New Mexico's largest police department, mired in controversy over the use of excessive force, is about to supply military-style weapons to officers using taxpayer money.

The investigative team at KOB Eyewitness News 4 learned that Albuquerque Police awarded a bid to a local vendor for the purchase of AR-15 rifles -- the type of gun used to kill James Boyd in the foothills in March.

According to the request for bid, which ended two weeks ago, the department would likely purchase 350 guns in the first year of a two-year contract. Thereafter, it would order quantities of 50 as necessary.

"You're asking for trouble, in my opinion," Peter Simonson, Executive Director of the ACLU of New Mexico said.

Simonson was unaware of the department's purchasing plans until KOB contacted him. He thought APD was moving away from using high-powered weapons after the Department of Justice said APD officers have a "pattern and practice" of using excessive and deadly force.

"I think it sends a contradictory message to the public, and I think it should raise concerns about how seriously they're actually taking the DOJ reforms," he said.

The Supreme Judicial Court Wednesday said that because voters decriminalized small amounts of marijuana in 2008, police officers in Massachusetts can no longer rely on the odor of unburnt marijuana to justify searching a person’s car.

In two unanimous rulings, the state’s highest court said they had already decided in 2011 that the odor of smoked marijuana by itself did not provide police with probable cause to stop people on the street or search the vehicles people are riding in.

A Durham police officer admitted under oath that he lied in order to gain entry to a home and to serve an outstanding warrant.

During a court hearing last May, court officials say he told a District Court judge that it was a common practice within Durham's police department.

He said he knocked on a resident's door, claiming police had received a 9-1-1 hang up call. But, it never happened.

It's the reason why Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez sent out an internal memo obtained by ABC11.

"Effective immediately," Lopez wrote, "No officer shall inform a citizen that there has been a call to the emergency communications center, including a hang up call, when there in fact has been no such call."

ABC11 spoke with Chief Lopez by phone while he attended an FBI Training Institute in Washington D.C.

Lopez denied the officer's claims that lying to get consent to enter a home is a common practice.

"This has never occurred," said Lopez. "We want to find out what...led him [the officer] to believe that this is something he should do."

This happened at the Shell Station on Normandy Blvd next to 295 in Jacksonville Florida.I had just finished filling up my van (over 70$!!!) and going through the car wash.I noticed the big mobile command center pull up and decided to get some video.Almost instantly I was told not to film the ultra top secret vehicle even though you can go to the FHP web sight and look at photos of both the exterior and interior of the same vehicle!Trooper Michael badge # 2154 please read the bill of rights, specifically the 1st and 4th amendments!

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.

Four law enforcement officers have been indicted on charges in connection with an incident that happened at the Bainbridge BikeFest in 2012.

According to the Department of Justice, former Grady County Sheriff’s Deputy Wiley Griffin used excessive force during an arrest. As a result of the assault, the victim sustained injuries to his face, including cuts, bleeding, swelling and bruising.

The indictment also charges three other officers from different counties with writing false reports to cover up the assault. Decatur County Sheriff’s Office Captain Elizabeth Croley, and Decatur County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Kines and former Decatur County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Wade Umbach were all indicted on charges of obstructive conduct relating to the investigation into the civil rights violation.

A part-time police officer in a small McHenry County community who was fired after less than a week on the job now faces criminal charges of official misconduct, possession of a stolen firearm and burglary, authorities said.

Ryszard T. Kopacz, 30, was released from custody after posting bail this morning and is due back in court on July 16, according to his lawyer and court documents.

Kopacz, of Wauconda, had been on the job as a part-time officer for just a few days in far northwest suburban Richmond, just south of the Wisconsin border, when he was terminated on July 6 for failing to show up for a July 5 shift, according to a Richmond Police Department press release.

A former Vermont state trooper has paid $27,000 to settle a civil lawsuit alleging that he assaulted two men while on duty in April 2012.

Eric Howley, who previously had pleaded no contest to criminal charges stemming from the Wilmington incident, has paid $10,000 to Mark Ellison and $5,000 to Anton Pike, who claimed Howley violated their constitutional rights.

Former Vermont State Police Trooper Eric Howley appears in Windham County Superior Court. Brattleboro Reformer file photo
Former Vermont State Police Trooper Eric Howley appears in Windham County Superior Court. Brattleboro Reformer file photo

Howley also agreed to pay another $12,000 to cover legal fees and costs. The judgment “has been paid in full,” according to documents filed at Windham Superior Court Civil Division in Newfane.

Howley, who at the time was a seven-year veteran of the Vermont State Police, arrived at Lake Raponda in Wilmington on April 8, 2012. He was looking for his stolen canoe, investigators later said, and he believed he had spotted his boat in the water.

Pike, of Wilmington, and Ellison, of West Wardsboro, were in the canoe and eventually came ashore. And then Howley, who was on duty, “physically assaulted both Mark Ellison and Anton Pike, causing injury,” according to the civil lawsuit filed by McLaughlin.

“Defendant’s assaultive behavior included slamming Anton’s face repeatedly into the hood of a police cruiser and slamming Mark’s head into a rock,” the lawsuits says.

Howley was charged criminally, and court documents claimed he threatened that he would show the victims “what police brutality was all about” while declaring that he “was sick of white-trash Vermonters and stupid pot heads.”

St Petersburg police are investigating two separate home invasions within minutes of each other early Tuesday. In both cases, the suspects burst through the door, yelling "Police, police, police," according to detectives.

PASADENA>> Police Chief Phillip Sanchez said he has launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct against detective William Broghamer.

In an audio recording played for a Pasadena jury last week in the murder trial of Rashad McCoy, Broghamer was heard telling a colleague he would “pin it on anybody, that’s how we roll.”

Sanchez said he has an “obligation” to look into the statement and whether there were any policy violations or misconduct involved.

“I think the defense attorney raised a concern of some level of conduct that I’m looking into now,” Sanchez said, “as I do with all matters of allegations of misconduct.”

The interview tape was played during the two-week murder trial against McCoy, who was acquitted by a jury Monday of fatally shooting 23-year-old Joseph Jones following an attempted robbery and foot chase in September 2012.

...But the situation of how the child was shot remains somewhat unclear.

Sheriff Wooten said a deputy, who was not named, was on approaching the property when a dog ran up to him. The deputy's gun fired one shot, missing the dog and hitting the child. It was not immediately clear if the gun was actively fired by the deputy.

Cell phone video shows what appears to be a Clinton police officer in uniform, in a cruiser, taking a snooze on the side of the road.

Gregory Hicks of Clinton was out fishing and caught the video on his phone.

Hicks said he thought the officer was sleeping for at least 40 minutes.

“That’s how long I was there, and he was here when I showed up,” Hicks said.

Hicks said he believes the officer should be held accountable. He filed a police report on Friday and shared his video on social media.

“I believe when they’re in uniform, they should be good role models and good people for the community to view, and I don’t think sleeping on the side of the road is really that,” Hicks said.

Police said Hicks has a couple of motor vehicle charges with the department.

He said he doesn’t have a vendetta against Clinton police.

“Not at all. I just believe police should be held accountable,” Hicks said.

Stephen Coco was sentenced to one year in prison for a hit-and-run crash in which he injured two Bedford teens. But he was allowed to return home on work release after serving 72 days in jail.

Coco was released under a state statute that gives jail superintendents discretion to determine whether an inmate should be released for the purposes of work after serving at least 14 consecutive days in jail. But the decision drew criticism, and prosecutors called for a judicial review.

In her ruling ordering Coco to return to jail, Judge Gillian Abramson called his release inappropriate because work release is a rehabilitative program, and Coco was in jail for punishment, not rehabilitation.

In March, I posted a long report on a likely wrongful-conviction case in Durham, N.C. Darryl Howard was convicted of killing a mother and her daughter based entirely on testimony from eyewitnesses, many of whom have since changed or recanted their stories. More important was what was not at Howard’s trial — critical evidence pointing to another killer. Though there’s ample evidence that the two women were sexually assaulted before they were killed, the prosecution insisted that wasn’t the case, likely because DNA testing on the semen found in one of the women excluded Howard. (Testing on the DNA found in the second woman since then also excludes Howard.)

In May, North Carolina Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson overturned Howard’s conviction with a blistering opinion that excoriated the police and prosecutors for withholding the evidence and for making false statements to jurors. The prosecutor in the case was then-Assistant District Attorney Mike Nifong, who of course would go on to win election as district attorney, then be removed from office after the Duke lacrosse debacle for withholding evidence and making false statements to a judge. Nifong’s protege and successor Tracey Cline was later removed from office herself, again after multiple allegations of misconduct, including withholding evidence.

...

Not only is the DA’s office trying Howard again, they’re also fighting to make sure Howard remains in prison until that trial happens. Fortunately, Hudson isn’t having any of it.

A Fulton Police Sergeant has been accused of beating a person who was in custody and then writing a fake report to account for the incident.

Fulton Police charged Sgt. Joseph Arigo with:

Third-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor
Falsifying business records, a class A misdemeanor
Making a punishable false written statement, a class A misdemeanor

Police began investigating Arigo on July 1 when a person complained that a Fulton Police officer had assaulted him.

They say Arigo struck the man in the head and face several times until he suffered bruises and swelling at the Fulton Police Department.

Police say the man also had a one-inch cut above his eye that needed seven stitches.

They also believe Arigo wrote a fake report about the incident.

Arigo was arraigned in Fulton City Court and released on his own recognizance.

An 18-year veteran of the force, Arigo has been suspended by the Fulton Police Department.

A Clark County deputy has been accused of destroying evidence related to a Champaign County homicide investigation and is on unpaid leave.
Matthew Kerns, 38, a 14-year veteran of the sheriff's office, was indicted by a Champaign County grand jury Thursday on charges of tampering with evidence and obstructing justice, both third-degree felonies, and improperly furnishing firearms to a minor, a fifth-degree felony.
Investigators alleged that Kerns destroyed letters that were written to him by Christopher L. Myers, who is a relative of the deputy.
Myers has been charged with 10 felony counts, including aggravated murder and multiple charges of murder, felonious assault and domestic violence in connection with the death of his father, Jerald Myers, 65, of Urbana, during Memorial Day weekend.
Kerns couldn't be reached for comment on Friday.
The letters Kerns is accused of destroying provided a description of Christopher Myers's involvement in the death of his father, according to the indictment. Kerns knew Christopher Myers had already been charged, the indictment says, and allegedly destroyed the letters "to impair their value or availability in the criminal case."
Kerns also allegedly gave a shotgun to a 13-year-old who isn't identified in the court records.
Urbana police interviewed Kerns on June 24 and searched his home, according to a news release from Chief Matt Lingrell. He declined to release more details in the case.
Kerns has requested to be put on an unpaid personal leave of absence from his position at the Clark County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Gene A. Kelly said.

A TSA agent blamed for letting one man carrying a loaded handgun and another with a flip knife board Phoenix-to-London flights on the same day last month is out of a job, FoxNews.com has learned.

Both passengers flew the more than 10 hour flights to London with the weapons in their carry-on bags, sources told FoxNews.com. Neither passenger tried to use the weapons while aboard the flights, though the shocking security lapse raises obvious questions about whether passengers with bad intentions might slip through security.Both weapons were found by security officials at London's Heathrow Airport as they attempted to transfer onto connecting flights.

In the more serious of the two June 22 incidents, William Joseph Richardson was going through transfer screening at Heathrow Airport to board a British Airways flight to Paris when airport security discovered his loaded Glock handgun, according to a document reviewed by FoxNews.com.

London Special Police responded, confiscated the firearm and ammunition and detained Richardson, 34, for further investigation. Checks with two law enforcement databases revealed that Richardson has a criminal record, according to the document.

How ready are normal people to inflict a wast amount of suffering on other subjects when ordered to? If they think its the "right thing to do". Will another persons suffering change peoples opinions of right and wrong?