Reed MidekeJul 4, 2023

An aside in the story from that last boost: "four state troopers in an eastern Connecticut barracks intentionally creating hundreds of bogus traffic stop tickets to boost their productivity numbers… one trooper was suspended for 10 days, another was suspended for two days and the other two retired" - regular folks caught falsifying government paperwork tend to be treated rather differently

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/connecticut-troopers-falsified-data-traffic-stops-reported-racial-100456101

Connecticut troopers falsified data on traffic stops reported to racial profiling board, audit says

A new audit says hundreds of Connecticut state police troopers falsified information on at least 26,000 traffic stops from 2014 to 2021, skewing statewide reports on the race and ethnicity of pulled-over motorists

ABC News
Show threadReed MidekeJul 4, 2023

How is that not at least fire for cause offense, if not an actual crime?

(spoiler: it's a good ol' boys club that thrives on impunity)

Show threadReed Mideke
NYPD Sergeant John Trzcinski caught in bizarre, years long serial littering campaign, docked one vacation day https://gothamist.com/news/greenpoint-mystery-solved-serial-litterer-was-nypd-sergeant
Greenpoint mystery solved: serial litterer was NYPD sergeant

The NYPD docked Sgt. John Trzcinski just one vacation day for the bizarre, years-long littering on one block of Noble Street in Brooklyn.

Gothamist
Jul 18, 2023 at 7:36pmWeb
Show threadReed MidekeAug 3, 2023

"Edward Mullins, Former President Of NYPD Sergeants’ Union, Sentenced To Two Years In Prison For Stealing Union Funds … In total, between 2017 and 2021, MULLINS stole at least $600,000 from the SBA through the filing of hundreds of fraudulent expense reports"

Pretty brazen even by the hilariously corrupt standards of the #NYPD #SBA

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/edward-mullins-former-president-nypd-sergeants-union-sentenced-two-years-prison

Edward Mullins, Former President Of NYPD Sergeants’ Union, Sentenced To Two Years In Prison For Stealing Union Funds

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that EDWARD MULLINS, the former President of the Sergeants Benevolent Association (“SBA”), the union that represents all current and former sergeants of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), was sentenced today to two years in prison in connection with a scheme to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the SBA through the submission of fraudulent expense reports.  

Show threadReed MidekeAug 4, 2023

Holy shit this story "Six white former law enforcement officers [Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke and Joshua Hartfield] in Mississippi who called themselves the “Goon Squad” pleaded guilty Thursday to a racist assault on two Black men"

CW for horrific violence and racism in the story

https://apnews.com/article/rankin-mississippi-deputies-civil-rights-brutality-2c2154e67cc6cd3b9a28cb16686f2a5c

White ex-officers in Mississippi plead guilty to racist assault on 2 Black men during raid

Six white former law enforcement officers in Mississippi have pleaded guilty to federal civil rights offenses against two Black men who were brutalized during a home raid that ended when an officer shot one of the men in the mouth. The charges were unsealed Thursday as the former officers appeared in federal court. Court documents say the officers called themselves The Goon Squad “because of their willingness to use excessive force and and not to report it.” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the officers had "tortured and inflicted unspeakable harm on their victims.” The former officers also face state criminal charges, including assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

AP News
Show threadReed MidekeAug 4, 2023

Y'all ain't doin too great dispelling those southern good ol boy cop stereotypes

"The officers initially went to the home in Braxton because a white neighbor had complained that Black people were staying with a white woman who owned the house. The court documents say [Black victim] Parker was a longtime friend of the homeowner and was helping care for her"

Show threadReed MidekeAug 4, 2023

If you put this in a TV script for "racist cop" someone would probably say, "isn't that a little over the top?"

"Officers used racist slurs against the two men during the raid and “warned them to stay out of Rankin County and go back to Jackson or ‘their side’ of the Pearl River — areas with higher concentrations of Black residents,” the documents say."

Show threadReed MidekeAug 4, 2023

"Before the raid, the officers agreed to enter without a warrant if they could avoid being spotted by the home’s security cameras. They also planned to use excessive force ahead of time — but not in the face, agreeing to “no bad mugshots,” the documents say."

And it gets worse from there, but anyway, at least those fuckers are going to jail for a long time, and the victims survived https://apnews.com/article/rankin-mississippi-deputies-civil-rights-brutality-2c2154e67cc6cd3b9a28cb16686f2a5ca0001c8742a

White ex-officers in Mississippi plead guilty to racist assault on 2 Black men during raid

Six white former law enforcement officers in Mississippi have pleaded guilty to federal civil rights offenses against two Black men who were brutalized during a home raid that ended when an officer shot one of the men in the mouth. The charges were unsealed Thursday as the former officers appeared in federal court. Court documents say the officers called themselves The Goon Squad “because of their willingness to use excessive force and and not to report it.” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the officers had "tortured and inflicted unspeakable harm on their victims.” The former officers also face state criminal charges, including assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

AP News
Show threadReed MidekeAug 4, 2023
DOJ press release on that case https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/six-mississippi-law-enforcement-officers-plead-guilty-torturing-and-abusing-two-black-men
Six Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Plead Guilty to Torturing and Abusing Two Black Men

Two federal criminal informations were unsealed today charging six former Mississippi law enforcement officers with a total of 16 felonies stemming from the torture and physical abuse of three Rankin County residents in two separate unrelated incidents. Those 16 felonies include civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.

Show threadReed MidekeAug 12, 2023
Marion, Kansas Police Department raids offices of Marion County Record and homes of staff and seizes their computers and phones, apparently due to their accurate reporting that Marion restaurant owner Kari Newell had a DUI and drove on a suspended license
https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/11/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-marion-county-newspaper-seizing-computers-records-and-cellphones/
Police stage 'chilling' raid on Marion County newspaper, seizing computers, records and cellphones • Kansas Reflector

In an unprecedented raid Friday, local law enforcement seized computers, cellphones and reporting materials from the Marion County Record office, the newspaper's reporters, and the publisher's home.

Kansas Reflector
Show threadReed MidekeAug 12, 2023
They weren't even going to publish it, until Newell accused them of illegally obtaining the information
"A reporter with the Marion Record used a state website to verify the information [about the alleged DUI] provided by the source. But Meyer suspected the source was relaying information from Newell’s husband, who had filed for divorce. Meyer decided not to publish a story about the information, and he alerted police to the situation"
Show threadReed MidekeAug 12, 2023
Oh. "What has remained unreported until now is that, prior to the raids, the newspaper [Marion Record] had been actively investigating Gideon Cody, Chief of Police for the city of Marion. They’d received multiple tips alleging he’d retired from his previous job to avoid demotion and punishment over alleged sexual misconduct charges" https://thehandbasket.substack.com/p/a-conversation-with-the-newspaper
A conversation with the newspaper owner raided by cops

Eric Meyer says his paper had been investigating the police chief prior to the raids on his office and home.

The Handbasket
Show threadReed MidekeAug 13, 2023
The publisher of Marion County Record's 98 year old mother (and co-owner of the paper) died after her house was raided
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/13/marion-county-record-co-owner-joan-meyer-dies-kansas-police-raid
Kansas newspaper police raid: co-owner dies after becoming ‘stressed beyond her limits’

Press freedom outcry after police serve search warrant to the Marion County Record’s Joan Meyer, 98, over its investigation into local restaurateur

The Guardian
Show threadReed MidekeAug 16, 2023
Judge Laura Viar, who issued the Marion County Record warrant "was arrested at least twice for DUI in two different Kansas counties in 2012" and in the second incident "was not supposed to be driving because her driver’s license was suspended … reportedly drove off-road and crashed into a school building" https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article278237263.html
Show threadReed MidekeAug 16, 2023

Meanwhile, the warrant has been rescinded, per county attorney Joel Ensey "I have come to the conclusion that insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized … I have asked local law enforcement to return the material seized to the owners of the property"

No word whether he also asked them to bring the publishers mom back to life
#GiftArticle https://wapo.st/3QHwOPt

Kansas newspaper to regain items seized in controversial police raid

The Marion County Record was raided last week; the reversal by county prosecutors follows days of protest from press freedom advocates.

The Washington Post
Show threadReed MidekeAug 19, 2023
FBI arrests ten Antioch and Pittsburg California cops in coordinated raids. Charges include "conspiracy to violate civil rights, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids, wire fraud, numerous civil rights violations, destruction, alteration and falsification of records in federal investigations, and obstruction of justice"
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/antioch-pittsburg-police-federal-investigation-fbi-raids-held-report/
Raids held in federal investigation into Antioch, Pittsburg police – 'A dark day'

Federal agents held a series of raids and arrested officers from Antioch and Pittsburg police departments early Thursday as part of the ongoing investigation into the embattled law enforcement agencies.

CBS San Francisco
Show threadReed MidekeAug 19, 2023
Antioch officers Morteza Amiri, Samantha Genoveva Peterson and Pittsburg officers Patrick James Berhan, Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa, Ernesto Juan Mejia-Orozco and Amanda Theodosy were charged with defrauding police departments by paying other people to take college courses for them and then getting reimbursements and raises from the PD https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/antioch-and-pittsburg-police-officers-and-employee-charged-various-crimes-ranging
Antioch And Pittsburg Police Officers And Employee Charged With Various Crimes Ranging From Using Excessive Force To Defrauding Their Employers

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned four separate indictments on August 17, 2023 that, collectively, charge ten current and former officers and employees from the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments with various crimes ranging from excessive force to fraud, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp

Show threadReed MidekeAug 19, 2023
Antioch officers Daniel Harris and Devon Wenger allegedly conspired illegally to distribute anabolic steroids, and Wenger tried to destroy evidence
Show threadReed MidekeAug 19, 2023
Ex Antioch officer Timothy Allen Manly Williams was charged with interfering with a wiretap investigation by (among other things) calling the person under investigation and also destroying the cellphone of a witness who recorded an arrest
Show threadReed MidekeAug 19, 2023
An finally, Antioch officers Morteza Amiri, Eric Rombough, and Devon Wenger were charged with "conspiracy against rights and deprivation of rights under color of law" for a bunch of violent shit, and also obstruction
Show threadReed MidekeAug 24, 2023

Turns out, NYPD doesn't just cover up evidence when they accidentally kill civilians, they also do it when they accidentally kill their own officers. Hurrah for equal treatment under the law!

https://www.propublica.org/article/nypd-mulkeen-friendly-fire-body-cam-footage

NYPD “Friendly Fire” Killed an Officer. Investigators Seemed to Ignore Video of Police Being Commanded to “Stop Shooting.”

After pledging a “thorough” investigation, the NYPD cleared the officers involved in the 2019 shooting. But new records show that investigators allowed police misstatements to stand, despite having body-camera video to disprove them.

ProPublica
Show threadReed MidekeAug 25, 2023
After years of fighting, Open Vallejo's lawsuit has finally pried loose records of four "accidental" deaths in Vellejo PD custody
https://openvallejo.org/2023/08/24/vallejo-police-concealed-violent-deaths-for-years-open-vallejo-lawsuit-reveals/
Vallejo police concealed violent deaths for years, Open Vallejo lawsuit reveals

All of the victims were Black. All of them were unarmed. Their names are Andrew Lamar Washington, Otis Edward McPeters, Charles Khristopher Gordon, and Michael Todd White.

Open Vallejo
Show threadReed MidekeAug 28, 2023
DA now dismissing cases involving testimony of Chicago cop Jeffrey Kriv, previously noted for getting out of 44 tickets by claiming his GF stole his car https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-officer-kriv-perjury-prosecutors-dropped-criminal-cases
A Chicago Cop Is Accused of Lying Under Oath 44 Times. Now Prosecutors Are Dropping Cases That Relied on His Testimony.

Former Chicago officer Jeffrey Kriv faces charges for perjury and forgery after getting out of dozens of traffic violations by claiming his girlfriend had stolen his car. Now, cases that stem from arrests Kriv made are in jeopardy.

ProPublica