Police Camera Bill Becomes Law

By Press Release

TRENTON – Leading the country’s efforts to protect civilians as well as law enforcement officers by equipping video cameras in police vehicles and on officers, last week landmark legislation introduced by Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-4th) and Sen. Donald Norcross (D-5th) was signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie. Moriarty took up the issue after he was subject to a false arrest and the camera in the police vehicle substantiated his claims.

“As recent controversies have shown, it helps to have video footage to back up claims of excessive force and abuse of authority against civilians. Conversely, there are many good officers who have been wrongly accused of impropriety and this measure is designed to ensure their protection as well,” stated Moriarty, chairman, Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee, in a release.

Moriarty was charged with drunken driving and other charges in July 2012 in Washington Township, but Moriarty told police he had nothing to drink that day.

Dashboard camera video from the officer’s car showed Moriarty did not cut off the officer, as the officer claimed, and showed Moriarty passing sobriety tests without problem. The charges against Moriarty were dismissed in early May, and the officer who filed the allegations has now been indicted on 14 criminal counts accusing him of making a false arrest and lying to support his claims.

“While the tragedy that occurred in Ferguson, Missouri is still being probed, it’s hard to comprehend why more states aren’t following our lead," stated Norcross, chairman of the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee, who co-prime sponsored the law with Moriarty.

“There’s the case of a former official who tried to use his position of authority to get out of a speeding ticket and accused the responding Trooper of being unprofessional. The dashboard cam backed up that officer. Law enforcers who abide by the law and don’t abuse their authority should appreciate this technology,” Norcross added.

Norcross also pointed to a national petition on the police camera issue which garnered 154,463 online signatures since it was created on August 13th in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting tragedy in Missouri. (Source: petitions.whitehouse.gov)

The key new provision of the law is that: "every new or used municipal vehicle purchased, leased, or otherwise acquired on or after the effective date (of this bill) which is primarily used for traffic stops shall be equipped with a mobile video recording system. As used in this section “mobile video recording system” means a device or system installed or used in a police vehicle or worn or otherwise used by an officer that electronically records visual images depicting activities that take place during a motor vehicle stop or other law enforcement action.”

The bill provides funding for departments to pay for the equipment by increasing the surcharge imposed on people convicted of driving while intoxicated from $100 to $125 and directing the additional $25 to the department that issues the summons for that purpose.

Man falsely jailed for nearly a year sues IMPD officer

An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer is facing trial in a federal lawsuit filed by a man who claimed he was falsely arrested and jailed for nearly a year on charges that were later dismissed.

The 2012 lawsuit filed against Detective Lesia Moore alleges she made false and misleading statements to pursue a murder warrant for the arrest of Carlos Starks, an Indianapolis man whom three eyewitnesses initially picked from a photo lineup. Two of the witnesses later expressed doubts about their identification of Starks — information Moore did not include in a probable cause affidavit, the suit alleges.

Starks was arrested in October 2010, several months after the shooting death of Douglas Craft, who police said was killed while carrying groceries to his Eastside apartment. Eyewitnesses described the shooter as a 20-something man with dreadlocks, wearing a red shirt and black pants. One witness described him as short and stocky.

Starks, who was stopped by an officer at a nearby bus stop, had dreadlocks but was wearing a black shirt and black pants, is skinny and stands 6 feet 2 inches tall. He told the officer he was waiting for a bus to go to work.

He was arrested after three witnesses identified him as the shooter from a photo lineup. Two of those witnesses later said they were not sure it was Starks because they didn't get a good look at the suspect's face, according to court documents. Two other witnesses identified a different man who was later cleared of the crime, documents said.

Starks was jailed for 11 months as he awaited trial. A Marion Superior Court judge dismissed the case against him in September 2011 after all witnesses who initially identified him recanted their statements in court. He then filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in July 2012, citing violation of his constitutional rights.

Several other defendants initially were named in the lawsuit. They include another detective who also worked on the case; two supervisors; IMPD Chief Rick Hite; Frank Straub, who was the Department of Public Safety director at the time of Starks' arrest; Mayor Greg Ballard; the Department of Public Safety; and the city of Indianapolis.

The suit claims detectives withheld vital information about the investigation to secure a warrant based on a faulty probable cause.

"Despite the discrepancies between the witnesses' statements and Mr. Starks' appearance, and the lack of any evidence linking Mr. Starks to the crime," the lawsuit alleges, the detectives "pressed for Mr. Starks' continued incarceration and prosecution."

According to the complaint, Moore failed to disclose that Starks was taller and thinner than the shooter described by witnesses. She also did not disclose that witnesses had doubts about their identification of Starks, documents said.

The suit further claims that city and public safety officials tolerated and encouraged the alleged misconduct. Earlier this month, a federal judge dismissed those claims, citing a lack of evidence.

Claims against the other detective and the two supervisors also have been dismissed. The court ruled that they were not personally involved in the allegations detailed in the lawsuit.

The case against Moore is scheduled for trial May 4.

Sgt. Kendale Adams, an IMPD spokesman, said Moore previously was a homicide detective and now does background investigations for IMPD recruits.

Samantha DeWester of the Office of Corporation Counsel declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Starks is seeking monetary, consequential and punitive damages.

Bar Harbor couple sue Portland police officer for false arrest

 David Harry

PORTLAND — A Bar Harbor couple claim they were illegally arrested in the city May 24 after observing and attempting to record police "interaction" with a woman on Fore Street, according to a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in Hancock County Superior Court.

Jill A. Walker and Sabatino Scattoloni were illegally arrested by Portland Police Officer Benjamin Noyes Jr., according to the lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Maine on behalf of Walker and Scattoloni.

The suit, which also claims Walker and Scattoloni were not read their Miranda rights when they were arrested, and were subjected to illegal searches, seeks unspecified damages and court costs.

“The right of citizens to observe and record the police is a critical check on the use of power and force,” Zachary Heiden, legal director for the ACLU of Maine, said in a press release. “The police need to understand that individuals who are quietly observing their work from a distance have a right to do so,  and it is not cause for their arrest.”

City spokeswoman Jessica Grondin said Tuesday that Police Chief Michael Sauschuck opened an investigation into the arrest in July after Heiden wrote to him with the allegations.

Grondin said Walker and Scattoloni have cooperated with the investigation, and Noyes will be provided an attorney by the city, which is required by the contract with the Police Superior Officers Benevolent Association.

The department will not comment on its investigation of Noyes, a 17-year veteran, because of "confidentiality of personnel matters and the pending civil lawsuit.," Grondin said.

The complaint alleges Walker and Scattoloni were visiting Portland and returning to their hotel around midnight when they saw a traffic stop on Fore Street involving a woman and five police officers.

The couple watched from across the street and eventually crossed the street while staying about 25 feet from the scene, according to the complaint. They also recorded the incident on a cell phone.

"They watched silently, they did not approach or address the officers, and they did not in any way interfere with the officers' work: they simply stood bearing witness," the complaint said.

Walker and Scattoloni were allegedly approached twice by police before Noyes ordered them to leave or face arrest. The couple were then charged with obstructing government administration, a Class D misdemeanor.

The charge, which carries a sentence of no more than 364 days in jail, is made against persons interfering with public servants with "force, violence or intimidation."

Walker and Scattoloni were taken to Cumberland County Jail and posted $60 bail apiece before their release early on May 25.

Weasel 101

Philadelphia police officer charged with fleeing crash scene... twice

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) --

A Philadelphia police officer was arrested after allegedly leaving the scene of an accident twice in the same night.

Investigators say it was approximately 1:12 a.m. on June 24, 2014 when Officer Tayon Moore was off-duty and got into a car crash in the 3400 block of Chestnut Street.

They say he fled the scene, but was followed by the other driver.

He stopped a few blocks later and both drivers began to exchange information.

However, police say when the other driver tried to use his cell phone to call 911, Moore grabbed the phone and threw it down an embankment, breaking it.

He then fled again, police say.

31-year-old Moore, a 7-year veteran, surrendered into Internal Affairs Tuesday morning. He faces several charges and is now suspended with intent to dismiss.

In the end, he'll get away with it

Cleveland police officer suspended over drawing that ended up on traffic ticket

CLEVELAND– The FOX 8 I-Team has learned a city police officer is drawing heat for a suggestive drawing he sketched on a ticket book.

The police union said it was a joke, but city administrators aren’t laughing

The officer, Vincent Schneider, was suspended for 10 days without pay on August 28, after the woman who received the ticket contacted police headquarters.

Police Union President Jeff Follmer told the I-Team the officer drew the picture on a citation book that belonged to a fellow worker.  The drawing transferred through carbon copies ending up on a ticket given to  the woman.

“It was a joke. This officer never thought this ticket book would be used, get sent out to the public,” Follmer said.

He believes 10 days off without pay is excessive, but the city disagrees.

The city stated the officer violated the police department’s rules and regulations.

On the discipline letter issued to the officer, the city stated in part, that it was determined by the Civilian Police Review Board that the officer “engaged in unprofessional and improper conduct and gross immorality.”

The union said they will appeal.

“We are going to arbitration,” Follmer said.

He said the arbitration process could take months, but if the officer is successful he could receive back pay for the days he was suspended.

The epidemic of mentally unstable cops continues

NYPD Officer Suspended Over Brooklyn Street Festival Arrests

A New York City Police Department officer has been stripped of his badge after a chaotic confrontation between police and food vendors at the end of a street fair in Brooklyn over the weekend.

Amateur video was taken Sunday following the 5th Avenue Street Fair in Sunset Park.

According to police, officers told vendors to leave the area so the street could be reopened, but some vendors refused.

Five people were arrested on charges of resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said the video has already led to one officer's suspension.

"I was very concerned with a video that was taken and the actions of one of our officers who was seen kicking an individual," said Bratton. "As best I could tell looking at that video it seemed to be totally unprovoked. That officer has been suspended and in terms of suspension in this department that means he's been relieved of his gun, his badge and his police duties."

Bratton said internal affairs is continuing to investigate.

He also said the precinct will probably host a community town hall in the next few days.

Residents have claimed to NY1 that Latinos and Hispanics in the neighborhood are subject to a pattern of harassment from the NYPD

Detroit Police Officer Faces New Trial in Girl's 2010 Shooting Death

By ALEX PEREZ and ANDY FIES

A Detroit police officer is preparing to stand trial for the second time in the shooting death of a 7-year-old girl, an incident videotaped by a reality TV crew.

Joseph Weekley is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the May 2010 shooting of Aiyana Stanley-Jones. The incident was videotaped for the A&E reality show “The First 48,” with Detroit police serving a warrant to a murder suspect.

The first trial last year ended in a hung jury. Weekley maintained it was all a tragic accident and he has pleaded not guilty, just as he did in his 2013 trial.

Aiyana was sleeping on the couch. Weekley has testified that the girl’s grandmother, Mertilla Jones, hit his submachine gun, coming down on it with her arm, causing him to accidentally fire.

Aiyana was shot in the head.

Weekley’s supervisor, Lt. Donald Johnson, told jurors in 2013 that Weekley was devastated following the shooting.

“He was just throwing up and crying and shaking, and just sporadic, 'Why did she hit my gun?'” Johnson said.

Jones insisted that she never went for Weekley’s gun.

“They messed up, and they know they done messed up,” she said.

Geoffrey Fieger, the family’s attorney, said police mishandled the situation and were performing for the TV cameras when Aiyana was killed.

“They knew they were being photographed for a TV show. So, they like to show all their cowboys-and-Indians, tough-guy military look,” Fieger said.

ABC News Chief Legal Affairs Anchor Dan Abrams said he was surprised that the jury in the first trial could not agree on a lesser misdemeanor charge against Weekley, careless discharge of a firearm causing death.

“The fact that the jurors couldn’t compromise shows you how difficult a case this is,” Abrams said. “There must have been fierce divisions on that jury.”

And the cop will get away with it too..............

Body camera not used during officer-involved shooting

New information in one officer-involved shooting raises questions about how often police are using body cameras and dash cameras.

NEW ORLEANS - They were touted as a way to increase officer accountability, but new information in one officer-involved shooting raises questions about how often police are using body cameras and dash cameras.

"It's an unbiased unvarnished record of exactly what happened," said former New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Ronal Serpas when the body cameras were rolled out in the spring.

But that wasn't the case in an officer-involved shooting last month in the 3600 block of Mimosa Court in Algiers.

Officer Lisa Lewis wasn't wearing a body camera when she shot Armand Bennett, 26, in the head during a traffic stop, said NOPD spokesman Tyler Gamble. Her partner's camera wasn't turned on, and neither was the police cruiser dash cam, said Gamble.

"I'm very concerned about that, and hope that the fact there is no video will glorify or highlight that officers can turn these cams off and on," said Nandi Campbell, Bennett's attorney.

Video could have shown whether Bennett fought with the officer- a key disparity in Bennett's version of the incident and the NOPD's.

And a recent report shows the issue may be widespread. Dash cameras are required by the NOPD consent decree, but a team of monitors released a report this month showing only a third of incidents involving use of force were recorded.

Gamble added the consent decree monitor examined use of force reports made before body cameras were fully instituted, though dash cameras were already in place at the time.

NOPD policy requires patrol officers to turn on body cameras during traffic stops and calls for service.

"There has to be consequences for officers failing to comply with police department orders to initiate and engage that technology when they're dealing with the public," said Rafael Goyeneche, head of the Metropolitan Crime Commission.

NOPD now confirms that Bennett was unarmed. His attorney says he is recovering from the graze wound. And as police investigate the shooting, Campbell said she has launched her own investigation and is calling for more accountability when it comes to whether officers are turning on their cameras.

The NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau is awaiting scientific test results before completes its criminal investigation and recommends whether charges should be filed against Lewis, said Simone Levine, a deputy police monitor.

The Independent Police Monitor's office is very concerned by the lack of video, and is pushing for PIB to investigate whether Lewis violated administrative policies.

Nearly a month after Eyewitness News requested an incident report, the NOPD records department made it available for release last week, though the report reveals very little.

Campbell claims Lewis and her partner also had their cameras off when they stopped Bennett 10 days earlier, but NOPD says Lewis camera was on.

"We're going to do everything we can to increase the transparency and accountability of the NOPD as a whole," said Gamble. "We're going to address these types of issues on a case-by-case basis. It may require training or it may require discipline."

Supervisors randomly review the video, but the department is working to refine its policies and will look at training or disciplining officers who violate them, said Gamble.

Police were initially criticized for not letting the public know about the officer-involved shooting until days later, though Serpas said he approved a press release about the incident but a public information officer accidentally failed to send it.

Palisades Interstate Parkway officer arrested on drug charges

BY STEFANIE DAZIO

A three-year veteran of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Department was arrested July 16 in connection with cocaine and Oxycodone possession, the department said in a news release.

Officer Lee Frazzano was immediately suspended without pay, the release said.

The internal affairs investigation began when the department received information that Frazzano had become involved in illegal narcotics, the release said. He agreed to take a Reasonable Suspicion Drug Test and during the course of the investigation, police allegedly found the drugs in his possession.

The release didn’t give any further details, saying the criminal and internal affairs investigations are continuing.

Police Chief Michael Coppola said the department didn’t release information about the arrest sooner because they don’t publicize every drug arrest. He said it is being given out now because the department received a request for it.

Frazzano worked as a dispatcher in the Paramus police department from January 2008 to December 2011, police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said. “We never had any issues with him.”

He also served as a Westwood firefighter for more than five years before taking the Palisades Interstate Parkway police job, fire Chief James Mawdsley said. “We never had a problem with him as a firefighter.”

The uncheked epidemic of mentaly unstable cops in American continues

Baltimore cop suspended after video shows him punching man

By Michele Richinick

Baltimore police have suspended an officer after he was caught on video repeatedly beating a man earlier this year.

Lawyers representing Kollin Truss, 32, said their client exchanged words with Baltimore City Police Department Officer Vincent Cosom on June 15 at 1:30 a.m., just before the cop repeatedly punched him, according to local WBALTV11. Cosom now faces a seven-count lawsuit from attorneys Ivan Bates and Tony Garcia, of Bates & Garcia, who claimed their client is the victim of police brutality.

“The pattern is all too clear, these types of police take a person’s dignity, force their submission, assault a person then charge the person with assaulting them. This is not justice,” attorneys wrote on the law firm’s Facebook page.

Cosom has been placed on administrative leave. The video footage of the incident was captured by police surveillance cameras.

On June 15, Cosom said he saw Truss, who was “very intoxicated,” “loitering” in front of a liquor store, and asked him to leave the premises, according to the officer’s account obtained by msnbc. The two apparently exchanged words. In his report, Cosom wrote that Truss and his woman friend began to argue, and Truss pushed her once they left the location. Cosom reentered the scene, and the two entered into a physical altercation, as seen in the video, before police arrested him and charged him with assaulting an officer.

The charges against Truss were later dropped once the state attorney’s office viewed the footage.

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts expressed his anger at a news conference on Tuesday.

“Much like the public, I was shocked, I’m outraged, I’m disgusted by what I saw by an employee of the Baltimore Police Department,” Batts said. “Nothing that I saw on that video is defensible, nor should it be defensible. And most importantly, it’s unacceptable and will not be tolerated within this organization.”

Police brutality recently has been highlighted in news headlines since the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri. The jury has until Jan. 7 to determine whether or not Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson should be indicted on criminal charges in Brown’s death. Wilson, who has been on paid administrative leave since the incident in the St. Louis suburb, appeared in public for the first time in more than a month on Tuesday to testify before the grand jury. Protests and violence broke out in Ferguson following Brown’s death, and the community continues to demand justice.

In Kansas City, Missouri, the FBI is investigating the case of a police tasing that put another cop’s son in critical condition and a medically induced coma. Officer Tim Runnels pulled over a vehicle that 17-year-old Bryce Masters was driving after the officer ran the car’s tags and discovered a warrant linked to a female driver, msnbc previously reported. Police said Masters “physically resisted” officers’ demands to step out of the car and that at some point Runnels used his stun gun to restrain the teen.

A New York Police Department officer was also suspended this week after video footage surfaced of him apparently kicking a man on the ground at a street fair in Brooklyn.

The cop murder rampage continues and the federal government is no where to be found

Police: Cop drunk in fatal wrong-way Thruway crash

The off-duty New York City police officer at the wheel in a fatal wrong-way crash on the Thruway last month had a blood-alcohol content of nearly three times the legal limit, state police announced Wednesday.

Toxicology results show that Richard E. Christopher, 32, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.21 percent when he drove his 2002 Dodge Dakota south on the northbound Thruway near Suffern, slamming head-on into a Honda CRV driven by James DeVito of Airmont. A BAC above 0.08 is a misdemeanor.

Both men were killed in the crash, which occurred occurred just before 7 a.m. on Aug. 12.

No drugs were found in Christopher's system. Christopher was assigned to the 43rd Precinct in the Bronx and lived on South Airmont Road in Airmont with his girlfriend and her son.

DeVito had no drugs or alcohol in his blood at the time of the crash, state police said.

DeVito, 59, a recent widower, was the executive chef at Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh, where he was an employee of Sodexo, a food services company.

DeVito's father, Joseph DeVito Sr., who lives in Peoria, Arizona, was shocked to hear of the finding.

"The fact that he is a police officer and drunk makes no sense at all," DeVito said. "It's a sorry shame. My son was a beautiful guy. He was a master chef, he was a musician, he was a good family man."

The officer's family said at the time that they believed he had been headed to work. However, state police Capt. Richard Mazzone said Wednesday that the investigation determined Christopher was not going to work that morning but was headed home from a friend's place in Orangetown.

Christopher's family was told Wednesday of the autopsy results but did not wish to comment on them, his sister, Melissa Castillo, said at the family's home in Nyack.

Investigators say two witnesses reported that Christopher was traveling north in the northbound lanes before making an illegal U-turn and driving south in the wrong direction.

The collision occurred just after the five-year anniversary of one of the most horrific motor vehicles crashes in recent memory.

On July 26, 2009, Diane Schuler was high on marijuana and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent when she drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway, slamming into another vehicle and killing eight people, including four children.

NAME THE PIECE OF SHIT COWARD!!!!!!!!!!! The media has got to stop protecting the cops

Off-Duty Tulsa cop shoots, kills neighborhood dog

TULSA - An off-duty Tulsa police officer shot and killed a neighborhood dog Thursday night.

The shooting happened close to 5 p.m. in the 6900 block of East 18th Street.

According to Tulsa Police Department Public Information Officer Leland Ashley, the unnamed off-duty officer felt threatened after the dog growled at him and his dog. He says the off-duty cop, whom he referred to as a citizen, feared for his life and pulled the trigger as a means of protection.

The dog, 5-year-old Titus, escaped through his the backyard fence seconds before the shooting, according to owner Sarah Slane.

Titus, a pit bull-terrier mix, weighed 75 pounds and escaped once before, according to Slane.

She says that within seconds of letting Titus out to roam the backyard, she heard two gunshots.

"He literally let him out, shut the door, heard the gunfire like not even three seconds. It was like boom, boom," Slane described.

Neighbor Grant Holm says he witnessed the shooting. According to Holm, the off-duty officer fired two shots within 20 or 30 seconds of the encounter between Titus and the off-duty officer's dog.

"They were sniffing each other and the man pulled his dog back and his hind legs didn't move. So it reared up and the other dog moved forward and the man reached back behind him and pulled out a silver revolver, bent down and shot the dog," Holm said.

 Holm says close to a dozen children and dozen adults witnessed the shooting.

"He never identified himself to any of us as a police officer, and after the second shot, people were grabbing their kids, running for their homes," he recalled.

Officer Ashley says the off-duty officer fired his personal weapon, not a police-issued one.

He says that any person licensed to carry a concealed weapon who feels their life is being threatened has the right to protect him or herself, even if that means using deadly force.

Sarah and boyfriend Nick Blazek say they plan to file a report with internal affairs and want an investigation.

"To go from, oh this dog is sniffing, to not asking anyone if it's their animal to then shooting it down with children, who would ever allow somebody like that to have that much control?" Slane asked.

The off-duty officer, whose name Ofc. Ashley wouldn't release, does not face criminal charges.(Then what the fuck is the reporter there for? Talk to the neighbors, get the name, it's called leg work)

2NEWS submitted an open records request with the Tulsa Police Department for a copy of the police report from the shooting, but that request was not answered at the time of this story.

Dolton cop fired in missing gun case

  By Andrew Schroedter ation

The Better Government Association and CBS2 reported last month that an antique handgun seized by Dolton police was never inventoried and went missing for more than two years.

Now, the police sergeant at the center of that controversy has been fired for "neglect of duty," "failure to secure evidentiary material" and 10 other administrative charges, according to interviews and public records.

Anthony Bankhead, a 15-year Dolton police veteran, was terminated this week.

"Based on the findings the village had no other choice," Dolton Police Chief John Franklin says.

The Cook County sheriff's office questioned Bankhead but didn't pursue criminal charges because the gun was recovered and eventually returned to its owner. The village initiated termination proceedings amid questions from the BGA and CBS2.

Village Attorney John Murphey says Bankhead is appealing his firing with an independent arbitrator, who will either uphold the decision or mete out a different punishment. The ruling will be binding.

Bankhead, a former Chicago Housing Authority police officer, was paid $108,655 last year by taxpayers. He declined to comment when contacted by the BGA. Officials with the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, the union that represents Dolton's officers, couldn't be reached for comment.

Bankhead likely would not qualify for a police pension if he loses his appeal, Murphey says.

The .32-caliber pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun, ammunition and two "blunts," or cigars stuffed with marijuana, were recovered during an Illinois Department of Corrections "compliance check" at a Dolton home where a parolee was staying in December 2011.

Pierce Cole, 59, legally owns the weapons and the home and had been letting his friend Farren Caridine, 48, stay there since Caridine's release from state prison in June of that year.

Because the shotgun was found in an area of the home's basement where Caridine slept he was charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon, a parole violation, and sent back to prison. Dolton police processed his arrest and took possession of the unloaded guns, ammunition and drugs.

More than a year later a Cook County judge dismissed the weapons charge and ordered Dolton police to return the weapons and shotgun ammunition to Cole, according to interviews and public records.

But when Cole went to the Dolton police station to pick up the items, he discovered Bankhead had inventoried his shotgun and ammunition – but not the blunts or the early 1900s pistol, which resembles a valuable German Luger but, according to gun experts, is actually an American-made knock-off, worth a few hundred dollars.

Initially, Bankhead told Dolton police officials he didn't know what happened to the gun.

But Bankhead later changed his story and said he had placed the pistol in a cabinet drawer in the police station, a violation of department policy. The gun was eventually returned to Cole.

The drugs were never found.

Miami cop facing child porn, molestation charges

BY DAVID OVALLE AND MELHOR MARIE LEONOR

A retired Miami police officer who nicknamed himself “Batman” and downloaded hundreds of child-porn videos is now accused of video-recording himself molesting a young girl, authorities say.

Juan Roman had been free on bond on federal child-porn charges when detectives, while poring through his computer files this week, found the disturbing video clips.

Roman, 57, was re-arrested and booked into a Miami-Dade jail early Saturday, charged with a slew of state counts, including lewd and lascivious molestation of a child.

According to court documents, Roman apparently set up a hidden video camera inside his home bathroom, which later captured him molesting a girl who is 7 years old.

He is also charged with video voyeurism. A Miami-Dade judge on Saturday afternoon ordered him held in jail without bond.

“The defendant is obviously embarrassed by the allegations but he has served the community well for more than four decades,” said his defense attorney, George Cholakis.

His arrest stunned and angered former colleagues at the Miami Police Department, where he worked as a detective and as a spotter aboard the department’s helicopter. Roman retired about five years ago.

Late last month, federal authorities arrested Roman and charged him with possession and distribution of child pornography.

According to federal court documents, cyber-crimes investigators in July pinpointed Roman’s computer as having been used to share illegal sexual images of young girls and boys.

In late August, agents raided Roman’s Biscayne Park home. After waiving his right to remain silent, the former cop insisted that he only used the file-sharing software to download music and had “not really seen child pornography,” according to the federal complaint.

Investigators noticed another odd detail: Roman sported a Batman logo tattooed on his arm, and his computer hard drive was nicknamed the “Batcave.”

Photos on his laptop and hard drive showed him wearing a cape, a mask and Batman underwear in various posed shots, according to documents.

But most disturbingly, investigators found over 500 video files “suggestive of child pornography” on Roman’s laptop and hard drive.

It was on Thursday that detectives, while exhaustively combing through his files, found the videos of Roman allegedly molesting the young girl in the bathroom. Federal prosecutors are now asking that a federal judge revoke his bond.

Miami-Dade Police’s special victims unit arrested him on the state charges.

His arrest comes several weeks after Miami-Dade police officers arrested one of their own on similar charges.

Longtime Miami-Dade Sgt. James Edwards is accused of paying a 15-year-old boy with drugs and alcohol before groping the teen and masturbating in front of him, authorities say. He is charged with lewd and lascivious conduct and exhibition.

Tulsa Deputy Resigns After Sexual Assault Arrest

TULSA, Okla.

An Oklahoma sheriff's deputy resigned Wednesday after two women said he sexually assaulted them at a Tulsa County home while he was on duty, a case that comes on the heels of a state trooper and an Oklahoma City police officer being arrested on sexual assault complaints.

Tulsa County Deputy Gerald Nuckolls, 26, was arrested late Tuesday on complaints of sexual assault and battery and indecent exposure. He remained jailed on $125,000 bond.

Undersheriff Tim Albin said Nuckolls resigned after being placed on unpaid leave. Nuckolls hasn't been formally charged, and authorities believe there could be at least five more women who have yet to come forward. It's not clear from jail records whether he has an attorney.

Nuckolls' arrest came a day after Oklahoma State Trooper Eric Roberts was arrested on complaints of kidnapping, rape and other crimes. Three women have said Roberts sexually assaulted them while he was on duty. Roberts' attorney has said the trooper is innocent.

Weeks before Roberts' arrest, Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was accused of sexually assaulting at least eight women while on duty. Holtzclaw has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The recent allegations against the three lawmen are among similar complaints lodged against Oklahoma officers in the past decade.

In 2011, Delaware County commissioners agreed to a $13.5 million settlement after 15 women complained they were raped, sexually assaulted or fondled by their jailers. In 2009, Custer County Sheriff Mike Burgess was sentenced to 79 years for sexual assaults against an inmate.

Former Latimer County Sheriff Melvin Holly was sentenced to 25 years for sexual crimes, including abusing a 19-year-old inmate in 2004 and warning her she would "end up dead somewhere, floating face-down in a river" if she ever reported what happened.

Nuckolls, who had worked for the sheriff's office for two years, showed up at the women's home investigating a 911 hang-up call, according to his arrest report.

The report alleges Nuckolls exposed his genitals to one woman inside his patrol SUV. The woman said she began rubbing the officer's genitals because he told her it would keep her boyfriend out of jail.

Nuckolls asked a second woman at the house about her tattoos and if she was wearing a bra, then reached up and pulled her dress down, according to the report.

The woman said she pulled her dress up as Nuckolls began touching himself. She said she told him she wanted to go back inside and that Nuckolls said he would return when his shift ended.

Nuckolls told detectives who interviewed him that "he has a problem for pretty women" and that "sexual type activity has occurred" during encounters with about six women.

Missy Iski, director of programs and counseling at DVIS/Call Rape in Tulsa, said Wednesday that potential victims may be reluctant to come forward especially when a law officer is alleged to have been involved.

"When you add a law enforcement person, it even adds to the difficulty," Iski said.

Colorado police officer charged with stalking

FORT COLLINS — A Fort Collins police officer was arrested and fired after investigators say he used agency resources to stalk a woman.

Police say a Fort Collins woman reported "inappropriate behavior" by Branson, telling investigators he contacted her multiple times at work and home while he was on duty. Branson allegedly used police resources to find out where the woman worked and lived in an effort to start a relationship with her.

Branson worked as a police officer in Butte, Montana, before being hired in Fort Collins in January.

The Montana Standard reports that in 2011, he received the department's award for helping victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

Former Cheshire police officer charged with stealing from union

 By Allison Nachman,

CHESHIRE, Conn. (WTNH) — A former Cheshire police officer is facing the other side of the law today.

46-year-old Jay Markella was arrested and charged with stealing almost $21,000 from the police union.

He’s been charged with Larceny.  If convicted he could face up to 20 years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine.

Markella served as the treasurer for the union he allegedly stole from.  He resigned from the Cheshire Police Department in September of 2013.

Former Summerville Police officer charged with sexual exploitation of minor

SUMMERVILLE, SC - Authorities have arrested a former Summerville Police officer for sexual exploitation of a minor.

Police arrested 40-year-old, Carlisle Johnson Floyd Sunday September 14, 2014.  He was charged with 3 counts of second degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a felony carrying 2-10 years in prison.

According to the arrest warrant Floyd possessed sexually explicit materials involving minors.

According to Dorchester School District Two, Floyd was one of the School Resource Officers assigned to Summerville High School.  Additionally, Floyd volunteered as an assistant wrestling coach at Summerville.  Floyd has since been removed from all his duties at Summerville High.  Officials say there is no indication of criminal activity connected to his position at the high school.

Floyd was booked at the Dorchester County Detention Center.