department of justice

U.S. Opens Civil Rights Investigation Into Police in New York Suburb The inquiry will focus on whether the Mount Vernon department engaged in a “pattern or practice of unlawful policing,” officials said. 3 December 2021 Federal prosecutors have opened a civil rights investigation into whether...

When The FBI Shows Up At Your Door About Your Reporting, That's Intimidation 29 November 2021 Having the government show up at your door to ask some questions about your reporting can be extremely unnerving. Zack Whittaker, the top notch cybersecurity reporter for TechCrunch got to experience...

The Supreme Court Declines To Determine if You Have a First Amendment Right To Film the Police 1 November 2021 The Supreme Court has just refused to hear a case at the nexus of police abuse and the First Amendment, declining to consider a petition from a man who says his free speech rights...

Ex-deputy charged with murder in Casey Gordon Jr. shooting 2 December 2021 The Ohio sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot Casey Goodson Jr. in the back five times was charged Thursday with murder in an encounter that led to protests and about which many questions remain, in part because it was...

Attorneys Raise Body Camera Evidence Questions In Manhattan "Self-Defense" Murder Case 20 November 2021 Earlier this week, Tracy McCarter appeared in a Manhattan court to learn whether a judge would dismiss the second-degree murder indictment against her, as her attorneys raised questions...

After the DEA Stole $70,000 From This Filmmaker, He Got His Money Back, Plus a $15,000 Settlement Keddins Etienne's experience shows that bullies who seize innocent people's property tend to back down when their victims put up a fight. 5 November 2021 Before a federal drug agent stole nearly...

Inside federal prisons, employees are committing the crimes 14 November 2021 More than 100 federal prison workers have been arrested, convicted or sentenced for crimes since the start of 2019, including a warden indicted for sexual abuse, an associate warden charged with murder, guards taking...

A Knoxville Woman Called 911. Instead of Getting Help, She Was Arrested and Placed in Immigration Detention for Months. Knox County's program authorizing such enforcement activities may have been instituted illegally 10 November 2021 In November 2020, Maira Oviedo-Granados of Knoxville...

L.A. sheriff’s deputies use minor stops to search bicyclists, with Latinos hit hardest 4 November 2021 Thousands of times a year, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies pull over bicyclists for minor violations such as riding on the sidewalk or not using lights at night — infractions that can...

ACLU, NAACP allege Vancouver police, Clark County sheriff’s deputies use excessive force, urge federal DOJ investigation 10 November 2021 Community groups called Wednesday for the U.S. Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation into the Vancouver Police Department and Clark...

Hawaii, Punishment For Bad Cops Often Doesn’t Stick. Here’s Why A Civil Beat investigation found that arbitrators in Hawaii overturn a police chief’s decision to suspend or fire an officer nearly 65% of the time 10 November 2021 It was after midnight on March 5, 2014, and Peter Krog wanted...

Newark cops, with reform, didn’t fire a single shot in 2020 10 January 2021 Newark Police officers did not fire a single shot during the calendar year 2020, and the city didn’t pay a single dime to settle police brutality cases. That’s never happened, at least in the city’s modern history...

‘Trooper of the Year’ Gets 17.5 Years for Producing Child Porn, Distributing It to His Own Network 8 November 2021 In 2018, Louisiana State Police Trooper of 18 years, Jason Boyet received one of the department’s highest honors—Trooper of the Year. Fast forward two years, and this hero cop...

Brickbat: Come and Knock on Our Door 4 November 2021 A Bradenton, Florida, woman said officers from U.S. Marshals Service pulled her and her baby out of their apartment at gunpoint. She says they left without an explanation or an apology after realizing they were at the wrong apartment. The...

Top FBI Official in Charge of Crimes Against Children, Arrested for Sex Crimes Against Children 4 September 2021 Before he was arrested, FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Harris, 51, was tasked with investigating crimes against children, including child sexual abuse material, otherwise...

“Javi is a bad cop protected by bad leaders ...” ... For instance, Miami attorney Leonard Fenn said he was shocked when an appeals-court judge sided with Ortiz and other officers involved in the violent arrest of his client, a man named Francois Alexandre, when police cleared the streets of...

Sheriff charged with falsely reporting Black newspaper carrier to police 21 October 2021 A sheriff in Washington state has been charged with two misdemeanors for falsely accusing a Black man delivering newspapers in January of making threats against him — an incident that led to a significant...

Man Facing 30 Years for Shooting Down Police Drone — ‘Harassing Him’ on His Property 15 October 2021 Wendell Doyle Goney, 51, a “Florida man,” is facing 30 years behind bars after he was charged this week for destruction of an aircraft. That “aircraft” was a drone and it belonged to the Lake...

Civilian Cops Don't Need Military Weapons 8 October 2021 I recently was driving behind a pickup truck that sported a bumper sticker with a U.S. Marine Corps logo and these words: "When it absolutely positively has to be destroyed overnight." That line got me thinking about policing—and the...

The FBI's Secret FISA Court Surveillance Applications Are Chock Full of Screw-Ups 1 October 2021 More than 400 problems were found with 29 warrant requests, twice the number previously revealed. The FBI has done an even worse job properly double-checking the accuracy of warrant applications...