The Watchmen's Blog (232)

I Ain't No Plaxico: Teen to Cops

Once upon a time it may have been flattering to be compared to former Giants stud wide receiver Plaxico Burress. But now that the Super Bowl champ is serving hard time for accidentally shooting himself in the leg last year, things are different. And Christian Dudley, for one, resents any likening of himself to the embattled sports star. Dudley, an 18-year-old from Manhattan who pl

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Added by The Watchmen on October 21, 2009 at 12:56pm — No Comments

Bernard Kerik mug shot released; NYPD's ex-top cop is now inmate No. 210-717

Bernard Kerik - former NYPD police commissioner, one-time Homeland Security Secretary nominee, national Sept. 11 hero - has a new label. Inmate No. 210-717. Kerik got his assigned number at the Westchester County jail after becoming the first NYPD commissioner to wind up behind bars when a judge revoked his bail Tuesday for trying to taint the jury pool in his upcoming corruption trial. O

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Added by The Watchmen on October 21, 2009 at 12:53pm — No Comments

Aim Tasers lower, police told

RCMP and OPP change policy after maker urges stun gun users to avoid firing at suspects' chests Police forces across Canada, including the RCMP and OPP, are immediately changing their Taser use policy after the manufacturer issued a directive that officers should not aim the weapon at a suspect's chest. Taser International said in a bulletin that it's no longer advisable to aim the conducted energy weapon, which sends out a jolt of electricity, at a target's chest a

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Added by The Watchmen on October 12, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

Denver may settle a brutality lawsuit

DENVER, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The Denver City Council may settle a police brutality lawsuit for $225,000, city officials said Monday. The federal lawsuit alleges Denver police brutalized and repeatedly used a Taser on Alberto Romero, 47, who died, allegedly from injuries he sustained during the incident, The Denver Post reported. The confrontation took place in f

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Added by The Watchmen on September 25, 2009 at 10:45am — No Comments

Brothers Allege Police Brutality

Allegations of police brutality are being made in Regina after a 21 year old man was badly beaten in the city's North Central. He's still recovering from injuries he believes were sustained at the hands of Regina Police officers. But Regina Police say they were trying to break up a fight and have charged two brothers. John Parisian admits he was very drunk during the ear

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Added by The Watchmen on September 25, 2009 at 10:44am — No Comments

Firefighter cleared of assault; claims police brutality

Erin Hawksworth BOSTON - A 42-year-old former firefighter who was recently exonerated of assault charges stemming from an argument with his girlfriend, is alleging police brutality after he says he suffered an eye socket injury and facial contusions when officers beat him up. Wayne

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Added by The Watchmen on September 25, 2009 at 10:39am — No Comments

Correction officer who says Boston police beat him files suit

By Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe | September 25, 2009 A Boston officer who was at the center of the notorious, near-deadly police beating of another patrolman nearly 15 years ago faces new allegations of police abuse, in a federal lawsuit that alleges the department

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Added by The Watchmen on September 25, 2009 at 10:35am — No Comments

Police officer tipped off friend to drug raid, jury says

By George Anastasia Philadelphia Inquirer He chose friendship over his badge, a federal prosecutor argued. Yesterday, a jury agreed. Now that choice, which has already cost veteran Philadelphia police officer Rickie Durham his career, could lead to a lengthy prison sentence. Durham, 44, was found gui

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Added by The Watchmen on September 25, 2009 at 10:31am — No Comments

Animal-cruelty charges dropped against Burlington County cop

By JASON NARK Philadelphia Daily News narkj@phillynews.com 856-779-3231 If animals could talk, a few cows in Burlington County might ask state legislators to hurry up and outlaw bestiality. During a bizarre hearing there yesterday, a Superior Court judge dismissed animal-cruelty charge

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Added by The Watchmen on September 25, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Cops get tougher regs in wake of Daily News series

By WENDY RUDERMAN & BARBARA LAKER Philadelphia Daily News rudermw@phillynews.com 215-854-2860 No sexual relationships. No gifts. No "social, financial or business" dealings. No undocumented meetings or telephone conversations. Those are just a few of the rules spelled out in a new police directive that

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Added by The Watchmen on September 25, 2009 at 10:28am — No Comments

George Jaramillo, former O.C. assistant sheriff, gets 27 months

The Los Angeles Times The key aide to former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona pleaded guilty to mail fraud and filing a false tax return. A onetime assistant sheriff and trusted aide of convicted former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona w

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Added by The Watchmen on September 15, 2009 at 10:06am — No Comments

Fla. Officer Allegedly Misused Taser Laser

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville Sheriff's officer has been suspended for two weeks without pay after something he reportedly did inside a Wal-Mart. Officer Michael Williams is accused of using the red laser on his JSO-issued Taser inappropriately. According to an internal affairs report, Williams pointed the laser at two women. They said he aimed it directly at their chest and moved it around in circles. The report also said it "made the women feel horrified and ne

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Added by The Watchmen on September 2, 2009 at 4:03pm — No Comments

Texas Sheriff Sentenced in Drug Ring

AP A former South Texas sheriff and a Houston elementary school teacher were among 11 people sentenced to prison Thursday for their role in a conspiracy that moved marijuana and cocaine from Mexico, through Houston and as far as Delaware. The sheriff's involvement illustrated how intertwined public corruption and drug trafficking are even on the U.S. side of the border. Since late 2006, more than 80 law enforcement officers working on the U.S.-Mexico border at the local,

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Added by The Watchmen on September 2, 2009 at 3:58pm — No Comments

Holding for the NYPD: News finds long waits when dialing cops

Calling the cops? Good luck getting through. A Daily News survey found it's nearly impossible to reach anyone at the front desks of many precinct stationhouses across the city. The lines are busy. The phones ring off the hook. Or, even worse, cops pick up the phone - and slam it back down. As part of a month-long probe, The News telephoned all 76 neighborhood precinct stationhouses across the city

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Added by The Watchmen on August 3, 2009 at 1:45pm — No Comments

Virginia woman arrested for blogging about local police officers

By Carlos Miller A Virginia woman who blogged about an undercover police task force - posting their pictures and at least one home address - was arrested for the content of her blog in a case that might end up setting precedent for the First Amendment in the cyber age. Elisha Strom, 34, was charged with one count of harassment of a police offi

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Added by The Watchmen on July 30, 2009 at 5:20pm — No Comments

Top blacks in NYPD demand changes following Omar Edwards shooting

The scence on Thursday night at 125 Street and 2nd Avenue, in Manhattan.

A cadre of top black NYPD brass demanded changes in the department's approach to crimefighting Sunday after reassuring the family of slain cop Omar Edwards that he died a hero. About 20 high-ranking cops visited Edwards' Brooklyn home to offer their sympathy to his grieving family and their solution to stopping

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Added by The Watchmen on June 1, 2009 at 5:37am — No Comments

Family Of Grandmother, 71, Claims Police Brutality

The family of a 71-year-old grandmother is making a police brutality claim, saying she was hurt when she was knocked down by officers inside a Queens stationhouse. The woman is now at Jamaica Hospital, undergoing surgery for a broken hip. Last Wednesday evening at the 107th Precinct in Queens, a group of parents, their teenage daughters, and one grandmother – Elizabeth Gorden – showed up to find out why a man they say slapped one of the girls near a bus stop wasn't arrest

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Added by The Watchmen on May 28, 2009 at 4:31pm — No Comments

Suspect beaten by Birmingham, Ala., police sues

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A man whose beating by five Birmingham police officers was caught on a dashboard video is suing the fired officers, the police chief and the city, saying he suffered severe and permanent injuries. The suspect, Anthony Warren, who is in prison, filed a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks monetary damages and asks the court to order changes in the way police o

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Added by The Watchmen on May 28, 2009 at 4:07pm — No Comments

Pa. detective accused of using drug case evidence

West York, PA. - A fired police detective from south-central Pennsylvania faces hundreds of charges for stealing and using drugs from the department's evidence locker. Former West Manchester Township Police Detective Steven Crider was arraigned Tuesday on 255 counts of tampering, theft, forgery, possession of drug paraphernalia and other charges. York County District Attorney Stan Rebert says his office is trying to determine if Crider's actions compromised criminal cases

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Added by The Watchmen on May 28, 2009 at 4:06pm — No Comments

New Mexico Police Unions Sue Over New DA Policy

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) - Unions representing Hobbs and Carlsbad police officers have sued District Attorney Janetta Hicks, asking a Carlsbad district judge to stop Hicks from requiring officers to prosecute misdemeanors. An attorney for the unions says police officers are not trained attorneys. In February, Hicks notified law enforcement agencies in Lea, Eddy and Chaves counties that her office would prosecute only cases of drunken driving or domestic violence between intimate

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Added by The Watchmen on May 28, 2009 at 4:01pm — No Comments