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NEWS ABOUT: police department

Mexico Disbands Corrupt Veracruz Police Force

Navy takes over law enforcement after corrupt cops sent packing

(Newser) - Mexican authorities have stamped out corruption in the Veracruz police force by stamping out the Veracruz police force. The port city's police department has been disbanded, and all 800 officers and 300 administrative staff have been fired, the BBC reports. The Mexican navy is taking responsibility for law enforcement... More »

Texas Town Furloughs Entire Police Force

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... More »

City That Fired Everyone Doing Just Fine

Outsourcing works out for Maywood, California

(Newser) - Not having any employees hasn’t been so bad for Maywood, Calif. A budget crisis forced the small city to fire literally everyone in June, and it contracted out various essential services to neighboring cities. But Maywood was so bad at handling those services itself that outsourcing has led to... More »

Cops Let Department's Website Name Expire ...

... and guy who got a traffic ticket buys it

(Newser) - A Tennessee police department didn't know that domain names expire—and now a guy who's angry about a speeding ticket is the proud owner of http://www.bluffcitypd.com/ . It seems the cop in charge of the site was out on sick leave, and no other city employees saw the... More »

Taser Tells Cops: Don't Aim at Chest

Company cites 'extremely low risk' but insists stun gun is safe

(Newser) - Stun gun maker Taser has issued an advisory to police departments suggesting cops not aim at a suspect’s chest because it poses an "extremely low" chance of triggering an "adverse cardiac event." The company insists its product is safe, but if something goes wrong, "it... More »

Another Harvard Prof Accuses Police of Racism

(Newser) - Another black member of Harvard's faculty has accused the Cambridge Police Department of racism, the Boston Globe reports. S. Allen Counter, a Harvard Medical School professor, was arrested outside his home in 2006 on assault and battery charges. “I was polite, and yet police lied and said I was... More »

Gates to Black People: 'Don't Step Onto That Porch!'

(Newser) - Henry Louis Gates is upset about his arrest, in which he sees wide implications and a potential "teachable moment." The Harvard professor talks it over with the Daily Beast in the person of Elizabeth Gates, who happens to be his daughter:
  • On the police: "I’m glad
... More »

Boy Scouts Train to Fight Terror, Patrol Borders

Program trains kids in terror threats, border protection

(Newser) - Think of it as Extreme Boy Scouting: the co-ed Explorers program has trained kids across the country in law enforcement techniques for decades. But lately “our emphasis is on terrorism, illegal entry, drugs, and human smuggling,” says a Border Patrol agent of the program. That means charging around... More »

Nation of Cops Attends Oakland Officers' Funeral

(Newser) - Law enforcement officers from across the country descended on Oakland today for the funerals of four cops gunned down by a fugitive last weekend, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. All 815 members of the Oakland force attended while officers from other jurisdictions patrolled the streets in their stead. An overflow... More »

China Busts 100 Monks After Attack on Police

Protest sparked by alleged suicide of police escapee

(Newser) - China arrested almost 100 monks after hundreds of Tibetans attacked a Chinese police station, the AP reports. Police nabbed six while 89 others, almost all monks, turned themselves in, said the state news agency. The uproar appeared to be over a Tibetan who disappeared after he escaped from police, the... More »

NYPD Clashes With Justice on Surveillance

Cops say feds blunt anti-terror efforts; AG testy in series of letters

(Newser) - The Department of Justice has firmly rejected efforts by the New York Police Department to relax restrictions on eavesdropping, triggering a war of words between the agencies’ heads, the New York Times reports. The NYPD wants broader latitude for electronic surveillance, and less red tape for its requests, but Justice... More »

Cops Can't Afford Gas Prices Either

Bike patrols get popular to save at the pump

(Newser) - With gas prices near $4 a gallon, more US police are saving money by peddling around, the AP reports. One cop shop in Bedford, Va., for example, has saved up to 400 gallons of fuel per month by buying just 8 bikes. But the two-wheelers don't come cheap: With crime-stopping... More »

Cop Stomp Video 'Worse Than Rodney King'

Philly officers ordered off streets amid furor

(Newser) - Authorities have ordered 13 Philadelphia police officers involved in the videotaped beating of three black suspects off the streets, AP reports. The video shows the suspects being kicked, punched, and hit with nightsticks while appearing to offer no resistance. Rev. Al Sharpton compared the incident with the videotaped beating of... More »

Miami Hopes to Patrol Streets With Flying Spy Drones

Police nationwide are clamoring for the 'bots

(Newser) - A flying spy drone may soon join the ranks of Miami's finest, pending FAA approval of the 14-pound bot. "Our intentions are to use it only in tactical situations as an extra set of eyes," says a department spokesman. The US military has been using spy drones for... More »

Cops Closing Doors on Cold Cases

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... More »

LAPD Scraps Muslim Mapping Program

Mayor rips 'counterproductive' police plan

(Newser) - Following a frenzy of controversy, the Los Angeles police department is scrapping its much-criticized plan to "map" Muslim communities. The department had hoped to pinpoint isolated Muslim communities in an attempt to identify problem hot spots. Critics said the plan was a form of religious profiling, and that it... More »

LAPD Plan to Map Muslims Raises Furor

Police say they need data to reach out; critics call it religious profiling

(Newser) - A plan by the LAPD to map Muslim communities in the city is drawing flak from civil libertarians and others who say it smacks of religious profiling, the LA Times reports. Police officials, though, defend the plan as a way to help them reach out to Muslims through social services.... More »

Single-Officer Police Force May Be Cut

Dawson, TX, wonders whether it's overstaffed

(Newser) - Dawson, Texas, has one police officer, and that may be one too many. Almost a tenth of the town's 800 residents attended a meeting where eliminating the department altogether was discussed. In general, however, the crowd seemed to support Nicole McMahan—the single officer—although the department was attacked as... More »

LAPD Chief Orders Elite Officers Retrained

Bratton mops up after May Day rally violence

(Newser) - Citing "things that shouldn't have been done," LAPD Chief William Bratton apologized yesterday for the actions of an elite platoon that broke up a pro-immigration May Day rally and said the officers involved are off the streets and will be retrained. The officers' prestigious assignment is in jeopardy... More »

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