Savannah, Georgia – Thanks to a legal loophole, former Savannah-Chatham County Police Chief Willie Lovett will collect nearly a million dollars in pension payments while he is in jail. Lovett was recently convicted of extortion and illegal gambling and was sentenced to 7 ½ years in federal prison.

In 1985 the state passed a law that would allow them to revoke the pensions of government employees who are convicted of a crime. Unfortunately, this law only applied to employees hired after the law went into effect, and Lovett had already been with the department for a number of years, so the law does not apply to him.

“The simple answer is it’s basically a contract issue. You cannot change the rules to their detriment,” Amy Henderson, spokeswoman for the Georgia Municipal Association explained.

During his 7 ½ years in prison, Lovett will collect roughly $130,000 per year, totaling more than $970,000 before taxes.

INDIAN LAKE, Texas (AP) — A South Texas police chief is charged with 14 counts of tampering with governmental records.

Indian Lake Police Chief John Chambers was arrested Wednesday by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and investigators from the Cameron County District Attorney's Office.
Chambers is accused of knowingly making a false entry in a governmental record in January about firearms qualification for some of his deputies.

Mayor Barbara Collum says town commissioners will decide what actions to take early next week regarding Chambers. She says she has appointed another officer in charge of the department for the time being.

It wasn't immediately known if Chambers has an attorney.

A Gloucester County man employed by the Winslow Township Police Department as a part-time Class II Special Law Enforcement Officer admitted Wednesday to shooting his vehicle while on patrol in October, the Camden County Prosecutor announced.

Da'Shaun Carr, 23, of Clayton, pleaded guilty Feb. 25 in Superior Court to charges of false reports to law enforcement authorities in connection with the incident on Oct. 3.

Authorities say Carr had been accused of shooting his patrol car around 8 p.m. that night after communicating over emergency radio that his vehicle had been fired upon in the area of New Brooklyn Park in Winslow.

Officers from the WTPD, New Jersey State Police, Camden County Sheriff's Office and the CCPO responded to the incident.

The CCPO's Crime Scene Investigation Unit processed the scene and determined the vehicle had been shot once through the windshield and bullet fragments were recovered from the interior, according to prosecutors.

Authorities say Carr had been with the department for about a year at the time of the incident and he has been on unpaid suspension since.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Carr will be disqualified from holding public office, according to prosecutors, and will also be required to forfeit the personal firearm used in the incident.

FLINT, MI -- The Genesee County prosecutor has decided not to authorize criminal charges against a suburban Detroit police chief in relation to the removal of campaign signs ahead of Michigan's August primary.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced Wednesday, Feb. 25, that his office will not authorize criminal charges against Waterford Township Police Chief Daniel McCaw, according to a news release from the prosecutor's office.

The incident occurred on July 18, 2014. McCaw was seen removing a campaign sign that read "Vote No on the Millage It's a tax increase!"

The investigation was conducted by the Michigan State Police. The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office recused itself due to a conflict of interest, according to the release. In December, the Michigan Attorney General's Office assigned the matter to Leyton's office.

Leyton determined after reviewing the evidence presented by the MSP that probable cause does not exist that McCaw had committed a crime, according to the release.

McCaw said he removed several signs that were posted outside a vacant gas station because they violated a local ordinance.

The investigation shows the location of the sign in the ground when it was removed by McCaw was illegally placed in the public right-of-way, according to the release. Leyton said that as Chief of Police for Waterford Township, McCaw was within the realm of his official duties in choosing to remove the sign in question from the right-of-way.

Leyton said that the fact McCaw may have chosen to remove some signs and not others was irrelevant as to the question of whether a crime was committed.

A Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team investigation report released Monday clears a Wheeling police officer of wrongdoing in connection with a September crash in which his squad vehicle struck and killed a 20-year-old Des Plaines man.

But the report also confirms that the officer was driving fast -- a key point in a lawsuit filed against him and the village of Wheeling on behalf of the victim's family.

...

The investigation report concludes that Morales was wearing dark clothing and running across the roadway in front of Robertson's SUV while it was still dark outside at 5:43 a.m. that Sunday morning. The report states Robertson could not have avoided the collision.

"Given the conditions of this incident, the accident was unavoidable by the officer as he did not have enough time or distance to react to the pedestrian as he ran across the squad's path of travel," the report states.

But Michael LaMonica, an attorney for the firm that filed the lawsuit, said Morales' family has a different interpretation of the report's findings.

"The Morales family believes an officer traveling over 100 miles per hour without (emergency) lights or sirens on to pursue a car that was allegedly going 10 to 20 mph over the speed limit is excessive and unreasonable," LaMonica said.

Orient Police Chief Joseph L. Brown, 39, of Herrin was taken into custody by Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies around 1:20 p.m. Monday, February 23, 2015, in response to reports the office received from both the American Legion and Elsie’s Tavern in Orient.

“Sheriff’s deputies responded to a complaint at Phillip Whiteside American Legion Post 1961 at 10:22 p.m. and were told by club employees and patrons that Brown, who had already left the area, had come to the club in an intoxicated state, made threats and brandished a handgun, ” said Sheriff Don Jones.

Before Brown made his way to the American Legion he first stopped by Elsie’s Tavern — just steps from the Legion — where witnesses say he pulled his gun and badge, making threats against another’s life.

Baltimore police are investigating the actions of one of their officers after video shows the officer punching a man in the face before his arrest.

Derek Valcourt has the exclusive video, which lasts just about a minute—but some say it shows an officer going too far.

Cell phone video appears to show a city officer trying to move a crowd from in front of a McDonald’s on Howard Street—but the physical confrontation begins when the officer pokes a young man and the man then swats the officer’s hand away.

“What, you got probable cause?” the man asked.

“I’m going to ask you to get out of my face,” the officer replied.

“Don’t touch me!” the man replied.The officer took a few seconds to handcuff the man and then calls for backup while the crowd nearby screamed and yelled.

The young man in the handcuffs is 19-year-old Antonio Moore.

“He punched me for no reason,” Moore said.

But the officer apparently saw it differently. In his statement of probable cause, he wrote Moore “without warning began rapidly advancing towards me in a threatening, hostile manner so I placed my arm out to create a distance and halted his advance.”
“The video shows the proof. I didn’t try to attack the officer,” Moore said.

Moore’s been charged with second degree assault and disorderly conduct.

City police were unaware of the video until WJZ showed it to them. While police would not speak on camera, the department is investigating and explains the video only shows a portion of what happened.

The video is the latest in a string of caught-on-camera incidents that have called into question officers’ behavior, including an incident where a cop was caught on camera punching a man near a bus stop.
In fact, a Baltimore Sun investigati
on recently detailed dozens of cases where the city paid out more than $11 million to settle allegations of police brutality—part of why Police Commissioner Anthony Batts and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake now actively support the introduction of body cameras on all officers so they have more evidence of when police force is justified or crosses the line.

The ACLU tells WJZ based on that video, the officer appears to have escalated the situation. Officers should be prepared to be confronted without turning a situation into an altercation.

Police say so far, no one from the community has filed a formal complaint with internal affairs but the department says it is committed to transparency.

...Moments later, after a brief exchange, Ramirez reaches back and delivers a cold, hard smack across Laclair's face. The Fort Lauderdale peace officer then arrests the homeless man for trespassing and takes him to jail.

But most of what happened in the video didn't make it into Ramirez's write-up of the incident, including the part where he slapped a 58-year-old homeless man sitting on the ground. Here's what he wrote in the arrest report (all grammatical errors courtesy of Ramirez):
New Times asked the Fort Lauderdale Police Department if its officers are required to report instances of physical force when dealing with the general public, but we couldn't get a straight answer.

"Every officer has their own way of filing their reports," said Detective Tracey Figone. "This case is still under investigation, and there might be files I cannot release to you because the investigation is active."

See also: Biking While Black Still a Crime in Fort Lauderdale, According to New Data

Ramirez, who has been on the FLPD for nine years, is currently on taxpayer-funded paid administrative leave pending an "investigation."

Laclair spent the night in jail and was released Monday.

REENSBURG – An investigation by the Indiana State Police (ISP) into missing financial evidence from the Greensburg Police Department (GPD) has resulted in the arrest of a former police chief.

Stacey L. Chasteen, 49, Greensburg Chief of Police from 2011 to 2014, turned herself into authorities Tuesday after allegedly admitting to stealing more than $70,000 worth of monetary evidence pertaining to criminal cases from the GPD evidence room over the course of several years.
State Police detectives, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Decatur Circuit Court Tuesday, believe Chasteen stole cash from the evidence room in order to pay gambling debts, and she later attempted to conceal the act by destroying property record receipts.

Chasteen faces charges of official misconduct and theft, both of which were Class D felonies at the time the incidents are alleged to have occurred.

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
A Huntsville police officer at the center of a federal bribery investigation pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.

Lewis Hall changed his plea to guilty after federal prosecutors offered him a deal.

He faces up to five years and a fine.

In return for his guilty plea, federal prosecutors have agreed to drop the other charges Hall faced for his role in a bribery scheme.

Authorities say the former "Officer of the Year" tried to bribe another officer into making another man's cocaine trafficking charges go away.

As part of the plea agreement, Hall has to surrender any law enforcement certifications and can no longer be employed in the field.

If Lewis assists the government investigation, his potential sentence could be reduced.

He has to surrender law enforcement certification and cannot work in any type of law enforcement position.

"He'll never work in law enforcement again," said Hall's attorney, Robert Tuten. "This is a sad day for the Lewis Hall family and for Lewis. It's also a sad day for the Huntsville Police Department.

Tuten added he thinks this case is an example to everyone that all are expected to obey the law, no matter your position.

I was on my way to dinner with my girlfriend and saw him driving in between both lanes down main street. Swerving back and forth. I stuck my hand out the window and flipped him off. After that he pulled an illegal u turn behind me at the intersection. I don’t let police follow me so I pulled off and he followed me. At that point I got out of my car and started recording. I do, occasionally, flex my right of free speech with my finger to them but that’s no reason to follow me. Every officer in my town knows who I am. I know one of them personally and he fills me in on rumors in the department.

February 23rd 2015 a cop pulls up behind me and demands my ID, I refuse and he then threatens me with arrest. I still refuse, he then tells me I am being detained, I ask what on charges? He has none. Then I go off!