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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A SWAT team raids a Kalamazoo family home looking for drugs, but turns up empty handed. It happened last Thursday at a house on Southworth Terrace. Two young children were home at the time. Their parents tell us, police made a mistake, and now they're left to cope with the trauma. The family tells Newschannel 3 the man police were looking for, was renting the home nearly a year before they moved in, and they're upset police didn't do their homework before busting through their door. "I thought it was somebody either trying to rob...

A May 7th solicitation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeks "the commercial acquisition of submachine guns [in] .40 Cal. S&W." According to the solicitation, the Dept. of Agriculture wants the guns to have an "ambidextrous safety, semiautomatic or 2 round [bursts] trigger group, Tritium night sights front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore group) and scope (top rear), stock collapsible or folding," and a "30 rd. capacity" magazine. They also want the submachine guns to have a "sling," be "lightweight," and have an "oversized trigger guard for gloved operation."

We are witnessing the criminalization of America, where any one of us may find our front doors broken down and a SWAT team in camouflage standing in our living rooms. It is also why we may find ourselves under arrest for some innocent action that no reasonable person would think is illegal, like helping an injured bird, getting lost on a snowmobile on federal land, or shipping lobsters in plastic instead of cardboard boxes. And as absolutely absurd as these examples sound, they have all led to federal investigations of private citizens. The militarization of agencies and the criminalization of...

Chinese police broke up a dinner party attended by activists in the eastern city of Hangzhou Tuesday night and detained a dozen people, according to an activist who attended the dinner. Activist and blogger Wang Wusi said he and another 10 people were released after spending about two hours in police custody. He said police held Wen Kejian until Wednesday morning, when he was released although without his cell phone or computer. Wen is a signatory of Charter 08, a document calling for democracy and the end of one-party rule in China. …

Firearms Solicitation Number: USDAOIGWEA-5-7-14 Agency: Department of Agriculture Office: Office of the Inspector General Location: Procurement Branch Solicitation Number: - - - - - Notice Type: USDAOIGWEA-5-7-14 - - - Sources Sought Synopsis: Added: May 07, 2014 2:03 pm The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, located in Washington, DC, pursuant to the authority of FAR Part 13, has a requirement for the commerical acquisition of submachine guns, .40 Cal. S&W, ambidextrous safety, semi-automatic or 2 shot burts trigger group, Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope...

America’s founders, largely distrustful of centralized power, created several checks and balances into the U.S. Constitution to help ensure that one person, or one group of people, would not be able to unilaterally exert his or their will over the American citizenry. First, the federal government itself was divided into three separate and distinct branches–each holding the capability (and responsibility) to check the power of the other. Second, the Bill of Rights was made part of the Constitution for the protection of individual liberties. Third, the “free and independent states” of the nation retained their sovereignty and independence after the...

He’s been dead for eight years, but try telling that to the NYPD. Cops have barged into James Jordan Sr.’s family home looking for him more than a dozen times since he died in 2006 — prompting his exasperated relatives to finally post his death certificate on the front door. “I tell them over and over, ‘James isn’t here! He’s dead! It’s that simple. What’s so difficult to understand about that?’ ” the Brooklyn security guard’s widow, Karen, told The Post on Monday. James Jordan Sr., who died from diabetes at age 46, was last arrested in 1996 — for turnstile-jumping,...

Two Dallas police officers have been indicted in the last two weeks for shooting and wounding residents in incidents where the initial police accounts were later contradicted by video. Cardan Spencer and Amy Wilburn were both charged with aggravated assault by a public servant. Spencer was indicted last week after shooting a 52-year-old man standing several feet away from him. A police report filed in the case initially claimed the man, Bobby Bennett, lunged at Spencer with a knife. A neighbor’s surveillance video camera captured video that showed Bennett was several feet from the officers and didn’t appear to move...

Q Here's a good one for you, Gary. I live in Alameda. One recent weekday about 8 a.m., I went out to my car to go to work and found a ticket on it for no front license plate. The time on the ticket was 3:42 a.m.You mean to tell me that Alameda police have nothing better to do than go around putting tickets on cars at 3:42 in the morning? I've heard of Mickey Mouse before but this takes the cake, as it were. A OK, I'll first perform my civic duty and say that two plates are required...

Pollster John Zogby reports in our weekly White House report card that President Obama is no longer seen as an agent of change, but the boss of an oppressive national security state. "Not only did the president not get a triumph from his Asia trip, but he hit a wall of bad news. First quarter economic growth is worse than expected, just 0.1 percent. "Next, the administration admits that its Middle East efforts is on life support. And the Europeans haven't jumped on board with another round of sanctions against Russia. “Mr. Obama is no longer seen as the transformational...

This week’s Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling on warrantless vehicle searches has motorists wondering when a cop will be rummaging through their car. The ruling now permits police to search a vehicle without a driver’s consent or a judge’s signature on a warrant. Local police professionals, however, say little will change as far as who is subjected to searches. They claim it all comes down to an officer having “probable cause,” as the high-court ruling states. What exactly is probable cause? What qualifies as means for an officer to search a vehicle? “There must be probable cause that there is evidence...

NEW MEXICO — A federal appeals court has ruled that driving with one’s hands at the “ten-and-two position” is reason enough to pull someone over for further investigation. No traffic laws have to actually be broken. Additionally, the court ruled that facial acne is reason enough to suspect a driver is a drug smuggler. The ruling stems from an incident that took place on April 18, 2012, at roughly 7:45 p.m. A border patrol agent driving down Highway 80 saw a white Ford F-150 heading the opposite direction. This took place roughly 40 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border —...

The tense standoff at the Cliven Bundy ranch in Clarke County, Nevada tapped into a wellspring of government distrust that dwarfed Bundy's specific situation. A comparable event from just over 200 years ago, the “Whiskey Rebellion,” suggests the government's efforts to quell small pockets of insurrection like Bundy and his allies can easily cause more political problems than they're worth. Although the 1794 incident was at a vastly larger scale than the standoff in Bunkerville, Nevada, the situations share important parallels including the use of what many people in each situation considered the disproportionate use of force by the government....

The Bureau of Land Management doesn’t need its own heavily armed police force, Rep. Chris Stewart said Tuesday, referencing the recent standoff between federal agents and a civilian militia siding with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy. Stewart, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, says he’s going to try and cut funding for any "paramilitary units" and require the BLM, Internal Revenue Service and other regulatory agencies to rely on local law enforcement rather than their own armed crews. "There are lots of people who are really concerned when the BLM shows up with its own SWAT team," the Utah Republican...

Long Beach Police officers had an "obstructed view" when they opened fire on a man who was allegedly running from a standoff Sunday, according to a press release issued Monday. "Long Beach officers, who were located on the beach, east of the foot of the stairs with an obstructed view due to palm trees and shrubbery, heard gunshots from above and saw the suspect running toward the populated beach area," the press release stated. "The suspect failed to surrender and after officers observed him reaching or his waist band, an officer involved shooting occurred."

Federal law enforcement officials are investigating threats made against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the aftermath of his sharp-edged attacks against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, sources said Monday. Reid has not minced words about Bundy’s battle with the Bureau of Land Management, referring to Bundy’s supporters as “domestic terrorists” and the rancher himself as a “hateful racist.” As he’s stepped up his criticism, Reid has been the subject of threats himself, prompting an increase in his own security detail in recent days, people familiar with the matter said Monday. Shennell Antrobus, a spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police, declined...

Jerrod Dooley Candy, the dog RAINS COUNTY, TX (KLTV) - A former Rains County deputy retained a Dallas attorney on Friday. Jerrod Dooley was fired by Rains County on Thursday after he shot a dog while responding to a burglary call on April 18."[The] dog shooting in Rains County this week [was] an unfortunate situation," said Peter Schulte, Dooley's attorney. "Deputy Dooley retained me today to share his side... I ask that everyone keep an open mind about the Rains County incident. It's a horrible situation but I do believe the shooting is justified." Rains County Sheriff David Traylor...

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called the Internet a CIA project and made comments about Russia's biggest search engine Yandex, sending the company's shares plummeting. The Kremlin has been anxious to exert greater control over the Internet, which opposition activists — barred from national television — have used to promote their ideas and organize protests.

DeKalb County Police say they were caught off-guard Sunday by the unsanctioned party at a public park that ended with two women being shot. “This came really as a surprise to us,” the county’s public safety chief Cedric Alexander told reporters on Monday. But Alexander vowed that they would be prepared in the future. “We’re going to monitor social media going forward so that we can try to get ahead of them as quickly as we can and intervene and try to make sure those illegal crowds do not converge upon a crowd and become a threat to anyone,” he...

Does the Environmental Protection Agency really need armed agents? Outside of law enforcement, federal agencies now employ over 25,000 people as armed agents. They are more than guards. They’ve become like private armies that can push around private citizens. Over 70 non-military federal agencies now have their own armed agents. You expect armed agents with the FBI, the U.S. Marshal Service and the Border Patrol. But the EPA? The Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, even the Social Security Administration and the National Institutes of Health? Even the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban...