Police State

Houston police chief suspended for one day for hitting pedestrian

"Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland has been suspended for one day without pay for accidentally striking a pedestrian earlier this month. The punishment was handed down by Mayor Annise Parker. McClelland said he would also take defensive driving. The chief was on his way to work on September 4th when he stopped at Clay and Travis in downtown Houston. 'I made a left turn on Clay, from Clay onto Travis. I had a green light and he had a green light to walk across the street. For whatever reason, I didn’t see him,' Chief McClelland explained the day of the accident. When the pedestrian stepped off the curb, the chief’s car struck him." Continue reading →

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Sheriff sentenced to 9 years in prison for jobs-for-cash scheme

"Former sheriff's office investigator Darrin DiBiasi, 45, was sentenced to 364 days in jail for passing on some $25,000 to Spicuzzo from people looking to get hired by the department. As part of a plea agreement, Spicuzzo, the once-powerful chairman of the Middlesex County Democratic party, pleaded guilty in June to taking $25,000 in cash bribes in exchange for promoting one of his own employees. That was a fraction of the $112,000 prosecutors from the state Attorney General’s office say Spicuzzo, 68, accepted from people seeking jobs or promotions in the sheriff’s office during his 30-year reign as one of Middlesex County’s top law enforcement officers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSheriff sentenced to 9 years in prison for jobs-for-cash scheme

Irvington police chief paid $115K while suspended

"Irvington Police Chief Michael Chase hasn’t worked a single day in the past nine months, but a series of legal fits and starts has allowed the town’s suspended top cop to take home roughly $115,000 so far this year, leading to a state investigation, officials said. Chase was suspended in December 2012 after an investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office accused him of quashing a probe into alleged misconduct by his police officer nephew and charged him with failing to properly supervise his department’s Internal Affairs Unit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIrvington police chief paid $115K while suspended

Where Prisoners Are Guaranteed To Private Prisons

"Most quotas require at least 90 percent of the beds in a prison to be filled, according to a new report by the advocacy group In the Public Interest, and quotas were part of nearly two-thirds of the contracts the group analyzed. Prison companies use the profits to expand, effectively pulling the strings on state prison populations as lawmakers must incarcerate a certain number of people — or pay. The state of Arizona recently paid the prison company Management & Training Corp. $3 million for empty beds when a 97 percent quota wasn't met, reported HuffPost's Chris Kirkham. The U.S. leads the world in incarcerating its residents, with one in 100 adults behind bars." Continue reading →

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Vacant Private Prisons in Oklahoma May Re-Open

"CCA has posted job openings for various positions at the Watonga prison and a warden has been named, according to the CCA website. The prison, whose capacity is about 2,100, closed in 2010 after the state of Arizona ended its contract with the company. Meanwhile, in Hinton, Mayor Shelly Newton said representatives from Geo Group, which operates the Great Plains facility, have been holding job fairs in preparation for a new contract. The Great Plains prison, which has a capacity of 2,000 inmates, closed in 2010 after Arizona also ended its contract for that facility. Newton said re-opening the prison would greatly benefit Hinton’s economy. The city has about 2,000 residents." Continue reading →

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800 U.S. police round up 129 gang suspects in Mexican Mafia raid

"About 800 local, state and federal law enforcement officers arrested 129 suspects indicted on a variety of murder, extortion, racketeering, drug and weapons charges in Orange County as part of 'Operation Smokin’ Aces.' Police said they seized 22 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.5 pounds of heroin and 3 pounds of cocaine, and the FBI said undercover officers purchased 38 handguns and 29 rifles in connection with the sweep. Investigators said members of the prison gang ordered assaults on 12 inmates, including one man whose head was stapled 20 times, in the Orange County Jail for failure to pay drug taxes." Continue reading →

Continue Reading800 U.S. police round up 129 gang suspects in Mexican Mafia raid

Fake online reviews targeted by N.Y. attorney general

"It’s an online technique sometimes called 'astroturfing,' or laying down fake grass-roots excitement to help build a better online ranking for a business or product. It’s even become a full-blown racket when companies have hired freelance writers – sometimes paid up to $10 for every fake gush they tap out – to go to sites such as Citysearch, Google Local, or Yelp and praise products and businesses they've never seen, let alone tried. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Monday that 19 local companies have fessed up to using such techniques, agreeing to pay more than $350,000 in penalties for breaking laws against false advertising and deceptive business practices." Continue reading →

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30,000 people can access Ohio driver’s license database with no oversight

"Ohio allows thousands of police officers and court employees to access driver’s license images online without oversight, by far the nation’s most permissive system. A recent Cincinnati Enquirer/Gannett Ohio investigation found the state permits 30,000 law enforcement officers and others to search the image database, which Attorney General Mike DeWine admitted last month had been uploaded in June without telling the public or reviewing security protocols. The Republican attorney general said similar technology was used by law enforcement in more than half the U.S., but the Enquirer’s report showed the technology is far more limited elsewhere." Continue reading →

Continue Reading30,000 people can access Ohio driver’s license database with no oversight

Senator Asks if FBI Can Get iPhone 5S Fingerprint Data via Patriot Act

"The iPhone 5S reportedly stores fingerprint data locally 'on the chip' and in an encrypted format. It also blocks third-party apps from accessing Touch ID. Yet important questions remain about how this technology works, Apple's future plans for this technology, and the legal protections that Apple will afford it. I should add that regardless of how carefully Apple implements fingerprint technology, this decision will surely pave the way for its peers and smaller competitors to adopt biometric technology, with varying protections for privacy. I respectfully request that Apple provide answers to the following questions." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenator Asks if FBI Can Get iPhone 5S Fingerprint Data via Patriot Act