comments
Hands where I can see them, and turn off that tape recorder! Today the Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a man for violating the commonwealth's electronic surveillance law when he secretly recorded police who pulled him over in a traffic stop. While it's generally bad to tape people without telling them, should there be an exception w/r/t to recording public officials acting in their official capacities? Or is wrong just wrong?
posted by dchase
on Jul 13, 2001 -
22 comments
Excuse me Officer, do you have a light? The topic of Lambeth (a London Borough) taking a softer stance on cannabis use was
discussed on MeFi a few weeks ago, but now someone has actually tested it out. The respondants seemed pretty typical of the people in the area (Brixton), but it seems that the Police just completely ignored the reporter as she became increasingly bold in her attempts to get a rise out of them.
posted by davehat
on Jul 2, 2001 -
10 comments
When police go bad: Boycott Starbucks A Seattle community’s response to what was seen as racially motivated use of excessive force by police was to boycott the company that is funding their own schools and projects. A strange story all around.
posted by Nothing
on Jun 15, 2001 -
17 comments
Take my 4th Ammendment, I don't want it ...I find it amazing that some people will actually sign up for this. Basically you put a decal on your car that tells the police they can pull you over without cause, between 1am and 5am. Ostensibly to prevent car theft, and late-night joyrides by teenagers. Even if I didn't drive late at night all the time, this strikes me as a foolish bargin, giving up far too much, for far little benefit.
posted by nomisxid
on Jun 5, 2001 -
41 comments
