So right here in front of the Hotel, a cop was driving the wrong way on Glenstone with no lights on, almost hit someone head on and when they tried to say something to the cop about it they got yelled at and got in there car and left.

All this evidence to the contrary, and yet -I- get looked at funny when I mention to someone that police are the biggest gang problem in the United States.

AssociatedPress - March 05, 2010

A former Milwaukee County sergeant was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for punching a suspect in the face several times as the man sat in the back of a squad car with his hands cuffed behind his back.

It's a shame you can't hear the audio of what they were saying...

Yeah....leaves a big part of the story out. Nonetheless, if you're a cop, you don't do that shit. The guy is no threat whatsoever from the back of a squad car and in handcuffs.

Even when dude was hitting window w/ his foot, it totally looked like he was just trying to get someone's attention by lightly tapping on the glass, opposed to some episodes of Cops I've seen. The officer obviously had no right to attack the guy and if he's dumb enough to do that w/ a camera in the back of the car watching the whole thing, I don't think the state should deem him competent enough to issue him a firearm.

dingdingding

For anyone following the Sheriff Arpaio saga, there's a new chapter:

Link to full article

On orders from Maricopa County, a third-party vendor has archived an unknown quantity of e-mails written by Maricopa County Sheriff's Office personnel since August 2008.

The Sheriff's Office says the e-mails belong to them, and they should have been deleted from an emergency backup system after 28 days.

County management says the e-mails are county property. And the messages play into two federal cases, a racial-profiling civil lawsuit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and an FBI criminal investigation into Arpaio's office, so they refused to turn them over to the sheriff.



Hahahaha, looks like ol' Joe is SCREWED!

And here's a sad one for anyone who likes beer:

Link to full article


Leigh Maida (above, left) and Brendan Hartranft, owners of three bars, including Resurrection Ale House, in Grays Ferry (below, left), and Local 44, in West Philly, call LCB raids "McCarthy-like."

Troopers raid popular bars for unlicensed beers
Dozens of gallons seized after 'citizen complaint'
By DON RUSSELL & BOB WARNER
Philadelphia Daily News

IT WAS ELIOT NESS and the Untouchables, as played by the Keystone Kops.

More than a dozen armed State Police officers conducted simultaneous raids last week on three popular Philadelphia bars known for their wide beer selections. The cops confiscated hundreds of bottles of expensive ales and lagers, now in State Police custody at an undisclosed location.

The alleged offense: Although the bar owners had bought the beer legally from licensed Pennsylvania distributors and had paid all the necessary taxes, the police claimed that nobody had registered the precise names of the beers with the state Liquor Control Board - a process that requires the brewers or their importers to pay a $75 registration fee for each product they want to sell in Pennsylvania.

Based on a complaint from someone the State Police refuse to identify, three teams of officers converged last Thursday on the three bars, run by Leigh Maida and her husband, Brendan Hartranft. Checking their inventories against the state's official list of more than 2,800 brands, the cops seized four kegs and 317 bottles, totaling 60.9 gallons of beer, according to police calculations.

In fact, according to Maida, more than half the beer removed by the State Police was properly registered - but the cops couldn't find it on their lists because of "clerical errors" or "blatant ineptitude" between the police and the Liquor Control Board, with whom the officers were conferring by telephone.

She estimated the total value of the confiscated stock at $7,200, representing about 20 brands, some of which go by multiple names.

NYPD cops drive drunk, but no one puts on brakes: Even after messy crashes, police are still on job

BY Barry Paddock and Benjamin Lesser
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Monday, March 8th 2010, 9:22 AM


New York City cops caught driving drunk may have problems to worry about - but losing their job usually isn't one of them.

Since 1999, at least 55 active duty cops have been charged with drunken driving while on the force. All pleaded down to nonfelony charges and nearly all remained on the job.

That includes a sergeant who seriously injured passengers in another car, another charged with resisting arrest, and four cops who had drunken-driving convictions before joining the force.

These are the findings of a Daily News probe that examined NYPD records and criminal histories for the 13 southernmost counties of New York State. The department confirmed the results.

The disturbing phenomenon emerges after a spate of headlines about cops charged with driving drunk. Officer Andrew Kelly was indicted in the September death of a preacher's daughter. The next month, Detective Kevin Spellman was charged with killing a Bronx grandmother. Both refused to submit to sobriety tests.

Since then, three more cops have been charged with drunken driving: one who trashed a department car at the Midtown Tunnel, another who flipped his luxury sedan onto the sidewalk in front of Tiffany's, and a third who crashed into a parked car.

The number of cops convicted in drunken-driving incidents is an extremely tiny percentage of the 30,000-member force. But the incidents occur fairly regularly, year after year.

Responding to questions about NYPD policies regarding the issue, Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said any cop convicted of a felony is automatically fired.

That would apply to Andrew Kelly if he's convicted of either of the two felonies he faces: vehicular manslaughter and first-degree driving while intoxicated.

On the other hand, a cop convicted of a drunken driving misdemeanor or violation likely keeps his or her job. In those cases, cops usually get a suspension ranging from four to 75 days, varying amounts of lost vacation days, alcohol counseling and a year of probation, Browne said.

In cases The News examined, all the cops were charged with drunken driving but ultimately pleaded guilty to or were convicted of nonfelony charges, usually driving while impaired. Three got the charges dropped to disorderly conduct.

A 2002 interim order states that under most circumstances, the department can fire any cop "who causes serious physical injury to another person while operating a motor vehicle and is determined to be unfit for duty due to the consumption of alcohol."

Browne said the department does not automatically reject a recruit with a past drunken-driving incident, unless it involved an accident with injuries or occurred within five years of applying for the job. The five-year policy only went into effect in 2002.

There's also no policy requiring cops to submit to sobriety tests, although they can face departmental charges if they do. In both recent fatal crashes, prosecutors worried that the cops' refusals caused delays that allowed the amount of booze in their blood to dissipate.

In response to this problem, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly streamlined procedures to speed up testing, but said nothing about requiring cops to comply.

In several cases, the NYPD could have seen it coming. Take the case of Joseph DeMarco.

Seven years before he joined the force, DeMarco pleaded guilty to a nonfelony driving while impaired charge in Nassau County in 1986.

On March 14, 2007, police investigated allegations DeMarco had slashed the tires and smashed the windows of his girlfriend's car in Forest Hills, Queens.

Cops found DeMarco sitting in the driver's seat of his car with the motor running. He told them, "Don't worry about the car. It's my girlfriend's car and she owes me money. I fell into the car. You guys don't want to do this. I'm a sergeant. Just walk away."

The 14-year NYPD veteran first refused to get out. When cops coaxed him out, he "flailed his arms and kicked his legs in an attempt to avoid an arrest," the complaint says. He was charged with criminal mischief, resisting arrest and drunken driving, but ultimately pleaded guilty to driving while impaired - an infraction. He paid a $300 fine and kept his job.

DeMarco, who as of Feb. 25 remained on the force, could not be reached for comment. His union, the Sergeant's Benevolent Assocation, declined comment.

Another case where the NYPD had forewarning involved Sgt. James Geissler, who joined the NYPD in 1997. Records show Geissler was charged with driving drunk in Brooklyn in 1992 and pleaded guilty to driving while impaired - a misdemeanor.

At 4:30 a.m. July 6, 2006, Geissler's 1993 Ford hit a parked car in Queens. The arresting officer noted Geissler had "watery eyes, slurred speech" and was "unsteady." The complaint says Geissler refused to take a sobriety test at the 112th Precinct. He pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and paid a $500 fine.

Asked how the charge affected his career, he told The News: "All I can tell you is it has not gone well for me."

He said he was not demoted, but that it took time before he was allowed to resume his usual job.

Critics have raised concerns about how aggressively the NYPD combats this issue.

City Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr. (D-Astoria), who heads the public safety committee and is usually a supporter of the NYPD, said cops charged with drunken driving need to be treated more strictly than civilians. "Alcoholism can be beaten and these guys deserve the same chance as everybody else, but on the other hand, they carry guns off-duty and need to be held to a higher standard," he said.

Vallone said he thinks the department largely does a good job dealing with these incidents, but there's room for improvement. For example, Vallone said the NYPD should consider firing cops who refuse a Breathalyzer test or resist arrest.

Laura Dean-Mooney, national president of Mothers Against Drug Driving, goes further: She doesn't want cops who drive drunk to stay on the job.

"They should not be allowed to remain a sworn law enforcement officer," Dean-Mooney said.

Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crim ... hes_t.html

Anaheim cop keeps his job despite 3 DUI arrests last year

The Watchdog pulled the records and confirmed that Officer Kevin Noel Schlueter, 37, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing a 2010 Jeep Liberty into four parked cars – on his very own street in Costa Mesa, in the middle of the afternoon.

The crashes ripped the right wheel off the axle of Schlueter’s Liberty, according to Costa Mesa police Lt. Rob Sharpnack. The Liberty also suffered rear bumper damage, Sharpnack said.

Costa Mesa police officers arrested Schlueter on suspicion of driving under the influence and took him to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries, Sharpnack said. He gave a blood sample, but the results aren’t back yet.

That DUI arrest was strike three for Schlueter, a 13-year veteran of the Anaheim Police Department. But cops play by different rules, as we shall see, and three strikes don’t always mean you’re out.

Schlueter’s troubled times behind the wheel appear to have started on March 18, 2009 when Schlueter was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol after nearly slamming into a CHP squad car. Several drivers had called 911 to report a possible DUI driver at the wheel of a Silver Chevy Tahoe on the 405 freeway that night, said CHP Officer Ray Payton.

Dispatchers sent a CHP officer ahead of the possible drunken driver weaving in the slow lane to wait for him to drive by, according to the report. The Tahoe did indeed drive by – careening onto the right shoulder of the freeway and coming within a foot of hitting the waiting CHP squad car, the report said.

The officer watched as the Tahoe weaved from side to side, nearly colliding with a Range Rover. The CHP officer pulled the Tahoe over and after doing field sobriety tests on the driver, later identified as Schlueter, arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Alcohol was ruled out, Payton said, but drugs, which can include prescription drugs, were not. Someone came to pick up Schlueter at the CHP office. Prosecutors filed one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. Schlueter pleaded not guilty.

While waiting for the wheels of justice to turn, Schlueter was arrested twice more.

Officers responding to a single-car wreck in Huntington Beach the night of Jan. 21 arrested Schlueter on suspicion of driving under the influence, said Lt. Russell Reinhart of Huntington Beach. Prosecutors have not yet filed charges against Schuleter in the Huntington Beach case, but detectives there say they have a court date with Schlueter March 26.

Then on March 2 came the Costa Mesa wreck, at 1:42 p.m. on Schlueter’s own street.

Schlueter has been on leave since November 2008, for what exactly Anaheim officials aren’t saying. Anaheim police spokesman Sgt. Rick Martinez characterized it as “a variety of reasons,” but said that personnel rules prohibit him from giving specifics.

Schlueter’s leave had been unpaid at first. But then in November 2009, months after Schlueter’s first DUI arrest Anaheim officials put him on paid administrative leave and he started earning a paycheck again.

Again, Anaheim officials aren’t saying why.

Technically, this is a prison guard, not a cop; but still a looney tune (lol, check out some of the stuff this guy said):

ARTICLE

Veteran Dallas County jail guard fired over comments

hot tip: stay out of jail

Hey, someone's doing something about it:

LINK

HEMET, Calif. -Police in this picturesque city in rural Riverside County have been on edge in recent weeks. Someone is trying to kill them.
First, a natural gas pipe was shoved through a hole drilled into the roof of the gang enforcement unit's headquarters. The building filled with flammable vapor but an officer smelled the danger before anyone was hurt.
"It would have taken out half a city block," Capt. Tony Marghis said.
Then, a ballistic contraption was attached to a sliding security fence around the building. An officer opening the black steel gate triggered the mechanism, which sent a bullet within eight inches of his face.
In another attempted booby trap attack, some kind of explosive device was attached to a police officer's unmarked car while he went into a convenience store.
"There's a person or people out there, a bunch of idiots, trying to do damage to us," Hemet Police Chief Richard Dana said. "We can't expect our luck to hold up, we need help."
Since New Year's Eve, there have been several other booby trap attempts to kill officers, Dana said.
"The only reason they haven't killed an officer yet is because we've been observant enough to see devices planted around the station and in cars and different places," he said.
Gang enforcement officers appear to be the target of the assassination attempts, though Dana noted the devices were indiscriminate by nature and could have killed any police or law enforcement officer.
The incidents have shaken a close-knit police department already demoralized by steep budget cuts that last year saw its officer numbers slashed by a quarter to 68. Officers are checking under cars for bombs and scouting for other potential hazards.
"I would call the mood tense," Capt. Marghis said. "Everyone is being very vigilant about their surroundings and the environment."
Dana said officers have seen gang members carrying out counter-surveillance, studying police behavior. He often looks in his rear view mirror when he drives home at night to make sure he is not being followed.
In the attack with a ballistic contraption, the officer only avoided being shot in the head because the wheels on the sliding gate were wonky so he had to angle his body to open it.
"He had to push it to the right, the bullet went by to the left," Dana said.