Animal Farm

Woman injured in LAPD manhunt says cops won’t pay taxes on replacement truck

"The attorney for a woman who was mistakenly targeted by Los Angeles police during the manhunt for Christopher Dorner in February has accused the department of breaking its promise of a new truck for her. 'You tried to murder the woman, you put 102 bullet holes in her truck,' Glen Jonas told KNBC-TV on Monday. His client, 47-year-old Maggie Carranza, refused a police offer of a new Ford F-150 truck if she agreed to pay taxes on it, in part because it meant Carranza would have to pay an additional $10,000 in personal income taxes she cannot afford. He said the department’s offer also barred Carranza from selling the vehicle for a year." Continue reading →

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New York ‘cannibal cop’ convicted of kidnapping plot

"New York City police officer Gilbert Valle was convicted on Tuesday of conspiring to kidnap and eat young women. The New York Times reported that Valle could be sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping conspiracy, and also faces a five-year jail sentence for using a law enforcement database to research potential victims. During the trial, prosecutors highlighted internet records showing Valle, who became known as the 'cannibal cop,' visiting several websites devoted to fetishes involving the kidnapping and cooking of young women." Continue reading →

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Supreme Court Approves Search Warrants Issued by Dogs

"Today the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that 'a court can presume' an alert by a drug-sniffing dog provides probable cause for a search 'if a bona fide organization has certified a dog after testing his reliability in a controlled setting' or 'if the dog has recently and successfully completed a training program that evaluated his proficiency in locating drugs.' The justices overturned a 2011 decision in which the Florida Supreme Court said police must do more than assert that a dog has been properly trained." 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 →

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

Federal Appeals Court Busts Police For Contempt Of Cop Arrest

"The officers did not say they were looking for a white Dodge, and asked Petithomme to produce identification and for permission to search her vehicle. Petithomme refused the search. On a third request for identification, Petithomme asked if she could go inside her home to retrieve it. It was granted, and as soon as she left the officers began searching through the Nissan. She returned and upon being asked a fourth time, she said the license must be in her car. She finally found it. Enraged, Officer Martin arrested Petithomme on the spot, charging her with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. The officers said the woman's attitude showed she was 'up to no good.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal Appeals Court Busts Police For Contempt Of Cop Arrest

Will Grigg: “No Hesitation”

"Among the training targets are images depicting 'non-traditional threats,' such as pregnant women, children, and grandmotherly women – in other words, 'Little People' – carrying guns. The company’s marketing team explains that the 'non-traditional targets' were created at the request of police officers and trainers, who are seeking to dis-inhibit the killing instincts of police 'when deadly force is required on subjects with atypical age, frailty or condition…. This hesitation time may be only seconds but that is not acceptable when officers are losing their lives in these same situations….'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWill Grigg: “No Hesitation”

Criminalizing Criticism of the Police

"Dominic Ray Aguilar, a 37-year-old cab driver from Roseville, California, has been charged with making 'terroristic threats' against Police Officer John Moody, who shot 35-year-old Ernesto Duenez 11 times in the driveway of his home in June 2011. Duenez, who was suspected of violating his parole, was unarmed and exiting his pickup truck when Moody shot him. He tried to comply with Moody’s order to get down on the ground, but his foot was caught in a seat belt. On the Facebook page memorializing Duenez, Aguilar wrote: '50 rounds to your dome Moody.'" Continue reading →

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“Gun Control” Means More State-Licensed Gun Violence

"Barack Obama paid a brief visit to Minneapolis today to rally support for his administration’s proposals to restrict private firearms ownership. Significantly, he didn’t address the public; instead, he met with police officials at the Minneapolis PoliceDepartment Special Operations Center. The White House praised Minneapolis as 'a city that has taken important steps to reduce gun violence and foster a conversation in the community about what further action is needed.' One of those steps was the overt militarization of law enforcement through the promiscuous use of SWAT teams." Continue reading →

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NYPD officer threatened to shoot grandmother of killed teen, lawsuit claims

"After shooting dead an unarmed teenager in his bathroom, a New York City police officer threatened to kill the boy’s distraught grandmother, a newly filed lawsuit alleges. Filed Friday, a day before the one-year anniversary of the death of 18-year-old Ramarley Graham, the suit accuses the NYPD of improperly training its officers, disproportionately targeting minority youth through its controversial stop and frisk practices and covering up the facts surrounding the death. The suit names police officer Richard Haste, the man responsible for shooting Graham, as well as NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly and a number of other officers as defendants." Continue reading →

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California school district pays $650,000 to settle police brutality & false arrest case

"In their suit, the plaintiffs claimed they were arrested on Sept. 17, 2010, in North Highlands for no reason and taken to the district police station, where one officer allegedly choked three of them. They were all eventually jailed, but the District Attorney's Office declined to file any charges against them. The suit also accused the district's top managers of fostering a toxic climate within its police force, which has drawn widespread community criticism for its enforcement tactics and became the focus of a grand jury investigation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia school district pays $650,000 to settle police brutality & false arrest case