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LOS ANGELES (AFP) – A 32-year veteran who helped clean up a corruption-plagued division of the Los Angeles Police Department was unveiled Wednesday as the city's new top cop. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the appointment of deputy chief Charlie Beck as head of the LAPD following the decision of chief William Bratton to resign earlier this year. Villaraigosa said Beck was "the right man to lead the Los Angeles Police Department at the right time." "He's a man of character and integrity. He's a police officer who is tough on crime, and he's a leader with deep respect...

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Police Chief William Bratton stunned the city Wednesday by announcing he will step down after a seven-year tenure in which he instituted major reforms of the once-scandalized Police Department and began a turnaround of its relations with minorities. "For me personally and professionally it is the right time," Bratton, 61, told a City Hall news conference where he revealed he will begin working with a global security firm. Bratton said when he came to the Police Department, "it was a troubled organization in what was arguably a very troubled city."

<p>ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio -- Two eastern Ohio police chiefs accused of breaking into a home to dig for celebrity tabloid material have been arrested.</p> <p>A special prosecutor has said he was looking into allegations that the chiefs in May illegally entered the home of a woman carrying twins for actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.</p>

Alexandria Police Chief David P. Baker is on administrative leave after a car crash in Arlington County late Saturday led to his arrest on charges of drunken driving. Baker, who was driving an unmarked city vehicle, had a blood alcohol level of 0.19, more than twice Virginia's legal limit, authorities said. City Manager James K. Hartmann ordered an internal investigation into the incident, which will be conducted by Alexandria's human resources department and the city attorney's office. Deputy Police Chief Earl Cook, a 30-year veteran of the department, was named acting chief. "It is very disappointing when any of our...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The top police official here defended the officer who arrested Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., and said his department was "deeply pained" by President Barack Obama's remark that Cambridge police "acted stupidly" in the case. Commissioner Robert Haas called Sgt. James Crowley "a stellar member of this department" who properly followed police procedure and had no racial motivation in arresting the 58-year-old African-American scholar at his home last week. Authorities dropped the disorderly conduct charge this week. But Mr. Haas said he would convene a panel to examine the incident and ways to avoid such...

Last July, Eleanor Adderley fired a gun near her husband, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley, as he lay in bed, then two more times as he ran to a neighbor's house. But somehow, over the course of one summer to the next, from her Plantation bedroom to a Broward courtroom, the gun disappeared. Metaphorically speaking anyway. In a deal finalized Monday, Adderley pleaded no contest to a charge of "aggravated assault without a firearm." Huh? If this seems confusing and illogical, that's because it is. Especially since she also pleaded no contest to a charge of "shooting within an...

LA police chief: Jackson investigation might turn criminalBy Deutsche Presse Agentur His statements Thursday to CNN were the clearest indication yet that some of the many doctors who treated Jackson over the years could have helped him illegally get the prescription drugs that were suspected of being a factor in his death. Bratton's comments came as the Jackson family was waiting for the results of the pop star's official autopsy and the independent autopsy that were conducted shortly after his June 25 death. "We are still awaiting corroboration from the coroner's office as to cause of death," Bratton told CNN....

Area drivers looking to outwit police speed traps and traffic cameras are using an iPhone application and other global positioning system devices that pinpoint the location of the cameras. That has irked D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier, who promised her officers would pick up their game to counteract the devices, which can also help drivers dodge sobriety checkpoints. "I think that's the whole point of this program," she told The Examiner. "It's designed to circumvent law enforcement -- law enforcement that is designed specifically to save lives." The new technology streams to i-Phones and global positioning system devices, sounding off...

CANTON, Ohio — The police chief of a northeast Ohio township has retired after a video became public showing him and a female office kissing and caressing in the front of a police cruiser while a prisoner was in the back seat. Timothy Escola retired Tuesday night after four years with the Perry Township police department about 50 miles south of Cleveland. Law Director Charles Hall says Escola's retirement closes an internal investigation. Hall says no charges are being considered against part-time officer Janine England, who was with Escola in the cruiser June 2.

ATLANTA, GA—WILBERT STALLINGS, 45, of Conyers, Georgia, was sentenced to prison today by United States District Judge Julie E. Carnes on the charge of conspiring to violate civil rights by breaking into a private residence to search for drugs without a warrant. United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said, "Breaking into a private residence without a warrant or provocation is the ultimate violation of our constitutional right to be secure in our homes. Indeed, it is the very definition of lawlessness. Thankfully, the vast majority of police officers understand that their badges and guns do not grant them authority to...

Crawford’s suspended police chief Richard Thompson was acquitted of second degree assault charges after more than a day of testimony before North Platte Judge John Murphy. Murphy announced his not guilty ruling Thursday afternoon. Thompson was indicted by a grand jury in November 2007 after he and Game and Parks Officer Dan Kling were involved in a shooting at the Frontier Bar in Crawford Oct. 3, 2007. Jesse Britton, 16, a suspect in a string of burglaries, was killed. Thompson has maintained he fired his weapon in self-defense, while special prosecutor Jean Rhodes contended he was reckless in his decision...

The Rich Creek Police chief is fired and now he wants to know why. Skip Vaughn was the town’s chief for a little over a year before he was fired on Tuesday. Vaughn says the only reason he got was being insubordinate. Vaughn says the decision could stem from patrolling the streets for drugs during the Memorial Holiday on his day off.

WASHINGTON - Historically, when the economy heads south, crime rates go up. But in this recession, things are different in the District. The murder rate is at its lowest in nearly thirty years. With more on this, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said this afternoon that two officers in the department's narcotics unit have been arrested and two others are under investigation for auto theft.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Chief of Police Ed Flynn is hopefully going to be out of a job soon. This is a good thing. Take a deep breath and read this excerpt from a recent Associated Press release. MADISON (AP) — Milwaukee’s police chief said today he’ll go on telling his officers to take down anyone with a firearm despite Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s finding that people can carry guns openly if they do it peacefully. Please take the time to read the entire piece (JPFO copy) This is very important information for any gun owner. Chief Flynn then goes on...

But while Wisconsin gun owners like Mr. Krause prepare to play ball with consensual police inquiries into their orderly open carrying of holstered handguns, Milwaukee police chief Ed Flynn appears to be borrowing a page from Bull Connors' playbook. As the Birmingham, AL Public Safety Commissioner in the 1960s, Bull Connors became a symbol of bigotry by using fire hoses and police attack dogs against protest marchers. . . . Chief Flynn's unprofessional, emotional, and lawless reaction to the Attorney General's frankly legally unremarkable memo makes him appear to be a danger to himself and others, and the Constitutions of...

The mystery over who ordered U.S. Army forces to patrol the streets of the south Alabama town where 11 people were killed in a shooting spree last week has been solved. WND confirmed troops from nearby Ft. Rucker provided limited assistance after a request from the police chief of Samson, Ala. Multiple news agencies reported the Army was launching an investigation into why the troops were sent to the town, a possible violation of the law. The Associated Press reported uncertainty over who requested the assistance, noting it didn't come from Republican Gov. Bob Riley or the White House. "Under...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will nominate Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to be U.S. drug czar and remove the job's Cabinet designation, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Kerlikowske would head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which was elevated to Cabinet level under former President George W. Bush. The nomination of Kerlikowske would end a long search for a candidate to oversee U.S. efforts to fight illegal drugs. Kerlikowske was long speculated to be the front-runner, but revelations about his stepson's arrest on drug-related charged complicated the nomination process,...

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Gunmen killed six people, including a local police chief, in a series of attacks Monday in mountain towns in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero. The police chief of Pungarabato was repeatedly shot while driving his red Mustang on a highway near the small town early Monday, Guerrero state public safety department said in a news release. Five other men were found gunned down in different towns in the isolated mountainous zone known as the Tierra Caliente, or the Hot Land, the state police said. In the border city of Tijuana, soldiers detained 60 people at a...

Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has accepted a job in the Obama administration, most likely overseeing the nation's drug policies, according to sources familiar with the chief's plans... ...Sources said Kerlikowske established ties in Washington, D.C., and has a strong relationship with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who served as deputy attorney general during the Clinton years... ...He has been an advocate of gun control and fought to pass the assault-weapons ban and has championed closing the background-check loophole at gun shows...

BELLEVUE, Wash., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Reports that Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has been tapped to become the nation's next "drug czar" offer more proof of the anti-gun intentions of the Obama administration, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. "During his eight-year tenure as Seattle's police chief, Gil Kerlikowske has established himself as a devoted lobbyist for every restrictive gun law proposal," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "That's pretty hypocritical of a guy whose own gun was stolen out of his department car on a downtown Seattle street. He may pass an...

Criticizing the Oakland City Council for paying only "lip service" to resources for public safety, embattled Police Chief Wayne Tucker announced his resignation this morning. Tucker, at a press conference, spoke for about 10 minutes and then handed the podium to Mayor Ron Dellums. "Quite frankly I've lost faith in the City Council," Tucker said. "They've given lip service to public safety in the city." Oakland City Council members on Monday said that Tucker should resign or be fired because of scandals plaguing his department -- a position they planned to announce at a news conference today while calling for...

San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong's decision to retire after nearly five stable but uninspired years on the job, comes just as Mayor Gavin Newsom is facing two tough political challenges with the city's powerful police officers union: budget cuts and the need for the union's backing for his 2010 gubernatorial bid. Faced with a staggering city budget deficit, Newsom has asked the Police Officers Association to give back the 6 percent raise he agreed to in the last contract - just as he is asking other unions for givebacks. So far, the police rank and file have said no...

Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson has again defended her department against charges of racial profiling, saying there's no conclusive evidence of it in the demographic data it collects about traffic stops.

HADITHA, Iraq — Some describe Haditha’s police chief, Col. Faroq Taih Hardan, as a heroic figure, and one of the only Iraqis in Haditha willing to stand up to insurgents at the height of violence in the region. Others describe him as a strongman who ignores local laws and uses bullying tactics to advance his own position. Police Transition Team commander Capt. Scott Newton describes Faroq as a "gunslinger" who’s struggling to adapt to a more stable environment. Faroq took charge of Haditha’s police force in 2006, but helped lead the fight against insurgents in the area much earlier than...

Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske thinks having more guns in the community doesn't deter crime, and he plans to argue that Tuesday night in a New York City debate. Kerlikowske will appear with leading researchers and advocates on both sides of the gun issue during the debate at Rockefeller University in New York City. (edit) "It's a little different forum for police chief to be in -- at Rockefeller University in New York City in an 'Oxford style' debate," Kerlikowske said from his hotel room."I think they just wanted a practitioner. I think they wanted a little more color...

Like most police officers in America, I have thus far found myself immune to the many and varied charms of Barack Obama. Cops, regardless of their political affiliation, tend to be conservative, certainly few more so than I. Furthermore, we can spot a con job, and though Senator Obama has a smoother delivery than most who have risen from the fetid pond of Chicago politics, he nonetheless strikes me as a man who, should I find myself in his company, would have me checking for my wallet and watch after he had gone. But a strange thing happens to a...

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton has recorded a robo-call campaign message on behalf of Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama. Bratton, who was scheduled to deliver an address on urban policing at Johns Hopkins University this evening, could not be reached immediately for comment. The message reportedly criticizes the record of Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain on law enforcement issues. A spokesperson for Bratton confirms that he has recorded the political campaign message but would not provide details of its content

  How police chief remembered victims of Osama     By JOHN COLES Published: Today       ANTI-terror cop Colin Terry stunned onlookers by going to a village carnival as Osama Bin Laden — days before the 9/11 anniversary.            Proud moment ... Chief Superintendent Colin Terry at a long-service awards ceremony       The chief superintendent pulled on a full latex face mask of the al-Qaeda warlord, the monster behind the atrocities in which 3,500 died seven years ago today. Mr Terry — a Devon & Cornwall officer currently working in Afghanistan —...

Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine is accused of violating his son’s constitutional rights when his son, Joey, was arrested on a drunken driving charge last year. The violation is so severe that a judge should dismiss the case, Joey Bergamine’s lawyer Dave Boliek said in court papers filed Wednesday. Boliek thinks he has a persuasive argument that when Joey Bergamine was arrested in July 2007, Chief Bergamine couldn’t separate his role as Joey’s father from his role as a police officer and supervisor of the two officers who were investigating the case. Joey Bergamine, then age 18, was arrested in...

LAPD Police Chief William J. Bratton has come out -- in favor of gay marriage. As a wedding gift to friend and celebrity publicist Howard Bragman and his longtime partner, Chuck O'Donnell, Bratton made it official: He and his wife, former Court TV diva Rikki Kleiman, strongly believe that gays have a right to marry. And in honor of Bragman and O'Donnell, who wed this past week in Norwalk, the chief and Kleiman have made a donation to Equality California, a group seeking to stop a state ballot measure this November that would ban same-sex marriages. "The Constitution guarantees life,...

WASHINGTON - As the District prepares to begin accepting applications for handgun permits, police are having a tough time finding tens of thousands of handguns already registered in the city. "Honestly, there are thousands of handguns that were registered in the city and I don't know whether those handguns are still in the city," says D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier. About 41,000 handguns are already registered in D.C., and more than 36,000 of those guns are owned by residents who registered prior to the 1976 ban. On WTOP's Ask the Chief program, Lanier says police don't know where the 36,000...

MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. - A Midstate man said a police officer nearly choked him to death during a traffic stop. The incident was caught on tape. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating how Mount Juliet Cpl. Bill Cosby interacted with James Anders, Jr. Cosby stopped the 26-year-old Wilson County man in April. Cosby suspected Anders hid marijuana in his mouth. The officer used a vascular restraint technique to keep Anders from swallowing. On the video recorded inside Cosby's patrol car, Cosby said he smelled marijuana and handcuffed Anders and his passenger. The video also showed the officer putting his...

FLINT, Mich., June 27 (UPI) -- The new police chief in Flint, Mich., has a new policy on low-riding pants -- those that ride low enough to expose the rear end can lead to arrest. Interim Police Chief David Dicks said that he has been getting a lot of complaints from Flint citizens sick of looking at buttocks, Newhouse News Service reported. "This immoral self-expression goes beyond free speech," Dicks said. "It rises to the crime of indecent exposure/disorderly persons." Dicks said that any police officer who spots someone with pants that hang too low and show too much can...

It was my pleasure to help bring together various employees of Torrance. You could actually feel the love in the City Hall Council Chambers as they each received personal copies of the Federal Complaint. What made this so exciting for City Council members is that they were served both individually as civilians and in their official capacities. Served Chief Neu at PD HQ after waiting for 45 minutes in the lobby while he was in an important meeting. Lobby officer asked me to make an appointment to serve him. Told her it does not work that way. I would sit...

After being assailed by the police officer whose satiric videos earned him and nearly two dozen others suspensions in 2005, San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong acknowledged that she has gone years without taking the target practice required for officers who carry guns. Department rules require all police officers who carry guns to pass shooting range tests every six months... The issue of Fong's proficiency with a gun was raised last week by Officer Andrew Cohen. He wrote to Police Commission President Theresa Sparks that the chief had gone five years without being certified, which he called "an egregious matter...

Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY -- Police Chief Bill Citty called Monday for tighter gun control laws to curb the kind of gang violence that left six teenagers with gunshot wounds following a drive-by shooting in southeast Oklahoma City two days earlier. Citty, speaking at a news conference by a coalition of social services, clergy and community groups opposed to gang violence, said he believes in a citizen's right to carry firearms but that too many guns are reaching the hands of gang members. He said gang members and their victims are getting younger and younger. "There has to be some...

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced a military-style checkpoint yesterday to stop cars this weekend in a Northeast Washington neighborhood inundated by gun violence, saying it will help keep criminals out of the area. Starting on Saturday, officers will check drivers' identification and ask whether they have a "legitimate purpose" to be in the Trinidad area, such as going to a doctor or church or visiting friends or relatives. If not, the drivers will be turned away. The Neighborhood Safety Zone initiative is the latest crime-fighting attempt by Lanier and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, who have been under pressure...

D.C. police will seal off entire neighborhoods, set up checkpoints and kick out strangers under a new program that D.C. officials hope will help them rescue the city from its out-of-control violence. Under an executive order expected to be announced today, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier will have the authority to designate “Neighborhood Safety Zones.” At least six officers will man cordons around those zones and demand identification from people coming in and out of them. Anyone who doesn’t live there, work there or have “legitimate reason” to be there will be sent away or face arrest, documents obtained by...

One of Britain's most senior policemen says the country should talk to Al Qaeda to try and end their bloody campaign of violence. Sir Hugh Orde, a front-runner to replace Ian Blair as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said he could not think of a single terrorist campaign that ended without negotiation. And after 30 years of tackling the IRA Sir Hugh, head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said he was convinced that policing - detecting plots and arresting people - was not enough alone to defeat terrorists. His comments come the day after Al Qaeda released...

MEXICO CITY — Assassins gunned down a senior police official in the border city of Ciudad Juarez early Saturday as Mexico's gangsters pressed their counteroffensive against the country's security forces. Municipal Police Chief Juan Antonio Roman was shot about 2 a.m. in front of his house on the outskirts of the city, which is across the Rio Grande from El Paso. Another of Roman's police commanders was shot shortly before he was killed. Roman's was one of more than 100 deaths, including those of at least 20 police officers, attributed to organized crime last week across Mexico. Among those killed...

Gunmen assassinated the acting chief of Mexico’s federal police early on Thursday morning in the most brazen attack so far in the year-and-a-half-old struggle between the government and organized crime gangs. The Mexican police have been under constant attack since President Felipe Calderón took office in December 2007 and started an offensive against drug cartels that had corrupted the municipal police forces and local officials in several towns along the border with the United States and on both coasts. Since then, Mr. Calderón has sent thousands of federal agents and troops into those areas to establish law and order, provoking...

The Metropolitan Police Department has joined other major U.S. cities in arming patrol officers with assault rifles to protect them against criminals with high-powered weapons, weeks after being released from a federal program that monitors the use of excessive force. "We want to be as accurate as possible and have more stopping power," Assistant Chief Patrick Burke said yesterday. The department already has 500 semiautomatic AR-15 rifles, which were converted from fully automatic rifles, and has trained 340 officers to use them.

The current leadership of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department is an exercise in political correctness that will likely become a national laughingstock. The hopes of beleaguered citizens of the District of Columbia were dashed at the appointment of Cathy Lanier to become chief of police following the departure of Charles Ramsey, derisively known at "Chief Wiggums". Ramsey presided over the crime wave on the National Mall and could not find the body of missing intern Chandra Levy for nearly two years until a man walking his dog in Rock Creek Park discovered a leg bone. Ramsey has moved on...

WASHINGTON -- A crackdown on guns is under way in the District. Police are asking residents to submit to voluntary searches in exchange for amnesty under the District's gun ban. The program is starting in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Southeast Washington on Monday and will later expand to other neighborhoods. Officers will go door to door asking residents for permission to search their homes. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said the "safe homes initiative" is aimed at residents who want to cooperate with police. She gave the example of parents or grandparents who know or suspect their children have...

ORANGEBURG, SC (AP) - A Midlands police chief was arrested for falling asleep at the wheel at a traffic light. It happened in Orangeburg County. In 2005, Kenneth McCaster was an Orangeburg County deputy. He got shot in the arm while on patrol. McCaster spoke about the suspect in court. "It was just tough to see him stand there and almost kind of pretend that it's someone else's fault." McCaster became Santee's police chief last December. Now he's the one blamed for something. The highway patrol says a trooper drove up to the intersection of Highway 601 and Russell Street...

NEW CITY, N.Y. -- A former prosecutor and PTA leader had sex with two boys, shared marijuana and alcohol with other teens and kept it all a secret from her police chief husband, officials said Tuesday. Beth Modica, 44, a mother of four, was indicted on 35 counts alleging statutory rape, criminal sex acts, sex abuse and endangering children. Wearing an olive-gray suit and handcuffs, she pleaded not guilty at her arraignment in Rockland County Court and was ordered held on $75,000 bail. "These are serious charges, against children in her community," said Judge Catherine Bartlett. The judge issued orders...

WASHINGTON - As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear the District's gun ban case, the former chief of police has changed his position on the issue. "Personally I never had a problem with gun registration," said Charles Ramsey, who is set to take over the job of running Philadelphia's police department. "I think there needs to be reasonable control over hand guns, registering a hand gun is a reasonable control." Ramsey stepped down as D.C.'s top cop after Mayor Adrian Fenty took office. Appearing on WTOP's Ask the Chief Program, Ramsey said he's taking a realistic approach. "I realize...

Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey is shifting his position on Washington's 31-year ban on handgun ownership as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on the issue. Ramsey says there needs to be reasonable control over guns, but he says handgun registration can provide that control. The former chief, who is set to take over Philadelphia's police department in January, says the nation is not going to ban handguns and he's taking a realistic approach to the issue.

Rutherford's retiring police chief is owed $311,000 in sick, vacation and other unused time from his 34 years on the force. That's on top of the $127,000 annual pension Steven Nienstedt will receive after retiring Saturday as the second-highest-paid police chief in Bergen County, with a yearly salary of more than $182,000. Nienstedt, 55, saw his salary balloon by about 40 percent in the last five years of his career, rising from $132,300 in 2002 -- much of it thanks to a whopping $24,797 raise the Borough Council awarded him in 2003. When Rutherford voters pushed Mayor Bernadette McPherson and...