A small Georgia town is standing up against a police officer who they say has terrorized the community for the past 10 years.
Dozens of people recently attended a town meeting at Saint Mary’s A.M.E. Church in Thomaston to complain about the alleged rogue cop, Phillip Tobin, WXIA-TV reported.
“He’s a public servant, he’s a public menace,” one woman told a panel that included state Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) and civil rights attorneys Albert Mitchell and Mawuli Mel Davis.
The angry locals claimed Tobin is known to lose his temper during routine encounters with the public and has repeatedly used excessive force to make unnecessary arrests.

But with all the complaints made against the controversial cop — more than 70 in the past decade, according to the local NBC affiliate — he has managed to keep his job every time. Only some cases resulted in Tobin being subject to departmental discipline, the news station reported.
One woman said Tobin treated her and her son as criminals when he responded to her home after she called 911 because her husband violated a restraining order.
She claimed Tobin held a pistol to her son’s head with a finger on the trigger during the ordeal and threatened to “blow (his) head off.”

A well-known American Indian artist says police in New Mexico pulled a rifle on him after his dog pooped in his SUV and a woman mistook his cleanup efforts for a burglary.

Pueblo painter Mateo Romero told The Associated Press that a Santa Fe officer pointed a weapon at him during the bizarre misunderstanding Monday.

According to a police report, the officer pulled out a rifle and detained Romero after Maria Markus reported a burglary in progress at her home.
Romero says he parked into her private driveway after his Shih Tzu named Han Solo relieved himself inside his SUV and Romero sought to clean the mess.

Romero says Markus spotted him in her driveway, boxed him in with her vehicle and called 911.

He says Markus refused to talk to him before police arrived.

Then, a few days later, he thought he had what felt like a break in the case. “Anyone near XXXX south central ave? You could pick up my stolen iPad for me,” he posted on his wall. He’d been able to locate his stolen iPad using the iCloud’s locator function.

“I called the [police] station at 3:45,” David wrote. The response: “All the auto detectives have gone home for the day. I’ll give them the message and see if they want to do anything.”

After the station promised to get back to him, 14 hours later, David had to call back himself, and got a response: “So, the auto detective unit for LA says, ‘Yeah, sometimes we follow up on that if we have the personnel, but four of my detectives are on vacation, so I only have two and one is brand new. Sorry can’t help you.’”

For the record, Bridson reported the address where the iPad was. All the LAPD had to do was go get it — presumably with a bunch of other stuff — but no such luck.

On July 7, Bridson got a letter in the mail from the LAPD. It read “I understand that you were recently the victim of an automobile theft.” Say, it looks like maybe there was some followup after all, even though the “automobile” was only the venue for the theft, at least this was something. And it was from the Chief of the LAPD himself, Charlie Beck.

An officer shot and killed a pit bull on Wednesday morning near 8th Street and Sherman. Investigators described the dog as a “vicious” pit bull and said it lunged at the officer. However, the dog's owner said the dog was not a pit bull but a black lab (pictured above).

The incident began Wednesday morning when an officer responded to call about a suspicious van. The caller claimed the driver of van was watching young children from a nearby parking lot. The owners of coffee shop reported the white van because they thought it was possibly connected to child luring case.

When an officer approached the van with his gun drawn, the dog lunged out of the open driver’s side window according to Coeur d’Alene Police Department leaders. The officer said the pit bull lunged at his face. Investigators said the officer fired one round from his service weapon and shot the dog in the chest. The dog later died.

The driver of the van, Craig Jones, was not in the vehicle at the time of the shooting. Jones said he was nearby eating breakfast when the shooting happened.

HOLLY HILL, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
A dog owner is demanding a Holly Hill police officer's badge, after that officer shot his dog while serving a warrant to the wrong house.

"She was shot in the face and the neck and her side right here," Richard Stotler told FOX 35.

Lady was shot late Friday night in the backyard of Stotler's home. According to a statement by Holly Hill Police, officers came to the Elsie Avenue house to serve a woman with a warrant for prostitution charges.

The problem is; the woman doesn't live there anymore. Stotler moved in after her, and said he has no idea who the woman is.

He added when he told police, they didn't listen; going through the gate around the back of the house, where they found Lady and Stotler's other dog.

Police said Lady was "aggressively lunging" at the officer when he opened fire, something Stotler finds hard to believe.

"She's a big baby," he said, "She's a big teddy bear, she sleeps with me every night, she's just a big baby, everybody loves her."

Lady is on three different pain medications, with part of a bullet still lodged in her ear canal, and other wounds Stotler isn't sure will heal.

"She's just traumatized. She won't even come outside at night anymore at all."
He told Fox 35, when the police realized their mistake, they offered to foot the vet bill. He wants the officer fired.

"This is something that should have been avoided. It should have never happened."

Holly Hill Police said they are still investigating what happened, and haven't released the officer's name or whether he will face any disciplinary action.

Stotler has contacted various animal rights groups about the shooting.

A Worcester police officer has been arrested on home invasion and assault charges.

The MetroWest Daily News reports that police say William M. Stout of Worcester forced his way into his ex-wife's Northboro home on June 17 and struck her companion in the face and neck.

He was charged with home invasion, breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor and assault and battery.

Police say the 44-year-old Stout was wearing his police uniform, with his gun holstered, during the alleged attack. Police also say he told the unidentified man he would kill him.

Want to make money on the drug war? Start a company that builds military equipment, then sell that gear to local police departments. Thanks to the generation-long trend toward more militarized police forces, there's now massive and growing market for private companies to outfit your neighborhood cops with gear that's more appropriate for a battlefield.

...

As the CIR reported in 2011, military contractors now market directly to police agencies with messages that encourage the mindset that the military and the police are fighting the same battle. And it's lucrative. The spokesman for Lenco, which makes armored personnel vehicles, told me last year that thanks to DHS, the company has sold at least one of its "Bearcats" to 90 of the 100 largest cities in America. The CIR reports that, "The homeland security market for state and local agencies is projected to reach $19.2 billion by 2014, up from an estimated $15.8 billion in fiscal 2009, according to the Homeland Security Research Corp."

That not only means that there's fortune to be made arming domestic police departments for battle, there's also plenty of money left over to set up lobbying offices in D.C., hire former politicians and their staffs, and generally lobby Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House to ensure that these programs not only stay around, but that they grow in size and influence going forward.

So if you want to make money off the war on drugs, consider starting a company that makes military gear for police departments. There's a small mountain of government money for the taking. And unlike contracting with the Pentagon, you won't even need a security clearance.

"The first thing I heard was 'boom,'" he recalled. "Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. Right in front of us."

It was 7 a.m. when police executed what is known as a no-knock search warrant. Arman said he and his two children were sleeping on a mattress when armed members of the SWAT team barged through the front door. The next thing he remembers is seeing the family's long-time dogs stagger and fall.

The blood of the two pit bulls -- named Mello and Laylo -- is still staining the carpet, and Arman's sneakers.

"One was running for her life, and they murdered her right here," he said.

Arman's girlfriend, Camille Perry, was in the bathroom at the time. She raced to cover the couple's young children, who she contends were right in the line of fire while sleeping at ground level.

"The only thing I was thinking was my kids were going to get hit by bullets," she said.

A St. Paul police spokesman told Fox 9 News that the dogs charged at officers, and that they feared for their safety. The spokesman also explained that law enforcement has the right to eliminate potential threats with lethal force, and he pointed out that a judge signed off on the search for weapons and drugs and that investigators believed they were entering a dangerous situation. Arman says that couldn't be further from the case.

"Yeah, I smoke marijuana," he said. "I do."

Arman admits he is a recreational smoker, but he is not the only one questioning the police tactics on East Maryland Avenue. Neighbors aren't pleased either.

"All of a sudden, we see the dogs thrown out like pieces of meat, like they were nothing," Shawn Miller said. "We teared up because they are like family to us. Those dogs are real good dogs."

The only items seized during Wednesday's raid included clothing, a glass bong and suspected marijuana remnants in a metal grinder.

An air traffic control recording confirms that a New York Police Department helicopter flew at a drone hovering near the George Washington Bridge earlier this week—not the other way around. What's more, police had no idea what to charge the drone pilots with, and never appeared to fear a crash with the drone.

Two men, Wilkins Mendoza and Remy Castro, both of New York City, were arrested Monday on felony reckless endangerment charges after the NYPD said the two flew their drone "very close" to a law enforcement chopper, causing the police helicopter to take evasive maneuvers. Air traffic control recordings from LaGuardia airport posted by the website liveatc.net suggest that only happened after the chopper pilot decided to chase the drone.

Here's a full transcript of the recording:

NYPD—What kind of contact do you have … at this time.

Tower—What do you mean, what kind of contact?

NYPD—I don’t know. We just had an aircraft do vertical climbs pretty fast.

Tower—I don’t see anything on the radar. About how high would you say it went?

NYPD—I'd say 0 to about 2,000 [feet] in less than two seconds. And he's got green and red now. He's going up Spuyten Duyval [bridge], northbound at this time.

Tower—Really? I don’t see anything on the radar. Im not seeing anything like that.

NYPD—He has to be military. He's moving. He's right over top of us right now, LaGuardia. He did a 180 really quick. Going down the east river at this time. I just want to make sure its not a drone.

Tower—I’ll look out the window.

NYPD—LaGuardia we are 800 feet and he is level with us at this time.
Tower—He's level.

NYPD—Going Spuyten Duyval to the [George Washington Bridge]. He's got to be a drone.

Tower—Roger that.

NYPD—He's got red and green lights. Hes trucking, hes moving fast. LaGuardia, definitely a drone. Hes going up the streets now between buildings.

Tower—Ok, all right. Man, theres really gotta be a better way to maybe disable these guys.

NYPD—We are going to stay here and figure out where he puts it.
Tower—Take your time, you’re the only ones in the air.

NYPD—Will do. Yeah, we got drone activity at the GW Bridge. We are trying to walk an RMP [remote mobile patrol] into it. We got the guys operating it on the ground. Hopefully we can get these guys collared up.

Tower—In the vicinity of the GW? They were at the GW. Now I got three, four, coming up to Fairview and 193, vicinity of.

Tower—All right, you want me to do anything from here.

NYPD—Nope, just letting you know.

NYPD—Ok we got these guys are saying these are just toys but these drones were flying in vicinity of [George Washington Bridge]. They buzz around us as well.

Tower—All right what altitude were you guys at.

NYPD—These things were well over 2,000 feet. They were above us at 1,000.

Tower—You still have a visual.

NYPD—No, we've got custody, we've locked the [radio mobile patrol police cars] into them. You know, we have the guys who were operating them. We really don’t know exactly what we have, maybe a reckless. Not sure what exactly we got.

Tower—All right 10-4.

NYPD—Just so you know there was a class given to lt perez, I don’t know if you want to disturb him or not, but he had all the info on that.

Tower—All right 10-4 thank you.

NYPD—Tiny little, we got them on the ground now. Tiny little drones with four blades on it. But, yeah, It was all the way over the GW. Now we are all the way over at Spuyten Duyval flying two miles away to 2,000 feet.

NYPD—They are with them right now, but we don’t even know what we have.

NYPD—Definitely, we just don’t know what kind of crime we have right now.

NYPD—Seems to me, if they were at 1,000 feet, they'd have to be operating that thing recklessly, regardless of whether or not it was a toy.

The Pentagon program cannot continue in this manner. Congress should acknowledge the failure of this program and permanently ban military-grade weaponry, armored vehicles and aircraft from transfer to municipal police forces. If the Defense Department is to continue to lend surplus equipment to localities, it must vastly tighten oversight and ensure that no item go unaccounted for. On-site inspections must be frequent and consequences for noncompliance should be severe.

If America is concerned about helping its police forces prevent violence, there are more cost effective ways of doing that. Since we know that cities and states with lower levels of violence have higher levels of education, healthcare coverage and economic opportunity, and lower levels of poverty and income inequality, that is where we should be investing taxpayer dollars.

But when local police forces carry assault weapons and patrol America's main streets with tanks and drones, the lines blur between the military and law enforcement. The growing militarization of the United States appears to be occurring at home as well as abroad, a phenomenon which is troublesome and sure to continue without decisive action. Scaling back the 1033 program is a much-needed start and would cast some light on the blurring line between military forces and the local police who are meant to protect and serve.

After nine hours of deliberation, a jury has found Adrian Perryman, 52, not guilty on all four counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer charges.

He was accused of shooting and wounding a member of SAPD’s Tactical Response Unit during a raid on Perryman’s home in the 1200 block of West Magnolia in the pre-dawn hours of October 26, 2010.

Whether police announced their arrival during a raid at the home of Perryman was the key point of disagreement during closing arguments Tuesday during Perryman’s trial.

“He said he didn’t hear, ‘Police, police - - search warrant,’" Perryman’s attorney Tony Jimenez told the jury.

During testimony last week Perryman’s girlfriend Rebecca Flores testified that she tossed Perryman a gun when police broke down the door to his home fearing it was a home invasion.

“The door goes down – he shoots,” Jimenez argued. “Was it in the direction of police? Did he know they were police?”

Prosecutors reminded the jury of the testimony of several officers last week. Testimony they argued that calls into question Perryman’s account of the events that night.

They testified that they shouted, “Police! Police!” as they came through the door and again once inside the home.

“I find it hard to believe that you would think they would go as far as to risk their lives – have no regard for themselves – by saying they didn’t say a thing,” prosecutor Steve Spier told the jury.

Pointing to the officers who were in court as spectators listening to closing arguments prosecutor Julie Wright said, “These officers are here with us today because of luck – not because of anything (Perryman) did.”

Perryman had testified that he stopped shooting and tossed down his gun when he realized that it was police officers who burst into his home.

They begin to only trust in each other. If his buddy on the force tases an unruling jaywalker who didn't hear orders because she was listening to headphones, he'll gladly back him up and write down on his report that they felt threatened and had every right to defend themselves with physical force.

Both draft reports, submitted by the agency's lead traffic homicide investigator on the case, end with the same two paragraphs, recommending the deputy who struck and killed these officers face criminal charges.

"Based on the investigative findings, Fernandez drove his vehicle in a willful and wanton reckless manner," it states. "Therefore, based on the aforementioned information, the facts support there is sufficient probably cause to support the following violations of Florida State Statute by Gregorio Fernandez: Two counts of Vehicle Homicide.

But the investigator's recommendation to pursue charges never made it in the agency's final report, which was ultimately submitted to the State Attorney months later.

It's also a recommendation the state's attorney's lead prosecutor on the case agreed with but never saw.

"I don't know what happened, why this whole packet didn't make it to my desk when every other one did since 1993," said Ellen Roberts.

For more than a decade, Roberts led the state attorney's traffic homicide division.

"You can't just drive like that and kill someone and not be charged for it," she said.

Kasper got out to exchange information and write down the Blazer's license-plate number, but was met with an angry, plainclothes detective, the suit says. It says Chervenak began yelling at Kasper and ordered him back to his vehicle.

Chervenak claimed to be a deputy but produced no badge, the lawsuit says.

"I said, 'How do I know that?' And he didn't say anything," Kasper said in an interview.

When Kasper failed to comply with his demands, Chervenak retrieved a pair of handcuffs, pushed Kasper against the vehicle and clamped the cuffs over his wrists, the suit says.

Kasper, still uncertain if he was being detained by a real deputy, said he started yelling at passers-by to call 911 and get uniformed officers on the scene.

"It was kind of surreal that I would have to do that," he said. "I was angry, but I had to stay calm, because if I did anything, it was just going to get worse."

Phoenix police officers arrived, Kasper said, as well as uniformed deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. Kasper said he remained in handcuffs for about an hour until another Sheriff's Office deputy arrived with a key.

The lawsuit alleges assault and battery, false imprisonment, negligence, civil-rights violations and property damage, and names Sheriff Joe Arpaio as a defendant, claiming negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention.

Walton County Sheriff, Michael A. Adkinson, Jr. attempted to play dirty southern politics by attacking the journalist that questioned his decision to equip the rural Walton County Sheriff’s Office with an armored vehicle straight from the wars overseas.
In an attempt to quash debate and stifle a free press, the Sheriff told WMBB that

Let’s forget that the Sheriff shouldn’t be discussing juvenile arrests to begin with, and instead let’s focus on how he probably obtained my arrest record. Since the Sheriff may be unaware, accessing law enforcement databases without a legitimate law enforcement reason is a violation of federal law. Although it may be hard to believe, attempting to intimidate or attack someone who disagrees with a Sheriff politically is not a legitimate law enforcement use, so maybe the Sheriff will turn out to be the next “federal inmate.” Even though it’s possible the Sheriff relied solely on gossip told around the campfire at the office, I’ve already contacted the appropriate agencies to launch an investigation. Don’t worry, I hear that orange is the new black.
The Sheriff pleads with us to trust him with an armored vehicle and promises that he won’t use it to infringe on personal liberties, but it certainly appears that the Sheriff can’t even be trusted with a computer. More important than his actions are his apparent intentions. He wants to end the debate over the militarization of a law enforcement agency that hasn’t had an officer shot and killed in more than 70 years. As much as the Sheriff may hate it, we still have a free press in this country. It will not be stifled on our watch. We will not rollover, we will not turn a blind eye, and we will not comply with politically-motivated demands. Instead of ending the debate or silencing me, this action has only encouraged me to further examine Walton County’s law enforcement. Every time that MRAP rolls, I’ll be there. Every time your deputies shoot a family pet, I’ll be there. Every time your department violates someone’s rights, I’ll be there. The force of ideas, not the force of arms is what makes this country great. Ideas, much like your MRAP, are bulletproof.

MILWAUKEE (WITI) — Accused of a cover-up, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and four of his deputies are named as co-defendants in a federal civil rights lawsuit — and it all started with a FOX6 investigation that garnered national attention. A sober driver was arrested for drunk driving in February of 2013 — and she’s still fighting back.

When a Sheriff’s deputy T-boned her car last year, Tanya Weyker suffered more than a broken neck. She suffered the indignity of a false arrest for driving while intoxicated.

Now, she has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit

...