Author: Joe from MassPrivateI

CBS Philly – by Cherri Gregg

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Multiple sources involved in cases in Philadelphia Family Court say sheriff’s deputies improperly strip-searched juveniles in both criminal and DHS custody cases who were appearing at the court for hearings earlier this week.

And once court administrators discovered what was going on, they put a stop to it.

According to multiple sources, juveniles in county custody for both criminal and non-criminal matters who were making courtroom appearances at the new Family Courthouse, at 15th and Arch Streets, were first strip-searched by sheriff’s deputies as a security measure all day Monday of this week and possible part of Tuesday.   Continue reading “Children Strip-Searched At New Philadelphia Family Courthouse”

EFF – by Dave Maass

New Mexico law is so devoid of any established authority for this practice, a reasonable prosecutor, upon the exercise of diligent research could determine that the practice was very probably unlawful.

– Judge John Paternoster, Eighth Judicial District of New Mexico

The National Security Agency isn’t the only agency that’s willing to flout the laws of the land in order to obtain your telephone records. As we’re learning from a case out of New Mexico, local prosecutors may be to willing to ignore rights enshrined in the Constitution for an unfair advantage in criminal cases.   Continue reading “Telecoms Fulfilled 90+ Illegitimate Subpoenas from New Mexico”

Fox 2 Now – by Chris Hayes

FERGUSON, MO (KTVI) – Wives and children of many police officers are in virtual hiding, as some face assault and death threats.

Fox Files investigator Chris Hayes talked with the wife of a Ferguson officer who said she`s not leaving town, because she fears people aren`t hearing the whole truth about her husband`s Department.   Continue reading “Ferguson: A police wife fears for family, fights for department”

New York Daily News – by RYAN SIT , ROCCO PARASCANDOLA , LARRY MCSHANE

A “nervous” rookie cop fatally shot an unarmed man without a word of warning in the stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project late Thursday, a police source said.

The victim’s helpless girlfriend recounted Friday how she was left to watch Akai Gurley die after the single gunshot tore into his chest without so much as a word of warning.

Officer Peter Liang, who fired the fatal shot, “heard a noise,” a police source told the Daily News. “It was dark. He must have been nervous.”   Continue reading “‘Nervous’ rookie NYPD officer fatally shoots unarmed 28-year-old man in Brooklyn’s Pink Houses project”

Privacy International Press Release

Governments across Central Asia have deployed advanced surveillance systems, including monitoring centres capable of spying on an entire country’s communications, according to a new investigative report published today by Privacy International.

The comprehensive report, “Private Interests: Monitoring Central Asia”, contains personal accounts taken by Privacy International detailing how Central Asian governments use electronic surveillance technology to spy on activists and journalists in the country, and exiles abroad. The testimonials attest to the widespread nature of electronic surveillance in countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and describe how governments use surveillance to clamp down on dissent and to reinforce their political control.   Continue reading “Privacy International uncovers widespread surveillance throughout Central Asia, exposes role of Israeli companies”

Denver Post – by Alicia Caldwell

If you deal with government officials long enough, you come to recognize certain truisms.

They don’t like controversy. They don’t particularly want you to second-guess them. And they sometimes act as if the public records they create belong to them, not the taxpayers who finance their work.

A situation that began in 2010 and has unfolded in the Poudre School District over the last few years is all that and worse. Frankly, I’ve never seen anything like it.   Continue reading “School district conceals and destroys records of student with autism”

AZ Central – by Amanda Goodman

AVONDALE, Ariz. — A Goodyear police officer pleaded not guilty on Monday morning after he was accused of recording 21 women as they undressed at an Avondale tanning salon.

Jeffrey Allen Streeter, 44, was booked in October on 31 felony counts of surreptitious recording and one felony count of tampering with physical evidence.

Police began investigating on Oct. 15 after a 20-year-old woman reported that she was videotaped without her consent while undressing at a tanning salon in the area of Dysart Road and Rancho Santa Fe Boulevard.   Continue reading “Goodyear police officer pleads not guilty to surreptitious videotaping”

Courthouse News – by DESHAYLA STRACHAN

(CN) – The city of Waldo, Fla., wrongly fired four police officers after they objected to having to write 12 tickets per shift in connection with a scheme to increase city revenues, the officers claim in a lawsuit.

In a lawsuit filed in the Alachua County, Fla. circuit court, the officers – Brandon Roberts, Jeffrey Pedrick, Roy Steadman, and Brian Shoaf – claim establishing a ticket quota to meet a specified city revenue projection was only one of the misdeeds they witnessed on the job.   Continue reading “Fired for Whistle-Blowing, Cops Say”

MassPrivateI

Continue reading “New House Intelligence chairman says no NSA reform needed, we’ll keep spying on Americans”

Huffington Post

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — Lunchtime fights at a Central California high school Wednesday ended with police swarming onto campus, school closed and six students under arrest, authorities said.

No major injuries were reported, however.

The trouble began when two girls began fighting at Righetti High School and two boys got into a second fight, said Kenny Klein, spokesman for the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District.   Continue reading “California School Fights End With 6 Arrested”

Washington Post – by Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Steven Rich

D.C. police have made plans for millions of dollars in anticipated proceeds from future civil seizures of cash and property, even though federal guidelines say “agencies may not commit” to such spending in advance, documents show.

The city’s proposed budget and financial plan for fiscal 2015 includes about $2.7 million for the District police department’s “special purpose fund” through 2018. The fund covers payments for informants and rewards.   Continue reading “D.C. police plan for future seizure proceeds years in advance in city budget documents”

LA Times – by TINA SUSMAN, MARIA L. LA GANGA

A wooden cross on a narrow, tree-lined road marks the spot where Samantha Ramsey died a violent death.

Passersby might think the marker, etched with the 19-year-old’s name and a yellow smiley face, is a memorial to a car crash victim. They would be wrong.

In April, Ramsey was killed when a sheriff’s deputy fired four bullets through her car windshield as she left a party on the banks of the Ohio River. Ramsey, who did not have a gun, was dead before her mother got to the hospital. A grand jury took one day to review evidence — including the deputy’s testimony that he feared for his life — before declaring the shooting justified.   Continue reading “Police killing, beating of civilians raise issue of reasonable force”

ABC News – by Eric Tucker, AP

Fabian Barrera found a way to make fast cash in the Texas National Guard, earning roughly $181,000 for claiming to have steered 119 potential recruits to join the military. But the bonuses were ill-gotten because the former captain never actually referred any of them.

Barrera’s case, which ended last month with a prison sentence of at least three years, is part of what Justice Department lawyers describe as a recurring pattern of corruption that spans a broad cross section of the military.   Continue reading “Prosecutors Troubled by Extent of Military Fraud”

WPRI 12 News – by Walt Buteau

TAUNTON, Mass. (WPRI) — A fight caught on camera in the Taunton police station booking room is the latest potential blemish on the record of a veteran detective who’s described as “decorated and proactive” by his chief.

A series of cases dating back seven years includes charges that Detective Robert Kramer used excessive force in incidents that led to dropped charges more than once, and a lawsuit settlement payout in another case.   Continue reading “Police officer accused of excessive force in five cases”