Single-Officer Police Force May Be Cut

With five-member department on 6-month leave, mayor predicts chaos

(NEWSER) - With its finances stretched to the breaking point, Alto, Texas, is giving its police officers the boot for six months—all five of them. OK, so it’s not exactly the NYPD. But with the county sheriff’s office already overburdened, town residents are afraid losing their small department could have dire consequences. “They’re just throwin’ the town wide open to crime,” one resident tells KTRE . More»

Texan arrested after car broke down

(NEWSER) - First she got a ticket, then she was arrested, and as a sheriff's deputy drove her to prison, she claims she was subjected to Rush Limbaugh's "derogatory comments about black people" on the radio. All this and more prompted a Texas woman to sue the deputy and the county for a laundry list of items, including false imprisonment, assault and battery, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the Houston Chronicle reports. More»

'Officer Davis, don't spray him,' kids beg on video

(NEWSER) - Don't spray him, bro! A Texas cop recently pepper-sprayed a tiny baby squirrel in front of a horrified crowd of yelling schoolchildren. Now the cop is a YouTube "star," thanks to a cell phone video of the confrontation. "Nooooo," cry kids as the tiny speck on the ground gets a face full of spray. "Officer Davis, don't spray him!" The little guy is seen after the police take down writhing in agony on the ground outside the Mesquite middle school. Authorities defend the cop, saying he was protecting the children from a squirrel that could have been rabid, notes Fox News . The squirrel was cared for at a local animal shelter and released into the wild, according to officials. For other squirrels in the news, check this out. More»

(NEWSER) - A pair of Houston cops recently put away nearly 100 dog fighters, but to do so they had to become “dogmen” themselves. Texas Monthly recounts the undercover sting and provides a look at the brutal sport. The cops were reluctant at first—“we just figured it was piddly shit, something for the local animal-control officers”—until they learned of handlers shooting up their dogs with cocaine and steroids, and killing dogs who couldn't themselves kill in the ring. "They make Michael Vick look like a pussy," said one informant of the top dogmen. More»

Police cite 'right to refuse service'; others blast discrimination

(NEWSER) - Five gay men were ordered to leave a Texas restaurant after two of them kissed, the El Paso Times reports. One called police to lodge a discrimination complaint—but an officer backed the restaurant guards’ decision because same-sex public kissing was illegal, said one of the men. In fact, a 2003 Supreme Court decision ruled that law unconstitutional, and El Paso has banned discrimination in public places based on sexual orientation. More»