MetaFilter posts tagged with crime and police

The Silver Thief

reenum — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:20:24 -0800

The Silver Thief: The Story of a Burglar Who Was Too Good for His Own Good: The story of Blane Nordahl, an eminent silver thief in New Jersey and the hunt for him.

Cleveland serial killer highlights police indifference

bitter-girl.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:56:54 -0800

Alleged serial killer and convicted rapist Anthony Sowell is creating even bigger problems for the Cleveland police department, who have been accused of joking about missing victims, passing the blame onto those victims and outright incompetence. As of today, the body count is up to 10 (plus one skull), and people around the world are wondering what went wrong.

The security is maximum and that's a law

Mayor Curley — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:43:16 -0800

The Wellesley College Daily Police Log is available online. Unfortunately, the individual days are PDFs. But it gives a glimpse into the gritty realities of day-to-day policing. Case Closed.

15 year old girl in holding cell beaten by Seattle Cop

ginky — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:16:29 -0800

15 year old girl in holding cell beaten by Seattle Cop Caught on Camera. 15 year old girl in holding cell beaten by Seattle Cop. Not surprisingly the cop's lawyer didn't want this video published.

Testilying

caddis — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:14:57 -0800

Cops regularly perjure themselves - Blue Lies. Though few officers will confess to lying -- after all, it's a crime -- work by researchers and a 1990s commission appointed to examine police corruption shows there's a tacit agreement among many officers that lying about how evidence is seized keeps criminals off the street.... Criminal-justice researchers say it's difficult to quantify how often perjury is being committed. According to a 1992 survey, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges in Chicago said they thought that, on average, perjury by police occurs 20% of the time in which defendants claim evidence was illegally seized. "It is an open secret long shared by prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges that perjury is widespread among law enforcement officers," though it's difficult to detect in specific cases, said Alex Kozinski, a federal appeals-court judge, in the 1990s. To stem the problem, some criminal-justice researchers and academic experts have called for doing polygraphs on officers who take the stand or requiring officers to tape their searches. A Supreme Court ruling this month, however, suggests that a simpler, though controversial, solution may be to weaken a longstanding part of U.S. law, known as the exclusionary rule. The 5-4 ruling in Herring v. U.S. that evidence obtained from certain unlawful arrests may nevertheless be used against a criminal defendant could indicate the U.S. is inching closer to a system in which officers might not be tempted to lie to prevent evidence from being thrown out. Before Mapp, the policeman typically testified that he stopped the defendant for little or no reason, searched him, and found narcotics on his person. This had the ring of truth. It was an illegal search . . . but the evidence was admissible . . . . Since it made no difference, the policeman testified truthfully. After the decision in Mapp, it made a great deal of difference. For the first few months, New York policemen continued to tell the truth about the circumstances of their searches, with the result that the evidence was suppressed. Then the police made the great discovery that if the defendant drops the narcotics on the ground, after which the policeman arrests him, then the search is reasonable and the evidence is admissible. Spend a few hours in the New York City Criminal Court nowadays, and you will hear case after case in which a policeman testifies that the defendant dropped the narcotics on the ground, whereupon the policeman arrested him.

How To Turn Red Into Black

dhammond — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:06:21 -0800

"A detective does his job in the only possible way. He follows the requirements of the law to the letter -- or close enough so as not to jeopardize his case. Just as carefully, he ignores that law's spirit and intent. He becomes a salesman, a huckster as thieving and silver-tongued as any man who ever moved used cars or aluminum siding -- more so, in fact, when you consider that he's selling long prison terms to customers who have no genuine need for the product." A legal examination of the creative circumvention of Miranda rights in Baltimore as presented by David Simon in Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Previously.

Molly Walker Need Not Apply

chuckdarwin — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:42:39 -0800

WIRED: A ~~cell~~ mobile phone helped police find the body of missing student Kelly Nolan. "The average citizen is not aware that they are carrying a location-tracking device in their pocket..."

Studies in Scarlet

thomas j wise — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:05:59 -0800

Studies in Scarlet: Marriage & Sexuality in the US & UK, 1815-1914 , courtesy of Harvard University, features digitized trial narratives for over 400 cases--some famous, most not. (Harvard also has a more general collection of trial narratives here.) There are earlier trial narratives at Rictor Norton's Homosexuality in Eighteenth Century England: A Sourcebook and Early Eighteenth-Century Newspaper Reports; see also CrimeCulture's Rogue's Gallery and a Victorian anthology, Curiosities of Street Literature (originally published in 1871). Albert Borowitz has a brief history of true crime narratives here. For more historical criminality from the investigator's point of view, check out the Forensic Medicine Archives Project at the University of Glasgow. (Main link via VICTORIA.)

Police hot on the scent of crime

dbarefoot — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:26:00 -0800

Indian police smell pretty. Police in an Indian province are airing a new strategy for crime fighting and community relations: "Police in India’s Western state of Gujarat are to wear new uniforms impregnated with the fragrance of flowers and citrus to help improve their image."

"We're dead, come and get us."

Bookhouse — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 14:01:23 -0800

The Young Brothers Massacre. The gunfight that killed the most law enforcement officials is US history did not happen at Waco or Kansas City, but just outside of Springfield, MO (which was also home to the first famous "high noon" shootout of the Wild West). On January 2, 1932, the two Young Brothers murdered the six policemen who'd come to arrest one of them for killing a town marshall. Not much later, they met their own end. This 1932 quickie pulp remains the best (or at least most readable) version of the story. (Warning: a few postmortem photos are included).

Victorian crime and (perhaps) punishment

thomas j wise — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:30:03 -0800

The History of the Metropolitan Police offers a useful overview of both policework and assorted Shocking Crimes in nineteenth-century London. But there are so many more Victorian detectives--not to mention Victorian murderers--lurking about on the net. Sneak a peek at Charles Booth's notebooks, which record his walks with various London police officers, or read Charles Dickens' famous account of a night out with Inspector Charles Field (who later inspired Bleak House's Inspector Bucket). Put John Mapp on trial. Read some broadsides. Try to avoid Dr. Cream and Mary Ann Cotton. Executions, anyone? The Victorian Dictionary reprints a number of Victorian newspaper articles about criminal activity (click on "crime" to see a detailed listing). Of course, you can't forget this fellow.

School shooting suspect caught via his Myspace profile

tapeguy — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 12:31:43 -0800

Marcus McKinney was arrested Wednesday for the gang-related shooting of Michael Jacola at Orange Park High School in Jacksonville. Florida. Marcus was caught because left his photo on his Myspace.com profile alongside various comments about belonging to a gang.

Houston Loves You

I Love Tacos — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 02:08:45 -0800

NewsFilter: I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?

Police report

mediareport — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 23:34:00 -0800

Tawdry, tawdry stuff "Another prison guard smuggling dope, another cop caught tweaking, an airport security professional trying to get rich, a horny Florida deputy, and a Michigan police chief who sounds like a real decadent party animal." Lots of not-so-fun reading in Corrupt Cops Stories, a weekly feature in the Drug War Chronicle. The archive goes back a few years.

Noses are hard to draw.

Divine_Wino — Thu, 26 May 2005 13:08:18 -0800

Composite Drawings of suspects wanted by the Michigan State Police. With photos of the suspect if they are captured, for comparison. Via.

Chicago: Bang! Bang!

me3dia — Thu, 19 May 2005 13:13:00 -0800

Chicagocrime.org takes the Chicago Police Department's Citizen ICAM and puts it into an easily searchable -- by crime type, street, date, district or location type -- format, along with a Google Map. Who knew police station parking lots were so dangerous?

Gun control means HITTING your target

alumshubby — Tue, 10 May 2005 10:39:26 -0800

LA Deputies: 100+ rounds, two wounded. After firing nearly 120 rounds, some Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department deputies manage to wound the driver of an SUV they'd been pursuing, one of their own number, and punch lots of 9mm holes in a Compton neighborhood. Report says no weapon in the suspect's vehicle.

Fark may turn out to be worthwhile after all

DrJohnEvans — Fri, 04 Feb 2005 09:45:04 -0800

Fighting crime with Photoshop. For the past three years, a twelve-year-old girl has been sexually abused, with a photographic record in circulation via the internet. Police have been tracking the photographs, but have not released them for fear of tipping off her kidnappers—until today, with the girl photoshopped out of the pictures. Now they're asking the public to help identify the locations. So far the response has been overwhelming, and has narrowed the search for the crime scene to a single hotel.

Blushing bride goes ballistic

MegoSteve — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 06:33:24 -0800

And you thought your wedding day was bad? Bridezilla strikes again, resulting the police being her wedding photographer, her wedding suite a cell, this hilarious news story (RealMedia), and soon-to-be national infamy.

Groom Tries To Keep Pimp Hand Strong With Dowry Demand - Gets Arrested

turbanhead — Thu, 15 May 2003 07:51:01 -0800

Groom Tries To Keep Pimp Hand Strong With Dowry Demand - Gets Arrested A bride who got the police to arrest her bridegroom has become something of a celebrity in India. Nisha Sharma, 21, called the police after her father was asked for more dowry money just minutes before her wedding ceremony.

Postfordism & crime.

slipperywhenwet — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 20:22:50 -0800

The return of the dangerous classes: crime control in the 21st century. "The language of crime control seems to be today on the verge of eclipsing all others - in particular that of social rights – and becoming the single, all encompassing goal of social policy."
Sounds topical? John Lea's work on the changes postfordism has brought to crime control are even more relevant now than they were when he wrote them back in the nineties. [more]

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

mediareport — Thu, 03 Apr 2003 16:43:15 -0800

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London, 1674 to 1834 A fantastic, fully searchable database of criminal cases from another era, e.g., speaking scandalous and reflecting Words on His Majesty, assault with sodomitical intent and the appalling Mortal Wound with a Pitchfork on the hinder part of the Head. The Old Bailey's published record was a popular read at the time. Also included is a typology of crimes, a history of London policing before the bobbies, essays about gender and punishment and lots more historical background. [via the always marvelous Researchbuzz]

legal double standards

nofundy — Tue, 26 Nov 2002 11:46:30 -0800

Sex Crimes and equal treatment "under the law." (pun anyone?)

Outraged prosecutors said Thursday that they will appeal the sentence given to Edwin "Ed" Mann, a former Orlando Police Department sex-crimes detective, for having a sexual affair with a 14-year-old girl who had earlier dated his son.

Mann, a former leader in Cops for Christ, pleaded guilty last week to four felony charges resulting from an ongoing sexual relationship he had with the girl two years ago when he was a sex-crimes detective.

Do you think being "religious" and policeman merits special treatment from a judge?

Badthoughts

kablam — Wed, 13 Nov 2002 16:41:58 -0800

Hate crime police raid 150 homes 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.'

Blake — Tue, 30 Jul 2002 04:15:42 -0800

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.