Category Archives: Police Misconduct
NINTH CIRCUIT RULES THAT INNOCENT BEHAVIOR IS SUSPICIOUS
In a recent court decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a combination of non-suspicious driving characteristics can give rise to the suspicion of criminal activity sufficient to justify pulling over the motorist. A border patrol agent in a marked border patrol vehicle observed motorist Rufino Ignacio Valdes-Vega driving a […]
SCOTUS hears GPS case
Today the Supreme Court heard argument in U.S. v. Antoine Jones, on the issue of whether the 4th Amendment prohibits police officers from attaching a GPS device to a suspect’s vehicle without a warrant in order to track that person’s movements. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, this invasive practice is straight out of a […]
TWO FT. LAUDERDALE POLICE OFFICERS ARRESTED FOR SERIOUS MISCONDUCT
Two Ft. Lauderdale police department detectives have been arrested and charged with nearly twenty counts of racketeering, kidnapping, grand theft, extortion and official misconduct. A spokesman for the Broward County State Attorney said that Detectives Brian Dodge and Billy Koepke “were involved in an ongoing pattern of criminal conduct that focused on stealing money and […]
NY POLICE OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT AFTER HAVING INAPPROPRIATE SEXUAL CONTACT WITH WOMAN DURING TRAFFIC STOP
According to the Wall Street Journal, prosecutors claimed that Police Officer Garrett Mannerz pulled over a car in East Meadow, summoned one of the car’s female passengers to his police car, and “coerced her into touching him sexually.” As reported by the WSJ, Mannerz let the car’s occupants go, but allegedly called one of them later for […]
NYPD DETECTIVE IS FOUND GUILTY OF PLANTING DRUGS
Check out the New York Times article HERE. According to the NYT, New York State Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach, who presided over the criminal trial, “scolded the [NYPD] for what he described as a widespread culture of corruption endemic in its drug units,” and declared that “this court was shocked, not only by the seeming […]
OFFICER’S PEPPER-SPRAYING OF PROTESTORS IS UNDER INVESTIGATION
The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau and the Manhattan D.A.’s Office are separately investigating Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna’s use of pepper spray on a number of female protesters at a demonstration on Saturday. The incident was captured on video and disseminated on the internet. In that video, Inspector Bologna walks up to a group of women standing on the sidewalk […]
PROTESTORS KETTLED AND MACED BY NYPD COPS
Despite the fact that the First Amendment guarantees ”the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,”a group of female protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street organization were “kettled” (corralled with plastic netting held by officers), a tactic used to contain and control protesters, then pepper-sprayed for good […]
NYPD COPS’ RACIST REMARKS CAUGHT ON WIRETAP
According to the Daily News, the wiretap recordings at the heart of the ticket-fixing probe captured conversations between police officers that were filled with racist and inflammatory remarks. According to the article, ”prosecutors have worked feverishly to keep transcripts of the wiretapped calls from being made public.” Apparently, Bronx juries have already acquitted two accused criminals arrested by cops embroiled in […]
17 NYPD POLICE OFFICERS INDICTED IN TICKET-FIX SCANDAL
A grand jury in the Bronx has indicted 17 police officers with bribery, perjury, official misconduct, and other crimes for allegedly having made traffic summonses “disappear” for fellow officers, their friends and relatives. These officers — many of whom are officials working for the city’s largest police union, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association – are expected to […]
AFTER 11 YEARS BEHIND BARS, 2 MEN WHO PLEADED GUILTY ARE EXONERATED OF MURDER
After 11 years behind bars, two North Carolina men were freed after a panel of judges ruled they didn’t kill a man during a home invasion despite their having pleaded guilty. According to the AP, “Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxson said they felt pressure to plead guilty to second-degree murder for the shooting of Walter […]
