In this video, you see Lubbock Police officers apparently abusing a Hispanic male who is sitting beside a wrecked Lubbock squad car. You see the first office come up and without provocation, kick Jose Carlos Escarcega-Ysaias in the face, and then the beating begins. Other than to say that it is wrong, I’m not going to comment on that, nor on Escarcega’s unprovoked violent assault on Lubbock Police Corporal Ryan Durrett. Nor will we be discussing it in the comments. On that, we are going to wait and see what the Internal Affairs investigation reveals.

No, what we are going to focus on it the attempt of the Lubbock Professional Police Association (LPPA) to silence a sitting city councilman from calling for an investigation into possible criminal violations by city employees.

Council member Victor Hernandez, after viewing the video at the request of the City Manager, James Loomis, publicly called for an investigation of the actions depicted in the video, as he should have. He is an elected representative of the people and that’s what they hired him to do.

LPPA President Jeremy Jones doesn’t agree, and falsely accused Hernandez of committing a felony in releasing a statement on the matter. Jones feels that Hernandez may have violated “Article [sic] 39.06” of the Texas Penal Code, Misuse of Official Information, which is a third degree felony. Jones is full of crap, what Hernandez did comes no where near meeting the elements of the offense for Section 39.06. To be charged with that crime, Hernandez would have to have intended that harm come to any person (presumably an officer who participated in the apparent beating), have disclosed information not available to the public, for a non-governmental purpose, and the information had to be exempt from disclosure under the open records act.

Did you notice that last part? The information had to be exempt from disclosure? It is not enough that the information had not yet been disclosed, it must be information that the government cannot disclose. The video isn’t it, because the local TV station obtained the video the next day, under the open records act.

Oops.

This was a straight attempt to intimidate an elected official who was concerned about police beating a suspect without justification. Period.

Perhaps Jones should have looked at the Obstruction or Retaliation statute, § 36.06, Tex. Pen. Code. It seems like threatening a public servant with a bunch of false charges, on account of their duties to represent the people, is a felony. Jones should be aware of that, police use it all the time.

Maybe someone should talk to Jones about his actions.

William G. Reece, 19, was arrested near Newport, Tennessee on Friday August 14, 2015 after opening his door and yelling “PIGS!” at Newport and State Patrol officers who were just finishing up a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 131 near a business called Zoomers.

Newport PD officer Derek Wright, who allegedly swore an oath to uphold the United States Constitution, then followed after the car Reece was in, and after pulling it over, arrested the teen for disorderly conduct and booked him into jail.

He bonded out for $500.00 later the same day.

The reasoning given for the charge was- “…due to creating a hazardous condition that served no legitimate purpose.”

Three California Highway Patrol officers, a defense attorney, and five others have been arrested in connection to the 2012 murder of a California man who, the New York Post reports, officials said was suspected of having been stealing the attorney’s antiques.

At a news conference on Friday in Modesto, California, law enforcement officials said that nine people were arrested altogether. All either participated in the killing of 26-year-old Korey Kauffman—who was reported missing in April 2012 and whose body was found in August 2013—or helped cover it up, officials said.

According to investigators with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, the killing was orchestrated by prominent Modesto attorney Frank Carson, who believed that Kauffman was stealing antiques from storage containers he owned. The Post reports that Kauffman was kidnapped and killed on his way to steal from Carson, according to a police court filing.

37-year-old Jacob Ediger, a Deputy with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, was arrested for third-degree assault, child abuse, and domestic violence.

Deputy Ediger is accused of hitting his wife of 13 years with a door and then knocking her and their 9-month-old baby off a porch. He was formally charged Thursday with misdemeanor counts of third-degree assault causing injury and child abuse.

According to the police report, Deputy Ediger was arguing with his wife inside of their house. In an attempt to move away from him and deescalate the potentially dangerous situation, the wife, who was cradling their 9-month-old baby, stepped outside of the house onto the front porch.

Instead of just letting things settle down, Deputy Ediger tried to continue the argument outside, but his wife blocked the screen door, which prevented him from opening it. Those actions enraged the Deputy to the point he shoved the door open, sending his wife and baby flying backwards off the porch, where they landed in a flower and rock garden.

Deputy Ediger admitted to police that the two had been arguing, but claims it was all an accident. In his twisted version of events, he was merely trying to go outside to console the crying infant, when he opened the door, which accidentally hit his wife and baby.

The Sheriff’s Office has put Deputy Ediger on paid vacation, err, I mean “Administrative Leave” while the investigation is being conducted. His bond was set at $1,250. He is next due in court Aug. 20.

In a press release, Sheriff Justin Smith said he is disappointed, but insists that sheriff’s office employees “will be held to the highest of standards and will be held accountable for any alleged violations of the law.”

Levi Frasier was merely an innocent bystander when he saw something that caught his attention – another instance of police brutality occurring right in front of him. He then decided to take out his tablet and record their barbaric actions.

Frasier witnessed Officer Charles “Chris” Jones IV of the Denver Police Department punching an unarmed man in the face and head several times. That man, David Nelson Flores, was left bloodied and bruised.

If that wasn’t brutal enough, one of the officers decided to trip an obviously pregnant woman, causing her to fall to the ground on her stomach. The woman, Mayra Lazos-Guerrero, was 7 ½ months pregnant at the time.

Frasier felt he was doing his duty to record the brutality unfolding. However, what he didn’t consider as a possibility, was that the police would target him for exercising his 1st Amendment rights by recording them.

According to a Federal lawsuit filed by Frasier, Officer Christopher Evans, along with other officers, surrounded him and threatened him with arrest, unless he ‘voluntarily’ turned over the video evidence of the beatings. At first, Frasier told the officers that he didn’t record any video, fearing they would delete the evidence if he admitted to having it.

It was then that one of the officers told Frasier that he couldn’t leave until he ‘voluntarily’ gave a witness statement about what he witnessed, and that “we can do this the easy way or the hard way”. Fearing for his safety, Frasier gave a witness statement, in writing, stating that he did not witness the beating or any other inappropriate actions committed by the Denver police.

Shortly after providing the statement, the officers took Frasier’s tablet anyway, deleting the video. However, Frasier’s tablet automatically backed up all photos/videos to the cloud, so the officer’s illegal actions were fruitless. Frasier later gave the video to a local television station, Fox 31.

Denver police released a statement concerning their officers’ actions that day. But, to the surprise of many, the Police Department defended the illegal actions of their officers, and decided to go after the local Fox affiliate for airing the video footage and corresponding news story. Even more concerning, they publicly released Frasier’s criminal records, as if somehow that negated what the officers were caught doing on video.

BARTOW — A police officer who was arrested in March on charges of molesting a 2-year-old girl is now facing 11 additional charges involving possession of child pornography.

Joshua David Smith, 32, a police officer in Oakland, a small community west of Orlando, was originally arrested after an undercover FBI agent from outside of Florida received a message stating "no limit perv dad here. Looking for someone like minded to talk with. HMU (hit me up) if interested," according to a Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit.

From there, the message writer went on to describe in detail sex acts he performed on the 2-year-old victim.

About eight hours later, Polk deputies and the FBI arrested Smith at his Lakeland home.

During the online correspondence with the undercover FBI agent, Sheriff Grady Judd said, Smith is accused of sending three sexually explicit photos of the girl to prove that he had "access to a live child.”

When law enforcement arrived at the house, according to reports, the girl was found wearing some of the same clothing as in the images and locations in the house matched those in the photos.

Since his arrest, Smith has been held in the Polk County Jail without bail, charged with directing or promoting the sexual performance of a child, possession of a photo depicting a sexual performance of a child and lewd molestation.

The new charges were added after a forensic examination of his emails and cellphone turned up more child ****, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Lafayette, La., police had used all the conventional approaches in probing a serial rapist, including a task force comprised of investigators from five different agencies.

The attacks started in the early 1980s and continued through 1995, remembers Lafayette Police Lt. Jim Craft.

"We could positively link six of the cases, and suspected the same person in seven to nine others," Craft said.

Like the East End cases, the attacks were sporadic.

"Sometimes, we would go two to three years without one," Craft said. "Then they'd come all at once."

The FBI studied the cases for a psychological profile that suggested the serial rapist worked in law enforcement as a security guard, police officer or deputy.

After the task force disbanded in 1998 with no arrests, Craft said his police chief showed him a copy of an article about geographic profiling in Police Chief magazine.

The department invited Kim Rossmo to Lafayette, in hopes a geographic profile might narrow the field of possible suspects.

"We had no preconceived ideas about profiling," said Craft. "We thought if it could help us, fine. If not, at least we gave it a shot. We didn't want to leave any stone unturned."

Rossmo used the background of the attacks to establish a perimeter, or boundaries within an area the rapist might live or work, that - when placed over a map pinpointing the crime sites - formed a triangle.

As the investigation progressed, an anonymous caller named a sheriff's deputy as the rapist.

Investigators took saliva from the deputy's cigarette butt and submitted the specimen to a lab for DNA analysis. Craft said the DNA matched evidence from six rape cases.

When police arrested the deputy, Randy Comeaux, on Jan. 18, 1999, he was living just a block outside of the triangle.

But during the serial rapes, he resided precisely in the middle of the triangle, Craft said.

Comeaux is serving six life sentences for the six rapes.

A southwestern Pennsylvania police officer has resigned and been sentenced to two years' probation for tipping off a woman he used to date about a prostitution sting.

The (Washington) Observer-Reporter says 40-year-old John Rush resigned from the Washington, Pennsylvania police on Thursday, a day after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice and hindering prosecution.

Rush pleaded guilty in Washington County's veterans court, a program reserved for those suffering from various problems due to military service. Rush served three tours with the Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His attorney and District Attorney Eugene Vittone say the help and probation Rush will receive through the court were more appropriate than jail time.

Rush texted the 31-year-old woman, who's awaiting trial on prostitution charges, to warn her of an undercover sting by DA's office last year.

Pregnant Los Angeles woman found herself in police crosshairs briefly on Thursday after she was mistakenly pulled over during a murder investigation, KNBC-TV reported.

Helicopter footage shows the woman, who is reportedly expected to give birth next week, being held at gunpoint by several officers. An unidentified man who was riding in the passenger seat can be seen with his hands up standing alongside the woman’s truck. Two small children were allegedly inside at the time of the mistaken stop.

Police said they pulled the woman over because her truck matched the description of a vehicle belonging to a suspect in a murder case. They ordered her to get out with their guns drawn, they said, because her windows were tinted.

The woman was released after officers realized their mistake.

It's a long story of the VICTIM of a vehicle damage ends up with fat, power-hungry cop trying to intimidate the VICTIM. So much for "diffusing" situations, this is a PERFECT example of cops doing everything they can to ESCALATE a situation so they can exercise their "power".
So last night we went to the Greyhound races and when we came out, we found a big Suburban had crossed 1.5 feet over the parking line, bumped the bumper of our (mint condition) 1993 Mercedes 500SL. Caused a little damage, but a little damage on that car is $500 or more...
We need to get a report, and I but figuring we were at a casino/racetrack, we'd get Security to do a report and be on our way. To my chagrin, 2 County Sheriff's show up in addition to the security. They explain that Security will make the report, so I said, "OK" and started dealing with security.
The Sheriff ran the plate and got a name, Security paged in the building and the perp came out. First thing out of his mouth was, "I didn't hit anyone's car, he wasn't even here when I got here". (which was a lie, and I have dashcam footage showing me pulling into the parking spot with a different vehicle there).
I started doing my business with Security, gave him my License and Registration (voluntarily, I probably didn't even need to do it). I explained to the security guy about the DashCam footage. He asks me to get it so he can get a screen capture. I go into my car to work on that, and the fat cop says, "do you have your insurance?" and I say, "yes, it's on my mobile app but I'm dealing with the security officer's request right now. And I go about my business (messing with the dash cam trying to figure out how to do Playback).
A minute later, cop says, "do you have your insurance", I yelled from inside the car (not yelling as in mad, but so he could hear me), "It's on my phone I'll show it to him when I"m done".
Cop: "You do NOT yell at me, you'll come out now and show the insurance or you're going to jail". Aww, it seems I've butt-hurt the poor, fat-*** pig. I didn't respect his author-uh-tie, I guess.
Remember, MY CAR was the one that was hit. I was the one that called for assistance... there's NO reason (nor cause) to threaten someone with "going to jail" for not showing insurance (especially on private property and especially when the car was parked).
I said, "officer, you're not going to intimidate me, I know my rights and you can't take me to jail for not showing you insurance, especially since you aren't even the one doing the investigation." I told him, "ok, but now I think it's time to start recording this", so I opened Bambuser and started recording (unknown to me, it didn't start at that time).
At that time, he ACTUALLY PULLED OUT HIS HANDCUFFS, which I kinda looked at him and giggled and rolled my eyes. He again said, "You're going to jail if you don't show me your insurance RIGHT NOW".
I thought it was recording in the background as I opened my Geico app and flashed it towards him, saying, "here it is, I'll take it to the security officer", and he reached out and GRABBED the phone. I held on tight and said, "this is my private property and you do not have the right to take it away". He just held on to it, not moving, and so did I... we locked eyes and I didn't move or say a word. After what seemed to be an eternity, he let go. I walked over and showed the insurance to the security guard.
At that time, the perp's wife (or lady friend) walked up and asked what was going on, the driver said, "this guy claims we hit his car but he wasn't even here when we got here".. She says, "yeah we've been here at least 45 minutes!". This was in clear earshot of the 2 cops, who were listening at the time... I said, "officers, as I told you before, I've been here for almost 6 hours so could you please make sure you include her '45 minute' statement in the report?", to which they both said, "oh, we didn't hear her say anything about 45 minutes" (a clear and obvious lie). At the time, I thought I was recording, so I said, "well I got it on video so no big deal".
Fast forward a few minutes, I realize my phone isn't recording so I turn it on. 3 minutes later, now the 2 cops are over being all buddy-buddy with the perps. So I walk over.
This is where the Bambuser Video starts to get good (start at 3 minutes if link doesn't take you there). Everything before 3 minutes is just videoing the scene, nothing interesting so just skip it.
This is your first view of the fat-*** male cop (in the burgandy shirt) and the fat, old lady cop. I'd suggest reading this first because the audio isn't great and also I don't want you wasting time watching stuff that's not pertinent.
What you will hear is the male perp saying, "are you videoing", and I say "yes" and he says, "go right ahead". I say "I will". Then a short time later, the lady sees me and starts throwing a fit, now the guy gets mad and walks over the the officer (at my urging). Notice at 3:55, the perp PURPOSELY hits his hand on my rearview mirror!
Unsurprisingly, I get the officer again trying to intimidate me (this is the good part of the video, around 4:05), he "pushes" me (not touching me, but by walking towards me) toward my vehicle. At 4:14 he AGAIN attempts to grab my phone, and I say, "Don't touch my phone". He then says, "go over there", and I just say, "No"... threatens to take me to jail for "disorderly conduct", and of course he lies to me saying, "they have a right to privacy".
At 5:15, I just love the "you just don't know" as he walks away... I say, "Oh I know"...
A point here, had I actually done anything illegal, this fat pig would have arrested me, or at the very least, he actually WOULD HAVE TRESPASSED ME. So at that point, I was 100% sure I had done nothing wrong, and that he was simply swinging his tiny pig-like ***** around, trying to intimidate me.
What he didn't know is that (1) my business is in photo and video and I'm EXTREMELY well-versed in the associated laws, and (2) I've been specifically studying up on this type of situation so I could make videos to put on this Subreddit.
IMO, I put him in his place pretty well. Sorry about the finger in front of the lens, but you can tell he was RIGHT UP AGAINST ME, almost touching me, and I'm sure he was just waiting for me to move forward 1 inch so he could arrest me for "assault".
After we have the little discussion about how I haven't done anything wrong, the video is done (the rest is boring, no reason to watch). The only interesting thing is he stood there right next to me, trying to "intimidate" me for FOUR FULL MINUTES.
Now, obviously, I know he could have actually arrested me, and I would have sat in jail overnight or until Monday, and then they'd release me with no charges... so I didn't REALLY push this officer (probably a smart thing). But, I think I did a pretty good job standing up for my rights.
Oh, did I mention, they came TO ASSIST ME, and then THIS stuff happened?

TL;DR: Car got hit in parking lot, cop threatens to "take you to jail" if I don't produce my insurance card, then I started doing video of the perps, who threw a fit about "privacy", cop again threatens to take me to jail - I put him in his place (on video).

The Illinois branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is claiming a victory over Chicago’s ‘Stop & Frisk’ program, which now requires stronger reasoning before cops can stop someone on the streets. Anya Parampil speaks with the head attorney of the case, Martin Gould, about present procedures and their future.

A Kentucky state trooper has been suspended and reassigned as a result of a WAVE 3 News investigation.

Last year, the WAVE 3 Troubleshooter reported that Trooper Mitch Harris collected money for overtime he didn't appear to be working. Now, an internal affairs investigation is complete.

The trooper suffered serious consequences but did not lose his job over the incident. He also maintained his rank, but he won't have the chance to work any more of the speed patrols that earned him tens of thousands of dollars in overtime. Undercover video raised questions about whether Harris was really showing up for those shifts.

[MORE: Previous Troubleshooter investigative reports]

Harris is still on the force but off the road. He's been reassigned to the KSP Supply Branch, according to records obtained by WAVE 3 News.

Instead of handing out tickets, Harris is now handing out uniforms and equipment in a purely administrative role.

Harris wouldn't answer questions about the video, taken during three consecutive shifts last year. In the footage, Harris can be seen taking care of his business, like taking out his garbage while on duty. But Harris was not doing the police business of patrolling the I-64 work zone for which he was collecting overtime.

Those overtime shifts are paid for primarily by tax dollars and typically requested by troopers who want extra cash.

A review of work zone activity log sheets Harris had to turn in to collect the OT revealed he was paid to patrol the work zone on 253 different days dating back to 2012. Fourteen times he didn't write a single ticket. Records showed one 10-hour shift in which Harris didn't issue as much as a warning.

In all, records showed Harris collected $61,629 dollars of work zone OT, more than a year's salary.