Free Republic

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A gunman killed two police officers and a passer-by on Tuesday before being himself shot dead in the center of the eastern Belgian city of Liege, public broadcaster RTBF said on its website. Belgium’s anti-terrorist crisis center was monitoring the situation, Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on Twitter. It was unclear, however, what lay behind the incident in which the man had also taken a woman hostage, according to RTBF. Two other police officers had been injured, Belga news agency said. A spokeswoman for the Liege public prosecutors office confirmed that two police officers had been shot...

The reality TV show "Police Women of Broward County" is under fire again. Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein wants to know if there is any sort of incentive pay or benefits given to deputies who appear on TLC's Thursday night cable program that may taint testimony against his clients. He's demanding that the state attorney and county sheriff reveal the officers' confidential contracts. Spokesmen for the sheriff and state attorney say they don't have the contracts. The state attorney's office and the TV show's lawyer both say a judge should review the legal agreements for any possible conflict. "This is...

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government has ordered all policewomen to hand in their guns for redistribution to men or face having their pay withheld, thwarting a U.S. initiative to bring women into the nation's police force. The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, issued the order late last month, according to ministry documents, U.S. officials and several of the women. It affects all officers who have earned the title "policewoman" by graduating from the police academy. It does not apply to men in the same type of jobs. Critics say the move is the latest sign of the religious and...

Gilbert & Sullivan provide abundant authority for the truism that a policeman's lot is not a happy one. That goes for policewomen, too. Ask Detective Rochelle Brosseau of Puyallup, Wash. The city of Puyallup (pop. 32,000) lies just east of Tacoma. On the afternoon of Feb. 21, 1999, it was the scene of a fight, a shooting, a brief auto chase, and an arrest for attempting to elude the police. Now the incident is in the U.S. Supreme Court on a petition for review. The question is whether Officer Brosseau acted unreasonably when she shot and wounded Kenneth J. Haugen....

Two Jerusalem traffic policewomen were assaulted by a 40-year-old Palestinian in the city center Sunday afternoon during a routine id check, police said. The Palestinian assailant, who was first detained after crossing the street on a red light and then asked to produce his ID and a work permit, began beating the policewoman with a stick, while shouting in Arabic "Allah Akbar" ("God is Great"). A second policewoman who came to her help was subsequently bitten in the neck by the assailant. A back-up police unit arrived at the scene and arrested the attacker, while the two policewomen were given...