Free Republic

Los Angeles police officers tampered with voice recording equipment in dozens of patrol cars in an effort to avoid being monitored while on duty, according to records and interviews. An inspection by Los Angeles Police Department investigators found about half of the estimated 80 cars in one South L.A. patrol division were missing antennas, which help capture what officers say in the field. The antennas in at least 10 more cars in nearby divisions had also been removed. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and other top officials learned of the problem last summer but chose not to investigate which officers were...

John Winkler, 30, rushed out of an apartment behind another victim who was bleeding profusely from the neck and covered in blood, when deputies fired on both men, according to a sheriff’s news release. The deputy-involved shooting occurred after a report of a “assault with a deadly weapon, man with a knife” at an apartment complex in the 900 block of Palm Avenue, a call that came in about 9:30 p.m. Monday, the news release stated. When deputies got to the apartment, Winkler came running out, “lunging at the back” of another man also fleeing, the release said. “Both ran...

The Missouri Department of Corrections discovered, upon preparing to release a prisoner who had served a 13-year sentence in July 2013, that the prisoner had never been incarcerated and promptly sent him to prison. In the intervening 13 years since his 1999 arrest, Cornealious 'Mike' Anderson III, 36, has transformed his life, becoming a master carpenter, starting his own business and marrying and having children. In July last year, as he and his youngest daughter slept in the St Louis home he built for his family, a SWAT team outfitted in tactical gear and helmets swarmed the house, arresting the...

Mark.Levy@svherald.com Sierra Vista Police Department Corp. Mike Mitchell stands with his Belgium Malinois “Bones” during Thursday’s brief ceremony at the station. Bones’s new protective vest was made possible by a donation from a Tucson resident. SIERRA VISTA — Sierra Vista K-9 Officers Bones and Izzy will be outfitted with life saving bullet- and stab-proof vests, complete with their own department patch, thanks to Tucson-based Protect Police K-9 (PPK-9) and a generous, anonymous Sierra Vista donor. “Police dogs are working officers, just like their two-legged counterparts,” says Lawrence Boutte, Sierra Vista lieutenant. “They are trained to ‘serve and protect’ and...

The McAllen Police Department is facing a big lawsuit, after a sergeant allegedly failed to prevent a drunk driver from getting behind the wheel. Bars and clubs are sometimes sued after serving drinks to a customer involved in drunk driving accidents, but a case filed in March points to a McAllen police sergeant for failing to prevent a drunk driver from taking the life of an Edinburg man. Two years ago, Jose Mata was taken from his wife and son, when police say Zulai Zamora rammed the back of his motorcycle at the intersection of Jackson Rd. and University Drive...

A wrongly imprisoned Dallas man, who just won his $1.1 million lawsuit against the city, would still be in jail if not for the discovery of video evidence, which proved that his arresting officer had attacked him and lied about it. In December of 2009, Dallas police Officer Matthew Antkowiak was dispatched to break up a fight between two white men. But on his way to the scene, he saw a black man, 62-year-old Ronald Jones, crossing the street. Antkowiak claimed that Jones was throwing beer bottles. He stopped his car and approached Jones. According to the officer, Jones tried...

Thousands Of Artifacts Seized At 91-Year-Old Indiana Man's Home Federal agents, art experts and museum curators descended on the home of a 91-year-old man in central Indiana on Wednesday to take control of a huge collection of artifacts from Native American, Russian, Chinese and other cultures. FBI Special Agent Robert Jones told reporters that the collection's cultural value "is immeasurable," reports RTV6 The Indy Channel.

New revelations about mom killed by Capitol cops WASHINGTON — First they called her a terrorist threat. When she turned out to be an unarmed suburban mother, they said she was on drugs. Now, WND has exclusively learned, without a trace of doubt, that was wrong, too. WND can also now report Miriam Carey was shot in the back of the head by U.S. Capitol Police officers and uniformed Secret Service agents six months ago, on Oct. 3, 2013. The official police investigation still has not been released. But Carey family attorney Eric Sanders obtained the toxicology and autopsy report...

RUSH COUNTY, Ind. - The FBI says a 91-year-old Indiana man who collected thousands of archeological artifacts over his lifetime may have acquired some of them improperly. At a news conference Wednesday, the FBI could not say if Donald Miller would face charges for his collection in Waldron. Dozens of agents were at Miller's farm to collect and process the artifacts. It happened in Waldron, a classic, quiet, one-stoplight Indiana town (snip) Several people in Waldron said the house was like a museum, that school groups and Scout troops would go on regular tours. The FBI has around 100 agents...

L SPRINGFIELD — After a state conservation officer ticketed the National Rifle Association’s Illinois lobbyist last December for breaking a hunting law, the gun-rights advocate dutifully paid his $120 fine. But Todd Vandermyde, one of Springfield’s most powerful and effective lobbyists, didn’t stop there. A month later, he worked with one legislator to rewrite the law he broke. And not long after that, he enlisted help from House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, to carry legislation that, at least initially, would have greatly restrained the authority of Department of Natural Resources police officers to venture onto private property. “I...

So, it’s a warm day, and you’re standing in a parking lot, drinking a refreshing can of iced tea. Suddenly, a random dude walks up and demands your beverage. You show him that it is in fact iced tea and that you aren’t publicly intoxicated. He tells you to give him the can and you say no, figuring this stranger can get his own iced tea. This is exactly what happened to rapper Christopher “Xstrav” Beatty, who was handcuffed and arrested by Officer Rick Libero of the Cumberland County Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement for drinking a can of Arizona...

A University of Virginia student charged last year with assaulting Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control agents attempting to stop her for underage possession beer that turned out to be sparkling water has filed a $40 million lawsuit against the state and seven agents. Among other things, Elizabeth K. Daly’s 47-page suit, filed Tuesday in Richmond Circuit Court, alleges malicious prosecution, failure to train ABC agents appropriately, and six counts of assault and battery.

Hours after hundreds protested the Albuquerque Police Department’s use of force Tuesday evening, officers opened fire on a man near Central and Coors. The man died at the hospital, police said Wednesday morning. He becomes the 23rd man since 2010 shot and killed by Albuquerque Police, which is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for its use of force Neighbors at the scene of Tuesday’s shooting were shocked and outraged. They said officers shot the man while he was unarmed and talking on a cellphone. A video shot by a neighbor appears to show a man in a...

Police shot and killed a man after he opened fire and struck a police dog in Anaheim Thursday, officials said. The incident began when probation officers were conducting a search in the 1120 block of Mayfair Avenue about 2 p.m., according to the Anaheim Police Department.

<p>NORRIDGEWOCK, Maine (AP) — Police armed with assault rifles descended on a Maine man’s home after members of a tree removal crew he’d told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun.</p>

BRIDGEPORT TWP, Mich. (March 18, 2014)– A man in Saginaw County is facing a felony charge after being arrested at a township board meeting March 4, for going over his allotted speaking time. Mark Adams was charged Friday, March 14 with a felony resisting and obstructing police and a disturbing the peace misdemeanor. The incident was caught on camera and has been viewed thousands of times. FOX 17 spoke exclusively with the man arrested, traveling across the state to get answers. Adams was pulled from the podium by several officers and arrested after exceeding the public comment time limit of...

SAGINAW, MI — The mother of Milton Hall, a homeless Saginaw man shot and killed by Saginaw police officers in 2012, has settled her federal wrongful death lawsuit against the city and nine police officers, her attorneys say. Jewel Hall on Friday, March 14, settled her case in U.S. District Court in Bay City, according to a press release sent from Hall's Detroit attorneys. Hall settled the case for $725,000, according to her Saginaw attorney, Debra Freid. Hall's "primary motivation was to make sure that this never happens to another family," Freid told The Saginaw News. The dollar amount is...

I was out having a succulent Chinese meal when I got the news that Ares Armor was raided. Monderno broke the story earlier today pointing out an instagram released by our friend Jeremy Tuma, the COO of Ares Armor. After finishing up my crab wonton, I figured I would see what was the latest. Here is some video footage from the raid at their new National City store.

A father was dragged from his home and handcuffed in front of his children by a SWAT team looking for his estranged wife – to collect her unpaid student loans... Mr Wright was later told by Stockton police that the order to send in the SWAT team came from The U.S. Department of Education who were looking for his estranged wife to collect defaulted loan payments. 

A 31-year-old Calumet Park woman has been charged with murder in connection with a police chase early Friday morning that killed an off-duty Chicago police officer, authorities said. Shanell Terrell, of the 12300 block of South Throop Street, is expected to appear in bond court Sunday on charges of first-degree murder and possession of cannabis, Cook County State’s Attorney spokeswoman Sally Daly said Saturday evening. Authorities said Terrell was behind the wheel of a white van and being pursued by a Calumet Park patrol officer when she plowed into Officer David Harris’ black Lexus shortly before 1 a.m. at the...