USA Today reports that a police station christmas tree garlanded with stereotypically black items and posted to social media resulted in demotions and suspensions.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo noted that it was "racially insensitive" in a post on the department's Facebook page.

"As soon as it was realized what the display was, it was removed," Arradondo said. "I am ashamed and appalled by the behavior of those who would feel comfortable to act in such a manner that goes against our core department values of Trust, Accountability and Professional Service."

Menthol ciggies and Old English, very clever. This seems to be a thing in Minnesota.

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey promised to fire the officer responsible by the end of the day but backed down within hours. Funny how that happens. Read the rest

For framing innocent black men, a police chief in Florida will go to prison for three years. Impunity is the norm in America for cases like this, so the conviction is a big deal. Read the rest

You're wheeling your haul out of Costco only to be accosted by the receipt-checker at the exit. You're fine, though, because you're not shoplifting anything. That slightly annoying feeling that the store assumes you're a criminal, it turns out, is tragically unwarranted, because those guys don't even care if you're shoplifting. In fact, the receipt-checkers are some kind of internal store Gestapo keeping tabs on the checkout cashiers.

Writes one former employee: “Trust me, we’re not loss prevention, we have loss prevention in the store and that’s not us. We’re literally just trying to make sure our cashiers do the job right, and when we DO catch it, all the information gets stored. Who did it, what time, etc...and those cashiers get spoken to. This is not to benefit anyone but the member to improve the experience overall.”

It's useful to remember that everything is not only worse than you think it is, but in ways you haven't yet considered. Read the rest

A cop working for the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Intérieure (the French national domestic surveillance agency) used the darknet marketplace Black Hand to sell access to France's prodigious national surveillance apparatus to criminals: give him a phone number and he'd track its location; give him a name and he'd tell you whether that person was under police investigation and disclose the contents of the associated files; he'd also sell you everything you needed to forge papers and other official documents (he took payment in Bitcoin). Read the rest

Thwarting Darwinism, or, more likely, a pair of earbuds, a cop from the Perth Amboy Police Department in New Jersey, hauled ass to save a man from being smooshed by a train--and it was all caught on the officer's body camera. Why anyone, unless they were in some emotional distress, would decide that walking down a set of train tracks oblivious to an oncoming locomotive was a good idea is beyond me. Fortunate for the fella in the video, the police officer that came to his rescue was in good enough physical shape that he was able to sprint with the 20 pounds of gear that most cops wear, without slowing him down. Read the rest

Tim McCormick, a cop in Fort Myers, publicly accused a local Burger King of serving him dirt on a burger. But after an investigation, the "dirt" was found to be the burger seasoning.

Fitzpatrick said that after the officers watched the video they determined that nothing inappropriate had happened to the food cooked for McCormick.

So what was it?

As part of the prep process for cooking the meat, Fitzpatrick said, there is a salt and pepper blend applied to the food. He said it is possible that the spice mixture, as well as the flame-broiled grilling process itself, may have left particles the officer thought was dirt.

Also:

McCormick, posting under the Facebook name of Mac O'Durham, added that he noticed that his receipt had block letters with the word POLICE on it, something he said he had never noticed in previous visits.

But the restaurant has more receipts:

"Every one of our guests we ask 'May we have your name to better serve you?'," he said.

In this instance when the server asked McCormick for his name he simply said "officer." When the clerk didn't understand and asked him to repeat his name, McCormick said "police officer."

Christ, what an asshole. Read the rest

Here's yet another reason to install a dashcam. Joshua was rolling through Brooklyn around midnight when an undercover cop car ran a red light as he was turning left from the opposite direction. He's then treated to a lot of lip by the officers as he protests his innocence while pulled over. Read the rest

A Montreal woman is contesting a $169 ticket that a cop got her to sign by making up a new law. She was driving in the carpool lane with her daughter; the cop falsely said that carpool passengers must have driving licenses.

"I was surprised with the cop, when she saw my daughter, that she still issued a ticket," Émond told CBC News. "The police officer was really sure [of] what she was telling me."

The rules on carpooling are laid out in article 295 of the Highway Safety Code, which merely states that reserve lanes are for the exclusive use of road vehicles carrying the number of passengers indicated by signs along that route.

The cop didn't see the kid in the back, got mad at having wasted her time, so she lied to the mom in hopes of convincing her to agree not to contest a ticket. Read the rest

The Associated Press reports that two Baltimore police officers were convicted today of racketeering and robbery. I'm not sure off the top of my head which case it is, because it's Baltimore and the apple barrel is so rotten as to be a gooey tub of lovecraftian matter that converts public trust into settlements.

BREAKING: Jury finds 2 Baltimore police detectives guilty of racketeering and robbery.

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 12, 2018

UPDATE: 2 Baltimore detectives convicted of racketeering, robbery

Detectives Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor were shackled and led out of the courtroom after the verdict was read.

Federal jurors deliberated for two days after hearing nearly three weeks of testimony centered on details of police wrongdoing. The jury was released late Thursday afternoon after a few hours and returned to their deliberations Monday morning.

Hersl and Taylor faced robbery, extortion and racketeering charges that could land them up to life in prison. They were convicted of racketeering and robbery under the Hobbs Act, which prohibits interference with interstate commerce, but were cleared of possessing a firearm in pursuance of a violent crime.

Hersl put his head down and shook it as the verdict was read. Taylor had little reaction. Hersl’s family in the gallery wept and his father called out, “Stay strong, Danny.”

Christopher Ferguson, an off-duty cop in Algood, Tenn., going 20 miles over the speed limit, will not be inconvenienced after ramming into James and Rena Cryer's SUV with such force James was thrown into the road. Amazingly, the elderly couple survived—and District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway found them at fault.

“Both of them did things they shouldn’t have done, and both of them violated the law,” said Dunaway, who represents the 13th judicial district. “They violated the rules of the road.”

Cryer failed to yield, according to the THP. The investigative report, obtained by the News 4 I-Team, also found Ferguson was speeding.

Documents state at one point, Ferguson was traveling up to 26 miles over the speed limit.

“If the officer had been driving the posted speed limit…the collision would have been avoided,” an investigator wrote.

“Even with this knowledge, you still felt comfortable not prosecuting?” asked reporter Alanna Autler.

“Even with that knowledge, yes,” Dunaway replied.

Lucky not to be charged with vandalizing police property! Ferguson, as I'm sure you've already guessed, reportedly has a history of similar mistakes. Read the rest

If you're lucky enough to be friends with a cop, they may give you one of their get out of jail cards, which you can flash to other cops along with a request for favorable treatment. Read the rest

Troy E. Nehls is the sheriff in Fort Bend County, Texas. Troy here thinks that it's illegal to have a "Fuck Trump" sticker on your truck, and called on the public to track down the owner so they could be threatened with a disorderly conduct charge.

"I have received numerous calls regarding the offensive display on this truck as it is often seen along FM 359," he wrote on Facebook. "If you know who owns this truck or it is yours, I would like to discuss it with you. Our Prosecutor has informed us she would accept Disorderly Conduct charges regarding it, but I feel we could come to an agreement regarding a modification to it."

The easily-offended Nehls, himself reportedly considering a run for political office, has a problem: the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to upset the delicate feelings of public officials like him and president Trump — even if the words are naughty.

Moroever, the truck belongs to a former employee, whose wife Karen has more words for her sweet summer sheriff, and for a cop who pulled the vehicle over in hopes of finding something to charge them with.

"It's just our freedom of speech and we're exercising it," she told the Houston Chronicle.

Worse for Nehls, the local district attorney, John Healey, publicly rejected his assertion a prosecution was on the cards.

Healey, a Republican not seeking re-election next year, said he wished the sheriff's office had contacted him earlier about the incendiary issue.

While attending a Cal Berkeley football game, Martin Flores witnessed a cop shutting down an unlicensed street vendor, taking cash from his wallet and citing him. Read the rest

The grounds of the architectural biennial in Lyon France included Aire D’attente, an artistic revitalization of an abandoned lot that grew flax, barley, and hemp for making hempcrete. Cops destroyed it after deciding the art was a pot farm. Read the rest

The US Department of Defense's 1033 program sends "surplus" military equipment to US police forces ("surplus" in quotes because military contractors lobby for the US military to buy more weapons than they need in order to feed materiel to the program), which has created a situation in which cops show up in their communities literally clad in the armor of an occupying army. Read the rest

In dashcam video posted by the ACLU, police officer Joe Joswiak pulls over Anthony Promvongsa, driving a dark SUV. Joswiak immediately approaches the vehicle screaming "get out of the car motherfucker!", with his gun drawn and posed sideways. Then he starts pounding and kicking at Promvongsa through the open car door — before Promvongsa seems to have a chance to do anything. Read the rest

Boosted Boards got a big push thanks to enthusiast Casey Neistat, whose reviews of V2 prompted many to buy one. Daniel Dahlberg's joy quickly turned to dismay when Vancouver cops pulled him over and fined him $600 for riding it on the street. Read the rest