Free Republic

CRANFORD, N.J. (WABC) -- Three New Jersey police officers sprang into action to save a choking dog. On Friday night, Cranford police received a frantic 9-1-1 call reporting a choking dog in the field adjacent to Walnut Avenue School. During a game of catch, Leo, a Great Dane/Shepherd mix weighing over 140 pounds, began choking and couldn't breathe when a tennis ball became lodged in his throat. Officer Robert Jordan encircled the dog with his arms and attempted to clear the dog's airway using abdominal thrusts. Officers John Rattigan and Brian Trotter arrived and assisted in the rescue. When the...

In a decision issued this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the police in a case arising from an officer’s “mistake of law.” At issue in Heien v. North Carolina was a 2009 traffic stop for a single busted brake light that led to the discovery of illegal drugs inside the vehicle. According to state law at the time, however, motor vehicles were required only to have “a stop lamp,” meaning that the officer did not have a lawful reason for the initial traffic stop because it was not a crime to drive around with a single busted brake...

"So I'm thinking that is totally appropriate in Iraq, but where-what kind of situation in the U.S. would you see that happening?" "I mean, we've got a lot of constitutionalists, a lot of people that stockpile weapons, a lot of ammunition. You know, they have weapons here locally." (2:50-3:10)

Austin, Texas – In what sounds like something out of the Cold War Soviet Union playbook, Austin Police Chief, Art Acevedo urged the community to turn in neighbors and friends who are “gun enthusiasts” or who have “extreme” views, just days after Larry McQuilliams shot-up buildings in Austin.Acevedo, in a press conference, stated that he is fearful of “homegrown” terrorists like McQuilliams who harbor “hate” and have access to firearms.But what Americans should be fearful about isn’t the likes of McQuilliams, but rather the response by Acevedo on how to go about countering these perceived threats. While obviously no rational...

National statistics intended to track police killings show that hundreds of homicides committed by law-enforcement officers between 2007 and 2012 are not recorded by the FBI, the Wall Street Journal reports. More than 550 police killings during that span were missing from the national count of not attributed to the law-enforcement agency involved, the paper reports. The lack of data makes it impossible to determine how many people police kill each year. Demands for more transparency on such killings have been shoved into the spotlight after the August shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson....

Midland, TX — Rosendo Gino Rodriquez, 49, was shot dead in an altercation Monday while Midland Police were conducting a routine welfare check. The Midland County mental health unit was conducting a regular welfare check at a home on the 2700 block of Washington Street, when things went sour. According to the Midland police, Rodriquez became “aggressive” during the welfare check. The term aggressive is used loosely by the MPD, as they claim he acted out said “aggression” by running away from them, back into his house, and barricading himself in a room. The Free Thought Project would like to...

Since 2006,MRAPs, helicopters, machine guns, and night-vision-goggle have been increasingly evident across America as the good ol' yankee copper morphs into a full-metal-jacket-looking killer (even as the FBI admits the threats to police have not escalated as much as the media would like). So it isjust 'lucky' that Ferguson has reignited a narrative that enables President Obama "to discuss federal programs and funding that provide equipment to the state and local enforcement agencies," in a series of meetings today at The White House. We suspect funding will increase (for your own protection) and a new SWATification Tzar will be unveiled....

MOREAUVILLE, La. (KALB News Channel 5) -- A family in Moreauville is pleading with their village to overturn an ordinance that would force them to get rid of their beloved family pet. On October 13, the village passed an ordinance that states if you own a pit bull or a Rottweiler, you must get rid of it by December 1 or they will take it for "disposition." News Channel 5's Brooke Buford (Twitter: @brookebuford) has the story. O'Hara Owens is trying to spend as much time as she can with her beloved pit bull, Zeus, before the village she lives...

Andrew Demers Jr., a 26-year veteran twice named Trooper of the Year, pleads guilty to sexual contactOne of the mostly highly decorated police officers in Maine’s history was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a 4-year-old child.Andrew Demers Jr., the former chief of the Maine State Police, broke down sobbing at one point during his sentencing hearing at the Cumberland County Courthouse, wiping tears from his eyes many times after he entered a guilty plea to a felony charge of unlawful sexual contact.

HILADELPHIA (CBS) — Multiple sources involved in cases in Philadelphia Family Court say sheriff’s deputies improperly strip-searched juveniles in both criminal and DHS custody cases who were appearing at the court for hearings earlier this week. And once court administrators discovered what was going on, they put a stop to it. According to multiple sources, juveniles in county custody for both criminal and non-criminal matters who were making courtroom appearances at the new Family Courthouse, at 15th and Arch Streets, were first strip-searched by sheriff’s deputies as a security measure all day Monday of this week and possible part of...

he Tuscaloosa Police officer who shot a family’s pet earlier this month has filed a lawsuit against a neighbor, claiming that she made untrue statements about the situation. TPD Officer Mike Azwell is asking for $10,000 from Deborah Bosch, who lives next door to his mother in the Eastern Hills subdivision in Tuscaloosa County. Bosch is not the owner of the dog that was killed, but she did call Tuscaloosa Police and made statements about the incident, according to the suit filed in Tuscaloosa County District Court Friday afternoon. The “slanderous, libelous and defamatory accusations” have caused the officer “injury...

LONE JACK, MO (KCTV) - A Lone Jack grandfather says he fears for his life after a run in with police. Bill Swan was on his tractor when he took issue with a utility crew trying to dig on his property. His family says that before long the Lone Jack police arrived and Swan was left bloodied and more from being yanked off the tractor. "I'm afraid for us to even drive out of our driveway or to get on the street. I don't know what they will do," Libby Swan, Bill's wife, said. Libby Swan hasn't asked her husband...

VENTURA, Calif. (CN) - A 2-year-old boy was burned by a police smoke bomb in a terrifying "no knock" raid at the wrong home, his family claims in court. The boy's parents, Jose and Paulina Salinas, sued the City of Oxnard and its Police Department in Superior Court on Monday. **** As police approached one of the bedrooms, Paulina Salinas and her two older children told officers there was a 2-year-old in the room. Police ignored them, told them to cover their ears, and threw a smoke bomb into the room as 2-year-old Justin Salinas stood near the door.

Columbus police will review their recruit-training procedures after a tumultuous morning in which three cruisers were wrecked in a chain-reaction crash, and tear gas carried by wind to an elementary school irritated the throats and eyes of several children and a pregnant, asthmatic teacher.No serious injuries were reported in either the crash on N. Hague Avenue or the later incident at Sullivant Elementary School in Franklinton.The Police Division promised a full accounting of both incidents, which did not appear to be the fault of any of the 35 recruits who are set to graduate next month.Police said the cruisers involved...

To make things worse, during an interview a D.C. police department employee essentially argued that Second Amendment rights don't apply in D.C. because they were written "for when the British were coming." For the record, "the British were coming" (a reference from Paul Revere's famous ride) in 1775. The Second Amendment wasn't written until 1787. Yes, we fought the British again for the War of 1812, but that isn't why the Amendment was written. 

Cleburne police are investigating after a video circulated online of one of its officers coaxing a dog toward him before shooting it. The short video, taken from a body camera’s perspective, shows a man’s arms wielding a handgun while the officer summons two dogs toward him. As the animals approached with their tails wagging, the officer fired several times. As one of the dogs fell to the ground, the officer, who has not been identified, took aim at the second dog. The video ends abruptly, before showing what happened to the other dog. Although the video shows that the animals...

A Walnut Creek police officer who beat a woman with a baseball bat believing he was defending a vacant Richmond house owned by his father entered pleas to two felonies and an enhancement at his arraignment Monday. Gregory Thompson, out of custody and wearing a light-brown suit, pleaded no contest to felony assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury and felony vandalism, and admitted to a firearm enhancement. After the hearing, Thompson, 53, raced from the courthouse with a phone held against his ear and got into a waiting vehicle without responding to any questions. **** "We can...

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - A Washington man who recently closed on a home in Northeast Portland was shocked to find a family had recently moved in and changed the locks. Rod Nylund said he learned about the occupants, who he assumes are squatters, last week when a contractor he sent to do work at the home called to tell him it was occupied. Nylund called police and confronted the occupants, but said the officer was unable to do anything about it.

For the parents of a first-grader in Florida, simply asking their son what he did on his first day of school this year was not enough.

Relatives of John Crawford, pictured, believe he was holding a toy gun when police shot him dead at a Walmart store A man shot dead by police in a U.S. supermarket may have been killed after picking up a toy gun, his relatives have claimed. John Crawford was gunned down at a Walmart store in Beavercreek amid reports that he was waving a rifle at customers, including children. But relatives of the 22-year-old have contacted civil rights organisations after claiming he was holding a toy gun in the toy section of the shop when the incident unfolded. LeeCee Johnson, who...