Free Republic

ST. LOUIS, Mich. - Friends and neighbors in a mid-Michigan community are rallying behind owners of a golden retriever that was fatally shot by a police officer. The Morning Sun of Mount Pleasant reports supporters gathered Tuesday at the home where the dog named Scout lived in St. Louis, about 50 miles north of Lansing. Mike Goetzinger says the officer had "no reason" to kill the dog owned by his brother Brian Goetzinger and his family. They're planning a protest and vigil Wednesday.

JOLIET, Ill. — Drew Peterson, the swaggering former suburban Chicago police officer who generated a media storm after his much-younger fourth wife vanished in 2007, was convicted Thursday of murdering his third wife in a case based mainly on secondhand hearsay statements from the two women. Peterson, 58, sat stoically looking straight ahead and did not react as the verdict was read, but several of Savio's family members gasped before hugging each other as they cried quietly in the courtroom. Illinois has no death penalty, and Peterson now faces a maximum 60-year prison term when sentenced on Nov. 26. The...

Vander Lee was sitting with his brother and wife on the patio of Tanners Station in Andover about 7 p.m. Saturday when Clifford punched him once in the head, authorities said. The 43-year-old fell to the ground and struck his head on the concrete patio. Clifford, executive officer of the Minneapolis Police Department's SWAT unit, then left the bar, authorities said. According to the criminal complaint, Clifford said he was with his wife and acquaintances when he heard Brian Vander Lee using offensive language at a nearby table. He said he asked Vander Lee to stop, which he reportedly did...

A jury in Gwinnett County, Ga., has awarded $3 million to the widow of an Atlanta police officer who died while having three-way sex, finding that his doctor was negligent in not properly diagnosing and treating his heart condition.

A troubled Denver police officer has been reinstated after a three-member panel of the city’s Civil Service Commission overturned his termination for driving 143 miles per hour while drunk. Derrick Saunders was arrested on June 17, 2010 for cruising 88 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. He had a .089 blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest. This wasn’t the officer’s first run-in with the law. Since he was hired by the police force in 2007, other felonious allegations against Saunders include brandishing a gun to scare McDonald’s employees into working faster. ABC 7 reports that...

On the ground and screaming that he was "sorry," a shirtless Kelly Thomas is shown being hit again and again with fists, a baton and finally the butt of a stun gun by Fullerton police officers in a dramatic video that was shown for the first time Monday in an Orange County courtroom. The grainy black and white video of Thomas' violent encounter with police outside a bus depot is the centerpiece of the prosecutions' case against two officers accused of escalating a standard police encounter with a homeless man into a fatal beating. At one point, Thomas — a...

DECATUR, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has learned a DeKalb County police officer is under criminal investigation for allegedly kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach, then charging her with obstruction of a police officer. Records show the department never investigated the incident and five supervising officers signed off on the officer's actions. "I was upset because I couldn't believe an officer would kick me, with my child in my stomach," Raven Dozier told investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer. Dozier was nearly nine months pregnant and helping to calm down her brother who was arguing with police. They used a...

A Vallejo police officer shot and killed Belle when he felt threatened during a routine house visit on May 16, 2012 VALLEJO (CBS SF) - A Vallejo family demands answers after a police officer shot and killed one of their dogs when he came to their house Wednesday to investigate an identity theft. Officer Chase Calhoun went to the family’s home near the corner of Kentucky and Trinity streets around noon Wednesday to take a statement. According to Vallejo Police, he heard two dogs growl, then saw them charge, as he opened the front gate of the home. Calhoun...

AUSTIN – The fatal shooting of a pet dog by an Austin Police Department officer over the weekend is sparking outrage near and far. As of Monday evening, close to 22,000 people had hit the "Like" button on a Facebook page called “Justice for Cisco,” the name of Austinite Michael Paxton's dog, which was killed by an officer.

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - KCBD NewsChannel 11 has confirmed that a Lubbock airport police officer was arrested Thursday, accused of soliciting prostitution and trespassing. A police report says Gary Dwane Fisher, 58, and a 44-year-old woman "knowingly agreed to engage in sexual conduct for a fee while on public school property." The woman was also arrested. The school property was the Lubbock ISD Administration Building, 1628 19th Street. The report also says that Fisher "knowingly solicited another in a public place to engage with him in sexual conduct for a fee." The City of Lubbock confirms that Fisher is not...

For 13 hours after they watched an Orange County sheriff’s deputy fatally shoot their father, the traumatized daughters of Marine Sgt. Manuel Loggins were held for questioning and not allowed to join their mother The accusation is contained in a claim Dunn said he would file Wednesday with the county, giving notice that the Loggins family plans to file suit in Superior Court against the Sheriff’s Department and the deputy for wrongful death. An attorney representing Darren Sandberg, identified as the deputy who shot Loggins, declined comment. Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens declined to comment on the facts of the...

The city of Henderson has done its darndest over the past week to erode the already depleted stores of public trust in government. First, we learn the city will pay a man $257,000 because he was in diabetic shock and driving erratically when he was pulled from his car by police at gunpoint, forcibly restrained on his stomach and then kicked in the head. We also learned the officer who did the kicking, Sgt. Brett Seekatz, kept his job and his rank. Next, as I reported last week, we learned that members of the City Council found out about the...

'Cowboy cop' who planted crack under couple's car seat to boost arrest quotas escapes jail after SOBBING in court. A veteran NYPD detective framed an innocent couple by planting crack in their car during a search. Arbeeny was convicted of ‘flaking,’ the practice of planting drugs on blameless people to reach their quota of felony collars and claim overtime, the New York Daily News reported. He was found guilty of putting a twist of crack under a car seat in Yvelisse DeLeon and Juan Figueroa’s car during a January 2007 bust in Coney Island, New York. The trial which ended...

Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 news@wylienews.com The Wylie Police Department has placed Officer Jim Bunger and two civilian employees on paid administrative leave after allegations surfaced Monday that the three engaged in lewd behavior. According to a press release from the police department, police administration "immediately upon receiving the information, Wylie Police officials contacted the Texas Rangers and the Garland Police Department where the officer resides. " WPD is conducting an administrative investigation. "Any criminal investigation will be handled by the Garland Police Department," the press release said. The Wylie News received an email from someone called Black Hands Tuesday,...

My Friends of OWS, My message will have to be brief. But let not this brevity take from it, its strength. You are the central movement of the hour. You're raising questions that are in the hearts of millions. Your motto, "We are the 99%," has been heard, heeded, and responded to by millions. You can be certain that the 1% have heard you clearest of all.

CHICAGO, December 13, 2011 ― I was a Chicago Police Officer for almost 30 years. I spent the first ten years of my career in one of the worst, most impoverished areas of Chicago, Lawndale. It was named as one of the ten most dangerous neighborhoods in America. Even people’s dreams weren’t safe. Everyday I patrolled streets where there was no hope, no change, no future, and no way out. Self survival was paramount. People did whatever they could to live through one more day. Crime was just a day’s work.

A manhunt was under way Monday for the gunman's accomplice after a highly decorated NYPD officer was shot in the face and killed responding to a Brooklyn robbery. Police released an image of the man who fled the scene after his cohort gunned down 22-year veteran cop Peter Figoski, 47, firing a bullet into the cop’s left cheek at close range. The alleged shooter, a career criminal, was swiftly chased down and busted but the other man managed to escape cops and was still on the lam, officials said. A $10,000 cash reward was offered for anyone providing information leading...

School Cop Teamed Up with Special Ed Teacher to Run Adult WebsitesBy Emma G. Gallegos in News on November 17, 2011 1:40 PM A high school in the Central Valley is investigating a school cop who teamed up with a high school special education teacher to start up a stable of adult websites. The teacher, Heidi Kaeslin, could run into trouble with the Stockton district where she teaches if they find out that she was running the site from school computers. She has been placed on leave, while a computer forensics expert looks at her classroom computer, according to Recordnet.com....

A judge threw out the concealed carry charge against a driver at the center of a controversial traffic stop. After city prosecutors finished their case Wednesday afternoon, Municipal Court Judge Stephen Belden granted the defense motion to dismiss the most serious charge against William Bartlett of Brewster, arguing there was not enough evidence to continue the trial.

The union that represents Twin Rivers School District Police Officers is apologizing tonight for putting something on a T-shirt that puts the department in a bad light. The shirt shows a terrified child, behind bars, and bears the caption : “U Raise ‘em, We Cage ‘em. [sic]” Mean-spirited at best, and at worst, well... the ramifications are unsettling. The T-shirt, put out by the Twin Rivers Police Officer's Association, has been rejected by even those who made it. "We agree that it wasn't sending the right message, and it certainly doesn't represent the views and opinions of the men...