Free Republic

There were 23 homicides and 39 nonfatal shootings in Baltimore in May 2014. Through 29 days of May 2015, there were 42 homicides and 104 nonfatal shootings. Gulp. Why are arrests down so sharply? Some cops may fear that criminals have turned more aggressive and confrontational after a year of high-profile allegations of police brutality, from the protests in Ferguson to the assassination of two officers in New York to the riots over Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Jack Dunphy, a cop himself, noted in a piece for PJM last month that crime rates are up in multiple major cities nationwide....

Liberals are prone to two particularly unattractive behaviors: hysteria and hypocrisy. And because these two behaviors so often go hand in hand, it is hard to tell sometimes whether liberals have succumbed to hand wringing hysteria or are engaged in cold calculating hypocrisy. And when you factor in liberals’ ignorance and susceptibility to delusion, it can be difficult to even know how self-aware they are of their own duplicity. The most recent sanctimonious bleating over a minor incident in some Texas suburb has all the elements of the same ritual we see over and over. In this case, a white...

Based on the recent firestorm surrounding the events in McKinney, Texas, it appears the ‘new normal’ threshold for demanding swift justice and national condemnation of police officers is a short video clip followed by social media outrage. There is more to the McKinney incident than 20 seconds of video, but it is that image of a white uniformed police officer using force on a black teenage girl which has again inflamed a nation too eager to cry racism when it comes to the work of our cops. The video clip is disturbing taken out of context of the remainder of...

There's a war on cops going on and there's also a war against those who dare to defend them.In case you've missed it, there's yet another controversy over how police handled a group of rowdy teenagers at a pool party in McKinney, Texas. After repeatedly asking a young black woman to leave the area, a white police officer (because every time a white police officer does anything to a black person it's racist, you know) threw her to the ground in an attempt to conduct an arrest. When two of the woman's male friends ran up behind the officer, he...

OVERTON, TX (KTRK) -- Police in Texas shut down a lemonade stand run by two little girls. They said it was illegal. Andria and Zoey Green told ABC affiliate KLTV they were trying to raise about $100 for a Father's Day present. They wanted to take him to Splash Kingdom. They had been selling lemonade and kettle corn for an hour - and made about $25 - when officers showed up and told them they need a $150 permit to sell their lemonade. Texas House Bill 970, or the Texas Baker's Bill, does not allow the sale of food that...

JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) - A JPD officer is almost recovered, and could be released from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon after his patrol car was hit Monday.

New details emerging from McKinney, Texas, give us a fuller understanding of recently-resigned police officer Eric Casebolt’s state of mind leading up to and during the scene which unfolded in the viral seven-minute video which captured him aggressively and agitatedly confronting a crowd of unruly teenagers near the location of a fight. Multiple news sources are reporting that Casebolt spent the earlier part of that same work shift responding to two different suicide calls. Heavy.com reports: (Casebolt’s attorney, Jane) Bishkin said Casebolt had responded to a suicide call where, “at an apartment complex, an African American male shot himself in...

Two Baltimore police officers spoke through voice-altering technology to CNN’s Brooke Baldwin Wednesday morning, telling her that cops are in a “reactionary mode” since the criticism of the department over the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. Violence has spiked in Baltimore since a supposed “police slowdown,” in which officers pull back from their duties when they feel a lack of city and community support. The officers said police are still responding to emergency requests, but have stopped initiating policing, instead retreating into a “reactionary mode.” “Even though you have reasonable suspicion…nine out of 10 times, that officer...

My "hood" is not Baltimore or Ferguson. But if the our men and women in blue can be bullied in Texas, it can happen anywhere. We need to start a movement NOW! #LoveourBlue- heck we have throwback thursdays on FB and Mancrush Mondays... why not#LoveourBlue Tuesdays? Our men and women in blue NEED to know that we support them. And our communities NEED to know that we demand our neighbors live as law abiding citizens. Please start the LOVE OUR BLUE movement in YOUR area- call your local police dept, ask what you can do to let them and your...

A Houston police officer is expected to remain in the hospital overnight and possibly for a few days more after he was shot in the Midtown area. Officer Terry Smith, 47, was listed in stable condition late Tuesday after surgery at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Smith, an HPD motorcycle officer, was shot in the back about 6 p.m. Tuesday following a traffic stop in the 4200 block of Main, authorities said.

On Tuesday, Dennis L.A. White, an actor known for portraying Damion 'D-Roc' Butler in the biopic "Notorious," issued a tweet suggesting violence against the daughters of Eric Casebolt, the former McKinney, Texas, police officer whose actions at a pool party incident sparked protests. The tweet has since been taken down, but not before being captured for posterity. Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit was one of those who captured White's message before it was removed. "What if we found eric casebolt's (sic) family & beat up the young girls in it," he tweeted. "Would that b fair? If u live...

One of the most unfortunate by-products of the McKinney, Texas, pool party aftermath is the lost opportunity for a constructive evaluation of police performance. The now-infamous video says vastly different things to different people, but one thing stands out as a resounding majority view: Something went very wrong as an already tense situation was exacerbated by the language and behaviors of one police officer, Eric Casebolt, who resigned Tuesday. So we are left to evaluate the reactions that led up this, which have ranged from measured to presumptuous to downright reckless. In the era of Ferguson and Baltimore and the...

Officer's resignation effectively ends internal investigation by McKinney police"As the chief of police, I want to say to our community that the actions of Casebolt, as seen on the video, of the disturbance at the community pool, are indefensible," said Chief Greg Conley, during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. "Our policies, our training, our practice, do not support these actions. He came into the call out of control, and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident." As Casebolt and two officers first responded to the scene, teens were said to be running from the area...

McKINNEY — The McKinney police officer whose actions at a pool party disturbance last Friday went viral in a YouTube video resigned from the force on Tuesday. "The actions of Eric Casebolt are indefensible," police Chief Greg Conley told reporters at a news conference late Tuesday afternoon, saying the officer was "out of control during the incident." "I had 12 officers on the scene, and 11 of them performed according to their training," Conley added. Casebolt's resignation was confirmed about one hour earlier by attorney Jane Bishkin, who told WFAA that the decision was made after a meeting with the...

There was a time not too long ago that parents could let their kids walk to school alone, take a solo bike ride around the neighborhood, and, once reasonably old enough, stay home alone. Those days are gone, and gone with a vengeance. This type of parenting, which was once considered the norm, is now getting kids taken away from their guardians, and parents locked up and treated as negligent criminals. The latest story comes out of Florida, where an 11-year-old boy, whose parents were delayed in traffic, hung out in his own backyard for an hour and a half...

The Texas police officer at the center of a controversial video that showed him forcefully handcuffing and drawing his gun on a group of black teenagers at a pool party last weekend has resigned, the city’s police chief announced Tuesday. McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley called Cpl. Eric Casebolt’s actions “indefensible” and noted that the officer, who was under investigation, “resigned on his own will.” “As the video shows, he was out of control during the incident,” Conley said, “I had 12 officers on the scene and 11 of them performed according to their training.” He said the internal investigation...

The judge presiding over the prosecution of six Baltimore Police officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray struck the state's motion for a gag order in the case. Judge Charles J. Peters ruled the motion lacked standing in an actual proceeding, as it was filed by Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's office in Circuit Court on May 14. At that time, the officers' cases were still in District Court. They weren't transferred to Circuit Court until May 21, when the officers were indicted. Judge orders Mosby to respond to defense motions in Freddie Gray case by June 26 Judge...

HARTFORD — Police arrested 17 protesters who blocked Central Row during rush hour Monday afternoon as part of a Moral Monday demonstration. The protest began at 4 p.m. as protesters locked arms and stood in the street. Many held signs saying "Black Lives Matter."

BALTIMORE – The judge presiding over the prosecution of six Baltimore Police officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray struck the state’s motion for a gag order in the case.