Are We Helpless
to Prevent Massacres?
(#427, 4/4/23)
A Broken "System"
(#426, 3/20/23)
When Worlds
Collide
(#425, 3/7/23)
Punishment Isn't
a Cop's Job (II)
(#424, 2/20/23)
Does Race
Drive Policing?
(#423, 2/3/23)
Race and Ethnicity
Aren't Pass/Fail
(#422, 1/9/23)
On the One Hand...
But on the Other...
(#421, 12/13/22)
Does Legal Pot
Drive Violence?
(#420, 11/24/22)
Blows to the Head
Were Never O.K.
(#419, 11/4/22)
Worlds Apart...Not!
(#418, 10/20/22)
Hard Times in
the "Big Easy"
(#417, 9/27/22)
What Were They
Thinking? (Part II)
(#416, 9/3/22)
What Were They
Thinking? And, Why?
(#415, 8/15/22)
Loopholes are
(Still) Lethal
(#414, 8/8/22)
Massacres, in Slow-Mo
(#413, 7/25/22)
Good Law / Bad Law
(#412, 7/2/22)
Tenacity is Great -
Until It's Not
(#411, 6/20/22)
Cops v. Assault Weapons:
a Hopeless Situation
(#410, 5/30/22)
Another Day,
Another Massacre
(#409, 5/16/22)
When Does
Evidence Suffice?
(#408, 5/13/22)
When a "Dope"
Can't be "Roped"
(#407, 4/20/22)
Judicial Detachment:
Myth or Reality?
(#406, 4/4/22)
A Show-Stopper
for Shot-Spotter?
(#405, 3/19/22)
In Two Fell Swoops
(#404, 2/28/22)
What's Up? Violence.
(#403, 1/29/22)
Ex-cops on Federal Trial
(#402, 1/21/22)
Who's in Charge?
(#401, 1/3/22)
What's Up With
Policing?
(#400, 12/23/21)
Cause and Effect
(#399, 12/6/21)
Backing Off
(#398, 11/18/21)
"Woke" up, America!
(#397, 10/25/21)
Full Stop Ahead
(#396, 9/27/21)
Damn the Evidence -
Full Speed Ahead!
(#395, 9/8/21)
A Partner in Every Sense
(#394, 8/24/21)
Our Never-Ending
American Tragedy
(#393, 8/9/21)
Racial Quarrels Within Policing (II)
(#392, 7/23/21)
Racial Quarrels
Within Policing (I)
(#391, 7/11/21)
Don't Like the Rules?
Change Them!
(#390, 6/28/21)
Regulate. Don't "Obfuscate".
(#389, 6/13/21)
Another Victim:
The Craft of Policing
(#388, 5/29/21)
Is the "Cure" Worse
than the "Disease"?
(#387, 5/17/21)
Let's Stop Pretending
(#386, 5/3/21)
Four Weeks,
Six Massacres
(#385, 4/19/21)
Two Weeks,
Four Massacres
(#384, 4/4/21)
Trial of Derek Chauvin
(#382B, 3/29/21)
One Week,
Two Massacres
(#383, 3/24/21)
Slugging it Out
Before the Fight
(#382A, 3/16/21)
The Usual Victims
(#381, 2/22/21)
A Risky and Informed Decision
(#380, 2/8/21)
Want Happy Endings?
Don't Chase.
(#379, 1/31/21)
Cop? Terrorist? Both?
(#378, 1/20/21)
Chaos in D.C.
(#377, 1/11/21)
Third, Fourth & Fifth Chances
(#376, 1/4/21)
Select, Don't "Elect"
(#375, 12/19/20)
Was a Dope Roped?
(#374, 12/8/20)
Fix Those Neighborhoods!
(#373, 11/23/20)
When Must Cops
Shoot? (II)
(#372, 11/11/20)
When Must Cops
Shoot? (I)
(#371, 10/31/20)
L.A. Wants "Cahoots."
But Which "Cahoots"?
(#370, 10/21/20)
R.I.P. Proactive Policing?
(#369, 10/10/20)
Explaining...or Ignoring?
(#368, 9/21/20)
White on Black
(#367, 9/7/20)
Black on Black
(#366, 9/1/20)
"SWAT" is a Verb
(#365, 8/16/20)
Should Police Treat the Whole Patient?
(#364, 8/3/20)
Turning Cops Into Liars
(#363, 7/20/20)
Violent and Vulnerable
(#362, 7/8/20)
Don't "Divest" - Invest!
(#361, 6/26/20)
Is it Ever OK to Shoot Someone in the Back? (II)
(#360, 6/19/20)
Gold Badges Can Be the Problem
(#359, 6/8/20)
Punishment Isn't a Cop's Job
(#358, 6/3/20)
But is it Really Satan?
(#357, 5/25/20)
A Conflicted Mission
(#356, 5/12/20)
Keep going...
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5/26/23 “Today’s sentences reflect the grave threat the actions of
these defendants posed to our democratic institutions.” That’s how A.G. Merrick Garland characterized
the record-setting 18-year term handed down to Oath Keepers founder and leader Stewart Rhodes, and the stiff twelve
-year sentence given to Florida Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs, for their roles in the Capitol assault. Both had
been convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes at a jury trial in November.
Capitol updates
Related post
A report by Chicago’s Inspector General blasts the police department for thumbing its nose at
a 2019 Federal consent decree by continuing to employ scores of police officers who lied during criminal
investigations. But the city’s Police Board states that twenty-one officers have been fired for lying during
the past five years. Before then, some were given leniency, but nonetheless received three-year suspensions. A
city law requiring that officers who lie be fired has been recommended.
Related post
An eleven-year old boy who was asked by his mother to call police because of the presence of an intruder
was
shot and seriously wounded by an Indianola, Mississippi police sergeant who opened fire when the boy stepped
into the home’s living room. And in Mantua, New Jersey, a police officer has been indicted on manslaughter
charges for a 2021 shooting in which he opened fire on the 9-1-1 caller “less than five seconds” after arriving on
scene.
Related post
It was a horrendous crime - the attempted gunning down of six
L.A.-area high school students. Three gang members were convicted in 1990 and received lengthy terms. In 2017, one
told the parole board that he was the shooter and that one of those convicted, Daniel Saldana, told the truth when
he denied being present. But his words weren’t passed on to the D.A. for six years. When they were, things
moved swiftly. Acting on the D.A.’s motion, a judge declared Saldana innocent. He had served 33 years.
Related post
5/25/23 “The traumas we suffered that day were endless.” So said D.C. police officer
Christopher Owens during a sentencing hearing for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Florida chapter leader
Kelly Meggs. Both were convicted of seditious conspiracy over their roles in the Capitol assault. Prosecutors have
asked that Rhodes draw twenty-five years, which would be by far the longest term yet imposed.
Capitol updates
“I’m here and
I have a gun.” Those were the words allegedly uttered at the gates of the CIA’s McLean, Virginia
headquarters by Gainsville, Florida man Eric Sandow, 32. He was turned away and police were called. Sandow, who
seems free of prior criminal convictions, was later arrested at the nearby preschool where he had parked his car.
Inside police found an AK-47 type rifle, a pistol, and a large quantity of ammunition. According to officers,
Sandow “exhibited paranoid behavior, irrational verbal behavior, incoherent statements and had an inability
to state a plan or purpose”.
Related post
Two former Jackson, Mississippi police officers, both Black, have been indicted for murder in the death
of a disorderly man, also Black, with whom they struggled on New Year’s eve. A third former officer, who is
White, was charged with manslaughter. During the struggle the officers forced Keith Murriel, 41, to the ground,
flipped him onto his stomach and repeatedly stunned him with a Taser. Jackson’s Mayor called their actions
“excessive, disheartening and tragic.” Bodycam
video Related posts
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Trial is set to begin on May
31 for a fired Sheriff’s deputy who responded to the 2018 massacre at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high
school in Parkland, Florida. Scot Peterson, 60, is charged with multiple counts of child neglect and culpable
negligence for failing to enter the school and confront Nikolas Cruz as he shot multiple students on the third
floor. Peterson, who took cover outside the building, claims that he didn’t go in because he thought the
gunfire was originating from elsewhere. Related posts
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5/24/23 L.A. County’s Inspector General
and L.A. Sheriff Robert Luna recently ordered that three dozen deputy sheriffs who allegedly participated in deputy
gangs answer questions and show their tattoos. In response, the deputies’ union filed an objection asserting
that these moves violate the collective bargaining process. They are also suing the county for violating the Fourth
Amendment's provisions on search and seizure, and the Fifth Amendment's ban of compelled self-incrimination.
Related post
Illinois is dispatching more than thirty civilian “peacekeepers” trained in de-
escalation and violence interruption to Chicago. Timed for the Memorial Day weekend and the start of summer,
it’s hoped that street outreach workers will help tone down the violence that besets the city's gang-
ridden neighborhoods. This move is part of a “holistic”, not just police approach to violence that's
championed by Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago's progressive new mayor, Brandon Johnson.
Related post
A middle-aged Capitol rioter whose actions reportedly helped set the stage for fellow rioter Ashli
Babbitt’s fatal shooting by police was sentenced to nearly seven years’ imprisonment. Christopher
Griner, who runs a Texas winery, had once served in the Air Force military police. Opting for a trial by a judge,
he was convicted on seven charges, including obstructing Congress. Capitol updates
Related post
In a long-delayed decision, the Los Angeles City Council voted 8-4 to approve the donation of a
“robot dog” for use by LAPD SWAT officers in high-risk situations. But opposition continues. According to
the “Stop LAPD Spying Coalition”, its acceptance augurs an era where such devices will be “walking
all over the place.” Others fear that the gadget will be used “to harm and spy on Black and brown
communities.” Facing similar concerns, NYPD recently gave its version back. Related posts
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“Stabilizing braces” that can transform handguns into shoulder-fired weapons were to be banned under
a proposed Federal regulation. But the New-Orleans based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has put the ban on hold while
it litigates a lawsuit against the rule that was brought by gun-rights advocates and a maker of the braces. In February the Fifth Circuit invalidated a Federal prohibition on gun possession by persons
subject to domestic violence restraining orders. Related posts
1
2
5/23/23
Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence,” a new book by Minnesota Attorney General Keith
Ellison, describes behind-the-scenes work by state prosecutors to gain the conviction of Derek Chauvin for murdering
George Floyd. According to Ellison, the State’s evidentiary approach was heavily influenced by trial runs with
mock juries, which revealed that ordinary citizens were far more concerned about the officers’ failure
“to render aid to George Floyd” than about his drug abuse.
State Trial of Derek Chauvin
Trial updates
One year after
the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, a State grand jury inquiry into the police response continues.
The school police chief was fired, and five officers employed by various agencies were fired or quit. But DPS Chief
Steve McCraw, who had ninety officers on scene, refuses to resign. Meanwhile Gov. Greg Abbott continues to turn away
requests to tighten gun laws, as he did after the mass shootings in Sutherland Springs in 2017 and the El Paso
Walmart in 2018.
Related post
In 2012 a Federal complaint charged then-Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio with civil
rights violations for using traffic stops and “sweeps” to arrest persons illegally in the U.S. So far a
decade-plus of sanctions and controls has cost local taxpayers over $250 million. Arpaio, who was voted out of
office, was convicted of contempt but pardoned by President Trump. And while the Sheriff’s Dept. seems to have
achieved substantial compliance with Federal mandates, critics say that racial profiling persists.
Related post
5/22/23 Days before the January 6th. assault on the Capitol, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio stole a
BlackLives Matter flag from a church during a MAGA rally. Suspended D.C. cop Shane Lamond, then head of intelligence,
was just indicted for warning Tarrio that an arrest warrant had been issued. And, as well, for allegedly keeping
Tarrio informed about what police were doing to counter the Proud Boys. Tarrio testified during his trial that he
shared information with Lamond which benefited the authorities. Capitol updates
Related post
Maryland
doesn’t have a “stand your ground” law. However, it lets persons openly carry long guns in public. And that’s what MAGA-hat
clad J’Den McAdory, 20, has been doing since February as he walks around suburban neighborhoods with an AR-type rifle fitted
with an extended magazine slung around his shoulders. McAdory concedes that seeing him near schools and school bus
stops might put people off. But his purpose is benign: to do away with “the stigma of people carrying guns in
public.”Related posts
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Two weeks
after the March 27th. Nashville massacre, Tennessee’s governor signed a law that further limits
lawsuits against the firearms industry. According to the bill’s sponsor, its purpose “is just to try to help
businesses in this state.” Still, some “high profile” shootings have led to settlements. For
example, the $73 million paid by Remington to the families of the Sandy Hook victims. Meanwhile in Texas, families
of the Uvalde victims are pressing on with their lawsuit against gun manufacturer Daniel Defense over its allegedly
risky marketing practices. Related posts
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2
3
A Minnesota law legalizing recreational marijuana is on the Governor’s desk, and Gov. Tin Walz has
promised to sign it. It passed with narrow margins, as many legislators fear it will worsen health and safety.
Persons over 21 will be authorized to possess small quantities of pot and to grow it at home; prior criminal
convictions for such acts will be expunged. A retail marketplace is expected to take one year to get underway.
Minnesota thus becomes the twenty third State to legalize
recreational pot.
Drug legalization updates
California pot farms require both State and County licenses. The latter provision is rigorously
enforced in Trinity County, where the Sheriff recently raided three of the 134 farms that lack a local permit (345
are presently licensed). To enforce the $500 misdemeanor, armed, armor-clad deputies staged elaborate tactical
strikes that included killing one of the farmer’s dogs. Meanwhile the county is beset with numerous fully
illegal (and unmolested) grows that supply the State’s illegal retail outlets.
Drug legalization updates
California’s new CARE Court system will focus on persons at least 18 years old who suffer from schizophrenia
or another psychosis. Referrals can come from a variety of sources, including families, first responders and social
service agencies. Participants will be assigned public defenders, and judges can impose treatment plans lasting up to
two years. Medication can be refused, but failure to successfully exit a treatment plan can lead to involuntary
commitment. CARE Court fact
sheet
Related post
5/19/23 Relatives of three persons murdered by a Virginia cop who “catfished”
a California family’s 15-year old daughter are suing Virginia for failing to discover during Austin Lee
Edwards’ hiring process that he had once been committed to a mental facility.
Related post
By a vote of 13-1,
L.A.’s City Council approved its progressive new Mayor’s budget, which includes funds to hire 1,000 new
officers. It really means about 400 new cops, as 600 are expected to quit or retire. Karen Bass called her plans,
which also increased funding for mental health teams, drug treatment facilities and homeless housing, a “bold
new” approach that will improve neighborhood safety.
Related post
Challenging a Federal law that prohibits employing persons without legal immigration status, the University of
California announced it is formulating a plan to hire students who are not authorized to be in the U.S. for on-campus
jobs. Its move will benefit approx. 4,000 students who lost out on the DACA system, which no longer accepts new
applications. UC’s lawyers intend to argue that the controlling Federal rule, the 1986 Immigration Act, doesn’t mention States, so
it doesn’t apply to them.
Immigration updates
5/18/23 Ruling that cash bail can violate equal protection guarantees, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge issued
a preliminary injunction restoring the zero-dollar bail provisions for minor crimes that were in effect during the
pandemic. His order does not apply to arrests based on warrants, nor to violent misdemeanors or violent or serious
felonies. Injunction
Related post
Los Angeles County’s Inspector General has issued written orders to
“nearly three dozen [Los Angeles County Sheriff’s] deputies” directing them to appear for
questioning about deputy gangs. They are also instructed to bring photographs of all leg tattoos “from the
ankle to the knee” and of any tattoo on their body that resembles attached images. Deputies may be
represented by counsel and may invoke the Fifth Amendment. However, they are advised that will not bring an end
to the process.
Related post
Prompted by the 2022 4th. of July massacre in Highland Park, Illinois and the city of Naperville
banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Challenges to these laws are coursing through the state’s
appellate courts. Meanwhile, the 7th. Circuit, and now the US Supreme Court, have turned aside, without comment, a
Naperville gun store’s petition that it enjoin the laws. Petition
Related post
ATF Director Steven Dettelbach warns about a proliferation of
“auto sears”, small devices that convert weapons to fully automatic fire, so that a single trigger
squeeze discharges multiple projectiles. While illegal, their use has proliferated, placing officers and the public
at risk. In Mississippi a Federal judge just imposed a 14-year term on a defendant who was making them on a 3-D
printer.
Related post
Beau Wilson,
the 18-year old Farmington, New Mexico youth who killed three and wounded six, fired most of his volleys, including
176 rounds from his assault rifle, from the home where he lived with his father. He left behind a note that begins
“If your reading this Im the end of the chapter.” Related posts
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5/17/23 Beau Wilson, the youth who went on an armed rampage in his
Farmington, New Mexico neighborhood on May 15, killing three and wounding six, had three weapons, including an
assault rifle that he legally purchased when he turned eighteen last October. His other guns came from his family.
According to the police chief, Wilson had a record of “minor infractions” and was reportedly mentally
ill. Related posts
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A Texas man and his 12-year old son face murder charges after the boy got an AR-style rifle from his father’s
vehicle and repeatedly shot a fast-food worker who had tangled with his father during a disturbance outside a Sonic
drive-in. Texas has a “stand your ground” law.
Related post
Many marijuana sellers in the Los Angeles area,
licensed or not, are peddling magic mushrooms, a potent hallucinogenic. While it’s been decriminalized in some
Northern California cities, it remains illegal elsewhere in the state, so most sellers (but not all) keep it out of
sight. Magic mushrooms reportedly have therapeutic value, and a state bill to legalize possession of small amounts is in the
hopper. Meanwhile, NIJ issued a warning about the dangers of vaping, whose health risks have been ignored.
Drug legalization updates
A $10 million reward has been offered for tips that lead to the capture and conviction of Mikhail Pavlovich
Matveev. A Russian national, Matveev has been Federally indicted for staging thousands of ransomware attacks
against private and public entities “around the world”, including police in D.C. and New Jersey. On
threat of publicly posting stolen data, his “LockBit,” “Babuk” and “Hive”
ransomware variants have extorted payments of more than $200 million dollars.
Related post
To help Texas
deal with illegal immigrants, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is sending the beset state more than one-thousand law
enforcement officers, including troopers, game wardens and investigators. They’ll be there for a month. DeSantis
recently signed a state bill that provides additional funds to relocate immigrants, limits their use of social
services, and expands the use of E-Verify, which checks on applicants’ eligibility to work in the U.S., to all
workplaces with more than 25 employees.
Immigration updates
5/16/23 An 18-year old man armed with an AR-15 style rifle and two other guns roamed through a working-class
neighborhood of Farmington, New Mexico just before the noon hour on Monday, randomly firing at homes and cars. Nine
persons were struck by bullets; three died. A local police officer and a State trooper were among the injured;
neither was seriously wounded. Police shot the gunman dead. His name and possible motivation have not yet been
released. Related posts
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Former FBI counter-intelligence chief Peter
Strzok once messaged a colleague that Trump would never be president. “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.” Once Trump was
in office, he brought in a lawyer to probe the FBI’s alleged attempt to “prove” that his campaign
colluded with Russian intelligence to smear Hillary Clinton. After four years, that investigation is over. Special
Counsel John Durham slammed the FBI for its shoddy use of “raw” intelligence. But all he got was one
conviction - an FBI lawyer pled guilty to lying to get a wiretap. Two other defendants were acquitted.
Related post
Severely criticized over her progressive approach, St. Louis D.A. Kim Gardner is stepping down in two weeks. But Gardner,
who recently helped exonerate convicted murderer Lamar Johnson, has now moved to exonerate convicted killer
Christopher Dunn, who has been imprisoned 33 years. Dunn was convicted largely on the testimony of two boys, who now
say that their accounts were coerced. A judge opined that he would probably be acquitted if retried, and a 2021 state
law provides for special court hearings in such cases.
Related post
Former Indianapolis Police Sgt. Eric Huxley pled guilty to Federal civil rights
violations over a Sept. 2021 incident in which he stomped a disorderly and combative man in the face even though other
officers had taken him to the ground and had him under complete control. Huxley’s actions, which were caught on
video, have also led to state charges and a lawsuit. DOJ news release
Related post
Two years ago the Orange County, Calif. Grand Jury excoriated sheriff’s deputies for failing to book evidence, then lying about
it in their reports. One of the accused, Det. Matthew LeFlore, reportedly left seized drugs and
ammunition in a pair of boots and labeled it “free”. A defense lawyer now accuses Det. LeFlore of
transferring seized drugs from one case to another so as to support charges against his client, Ace Kuumeaaloha
Kelley. And lab records seemingly back his allegation.
Related post
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