When Cops Get Arrested, Palm Beach Sheriff's Office Doesn't Put Their Booking Info Online

By Ray Downs

The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office has been selectively taking names of police officers who get arrested off the booking blotter, effectively giving busted cops special treatment over regular folks who get their names, mug shots, and personal information put online for all to see when they get thrown in jail.

A story published Sunday by the Palm Beach Post revealed the practice, which PBSO officials have since admitted to doing. Their excuse is that their computer program doesn't allow them to scrub officers' home addresses and birth dates, which is not allowed to be released to the public under state law. And since they can't take off that information, they decided to just leave police off the record entirely.

The PBSO has done this for all five officers (that we know of) arrested this year, including the recent arrest of Boynton Beach officer Stephen Maiorino, who is accused of raping a woman at gunpoint on the hood of his patrol car.

See also: Boynton Cop Stephen Maiorino Arrested for Raping Woman at Gunpoint

But as the Post points out, the PBSO was able to scrub addresses and birth dates of officers before -- like how they did for Boynton Beach Police Officer Alex Lindsey in 2011 when he was arrested for falsifying documents.

Interestingly, the PBSO's booking blotter was offline Monday night and the link instead goes straight the site's homepage. The PBSO tells the Post it will continue to be offline "until further notice."

Records of the officer arrests are still available to the public under Florida's open records law, but for now, a request to the PBSO must be made to obtain them. But with the booking blotter currently down, even non-police officers will enjoy the privilege of not having their mug shot and private information published online for all to see and use for money-making purposes like charging a fee to take to take the information off private websites. For now, at least.

Jerry Hyland won't come out of the closet and speak up against police murders of unarmed citizens in Fairfax County  

Deputy in slap video is charged, steps down

Longtime lawman arraigned on misconduct, harassment charges

By Lauren Stanforth

A Saratoga County sheriff's sergeant abruptly resigned Monday as he was charged with official misconduct and harassment after a video was posted on the Internet over the weekend that purportedly captured him slapping a man whose car he wanted to search.

Sheriff Michael H. Zurlo said his office began an investigation into the actions of Sgt. Shawn R. Glans immediately after they learned the video was posted on the department's Facebook page around 9 p.m. Friday. The video shows Glans demanding to search the vehicle of a young man, Colin Fitch, who was standing next to the deputy in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store in Halfmoon. Fitch refused to consent to the search as Glans peppered him with expletives and said they could get a search warrant if he didn't turn over his keys.

Glans grows increasingly agitated during the encounter, which was being secretly filmed by Fitch's friend Adam Roberts, who was standing next to the pair. "You want to (expletive) resist?" Glans tells Fitch as the deputy steps toward him and the video captures a loud slapping sound. The video camera was pointed downward at the time of the alleged strike. Glans then grabs Fitch's keys, throwing them to another deputy. "Search the (expletive) car," Glans tells the other deputy, who has not been identified.

Zurlo acknowledged Glans struck the young man. Glans, 48, was arraigned in Halfmoon Town Court on Monday afternoon on one count of official misconduct, a misdemeanor, and second-degree harassment, a violation. The charges state that while on-duty and in uniform Glans "did knowingly commit unauthorized physical acts in seeking to secure and expedite the search of a vehicle with an intent to benefit himself," according to court records. The harassment charge says Glans slapped Fitch "in the back of the head with an open hand."

"His actions both as a police officer and a sergeant were completely inappropriate," Zurlo said at a news conference Monday at which he announced that Glans had resigned. "I am very disturbed. I have zero tolerance for that type of activity."

Glans, who said he's been a police officer for 27 years, was immediately suspended after the video surfaced Friday. Zurlo said the sergeant reported in on Monday morning and then voluntarily resigned. Glans' attorney, Matthew Chauvin of Clifton Park, said he didn't know if Glans was informed of the criminal charges against him before he resigned.

"The video is difficult to place in the context of the person we know," Chauvin said. "I hope the 20-plus years he's put into the community doesn't go unnoticed," he said adding, "There are two sides to every story."

Glans also has worked as a part-time South Glens Falls police officer. South Glens Falls police declined to comment on his status with that department.

Glans told the Times Union Saturday that he was concerned about public safety after seeing the gun in the car, but that he would have acted differently if he knew it was being videotaped. "If I had to do it all over again ... I'd probably do the same thing. If I knew the camera was there, no, because it does look bad," he said.

The sheriff said an internal investigation is ongoing regarding the actions of the two other deputies who were at the scene with Glans but did not intervene as their sergeant allegedly slapped the young man. Zurlo declined to identify the other deputies. With Glans' resignation, the internal investigation into his actions is closed, Zurlo said.

Halfmoon Town Justice Lester Wormuth granted an order of protection on behalf of Fitch and Roberts that prohibits Glans from contacting them.

Zurlo said Glans and other deputies approached the two in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart on Route 9 around 2:30 a.m. Friday after receiving a call of suspicious people parking at another business and entering woods on Route 236 near the Wal-Mart.

When deputies arrived at the business on Route 236 the car was gone, but they said they found a vehicle matching the description in the Wal-Mart parking lot a short time later. Glans saw a .22-caliber rifle in the car's back seat and wanted to search the vehicle.

After the video captured Glans allegedly slapping Fitch, Roberts kept filming and can be heard telling Glans that what just happened was "intense" and he asks the sergeant if he was going strike him next. The sergeant responded that he could "rip your (expletive) head off and (expletive) down your neck." Glans is due back in Halfmoon court on Dec. 9.

Demand Jerry Hyland to come out of the closet and address the murder of unarmed citizen by the Fairfax County cops

Jury selected for western Pennsylvania officer charged with wrongly stunning handcuffed man

 By JOE MANDAK 

 PITTSBURGH — A jury has been selected to decide whether a western Pennsylvania police officer violated a suspect's civil rights by repeatedly zapping him with a stun gun, even after he was handcuffed — an encounter recorded on another person's cellphone.

The attorney for Millvale Officer Nicole Murphy doesn't dispute she used the stun gun on Thomas Jason James Smith after his arrest for public drunkenness in September 2012. Rather, he contends the 30-year-old officer was justified in using it because she was trying to stop Smith from banging his head.

"This guy was out of control. They believed he was on some other kind of substance," defense attorney Robert Stewart said after Murphy's arraignment in June. "She had a choice of Tasering him to subdue him or letting him split his head open." Stewart didn't immediately return a call seeking comment following jury selection Wednesday.

Opening statements in the case are scheduled to begin Monday morning in federal court.

The FBI began investigating after someone leaked a 52-second cellphone video of the incident to Pittsburgh-area media outlets in early 2013.

The video shows a shirtless Smith, then 28, sitting on the floor of the police station while he banged his head on the edge of a desk. Murphy then zaps him with the stun gun. Murphy reported in a criminal complaint that she used the stun gun to subdue Smith when he became violent, but Smith isn't seen attacking her in the video.

The video also shows some emergency responders smiling and laughing at Smith's behavior.

The prosecution and defense haven't specified who took the video. Court documents filed in recent weeks suggest the case will boil down to the testimony of Murphy — who remains on unpaid leave — and another officer, part-timer Casey Bonincontro.

Prosecutors have asked the court for permission to raise issues relating to Murphy's character if she testifies.

According to pretrial motions, prosecutors want to ask Murphy about a 2011 drunken driving arrest and about a man Murphy allegedly befriended or dated "who was known to her to have a drug-related criminal record." Stewart has argued neither is relevant.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, are concerned that Stewart plans to use Bonincontro's personnel files with the borough and other departments to allegedly show she violated various on-the-job rules.

The judge has yet to rule whether any of that can be used at trial.

The charge Murphy faces carries up to 10 years in prison and, because it's a felony, would end her law enforcement career even if she avoids incarceration.

Jerry "opps dearie" Hyland won't stand up to the cops

Colchester, Vt., officer charged with taking drugs, gun

The police chief in Colchester, Vt., is calling it the darkest day in her department’s history. Chief Jennifer Morrison said town Detective Corporal Tyler Kinney will face federal charges in connection with the alleged thefts of drugs and a firearm from a police evidence locker. Authorities say the investigation began early Monday, when the gun that was supposed to be in the Colchester department’s possession turned up during a search carried out by Burlington police. Morrison said the investigation led to Kinney, a 12-year veteran of her department. The 38-year-old Jericho resident is to be charged formally on Wednesday in US District Court. It could not be determined immediately whether Kinney has a lawyer. 

              

Jerry "Opps Dearie" Hyland, the best friend injustice ever had

Suspended APD officer named officer of the year

By Noelle Newton

An officer suspended for ten days by the Austin Police Department, has just been awarded officer of the year.

The Austin Police Association President says he did what the department should have done in the first place.

Officer Jonathan Laborde is appealing his discipline.

Until an outside source decides on the matter, you can take a look at the video of the incident in question for yourself.

In the APD dash camera video, off-duty officer Jonathan Laborde with his badge in his left hand and his gun in his right chases after a man who just ran through his church.

Laborde would later learn that the man he was after, Matthew Rogers, had just attempted to steal from a T-Mobile store. Police say Rogers struggled with an employee and then pulled a knife on him.

The clip after that shows Laborde tackling Rogers in the middle of a street.

A patrol officer can be heard saying, "I can hear somebody helping us out. (siren) Thank God cause I've been chasing this guy. He had a knife on him so I didn't want to get stabbed."

On Saturday, Laborde was recognized by the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas as the Central Texas Regional Officer of the Year.

"The department wouldn't recognize his courage so we did," said Sgt. Wayne Vincent.

Sgt. Vincent nominated Laborde.

"He actually did what I think every citizen would expect an off duty police officer to do," he said.

Vincent's opinion of what took place is much different from APDsupervisors who suspended Laborde for ten days.

A disciplinary memo states Laborde posed an unreasonable threat to the public stating most responding officers didn't know Laborde was an officer, but instead an individual running after the suspect with a gun in his hand.

It is department policy to wait for an on-duty officer to arrive before intervening.

Laborde is appealing the suspension and Vincent is showing his support through this award.

"We did this to send a message to our membership that despite what you might go through and the criticisms you go through when you do the right thing you're doing it for the public and you're doing it for the profession and we're proud of you for doing so," he explains.

Laborde is waiting for a hearing date.

APD is not commenting about this incident again until that hearing takes place.

Cop Shoots Judge With Taser In Courtroom

By Michael Allen

Judge Geary Kull was reportedly attacked by defendant Michael Ganter in court last Thursday, and accidentally tased by a police officer.

The bizarre incident happened in Maywood, Ill., near Chicago (video below).

Ganter, who was not handcuffed or shackled, was being taken out of the courtroom by two deputies when he allegedly went after Judge Kull and punched him several times.

When a police officer fired a taser at Ganter, Judge Kull was hit by one of the taser’s prongs.

Ganter was in court because he was charged with aggravated battery and attempted murder, but has now been charged additionally with a second count of aggravated battery and resisting arrest.

“The gentleman who struck him, struck him in the head and the face. Judge Kull told me that he was pummeled by this gentleman,” Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans told CBS Chicago.

"[Judge Kull] was struck by one of the taser prongs that went awry when they were attempting to remove the defendant from attacking the judge," Chief Judge Evans told ABC 7 Chicago.

Cook County Jail Executive Director Cara Smith told the Associated Press that Judge Kull was taken to a nearby hospital and released.

Two Years Later, No Charges After Police Kill Homeless Man in Barrage of 46 Shots

By Lauren Walker

On a quiet Sunday in July 2012 in broad daylight, six police officers in Michigan repeatedly shot an African-American man struggling with homelessness and mental illness. While the killing of Milton Hall prompted local outrage and a federal investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in February that it failed to find “sufficient evidence of willful misconduct” to prosecute the policemen.

This Monday, more than two years later, the ACLU released footage obtained from the Hall family’s lawyers and used it as part of its testimony before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an organ of the Organization of American States, in order to put pressure on the federal government. While a bystander video was shown on CNN shortly after the shooting, the newly released dashcam video shows the incident with unprecedented detail.

 In the video, Hall, 49, is seen standing in a Saginaw, Michigan, parking lot surrounded by eight police officers with their guns drawn and pointed at him. During the short stand-off, a police dog began to growl and lunge toward Hall, who took out a small pocketknife in response. It was when he turned to the dog, the ACLU says, that police showered Hall with a stream of bullets.

The officers fired 46 shots in a matter of seconds, hitting Hall 14 times. Once on the ground, an officer turned him over, handcuffed him, and put his foot on Hall’s back—with “his blood running down the street like water,” Jewel Hall, Milton's mother, told the ACLU.

Milton Hall was born on April 25, 1963 in Saginaw. His mother told the ACLU that Hall spent his days as a community worker who fought for equal rights. He was an avid reader, researcher, and even received training from Rosa Parks. In his mid-20s, signs of Hall’s mental disability started to appear.

“As long as he was on his medication and all, he did fine. It was when he wasn't on his medication that he was impatient. He'd sometimes become intolerant,” Jewel told the ACLU. “But when he was on his medication, he maintained.

"It's been devastating to our family; it was devastating to the community. And justice still has not been served," she said. "There needs to be a change in how police deal with situations like the one that ended my son's life. Our leaders have to address conditions that allow police to use excessive and deadly force with impunity."

"As a civilian, Mr. Hall had every right to expect that the police would protect his life, but instead, he was the target of what resembled in many ways a firing squad,” Mark Fancher, a lawyer with the ACLU of Michigan, said. "The government cannot act as if the life of a homeless black man has no value. Saginaw deserves justice not only for Milton Hall, but for the entire community that has been devastated by this inexplicable act of police violence."

The hearing, held on Monday, focused on racially biased policing in the United States. While the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has no legal authority, the ACLU hopes the testimony will serve “as a wake-up call for the desperate need to address police misconduct against the black citizens of this country," said Michael Steinberg, the legal director of the ACLU of Michigan. “The power behind these international tribunals is to draw attention to the problem and to put pressure on the United States to abide by human rights principles.”

Ex-NOPD officer on trial in 'pill mill' case commits suicide, lawyer says

 Donald Nides, a former New Orleans Police Department narcotics officer standing trial this week on federal charges of helping "pill mills" avoid criminal investigation, was found dead at his River Ridge home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, his lawyer said. (Naomi Martin, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Donald Nides, a former New Orleans Police Department narcotics officer standing trial this week on federal charges of helping "pill mills" avoid criminal investigation, was found dead at his River Ridge home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, his lawyer said.

Jefferson Parish Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich said he was notified by 911 operators around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday (Nov. 5) that Nides, 64, died of a gunshot wound to the head.

The federal trial was entering its third day, with testimony expected to turn to claims that Nides took sexual favors and cash bribes from Tiffany Gambino Miller, co-owner of pain management clinics in Slidell and Metairie who along with a doctor cut plea deals.

Nides, who was assigned to a DEA task force, was wounded by Tuesday's testimony from former law enforcement colleagues, who defense attorney Arthur "Buddy" Lemann accused of lying on the stand.

"There was a certain amount of eagerness about (the testimony) that really crushed him," Lemann said.

Yet Nides seemed confident when he left the courthouse, Lemann said.

"I liked our chances," Lemann said.

Lemann said Nides's wife was devastated by the death of her husband of more than 30 years. The couple had two children and were expecting their first grandchild.

Lemann said he expected the government was close to wrapping up its case, and he planned to put on the testimony of Nides' former partner.

Lemann had painted Nides, a veteran of 40 years in law enforcement, as a hardworking cop who had been deceived by Miller and Dr. Joseph Mogan III, who ran the Omni Pain Management clinic in Metairie and Omni Pain Management Plus in Slidell.a

Miller had yet to testify, but prosecutors said she would testify that she performed oral sex on Nides in his car and at the clinic on multiple occasions from 2007 to 2008, as well as giving him envelopes of cash. In exchange, Nides advised Miller on how the clinics could disguise the fact that the Omni clinics were "pill mills" where doctors would write prescriptions for powerful painkilling medications to patients with little justification.

Mogan testified that the clinics raked in $1.5 million a year, money he split with Miller. Nides, according to court records filed along with Mogan and Miller's plea agreements, received cash payments of $600 to $2,000 on a weekly or biweekly basis.

Nides was free on bail since his indictment in February.

'Very nice guy'

Nides lived with his wife on 3rd Street in River Ridge, a quiet, dead-end block that neighbors said is home to many retirees. Several declined to be named, but described Nides as a friendly, kind person.

The couple's single-story brick house with white shutters sits on a manicured lawn that neighbors said was the result of Nides' daily attention. He was constantly outside working on his front yard landscaping, neighbors said, and would always wave to passing cars and stop to chat to pedestrians.

"He kept his yard immaculate," neighbor Wayne Pritchett said. "He was always out there fooling with his garden and would always wave to you every day."

Nides and his family were living there when Pritchett moved in 15 years ago. They became friendly, but not close, Pritchett said, noting he had seen Nides outside working in his yard on Sunday, the day before his trial started.

"I'm just sad to hear that because as far as I know he's a very nice guy," Pritchett said. "I'm sad for his wife and children."

As word trickled through the road's residents Wednesday morning, neighbors visited on each other's front stoops, discussing the surprising and sudden death of the man they knew as friendly and even-keeled. 

"Are you serious?" one woman asked, shocked.

Several neighbors said they hadn't heard of Nides' legal troubles and would have never suspected he would be at the center of lurid allegations -- let alone kill himself over them.

"I'm sorry that it would cause that," Debra Murphy said of his apparent suicide. "I wish that he would've been able to get through it."

A woman at the Nides home declined to speak to a reporter.

Philadelphia Police Officer Charged With Participating In Scheme To Extort Money, Drugs From Dealers

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Philadelphia cop is charged with participating in a scheme to extort drugs and money from drug dealers and drug buyers while working as a Philadelphia Police officer.

According to the indictment, Christopher Saravello, 37, conspired with others to rob the dealers and buyers of cash and Oxycontin as well as other controlled substances between Nov. 2011 and June 2012.

Saravello’s co-conspirators would allegedly alert him to a drug transaction, which Saravello would then interrupt. At that point, he’d identify himself as a police officer by approaching the interaction in a marked police car, wearing his uniform, and display an official badge or ID or verbally ID himself as a police officer.

Saravello would then reportedly seize the drugs being sold or the money paid by the drug buyer and share the stolen items with his co-conspirators.

The alleged conspiracy resulted in more than $9,800 in drug money as well as quantities of Oxycontin and other narcotics.

Saravello was arrested on Nov. 5, 2014 and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act extortion and five counts of Hobbs Act extortion.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 120 years in prison, a $1.25 million fine, three years of supervised release and a $600 special assessment.

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LA police officer charged with lewd conduct

A Los Angeles policeman has been charged with exposing himself to five people, including an 80-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl.

Orange County prosecutors say Ryan Galliher was charged Tuesday with crimes including indecent exposure and attempted lewd conduct with a child under 14.

Galliher's free on bail but could face four years in prison if convicted.

The LAPD has placed him on leave. Galliher had no public phone listing and it's unclear whether he has an attorney.

Prosecutors say Galliher flashed the 12-year-old in February in the Bolsa Chica wetlands of Huntington Beach and asked her to touch his penis. He's also charged with exposing himself to four women in the same 0area.

The 33-year-old Huntington Beach man was arrested after police allegedly saw him exposing himself last month.

NOPD officer charged with stealing Road Home funds

Officer Tracie Medus, a 17-year NOPD veteran, was suspended without pay Tuesday after the U.S. attorney's office charged her with stealing funds from the post-Katrina recovery program Road Home. Her attorney said she is cooperating with investigators. (NOPD yearbook)

 By Naomi Martin, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

A New Orleans police officer is charged with stealing $158,700 from the state's Road Home recovery program created after Hurricane Katrina.

Tracie Medus, an officer for 17 years, was suspended without pay Tuesday after federal prosecutors charged her with theft of government funds, authorities said. Her attorney, Townsend Myers, said she is cooperating with prosecutors.

Medus, 39, is accused of taking money between July 2009 and March 2011 from the Road Home's small rental property program. She "knew she was not entitled" to the funds, which were awarded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to prosecutors. Read the charging papers here.

The program, which is aimed at shoring up more affordable housing for low to middle-income renters, provides small-time landlords forgivable loans to restore rental properties that were destroyed. In exchange, the landlords must agree to rent the property at relatively low, set rates to tenants who meet certain income requirements.

According to a source close to Medus, she restored her properties and rented them out. But prosecutors allege that she overcharged her tenants in rent and at least one of her tenants did not meet the income eligibility rules for the program, the source said.

Medus plans to repay the money, her lawyer says.

"We are working with the United States government and the Road Home program to repay all loan monies received and to achieve a result that is fair both to the government and to Officer Medus," Myers said.

If convicted as charged, Medus faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to twice the amount stolen, prosecutors in U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite's office said.

During the investigation, the NOPD in August placed Medus on administrative reassignment, or desk duty. She was most recently assigned to the NOPD's 6th District, which covers the Garden District and Central City, said department spokesman Tyler Gamble.

In March 2012, the department suspended Medus for three days for arguing with her supervisor and calling him "ADD--Attention Deficit Disorder," according to a story by 

2 New York City Officers Charged With Assaulting Teenager

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD

The surveillance video starts with a 16-year-old running down a sidewalk in Brooklyn, with the police in pursuit.

The teenager, Kaheem Tribble, then slowed and faced an officer, Tyrane Isaac, who took a wild swing at his head. As another officer, David Afanador, approached, Mr. Tribble raised his hands; Officer Afanador swung his gun at the teenager’s mouth, breaking his teeth, prosecutors said.

The episode on Aug. 29 has led to criminal charges against the two officers, who were arraigned on Wednesday.

Officer Afanador, 33, was charged with felony-level assault, along with criminal possession of a weapon and official misconduct. Officer Isaac, 36, was charged with misconduct and misdemeanor assault.

“We had a 16-year-old boy with his hands up seeking to surrender who was attacked by members of the force who were supposed to protect him,” the Brooklyn district attorney, Kenneth P. Thompson, said. “When any police officer crosses the line, we have an obligation to hold them accountable.”

Charging an officer with criminal possession of a weapon is unusual, but Mr. Thompson said it was “appropriate” here. “The weapon was used to inflict injury,” he said. Mr. Tribble’s medical records showed at least two broken teeth.

The case was one of several instances in which alleged police violence or misconduct has been caught on video lately.

Prosecutors said they were alerted to the episode by the New York Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau. According to prosecutors, the officers were on duty in Crown Heights when they saw Mr. Tribble throw out a bag of marijuana and run away.

Mr. Tribble was charged with marijuana possession and disorderly conduct, prosecutors said. The marijuana charge was dropped and he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, which is a violation and not a felony.

The officers, both dressed in dark suits, did not speak at the hearing on Wednesday. They were released without bail.

Oklahoma cop accused of raping 3 more women on duty, now faces 32 charges total

DAVID EDWARDS

Oklahoma City Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw (KWTV)

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An Oklahoma City police officer was charged with additional counts of rape this week after three more women came forward to say that he forced them to have sex with him while he was on duty.

Earlier this year, prosecutors accused Daniel Holtzclaw of raping at least six women while he was on patrol. He was charged with 26 counts, including rape, sexual battery, oral sodomy, indecent exposure, stalking, and burglary.

Some of the women said that Holtzclaw forced them to have sex to avoid being arrested.

According to The Oklahoman, prosecutors filed six more counts against the officer on Tuesday. The latest charges included three counts of first-degree rape, forcible oral sodomy, sexual battery and second-degree rape.

Court records obtains by KWTV said that Holtzclaw told one of the victims: “You are going to give me some sex…or you’re a** is going to jail.”

“This is what you are going to have to do. I don’t want to take you to jail,” he allegedly warned another one of the women.

Holtzclaw now faces 32 charges related to sex crimes, but he has continued to deny any wrongdoing.

“Daniel denies that he’s done anything wrong and looks forward to his day in court,” Holtzclaw’s attorney, Scott Adams, told reporters. “He’s ready to get back to work at the police department.”

Watch the video below from KWTV, broadcasts Nov. 5, 2014.

Ill. deputy kills self after corruption sting arrest

CHICAGO - A Cook County, Ill. sheriff's spokeswoman says an officer committed suicide in a federal lockup after he and his partner were arrested during a corruption sting.

Cook County sheriff spokeswoman Cara Smith says 45-year-old Stanley Kogut was found Tuesday hanging from a bed sheet in his cell in Chicago's federal Metropolitan Correctional Center. Kogut's partner, 44-year-old Robert Vaughan, later appeared in U.S. District Court on charges of conspiracy.

It wasn't immediately known if Vaughan has an attorney.

 Smith says the officers were assigned to the federal High Intensity Drug Task Force. A federal complaint says they were arrested Monday in Bedford Park after allegedly ripping off an undercover FBI agent posing as a drug dealer.

Authorities say they took about 70 pounds of marijuana from an undercover FBI agent's vehicle.

Kogut was a member of the Cook County Sheriff's Department since 1977, according to Smith, who called his death "a tragedy on multiple levels."

Federal prosecutors allege Vaughan and Kogut and another man, 44-year-old Jimmy Rodgers, a former Lyons police officer, conspired to use their positions as cops to rob people of marijuana, contraband cigarettes and money, reports CBS Chicago.

Rodgers reportedly pleaded guilty to extortion earlier this year as part of a plea agreement in which he was sentenced to five years in prison.

Arizona cop secretly taped 21 women as they undressed at tanning salon:

Arizona cop secretly taped 21 women as they undressed at tanning salon: police

Jeffrey Streeter, 44, was arrested after a 20-year-old woman saw a camera phone on a wall of a changing room, police said. Authorities said they found 21 videos of women changing and evidence that Streeter had tried to erase his phone's memory.

BY RACHELLE BLIDNER

MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICEGoodyear, Ariz., police officer Jeffrey Streeter was arrested Oct. 29 for illegally taping women at a tanning salon, Avondale police said.

An Arizona police officer was arrested for secretly recording more than 20 women on his phone while they changed at a tanning salon, Avondale police said.

Jeffrey Streeter, a nine-year veteran of the Goodyear Police Department, was charged with 21 counts of surreptitious recording and one count of tampering with physical evidence.

A 20-year-old female customer at Desert Escape Tanning Center noticed a camera phone on the top of a changing room dividing wall as she undressed Oct. 15, according toazcentral.com. Streeter, 44, was in the stall next to her, police said.

Streeter told authorities he put his gun on top of the 8-foot wall, not a phone. But police said that was improbable.

When investigators searched Streeter's phone, they found video recordings of 21 women, police said. They said they also found evidence the phone's memory card had been formatted to try to erase its contents.

"He was reaching over on some of the videos and attempting to record the females while they were undressing or getting dressed," Sgt. Mathew Hintz toldKPHO. "There were also some videos where he was recording through the partition door."

The recordings were most likely taped over a time frame of one to three months at the same salon, Hintz told the Daily News.

Streeter was arrested Oct. 29 and has been placed on administrative leave pending the result of an administrative investigation, Goodyear Police Chief Jerry Geier said.

"This is not the type of behavior that we expect or tolerate from members of the Goodyear Police Department," Geier said.

Tanning salon owner Tony Gilbert said he was upset by what happened and planned to raise the height of dividing walls.

Anti-Police Brutality March Shuts Down Part Of Hollywood Boulevard

November 5, 2014 2:09 PM

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — An anti-police brutality protest Wednesday shut down a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard, police said.

More than 100 protesters took part in the march along Hollywood near Cahuenga Boulevard around 1:45 p.m, according to LAPD Media Relations.

Some protesters were seen wearing masks and carrying signs. The protest was believed to be linked to other “Million Mask March” protests in dozens of cities across the U.S. and internationally.

Some LAPD officers were seen in images posted to social media lined up outside the Dolby Theater.

Various other protests were recorded in Washington, D.C., London, Argentina, and other locations.

Police closed down a section of Hollywood Boulevard to traffic and urge drivers to avoid the intersection near Las Palmas.

NYPD officers charged after video catches teen getting pistol whipped

DA says cops "hit a defenseless unarmed young man in the mouth and attacked him."

by David Kravets - Nov 7 2014, 12:

"The video speaks for itself, doesn’t it?" Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson said Wednesday about a brief video recording that led to two New York Police Department cops being charged in connection to the pistol-whipping assault of a 16-year-old Brooklyn boy. The boy, who was arrested for marijuana possession, ended up with broken teeth and bruises.

The officers charged in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday are David Afanador, 33, and Tyrane Isaac, 36, both nine-year veterans.

The 82-second video of the teen's August 29 beating—widely available on the Internet—was captured by a local Crown Heights business. The tape shows the boy running before eventually stopping and raising his hands, after which he is pummeled and taken to the ground.

Thompson, the district attorney, told the New York Daily News that the two officers, who remain free and are scheduled to appear in court next month, "hit a defenseless unarmed young man in the mouth and attacked him while he tried to surrender." The cops' attorney, Stephen Worth, said there's more to the tape than meets the eye. "We’ve tried these cases in front of juries and we won these case in front of juries and I expect this to happen here as well," the New York Daily News quoted him as saying.

The officers' indictment follows a nationwide string of police brutality incidents caught on tape, some of which have had severe repercussions for the arresting officers. As the surveillance society blossoms—with the growth of surveillance cams, mobile phone cameras, and YouTube—the authorities can no longer turn a blind eye to police brutality.

A Staten Island grand jury, for example, is considering police brutality charges in connection to the death of a New York man who died while police arrested him for selling unlicensed cigarettes in July. Immediately following 42-year-old Eric Garner's arrest, the NYPD said the victim "went into cardiac arrest and died." But footage captured from an onlooker's mobile phone told a different story. As several offers subdued Garner, one allegedly using a choke hold, he is overheard yelling, "I can't breathe. I can't breathe."

In September, a South Carolina highway trooper was charged with assault and battery in connection to the unprovoked shooting of a motorist pulled over for a seatbelt violation—an incident that was videotaped by the officer's own dashcam.

Police misconduct in general has hit the limelight following the August 9 shooting death of an unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

That incident—which was not videotaped—sparked massive protests and widespread calls from politicians and the public for police to wear body cams. Ferguson police started using them a month after the shooting, as have other departments. The Minneapolis Police Department announced Friday that it had begun deploying the devices.

More alleged victims come forward in misconduct case of former Casselberry police chief Lawyer: More victims have come forward

Published  8:56 PM EDT Oct 31, 2014

CASSELBERRY, Fla. —The number of people leveling misconduct allegations against Casselberry's former Police Chief Bill McNeil continues to grow. Casselberry Police Chief Bill McNeil resigns amid an internal investigation into accusations of misconduct. Casselberry Police Chief Bill McNeil resigns amid an internal investigation into accusations of misconduct.

The attorney for three former subordinates accusing McNeil of lewd behavior and verbal abuse said they have evidence to back it up. McNeil resigned when the allegations came to light earlier this week.

"We have a dozen or so photographs and a videotape," said Carlos Burruezo, the claimants' attorney. "They're traumatized. This has been going on for years. It's not a one or two-week thing or a six-week thing. This has been open, and notorious and known for some time."

A spokeswoman for the city of Casselberry, Sara Brady, said no complaints against McNeil were ever received through the normal complaint process. They don't know who the alleged victims are.

"We have no victims. We have no formal complaints. Nothing's been filed through the proper channels within the city," Brady said. "Any kind of issue with an employee is always taken seriously."

The alleged victims' attorney said the three women were too scared of reprisals to go the official route. He claims the city was informed by someone speaking on their behalf three weeks ago.

"I can tell you my clients are very fragile and it's taken a lot of courage to come forward," Burruezo said.

Burruezo said the number of possible complainants could grow from three to five based on information received Friday.

The decision to file suit he said will depend on how the city of Casselberry reacts to these allegations.