Gangsters in Blue

A quick roundup of recent stories on law enforcement officials and DWI laws…

• Ten police officers in Westchester County, New York admit to local newspaper that they routinely let other officers off after catching them driving drunk off duty.
• Off-duty, possibly drunk South Carolina officer pulled over after a chase demands “professional courtesy” she says is customarily granted to other officers. She was charged with reckless driving and disorderly conduct, but wasn’t arrested or given a breath test, and was allowed to go home.
• Chicago police officer shown to have faked dozens of DWI arrests won’t face criminal charges.
• Off-duty Massachusetts state police lieutenant crashes into pickup truck, causing the truck to flip several times. Officer admitted drinking earlier in the day and two open beer cans were found in his car. Other officers don’t administer field sobriety test for 2 1/2 hours, after allowing him to talk to his attorney. He was also never given breath or blood tests. He did get a $20 traffic ticket.
• From last year, DWI charges dropped against Nevada DA who caused two crashes within six hours while in California, and tested over the legal limit after the second. He was allowed to plead to reckless driving.

Got my front door open. Did some shoveling. Took some pictures. Today we have a bright winter sun. It’s beautiful on the snow, if a bit blinding. Hoping to get to Old Town before the Super Bowl this evening to snap some more pics.

On to the links . . .

• This picture should be a poster.
• From the files of great newspaper corrections.
• DEA agent accused of working with informant to frame innocent people is acquitted on all counts. Amazing how trustworthy these informants are when they’re being used against regular people, and how shady they become when they start accusing law enforcement of misconduct.
• New York City police no longer using flash bang grenades. This is a good thing.
• Puppycide in Colorado. I’ve made this point before, but how is that this “vicious” dog never bit or attacked a mailman, a deliver man, or a meter reader?
• Conjure your inner Paul Oakenfold. And waste an afternoon. The thing is pretty great, until it starts to drive you batty.
• Federal agent driving SUV hits blogger for The Daily Caller, breaks his knee. Cops then lie on police report. More here.

So I am quite literally snowed in right now. Front door won’t open. It’s been crazy. Photos and videos of puppy snow frolicking forthcoming.

In the meantime….

• Actual sentence from an actual news story: “It’s designed for young girls ages 8 and older, but some say the mysterious product is a “dangerous spiritual game” that opens up anyone, particularly Christians, to attacks on their soul.”
• Because anything that tastes good is obviously an appeal to children.
• Looks like the former DA Texas Gov. Rick Perry appointed to head up the state’s forensics panel is doing all he can to make sure the panel does nothing to help the state’s forensics system.
• Here’s a good cop story: Bozeman, Montana cop buys food for man caught shoplifting school supplies for his kids.
• Time to renew my ACLU membership.
• Gun-free snowball fights. Novel idea!
• Twelve-year-old Queens girl hauled out of school in handcuffs for writing on desk.

I am shocked to learn that a new federal law enforcement agency charged with protecting the country has been bogged down by public choice conundrums, petty bureaucracy, and infighting. Who could have predicted this?

I’m not a lawyer, but I think there’s a legal term we use to describe what you’re doing if, while under federal investigation, you destroy any evidence of the possible crimes for which you’re being investigated.

Photos of buzkashi, Afghanistan’s crazy national sport, where the “ball” is a headless goat carcass.

U.K. court says a man’s castle is no longer his home.

Neocon bloodlust really is boundless. This article is just revolting, on a number of levels.

Fantastic Slate slide show on failed architecture.

Massive anti-gang raid in Riverside, California involved 650 local, federal, and state law enforcement personnel. Looks like they hit a number of innocent people, too. (Via Injustice Everywhere.)

Chief Justice of Missouri Supreme Court says jailing non-violent offenders “doesn’t work.”

Come on, guys. Can’t we join together and rebel against the Nanny State by clogging customer arteries peaceably?

SWAT team responds to second-grader with a cap gun.

Guy’s wife cries at the end of every movie. Naturally, he videotapes her and makes a website.

Great photo. Takes a master photographer to squeeze so much ego into one frame.

Stories like this one are enough to make me embrace my inner William Bennett. Who thought this was a good idea?

Cheetahs vs. baby antelope. No blood, just nuzzling.

AC/DC’s Brian Johnson tells Bono to get over himself.

Fourth-grader reprimanded, nearly suspended for bringing two-inch Lego gun to school. Looks like they did at least manage to avoid calling the SWAT team.

Way, way back in 2007, I put up a short post about a scandal involving the Hoboken, New Jersey SWAT team, which claimed to have gone on a humanitarian aid trip to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, but ended up partying it up at Mardis Gras, with ensuing photos involving Hooters girls, Jello shots, and SWAT chief Lt. Angelo Andriani posing as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Andriani was later sued by five Hispanic police officers alleging him to be an “unabashed white supremacist.”

Andriani is back in the news, after apparently flashing his badge and berating some TSA employees for allowing a flight crew move ahead of him in a screening line.

Pick your poison in the “rogue cop vs. TSA” squabble. The story within the story linked above is the punishment Andriani received for his exploits in New Orleans: a two year paid suspension. Hoboken taxpayers are “punishing” Andriani by paying him $11,000 per month for 24 months to do absolutely nothing.

Vikings. Horses. Fire. Vikings and horses jumping through fire. Pictures.

If you were planning on donating your own breast milk to Haiti, um, don’t.

Here’s a blog post headline I never thought I’d see.

The Economist comes up with a really horrible idea for Haiti.

Awkward stock photos.

South Carolina Lt. Gov. compares welfare recipients to stray animals, then apologizes by saying he is “not against animals.”

Rank-and-file employees of Maricopa County terrified of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Obama nominates Bush holdover to head up the DEA. She has a horrible record, including supporting the de facto ban on medical marijuana research and defending one of the most notorious lying DEA informants in the history of the agency.

Issue #19 includes:

• the tragic death of a woman left in a cage in 107 degree heat
• the abuse of a 70-year-old woman in the California prison system
• descriptions of life in an Alaska women's prison
• discrimination and prejudice in a Florida prison
• a thought-provoking essay on child sexual abuse
• a corpse gets peppersprayed (I kid you not!)

To get a copy, send $2 in well-concealed cash or a check made out to V. Law, PO Box 20388 New York, NY 10009.

Capitol Hill residents David and Allyson Kitchel tell local TV station WJLA that MPDC police recently raided their home looking for a suspect wanted on weapons charges. They say the raid caused $3,000 in damage. THe Kitchels bought the home from the suspect’s family 18 months ago. Police apparently raided the home after getting an address from the suspect’s mother, but didn’t bother to check public records to see if the house had been sold.

The Kitchels say when they asked the city to compensate them for the damage, they were declined. The city explained that “the warrant was authorized and valid,” and that  “MPD officers determined there was sufficient probable cause.”

So I guess as long as all the proper procedures were followed, the physical damage to the house is all in the Kitchels’ imagination. Good thing they don’t have an imaginary dog, too.

I suspect that now that the Kitchels’ story has hit the media, they’ll eventually be compensated. But it makes you wonder how many times this sort of thing happens in less affluent parts of the city, where residents are less likely to have their stories covered by the local news.

Because my website has been down, I wasn't able to post this earlier, but even a week and a half later, it's still worth noting (and celebrating):

from Free Battered Women:

It is with great joy that we announce that another domestic violence survivor has been released on parole from state prison!

Many of you know Margaret Moore who has been a leader at the California Institution of Women within Convicted Women Against Abuse.

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