Free Republic

Many Americans have not heard of civil forfeiture, but this outrageous, and expanding, law enforcement tactic is becoming more difficult to ignore.Civil forfeiture does not receive the condemnation it deserves because most people cannot believe that, in the United States, the government can take property from individuals without charging them with a crime. This is the type of behavior expected of the Venezuelan government, not of the United States, where individuals are supposed to be assumed innocent until proven guilty. Instead of charging property owners and having to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt,” in civil forfeiture cases, law enforcement...

The arrest this week of two ex-cop private investigators — charged with felonies related to their alleged attempt to frame a Costa Mesa city councilman for a false DUI — is about more than the disturbing tactics of two hired guns. It offers insight into the way some police unions across California intimidate political opponents into silence. This ugly story starts in 2012. Councilmen Jim Righeimer, Stephen Mensinger and Gary Monahan were loathed by the city’s police union because of their efforts to reduce pension liabilities and outsource services. Costa Mesa had become Ground Zero in our state’s battle over...

Alecia and Bounkham Phonesavanh never imagined their family would be at the center of a controversy over the militarization of police. But that’s exactly where they found themselves when their toddler was seriously injured by a SWAT team, also leaving them with a $1 million medical bill they have no hope of paying. “They messed up,” Alecia Phonesavanh told ABC News' "20/20." “They had a faulty search warrant. They raided the wrong house.” In the spring of 2014, the Phonesavanh’s home in Janesville, Wisconsin, was destroyed by fire. Homeless with four young children, they packed one of their last remaining...

The decision of a St. Louis grand jury to not indict a police officer there of shooting and killing an unarmed man has raised new interest in an officer involved fatal shooting in Salt Lake City. Dillon Taylor, a white male, was shot and killed in August. Officer Bron Cruz, who was described as non-white, shot Taylor once in the chest and once in the stomach after he refused to obey police.

The incident occurred in Victoria, Texas, a suburb of Houston. A dash camera captured officer Nathaniel Robinson tasering 76-year-old Pete Vasquez. Vasquez was driving a vehicle owned by the car dealership where he works. Officer Robinson pulled him over when he noticed the vehicle’s inspection sticker had expired. When Vasquez exited the car and attempted to show Robinson the dealer plates—which would’ve exempted the necessity for up to date inspection tags—that’s when the altercation happened. “I don’t know what his deal is,” Vasquez told an officer that arrived on the scene later. Vasquez went on, “he came over here and...

Long before the Ferguson situation occurred, another young man named Michael B. was shot and killed by a police officer. Here's his story. Ten years ago, 21-year-old Michael Bell, Jr., pulled up to the house where he lived with his mom and sister in Kenosha, Wis., about an hour south of Milwaukee. A police officer who, according to a police report, chose to follow Bell after observing his driving, arrived shortly after. A subsequent toxicology report showed that Bell had been drinking that night. Dash cam footage from inside the squad car shows Bell exiting the vehicle he was driving,...

Woman Who Was Arrested and Called “Teagbagger” by Deputy Awarded $1.12 Million For Illegal Arrest A federal jury has awarded Nancy Genovese an amount of $1.12 million for her inappropriate prosecution by Suffolk County law enforcement. It was an innocent enough day for Nancy Genovese of Long Island. After visiting a shooting range, the mother of three stopped to take a photo of a decorative helicopter in front of a National Guard base in the Hamptons for use on a website showing support for the troops. She was on public property the entire time. She was charged with trespassing and...

Police can use evidence seized during a traffic stop even if it turns out the officers initially pulled a car over based on a misunderstanding of the law, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. The 8-1 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts said that such a stop does not violate the Constitution’s protection against unreasonable searches. The ruling came in a North Carolina case in which a police officer pulled over Nicholas Heien’s car because the right brake light was out, although the left one still worked. A consensual search led to the discovery of cocaine in the trunk. A...

A man who video recorded Denver police repeatedly punching a man in the face, causing his head to bounce off the pavement, before tripping his pregnant wife and causing her to fall on her face – sparking an FBI investigation into the department – was arrested Thursday in what appears to be a case of retaliation. After all, Denver police not only arrested him on what they called a “newly activated traffic warrant” from a nearby county after he had just left the FBI office with whom he is cooperating on the federal investigation, they refused to allow him to...

A Long Island federal jury rewarded Nancy Genovese, 58, a mother of three, $1.12 million in compensatory damages after being arrested in 2009 for attempting to photograph a helicopter at a Air National Guard base in the Hamptons. Genovese intended to use the photo on a “Support the Troops” website; she was arrested for trespass and insulted as a "Teabagger." From The New York Post: Southhampton cops searched her and found a legally owned rifle that she was transporting from a nearby rifle range. She contends a deputy sheriff arrived on the scene later and said to her, “I bet...

Chippewa Falls, WI — Dashcam video has been released that shows the disturbing last moments of a man’s life as he’s detained by a Chippewa Falls police officer on the way to the hospital. 29-year-old Casey Kressin died after suffering a severe asthma attack when the vehicle that was rushing him to the hospital was pulled over by a Chippewa Falls police officer. After they were stopped, Kressin’s girlfriend immediately starts to beg the officer to take him to the hospital. The officer instead calls for an ambulance. The couple was just 3 miles from the hospital when they were...

The federal government and the Obama administration are under fire for a variety of unconstitutional programs aimed at both militarizing and controlling local police and law enforcement, including supplying a vast array of sophisticated U.S. Defense Department “weapons of war” to city and county governments. Billions of dollars in military equipment has already been handed to municipal police departments and county sheriffs’ offices nationwide under the rapidly expanding federal schemes, but concerns from across the political spectrum are growing quickly as well. This year alone, over 150 so-called “mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles,” or MRAPs, used by U.S. forces in Iraq, were...

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- Topeka Police were forced to use deadly force after a 19 year old suspect, involved in several crimes, refused to put down his weapon. Officers were first called to the 400 block of SW Tyler where a suspect had allegedly strangled a female victim and taking a knife and a gun out of the residence.

An undercover law enforcement officer from an outside agency who was attempting to infiltrate a demonstration against police brutality in Oakland pulled a gun on the protesters after he and his partner were outed and the partner was attacked. The undercover work — captured by a freelance photographer working for The Chronicle — raised questions about tactics employed by police and protesters as authorities seek to get a handle on rallies that have flooded the streets of Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, at times shutting down freeways and devolving into vandalism and looting.

check it out - the undercover cops are accused of not identifying themselves, and inciting violence..whatever - there are so many things wrong with the whole issue..BUT - check out the link pics - the Cop is holding his service auto ghetto style

An outlandish example of political correctness occurred in Tennessee yesterday when a police officer allowed a car full of Saudi Arabians to drive away with a dead baby reportedly in the trunk so as not to be “disrespectful” towards Muslims. Police in Sumner and Robertson counties are on the lookout for a blue Dodge Charger after a traffic stop on Interstate 65 around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday. The vehicle, which had paper tags and a registration violation, contained three Saudi Arabians with Saudi drivers licenses who told the officer that they had a dead child in the trunk prepared for an...

A Sacramento County sheriff's deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave after a video surfaced showing him using his foot to force a man's head against the ground and a flashlight to strike the man.

Didn't think so, but it's understandable. Thomas was an unarmed mentally ill homeless man from Southern California who was tasered, clubbed and beaten to death in Fullerton by three cops in July of 2011. Thomas' face was pounded to a pulp and, after losing the ability to breathe normally, he died later in a hospital of brain damage. Video of the awful incident - including Thomas' screams and his cries of "Dad! Dad!" -- was recorded on security cameras and there was a minor outcry at the time over police brutality. Unlike the case of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.,...

A man featured in a Dec. 3 Michigan Capitol Confidential story for being a medical marijuana user and having his property seized and money taken by police without being charged with a crime was arrested at 2 a.m. the next morning by the Michigan State Police within a day after the story was published. Wally Kowalski says he was woken Wednesday to find the police at his door with a felony warrant. He was handcuffed and brought to the Van Buren County Jail where he spent the night in a cold cell without a pillow or blanket. He was arraigned...

David Hooks was shot in the back and head as he was lying face down on the floor during a drug raid by Laurens County deputies. That's according to the lawyer representing his family. It's been nearly four months since David Hooks was shot to death during a drug raid at his East Dublin home. 13WMAZ's Paula Rotondo spoke to his wife, Teresa Hooks and the family's lawyer, Mitchell Shook. Hooks died Sept. 24 while deputies served a search warrant at his home. They were looking for drugs, but didn't find any.