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FERGUSON, Mo. — Six months before he shot and killed an unarmed teenager, police Officer Darren Wilson earned a commendation for his “extraordinary effort in the line of duty.” Yahoo News confirmed the award through the February 11 Ferguson City Council meeting minutes and photos Wilson’s father posted to his Facebook page. “Very proud of my son, Darren Wilson on his receiving a Commendation from his Police Department,” John Wilson wrote on February 11. “Congratulations Son.”

Police have used questionable tactics in Ferguson, Missouri, to quell riots in the wake of a cop shooting and killing a black, unarmed 18-year-old, from arresting journalists to using tear gas on peaceful protesters to bringing barking police dogs into the streets. "Using dogs on a crowd in a civil disturbance has been a no-no in policing since Selma, Alabama," former police chief Chuck Drago told Business Insider, referring to bloody civil rights protests in 1965. "It doesn't look good. It's a PR nightmare if nothing else, and it just stirs people up." Tensions between Ferguson cops and Ferguson residents...

After police in Kenosha, Wis., shot my 21-year-old son to death outside his house ten years ago — and then immediately cleared themselves of all wrongdoing — an African-American man approached me and said: “If they can shoot a white boy like a dog, imagine what we’ve been going through.” I could imagine it all too easily, just as the rest of the country has been seeing it all too clearly in the terrible images coming from Ferguson, Mo., in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown. On Friday, after a week of angry protests, the police in Ferguson...

Police: Officer Wasn't Aware Michael Brown Was Suspect in Alleged Robbery Police Tie Victim to Robbery, but Later Say He Was Stopped for Different Cause By Mark Peters and Ben Kesling Updated Aug. 15, 2014 8:36 p.m. ET FERGUSON, Mo.—Local police released new details in sometimes chaotic fashion Friday about the shooting death of an unarmed African-American teenager, which sowed more mistrust in a community already lacking faith in law-enforcement efforts. Early Friday, Ferguson police identified Darren Wilson as the officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in an incident that has sparked a week of unrest in this...

Police officers have the worst job in the world.  I am not one, but I know several.  Dealing with liars, spouse abusers, robbers, and drug abusers for a living wears on a soul like an old shoe.  Many of them lose faith in humanity, and allow every interaction become one of accusation, confrontation and suspicion.  Plus, the public expects them to be courteous, impartial, and all-knowing about any situation in which they find themselves.   Every interaction on duty becomes a potential for a life and death struggle.  Cops are never allowed to have a bad day, and if they do,...

<p>WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) -- A Virginia deputy sheriff shot his 16-year-old daughter after mistaking her for an intruder, then crashed his car as he rushed her to the hospital, authorities said.</p> <p>The teenager was in stable condition at a Winchester hospital, according to media reports.</p>

Watching Hannity's show tonight and other news sources I've heard the following terms: Tanks Heavy Artillery Assault Weapon If you listen to this you'd get the impression that M1A1s along with MLRS' are rolling down the streets of Ferguson and other US cities. I've also heard "conservatives" cry about the "assault weapons" being used by the police. My goodness....don't we fight against the use of this term to describe ARs??

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The police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown did not know that he was a suspect in a convenience store robbery, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said Friday.Jackson said the officer, previously identified as 28-year-old Darren Wilson, initially stopped Brown and a friend ”because they were walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic.” Police earlier Friday released security footage they said showed Brown grabbing a box of cigars from a convenience store and then shoving the clerk away to leave.Daryl Parks, an attorney for the Brown family, confirmed that the security footage “appears to look like” the teenager,...

The facts that seem undisputed -- and in these situations that is so rare -- are that an unarmed 18-year-old named Michael Brown was walking in a street; an altercation occurred with a police officer; the officer gave chase to Mr. Brown after the scuffle and shot Mr. Brown at least once in the back, approximately 20 feet from where the scuffle occurred. The police officer claims Mr. Brown tried to take the police officer's gun. Witnesses disagree. What is undisputed is by the time you read this, Mr. Brown, who worked his way through a bleak high school...

Call me crazy, but police in riot gear seem a thoroughly appropriate response to actual rioting. But even that basic logic is being shattered in Ferguson, Missouri, along with various store windows, as lawless opportunists take every advantage of a police shooting that deserves sober, objective review. If the opportunism of vicious vandals is not enough, add the kerosene of race-baiting showboats arriving on the scene to aggrandize themselves against the basic interests of the community. So what does that community need? Best to begin with what it does not need. It does not need the President of the...

Ferguson, Missouri, police plan to release the name today of the officer who shot and killed an unarmed teen, leading to days of clashes in the streets of the St. Louis suburb, the town's police chief said.

If you’ve been watching cable news, reading Hollywood celebrities’ tweets, and listening to race-hustling opportunists, you might think that every police officer in America has a finger on the trigger, hunting for any excuse to gun down defenseless youths. This hysterical nonsense must be stopped. The Cirque du Cop-Bashing, with Al Sharpton as ringmaster, is working overtime to exploit the deadly incident in Ferguson, Mo. That means stoking anti–law enforcement fires at all costs. Are there bad cops? Yes. Does the police state go overboard sometimes? Yes. Do the demagogues decrying systemic racism and braying about “assassinations” know what happened...

ERGUSON • The images from suburban streets here have been unreal. A police officer in riot gear, assault rifle strapped across his chest, baton in hand, staring at the camera. Police dogs, crouched in frenzied anticipation. Tear gas rising into the night sky. Armored trucks backlit by street lamps.

If you've been watching cable news, reading Hollywood celebrities' tweets and listening to race-hustling opportunists, you might think that every police officer in America has a finger on the trigger, hunting for any excuse to gun down defenseless youths. This hysterical nonsense must be stopped. The Cirque du Cop-Bashing, with Al Sharpton as ringmaster, is working overtime to exploit the deadly incident in Ferguson, Mo. That means stoking anti-law enforcement fires at all costs. Are there bad cops? Yes. Does the police state go overboard sometimes? Yes. Do the demagogues decrying systemic racism and braying about "assassinations" know what...

Anyone who thinks race does not skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention, Sen. Rand Paul writes for TIME, amid violence in Ferguson, Mo. over the police shooting death of Michael Brown The shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown is an awful tragedy that continues to send shockwaves through the community of Ferguson, Missouri and across the nation. If I had been told to get out of the street as a teenager, there would have been a distinct possibility that I might have smarted off. But, I wouldn’t have expected to be...

The fifth night of demonstrations in support of gunned down Ferguson, Missouri teen Michael Brown saw scores of protesters marching through the streets of New York in a vigil that culminated in Times Square Thursday night. Tensions flared as some protestors attempted to shove their way through a police barricade set up in their path toward the beating heart of the city. Police held their own and tempers soon calmed, but as night gripped New York, the already congested Times Square ground to a halt as thousands flowed into the streets to demand an end to police brutality and militarization...

The executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police criticized President Obama Thursday for his remarks about law enforcement in Ferguson, Mo. "I would contend that discussing police tactics from Martha's Vineyard is not helpful to ultimately calming the situation," director Jim Pasco said in an interview with The Hill.

Ferguson is the price we pay for turning America’s police into paramilitary units armed with the Pentagon’s surplus military gear leftover from decades of American militarism overseas. The era of your friendly neighborhood lawman only out to “protect and serve” the community is over — if it ever existed at all. Today, “protect and serve” would only be in reference to the State and its power, not the people.

I am getting tired of this "they killing us" screed from African Americans. While I do not know the facts of what happened in Ferguson and I think the police are coming off as shady the fact of the matter isit isn't quite like what the left wants you to believe. First off although blacks make up 12.6% of the US population. Whites make up 72.4%. Which means there are 5.75 times more Whites in the US. Why is this important? Well black leadership and columnists are claiming they are disproportionately the victims of racial violence. Well the cold hard...