Monthly Archives: March 2013

Judge sets $10,000 bond for cop, former deputy and civilian accused in cocaine payoffs

"Three men, all from different backgrounds, sat in their orange prison jumpsuits waiting to hear the words from federal court Judge Alan Baverman, that their bonds would be granted. Baverman set conditions and gave each man a $10,000 bail. The men are former DeKalb County Sheriff's Deputy Monyette McLaurin, current DeKalb County police Officer Dorian Williams, and a civilian Gregory Lee Harvey. An indictment in federal court states that McLaurin and Harvey worked together to protect drug dealers during cocaine transactions. In return for their protection, the men were given thousands of dollars in payouts." Continue reading →

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Illinois: High-Ranking Cop Caught Lying About DUI Arrests

"According to US Attorney Gary S. Shapiro, Timothy J. Veit was caught creating 122 bogus drunk driving arrests in an effort to boost the police department's revenue with federal overtime payments. Between 2009 and 2012, the effort generated $132,893 in bogus payments. The source of the funds was the US Transportation Department, which funnels federal gas tax dollars through the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to bankroll traffic ticket-writing blitzes that typically take place on holiday weekends. City officials discovered the discrepancy in March 2012 and allowed Veit, who is 55, to retire in April." Continue reading →

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Florida City Caught Issuing 1645 Camera Tickets On Shortened Yellow

"In St. Petersburg, Florida, the yellow time at intersections was shortened by fractions of a second for thousands of drivers, enabling the red light camera program to generate an extra $259,910 in revenue in 13 months. The data show at seven city intersections, the yellow time dropped between 0.1 and 1.1 seconds for some tickets from the date the cameras started ticketing. St. Petersburg depends heavily on split-second timing misjudgment. The city generated 45 percent of its revenue -- $2,128,576 -- from tickets generated in a half-second or less after the light turns red. In the first three-tenths of a second, 31 percent of the city's tickets were issued." Continue reading →

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Will Grigg: Put Not Your Trust In Federalized Sheriffs

"'I will not enforce an unconstitutional law against any citizen of Smith County,' insisted Sheriff Larry Smith. The sheriff wants his constituents to believe that he would refuse to participate in a federally mandated gun grab, or permit one to be carried out by federal officials within his jurisdiction. Yet ten days before Smith offered that assurance, his office had taken part in an early-morning SWAT rampage throughout East Texas in which 73 warrants were served as part of the federal government’s patently unconstitutional war on drugs. There isn’t a single county sheriff’s office in the country that hasn’t compromised itself by accepting federal funds." Continue reading →

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Missouri Republican Wants To Make It A Felony For His Fellow Lawmakers To Propose Gun Laws

"Missouri state Rep. Mike Leara (R) loves the Second Amendment so much he wants to make it a felony for state lawmakers to propose legislation he thinks would violate it. On Sunday, Leara offered up this addition to Missouri law: 'Any member of the general assembly who proposes a piece of legislation that further restricts the right of an individual to bear arms, as set forth under the second amendment of the Constitution of the United States, shall be guilty of a class D felony,' Leara’s bill reads in its entirety." Continue reading →

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Private Detectives Filling Gaps Left by Police Budget Cuts

"Detectives like Glemser across cash-strapped states have been getting more calls like these as cities and towns cut their police forces to contend with deep budget cuts. Private detectives are just one piece of the private sector security and policing services that people are increasingly turning to as they worry about crime. The U.S. private security industry is expected to grow 6.3% a year to $19.9 billion by 2016, according to a study by security research group Freedonia Group Inc. In California, where many cash-strapped cities cut police budgets during the recession, residents are turning to detectives, security firms and even the Internet." Continue reading →

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Is Detroit a Self-Defense Haven?

"Detroit has been getting a lot of attention for its recent shootings. Not the usual criminal stuff, but the step-up in self-defense shootings as people have come to realize that the police only exist to mark the outlines of bodies with chalk. Justifiable homicide in the city shot up 79% in 2011 from the previous year, as citizens in the long-suffering city armed themselves and took matters into their own hands. The local rate of self-defense killings now stands 2,200% above the national average. Residents, unable to rely on a dwindling police force to keep them safe, are fighting back against the criminal scourge on their own. And they’re offering no apologies." Continue reading →

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These Vehicles Are Tons of Fun, and Good for Thwarting Road Rage

"Weapons buffs may stock semiautomatics in the gun safe. But nothing makes a statement like having an Army tank in the garage. Scattered around the country are members of a small fraternity of guys who own tanks. They are hyper-avid history buffs or hyper-edgy investors or just wealthy men who can now afford hyper-sized versions of the toys they played with when they were boys. Tank brokers—yes, there is such a thing—estimate there are several hundred to 1,000 private tank owners in the U.S." Continue reading →

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Gun-control demagoguery is a lethal weapon

"Despite tough economic times, firearms and ammunition companies have created nearly 27,000 well-paying jobs over the past two years alone. Smart lawmakers from Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Arizona, and South Carolina are now courting Remington away from New York and Magpul away from Colorado. For now, these states can offer business-friendly, Second Amendment–defending climates that support a demonized industry. But how much longer will it be until Obama and the pro-jobs hypocrites on Capitol Hill find new, more nefarious ways to obstruct this innovation-driving, wealth-producing sector of the American economy?" Continue reading →

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Officer Safety Uber Alles: Christopher Dorner and the “Rickoverian Paradox”

"A citizen or privately employed security guard wouldn’t be able to ram an unidentified truck and open fire on its driver, or spray gunfire in a residential neighborhood, without facing criminal charges. In the official reaction to Dorner’s rampage, we see an unusually candid manifestation of the 'Officer Safety Uber Alles' mentality that defines police work. From their perspective, the population exists to protect and serve the police, rather than the reverse. This brings to mind the concept of Rickover’s Paradox, which I encountered in a science fiction novel decades ago." Continue reading →

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