Tag: police accountability

National security surveillance court finds FBI regularly does not follow rules

The top United States federal court that oversees national security surveillance has found that the FBI regularly does not follow rules meant to protect the privacy of the American people.

The pattern was revealed while searching through emails that were gathered without a warrant, according to a December ruling declassified Friday.

Additionally, the ruling stated that despite identifying “widespread violations” by analysts conducting these searches, a judge still approved the warrantless surveillance program for another year.

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California Police Unions Once Again Side With Bad Cops To Kill a Good Bill

California is one of only five states that does not have a formal process for decertifying bad cops to keep them from finding patrol work. And it looks like it’s going to stay that way.

In the middle of a massive push for policing reforms in America, law enforcement unions have defeated S.B. 731, a California bill that would have created a commission to hear cases of cops who have engaged in misconduct and determine whether they’d be stripped of their certifications.

Introduced for the first time in 2019 by state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), S.B. 731 passed the California Senate unanimously but didn’t make it to the California Assembly floor before the legislative session ended Tuesday.

The Associated Press notes that law enforcement unions scrambled to lobby lawmakers to stop Bradford’s bill from progressing without numerous changes. A representative from police unions in Los Angeles and San Francisco told the A.P. the bill was “deeply flawed.”

Several law enforcement unions in the state say they want a process in place to decertify bad cops. They even made a web page to insist that they support things like a database of officers who have been fired for misconduct, and “a fair, reasonable and workable decertification process.” But they object to Bradford’s commission because only three of the nine members would be police officers. Four of the other members would be members of nonprofit or academic institutions and community-based organizations that have experience on “issues related to police misconduct.” One member would be a citizen who has been a survivor of police misconduct (or a relative of somebody who did not survive misconduct). And one would be an attorney with “experience involving oversight of police officers.” Police unions determined that this newly created board would be, in the Associated Press’s words, “inherently biased against officers.”

Why would we assume that people with experience in issues related to police misconduct would be inherently biased against the police officers their commission reviews? Does that also mean the officers on the commission would be biased in favor of the cops?

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New Jersey cops wore disguises to vandalize two vehicles owned by a man who filed complaints against them days earlier, prosecutors say

Two vengeance-seeking New Jersey police officers angry vandalized a local resident’s vehicle out of spite when he filed complaints against them, according to investigators. 

Asbury Park Police officers Stephen Martinsen, 29, and Thomas Dowling, 26, have been charged with multiple felony counts of conspiracy, criminal mischief and weapons-related offenses for illegal use of a knife, authorities announced on Wednesday.  

They could face up to 20 years in New Jersey State Prison if convicted on all charges.

Dowling has since been fired. Martinsen has been suspended without pay.

‘If these allegations are proven true, this is kind of the textbook definition of a breach in the position of trust in the authority that are given the people in law enforcement,’ Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Swendeman told app.com.

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WANT PROSECUTORIAL REFORM? START WITH CURTAILING THE INFLUENCE OF POLICE UNIONS.

As millions march, calling for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others, the responsibility for holding their killers accountable lies squarely in the hands of prosecutors. The will of the people is to have accountability for all criminal acts, regardless of who the actor is or their profession. That is the duty of a prosecutor. But all too often, prosecutors have failed to fulfill that duty, often declining to pursue charges against law enforcement, let alone securing a conviction. Those failures have struck deep blows to public trust in the justice system. Rebuilding that trust will require not simply policing reform, but also greater confidence in prosecutorial independence and the integrity of investigating and charging of police misconduct. And that confidence, as well as independence, can only be achieved through an end to financial ties between prosecutors and police unions. 

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Not Just Brutality, Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Child Sex Crimes While On-Duty

Police brutality in America is an undeniable problem which is seen in every city in every state across the country. On a daily basis, video after video surfaces proving this point. But many American cops have another dirty secret — their disgusting desire to prey on children. In only the last few weeks, TFTP has reported on multiple officers who were caught distributing child sexual abuse material, also referred to as child pornography, as well as sexually assaulting children. Many of these disgusting law enforcement officers were committing these horrifying crimes while on the taxpayer’s dime.

While the aforementioned officers were caught running child porn networks, other cops are caught physically raping children. One of the most glaring instances of this problem was brought to light last week when the former Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association President Pat Rose was arrested on child rape charges.

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Cop Opens Fire Into Group of Innocent Children, Shooting a Child in the Back — DA Rules it Justified

As TFTP reports on a regular basis, being innocent — even an innocent child — is no defense against police kidnapping, caging, or killing you. Jamar Nicholson Green learned this the hard way when a trigger happy cop opened fire on him and a group of friends as they freestyle rapped on their way to school. Green and his friends had committed no crime and were unarmed.

The incident unfolded in 2015, but the lawsuit was only recently settled and the taxpayers of LA county will be shelling out nearly $1 million for the negligent and deadly actions of LAPD officer Michael Gutierrez.

Gutierrez — who was not in uniform at the time — saw the children freestyle rapping at the meet-up spot and noticed that one of them was holding a toy gun. This is not the same as some incidents in which the gun resembles an actual gun. This one was clearly marked as a toy with a highly visible orange barrel and did not look like an actual gun at all.

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