The "Straight Pride" Parade that was held in Boston in the end of August was just another example of thinly-veiled alt-right trolling. Unfortunately, it also worked. A hateful parade of a hundred-or-so people managed to divert hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars into overtime police coverage and shutdown streets during the busiest weekend in the city (Labor Day + college move-ins = hell).

Thanks to WBUR, we now know that that cost included 9,000 hours of overtime work for local police officers—the equivalent of 4 years of full-time policing service. And none of it was officially caught on film, despite the police aggressions caught on social media and the 3 dozen counter-protestors who were arrested during the parade.

Shameful Display by the @bostonpolice at #StraightPride

Charging into protestors who were protesting peacefully on the sidewalk, beating, arresting, and pepper spraying.

Make no mistake straight pride is hate pride and cops are here to protect and uphold white supremacy. pic.twitter.com/ey2Rc4uneA

— Ian🎃Gobblins👻 (@deluxian54) August 31, 2019

Boston Police Department spraying pepper spray into the crowd of protestors of the Straight Pride Parade #boston #straightpride #cityhall #pepperspray #protests #policebrutality pic.twitter.com/TLTIbdcu2A

— Lizzie Heintz (@lizzieheintz) August 31, 2019

(Coincidentally, the Massachusetts State Police Union was also embroiled in an overtime scandal in the months leading up to this parade.)

There are plenty of pros and cons to debate around the use of body cameras for police officers. In this case, it means that the public only has access to choppy, not-necessarily-reliable videos that arguably paint a picture of excessive police aggression against protestors. Read the rest

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told two Berkeley-based reporters that it is against the law to even possess a copy of this never-before-publicly-released list of convicted cops.

Hey, remember those cops who ate a cannabis-infused chocolate bar that was supposed have been taken as evidence during a raid? Do you recall that they snarfed down their stolen snack while on duty and then proceeded to trip balls? Maybe the fact that they freaked out and called for police assistance--the sort of thing that the police normally do when they're in a life threatening situation--might ring a bell? OK, how about this: when their fellow officers responded, one slipped on the ice and was pretty badly injured as he tried to get to his distressed comrades. No? This link will jog your memory. Good to go? OK, buckle in: there's an update on their story.

This past November, Constable Vittorio Dominelli pleaded guilty to attempting to obstruct justice and wants everyone to know that he's very, very sorry.

From The CBC:

Justice Mary Misener says Dominelli is a "complete idiot" for tampering with evidence.

Crown attorney Philip Perlmutter, who read out an agreed statement of facts in court, says Dominelli took three hazelnut chocolate bars infused with cannabis oil from the raid.

Perlmutter says Dominelli and another officer later ate one chocolate bar and became intoxicated in about 20 minutes, and eventually radioed for help.

Const. Jamie Young and Dominelli allegedly assisted in the execution of a search warrant at Community Cannabis Clinic, a marijuana dispensary in the city's west end, in the early evening of Jan. 27.

As a result of their poor judgement and inopportune snacking, Dominelli and Young both wound up facing multiple misconduct charges under the Police Services Act. Read the rest

Mattthew Luckhurst, a 5-year veteran of San Antionio Police Department, was fired after feeding shit to a homeless person. Josh Baugh reports that he "placed fecal matter between two pieces of bread" and placed it in a styrofoam container next to his victim. It's not clear if they ate it.

“This was a vile and disgusting act that violates our guiding principles of ‘treating all with integrity, compassion, fairness and respect,’ Chief William McManus said in a prepared statement. “The fact that his fellow officers were so disgusted with his actions that they reported him to Internal Affairs demonstrates that this type of behavior will never be tolerated. The action of this one former officer in no way reflects the actions of all the other good men and women who respectfully serve this community.”

Even the police union has ditched him: “He’s on his own right now,” said Mike Helle, president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association. Read the rest

Here's how you actually get fired sharpish if you're a bad cop: you go up to your ex-wife's new husband, put your service gun in his face, then tell him you're going to kill him.

“Although [victim] Knupp was scared for his life, (Knupp) said, ‘You don't scare me, Ed,' ” according to the affidavit.

The detectives said [Cpl. Edward J.] Huwalt resumed calling Knupp “pedophile,” “pervert” and other derogatory names. The detectives allege Huwalt told Knupp to pull over, but Knupp responded that he was leaving and drove away. Knupp reported the threat to borough officials the next morning, and Berger called the detective bureau to investigate.

Brown and Kranitz said they determined that Huwalt's service handgun, a Sig Sauer .357 caliber Magnum, has a blue finish “and matches the description given by Charles Knupp

Ligonier Borough Council unanimously voted to sack Huwalt, 61. Huwalt's also been charged with making threats, reckless endangerment and harassment. Read the rest

Officer Jenchesky Santiago, of the Prince George's County, Maryland, police force was convicted of first-degree assault and misconduct in office. Santiago threatened a man, while holding a gun to his head, apparently to impress his friends. His police chief was less impressed and is recommending Santiago be fired.

Via the Washington Post:

Alsobrooks said that Santiago repeatedly asked the men what they were doing there, even after they explained that Cunningham lived in the house.

Santiago told them they were parked illegally — which prosecutors said was not true — and Cunningham said he would get out of the car and go inside.

Alsobrooks said Santiago then backed up, parked his cruiser and ran to Cunningham at the door of his home, where Santiago pulled out his gun.

“I was shocked. At the instant he pointed the gun to my head, I was shocked,” Cunningham said. He said that he was so dumbfounded that he found it hard to move quickly, and at first he simply repeated what was happening to his cousin, who was still nearby .

In the video, Cunningham says, “He put a gun to my head. He put a gun to my head,” before freezing in place for a long moment with Santiago’s weapon in his face.

Witnesses, including Cunningham, told investigators that Santiago allegedly uttered a threat that was not caught on video. Alsobrooks said the threat was: “We’re PG police, and we shoot people."

Read the rest

A New York man who spent a month in jail after Pennsylvania state police mistook homemade soap he was traveling with for cocaine has filed a lawsuit. Read the rest

A police officer in the Northern California city of Rohnert Park was caught on video pulling his gun on a resident who was recording the cop on his cellphone. Read the rest

Remember those militarized cops who raided a California medical marijuana dispensary, harassed a disabled patient in the store, and were recorded on a security camera gobbling what was almost certainly marijuana-infused edibles that they swiped during the raid? Well, those cops are under investigation, and are trying to get off the hook by claiming that the security camera violated their right to be bullying, hypocritical asshats without be recorded on video.

From The Daily Beast:

As brazen as the apparent behavior of officers that day is the argument being made by their lawyers. The three unidentified officers and their union are attempting to suppress the video’s use in ongoing disciplinary action against them by the city and police department.

In a lawsuit, the Santa Ana Police Officers Association and the three police officers argue that the video does not paint a fair version of events, and that it should not be allowed as evidence because the police had a reasonable expectation of privacy since they thought they had disabled all of the dispensary’s cameras.

“We believe that under California law, if you are being recorded, or eavesdropped on – which is the legal term for it – without your knowledge or consent, that it is illegal,” Corey Glave, the attorney representing the SAPOA and the three officers, told The Daily Beast. “Upon the direction of supervisors, all the cameras were disabled, so once those cameras were disabled, there was no expectation that there were any other cameras or that they were being recorded.”

There are signs all over Sky High saying that the premises is being recorded by video cameras, and not just clearly visible cameras.

Read the rest

A kindly Sarasota, Florida police officer was observed on video feeding a handcuffed homeless man with peanuts tossed on the floor and into the man's mouth. The officer also issued "dog commands" to the homeless man, who rolled around to eat the peanuts off the floor. The incident was recorded on video. As a reward for his kindness to a fellow human being, officer Andrew Halpin was given a paid vacation while an internal investigation team decides what to do.

Read the rest

Portland police officer Jeromie Palaoro is sitting on his couch collecting a paycheck pending the results of an investigation of his alleged sexual assault on a woman who had called the police to report that her boyfriend attacked her. Officer Palaoro was one of the officers who had responded to the call. The woman said that Officer Palaoro came to her hotel at 3:30am the following day in his street clothes but carrying a gun.

From Alternet:

When he came into her room, Reid-James says Palaoro pulled out the gun and set it on the table. He then took off all of his clothes and demanded that she perform sexual acts on him.

According to Reid-James, this sexual assault lasted for 7-hours.

“The police bureau takes misconduct allegations very seriously,” police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson told KATU on Wednesday.

Officer Jeromie Palaoro has a history of misconduct. He was successfully sued last year for forcing his way into a home without a warrant and tracking mud. Read the rest

The Texas Department of Public Safety has just released what is said to be a complete and unedited police dashcam video recording of the arrest of Sandra Bland. An altercation begins around 9 minutes in. Read the rest

Colorado Springs police officer Tyler Walker said 18-year-old Alexis Acker was being “physically combative” and that she'd “kicked him in the groin area.” As a result, he had no other option other than to violently body-slam the handcuffed 100-pound teenager face down on a hard floor, knocking her teeth out. A police report stated that officer that Walker “escorted Ms. Acker to the floor.” Another report said officer Walker “rolled her out of the chair to the floor.”

Take a look at the video and see what being rolled to the floor by officer Walker looks like.

Acker was charged with five offenses, including two felony assaults on a police officer. In a plea bargain, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer and felony menacing, receiving a deferred sentence on the felony, says Cindy Hyatt, her criminal attorney.

...

Because Walker injured himself while body slamming the teen, he was advised of his rights as the victim by CSPD. The department refuses to say whether or not Walker faced any discipline for his actions. He remains on regular duty.

Read the rest

The Chandler Arizona police department explained that one of its police officers barged into a naked woman's home without her permission and handcuffed her because the woman was "trying to agitate" him. Read the rest

Saginaw Valley State University DaJuawn Wallace, 24, was driving to a store to pick up medicine for his girlfriend at 2am when a cop driving behind him activated his lights and sirens. Wallace stuck his arm out the window of his car to acknowledge the officer then drove a short distance at 35 mph and pulled over in a well lit area.

“I live in Detroit, and I know some people who were robbed by fake police officers,” Wallace said. “I was taught to find a well-lit area to pullover in.”

“I was not speeding up, turning off my lights or trying to get away,” he added.

He was charged with one felony count of fleeing and eluding.

At a June 12 hearing, Saginaw County Chief Prosecutor Christopher Boyd offered to dismiss the felony charge if Wallace would plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge with a delayed sentence. The plea would allow Wallace’s charges to be dismissed if he stays out of trouble and completes one year of probation.

But Wallace rejected the offer, pointing out that a guilty plea would have a negative impact on his future.

His has until July 9 to accept the deal.

If he hadn't been charged, Wallace would have graduated from a master’s program for health administration next year.

Read the rest