Free Republic

A Massachusetts state police instructor is under investigation for allegedly forcing recruits' heads into dirty toilets in a hazing ritual that was kept under wraps until a female major complained to top brass, sources said. ``The instructor put his boot on the backs of their heads,'' said one source. ``People complained, but their complaints were never taken seriously.'' Lt. Sharon Costine, a state police spokeswoman, confirmed yesterday that the internal probe is underway but declined to elaborate. ``We will conduct a full and thorough investigation and take whatever action is deemed warranted,'' Costine said in a written statement. The alleged...

The Arlington County Police Department this week will inaugurate a Spanish-language version of its Citizens Police Academy program. The initiative is part of the police department’s emphasis on outreach to Arlington’s growing Latino community. The Citizens Police Academy was launched in 1999 in order to promote better understanding and cooperation between the police department and the community. It offers an in-depth look into police training and operations, including defensive tactics, accident investigation, gang interdiction and K-9 activities. Nearly 200 local residents have participated in the program. The new Spanish-language classes will be taught using state-of-the-art technology that enables a professional...

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- "Police Academy" is back. After a decade's absence from the big screen, the cop comedy franchise is gearing up for an eighth installment....

  Baghdad International Police Academy graduates second class By Cpl. Benjamin Cossel BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, April 6, 2004) -- After completing eight physically and mentally demanding weeks of training, 479 men and women officially joined the Iraqi Police Service during a graduation ceremony at the Baghdad Police Academy April 1st. This class was the second to graduate from the International Police Academy since the program’s inception in December of 2003. So far, 945 academy graduates -- men and women -- have joined the ranks of the Iraqi Police Service. “You, the men and women of the Iraqi...

Partying police urinate on ex-chief's honour Several New Jersey police officers are under investigation after allegedly taking turns to urinate on a seven-stone plaque commemorating their former police chief. The ornament, honouring ex-police chief Alessi "Babe" Cimino, who retired in 2000 after 33 years, was unbolted from the entrance to police headquarters. About half of the 60-member Garfield Police Department attended a party, held in a restaurant, and someone arrived with the plaque. It is alleged that police officers at the party took turns to urinate on the plaque before throwing it into the nearby Passaic River. The plaque has...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 4, 2003Release Number: 03-12-10 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5TH ICDC CLASS GRADUATES AR RAMADI, Iraq - Civil Affairs personnel continued a police-training seminar today in Al Amariyah for the current Iraqi Police and Facilities Protection Service forces. The seminar is five days in length and the officers each receive training on search techniques, apprehension of suspects, evidence handling, and crowd control along with practical exercises. Thirty-four police officers have completed the course to date and many citizens have commented on...

Police graduate from Tal Afar Academy By Pfc. Mary R. Xenikakis Lt. Col. Christopher Pease, commander, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assalut), speaks to the formation of graduating police officers at Tal Afar Academy.Spc Mary Xenikakis TAL AFAR, Iraq (Army News Service, Nov. 6, 2003) – Another trained group of police graduated from the Tal Afar Police Academy in northern Iraq Nov. 3. Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) helped teach the 171 graduates who are now ready to join the new Iraqi police force. The graduating class marched, in a uniform manner,...

Unified public safety academy launches after one-year in developmentby Pfc. Chris JonesMOSUL, Iraq (Sept. 27, 2003) – A new academy designed to combine training facilities for all public safety agencies throughout Mosul opened Saturday.The Mosul Public Safety Academy will house the training for all public safety occupations in Mosul, including law enforcement, fire fighting, emergency medical assistance, traffic violations, investigations and traffic investigations. Before this academy, public safety training sites were scattered around the city. A unified school ensures all students receive similar, equal training.One year and more than $100,000 was spent building the academy.A host of leaders of...

Sun Sep 21, 6:57 AM ET A police officer fires live rounds as a new Palestinian police graduate,right, leaps through a flaming hoop during a graduation ceremony in Gaza City, Saturday Sept. 20, 2003. The graduates are part of the security service for the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites). (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer) Sat Sep 20, 2:53 PM ET A Palestinian police officer fires live rounds at Palestinian police graduates dressed in riot gear during the graduation ceremonies in Gaza City Saturday Sept. 20, 2003. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) Sat Sep 20, 5:11 PM ET New Palestinian police graduates, right,...

U.S. PLANS INTENSIVE POLICE TRAINING FOR IRAQIS; SHIP 30,000 TO EUROPE FOR TRAINING.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 24 — Eager to have more Iraqis take responsibility for their country's security, American officials here are planning to ferry as many as 28,000 Iraqis to Eastern Europe for an intensive police training course. Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City Police commissioner in charge of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, said in an interview that American officials had secured permission from the government of Hungary to set up a large police academy inside an old Soviet military base there. Mr. Kerik said the extraordinary measures were necessary because the existing police academies in Iraq were not...

KARBALA, Iraq - In the heat of the day, local police stood motionless inside the courtyard of the Karbala, Iraq police academy July 26, marking the last class to graduate from this police academy before it transfers over to the Iraqi police. The class is the result of months of work by Marines and Army military police to build service-oriented police force in Karbala. The officers attending the two-week course have received comprehensive classes in police techniques, physical training, and ethics. The next class to attend the academy will be trained by a cadre composed completely of Iraqi police officers...

More Iraqis Train for New Police Force By JAMIE TARABAY .c The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - It started as a somber, formal ceremony with security uppermost in everyone's mind. It ended with an American serviceman clasping hands with an Iraqi police academy graduate as they kicked up their heels, dancing to drums and bagpipes. Apache helicopters circled above the Iraqi Public Service Academy Thursday as 145 Iraqi police officers graduated from a three-week training program for officers who served on the force when Saddam Hussein was in power. Lt. Col. Todd Harrison from the 168th Military Police battalion...

<p>It will take time for the newly free to break out of a prison mentality created under Saddam, writes Paul Wolfowitz.</p> <p>Behind the police academy in Baghdad stands the forked trunk of a dead tree, unusual for the fact that on each branch the bark is permanently marked by two sets of ropes - one high enough to tie up a man, the other, a woman.</p> <p>Near the tree is a row of small cells where special prisoners were held.</p>

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894   July 28, 2003Release Number: 03-07-84 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SECURITY TOPS HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS BAGHDAD, Iraq – Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) continue to graduate police officers from academies throughout the Mosul area while 1st Armored Division soldiers are training the Iraqi Police Services in modern policing techniques. The 101st AAD’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, nicknamed the “Rakassans,” graduated 60 police officers July 26 from their academy in Sinjar. The new police officers will serve as future cadre...

Behind the police academy in Baghdad stands the forked trunk of a dead tree, unusual for the fact that on each branch the bark is permanently marked by two sets of ropes -- one high enough to tie up a man, the other, a woman. Near the tree is a row of small cells where special prisoners were held. Our guide, the newly appointed Sunni superintendent of the academy (who had spent a year in jail for having made a disparaging comment about Saddam Hussein to his best friend) told us of unspeakable things that once happened to men and...

They are the Fab 5: an elite team of gay men who have dedicated their lives to extolling the simple virtues of style, taste and class.Each week their mission is to transform a style-deficient and culture deprived straight man from drab to fab in each of their respective categories: fashion, food and wine, interior design, grooming and culture.It's a full lifestyle make-over--a make better show where sraight guys turn in their pleats for flat fronts, learn about wines that don't come in a jug and come to understand why hand soap is not a good shampoo (and vice versa).When the...