Philly.com – by DAVID GAMBACORTA

QUESTIONS over the death of a man who was tased early yesterday by a transit cop prompted SEPTA officials to release video footage and police radio calls that were connected to the incident.

Those pieces of evidence did not add up to a full explanation of how the man died. But they were released all the same in a bid to be as transparent about the case as possible, SEPTA Police Chief Tom Nestel said during a news conference at the agency’s Center City headquarters.   Continue reading “Man dies after struggle with SEPTA cop”

MassPrivateI

Americans using public transportation have been surveilled at least 10.8 billion times!

According to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Americans took 10.8 billion trips on public transportation in 2014…

“In 2014, people took a record 10.8 billion trips on public transportation — the highest annual ridership number in 58 years,” said Phillip Washington, APTA Chair and CEO & General Manager of the Regional Transportation District in Denver.” Continue reading “Americans using public transportation are being surveilled 10.8 billion times!”

LA Times – by VERONICA ROCHA

Looking for another nonlethal way to take down suspects, the Anderson Police Department decided to go the way of the dragon.

The police force in the Northern California town of about 10,000 people plans to equip its 20 officers with nunchakus, also known as nunchucks.

Basically, they’re what martial arts legend Bruce Lee used – besides his fists of fury and feet — to take down all those bad guys in his movies.   Continue reading “Northern California police department to adopt nunchakus”

NBC News

No card reader, no PIN pad, no touch-screen display — how you bank at your ATM could drastically change in the not-so-distant future. Citigroup is testing an automated teller machine made by Canton, Ohio-based Diebold that relies on your smartphone and perhaps an eye scan to dispense your cash.   Continue reading “No Bank Card Required: Citigroup Testing Eye-Scanning ATM”

Reuters

Wal-Mart Stores Inc applied Monday to U.S. regulators for permission to test drones for home delivery, curbside pickup and checking warehouse inventories, a sign it plans to go head-to-head with Amazon in using drones to fill and deliver online orders.

The world’s largest retailer by revenue has for several months been conducting indoor tests of small unmanned aircraft systems – the term regulators use for drones – and is now seeking for the first time to test the machines outdoors. It plans to use drones manufactured by China’s SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd.   Continue reading “Wal-Mart seeks to test drones for home delivery, pickup”

Free Thought Project – by Andrew Emett

Chicago, IL — After recording a video of plainclothes officers harassing him for ordering a Lyft ride at the airport, a YouTube user was ordered out of the car and had his cellphone confiscated in a failed attempt to delete the video. Although the Lyft driver pleaded with the cops not to impound his vehicle because he could not afford the fees, the officer sadistically punished the driver after blaming the passenger for recording him.   Continue reading ““Because You’re Filming Me, I am Taking His Car” Video Epitomizes Distrust of Cops”

MassPrivateI

FBI director James Comey said his conversations with police officers often come back to cellphones. He claims they’re worried that young people are recording EVERY police encounter with their cellphone cameras.

Comey said he has been told about higher-ranking police telling officers “to remember that their political leadership has no tolerance for a viral video.”

Try not to laugh but Director Comey claims the “era of viral videos” has led officers to feel they’re“under siege“and unwilling to get out of their cars…   Continue reading “FBI Director claims police don’t like being recorded, calls it a “chill wind blowing through American law enforcement””

Lew Rockwell – by Laurence M. Vance

“Law and order” conservatives: When they are right, they are so right; but when they are wrong, they are so wrong.

They are right when they decry the militarization of local police. They are right to point out that the DOD 1033 program has transferred over $5 billion worth of military equipment from the Defense Department to local police forces. They are right to oppose more federal laws and mandates relating to local police. They are right to oppose a federal police “czar” like the Congressional Black Caucus has called for. Continue reading “Support Your Local Police?”

Infowars

Police in Texas gave youngsters an up close view of the rising police state last week, showing elementary school children the used military equipment other departments have acquired under Pentagon authorization.   Continue reading “Police State Indoctrination: Cops Show MRAP, Militarized Swat Gear Off to Kindergarteners”

Washington Post – by Christopher Ingraham

Earlier this school year, a sixth-grader in the gifted-and-talented program at Bedford Middle School in Bedford, Virginia was suspended for one year after an assistant principal found something that looked like a marijuana leaf in his backpack.

The student, the 11-year-old son of two school teachers, had to enroll in the district’s alternative education program and be homeschooled. He was evaluated by a psychiatrist for substance abuse problems, and charged with marijuana possession in juvenile court. In the months since September, he’s become withdrawn, depressed, and he suffers from panic attacks. He is worried his life is over, according to his mother, and that he will never get into college.   Continue reading “Virginia school suspends an 11-year-old for one year over a leaf that wasn’t marijuana”

Government Executive – by Charles S. Clark

Eight Drug Enforcement Administration employees with records of sexual harassment or other misconduct were given bonus awards contrary to agency policy, a watchdog found.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz in a report released Thursday said a review of 20 awards primarily from $1,000 to $5,000 spread among 14 DEA staff (including supervisors) found 10 bonuses that were questionable.   Continue reading “DEA Paid Bonuses to Employees With Records of Sexual Harassment, Other Misconduct”

MassPrivateI

Connor Deleire made the mistake of parking his car on a New Hampshire street, police designated as a “PREDICTIVE HOTSPOT”

Predictive HotSpot mapping began in 2012, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) or really DHS calls it “Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety.” Click here, here & here  to see how the NIJ is really DHS.   Continue reading “Is LexisNexis’s predictive policing turning innocent Americans into criminals?”

Campus Reform – by Peter Hasson

The phrase “politically correct” is now a microaggression according to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The university’s “Just Words” campaign is the work of UWM’s “Inclusive Excellence Center” and aims to “raise awareness of microaggressions and their impact”—microaggressions like “politically correct” or “PC.”   Continue reading “University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee says ‘politically correct’ is no longer politically correct”

NPR – by Joseph Shapiro

Civil rights lawyers are using a new strategy to change a common court practice that they have long argued unfairly targets the poor.

At issue is the way courts across the country sometimes issue arrest warrants for indigent people when they fall behind on paying court fees and fines owed for minor offenses like traffic tickets. Last year, an NPR investigation showed that courts in all 50 states are requiring more of these payments. Now attorneys are aggressively suing cities, police and courts, forcing reform.   Continue reading “Lawsuits Target ‘Debtors’ Prisons’ Across the Country”

MassPrivateI

According to an article in Popular Mechanics dated November 2015 in a section called “Great Unknowns” a reader submitted this question…

“How many operating garbage trucks are there in the United States?”

“All things considered, we think a reasonable estimate would put the total number of garbage trucks somewhere within clattering-can-throwing distance of 2000,000. Sweet dreams.”
Continue reading “Police/DHS are using 200,000 garbage trucks and possibly 300K people to spy on Americans”

Raw Story – by Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame

Eceptional, the new book from former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz, is not. It is nothing more than an unhinged rant that smacks of sedition.

“The children need to know the truth about who we are, what we’ve done, and why it is uniquely America’s duty to be freedom’s defender,” the prologue proclaims. The book, however, is not about who we are but who Cheney wants us to become. It is a call for Americans to reject constitutional government and those values that have guided our nation for 227 years and replace it with imperial rule in the name of “freedom”––even when that rule includes wars of choice, intrusive violations of our privacy and civil liberties, and of course, an aggressive regime of torture.   Continue reading “Dick Cheney’s book explains his ‘exceptional’ vision for America: War, torture and mass surveillance”

The Newspaper

Minnesota motorists cannot be held guilty of a crime if they refuses to allow a police officer to draw their blood on demand. A divided state Court of Appeals panel came to that conclusion last week after applying the reasoning found in the US Supreme Court’s McNeely decision (view case), which struck down forced motorist blood draws.

Todd Eugene Trahan was pulled over after midnight on October 24, 2012, after a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy noticed his erratic driving. After pulling Trahan over, it was obvious he was intoxicated. Trahan had a long history of driving under the influence (DUI) convictions. He was taken to a jail cell where he declined to allow a blood draw.    Continue reading “Minnesota: DUI Blood Draw Refusal Cannot Be Criminalized”