Nation of Cops Attends Oakland Officers' Funeral

(NEWSER) - The man responsible for the deaths of four Oakland police officers over the weekend had an extensive criminal history, the Tribune reports. Lovelle Mixon, 26, spent 5 years in prison for a 2002 assault with a firearm. After he was paroled, he was a suspect in a 2007 murder; though police couldn’t make the case, he was sent back to prison for parole violations. More»

(NEWSER) - Michael Jackson's family held a quiet vigil beside his casket last night before the singer is interred today, reports the Times of London. Jackson's sister La Toya, brother Randy and daughter Paris were spotted at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park soon after Jackson's casket was transported there for a private service this morning. Jackson will be buried near the tombs of Sammy Davis Jr., Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable. More»

(NEWSER) - Pittsburgh bade farewell today to the three police officers slain Saturday in a ceremony attended by family, citizens, and cops from around the nation, the Post-Gazette reports. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said the city would not easily forget the “pain of this tragic event,” but praised the fallen officers for their heroism. The mayor had personally sworn in two of the cops. More»

Funding to crack unsolved mysteries declined 40% in '07

(NEWSER) - Amid shrinking budgets and shifts in focus, US police departments are downsizing their cold-case divisions, USA Today reports. Federal funding for the units dropped 40% in 2007, and departments are reducing the hours devoted to long-unsolved cases—and even eliminating the positions entirely. Experts in the field worry that such measures leave murderers to roam free. More»

19 arrested at Oakland Black Muslim shop

(NEWSER) - Police, SWAT teams, and bomb units descended on an Oakland bakery shop today that was linked to the murder of Chauncey Bailey. Bailey, an editor a the Oakland Post who was writing a story about Your Black Muslim Bakery, was gunned down yesterday on his way to work; the Oakland Tribune reports that police discovered the shotgun used in the murder during today's raid. More»