Tag: police
Drop That Camera And Assume The Position
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Mon Dec 14, 2009 at 05:39:40 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
A child sitting on Jolly Old Saint Nick's lap, telling him what he wants to find under the Xmas tree on Christmas morning - it's an iconic moment. It's one played out all across the land, from mall to mall. It definitely qualifies as a Kodak moment, with the parents either paying for the photos taken professionally or one they capture with their own cameras. But, what right does a casual stranger have in taking shots of the tableau? Does a mall have the right to tell him not to take photos? Those questions, and more, come to mind as a result of the way one photographer was handled at a mall in West Virginia.
(40 comments, 855 words in story) Full Story
Featured Diary: Federal Government: Dystopian Shithole has a Dystopian Holding Center
pO157.
Posted to Legal on Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 11:04:26 AM EST (promoted from Diaries by port1080). RSS.
The Justice Department released a report (pdf) criticizing the Erie County Holding Center and sheriff's department for inhumane conditions at the 2nd largest pretrial detention facility in New York state.
(14 comments, 98 words in story) Full Story
Dumbest Drug War Story EVAR!
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Fri Jul 24, 2009 at 07:06:50 AM EST (promoted by DEMachina). RSS.
The War Against Drugs is a long-lasting conflict. The US has been battling drugs, of one variety or other, since the earliest part of the 20th century. The actual term was first coined by President Richard Nixon in 1969. Forty years on, we're no closer to winning this war than we ever were and it's been waged by one administration after the other at a frightful cost in terms of dollars spent and lives ruined or lost. Although the current Drug War Czar has publicly called for an end to calling it the War on Drugs, preferring to focus on treatment above punishment, some police agencies haven't gotten the memo yet. Case in point are the drug warriors belonging to two neighboring North Carolina police agencies. They did manage to bust a pot smoking degenerate trying to buy weed from a gang of marijuana desperados. Problem being that the buyers and sellers were both undercover cops.
(16 comments, 568 words in story) Full Story
Racist Cops On Duty Or Someone With A Chip On Their Shoulder?
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Wed Jul 22, 2009 at 12:02:02 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
It all started as a rather standard police response to break-in in progress. Because the police believed someone was clearly out of order when they were doing their job, a suspect is now facing charges of disorderly conduct. If this sounds like your standard, garden-variety Cops segment, you're justified. The difference here is that the person facing the disorderly conduct charges is one of America's most eminent African-American scholars and it was his home he was accused of trying to illegally enter. Now that the case has entered the 24/7 new cycle, it gets elevated from a standard cop story to a major racial blow-up.
(107 comments, 543 words in story) Full Story
Prince George's County: A microcosm of home invasions on the rise
pO157.
Posted to Legal on Thu Jul 09, 2009 at 02:09:28 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
A group of armed home invaders posing as police pulled off 3 daring early morning raids in rapid succession at 3 residences across Prince George's county, MD, escaping into the dawn of the rising sun within minutes. The armed robbers always followed the same MO: kicking the door in while pretending to be police, binding the occupants and ransacking the place. Unfortunately, this doesn't appear to be an isolated incident as Prince George's county police report the number of home invasions has doubled since last year. A similar pattern is sweeping the nation.
(42 comments, 338 words in story) Full Story
A shocking story
pO157.
Posted to Legal on Wed May 13, 2009 at 02:15:30 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
A Western NY judge has ordered police and a prosecutor to her courtroom on Monday to explain themselves after following her orders. Last September the judge ordered police to obtain a DNA sample from Ryan Smith, a convicted criminal who was under suspicion for a crime spree that included kidnapping, shootings and a gas station robbery. The matter was simple enough until police used a taser to retrieve a DNA sample from an unconscious Smith.
(22 comments, 529 words in story) Full Story
Breaking News: Civil Disorder Intensifies! The Mob Has Destroyed the Granary!
pO157.
Posted to Politics on Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 01:18:57 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Riots in Greece intensified and lead to a general strike after five days of nationwide violence after a young teenager was killed by police. Rioters were reportedly "laying siege to cities nationwide," looting cars, stores and public buildings before burning them. Outside parliament rioters clashed with police and threw slabs of rock and molotov cocktail bombs while screaming "let Parliament burn."
(19 comments, 198 words in story) Full Story
Oh, You Mean You Expected Us To Use Our Most Recent Technological Innovation?
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 09:35:33 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Framingham, Massachusetts cops are at odds with town council. It seems the police had been asking that the town outfit police cruisers with laptops for some time. After all, why hamstring crimefighters by not putting the best technology in their hands? At long last, the town came through for the cops and 24 cars gained laptops. These devices allowed the cops to do more: check on insurance and criminal records; coordinate operations; and share incredible amounts of information, like that. Oh, and it allowed them to file reports electronically, rather than have them do that task back at the police station after patrol. Just a collective bargaining (40 pg pdf doc) minute, Batman. You mean you wanted us to file reports over the laptop in the cruiser? That will cost you extra, Framingham.
(5 comments, 487 words in story) Full Story
How A Big Problem Became Bigger.
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Thu Jul 24, 2008 at 05:46:54 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Portland, Oregon police officer Christine Nelson just wanted to keep what she was doing to herself. The 15-year veteran of the force needed emergency surgery to repair an operation which had gone wrong but she didn't want her fellow officers to find out her real medical condition. So she came up with a fake excuse she passed around to her squad mates. She was up front with the police department in arranging for sick leave however. But, because she chose to give her fake excuse to a representative of a special police department emergency fund, she's on the verge of losing her job.
(3 comments, 693 words in story) Full Story
Home Invasions: Your own fault?
pO157.
Posted to Legal on Fri Jul 18, 2008 at 09:03:26 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Very few things scare the average person as much as a story about violent, seemingly random home invasions, especially if it was in their own locale. While these attacks usually grab newspaper headlines far and wide, very few people say the victims were asking for it or brought it on themselves in some way. Very few, except for some police officials in Texas, who suggest that many of the victims were at risk because of their lifestyle or were actually involved in illicit activities.
(14 comments, 568 words in story) Full Story
A Shocking Decision For Taser.
MayorBob.
Posted to Legal on Thu Jun 12, 2008 at 08:21:39 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Law enforcement experts refer to the Taser as a non-lethal weapon. According to the company which manufactures it, the Taser is "a safer alternative to other uses of force." The device "protects life" and "dramatically reduces injury rates for law enforcement officers and suspects." Since its founding in 1993, Taser International's Electronic Control Devices have been used by law enforcement agencies without the company's words coming back to haunt them. Until now, that is, as a federal jury returned a verdict holding Taser responsible for the death of a person their devices were used to subdue.
(40 comments, 479 words in story) Full Story
Coast To Coast Street Justice
MayorBob.
Posted to Legal on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:38:06 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
There's desperados on them there streets, pardner. But fear not, as constables from the Atlantic to the Pacific stand ready to enforce the law against grandmothers who don't pay their traffic tickets, red light camera scofflaws and phantom street racers. I, for one, feel much safer today for knowing this.
(13 comments, 567 words in story) Full Story
