• A Walton County Florida deputy has been arrested on aggravated battery on a child and child neglect charges after his 3-month-old daughter had to be hospitalized with a skull fracture and a broken femur. The officer is accused of holding the baby upside-down by her leg and then throwing her into a crib. However, doctors say the leg injury may have occurred prior to that incident.

• A New York NY police officer is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the mother of an 18-year-old boy who was put into a coma for four days after he suffered a fractured skull and brain damage caused when a police officer allegedly body slammed the boy onto the pavement during what appeared to be one of that city’s controversial “stop and frisk” incidents. Witnesses say the officers involved had taunted the kids before one of them picked up the victim and slammed him into the pavement without any justification. The boy was shackled to his bed while in a coma and charged with reckless endangerment, a charge witnesses say wasn’t deserved. The department hasn’t investigated the case because the boy, now in rehab due to his brain injury, hasn’t yet come in to file an official complaint.

• A now-former Uplands Park Missouri police officer has pled guilty to several federal felony counts including deprivation of rights, witness tampering, and false statements charges for sexually assaulting at least four women and robbing them… He sexually assaulted one of his victims while in uniform at the police station.

• A now-former Dallas Texas police officer who was fired after police caught him in his cruiser while he was attempting to sexually assault a woman because his in-car radio was transmitting his attempts to coerce her into sex under threat of arrest has now been charged with sexual assault after another woman stepped forward after seeing the story alleging that she was attacked by the same officer.

• A Middlesboro Kentucky police officer has been suspended for two weeks without pay after a public hearing into allegations that he used excessive force when he slapped a woman in custody while other officers held her hands behind her back.

• The Troy New York police department is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a man who was falsely arrested at his place of work on 42 felony charges related to a home invasion case where the victims described their assailants as Spanish-speaking Hispanic men but the police showed them a photo-lineup consisting entirely of black men, of which the plaintiff was the one fingered. The man lost his job as a result and spent two weeks in jail and thousands on defense attorneys until the charges were finally dropped nearly a year later.

• A San Marcos Texas police officer who was forced to be rehired by an arbitrator after he was fired on allegations that he beat a handcuffed woman with a baton then lied about it will not be allowed to perform any normal police duties after the Hays County DA Brady listed the officer due to his history of dishonesty. For those who don’t know, a Brady List is a list of officers who prosecutors are required by law to tell defense attorneys about regarding their histories involving integrity issues that make their testimony at trial unreliable. The officer also made national news last year when his dashcam camera caught him berating a couple for speeding for 20 minutes while their dog, that they were trying to get to the vet, died in their car.

• Speaking of arbitraitors, The Paris Texas police department is being forced by an arbitrator to repay a police officer for 2 days of unpaid disciplinary leave that the officer was recently given for using excessive force when he violently slammed a handcuffed man onto the hood of a cruiser, all of which was captured on that cruiser’s dashcam.

• A Denver Colorado police officer is under investigation on allegations that he used non-standard issue ammunition, allegedly full metal jacket military rounds that tend to fragment easily, when he opened fire on a suspect and hit a bystander with fragments from two of those rounds. While the state AG has refused to charge the officer he did express concern about the use of unapproved ammunition by the officer and the department is allegedly investigating, the victim in question, a woman, was hit in both legs and the torso and hospitalized briefly after the incident.

• Hundreds of FBI agents and officials are the subject of a DOJ investigation on allegations that an unknown number of those agents may have cheated when they took an open-book exam on the agency’s policies regarding surveillance on American citizens. The director of the FBI himself even seemed a bit unsure about his agency’s policies regarding how they can spy on the public when he was questioned about the issue by members of congress.

• A now-former Horry County South Carolina deputy has been sentenced to 42 months in prison in exchange for a guilty plea for possession of child pornography charges after he was caught in a federal sting operation exchanging child pornography.

• An Omaha Nebraska police sergeant is on desk duty while under investigation on allegations that he pulled a gun on a motorist who had called 911 to report him for reckless driving while he was off-duty in his truck. While following the officer during the 911 call the officer stopped, got out of his car, and then confronted the man and pointed a gun at his head while recorded on the 911 call yelling at the man for following him. Police tracked him to his home from the license plate number the man described to the 911 dispatcher and, when the arrived, the officer refused to come to the door because he knew he would be arrested if he did. The officer in question was also involved in a 2007 incident when a mentally disabled man died after tasered by the officer and another cop, both were cleared in that case.

• A Greensboro North Carolina police officer who forced his department to rehire him after he won an appeal on a conviction for assaulting two women is now on unpaid leave for unspecified reasons. The suspension occurred after he was removed from the gang squad he used to belong to before the assault incident and began accusing his superior officers of racism.

• At least two three Philadelphia Pennsylvania police officers are under investigation after they were caught on security camera illegally entering a local bar while they were investigating a false alarm call at a neighboring business and then videotaped stealing drinks and over $1,000 in cash from a safe in the bar. One officer was allegedly shown on video stuffing cash down his pants. The department is refusing to discuss the incident other than to admit that two of their officers are on desk duty while they are the subject of an internal investigation.

• The police chief of Medina Tennessee, the mayor, and two police officers have been subpoenaed by a lawyer representing a teenager and his family who allege that the city violated his rights when they released his name to the media when he was arrested on a vandalism charge even though he was a minor. The complaint against the city goes on to allege that officers have been continually harassing the teen, issuing him several false traffic citations, after he was allegedly threatened by the chief and the mayor when his family filed a complaint about the incident.

• A Windber Pennsylvania police officer who also works as a part-time officer for Paint Twp has been ordered to participate in a domestic violence counseling program or face charges including simple assault, harassment, and disorderly conduct after police were called to his home during a domestic dispute where he allegedly threw his wife on the floor and attempted to choke her when she told him to leave during an argument.

• A Seymore Connecticut police officer has been suspended for 5 days after an internal investigation into unspecified misconduct. The police chief refuses to divulge why the officer has been disciplined and even went so far as to not inform the police commission of what happened.

• A now-former Newport News Virginia deputy who was previously arrested last week for possession of stolen vehicles is now a wanted man after he disappeared when charged with two new counts of grand larceny on allegations that he stole the two motorcycles that he was possessing. This isn’t the first encounter on the other side of the law for the deputy who took a plea deal in 2009 that reduced a felony bad check charge into a misdemeanor.

• The El Dorado County California sheriff’s department is the subject of a second sexual harassment and discrimination suit that has been filed by three civilian employees of the department after a similar suit was filed two months ago by a female deputy who has since been placed on administrative leave. The women accuse the department’s supervisors of having a “boy’s club” mentality that has allowed some officers free reign to threaten and harass female employees.

• A now-former Ozaukee County Wisconsin sheriff’s lieutenant has been arrested on allegations that he stole $1,880 in cash intended for investigations from the department and fraudulently charged up to $7,300 to a department-issued credit card for personal use. All this allegedly occurred before the lieutenant retired in 2008 but it was only recently that the activity was noticed when another lieutenant received word that one of the department’s credit cards had gone into collections with unpaid charges.

• A now-former New Hanover County North Carolina sheriff’s corporal has been arrested on an illegal access of a government computer charge on allegations that he illegally accessed police records… in a bid to gain entry to a nightclub. Yeah, I can’t wait to hear all about this one.

• The Seattle Washington police department is accused of overreaching and may face a civil suit after officers were accused of pressuring a property owner into tearing down a public art display because one of the photos displayed in a “collaborative community storytelling project” showed a suspected drug dealer and officers claim that some members of the community, whom police refuse to name, complained about. The ACLU claims the police had no right to do that even if someone did complain but the police say they had every right to intervene as part of “good community policing.”

• The Jackson County Kansas sheriff’s department is under investigation by that state’s bureau of investigation on unspecified allegations of misconduct. Officials for the county and the state agency are refusing to say what the investigation is about, how many officers are involved, or anything at all really. Kansas, of course, is one of the states who’s laws keep police misconduct information completely secret from the public.

• An Elmwood Ohio police officer may face disciplinary action after a disabled man snapped a photo of the officer’s cruiser parked in a handicapped spot. The man took the pictures after he couldn’t find a parking space for himself and when the officer noticed he allegedly asked the man if he wanted to get a picture of him standing next to his police car. When he called to complain the same officer answered the phone and then when he contacted the police chief he was simply told to file a complaint. But now the mayor is involved and promised consequences for the officer in this case.

• And finally… A Lynn Massachusetts police officer is on paid leave and expected to resign in order to take advantage of a deal that will drop any potential charges he could face after he was caught on video stealing meat and other goods from a grocery store where he was working as a uniformed private police detail. Last year the officer made a little over $100,000 after his salary, overtime, and pay for working private security details.

That’s it for today, as always, stay safe out there.

• New York City NY has settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $7,150,000 to the family and friends of Sean Bell who was fatally wounded by a barrage of over 50 bullets fired by police while he was unarmed and in his car on the night before he was to be married. He allegedly tried to get away from undercover officers who he and his friends alleged at the time they didn’t know were cops. The police union is calling the settlement “an absolute joke”.

• A Hartford Alabama reserve police officer who is also a member of that town’s rescue squad has been arrested on charges of rape, sodomy, and enticement of a 15-year-old girl. While the charges revolve around alleged repeated sexual assaults that began earlier this year, the enticement charge deals with allegations that he enticed her into the rescue squad building with the intent of having sex with the girl. While we limit our reports to sworn law enforcement officers, reserve officers in Alabama are generally encouraged to certify to the same level as regular officers and, once they do, they have the same arrest powers as a full-time officer. It’s unclear if this officer was certified but it is assumed that he was since most departments require their reserves to be certified.

• Tulsa Oklahoma has settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $85,000 to the mother of a man who was unarmed when he was shot to death when he fled from police on foot. The officer who shot him claims he was certain that the man, who was tracked to his apartment by a police dog allegedly following a scent from the scene of an armed robbery, was involved in that robbery that he thought he was armed and claims he opened fire when the man reached for his waist. The officer was cleared over the shooting and retired earlier this year.

• The Los Angeles California police department and a police officer are the subject of a wrongful death suit regarding a 14-year-old murder case where the female officer is accused of killing her ex-boyfriend’s wife. While we already have the murder case tracked, the suit goes on to allege that the officers assigned to investigate the case and the LAPD itself were part of an intentional cover-up or, at least, an intentionally lax investigation into the case since a fellow officer was a suspect.

• A now-former Evansville Indiana police officer has been found guilty on two counts of criminal deviate conduct after he refused to mount a defense in his trial for physically forcing women to have sex while he was on-duty. He resigned just moments before the commission was to hear his case after an internal investigation into the allegations against him.

• Five Peoria Illinois police officers are the subject of a lawsuit filed by a man who claims that he was dragged from his car and repeatedly tasered when police pulled him over on suspicion that he had drugs after he left a house that was under surveillance for suspected drug activity. When police asked him to exit his vehicle he allegedly tried to take one more drag off of his cigarette, at which point police tried to drag him out even though he was still strapped into his seat belt. Police felt this was resisting arrest and began to beat him then tasered him multiple times after removing him from the car. He later pled guilty to unlawful possession over 0.1 grams of cocaine police say they found at the hospital.

• A Charleston West Virginia police captain who was a member of the department’s professional standards division has been on leave since May while the subject of an internal investigation that has now turned into a criminal investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed a woman and then misused police databases to check the license plates of people who knew her.

• A Duluth Minnesota police officer who has a history of sexual misconduct allegations is now the subject of two unspecified complaints involving women. The officer in question was acquitted of sexual assault charges involving a mentally ill woman in 2003 and the subject of disciplinary action in 2000 based on two different complaints that he had inappropriately touched at least two women.

• A Chelan County Washington deputy and the suspect he was chasing are the subjects of a lawsuit filed by a woman who was injured in a collision with the the suspect’s car during what she alleges was a needlessly risky high-speed pursuit that reached speeds of up to 100mph after the man fled a DUI checkpoint..

• Two Pierce County Washington deputies have been charged with perjury over their testimony during a trial for a man who was accused of possessing weapons as a convicted felon. The deputies apparently testified that they did not enter the man’s home without permission and without a warrant when, apparently, they did, which resulted in the case against the man being dismissed.

• Two Bloomfield New Jersey police officers who got into a fight in their police station parking lot will not be facing any criminal charges even though the altercation sent one of the officers to the hospital. Meanwhile, a police union official is pushing for a criminal investigation into how news of the fight was leaked to the public.

• Bell California is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a now-former police officer who claims he was forced out of the department after he filed a complaint with the state alleging that his fellow officers were participating in voter fraud by telling absentee voters who they should vote for and for filling out absentee ballots for people who were dead. Bell has been in the news recently for the exceptionally large salaries of that city’s officials and is the subject of an investigation by the state AG over that issue as well as the allegations brought up in this lawsuit.

• A Dumfries Virginia police officer is on administrative leave after he was arrested for obstruction and resisting arrest in a strangely reported case where he’s accused of walking up on Stafford County deputies who responded to a domestic dispute call at someone else’s home and began to get combative with them while they were allegedly sorting things out.

• New York state has settled a suit for $60,000 filed by a former East Fishkill NY police officer who claims that a New York state trooper falsely arrested her on DUI charges and maliciously prosecuted her, in part, in retaliation for her lawsuit against her former police chief that alleged he sexually harassed her.

• The police chief of Hermantown Minnesota has resigned while he was under investigation for unspecified reasons. Officials refuse to elaborate but do say that, with his resignation, the investigation is over and no other information will be released.

• A now-former Port Richey Florida police sergeant has pled guilty to selling over a thousand oxycodone pills to an informer for the DEA for $5,000. The sergeant previously won the department’s exceptional service award and, at one time, even served as the chief investigator for the internal affairs division.

• A Cook County Illinois deputy may be fired but won’t face any criminal charges after a flawed sting operation meant to catch her smuggling marijuana-filled pens to a jail detainee facing murder charges jumped the gun and failed to prove that the deputy knew the pens that she delivered were filled with pot.

• A Laurel Montana police officer has been given a 14 day suspension after he was given a suspended sentence for a misdemeanor assault conviction that involved a dispute with his wife where he had tried to get his gun and threatened suicide, sparking an hour-long standoff with police who were called after she fled the home with their two children.

• A Fort Bragg California police officer is under investigation for working there while receiving disability retirement payments of $3,000 a month due to injuries he received at his previous job as a Stanislaus County deputy.

• A Clarksville Tennessee police detective who’s a member of the SWAT team has been suspended for one day after photos were discovered on the Internet of several people, including one minor, posing with his service weapons next to his police car.

• And finally, A Cincinnati Ohio police officer is under investigation after he ran over and killed a homeless woman who was sleeping in the grass at a city park. Rumors are that he drove through the grass because he spotted someone with what he thought was a beer can. Many of the homeless people who frequent that park say that the officer was well known as one of the nicer officers who patrolled the park and didn’t harass them like other officers did. It serves as a reminder that not all misconduct is born of a malicious intent… sometimes such things really are just tragic accidents of neglect, but due to the power vested in police, even a slight act of neglect can have horrific consequences.

That’s it for today, stay safe out there.

• The Hawthorn California city council will vote on a proposed $300,000 settlement in response to a lawsuit alleging that a police officer tasered a 12-year-old autistic boy at school. Not only that, but police came back to the school to handcuff and arrest the boy almost a week later after the family filed a complaint about the incident. It is very rare for such a vote to go against a settlement recommendation.

• Seminole County Oklahoma sheriff’s deputies are the subject of a lawsuit on allegations that they subjected a woman to a strip search shortly after she was arrested by a Wewoka OK police officer later fired for mistreating female suspects, and then strip searched her again when they called her back to the jail a few days after her release on a misdemeanor driving under the influence of drugs charge… drugs that were prescribed to her by her doctor.

• Three Pittsburg California police officers were found to have used excessive force by a federal jury that awarded a man $250,000 in damages, plus attorney fees and punitive damages, when all three officers tasered the man at the same time, causing him to break his eye socket when he struck the ground, where he was tasered once more by one of the officers. The city has already announced that they intend to appeal.

• Spokane Washington police are being sued by the family of a suicidal man who jumped to his death from a bridge after a 20 hour long standoff with police when two taser attempts failed to incapacitate him when he stepped away from the ledge to urinate. The suit also alleges that the police version of events was contradicted by video taken of the incident and that his family should have been consulted before the failed attempt.

• An Ocean City New Jersey police officer is accused of needlessly shooting a family’s 8-year-old pet Rottweiler who, a neighbor who witnessed the incident claims, had never shown any aggressive tendencies in her life. The dog’s owners say that the officer shot the dog twice while it was in their yard and that the officer risked shooting family members who were near the dog when the shooting occurred. The officer was responding to a call about a fight down the street with his K9 partner, the shooting scattered the group and nobody was arrested. The dog is expected to live, a bullet grazed her face and another shattered a bone in her leg.

• The police chief of Frankfort New York has retired and one of his officers has been fired after a series of allegations against the chief that included an incident where he was accused of choking one of his own officers because he refused to change his planned testimony in an upcoming civil suit against the chief. The officer was also facing several allegations of misconduct including allegations that he attempted to acquire the phone records of the officer who the chief was accused of choking.

• A Lee County Florida deputy is now the subject of an internal investigation over his failure to follow orders when he apparently failed to stand down during a high-speed chase that resulted in his unmarked SUV fatally crashing into an innocent motorist at 84mph in a 45mph zone. The deputy in question has been involved in seven on-duty accidents in his 11-year career with the department, two of which resulted in reprimands and one involved another pursuit where he apparently wasn’t using his emergency lights or siren. Departmental policy prohibits the use of unmarked units in high-speed pursuits except in dire circumstances where armed and dangerous suspects present an immediate threat to the public.

• Mount Vernon New York has settled a lawsuit for $35,000 to a man who alleged that police used physical force and harassment during his interrogation in an attempt to elicit a false confession from him for a murder that he didn’t commit. Police never charged him with anything and eventually convicted another man for the crime.

• As part of the same article as the piece above, Yonkers New York has settled a lawsuit for $10,000 to a man who claims officers beat him when they took him to the city jail. Part of the incident was captured on jail cameras which showed one officer grab the handcuffed man by the throat and shake his head back and forth.

• The former sheriff of Montague County, who died almost two months after he pled guilty to using his authority to force a man’s girlfriend to have sex with him, is now the subject of a lawsuit filed by three women who claim they were sexually assaulted and harassed by him.

• A Danville Virginia police officer has been charged with contempt of court for failing to appear as a witness in the reckless driving trial of a Henry County deputy who allegedly caused a fatal head-on collision with a car driven by a 21-year-old man when he crossed the center line of the road.

• The Delaware Ohio police department is conducting an internal investigation to determine why the daughter of a police officer wasn’t given a field sobriety test after she crashed into two parked cars and her own mother called 911 reporting that her daughter had been drinking and was involved in an accident… not only that but the the owner of one of the cars told police that the woman even admitted to had been drinking with some friends on her Facebook page. The woman was charged with failure to control and paid a $130 fine.

• The now-retired sheriff of Cuyahoga County Ohio has been sentenced to one year of home confinement and will have to pay $21,000 in fines as well as $130,000 in restitution after he plead guilty to stealing cash from his campaign fund, forcing his officers to work for his fundraisers while on-duty, and for breaking ethics laws when he appointed his son as a special deputy. He was the longest serving sheriff in that county’s history with nearly 30 years in office.

• A Los Angeles California police officer won a $700,000 jury trial judgment on allegations that he was subjected to discrimination and sexual harassment that was based on false allegations by his fellow officers that he was gay and that, when he attempted to report the abuse, his badge was taken away.

• The Nazareth Pennsylvania police department is being sued by a female Puerto Rican officer who alleges that she suffered both sexual harassment and racial discrimination during her time there. The suit names the former chief, current chief, and a police detective as defendants.

• The Hobbs New Mexico police department is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a former officer who claims that he was wrongfully forced to resign after his supervisors found out he was dating white women because he’s black. The department counters that the officer was fired being “disrespectful and drunk” while off-duty at a movie theater and other allegations involving reckless operation of his police cruiser. Either way, there’s some sort of misconduct involved I suppose.

That’s it for this Monday, as always, stay safe out there!

• Doña Ana County New Mexico will have to pay at least half of a $575,000 jury award to the family of a man who died after he was shot in the neck and then tasered twice in front of his then 6-year-old son. He was stopped by deputies on suspicion that he was involved in a domestic dispute call, though police didn’t know if he was a victim or suspect at the time, and the officer fired on him, claiming he feared the man was going to run him over with his van… a van that was allegedly stuck in gravel with his son inside.

• A Warren Township Ohio police officer has been arrested on assault charges for allegedly attacking a woman in her own home about two weeks after she filed for a protection order against the officer on allegations that he raped her in a bar.

• A West Virginia State trooper is under investigation by the FBI on allegations that he arrested a man during a traffic stop then handcuffed him to an anchor ring embedded in the floor of the precinct station where he then allegedly beat him. The man in question claims the beating occurred as retaliation against him for having an affair with the officer’s wife.

• Two Chicago Illinois police officers are the subject of lawsuit alleging that they dragged a passenger from a car and then proceeded to repeatedly kick him in the head. Afterward the officers put him in the back of a cruiser but then let him go without charges.

• The Annapolis Maryland police are being sued by a man who claims that an officer yanked him out of a car and then pointed a gun at his friend while demanding to know “where the drugs were.” The police didn’t find any drugs but did arrest several people who were there on a variety of minor charges such as possession of an open container and disorderly conduct.

• An Altamonte Springs Florida police officer was arrested on child abuse charges regarding an alleged sexual relationship he had with a 17-year-old girl. The two exchanged almost 90 emails where the two allegedly exposed themselves to each other and, in one message, the girl claimed she had been pregnant with his child before she miscarried.

• A Baltimore Maryland police officer was suspended while he’s under investigation for ignoring orders to stop a high-speed pursuit that when outside of his jurisdiction and violated policies that prohibited such pursuits to incidents involving dangerous felons. The pursuit ended with his cruiser fatally striking the motorcyclist he was chasing for racing with another bike.

• A Sumter South Carolina police officer has been fired while he was the subject of a state investigation into an unspecified violation of that department’s use of force policy.

• Las Vegas Nevada has settled a lawsuit for $120,000 to a man who was falsely arrested on DUI charges after a police officer struck his vehicle while going 109mph in a 45mph zone without his lights or siren. Sadly, that officer died in the crash and was not wearing his seat belt.

• A Clearwater Florida police officer has resigned while under investigation for at least three different incidents where drug evidence went missing or was misplaced.

• A McMinn County Tennessee deputy has been arrested on theft charges after a state investigation into allegations that she stole over $1,000, though the article doesn’t specify exactly where she may have stolen the money from.

• A Cobb County Georgia police captain has been charged with driving while intoxicated after a wrong-way driver caused an accident with his car while he was off-duty.

• And finally, a Sun Valley Idaho police dog has returned to duty after it was suspended for a few weeks in order to be retrained after it attacked someone’s pet schnauzer without provokation. The department paid for the victim’s $600 veterinary bill though.

Before I close this one, there was another case this weekend that I thought was borderline and decided to put this one up to the readers to decide if it was misconduct and, if so, if it’s severe enough to make the cut for the database.

It seems a Bernalillo County New Mexico deputy, shown above, was caught on video uploaded to YouTube giving a religious group a piece of his mind concerning his own religious beliefs, or lack thereof, while he was assisting other deputies in escorting the group off of private property where a Rob Zombie concert was underway.

So, what do you think, does this qualify for inclusion in our statistical database of police misconduct?

That’s it for this weekend’s installment,  stay safe out there!

Now, this was interesting because it made me wonder what empirical evidence this person, a Eugene O’Donnell, had to back up his claim that “an unprecedented level of disrespect and willingness to challenge police officers all over the place.” was to blame for an alleged increase of violence specifically targeting law enforcement.

So, I decided to do the heavy lifting for Mr. O’Donnell and see if his hyperbole had any real factual merit.

Homicide Rates

So far this year, Mr. O’Donnell claims that there has been a 43% increase in line of duty deaths for police officers in the US. But, does this number reflect an actual increased level of violence specifically targeting police?

Well, in 2009, per ODMP.ORG, there were 127 line of duty deaths, of which, 57 of those fatalities could be attributed to an act of violence that specifically targeted a police officer whether by firearms, intentional vehicular assault, or assault.

So far in 2010, there have been 98 line of duty deaths, of which, 28 are attributed to an intentional act of violence against a police officer.

So, in 2009 the homicidal fatality rate for law enforcement officers was an estimated 8.14 deaths per 100,000 law enforcement officers. Currently the homicidal fatality rate is at 4.16 per 100,000 and, if projected to the end of year at the current rate, that homicidal fatality rate for 2010 would potentially be 8.31 per 100,000 law enforcement officers… a 0.17 per 100,000 increase or, roughly, a 2.1% increase.

While an increase, it’s a very slight one which is far less ominous than the 43% increase cited as a cause for alarm.

So, is this 2.1% increase in homicidal fatalities possibly related to an alleged increased availability of reports about police misconduct?

Causality

If what Mr. O’Donnell alleges had any basis in fact we would be able to see a correlation between homicidal fatalities and an increased availability of information about police misconduct. In other words, we would see a notably higher rate of homicidal deaths of police officers in states where police misconduct information was openly available.

But, when we break down the homicidal fatality incidents by state we don’t really see a correlation:

So, what do we see? We see that, of the homicidal fatalities for police officers so far in the US this year:

• 6 occurred in states with laws that keep police misconduct information open to the public.
• 10 occurred in states that keep police misconduct information secret.
• 12 occurred in states that have some limitations on the availability of  police misconduct information.

In fact, when I examined this issue earlier this year, I not only found no correlation between violence against law enforcement officers, but found the opposite may be true, that officers suffer an increased rate of violence in states that keep information about police misconduct a secret than in states where the government is open about incidents of misconduct.

Graph displaying comparison of assault and homicide rates for police officers by state misconduct transparency levels.

Conclusion

So, we see that if we look at the total line of duty deaths we might see an increased fatality rate, but most of that increase appears to be associated with auto accidents, accidental deaths, and fatalities associated with natural causes than with actual homicides. While total deaths may be up over the same period last year, the homicidal death rate increase is a negligible 2.1% from 8.14 per 100,000 to 8.31 per 100,000 (projected).

If we look further into the numbers, we see that there is no real evidence that indicates that any perceived increase is related to an increased amount of information being shared about police misconduct and, in fact, the inverse may be true, that there maybe an increased amount of violence against law enforcement officers in areas where information about police misconduct is kept secret from the public.

Therefore, we’re left to question where Mr. O’Donnell is coming up with the basis of his opinion about violence against police and the causative factors behind this alleged increase. Because, as we can see, the evidence just isn’t in the numbers… or the facts.

At the least, there is no evidence that an honest and transparent discussion about police misconduct puts anyone at risk, but remaining silent about it can.

Anyway, here are the 13 12 reports of police misconduct tracked by the National Police Misconduct News Feed for Friday, July 23, 2010:

• Two Columbia Missouri police officers are being sued by a man who was tasered on dashcam video, shown above, about 30 seconds into what appears to be a typical traffic stop after he asked why he was being pulled over. He claims that officers then began to beat him off-camera before arresting him on resisting arrest charges that were later dismissed when the prosecutor couldn’t show how the man could have known why he was being arrested.

• Approximately five Denver County Colorado deputies are accused of using excessive force against a detainee who a witness claims he watched die after he was unnecessarily put into a choke hold then tasered while being processed at the jail.

• In Diamondhead Arkansas there have been no arrests or charges filed in the shooting of an off-duty police officer that landed him in the hospital. The man who shot the officer claims that he fired in self defense and the fact that he hasn’t been arrested lends a good bit of credibility to his claim already, However, more than that, the officer in question has left two other departments under questionable circumstances in the past as well. The officer is accused of following the man’s wife around in his truck and then trying to run the man over when he tried to stop the officer from pulling into his driveway. When questioned about what he was doing the officer is then accused of opening fire, prompting the man to fire back in self defense. No charges have been filed against either man and the incident is still under investigation.

• A Baltimore Maryland police officer took a plea deal that reduced attempted murder charges down to assault in the first degree for shooting at two people in a car after an off-duty bar brawl the officer was involved in. The officer was given a 10 year sentence but will only serve a year and a half of it after the judge suspended most of the sentence.

• A Washington DC police officer is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU as an attempt to force the city to rewrite their disorderly conduct laws that were used by the officer to justify the arrest of a man for singing “I hate cops”… a type of arrest commonly referred to as “contempt of cop”.

• Two Milwaukee Wisconsin police officers are facing federal charges, one is accused of aiding a drug dealer while he delivered 2 kilos of cocaine and the other is accused of money laundering by helping the dealer hide the money earned from his drug transactions.

• A Philadelphia Pennsylvania police officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling drugs and for a plot to rob what he thought was a drug dealer who ended up being an undercover agent in part of a sting operation.

• A Fort Lauderdale Florida police officer has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for killing a pedestrian that he hit while driving at speeds of up to 90mph while he was off-duty. What the jury didn’t hear was that he had a history of speeding in excess of 100mph.

• A Denver Colorado police officer who was tried and acquitted last year after he convinced a jury that he didn’t pull a gun on McDonalds workers in the drive thru when he wasn’t happy with his order has been put on desk duty after being arrested for doing 143mph in a 55mph zone while drunk.

• A Lockport New York police officer is on paid leave after he was arrested on DUI charges in an accident that left another person injured.

• A Lee County Florida deputy has been suspended without pay after being arrested for rear-ending another vehicle while driving under the influence.

• The Phoenix Arizona police officer who was in our news feed recently for filing a lawsuit against a Gilbert Arizona police officer who tasered him during a DUI stop when he wouldn’t cooperate is now the subject of an arrest warrant after he failed to appear at a hearing for his DUI and resisting arrest charges.  (Update: This one has been removed from the database after the judge rescinded the warrant saying the missed hearing was due to a misunderstanding.)

• And finally, a Northampton Pennsylvania police officer has been fired on a variety of allegations including that he filed a false report regarding how he damaged a police SUV when a stack of pallets fell on it, though officials won’t elaborate on exactly how that happened.

That’s it for this Friday, stay safe out there!

• A Mount Sterling Illinois police officer who also works for the Camp Point police and the Brown County sheriff is under investigation on allegations that he peppersprayed, then struck a handcuffed man several times in the face before placing his foot on his throat. The allegations were made by a Brown County deputy who had handcuffed the man outside a bar and left him when he went inside to talk with the owner because the man was being compliant, then came out and witnessed the alleged incident. The officer is apparently the subject of another unspecified investigation into an arrest he made as a Camp Point officer and has been removed from the Brown County rosters due to this incident that occurred while he was working for Mount Sterling.

• A Hyattsville Maryland police officer has been indicted on perjury and assault charges for kicking a handcuffed man in the mouth and then lying about what happened in order to justify the use of force. In this case, again, it was an officer that reported the excessive force, not the victim.

• A Colorado State trooper is the subject of an investigation into a fatal shooting incident where one witness claims that the man who was killed was unarmed and was blinded by pepperspray when he was shot in the chest by officers who he had refused to let into his home without a warrant. The man was suspected of drunken driving after he allegedly crashed his car in a nearby yard. The police have, so far, refused to discuss what happened.

• A Cleveland Ohio police officer was arrested on a domestic violence warrant after the department’s internal affairs unit looked into allegations that he broke his wife’s nose when he assaulted her during an argument.

• A now-former Polk County Georgia police investigator has been found guilty of witness tampering, obstruction, and possession of a vehicle with an altered VIN in a case where he had been accused of running a chop shop, though he was declared not guilty of those allegations.

• Chicago Illinois is facing it’s second post-Burge conviction lawsuit over allegations of torture-induced false confessions. This suit, filed by a man who spent 23 years in prison, alleges that Burge’s unit beat him with a phone book, smothered him with a plastic bag, poured 7-up down his nose, burned him with a lighter, then pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him in order to elicit a false confession for a rape that he was later cleared of in January of this year.

• A now-former Gainesville Florida police officer has been charged with driving under the influence for an accident where he hit and seriously injured a 69-year-old pedestrian. The officer may be facing even more charges after an internal investigation resulted in recommendations being forwarded to the state attorney’s office asking that he be charged with seven counts of felony official misconduct and video voyeurism for videotaping several women without their knowledge while he was both on and off duty.

• A Center Texas police detective is under investigation on allegations of perjury regarding his investigation into a fight that occurred between two Shelby County deputies which led to one of the deputies being charged with assault on a peace officer. Now, the detective says it’s a false accusation and he may well be telling the truth… but, no matter which way this case ends up, it will be a case of misconduct either against the detective if the charges are sustained or the deputy who made the false allegation if they aren’t.

• A now-former Cicero Illinois police officer has pled guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice charges on allegations that he helped suspected members of the mafia by teaching them how to identify and avoid law enforcement surveillance techniques and running license plates to determine if any cars near one suspected mobster’s business were police officers.

• The Colorado Springs Colorado police are the subject of a lawsuit filed by the owner of a medical marijuana dispensary who claims that an officer illegally seized $14,000 from him after his car was illegally searched during a traffic stop. The police refused to return the money, claiming that he’s now under investigation for money laundering and have threatened to call the DEA on him even though medical marijuana dispensaries are legal in that state.

• A New York NY police officer has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after he pled guilty to committing drug, extortion, and firearms crimes by helping a drug dealer he was friends with sell cocaine and carried out fake raids on his friend’s rival in order to rob his drug courier.

• A now-former Laredo Texas police officer who is already facing drug trafficking charges has now been indicted for wire fraud over allegations that he took part in a scheme that defrauded insurance companies out of thousands. Apparently he would transport cars to Mexico where they would be sold and then he, or another officer he paid off, would report the cars as being stolen to get insurance money on top of the sale amount.

• An Emerson Georgia police officer has been charged with false reporting and stalking after he apparently tried to get police to arrest his estranged wife on stalking charges so he could move back into the home that he had left so that his wife and kids had a place to stay when both were made subject of a no-contact order.

• A Downers Grove Illinois police officer has been charged with four counts of official misconduct on allegations that he was using police databases to look up license information for personal use, but officials aren’t yet disclosing what that personal use entailed. (Details being released by prosecutors now suggest that he was looking up license information on suspected drug dealers as part of a plot to stage traffic stops in order to rob them.)

• An Aurora Colorado police officer has been suspended for one month and may face further disciplinary action for being arrested twice in one year on DUI charges, once for crashing his SUV into a utility pole and another incident where he crashed on his motorcycle.

• Three Hackensack New Jersey police officers have been suspended without pay while they are the subject of an internal investigation into unspecified misconduct allegations. While officials refuse to elaborate an unnamed source alleges that it has something to do with conduct surrounding an accident one of the trio was involved in while off-duty.

• A Dumfries Virginia police officer who was assigned to lead that department’s sexual predator investigations has resigned in lieu of being fired after an investigation sustained 13 internal charges against him for various policy violations that appear to revolve around violations of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force policies involving the viewing and dissemination of pornographic material. Officials say that, at this time, there is no criminal investigation pending but they haven’t elaborated on the specific allegations involved.

• In Dumfries Virginia again, a police captain was fired on allegations of dishonesty, neglect of duty, and failure to report violations he was aware of. Again, officials refuse to specify what the allegations were in association to this case but they insist that there are no more pending internal investigations, although they do admit that the FBI is investigating the department at this time.

• And finally, a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission officer has been arrested on allegations that he was selling counterfeit merchandise after US Customs agents had investigated him for about nine months. TABC agents are sworn officers and even take part in raids on certain establishments, which is why the name might sound familiar.

That’s it for today, as always, try to stay safe out there.

• An Oxford Alabama police officer allegedly shot his wife and his 8-month-old infant son to death before taking his own life, at least according to unnamed investigators cited in one report of an incident where the three were discovered dead in the their home behind locked door by police who were called by a concerned neighbor worried that they hadn’t been seen for a while. Other reports still cite the causes of death as unknown pending autopsy results.

• A San Fransisco California police officer is under investigation after a home video showed him throwing a handcuffed woman face down into the pavement while her baby sat in a stroller a few feet away. The woman then appeared to remain unmoving for a while afterwards as the officers radioed for an ambulance. Police say she was drunk and belligerent when they stopped her because they thought she might have been involved in a reported assault.

• A Houston Texas police officer may become the subject of an FBI investigation after a man reported him for fracturing his eye socket when the officer allegedly hit him in the face five times with a metal flashlight while he was handcuffed and being held by two other officers. The man admits that he fled police when pulled over for drunken driving but says he didn’t resist once he was caught.

• Two San Juan County Washington deputies are the subject of a lawsuit alleging that they illegally entered a woman’s home when she was alone after neighbors had called police reporting a domestic disturbance. The woman claims she denied the officer’s request to enter the home but they barged past her anyway, tackled, cuffed, and tasered her, then arrested her on obstruction and assault of an officer, charges which were later dismissed by prosecutors.

• A West Seneca New York police officer is facing federal deprivation of rights charges for abusing his authority in order to assault someone at a bar. Two of his fellow officers are witnesses in the case that alleges the officer called his department requesting officers to help remove a man from the bar he was at for allegedly harassing him and his wife. When officers arrived they say he dragged the man out of the bar, punched him, choked him, then threw him against a wall.

• The village of Walden New York has settled a lawsuit for an unspecified sum to a woman who’s arm was broken by a police officer during what should have been a typical traffic stop. The two officers involved in that incident were involved in other incidents that resulted in settlements or litigation including another case of excessive force against a female NYPD officer. Officials say one of the officers will now face possible disciplinary action depending on what an arbitrator decides… but we all know how arbitrators usually roll.

• The city of Oakland California has settled a lawsuit for $6,500,000 to over one hundred people who took part in a suit against the police department alleging that officers were obtaining warrants for home searches and drug raids based on false testimony and falsified information. Many of the warrants were obtained based on informants who gave police wrong addresses and, in other cases, police served warrants even when they knew the addresses were wrong.

• Five Cincinnati Ohio police officers face disciplinary action after dashcam video showed that they lied about whether they used force when they arrested a 16-year-old boy. The footage apparently shows officers kneeing the boy in the head and back while another one punched him after he had laid down and gave up.

• A Shelbyville Indiana police officer, who happens to be a part-time school security guard as well, has been charged with felony child seduction, furnishing alcohol to a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and false reporting regarding an alleged sexual relationship he had with a 16-year-old female student.

• A Ravenna Nebraska police officer has been found guilty on five counts of first degree sexual assault and having sex with a minor. The case mostly revolved around entries the girl, who was 14-years-old when the relationship between the two started, made in her journal that documented at least 68 encounters with the officer.

• A Greenville South Carolina police officer has been arrested on criminal domestic violence charges on allegations that he threw a woman on the ground and then punched her in the face and choked her until she became dizzy during an argument between the two. He’s then accused of apparently attempting to waterboard the woman by pouring water down her mouth and nose, making it difficult for her to breathe. The officer resigned about a week after the incident occurred.

• An Atlanta Georgia police officer has been indicted on aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and violation of oath charges on allegations that he held a gun to the head of a man who was dating his friend and threatened to kill him if he didn’t return a cellphone she claimed he took from her. The 18-year-old girl was also charged with one count of making false statements to investigators who were looking into the case.

• A Milwaukee Wisconsin police officer has been suspended while he’s under investigation after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman who called police for help concerning a fight with her neighbor. The officer is accused of choking the woman while forcibly raping her after the two were alone after he allegedly arranged for her fiancée and kids to leave the home and after his partner arrested her brother.

• A Rapides Parish Louisiana deputy has been arrested for felony hit and run and obstruction charges after he allegedly injured a pedestrian who was later killed after a second car ran over the injured person. That second driver was also arrested on felony hit and run charges.

• A Ripley Mississippi police officer has resigned and another received unspecified disciplinary action after they were investigated for attempting to proposition underage teenage girls for sex and even offering them drugs in exchange for sex while they were off-duty and in a car with two other unidentified men. No charges were filed in this case.

• A Richmond Texas police officer appears as though he’ll get a free pass after a judge tossed his DUI case out after ruling that the evidence, that included dashcam video and several open containers of beer pulled from his car, was inadmissible because it was gathered after the officer was cuffed and detained by a Rosenburg TX cop who says he arrested the officer because he ignored commands, resisted him when he tried to detain him, had urinated himself, and appeared unsteady while standing… which the judge claimed wasn’t sufficient probable cause… or at least wasn’t sufficient to detain a cop but usually plenty good enough for the rest of us.

• Meanwhile, a Jacksonville Florida police officer also appeared to escape criminal consequences for driving while intoxicated thanks to Garrity rights that protect officers from incriminating themselves criminally when questioned during internal investigations. Apparently a Florida State trooper investigating an accident the officer was involved in didn’t think he appeared impaired at the time after he ran into the back of a dump truck. However, the officer did tell a JSO lieutenant who arrived to investigate that he did have several mixed drinks and he did test with a BAC of .122 at that time. However, since that was part of an internal investigation it can’t be used in a criminal trial, so the officer will only face one month of unpaid leave and will be transferred to a call center.

• The police chief of Cardington Ohio has been placed on paid leave after he was charged with evidence tampering and obstruction involving his son’s arrest on drug charges.

• A Cape Coral Florida police sergeant has been demoted and suspended for 24 hours for ordering officers to perform an illegal traffic stop on her ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend. The pair were detained for close to 30 minutes before they were allowed to leave without being issued any citations. The officer claims that she didn’t plan to do it, but that it was an impulsive decision.

• An Orlando Florida police officer was convicted on two federal money laundering charges for using city government accounts she fraudulently set up to route $200,000 in FEMA funds to her own personal account.

• Another Orlando Florida police officer is under investigation on allegations that he abandoned his police cruiser at a resort after workers there called police after workers called to report what they thought was the theft of that cruiser when the off-duty officer and three of his friends sped into the hotel’s drive then stumbled out of the cruiser and left. When questioned about appearing drunk he blamed his unsteady appearance on his orthopedic shoes.

• An East Palo Alto California detective is facing disciplinary action after an internal investigation found that he engaged in inappropriate behavior by posting comments on Facebook stating that open carry activists should be shot by police and that he would like to “prone” one of them and get “2 weeks off” by shooting one if they made any “furtive movements”. While a representative of the Responsible Citizens of California says he hops the officer doesn’t just get a slap on the wrist, nobody will know if that happens since the chief says state laws prevent him from disclosing the nature of the disciplinary action that will be taken.

• The now-former police chief of Brookneal Virginia has pled guilty to two counts of petit larceny after admitting that he stole about 110 gallons of gas from the town’s gas pump on 11 different occasions. He was ordered to pay $232 in restitution and a $500 fine for each count. He resigned in January after he was arrested for shoplifting $28 in merchandise from a department store, which he also received a fine for his guilty plea in that case. Worthy of note, the officer who replaced him as chief was in court on the same day while a grand larceny charge against him was certified for the next grand jury session.

• The now-former sheriff of Lemhi County Idaho was sentenced to 10 days in jail, 10 days work release, and a $2,330 fine after he pled guilty to his second DUI charge as a sheriff before his retirement which he announced after an officer arrested him on suspicion of drunk driving after stopping the sheriff in his unmarked cruiser while he was off-duty.

• A now-former Bloomington Illinois police officer has been indicted on felony theft charges on allegations that he stole anywhere between $300 to $10,000 from his police union prior to his resignation from the department this year.

• A now-former Fulton County Georgia deputy has pled guilty to federal corruption charges after a federal sting operation caught him protecting what he believed were drug dealers taking part in a large cocaine deal while he was in uniform and accepting $4,000 to do it. However, the people he thought were dealers ended up being, you guessed it, federal agents.

• A Murfreesboro Tennessee police officer has been sentenced to 4 months in jail for his role in a steroid conspiracy that has also resulted in the conviction of four other officers, three of which have already been sentenced.

• Two Los Angeles County California deputies have been fired and several others subjected to various disciplinary actions for taking part in a scheme that used print outs of the officers’ bar code tags that they used to cheat a system of scanners that were used in the jail to ensure that the deputies performed their scheduled patrols as required. The scheme came to light after a detainee’s body was left undiscovered in his cell for hours after he had committed suicide.

• An Alpharetta Georgia police officer is under investigation after someone sent a local television station photographs of the officer’s police cruiser parked in a handicap spot while also blocking the wheelchair ramp for 20 minutes at a local store when the officer wasn’t on a call or responding to an incident. He’s been suspended w/o pay for a week and will have to pay a fine of up to $500 over the incident.
  

• The Washington State Police say that they will not remove an innocent man’s name from their sex offender’s database even though the man was merely the victim of identity theft when a man arrested on sex crimes charges used his identity as an alias. Even though the man has been wrongfully arrested once already and has had difficulty finding work due to background checks when his name shows up as a sex offender the police say his name will be on that list for the rest of his life… just in case an actual sex offender tries to use it as an alias again… which I guess means that all ID theft victims should be added to the list, you know, just in case.

• And finally, the Detroit Michigan police chief has resigned under pressure by the mayor for a variety of unspecified reasons. However, it is known that the decision came on the same day that a local station announced it was going to air a promotional video the chief made in an effort to pitch a reality show about him and that the video showed him appearing in a tactical type of uniform and heavily armed… all this just a few months after an aggressive tactical team raid caused the death of 7-year-old Aiyana Jones while a reality TV crew’s presence was suspected of playing a role in how aggressive the officers were in the tactics used in that raid.

That’s all for today, just try to stay safe out there.

So, here are the 31 police misconduct reports captured in our National Police Misconduct News Feed for Monday and Tuesday, July 19 and 20, 2010:

• Five Tulsa Oklahoma police officers have been indicted as part of a federal probe into police corruption within that police department. One of the officers faces 58 counts including perjury, conspiracy to distribute drugs, and witness tampering. In addition to the drug trafficking charges and charges that they threatened a federal agent, most of the charges deal with allegations of drug plants used to justify false arrests and cases are still being reviewed after 11 people have been freed so far. Officials say the lengthy investigation is still ongoing and more charges may be forthcoming.

• Montgomery County Maryland police are accused of using excessive force and unlawful entry when they allegedly bursted into the home of a 65-year-old woman and broke her arm while they were serving a warrant for her son over a misdemeanor charge. The woman also alleges that when she went to the police station to complain that the officer there gave her a flier and told her to send her complaint in the mail.

• A Brooklyn Illinois police officer is under investigation and may face criminal charges after he allegedly assaulted a handcuffed detainee. The department is refusing to release any more details about the incident but claims that they are merely gathering information to hand over to an outside agency that will perform a formal investigation.

• A Concord New Hampshire police officer was sentenced to spend 45 days of a year-long suspended sentence in jail for assaulting a woman during arrest and then warning her to not report an incident where he groped her and another woman outside of a bar the previous year.

• An unspecified number of Prince George’s County Maryland police commanders have now been included in the investigation into the videotaped beating of a college student while University of Maryland celebrated their basketball team’s victory in the streets. The investigation is now looking into the possibility that commanders had attempted to cover up the incident.

• A Caro Michigan police officer is the subject of a lawsuit alleging excessive force and false arrest for using pepperspray on the family of a man wanted on domestic violence charges then arresting the man’s father after walking the man out of his home while in a choke hold for touching the officer’s arm. The suit also alleges the officer refused to show them the warrant he was allegedly serving. The man’s father was later acquitted of resisting arrest and obstruction in that case.

• A Saline County Illinois chief deputy was arrested on four official misconduct charges and four criminal sexual assault charges on unspecified charges involving a 17-year-old girl. Officials are hinting that more charges may yet be filed.

• The Grand Junction Colorado police department is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims that one of their police officers had raped her and that the department was responsible due to lax discipline. The officer in question committed suicide shortly after he was fired and arrested on sexual assault charges over the incident.

• A Maryland State Department of Natural Resources police officer has been suspended without pay after arrested on 13 counts of sexual abuse, indecent assault, and corruption of a minor involving a 13-year-old girl from Pennsylvania. Maryland DNR police are sworn officers.

• A now-former and now-convicted Marysville Pennsylvania police officer who is already in the pen for 10-26 years for molesting and attempting to solicit sex from 15 juveniles is back in court yet again on allegations that he had a sexual relationship with yet another teen girl while he was a cop and that he attempted to coerce the girl into lying on the stand during the trial that convicted him.

• A Dallas Texas police officer was arrested on child pornography charges after he was caught up in a sting operation allegedly attempting to solicit sex with a 12-year-old. The charges so far only indicate that he possessed child pornography and made it available to others.

• A Maryland State Trooper has been suspended without pay after he was arrested on possession of child pornography charges when over 3,000 alleged images of child porn were found on his computer. Police are asking if anyone had been in contact with the officer online through his email accounts; “poledeepin@aol.com” or “longpolein@aol.com”, that they contact the Baltimore police.

• A now-retired Illinois State Trooper has been arraigned on felony child pornography and official misconduct charges after he was nabbed by federal agents as part of an investigation into a child porn distribution ring. He’s accused of surfing child porn since at least 2003, using his department-issued laptop to do so prior to his retirement. He apparently admitted to it, saying he started doing it because he was bored and continued to do it until his retirement in March of this year.

• A Central Point Oregon police officer has been fired and may face criminal charges over his relationship with his now-pregnant 18-year-old girlfriend who used to go to the school where he worked as a school resource officer. While the officer insists the pair didn’t have sex until she was 18 and graduated, he did admit that the relationship had developed since they met when she was in the 4th grade and attended his DARE class.

• A Milwaukee Wisconsin police officer was suspended after arrested on allegations that he pulled a gun on several people in an SUV and threatened to shoot one of them in the head during an apparent case of drunken road rage.

• A New York NY police officer has been charged with assault, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries. He and his partner were apparently caught on surveillance camera hitting a bicyclist then getting out of their police cruiser, dragging him to a curb, then handing him a tissue before they left the scene without even calling an ambulance or reporting the incident. The cyclist suffered a fractured wrist along with several cuts and bruises. Both officers were suspended without pay.

• Two Bloomfield New Jersey police officers are under investigation after they had a fight in the police station parking lot that sent one of the pair into the hospital. The fight apparently began when one of the officers hit the other officer’s cruiser with a trash can. However, the police chief says the results of the investigation and any disciplinary action will be kept secret.

• An East Kingston New Hampshire police officer was arrested along with a friend after the pair were stopped in their truck and caught with blood on their shoes in the aftermath of an off-duty fight where the pair allegedly beat a man unconscious then repeated kicked him in the head while he laid in a pool of his own blood.

• A Leighton Alabama police officer was arrested on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence, reckless endangerment, and illegal possession of prescription medication after he allegedly fired a gun inside his apartment while having an argument with his girlfriend.

• A Tulsa Oklahoma police officer who is currently part of a federal corruption case against several officers was arrested on domestic violence charges after he was accused of yanking his girlfriend into his car when she tried to leave during an argument and then repeatedly bashing her head into the dashboard. He was then accused of injuring her again when he shoved her out of the car once they arrived at her apartment.

• A now-former Southport North Carolina police officer has been indicted on obstruction, misdemeanor larceny, destruction of evidence, and embezzlement charges on allegations that he stole money while performing a search of a suspected crack dealer’s home. The officer resigned while he was under investigation over the incident.

• A San Antonio Texas police officer is under investigation after a local news station received photographs that appear to show him sleeping in his police cruiser. The person who took the photos says the officer sat parked near his home with his car running for at least 30 minutes and didn’t even flinch while he stood next to the officers door taking photos. While a case like this usually wouldn’t be serious enough to add to the database, the person who took the photos has a point when he says that the officer put himself at risk by doing that and that anyone could have walked up on him.

• A Stoughton Massachusetts police officer resigned while facing disciplinary action for leaving his patrol so that he could meet the “world’s smallest porn star” at a strip club while he was on-duty during a graveyard shift.

• A Dallas County Texas sheriff’s lieutenant has been fired after an internal investigation found that he was using surveillance cameras to watch female detainees shower at the jail. The sworn officer, aside from being an 18-year veteran, was also the instructor for a sheriff’s academy training course called “Ethics in a Correctional Setting”.

• A Baltimore Maryland police officer is under investigation after a woman complained that the officer offered to get rid of her traffic ticket if she performed a sexual act for him during a traffic stop.

• The Orange County Florida sheriff’s major who leaked details about a questionable kidnapping charge against a teenage boy who claimed he was trying to help a 3-year-old girl find her mom in a store was demoted. He apparently gave his daughter details about the case so she could post a comment to defend the sheriff’s department’s actions in that case in a newspaper comment thread, a comment that he allegedly proof-read before she posted it.

• The Norwich Connecticut police department is refusing to disclose why a police officer who was suspended for 45 days in January for misusing a police database and other misconduct related to that incident is still on unpaid leave.

• A North Carolina State Highway Patrol sergeant is on desk duty while she’s the subject of a criminal investigation into unspecified misconduct allegations.

• A Hailey Idaho police officer has resigned after he was stopped by police and issued a misdemeanor driving under the influence citation, but not arrested.

• Clarksville Tennessee has settled a lawsuit for $117,900 with two soldiers from nearby Fort Campbell who were injured when their SUV was struck by a police cruiser that ran a red light while taking part in a high speed pursuit of robbery suspects. Apparently, while Tennessee state law allows police to run red lights while in pursuit, they must slow down first and assure that they drive with due regard for public safety.

• Baltimore Maryland police officer Salvatore “Dude” Rivieri of 2007 YouTube fame where he was caught on video throwing around a 14-year-old skateboarder and berating the boy for calling him dude in an angry rant has been cleared of all but one minor administrative charge by a 3-member (fellow officers) disciplinary panel for failing to give the kid a “citizen contact receipt” after a 3-year-long internal investigation into the incident that the police used as an excuse to implement policies that kept the identity of officers accused of misconduct a secret from the public.

That’s it for these last two days, stay safe out there.

I’m not really worried about getting old, I’m sort of surprised I survived some pretty scary situations through my life and figure I’m living on borrowed time each day anyway. Besides, I’ve lived a good life, I’ve helped more people than I can count and figure that’s legacy enough for me. So, no need to find trophy wives or drive a sports car either. In fact, despite my wife’s consternation, I don’t mind those bits of gray encroaching at the fringes.

Sure, it would be nice to sit out somewhere and have a few drinks with friends, it’s been a long time since I’ve done something like that, years I think… but, since I can’t, I’ll just try to relax a little bit between looking for work on the job boards and carpet-bombing my resume to any potential employer who looks like they might be interested instead, maybe even take a little nap or two. After all, why shouldn’t it be nothing too different than any other day, that’s all it is anyway.

So, if you find reports you think I should know about, please do feel free to send them my way, I’ll record them on the news feed when I return. I’m also disabling comments while I’m gone so I don’t have to clean up 100′s of spam comments when I get back.

Until next time, stay safe out there!