Police State

Cop charged with stealing from home he was sent to check on

"A 12-year veteran of the Northbrook Police Department charged with felony counts of residential burglary and official misconduct has been put on unpaid administrative leave, officials said this morning. The charges were announced Thursday after investigators allegedly caught Patrol Officer Enrique Guzman on video stealing jewelry from a home he had been sent to check on. Northbrook police and the FBI recorded Guzman, 34, stealing a fake diamond ring from a Northbrook residence where he had been told that a door had been left open Wednesday afternoon, according to court documents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCop charged with stealing from home he was sent to check on

Death of man beaten by North Chicago police classified as homicide

"Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd has reversed his office’s ruling from 'undetermined' to 'homicide' in the case of a man who died after North Chicago police restrained him, hit him with batons and shocked him with a Taser. Rudd said the blows 45-year-old Darrin 'Dagwood' Hanna absorbed from police batons initiated the string of medical events that caused his death in November 2011. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in March 2012 declined to charge any of the officers involved, saying they used 'reasonable force' after responding to a domestic incident. One officer was later fired in connection with the incident and another was suspended for 30 days." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeath of man beaten by North Chicago police classified as homicide

Honesty is Not a Job Requirement for Police Officers

"If you lie to a police officer, you can be charged with a crime. When – not if—a police officer lies to you, he’s carrying out a legitimate function of his job. That’s what former prosecutor Val Van Brocklin explained in an essay. Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper estimates that the typical police officer will lie several times during his daily duty shift. In a 2009 ruling, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld a decision by an arbitrator reversing the termination of Kitsap County Sherriff’s deputy who had been fired for lying and other misconduct. The court agreed that honesty was not an essential function of a law enforcement officer’s job." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHonesty is Not a Job Requirement for Police Officers

Judge calls D.C. police officer charged with child sexual abuse a ‘danger’

"A District Court judge Tuesday ordered a veteran D.C. police officer to remain jailed after a second woman came forward to say he had sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager singing in a church choir he directed. During a preliminary hearing, D.C. Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz called Wendel Palmer a 'danger' who targeted adolescent girls. The hearing was for a charge that he repeatedly sexually abused a girl, beginning when she was 11 years old and lasting nearly three years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge calls D.C. police officer charged with child sexual abuse a ‘danger’

Colorado cops wrongfully shoot second dog in just two months

"For the second time in just two months, law enforcement officers in Colorado have been accused of wrongfully killing a man’s best friend. Business owner Jeff Fisher told KUSA that his 8-year-old dog, Ziggy, was shot and killed when Adams County deputies ended up at the wrong address while responding to a security alarm. Fisher recalled that Ziggy ran outside to check things out after deputies reportedly forced their way into his business. Seconds later, the dog was dead. In late November, home video showed officers in Commerce City shooting a pit bull named Chloe after she had already been restrained." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingColorado cops wrongfully shoot second dog in just two months

Former Lake County sheriff’s officer seeks lighter sentence for weapons trafficking

"Kabella, 42, and former officers Joseph Kumstar and Ronald Slusser, all of Crown Point, were indicted on charges of conspiring to use Lake County Sheriff's Department letterhead to buy automatic machine guns and laser sights intended strictly for law enforcement departments or the military and selling the parts for a profit online. The laser sights are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Kabella, Kumstar and Slusser have all pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax fraud charges and are awaiting sentencing. The three have since resigned from the Lake County Sheriff's Department." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Lake County sheriff’s officer seeks lighter sentence for weapons trafficking

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

Officer Claims Cops Sell LAPD Guns to Civilians and Dealers

"Los Angeles police officers bought and sold guns from the police armory for profit, and told the lieutenant in charge of the armory to 'watch his back' after he reported it, the 25-year LAPD veteran claims in court. Armando Perez sued the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department in Superior Court. Perez, who joined the LAPD in 1987, claims he was retaliated against, suspended and threatened after he discovered, through his job as 'Officer in Charge of the Armory,' that officers in the Metropolitan Division were buying and reselling guns to other officers, civilians and gun dealers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficer Claims Cops Sell LAPD Guns to Civilians and Dealers

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