A misconfigured database leaking the personal information of over 191 million voters was reported to DataBreaches.net by researcher Chris Vickery. This report includes some of the results of an investigation by Vickery, DataBreaches.net, and Steve Ragan of Salted Hash. Continue reading “191 million voters’ personal info exposed by misconfigured database”
Author: Joe from MassPrivateI
Union Leader – by Dave Solomon
CONCORD — The state Supreme Court set a high bar for citizens to prevail in lawsuits against government or police officials, with a recent ruling upholding the immunity of Concord police and the city of Concord in what the judges called “a close case.”
The ruling last Wednesday stems from the 2009 arrest of John Farrelly by Concord police officers Walter Carroll and Eric Pichler after Farrelly allegedly sent a series of harassing emails to his ex-girlfriend. Continue reading “NH ruling grants immunity to police”
Miami Herald – by Michael Sallah
In a state seized by a dramatic surge in drug dealing, Bal Harbour police were about to take their controversial sting operation far outside Florida.
After weeks of delivering drug money to Miami storefront businesses, a new deal unfolded thousands of miles away in a country where the war on drugs had shifted: Venezuela. Continue reading “Florida Cops Funneled Money to Venezuelan Drug Lords”
Courthouse News Service – by Izzy Kapnick
ATLANTA (CN) – A Florida law prohibiting doctors from prodding patients about their gun ownership does not tread on the First Amendment, the 11th Circuit ruled.
Passed in 2011, Florida’s Firearm Owners Privacy Act prohibits doctors from asking patients questions about their gun-toting habits, unless the physicians believe that the answers will be relevant to their patients’ medical care and safety, or the safety of those around them. Continue reading “First Amendment Yields to Second in Florida”
Think Progress – by Kira Lerner
William Porter, one of six Baltimore City police officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray to face trial, will find out his fate this week when a jury issues its first ruling. The jury deadlocked Tuesday and continued deliberating Wednesday. Whether or not there’s a conviction, all of Porter’s lawyers’ fees are being paid for by the Baltimore police union.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, the police union in the city, is “taking ultimate responsibility for all the officers,” Jim Pasco, executive director of the national Fraternal Order of Police, told the Wall Street Journal last month. Continue reading “Why Is It So Hard To Convict Police Officers? The Answer Is In The Fine Print.”
Last year, more than 848 million people boarded airplanes departing or arriving within the United States. Barring any special security clearance, virtually all of them were filtered through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a federally-operated branch charged with screening passengers to ensure they’re complying with the rules of safe air travel.
Some travelers believe the TSA’s policies are burdensome and ineffectual; others acknowledge that individual employees are doing their best to conform to a frequently confusing, ever-changing set of procedures. We asked some former TSA officers about their experiences, and here’s what they had to say about life in blue gloves. Continue reading “14 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of TSA Agents”
Kansas City Star – by Laura Bauer and Dave Helling
VERSAILLES, MO. – A Missouri Highway Patrol trooper was charged Friday in the 2014 death of Brandon Ellingson, who drowned in the Lake of the Ozarks with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Special prosecutor William Camm Seay announced the charge of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree against Trooper Anthony Piercy outside the Morgan County Justice Center. The charge is a Class C felony carrying a punishment of up to seven years in prison, up to a year in the county jail, a $5,000 fine or a combination of those.
Continue reading “Missouri trooper charged in death of Brandon Ellingson, who drowned in handcuffs”
Oh d-d-d-dear! A little pig had a big adventure Thursday afternoon.
Bartlett Police Department posted a picture of the loose pig near the intersection of North Germantown Parkway and Cinders Road.
One of the officers had to use donuts to lure the pig to safety before the Bartlett Animal Shelter could intervene. Continue reading “Irony: Cops Use Donuts To Lure Loose Pig”
Breitbart – by J. Richard Pearcey
“A school district in Kentucky has ordered all administrators under its jurisdiction to remove religious references from Christmas productions, leading one facility to censor its planned elementary presentation of A Charlie Brown Christmas by blotting out “the Gospel of Luke read by little Linus,” Cheryl Chumley reports at WND.
“It disappoints me that we have to do this,” Chumley quotes Superintendent Tom Salyer saying. According to WND, “Salyer said he was a church-going man who was simply following advice from the Johnson County school district attorneys.” Continue reading “Kentucky School Censors ‘Charlie Brown’ Christmas”
Disney who purchased Star Wars from George Lucas in 2012, announced they’re introducing DHS/TSA style checkpoints with metal detectors in ALL their parks! Disney, has also banned parents from wearing costumes at their parks!
According to Deadline, “it is understood that armed guards will be on duty…”
Moviegoers at AMC/Disney theaters are also being FORCED to go through metal detectors. Continue reading “Star Wars terror warnings, planned at least six months in advance”
The Joplin Globe – by Sarah Okeson
GALENA, Kan. — The FBI plans to pay for damages to a Galena home where its agents and officers from other law enforcement agencies unsuccessfully sought a man wanted on felony charges in Missouri, said Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves.
Groves said he didn’t have an estimate of the damages at 1009 E. Fifth St. where multiple law enforcement agencies believed Doug Alexius, 40, who is said to be a member of the Joplin Honkies gang, had holed up. Groves said that Alexius was believed to be armed and in the attic. Continue reading “Sheriff: FBI plans to pay for damage done to house in arrest attempt”
HARTFORD >> A Connecticut judge says police have been improperly using data from cellphones to track the location of suspects.
New Haven Superior Judge Jon Blue agreed to suppress evidence in an ATM robbery case, saying it was the result of Connecticut State Police improperly asking in advance to receive periodic live updates from the phone company of the location of the suspect’s cellphone. Continue reading “New Haven judge says police need warrant for phone tracking data”
Courthouse News – by NICHOLAS IOVINO
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – A new policy issued in the wake of the shooting death of Mario Woods earlier this month requires San Francisco police officers to justify pointing their firearms at an individual for any reason.
The policy, reportedly issued in a Dec. 11 police bulletin, comes on the heels of protests and calls for Police Chief Greg Suhr to resign over after five officers shot and killed the 26-year-old Woods on Dec. 2. Continue reading “Cop Shooting Prompts New Police Gun Policy in San Fran”
In the wake of a series of mass shootings around the country, one university is beefing up security by arming campus police with semi-automatic rifles.
Northeastern University, in the heart of Boston, has announced a controversial plan to arm campus officers, despite opposition from city law enforcement officials. Continue reading “Northeastern University to Arm Campus Police With Rifles in Wake of Mass Shootings”
Med Page Today – by J. Leonard Lichtenfeld MD, MACP
So you are a health professional or knowledgeable consumer and think you understand the issues surrounding privacy and exchange of personal health information? So did I, until I recently became a patient and had the temerity (or is that foolishness and patience?) to actually read the consent when I went to the outpatient surgical center for a cancer screening procedure.
And what I read was — to say the least — disturbing. When it came to sharing my health information, there were no middle options: either it could be shared with other exchanges, vendors, consultants, and others nationwide, or I wouldn’t be able to get access when I really needed it — especially in an emergency situation. Continue reading “Len’s Lens: Privacy and Personal Health Information – What patient consent really looks like”
Disney and LAPD are taking no chances for Monday night’s massive ‘Star Wars‘ premiere — locking down a chunk of Hollywood with metal detectors and random searches.
LAPD and private security officers are already blanketing several square blocks around the famed Chinese Theatre, where ‘The Force Awakens‘ event is going down. We’ve learned anyone strolling through the area could be searched, frisked, and even wanded with metal detectors. Continue reading “Los Angeles Police Perform Random ‘Stop-and-Frisk’ Searches Before Star Wars Premiere”
On December 14, Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe said police departments and the various branches of the military need to use the leverage of purchase contracts to pressure firearm makers into building smart guns.
Kehoe did not say his officers would carry smart guns nor did he express an opinion that military personnel should carry them. But he believes gun manufacturers should be making such weapons. Continue reading “Police Chief: Police, Military Should Leverage Purchase Contracts to Force Production of Smart Guns”
Back in October, the FBI very belatedly admitted it had been doing an abysmal job tracking the number of people killed by law enforcement officers. For nearly 15 years, the DOJ has been charged with collecting this data, but so far has only managed to produce totals that are half of those compiled by citizens and journalists. Continue reading “FBI To Replace Terrible Voluntary Police Shooting Reporting System With NEW Voluntary Police Shooting Reporting System”