Tag: crime

Stop Publishing Mug Shots—Even Donald Trump’s

What may become the most famous mug shot in history is slated to be taken tonight. You’d be forgiven for forgetting why such images are taken in the first place.

That amnesia might be particularly pronounced after the last 24 hours, as a slew of defendants in the Georgia indictment related to allegations that former President Donald Trump and company conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election have surrendered in Fulton County, Georgia.

Their mug shots have been the center of intense media attention, news articles, commentary, and online mockery, which is odd when considering what a mug shot is, or, rather, what it’s supposed to be: a banal step executed by law enforcement as a record-keeping measure post-arrest.

The fascination with these defendants’ mug shots is a (perhaps counterintuitive) reminder of why the media should decline to publish such photos and why governments should limit their release. That these defendants are in many ways unsympathetic does not change the principle of the matter: that mug shots are not taken to humiliate a defendant before they’ve been convicted of a crime. The events of this week serve as a reminder, however, that that’s the function they serve in wider society.

That’s not to say that the defendants in the Georgia indictment should be held to a different standard than other criminal defendants. It’s the standard itself that needs to change, which will benefit the people who are much less powerful and who stand to lose much more by having their faces splashed across the press before they’ve had a chance to state their case.

It’s an effort that several states across the country have undertaken in various ways. Last year, Louisiana passed a law hamstringing law enforcement’s ability to release certain mug shots pre-conviction for nonviolent crimes, with several exceptions in place for more serious crimes and if the person in question is deemed a fugitive. “Though society may be accustomed to mugshots, the time has come for us to question their social value,” wrote state Rep. Royce Duplessis (D–New Orleans), who filed the legislation, in an op-ed for The Advocate. Several states—including Arkansas, Florida, Montana, New York, and California—have implemented various guardrails against the unfettered access to and publication of mug shots, and the sky is yet to fall.

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LOS ANGELES COMMITS ANOTHER $1 BILLION TO LAPD DESPITE FALLING VIOLENT CRIME

The Los Angeles City Council approved a contract with the Los Angeles Police Department’s union on Wednesday containing salary increases, increased healthcare pay, and bonuses that will cost the city an additional $994 million over the next four years.

The 12-3 vote followed an outpouring of opposition from Angelenos, who argued during public comment that the police have more than enough funding. Many pleaded with councilmembers to instead invest in other city services, like housing and infrastructure. Councilmembers who voted against the proposal voiced agreement with their constituents.

“When we allocate so much of our city money to just one department, we starve all of our other departments of the money, personnel, and resources that they need to serve Angelenos,” said councilmember Eunisses Hernandez at a press conference before the hearing. Hernandez voted no on the proposal, alongside councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Nithya Raman.

“It is unclear exactly how the city will pay for nearly $1 billion in salary increases over the next four years, despite the fact that we already allocated a quarter of our city’s general fund to the LAPD,” Hernandez added.

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The family of a pregnant Colorado woman fatally shot by police sues the officers

The family of a pregnant Colorado woman fatally shot by an Arvada police officer after she was mistaken for a shoplifter said in a lawsuit that the killing was “patently unreasonable.”

The family of Destinee Thompson, 27, of Denver, is seeking unspecified damages in the suit filed against four officers and a sergeant Tuesday, two years after Thompson was killed as she tried to drive away from officers who had surrounded her car.

She was leaving an Arvada motel on Aug. 17, 2021, when several officers approached her, saying they were looking for a Latina who had brandished a knife as she was stealing a cart full of merchandise from a Target store, according to the suit, filed in District Court in Denver County.

The actual suspect, who also had stolen items from the store two days previously, had a chest tattoo, she was wearing a white tank top, and she allegedly had gone to the motel, the suit says.

Thompson, who was wearing a white tank top but did not have a chest tattoo, was leaving the motel to eat lunch as officers arrived, the document says.

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DC council member calls for National Guard’s help as city grapples with escalating violence

On Tuesday afternoon, Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White held a news conference in Southeast by the scene of Saturday’s mass shooting on Good Hope Road.

White called on the entire community to help stop the surge in violence that has led to a 28% increase in homicides in the District. 

While he said it’s only a “piece” of the puzzle, the council member said he supports possibly calling in the National Guard to help patrol the streets. 

White disputed the acting police chief’s comments she made after the mass shooting, saying the neighborhood is now a “warzone,” and residents are hearing gunfire at all times of the day.

So far this year, 161 lives have been lost, compared to 126 this time last year, according to police records. 

This weekend alone, D.C. police confirmed 11 people had been killed from Friday to Sunday.

“We’re tired of this sh-t,” Councilmember White said passionately. “Enough is enough. And excuse my language, but I want to be frank with the young men and young ladies we serve. It’s not okay for you to load up 30, 40, 50 – 120 rounds in a gun and shoot up our community.”

White told reporters that he did speak with someone from the National Guard to find out exactly what they would need in an official request. Those details include a very clear definition of how many members, what they’d be doing, and the length of time.

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Florida diving team finds 32 cars submerged in a Doral lake on their mission to solve 40 missing persons cold cases

Divers in Florida have uncovered a total of 32 cars submerged in a lake that are expected to be linked to criminal cold cases.  

Ken Fleming and Doug Bishop said that they stumbled upon the vehicles, which were most likely dumped during criminal activities, in their bid to help solve missing person cases in Doral, near Miami International Airport. 

The volunteer divers are now working with Miami-Dade County to remove all the vehicles from the murky water near Northwest 87th Avenue and 13th Terrace – before they start to look into any potential cold cases connections. 

Videos captured underwater show the divers looking inside the abandoned vehicles during their excavations on Sunday.

Fleming told 7News: ‘When we discover a spot like this with multiple vehicles, it pretty much indicates that a crime where they’re disposing the vehicles and hiding them from law enforcement.’ 

The volunteers use sonar technology after doing their research on where clues on missing people cases might located. 

He added: ‘We have a giant database of our own that we extract.

‘We have 40 that we’re targeting right now of folks that disappeared, anywhere from two or three months ago to 30, 40 years ago.’

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Global investigation leads to child sex abuse operation that charged 19 men, removed 13 Australian children from harm

The murder of two FBI agents in the United States during a child sexual abuse investigation has led to charges against 19 men and 13 children being removed from harm in Australia.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) has revealed details of the joint FBI operation targeting child abuse material on the dark web.

The investigation dates back to February 2021 when FBI agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger were gunned down as they served a search warrant on a paedophile computer programmer who was distributing child sexual abuse material in Florida.

The programmer, David Lee Huber, was thought to have watched the agents through a doorbell camera before shooting them through the unopened door and then killing himself.

Three other agents were injured in the shooting.

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Deepfake Fraud Surges More Than 1000%, Insiders Say It’s Just The Beginning

As the line between fact and fiction gets harder to distinguish, online criminals need just two hours to create a realistic, computer-generated “deepfake” product that can ruin someone’s life.

The surge in popularity of hyper-realistic photos, audio, and videos developed with artificial intelligence (AI)—commonly known as deepfakes—has become an internet sensation.

It’s also giving cyber villains an edge in the crime world.

Between 2022 and the first quarter of this year, deepfake use in fraud catapulted 1,200 percent in the United States alone.

Though it’s not just an American problem.

In the same analysis, deepfakes used for scam purposes exploded in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In the study, the United States accounted for 4.3 percent of global deepfake fraud cases.

Meanwhile, AI experts and cybercrime investigators say we’re just at the tip of the iceberg. The rabbit hole of deepfake fraud potential just keeps going.

“I believe the No. 1 incentive for cyber criminals to commit cybercrime is law enforcement and their inability to keep up,” Michael Roberts told The Epoch Times.

Mr. Roberts is a professional investigator and the founder of the pioneer company Rexxfield, which helps victims of web-based attacks.

He also started PICDO, a cyber crime disruption organization, and has run counter-hacking education for branches of the U.S. and Australian militaries as well as NATO.

Mr. Roberts said legal systems in the Western world are “hopelessly overwhelmed” by online fraud cases, many of which include deepfake attacks. Moreover, the cases that get investigated without hiring a private firm are cherry-picked.

“And even then, it [the case] doesn’t get resolved,” he said.

The market for deepfake detection was valued at $3.86 billion dollars in 2020 and is expected to grow 42 percent annually through 2026, according to an HSRC report.

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‘Jealous’ transgender woman murdered three sex workers because they were ‘more attractive than she could ever plan to be’, criminologist suggests

A transgender woman who killed three sex workers in 1990 may have been motivated by jealousy, a criminologist has suggested. 

Donna Perry – who used to be known as Douglas Perry before undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2000 – murdered 26-year-old Yolanda Sapp, 34-year-old Nickie Lowe, and 38-year-old Kathy Brisbois. 

Their naked or partially exposed bodies were found dumped on the banks of the Spokane River in Washington state. 

When finally arrested connection with the crimes five years ago, she claimed that she had transitioned into a female to stop her male persona from being violent.

‘Douglas didn’t stop, Donna stopped it,’ Perry told police about the killings, according to an affidavit filed in January 2014. ‘I’m not going to admit I killed anybody, I didn’t. Donna has killed nobody.’

When asked if Doug was responsible, she responded: ‘I don’t know if Doug did or not, it was 20 years ago and I have no idea whether he did or did not,’ according to ABC News. 

And crime expert Brian Frederick told Channel 5’s latest episode of Making a Serial Killer. which is available on My 5, that Perry may have picked the victims based on their looks. 

‘I can imagine that there was also a little bit of jealousy,’ he told the documentary.

‘He picked some attractive victims, perhaps more attractive than he could ever plan to be as Donna and he felt that they were squandering this beauty by giving sex to other men who didn’t necessarily have the purpose that he had. He was mission oriented.’

Jim Dresback, a former Spokane detective, said that Perry’s former girlfriend Claire-Anne – who was also a sex worker who suffered with cocaine addiction – may have served as motivation as well.

‘It was interesting that Claire-Anne was booked in to jail on the night that two of these people were killed,’ he told the programme.

‘Now she’s back in jail again and that makes Doug Perry mad and then he finds somebody to take out on. 

‘And the first people he’s gonna look at are the people that maybe he thinks are standing in the way.’

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BLM Activist Shaun King Quietly Settles Defamation Suit With Candidate He Said Framed Man for Murder

Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King and his left-wing super PAC quietly settled a defamation lawsuit with former Philadelphia district attorney candidate Carlos Vega, who King falsely accused of framing a black man for murder.

King’s Real Justice PAC on April 12 paid $75,000 to the law firm representing Vega, according to campaign finance records. Vega—who ran against Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner—sued Real Justice PAC, King, and Krasner in May 2021 for defamation after King called Vega a “real life supervillain” and accused him of framing a black man who was falsely convicted of rape and murder in the 1990s.

“I previously posted that Carlos framed and convicted Anthony Wright of rape and murder in 1993 and that Carlos has lied about it for generations,” King, who served as a surrogate for Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaigns, wrote in an April 4 Instagram post. “I was wrong when I made those statements.⁣” Days later, on April 14, Vega agreed to settle and dismiss the lawsuit, according to court filings obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The settlement marks another setback for King, who has faced allegations of financial mismanagement at his activist groups and of making false allegations in high-profile criminal cases. In 2019, King falsely identified a white man named Robert Cantrell as the possible killer of a 7-year-old black girl in Houston. King posted a photo of Cantrell online and suggested he was racist. Two black men were later charged with the killing. Cantrell committed suicide several months later.

Deray McKesson, a former ally of King’s in the Black Lives Matter movement, also accused King of committing fraud at his activist groups. The mother of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy killed by police, said King “robbed” her by holding unauthorized fundraisers in her son’s name. King has denied the fraud allegations.

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Republican Senators Admit Marijuana Legalization Disrupts Cartels As They Urge FDA To Reconsider Menthol Cigarette Ban

A group of four Republican senators who do not support marijuana legalization has admitted that the policy change disrupts illegal sales by cartels. The acknowledgement comes in a letter urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reconsider plans to ban menthol cigarettes and set nicotine content limits, arguing that the prohibition and strict regulations could benefit illicit trafficking operations.

Writing to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf on Monday, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Budd (R-NC) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) unwittingly made the case for the legalization and regulation of controlled substances.

The main point of the letter is to express concern FDA’s proposed menthol cigarette ban, which the senators said could “empower” transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) to “exploit black market opportunities that such policies could create.”

The senators aren’t in favor of cannabis legalization, but they did also—apparently inadvertently—make the case for that reform.

“While the primary threat from Mexican TCOs come from trafficking in illicit drugs, these organizations have diversified their activities in response to changing conditions,” they said. “As it has become easier to sell marijuana products in the U.S., Mexican TCOs have prioritized trafficking fentanyl and other synthetic drugs that are cheaper to manufacture, easier to transport, and generate more profit.”

In other words, the GOP senators are acknowledging that as Americans in more states have the opportunity to buy legal cannabis from licensed retailers, the market share for unregulated marijuana trafficked by cartels is shrinking—and as a result they are having to scramble to sell other substances to make up their losses.

That’s also the conclusion of a federal law enforcement agencies, as well as the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which released a report on the trafficking trend last year.

The head of the labor union that represents U.S. Border Patrol agents also acknowledged in 2020 that states that legalize marijuana are disrupting cartel activity.

In light of what’s been observed with marijuana, the senators are cautioning against opening up a new illicit market for menthol cigarettes by enacting a federal ban, tacitly acknowledging the failures and consequences of prohibition.

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