Robinson challenged the police officers’ assertions and was ultimately arrested for failure to produce an ID and for violating Norfolk’s film ordinance. The latter charge was later changed to disorderly conduct.

The judge found Robinson not guilty of both refusing to identify himself and disorderly conduct. Most of the incident was captured on film, since Robinson’s camera remained on during the confrontation with police.


...


“Law enforcement personnel need to understand that they do not operate secretly when performing their duties in public places,” added Fitzpatrick. “They can and should be observed by all of us, and they can be filmed. We hope this case will send a message to police across the state that everyone has a First Amendment right to take pictures in public places—including pictures of the police.”

My house getting hit by mistake. Family got pulled out of bed at gunpoint.

"what happened there?!"

"fingers."

"We just woke some people up in there."

"I know I'm thinking Oh ****! Pointing guns?"

"Yep."

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A former state Department of Justice drug agent accused his colleagues last year of illegally modifying their state-issued rifles, according to emails the agency released Thursday.

The Associated Press obtained the emails through an open records request for materials related to former Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Dan Bethards. DOJ fired Bethards in October after he accused his supervisor of weapons violations.

Bethards wrote in a January 2013 email to DCI Administrator Dave Matthews that multiple agents were shortening the barrels on their state-issued and personal rifles without registering the modifications with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Bethards didn't name any agents but alleged multiple agents were guilty of federal felonies.

DOJ spokeswoman Dana Brueck said the ATF investigated the allegations and determined one weapon had been improperly modified. The gun was reconfigured to conform with ATF regulations and no one was disciplined, she said.

"The facts in this matter convinced us (the) agent had acted in 'good faith' and inadvertently violated compliance regulations," Brueck said. "We brought the matter to the ATF's attention, and it was immediately remedied."

DOJ officials also told the agency's firearms instructor and SWAT team leaders to be certain that weapon changes comply with federal regulations and to consult with ATF on modifications, Brueck said.

Bethards said in a text to the AP that he was surprised ATF let the violation go without charges.

"I wonder if Joe Citizen would get that same opportunity?" he wrote...

The number of no-knock raids has escalated to more than 40,000 a year according to Bradley Balko, author of Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America and increases the likelihood of additional confrontations between SWAT teams operating under no-knock warrants and innocents who find themselves being targeted at home. As Balko wrote in his introduction:

Americans have long maintained that a man’s home is his castle and that he has the right to defend it from unlawful intruders.

Unfortunately, that right may be disappearing.

FILER • A dog is dead, and its owner is alleging trigger-happy police work after a Filer officer shot the animal Saturday outside his home.

Police, however, say the dog was aggressive and had to be put down.

Rick Clubb said Monday that his son’s 9th birthday party was wrapping up about 5:30 p.m. when Officer Tarek Hassani came to his home on Jacklyne Circle on complaints of dogs running at-large.

He shot the 7-year-old black labrador, “Hooch,” Clubb said, though it showed no aggressive behavior.

Clubb said he suffers Parkinson’s disease, and Hooch was his trained service animal.

“He didn’t have to pull out his .45 and shoot my dog,” Clubb said. “It was right outside my son’s bedroom. What if it had ricocheted through the window?”

According to the St. Louis County's website, the Tactical Operations Unit's duties include responding to "hostage negotiations, barricaded suspects, search warrants, and any unusual situation or event that requires the use of specialized training and tactics."

The site also says the unit's duties include "crowd control," which explains why military camouflage-clad officers were arresting Monsanto protesters.

When asked why the Tactical Operations Unit wears camouflage uniforms for these duties, Pleviak says, "It's a safety issue."

He adds: "Would you rather have officers who are trying to resolve an issue be out in a bright orange uniform where they can be seen by everybody and be a possible target to somebody who has already targeted someone else in either a homicide or a robbery or a domestic situation where they're holding a gun to their spouse's head?"

Other units also don the camouflage pants, including the canine unit that, among other duties, conducts drug searches in public schools. As Daily RFT reported last week, a video was made by Oakville High School about its "school sniff" that featured camo-clad officers walking through school hallways with German shepherds looking for drugs.

But Sargeant Gerald Lohr, supervisor of the canine unit, explains that was just an accident -- his officers usually wear regular brown pants as their uniform, but camouflage when they do their weekly training. Oakville High School happened to call them on a training day.

"When we train, we don't wear our regular police uniforms. We tend to be out tracking in the wood, and we don't want to tear up our duty uniforms," Lohr says.

The topic of police militarization has even inspired the ACLU to start a project to investigate the amount of money and types of military-style machinery used by police departments, including St. Louis County and City. And people in cities around the country, such as Concord City, New Hampshire, have protested their police to not obtain armored vehicles, such as the $360,000 Lenco Bearcat that county police bought in 2012.

Some of the New Hampshire protesters' signs read "More Mayberry, Less Fallujah" and "Thanks But No Tanks!" reported the Wall Street Journal.

But do military-style uniforms and armored vehicles mean the St. Louis County police department is becoming militarized?

Not to Pleviak.

I verbally objected to an unconstitutional search of my vehicle in Electra, Texas. Police officers Matt Wood and Gary Ellis maliciously responded by issuing me two false citations. I got a copy of the dashboard-camera video at the pretrial hearing. It showed all. City attorney Todd Greenwood demanded I give my copy of the evidence back, and tried to have me arrested when I refused.

Todd Greenwood then compared rural Texas to the movie Deliverance, and warned me "What's written down in the Constitution is one thing, and the real practice is another."

All charges dropped. Section 1983 anyone?

Simona Tibu was beaten within an inch of her life after a routine traffic stop. This Camrose dentist, says that the assault occurred after she was driving home from work, and was pulled over by an Alberta sheriff for speeding. She has now launched a formal plea to see charges filed against the officer.

(WJBK) -
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office has decided not to charge the officer whose gun somehow went off during a party at his house in July of 2012. The gunfire killed 24-year-old Adaisha Miller. A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office says not enough evidence exists to charge the officer. The family's attorney disagrees.

"You don't have a loaded gun without a safety concealed in your pants at a party where people are drinking, where people are partying, where people are dancing," says Gerald Thurswell, the family's attorney.

"He was negligent. He was negligent with his weapon. He's responsible for it," says Yolanda McNair, Adaisha's mother.

he Moriarty Police Department had Tammy Cessna's van towed last Tuesday to process it for evidence. The police chief said they didn't "feel the need" to get a search warrant at that time, because there wasn't "probable cause."

Cessna's family said they told police to look at the van right away, but they claim they were ignored.

"I kept telling them over and over she was in the van. I knew she was in the van," said Wendy Cessna, Tammy Cessna's sister.

Investigators finally checked the van Saturday, five days after taking possession of it. They found Tammy Cessna and say it looked like she'd been beaten to death.

Mark Chavez, a man Tammy Cessna had been dating, was arrested for murder.

SAN DIEGO - A series of sexually suggestive posters hung in the San Diego Police Department's sex crimes unit in 2011, as Officer Anthony Arevalos patrolled the streets trading tickets for sexual favors.

Team 10 discovered the posters while investigating San Diego police culture now that another San Diego police officer is under investigation for sexually assaulting women while on duty. The posters' existence had been reported, but they had never been seen by the public until now.

Two of the posters make light of women victimized by the date rape drug rohypnol. Other posters celebrate sex acts, binge drinking and female anatomy.

SAN DIEGO - A suspended San Diego police officer was arrested Sunday on suspicion of sexual battery and false imprisonment of women while on duty.
Christopher Hays, 30, decorated for bravery in 2012, was arrested at 1:30 p.m. after voluntarily surrendering.
He was booked into county jail on suspicion of three misdemeanor counts of sexual battery and two felony counts of false imprisonment with violence, according to jail records. The arrest was announced by Chief Bill Lansdowne.
"This officer, if the allegations prove true, will go to prison," Lansdowne said.
Hays was released on $130,000 bail, according to jail records.
He received a medal in 2012 for dashing into a burning building to save a woman who was trapped on the second floor. He also served with the Marines in Iraq as a lance corporal. He has been on the police department for four years.
At least five women have accused Hays of assaulting them while they were being searched, Lansdowne said.
One of the incidents allegedly occurred during a domestic violence call. Others involved a shoplifting suspect, a homeless woman and a woman interviewed during a street patrol.
The first allegation was made in December when a woman came to the Police Department. Investigation then revealed other incidents, Lansdowne said.

2/7/14 Jacksonville Florida.
While out making some public records request, Thomas and I decided to stop at a hot dog stand for lunch. As we were eating I noticed the VA Clinic 404 | Page Not Found... across the street and the large number of Security Guards and Federal Police standing around. When we finished eating I decided to break out my camera and take a few pictures of the VA Clinic as a first amendment test. In less than one minute I was confronted by both security and police who told me it was illegal to take photos of the clinic. One of the uniformed men who I believe was a Federal Officer even threatened to "take my camera".

An off-duty Chicago cop who apparently struck a female cyclist with his truck while drunk, fled the scene, and then lied about the incident on a police report, was acquitted of both felony charges he faced: leaving the scene of an accident and filing a false police report. However, last Thursday Cook County Judge James Linn did find Officer Michael Bergeson, 34, guilty of misdemeanor failing to provide aid and information at an accident involving injury.

Florida trooper who pulled over 120mph police officer sues for $500,000 after 'his colleagues harassed her' when he lost his job

Florida trooper Donna Jane Watts pulled over Miami's Fausto Lopez in 2011
She handcuffed him, making national headlines, and he was later fired
Since then she says officers have run illegal searches on her license
There were also alleged prank calls and police cars idling outside her home
She is suing police agencies and officers over the searches for $2,500 a time