Abuse of Power Thread (Cops, Governments, Etc.) - Part 1

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

UPDATE: Tulsa Authorities Reportedly Falsified Reserve Deputy's Training Records

According to the Tulsa World, police supervisors were instructed to falsify training records for the Tulsa reserve deputy who killed a man earlier this month when he accidentally fired his gun instead of a taser.

Robert C. Bates—a 73-year-old reserve deputy who allegedly got the job thanks to his financial contributions—was ultimately charged with manslaughter for mistakenly shooting Eric Harris. But according to the Tulsa World, authorities first tried—apparently in vain—to cover up his lack of training.

Supervisors at the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office were ordered to falsify a reserve deputy’s training records, giving him credit for field training he never took and firearms certifications he should not have received, sources told the Tulsa World.

At least three of reserve deputy Robert Bates’ supervisors were transferred after refusing to sign off on his state-required training, multiple sources speaking on condition of anonymity told the World.

Additionally, Sheriff Stanley Glanz told a Tulsa radio station this week that Bates had been certified to use three weapons, including a revolver he fired at Harris. However, Glanz said the Sheriff’s Office has not been able to find the paperwork on those certifications.​

A Tulsa County spokesperson tells the paper, “The training record speaks for itself. I have absolutely no knowledge of what you are talking about... There aren’t any secrets in law enforcement. Zero. Those types of issues would have come up."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/cour...cle_a6330f10-a9fb-51e3-ab5e-4d97b03c6c04.html

Wow

 

[KevanG]

Trying to cover up massive incompetence in a police force that led to death? *tries not to faint from shock*

 

[Teelie]

Yeah, it is a good thing I am already sitting down having read that.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

What You Need to Know If You're Going to Record the Cops

There are some very disturbing videos circulating the Internet right now, depicting the deaths of unarmed civilians at the hands of trained, armed men. Many of these videos even show individuals being shot in the back, or as they try to flee.

These are videos of police officers in America killing unarmed black men like Oscar Grant and Eric Garner. And, as the most recent case shows, without these recordings, much of America might not have any idea exactly how much of a problem this is.

Citizen videos of law enforcement encounters are more valuable than ever. And for those who are wondering—it is legal to record the police.

The police don’t always seem aware of this. There have been incidents across the country of police telling people to stop filming, and sometimes seizing their camera or smartphone, or even arresting them, when they don’t comply.

In the most recent citizen-filmed incident to gain widespread media attention, on April 4, white police officer Michael Slager shot and killed 50-year-old black man Walter Scott in the back as he ran away in North Charleston, South Carolina. Bystander Feiden Santana filmed the encounter, which started with a traffic stop. After Santana’s video surfaced, the officer was arrested and charged with murder. Santana said that he is scared of what might happen to him. He also considered deleting the video, and doing nothing with it. And Santana is not the only person who may be intimidated by the prospect of filming the police, with good reason.

That’s why, in addition to EFF Attorney Sophia Cope’s legal analysis highlighting some of the recent case law establishing the right to film police officers, we’re sharing some basic information cop watchers should know.

What Courts Have Said

Courts across the country have held that there is a First Amendment right to openly record the police. Courts have also held, however, that individuals cannot interfere with police operations, and that wiretapping statutes that prohibit secretly recording may apply to recording the police. But underlying these decisions is the understanding that recording the police is constitutionally protected.

Know Your Rights and Be Safe

While it has been established that individuals have the right to record the police, what happens on the street frequently does not match the law. Also, if you’re thinking about filming the police, it’s likely you’ll have more police encounters than you otherwise would.

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a bar association that does police accountability work. The National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer program is focused on watching the police at protests. CopBlock and Cop Watch are loosely organized groups that have chapters across the country, and provide resources on filming the police everyday.

Here are the most essential things to keep in mind:

-Stay calm and courteous, even though the situation may be stressful. Remember—if you get arrested or get into an altercation with the police, you won’t be able to keep filming them!

-Be sure that you are not interfering with police operations, and stand at a safe distance from any encounter you film.

-Your right to record audio surreptitiously of police carrying out their duties in public may vary from state to state. You should check your state law to know the fullest extent of your rights, but the lowest risk way to record is to hold your device in plain view of the officers.

-Do not lie to police officers. If they ask whether you are recording, answer honestly.

-If the police start interacting with you, treat the encounter as you would any encounter with law enforcement—in fact, you may want to be extra careful, since as the repeated incidents of police seizing cameras and smartphones demonstrate, it may make you more of a target.

-If you are at a demonstration, police will often issue a dispersal order—in general, they will declare a protest an unlawful assembly and tell people to leave. Unless you are granted permission to stay, that order applies to you, too. If you do not comply, you should expect to be arrested.

-While it is not legal for an officer to order you to move because you are recording, they may still order you to move. If you do not comply you could be arrested. If you do want to comply, consider complying with the smallest movement possible, and verbally confirming that you are complying with their orders. For example, if you are standing five feet from an officer, and they say “You need to move back,” you might want to consider calmly saying “yes, officer, I am moving back” while taking a few steps back.

Below are some helpful resources and tips related to interacting with and filming the police from these groups and EFF:

-The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) “Know Your Rights” pamphlet (available in multiple languages) provides basic information you should know for interacting with the police.

-The NLG Legal Observer Program training manual has tips for filming the police at protests, many of which are useful for filming any encounter.

-Cop Watch has resources and examples here.

-EFF’s Know Your Rights guide provides information on what you need to know if the police want to search your electronic devices.

Why Focus on Citizen Recording When Departments Are Implementing Bodycams?

As the conversation about police accountability continues to take place across the country, body cameras are often proposed as a solution, and they are getting a lot of attention in the news right now. “Bodycam” recordings have made a difference in some cases. But many transparency and accountability advocates including EFF, have expressed reasonable doubts about their efficacy. States are trying to grapple with the many privacy issues they raise, mostly by considering exempting the footage from public records act requests. And while “bodycams” may be a contentious subject, there’s little doubt that it is citizen footage of law enforcement encounters that has really fueled the current debate about police accountability.

Keep Taping

As North Charleston Pastor Nelson Rivers said: “If not for the video, we would still be following the narrative from the officer. If not for this video, the story would be entirely different.” Scott’s family agrees. After watching the video, his brother stated: “I think that if that man never showed the video we would not be at the point that we’re at right now.” And North Charleston Councilwoman Dorothy Williams had this to say: “I’m asking all the citizens of North Charleston to continue taping.”

You don’t have to live in North Charleston to know why that’s a good idea.

http://gizmodo.com/what-you-need-to-known-if-youre-going-to-record-the-cop-1698419679

Some good info to have

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

The DEA Is Buying Off-the-Shelf Spyware From a Sketchy Company

The Drug Enforcement Agency has been quietly spending millions on off-the-shelf spyware for the past few years.

Motherboard’s Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai traced the DEA’s $2.4 million in purchases of malware for snooping called Remote Control System. It’s a comprehensive spying tool that lets users track their targets’ emails, phone calls, Facebook, Twitter, and even turn on their webcams — all in secret. Writes Franceschi-Bicchieirai:

The DEA originally placed an order for the software in August of 2012, according to both public records and sources with knowledge of the deal.​

In light of recent reports of the agency’s history of dragnet spying, the DEA’s decision to buy a surveillance tool hawked as “untraceable” and meant to evade encryption warrants public discussion. How frequently is this being used? And under what circumstances?

We don’t know. But we do know how other countries have used this exact spyware — to track political dissidents. While contracts are between the DEA and a company called Cicom USA, Motherboard discovered that Cicom USA is “simply a reseller” for Hacking Team, the controversial and spectacularly sketchy Italian surveillance company recently blacklisted as an “Enemy of the Internet” by Reporters Without Borders for its habit of selling spyware to corrupt governments so they can spy on journalists and activists.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/th...-buying-hacking-tools-from-an-italian-company

This is profoundly disturbing

 

[Teelie]

They seem to have forgotten the fourth amendment right.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Tampa Cops Targeting Black Cyclists

After conducting an analysis of more than 10,000 bicycle tickets issued by the Tampa police over the past 12 years, the Tampa Bay Times has found that 79 percent of those ticketed are black. Blacks make up about a quarter of the city’s population, the Times reports.

According to the Times, Tampa police have written 2,504 bike tickets—more than Jacksonville, Miami, St. Petersburg, and Orlando combined—in the past three years:

Tampa police are targeting poor, black neighborhoods with obscure subsections of a Florida statute that outlaws things most people have tried on a bike, like riding with no light or carrying a friend on the handlebars.

Officers use these minor violations as an excuse to stop, question and search almost anyone on wheels. The department doesn’t just condone these stops, it encourages them, pushing officers who patrol high-crime neighborhoods to do as many as possible.​

Bikes, Tampa Police Chief Jane Cantor said in a statement, have “become the most common mode of transportation for criminals.”

“This is not a coincidence. Many individuals receiving bike citations are involved in criminal activity,” the statement reads.

However, the paper found that only 20 percent of those adults ticketed in 2014 were arrested; moreover, those arrests were “almost always for a small amount of drugs or a misdemeanor like trespassing.”

“Florida is one of the leaders in bicycle and pedestrian fatalities and Tampa is not immune to that,” Cantor’s statement reads. “Our goal is to make the roads safer for everyone.”

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...rouble-with-the-cops---if-youre-black/2225966

Right in my own back yard. Also love their BS and thinly veiled racist excuses

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

UPDATE: Cop Found Not Guilty in Fatal 2012 Shooting of Rekia Boyd

There will be no justice for Rekia Boyd, the 22-year-old unarmed Chicago woman who was fatally shot by an off-duty cop in 2012.

On Monday, Judge Dennis Porter found Detective Dante Servin not guilty. Servin faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless discharge of a firearm, and reckless conduct.

Despite Porter’s belief that Servin unloaded his firearm—which he referred to as “an intentional act”—he said prosecutors failed to prove that Servin acted with reckless intent, which must be proven when charging an individual with manslaughter. “The evidence does not support the charges on which the defendant is being tried,” the judge said.

Boyd was fatally shot on March 21, 2012 when Servin, who was off-duty at the time, approached Boyd and a group of friends near Douglas Park for being rowdy. Servin said he saw Antonio Cross reach for a gun during the conflict, and only fired because he felt his life was in danger. One of the bullets fatally struck Boyd. Police never found a weapon on Cross.

Before handing down Monday’s verdict, Judge Porter noted: “This is not a place for emotion. This is a place for reasoned decisions.”

But it was not enough to alleviate the pain and anger Boyd’s family felt after hearing his decision.

“You want me to be quiet?” Boyd’s brother yelled, before being dragged out of the Cook County courtroom. “This motherf***er killed my sister.”

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2015...e-officer-who-shot-rekia-boyd-on-trial-monday

This had an actual thread back in the day but I don't believe it made it through those times so I posted it here.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

FBI Overstated Forensic Evidence In More Than 200 Trials

According to a new report by The Washington Post, the FBI has admitted its examiners gave misleading testimony about forensic hair matches for over two decades, overstating evidence to aid prosecutors in at least 257 criminal trials.

32 of those trials resulted in death sentences and 14 defendants were either executed or died in prison.

The findings came out today as part of a sweeping review of the FBI Laboratory’s questionable practices prior to 2000. From The Post:

Federal authorities launched the investigation in 2012 after The Washington Post reported that flawed forensic hair matches might have led to the convictions of hundreds of potentially innocent people since at least the 1970s, typically for murder, rape and other violent crimes nationwide.

The review confirmed that FBI experts systematically testified to the near-certainty of “matches” of crime-scene hairs to defendants, backing their claims by citing incomplete or misleading statistics drawn from their case work.​

For the last 15 years, the FBI has reportedly only used hair analysis to rule out suspects or in conjunction with DNA evidence.

Of the 268 hair match trials examined so far, over 95 percent were found to have included flawed FBI testimony. Approximately 1,200 more cases have not yet been reviewed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...c8d8c6-e515-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html

That is so screwed up, can you imagine sitting on the courtroom knowing you are innocent and an FBI expert is on the stand saying your hair definitely matched the murderer? I can't even imagine

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

FBI's Ocean's Eleven Ruse Went "Too Far," Judge Says

On Friday, a federal judge ruled that FBI agents had gone too far last summer when they cut off the Internet service to Paul Phua’s Las Vegas hotel room, posed as repairmen, and entered the room without a search warrant.

According to NBC News, the FBI received a tip last July that Phua, a 50-year old Malaysian millionaire and world champion poker player, and his buddies were taking illegal bets on the World Cup inside his Caesar’s Palace suite. Agents wore hidden cameras into Phua’s room and say the footage in those cameras provides evidence of said illegal betting.

If you think this sounds a liiiitle like it might just violate Phua’s right against unreasonable searches, his lawyers would agree. And it sets a dangerous precedent, according to Federal judge Antony Gordon who ruled against the FBI’s actions on Friday:

“The government need only disrupt the phone, cable, Internet, or some other ‘non-essential’ service, and reasonable people will opt to invite a third party onto their property to repair it, unwittingly allowing government agents into the most private spaces to view and record whatever and whomever they see,” Gordon said.​

The ruling is a victory for Phua, but also for anyone who doesn’t fancy the idea that his Comcast repairman might actually be conducting a federal investigation. For serious guys, I think FBI agents need to stop watch Ocean’s Eleven. They’re getting too many ideas!

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-c...pairmen-ensnare-alleged-gambling-ring-n237661

What the hell? How could they possibly think they could get away with that?

 

[Teelie]

As you've posted many times before, the FBI believes it is allowed to get away with all kinds of ********.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

DOJ Launches Investigation Into Police Custody Death of Freddie Gray

The U.S. Department of Justice will investigate the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old Baltimore man who died Sunday following spinal injuries he received while in police custody. Gray, who is black, was arrested last week for allegedly possessing an illegal switchblade.

DOJ spokeswoman Dena Iverson gave the following statement, via the Baltimore Sun:

“The Department of Justice has been monitoring the developments in Baltimore, MD, regarding the death of Freddie Gray,” spokeswoman Dena Iverson said in a statement. “Based on preliminary information, the Department of Justice has officially opened this matter and is gathering information to determine whether any prosecutable civil rights violation occurred.”​

Gray’s family’s attorney has said that Gray’s spine was 80 percent severed following his arrest. He was given surgery for a broken vertebra on Tuesday after falling into a coma the day before. Baltimore police maintain that he was arrested “without force or incident,” and that the injuries occurred while Gray was being transported by a police van.

Six Baltimore police officers were suspended with pay after Gray’s arrest. Identified by the department today, they are Lieutenant Brian Rice, Officer Caesar Goodson, Sergeant Alicia White, Officer William Porter, Officer Garrett Miller, and Officer Edward Nero.

Maryland lawmakers urged the DOJ to investigate Gray’s death in an open letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder published this morning. Signed by U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin as well as several House representatives, it reads in part:

We are deeply troubled by recent events in the City of Baltimore. As you know, Baltimore resident Freddie Gray, 25, died Sunday April 19, one week after he was injured while in Baltimore Police custody.

Freddie Gray’s family and the residents of the City of Baltimore deserve to know what happened to him while he was in police custody. We need answers.

While we support the efforts of the ongoing review into the policies and procedures of the Baltimore Police Department by the Community Oriented Policing Services Office, we request that the Department of Justice open a federal criminal and civil rights investigation into the death of Baltimore resident Freddie Gray.​

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...gray-federal-probe-20150421-story.html#page=1

Pretty suspicious

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

UPDATE: Alleged Horse Thief Beaten by Sheriff’s Deputies to Receive $650,000

Francis Pusok, the accused horse thief seen on camera being absolutely pummeled by as many as 10 San Bernardino Sheriff’s deputies earlier this month, will receive a $650,000 settlement from the county.

The San Bernadino Sun reports that the County Board of Supervisors unanimously reached the decision, which is not an admission of any wrongdoing.

“The sole purpose of this agreement for both parties is to avoid the costs involved in litigation,” Chairman James Ramos said in a statement. “This agreement is a fair outcome for everyone involved, including the taxpayers.”

The settlement won’t affect the criminal investigation into Pusok. From the San Bernadino Sun:

According to the Sheriff’s Department, deputies were serving a search warrant in an identity theft investigation at a home in the 25300 block of Zuni Road in Apple Valley shortly after noon April 9. Pusok fled deputies in a vehicle, then ditched the vehicle southwest of Bowen Ranch and fled on foot. He allegedly stole a horse from the Deep Creek Hot Springs area and tried to elude his pursuers on dirt trails and across rugged, steep terrain, causing numerous injuries to the horse. Two deputies suffered dehydration and a third was injured after being kicked by the stolen horse, the Sheriff’s Department said.​

A felon who’s been convicted of resisting arrest, animal cruelty and attempted robbery, Pusok, 30, claims he led the deputies on a three-hour chase because he’d been beaten by law enforcement officers before and was worried it would happen again.

“I already have a history of being beaten,” he said last week, adding that police injured his hand in 2013 and kicked him in the face in 2011. “I believe the length of my pursuit saved my life because it was caught on camera.”

The deputies involved in Pusok’s arrest and beating have been placed on paid leave pending criminal investigations by the Sheriff’s Department and FBI.

http://www.sbsun.com//general-news/...uties-francis-pusok-to-get-650000-from-county


I love how they can pay him out and admit no wrongdoing

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

UPDATE: Tulsa Reserve Deputy Pleads Not-Guilty to Killing of Eric Harris

Robert Bates, charged with second-degree manslaughter in the April 2 killing of Eric Harris, pleaded not-guilty Tuesday. Bates and Tulsa sheriff’s department have maintained that the reserve deputy mistook his firearm for his Taser and fired the weapon at Harris accidentally.

Bates, 73, was part of a sting operation investigating illegal gun sales. In a video of the incident released by the Tulsa sheriff’s office last week, police can be seen pinning Harris, 44, to the ground before Bates shouts ‘Taser!” He then fires a single shot. But soon after, Bates realizes he fired his gun and can be heard saying, “I shot him. I’m sorry.” Bates was charged with second-degree manslaughter the day after the video’s release on April 12.

Tulsa Sheriff Stanley Glanz went on the defensive Monday against claims that the police department falsified Bates’ training records, dismissing the accusation and telling the New York Times that there was “no point in falsifying any records,” because he “could have waived all of those requirements” if he “felt like it.” He told the paper that he has waived training requirements in the past for reserves who have previously served as law enforcement; Bates last served as a full-time police officer more than 50 years ago. He went on to describe the reserve force as “essential to keeping the force at full strength”:

Mr. Bates was in the highest of three tiers of reserve deputies within the sheriff’s office, a position requiring more hours of training than lower levels, meaning that he could perform nearly all the duties of a full-time deputy, including making arrests. He was one of several deputies who formed a backup force for the undercover operation that snared Mr. Harris.​

And although the sheriff’s department claims Bates received “extensive training” across his eight years as a reserve deputy, the Times reports Tulsa police have been “unable to produce most of the records” corroborating that assertion. As for the manslaughter charge, Glanz told the paper, “I agree with what the district attorney has done.”

Dan Smolen, a lawyer representing Harris’ family, argued in court Monday, the Associated Press reports, that the Tulsa sheriff’s office violated its own policies by allowing Bates to use his personal handgun on the job despite being trained to use a different weapon.

In a misty-eyed interview last Friday on the Today show, Bates, flanked by his family in his Oklahoma home, told Matt Lauer that shooting Harris was “number one on my list of things in my life that I regret.”

“I saw the light and I squeezed the trigger, and then realized. I dropped the gun,” he said. “This was not an intentional thing. I had no desire to ever take anyone’s life.”

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/oklahoma-reserve-deputy-pleads-guilty-fatal-shooting-30470182

Apparently this guy also plans to take a vacation to the Bahamas while this plays out. And good to know the chief of police can just wave any training requirements he wants if he wants his buddies or donors to be cops

 

[KevanG]

Well isn't that nice. They allow him to skip training, use weapons not allowed by their own procedures and they freely admitted they'll waive whatever they want if they feel like it. What a load of BS.

 

[Docker2.0]

This is going to sound racist but.................he looks racist.

 

[Mike_D202]

UPDATE: Alleged Horse Thief Beaten by Sheriff’s Deputies to Receive $650,000



http://www.sbsun.com//general-news/...uties-francis-pusok-to-get-650000-from-county


I love how they can pay him out and admit no wrongdoing

He'll need that money for a good lawyer after he gets prosecuted for the crimes he committed.

FBI's Ocean's Eleven Ruse Went "Too Far," Judge Says

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-c...pairmen-ensnare-alleged-gambling-ring-n237661

What the hell? How could they possibly think they could get away with that?

They did the same thing for Operation Donnie Brasco when they posed as a cable guy and bugged a television:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_D._Pistone

 

[Teelie]

Drug dealer: Cops leaned me over 18th floor balcony to get my password

While he is a drug dealer and maybe not credible normally this story has enough credibility behind it, not to mention the fact this is common enough with corrupt cops shaking down criminals for money and valuables.

If you want access to encrypted data on a drug dealer's digital device, you might try to break the crypto—or you might just try to break the man.

According to testimony from a police corruption trial currently roiling the city of Philadelphia, officers from an undercover drug squad took the latter route back in November 2007. After arresting their suspect, Michael Cascioli, in the hallway outside his 18th floor apartment, the officers took Cascioli back inside. Although they lacked a search warrant, the cops searched Cascioli's rooms anyway. According to a federal indictment (PDF), the officers "repeatedly assaulted and threatened [Cascioli] during the search to obtain information about the location of money, drugs, and drug suppliers."

Cascioli kept $800 of cash in his nightstand, which he told the cops about. The officers allegedly "took money from [Cascioli's] nightstand and used it to purchase pizza" for themselves.

Cascioli, who gave an interview last October to the Philadelphia Daily News, said the cops wanted much more cash. (The trial has largely focused on allegations that members of the squad shook down drug suspects for money and valuables.) "I'm going to f—ing break your face if you don't tell us where the f— money is," Cascioli recalled one officer saying. Another allegedly urinated on some of his possessions. The government claims that the officers also roughed up Cascioli, punching him in the stomach.

After a few hours of this, which involved an attempt to lure one of Cascioli's suppliers to his building, the officers focused on Cascioli's Palm Pilot, which they (correctly) believed contained the information they wanted. But Cascioli wouldn't provide the password. He claims that police then tried to extract the password through intimidation.

Cascioli says [Officer Thomas] Liciardello asked him a question: "Have you ever seen Training Day?"

When Cascioli said yes, Cascioli says Liciardello looked him in the eyes and said: "This is Training Day for f—ing real," and then instructed officers Norman and Jeffrey Walker to take him to the balcony.

According to Cascioli and the indictment, Liciardello told them to "do whatever they had to do to get the password."

Out on the balcony, Cascioli says officers Norman and Walker lifted him up by each arm and leaned him over the balcony railing.

n his testimony at trial this month, Cascioli provided more details, under oath, about what happened that night. The Palm Pilot, he said, contained records on his $400,000 stash, which he had split for safekeeping between the home of his brother and the home of a friend. When the cops allegedly took him out to the balcony, Cascioli said he truly feared for his life.

"They started to lift me a little," he said. "My feet were off the ground."

He said he was afraid. "I thought they were going to drop me" over the railing. Cascioli said he then gave up his password.

Given that Cascioli was in fact a significant drug dealer, his testimony might sound dubious. (Indeed, the head of Philadelphia's Fraternal Order of Police last year told a local paper that Cascioli's account "sounds ludicrous. This isn't a Lethal Weapon movie.")

But last week, one of the cops who had done the threatening took the witness stand to corroborate Cascioli's account. Jeffrey Walker, who was arrested in an FBI corruption sting back in 2013, admitted that he and another officer had in fact leaned Cascioli over his balcony to elicit the password.

According to the indictment, the night only ended when officers "stole personal items belonging to M.C. valued at approximately $8,000" before leaving for good.

The whole crazy case is a reminder that strong passwords are excellent tools for protecting your information from distant Internet predators. But when the predators have you alone in a room, the real question isn't about the strength of your password but about how much pain and fear you're willing to endure before giving it up.

Ars Technica

 

[Mike_D202]

Drug dealer: Cops leaned me over 18th floor balcony to get my password

While he is a drug dealer and maybe not credible normally this story has enough credibility behind it, not to mention the fact this is common enough with corrupt cops shaking down criminals for money and valuables.

Ars Technica

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Video Appears to Show U.S. Marshal Destroying an Onlooker's Cell Phone

(Can't link due to language, search YT for: U.S. Marshals in South Gate Attack Cop Watcher. Destroys her cellphone )

The U.S. Marshals Service says it’s investigating a video taken this weekend in California that appears to show an agent rip a phone away from a woman who had been filming him before destroying it.

The agents were reportedly investigating alleged biker gang activity near the South Gate home where the video was recorded, when Beatriz Paez walked by. Via the LA Times:

U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement officers had blocked off a stretch of San Juan Avenue and had eight to 10 people lying on their stomachs with their hands on their heads when Paez took out her Samsung cellphone and began recording, she said.​

Standing a few feet away from them and filming, she can be heard repeating something about feeling unsafe and having a “right to be here.”

South Gate police confirmed the Marshals service was involved in the incident, and a Marshals spokesperson tells the Daily Dot that the man in the video appears to be an agent and that the incident is under investigation.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-feds-probe-video-phone-in-south-gate-20150421-story.html

Vid is also at the link but it clearly shows him running towards her and snatching her phone away and then destroying it. It's pretty damning

 

[KevanG]

I'm sure that it's her own fault for some reason or another.

 

[RockSP]

Clearly he felt threatened by her...

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Rikers Island Surveillance Footage Shows Guard Beating Handcuffed Teen

Violence, inflicted by guards and among prisoners, is simply part of the fabric of daily life at Rikers Island. Thanks to tireless reporting by the likes of Michael Winerip and Michael Schwartz at the New York Times, we know this, but we know it in an abstract sense—told through broad statistics and quoted anecdotes. Here’s what it actually looks like.

Two surveillance videos obtained by The New Yorker show Kalief Browder, then 16. Browder was arrested in 2010 for allegedly stealing a backpack; he spent the next three years at Rikers awaiting trial, without ever having been convicted of a crime. The New Yorker’s Jennifer Gonnerman, another tireless prison reporter, covered Browder’s case extensively in a 2014 story for the magazine.

In the first video, from 2012, Browder is seen walking through Rikers’ solitary confinement unit, handcuffed and escorted by a guard. Apparently provoked by something Browder said—there is no audio—the guard throws him onto the floor, holding his face to the ground. In the second video, from 2010, Browder is beaten by a large group of inmates after punching a gang leader who spit in his face. For a full minute, the two guards on the scene are all but powerless to stop wave after wave of punches and kicks.

Browder, who was released in 2013 after the case against him was dismissed, told Gonnerman that he was punished with additional time in solitary confinement for being beaten by the guard. He maintains that he did not steal the backpack that landed him in jail.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/exclusive-video-violence-inside-rikers

Vids at the link, and that is really jacked up

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

UPDATE: Baltimore Police Union Compares Freddie Gray Protests to "Lynch Mob"

On Wednesday, the Baltimore police union issued a statement likening the protests over the death of Freddie Gray, who died Sunday after suffering a broken neck while in police custody, to a “lynch mob.”

From the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3’s statement:

“While we appreciate the right of our citizens to protest and applaud the fact that, to date, the protests have been peaceful, we are very concerned about the rhetoric of the protests. In fact, the images seen on television look and sound much like a lynch mob in that they are calling for the immediate imprisonment of these officers without them ever receiving the due process that is the constitutional right of every citizen, including law enforcement officers.”​

A lawyer representing Gray’s family expressed appropriate outrage at Ryan’s comparison in an interview with the Baltimore Sun.
“We’ve been the victims of the lynching and now we’re the lynch mob?” William “Billy” Murphy said.“The president of the police union called peaceful protests and the anger at the death of a man to severe and unfathomable injuries while in police custody a lynch mob? It doesn’t get more insensitive or insulting than that. These remarks illustrate why black people and the police don’t get along.”
At a press conference later Wednesday, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3 president Gene Ryan seemed to kind of grasp the stupidity of the comparison. “Maybe I need to reword that,” he said.

Protests are expected to continue in Baltimore today. Meanwhile, five of the six police officers involved in Gray’s arrest have given statements to police, though no details from their accounts have been released to the press.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...md-ci-fop-news-conference-20150422-story.html

That is some next level stupidity, you seriously have to try real hard to be that stupid

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

UPDATE: Cop Who Approved Tulsa Reserve Deputy's Training Is an Accused Murderer

According to a new report by CBS News, a 2009 internal investigation by the Tulsa Sheriff’s Office into the training of Robert Bates, the reserve deputy who claims he mistakenly shot and killed Eric Harris earlier this month, deemed his training “questionable” and marked by “preferential treatment,” with Bates apparently warning officers “that he could do what he wanted.”

But the Daily Beast picked up on another detail about Bates’ training: that his supervisor, 44-year-old Warren Cole Crittenden, is now an accused murderer.

Crittenden, the Daily Beast reports, was a former pro wrestler before becoming a Tulsa deputy. He was fired from the department in 2011 and is currently imprisoned under a first-degree murder charge for the death of 33-year-old Michael Jones, a pimp killed in a hotel shootout. He appears to have confirmed suspicions raised by previous reports and the 2009 investigation into Bates’ training:

In a sworn statement from behind bars, Crittenden said he was “ordered…to sign off on official field training records which falsely stated that Mr. Bates had received training that we knew never took place.”​

(Crittenden is currently suing the Tulsa Sheriff’s Office for wrongful termination.)

“I have a piece of paper by Mr. Warren Crittenden—[he’s] now in jail for first-degree murder 40 miles east of here, in Mayes County—signed off to say I’d done a good job,” Bates told Matt Laure on the Today show last Friday.

The Tulsa Sheriff’s Office confirmed an internal investigation occurred, but refused to elaborate to CBS News. Meanwhile, the Tulsa World reports, the Tulsa County District Court judge assigned to Bates’ case, James Caputo, is considering recusing himself because of his past as a Tulsa deputy sheriff. Bates, 73, pleaded not-guilty Tuesday to second-degree manslaughter.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...igned-off-on-tulsa-killer-cop-s-training.html

I hope this smug bastard rots in prison for the rest of his life