Free Republic

The Police Foundation, a research group based in Washington, D.C., released a detailed report Monday on how Stockton police responded to the July 16, 2014, armed robbery of a Bank of the West branch, where three gunmen took three women hostage and fired at officers from a speeding SUV. The group found that 32 officers unloaded more than 600 rounds during the hour-long rolling gun battle, which spanned three counties, 63 miles of highway and reached speeds of 120 mph. One of the hostages, Misty Holt-Singh, was killed when she was struck by 10 police bullets, authorities said. The two...

The Bradford County Sheriff's Office has released video of a confrontation between a motorist and a police officer who stopped to help him in north Florida. Sheriff Gordon Smith said Lawtey police officer Jay Raulerson was dispatched after passing cars called to report a man in a silver Toyota stopped in the median of Highway 301 who was out of the SUV and trying to wave down vehicles. After Raulerson pulled up behind the Toyota, the video shows the man jump out and begin yelling at the officer as he approaches the driver side of the police car.

The Texas police officer who shot dead an unarmed college football player during a suspected burglary at a car dealership has been fired. Brad Miller had his employment terminated by the town's chief of police, who criticized his 'poor judgment' when he killed Christian Taylor in Arlington, Texas, on Friday The white 49-year-old officer should not have approached the black 19-year-old alone, Arlington police chief Will Johnson told reporters at a news conference. Miller joined the police department in September and graduated from the city police academy earlier this year. Police said he cannot appeal his firing because he was...

[WARNING: The video below contains profanity. Viewer discretion advised.](VIDEO-AT-LINK) RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (WPEC) — A Riviera Beach police officer was videotaped confronting a disabled veteran for not looking "handicap" for parking in a disabled parking space. U.S. Army combat veteran Isiah James, who has served nearly 10 years for our country, was absolutely shocked when a trip to a popular Riviera Beach drug store turned confrontational with the law. James says he was issued a disabled person parking permit, and it was properly displayed in his vehicle the entire time. During his deployment, James took fire and was hit with...

Today, The Heritage Foundation releases “Arresting Your Property: How Civil Asset Forfeiture Turns Police Into Profiteers.” This booklet highlights the important problem of civil asset forfeiture and tells lawmakers how states and the federal government can help fix these broken laws. The booklet reveals the dark side of civil forfeiture, where the government seizes your property without ever convicting you of, or even charging you with, a crime, and then keeps the profits for its own coffers. Here are nine such examples: 1. Georgia—Iraq War veteran Andrew Clyde owns a small gun shop armory in Athens, Ga. In April 2013,...

A year ago today, a white police officer shot and killed a black teenager in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, catalyzing a firestorm of protests and re-animating national conversations on issues of race, policing, and violence in the US. Michael Brown's bleeding corpse was subsequently left facedown in the middle of the road for four hours on the afternoon on August 9, 2014 — exposed to the midday summer sun and eyes of residents, a few of whom snapped cellphone images that would eventually spread across social media, the nation, and the world. At Brown's funeral, two weeks later,...

Arlington, Texas police fatally shot a 19-year-old college student that they claim broke into a car dealership early Friday morning but some members of the dead man's family find the police version of the story hard to believe. According to the Star-Telegram, around 1 a.m. police were notified of a burglary in progress at a GMC Classic Buick dealership. Police claim that a security company dialed in emergency help after they witnessed the suspect using his car to crash through the dealership's showroom window. “The officers went and confronted him. There was an altercation. An officer discharged his weapon and...

Getting pulled over can make even the most law-abiding citizen's heart race. You should understand what you can and can't do. ~snip~ Read the rest of your rights when interacting with police below:

A bounty hunter has been arrested after 11 bondsmen with loaded guns stormed the home of the Phoenix Police Chief by accident. The armed men from two bond-recovery companies were looking for a fugitive wanted in Oklahoma on drug charges and believed he was in police chief Joe Yahner's house, following a tip-off on social media. At least one of the men allegedly banged on Yahner's door and confronted the chief, demanding that he come outside, investigators said.

Authorities in Phoenix are investigating a tip that led bounty hunters searching for a fugitive to the home of the city's police chief. Bounty hunter Brent Farley was arrested after he allegedly refused to leave the home of Phoenix Police Chief Joseph Yahner late Tuesday. The bounty hunters were looking for a 6-foot-3-inch, 310-pound black man who was wanted on drug charges in Oklahoma. Instead, the 11 armed bounty hunters arrived at the home of Yahner, who is white. "We have some -- I don't know if they're bounty hunters or what they are," the police chief's girlfriend told 911...

Remember the Santa Ana, California, cops who were caught on video munching on what seem to be cannabis-infused chocolate bars after raiding an unlicensed medical marijuana dispensary in May? The Orange County Register reports that three officers who were suspended after the incident are trying to stop the Santa Ana Police Department from using the footage in its internal investigation. Among other things, their lawsuit argues that the officers thought they had disabled all of the security cameras at Sky High Holistic and therefore had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The cops complain that the dispensary never got their permission...

A majority of blacks in the United States - more than 3 out of 5 - say they or a family member have personal experience with being treated unfairly by the police, and their race is the reason why. This information, from a survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, comes as the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, approaches its first anniversary and the nation continues to grapple with police-related deaths of black Americans. African-Americans said they felt especially targeted by the police. Half of black respondents, including 6 in 10 black men, said they...

A synced-up video of body camera footage from three University of Cincinnati police officers – Ray Tensing, Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschimdt – reveals the dramatic aftermath of the police shooting of a 43-year-old unarmed black man. It shows that both officers were behind Tensing at the time he shot DuBose, but both backed claims the officer had been 'dragged'. These claims were used to justify the shooting, but were later dismissed as false by the county prosecutor who charged Tensing with murder. Kidd and Lindenschimdt have also been placed on leave

Citizen seems to notice a police officer driving around and around his neighborhood while he is working on his boat in his driveway. Police officer doesn't like being filmed by someone in his own yard and decides to stop and pull gun on him.

<p>Alex Horton is a member of the Defense Council at the Truman National Security Project. He served as an infantryman in Iraq with the Army’s 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.</p> <p>I got home from the bar and fell into bed soon after Saturday night bled into Sunday morning. I didn’t wake up until three police officers barged into my apartment, barking their presence at my door. They sped down the hallway to my bedroom, their service pistols drawn and leveled at me.</p>

A retired state district judge from Bosque County was appointed Monday to preside over the examining trial of a Hewitt biker — and potentially 19 others — arrested in the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout. Judge Billy Ray Stubblefield, administrative judge of the 26-county 3rd Judicial Region, confirmed Monday that he appointed Judge James Morgan to preside over the examining trial of Hewitt resident Matthew Clendennen, which is set for Aug. 10. Stubblefield said his order also gives Morgan authority to hear any of the 19 other cases involving bikers seeking examining trials to challenge whether there was sufficient probable...

For an undercover crew designed to operate in the shadows, the Tri-County Task Force could be a big-spending, high-rolling force. After showing up for guard duty at Bal Harbour’s Sea View Hotel, Wilner Pierre surveyed the cluster of boisterous men lounging at the pool, drinks in hand.The 58-year-old security guard asked them to remove the glass from the pool area of the elegant, 1940s-era resort. When they refused, he threatened to call the police.Then came their response: We are the police.Members of an elite, undercover task force claimed the hotel as a de facto base, converging at the pool, dining...

A father has been arrested after shooting down an $1,800 drone that was reportedly hovering over his two sunbathing daughters. William H. Merideth, 47, from Kentucky was charged with first-degree criminal mischief and first-degree wanton endangerment. The owner of the drone claims he was only trying to take pictures of a friend's house when Merideth shot at the device, sending it crashing into a field near his yard last weekend. Sunday afternoon, the kids – my girls – were out on the back deck, and the neighbors were out in their yard," Merideth told WDRD. 'And they come in and...

Another jail encounter is making headlines in Texas. This week, video was released from an incident that occurred in February at Jefferson County Jail. It shows a police officer punching an intoxicated, handcuffed woman after she spit in his face. "I'm going to try to make sure that he has to pay for it," said Lisa Hayes, who was punched by the officer. Hayes doesn't remember much from the night she was punched by an officer after she spit at him at the jail, but she recalls the injuries. "Both my shoulders were torn. I had scars on my wrists,...

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The State Attorney General's office has charged a Honolulu Police officer shown in cell phone video body slamming a man in Palolo Valley in February. Only Hawaii News Now reported on the case months ago when 25-year old Eric Masrasrik was thrown to the ground by Officer Siave Seti, Jr.  Seti is charged with assault in the third degree, a misdemeanor. The cell phone video doesn't show what led up to the confrontation, but Masrasrik claims it was unprovoked. He also says the officer punched him in the face. Seti, a two year veteran of the force, did not arrest...