Land Of The Flea

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”

We’re Locking Up Fewer Black People and More White People

The USA incarcerates a higher percentage of its citizen than any other nation on earth. (We're #1!) Needless to say, we've accomplished that feat largely on the backs of minorities, particularly black people, who are incarcerated at more than six times the rate of white people. But, the broader takeaway is that the racial mix of those we incarcerate (particularly women) is changing, but the fact of America's mass incarceration is not. 'The overall rate of incarceration in the United States remains at five times the rate that prevailed in 1970.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWe’re Locking Up Fewer Black People and More White People

Cop who coerced woman into sex in East St. Louis only one of many public-sector criminals

"A former East St. Louis police officer who lied to federal agents about demanding sex from a traffic violator was vilified in federal court here Thursday as a prime example of poor law enforcement that fosters rampant crime in his community. Carpenter did more than violate and degrade a woman by using the threat of an arrest to intimidate her into giving him oral sex in an isolated, closed park, they said. As part of the sentencing process, prosecutors listed police officers, politicians, businessmen and others who had lied, cheated, robbed taxpayers, threatened witnesses and committed other serious felonies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCop who coerced woman into sex in East St. Louis only one of many public-sector criminals

House Democrat Wants States To Get Paid To Seize Guns

"Rep. Mike Thompson, a Democratic congressman from California, has introduced a bill that would call for the federal government to pay states to take guns away from criminals and the 'dangerously mentally ill' who are prohibited from owning them. The Armed Prohibited Persons Act of 2013 would create a program within the Justice Department to give money to states that track down people who are barred from having firearms but own them anyway." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHouse Democrat Wants States To Get Paid To Seize Guns

Former Newark Airport TSA screener says the job does little to keep fliers safe

"It is perhaps America’s most unsafe airport. Despite being the launching point for one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 — Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania — Newark Airport has had numerous security violations since. The latest: a fake bomb that made it past Transportation Security Administration officers. Here, a Newark TSA screener who recently left the agency tells how silly policies and lazy workers do little to stop real threats." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Newark Airport TSA screener says the job does little to keep fliers safe

Banana Republics Have Nothing on New York City

"In a nation that incarcerates more people than any other, New York City hopes to jail a hefty proportion of its residents, too. The Daily News reports that the City now boasts more than a million 'open bench warrants' for such heinous 'crimes' as 'drinking a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon on a West Village stoop' and 'walking a dog without a leash.' The News lies somewhere to the left of Pravda, but even it marvels that an eighth of New Yorkers could languish in the pokey, which 'number of outlaws ... nearly matches the population of Dallas.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBanana Republics Have Nothing on New York City

“For Your Own Protection”

"Every day in this supposedly free country, police commit an act that was impermissible for their antecedents in imperial Rome: In the name of 'officer safety,' they handcuff American citizens who are not criminal suspects while conducting investigations. Police also routinely inflict summary punishment – using batons, Tasers, pepper spray, or other means – against those who resist being detained without cause. Within a few years police will have at their disposal handcuffs that can impart electrical shocks to detainees." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“For Your Own Protection”

New Jersey cop caught punching woman in the face on video

"Police in Elizabeth, New Jersey are investigating footage that has surfaced online of an officer hitting a woman in the face during an altercation outside a nightclub. Authorities told WNBC-TV on Wednesday that the unidentified officer seen in the video, which was posted on YouTube on March 3, is still on active duty while they look into the incident outside a local nightclub." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Jersey cop caught punching woman in the face on video

Texas cop fired for shooting 41 times at suspect, killing him

"A Texas police officer who fired 41 shots at a chase suspect in August has been fired. Michael Allen, 25, was shot and killed after a high-speed chase that began in Garland and ended in Mesquite, Texas. Allen was wanted on suspicion of eluding police in Sasche a few days earlier. Garland police spokesman Officer Joe Harn said Tuter violated the department's general order of use of force and its pursuit protocol. The department at first said that Tuter opened fire in fear of his life, but dashboard camera video raised concerns after it showed that Tuter had rammed Allen's truck and fired 41 shots after he cornered Allen. Tuter reloaded twice, police said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas cop fired for shooting 41 times at suspect, killing him

Bin Laden son-in-law court appearance reignites debate over handling of terrorism cases

"With the surprise appearance in a New York courtroom of Osama bin Laden’s son in law on Friday, the US justice system’s handling of terrorism cases itself went back on trial. Until now, alleged Al-Qaeda figures have been more likely to be blown apart by a missile from a US drone or to disappear into the netherworld of secret CIA or secretive military prisons, before resurfacing in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But on this occasion, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, accused of conspiring to kill US nationals, was arraigned in a wood-paneled Manhattan federal courtroom, accompanied by three lawyers and witnessed by the media." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBin Laden son-in-law court appearance reignites debate over handling of terrorism cases