From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Two years ago, I wrote about the dangers of a cop-run company that profits from installing facial recognition cameras in retail stores. But few people took notice.
Blue Line Technology’s (BLT) “about” page makes no effort to hide the fact that a bunch of former police and military professionals want to put facial recognition in retail stores across the country. Continue reading “Jacksons Convenient Stores Use Cop-Run Facial Recognition Cameras To Identify Customers”
Thirteen Philadelphia police officers are to be fired for making racist or offensive Facebook posts.
The 13 are among 72 officers in the city who had been placed on administrative duty after an online database called the Plain View Project shared more than 5,000 Facebook posts and comments on June 1 by current and former law enforcement officers in Philadelphia and seven other jurisdictions around the country. Continue reading “13 Philadelphia officers to be fired over racist, offensive Facebook posts”
CENTRALIA, Wash. – Several people were voluntarily shocked with a Taser by a police officer during a charity softball tournament in Centralia on July 2. The department is now receiving complaints questioning whether the demonstration was appropriate.
The Guns N’ Hoses fundraiser at Borst Park is a gathering of police, fire and military personnel. After the softball game, members of the military asked to be shocked with a Taser gun, according to Centralia police. Use of a Taser is a common practice for training in law enforcement. Continue reading “Caught on Camera: Officer uses stun gun on volunteers”
Can you imagine living in a country that puts surveillance devices in every city and public venue?
What would be the first country that comes to mind? China or the United Kingdom, right?
What if I told you that the United States has joined their ranks? Continue reading “DARPA To Put Nuclear, Biological And Chemical Detectors In Public Venues”
NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA – A city councilman is encouraging people to turn in their neighbors not obeying Philadelphia pool laws. The law states that pools with more than 24-inches of water need a permit and anything higher than 48-inches needs a four-foot fence around it.
The pool issue is really heating up with City Councilman Bobby Henon taking to Facebook over the weekend to encourage people to turn in neighbors who are not obeying pool laws. Continue reading “City councilman urges people to turn in neighbors not obeying pool laws”
The Baytown Police Department is reviewing an arrest in which its officers stunned and punched a man after finding pills in his car.
The arrest of 45-year-old Kedric Crawford of Orange on the night of July 6 left him hospitalized for injuries to his face. Continue reading “Baytown police investigating arrest of man who officers stunned and punched in face”
New York Post – by Chris Perez
Radiation levels across the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, where the United States conducted more than 65 nuclear tests during the Cold War, are still alarmingly high — even higher than Fukushima and Chernobyl in some parts, a new study shows.
Researchers at Columbia University tested soil samples on four uninhabited isles and discovered that they contained concentrations of nuclear isotopes that are “significantly” higher than those found near the two disaster sites. Continue reading “Radiation levels in Marshall Islands still exceed Fukushima, Chernobyl: study”
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A day care owner convicted of abusing children will spend 30 days in jail.
Kimberly Hignite was operating an unlicensed day care in her Grove City home.
When the Sheriff’s Office searched the home in May 2018, they say they found 24 children with one adult: Hignite’s 71-year-old mother. Continue reading “Central Ohio day care operator accused of sexually abusing kids gets 30 days in plea deal”
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Local governments and private corporations are using facial recognition to secretly blacklist people, despite having no valid reason to do so.
A recent article in the Idaho Statesman and in the video [below], prove that local governments are using facial recognition to ban residents from accessing city-owned buildings. Continue reading “City Halls Use Facial Recognition To Blacklist And Ban Residents”
In the wake of Freddie Gray’s death from injuries suffered in police custody and the subsequent protests and rioting in Baltimore in 2015, state lawmakers passed a law mandating police agencies across Maryland report when officers use excessive force or injure someone and cases of officers’ criminal misconduct, among other data.
StreetsBlog NYC – by Gersh Kuntzman
An NYPD officer used his SUV squad car as a battering ram to stop a earbud-wearing Citi Bike rider who had allegedly run two red lights and ignored an order to pull over— and then the NYPD justified the deadly force by saying the agency “vigorously supports Vision Zero,” which is supposed to champion safe driving and the protection of the city’s most vulnerable road users. Continue reading “NYPD Used Deadly Force to Stop Cyclist Suspected of Running Red Light”
Gatestone Institute – by Judith Bergman
In January, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, tasked his Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, to “present a global plan of action against hate speech and hate crimes on a fast-track basis”. Speaking at a press conference about the UN’s challenges for 2019, Guterres maintained, “The biggest challenge that governments and institutions face today is to show that we care — and to mobilize solutions that respond to people’s fears and anxieties with answers…” Continue reading “UN Launches All-out War on Free Speech”
iHeart Radio – by Bill Galluccio
A New Mexico man was arrested after police received a 911 call from an Amazon Alexa smart speaker. Police say that 28-year-old Eduardo Barros was house-sitting with his girlfriend when they started to argue. Barros reportedly pulled out a gun and threatened to kill the woman, who authorities have not identified.
At one point, he asked her: “Did you call the sheriffs?” Continue reading “Amazon Alexa Calls Police On Man Who Was Allegedly Beating His Girlfriend”
An Arizona cop acquitted of murder in 2017 for killing a man crawling on his knees, begging for his life, in a hotel hallway, was temporarily rehired by the city he worked for so that he could claim a disability pension and file for a medical retirement that will pay him more than $2,500 a month for the rest of his life. Continue reading “This Cop Is Getting $2,500 a Month Because Killing an Unarmed Man in a Hotel Hallway Gave Him PTSD”
Law enforcement is using license plate readers to “grid” entire neighborhoods.
What does gridding mean?
The Arizona Mirror describes gridding as, Continue reading “Police Use License Plate Readers To “Grid” Entire Neighborhoods”
License plate recognition could be the new big thing at American drive-thrus, according to FT. Chains are now looking to deploy cameras that recognize license plates and help identify customers, personalizing digital menus and speeding up sales. Continue reading “US Fast-Food Drive-Thrus Will Soon Use License Plate And Facial Recognition Technology”
Fired Jackson County Deputy Zach Wester was arrested Wednesday on racketeering and numerous other charges for allegedly planting meth and other street drugs on unsuspecting motorists before hauling them off to jail.
Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who have been investigating Wester for more than nine months, arrested him in Crawfordville and took him to the Wakulla County Jail, where he is being held without bail. Wester, expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday, invoked his right to remain silent and declined to speak with investigators. Continue reading “‘Something we’re not proud of’: Fired deputy Zach Wester arrested in drug planting probe”
Casinos could increasingly become part of a national debate on how to regulate and use biometric surveillance and related high-tech methods of data collection on gaming patrons.
On one hand, privacy advocates are concerned what gaming venues and other organizations are doing with facial recognition and biometric data collection and whether patrons’ rights are being violated. In defense of casinos and other private businesses, the data can help provide a personalized experience for visitors. Continue reading “Gaming Venues May Scrutinize Biometric and Facial Monitoring of Patrons as Privacy Laws Enacted”
Route Fifty – by Kate Elizabeth Queram
Last summer, Jennifer Knowles helped her three sons set up a lemonade stand in their Denver neighborhood. The proceeds would go to charity, while her kids, she thought, would learn about business, entrepreneurship and the satisfaction of making money.
And then the police showed up. Continue reading “When a Kid’s Lemonade Stand is Illegal”
ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) – A DeKalb County police detective was arrested Sunday afternoon on DUI charges after a crash that left a pedestrian injured. Detective Justin Hamilton was driving on Northside Drive in Atlanta when his car left the road and hit a pedestrian on the sidewalk, according to Atlanta police. The pedestrian was taken to the hospital with a leg injury. Continue reading “DeKalb police detective charged with DUI after crash involving pedestrian”