"In 2011, the number of stops of young black men exceeded New York City's entire population of young black men. Daniel A Medina followed the story of one, Keeshan, whose teenage years were scarred by the controversial police tactic a court has ruled a violation of minorities' rights." Continue reading →
"Abby Martin remarks on the second anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, highlighting a recent Reuters poll showing that only 15% of Americans are satisfied with the government's effort to prosecute Wall Street bankers, and speaks with former Philadelphia police captain Ray Lewis about why he chose to protest in-uniform at Occupy." Continue reading →
"According to his attorney, Diane Polan, Luna was riding his bike on Crown Street on the morning of Sept. 25, 2011, when he noticed the incident and stopped to record it on his iPhone. It's not clear exactly what Luna saw, but Polan said he 'observed several police officers interacting with civilians.' Those officers confronted Luna and placed him under arrest. His phone was confiscated and the video erased, according to Polan. Polan said Luna is a former photojournalist. He was charged with interfering with an officer and was held overnight at the police department. The charges were brought before the New Haven Superior Court and later dropped." Continue reading →
"Modesto Junior College in California told a student that he could not pass out copies of the United States Constitution outside the student center on September 17, 2013—Constitution Day. Captured on video, college police and administrators demanded that Robert Van Tuinen stop passing out Constitution pamphlets and told him that he would only be allowed to pass them out in the college's tiny free speech zone, and only after scheduling it several days or weeks ahead of time." Continue reading →
"The case dates back to May 21 when Officer Dustin Fetz asked Zoe Brugger to shake out her bra during a traffic stop. A report released to the media on Wednesday afternoon revealed the results of an FBI investigation that Fertz did not violate Brugger’s civil rights. The report also said Officer Fetz would be retrained. Chief Lisa Womack did decide to suspend Fetz for one day. Earlier this month, the State Attorney called Fetz’s actions 'demeaning' and 'egregious.' Fetz pulled Brugger and her boyfriend over for a broken headlight but at one point believed Brugger may have had drugs so he asked her to 'pull her shirt up, pull her bra out from her breasts, and to shake.' Fetz never found any drugs." Continue reading →
"It sounds absurd: tickets and warning letters for parking in your own driveway. But Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Connor says it’s happened on two city streets – one in the West End and one in Squirrel Hill. A pregnant mother of seven who lives across the street is trying to follow the rule, but can’t get out of the driver’s side of her van anymore. She has to crawl out of the passenger’s side when she parks the vehicle between her home and her neighbor’s. O’Connor says the tickets and warning letters are issued by the Bureau of Building Inspection. KDKA was unable to reach anyone from that office Wednesday night. He says one family ended up paying a $2,400 fine." Continue reading →
"The family of a Florida man killed by a police cruiser during a pursuit released shocking dash cam footage of the incident on Wednesday, described by their attorney as an 'execution in a vegetable garden.' Marlon Brown, 38 and a father of three, died on May 8 under the car driven by DeLand officer James Harris, who was chasing Brown over a seat-belt violation. The rookie policeman was fired May 31. Last week a grand jury decided not to indict Harris. On Wednesday Brown's ex-wife, Krystal Brown, released the video of the fatal crash and stated: 'We feel betrayed by our criminal justice system.'" Continue reading →
"Mr. Collins, 64, was killed when a Toledo police cruiser smashed head-on into his vehicle as he was driving north on I-75. The cruiser, driven by Officer David O’Brien, was chasing Brian Everett Lipp, 48, of Lambertville when Lipp drove the wrong way onto I-75 and Officer O’Brien followed him. Lipp, who was ultimately shot and killed by police later that day, had been pursued for two days by police as a suspect in a home invasion and two robberies. The suit contends that the city and the police department treated Mr. Collins’ death as a mere traffic accident, did not investigate it or present it to a grand jury, and did not contact the family to express regrets or offer assistance of any kind." Continue reading →
"A local cop has cruised the parking lot of her place of employment, noted the 'Antique Vehicle' tags – and actually went in to the place to issue a 'friendly warning' (that is, a not-so-thinly-veiled threat) to the supervisor of my wife’s friend that it is a 'ticketable offense' to drive a vehicle with 'Antique' tags to work. Which is true – there is a 'law' to that effect. But it takes a real Inspector Javert type to worry about it. Much less to take action. I’m actually surprised this cop didn’t simply park his taxpayer-extorted free (for him) squad car, engine idling using gas he didn’t pay for, and wait as long as it took for the 'law breaker' to emerge, in order to confiscate some more of other-people’s money." Continue reading →
"Police Protective Fund raises millions of dollars each year in the name of fallen officers. On Tuesday, four men in charge of the charity’s telemarketing operations were arrested on charges of hiring felons to raise that money. All four are managers who oversee the charity’s phone rooms in the Tampa Bay area and in South Florida. Charity regulators with Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services descended on the boiler-room operations Tuesday afternoon and began running criminal background checks on each employee. Florida law bans charities and professional solicitors from knowingly employing telemarketers who have been convicted of fraud and other financial felonies." Continue reading →