A big change is coming to the Denver Police Department. In addition to guns and body armor, some officers will soon be armed with cameras.

The cameras will be used as part of a 6-month pilot program to restore the relationship between Denver police and the public, especially in Lower Downtown. The cameras are half the size of “Go Pro” cameras and Police Chief Robert White says he is hoping the tiny cameras will bring a big dose of credibility to the department.

The cameras are the newest tool in the push for transparency in the Denver Police Department.
“As I turn my head it’s scanning and looking at whatever I’m looking at,” Detective Tony Weathersby said.

Over the next few weeks every officer in District 6, which includes LoDo, will be equipped with the tiny body cameras. White said the cameras will record potentially volatile situations. The goal is to protect officers and the public.

Authorities installed red-light cameras near the emergency room entrance at University Hospital in Tamarac to nail traffic violators, but those rushing to the facility for medical attention are getting ensnared.

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The real heart stopper came a few days later when he received a fine of $158 for running the light.

“I went to court trying to show the judge medical records. I explained that it wasn’t intentional, but it was a medical emergency,” Alcahe said.

But he was told his medical emergency wasn’t a “sufficient excuse” and was charged an additional $125 for the judge’s time.

In total, his rush for help cost him $283.

“I expected at least a fair (trial), but I think the camera is put there intentionally to capture violations of the people who actually have a medical emergency,” he said. “It’s a scam to get the city more money. It’s unfortunate because local authorities should be for us and seem to be against us. I don’t understand and don’t think it’s fair.”

The Tamarac city clerk’s office told Florida Watchdog that 571 citations were issued between Sept. 1, 2013, and Tuesday at the intersection near the hospital.

Critics doubts whether the cameras truly reduce the number of accidents — and police reports may back them up.

The Doral Police Department reported that over the last two years, accidents increased at intersections where the cameras were installed.

It’s a similar story in Tallahassee.

In the three years since red-light cameras began operating at Tallhassee’s seven busiest intersections — aimed at ticketing in 19 different driving directions — there have been only eight fewer side-impact collisions compared to the previous three years without the cameras.

In an effort to raise money for road projects, the state will start hitting residents who commit serious traffic offenses with huge civil penalties.

Despite reporting the alleged assault of an employee who tried to get a license plate number off the vehicle, Flint police were never sent to the restaurant.

"Oh my god, this girl is hitting my employee. I need someone out here now," Napthen tells a dispatcher at one point.

The dispatcher responds, "OK ma'am, nobody is available to come to you right now."

Even later, no police were dispatched and the employee was told to make her complaint over the phone.

...He said for weeks, two officers have been harassing him, claiming they want him to give up a name of anyone they can plant a gun on or else they’ll arrest him.

When asked where the gun was, Robinson said they had one but never showed it to him. The officers told him “I have a fully-loaded 38.”

Officers were unaware that Robinson was filming the ride on his cell phone.

“Your nine years are going to seem like four times more."

"I know y’all said you need a gun and a body, got to have a body with it,” said Robinson. “I don’t need no gun case. You know I’ll get you somebody.”

Robinson said they made it very clear what they’d do if he didn’t give up a name. “If you don’t give me anything in the next 24-hours then I’ll write this case up as you ran from me but you got away. But I know who you are and you had this gun.”

While in the cruiser, Robinson pleaded with officers to give him a little more time.

But instead of finding another man to arrest, Robinson contacted his lawyer. The video has been turned over to authorities and detectives with internal affairs are investigating.

A federal lawsuit filed in Portland, Oregon, accuses officers from the Salem and Keizer police departments and from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of abusing their authority after five of their unmarked police cars were towed and impounded in the course of a stakeout in January 2012.

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Instead, the Oregonian reports, a larger group of cops, in and out of uniform, came into the towing company office:
The lawsuit claims the cops didn’t have probable cause for the arrest, and that the towing employees constitutional rights to due process and against unreasonable seizures were violated. The lawsuit also claims Roberts threatened to arrest the lawyer of the detainees for asking questions. The tow truck company fought in court for a year over the incident, and the lawsuit seeks to recoup relevant losses, and asks for $500,000 for each of the two arrested employees for pain and suffering.

The city of Keizer wants the judge to dismiss them from the lawsuit, it claims only one of the cops were from their department and he did nothing wrong. The city of Salem declined to comment to The Oregonian, while there are few details as to the DEA’s role in the specific incident or whatever wider investigation the cops were involved in.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent apparently committed suicide after kidnapping and assaulting an immigrant family that illegally crossed the border Wednesday evening, investigators said.

Border Patrol agent Esteban Manzanares, 32, sexually assaulted and slashed a woman, her 14-year-old daughter and another 14-year-old girl with a knife Wednesday afternoon, leaving the mother and one daughter behind before he took the other teen with him, three law enforcement officials unauthorized to speak to the media confirmed.

Witnesses said Derrig, who was on duty, punched the back of the man’s head repeatedly and kicked him in the head two times. The man was not arrested but was treated by EMS and taken to Physician’s Regional Hospital for an injury to his cheek, according to the documents.

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Derrig’s time at the department has been scarred by several complaints and allegations made against him since his hiring in 2005. His 2010 termination stemmed from an arrest that year in which Derrig failed to turn on his recording device, didn’t attach a photo of the suspect’s injuries and made conflicting statements to internal investigators. He was also accused of using excessive force on the man, although those accusations were not sustained.