More states are cracking down on small towns using speed traps to raise money for their town or police budgets. These laws typically impose caps on how much municipalities can keep from traffic fines, with any fine revenues over a specified percentage of the town’s total budget going to the s[...]
Posts Tagged ‘Police Abuse’
August 14th, 2015 - 9:54 pm § in Uncategorized
White privilege
Joseph Parker, 34, of Revere, Massachusetts, was pulled over in a traffic stop. After threatening to kill police, he sucker-punched a 57-year-old police lieutenant, knocking him out. He kicked at the glass in a police cruiser, smashed a metal detector, and fought with the jail guards. He hurt 7 law [...]
August 10th, 2015 - 9:36 pm § in Uncategorized
Disgraced Ferguson court clerk gets a new job
Ex-Ferguson court clerk Mary Ann Twitty, who was a key player in the Ferguson police/municipal court shakedown racket that raised millions for the city budget by abusively targeting poor black residents for tickets and fines, and ultimately was fired from that job because of her racist tweets, has a[...]
August 10th, 2015 - 11:54 am § in Uncategorized
Another turgid example of stupid, thoughtless, racist profiling
“A 66-year-old University of Massachusetts-Boston professor said he was shocked when police showed up at his door three weeks ago and asked him to answer questions about a liquor store robbery,” CBS News reported today. “Robert Johnson, who is also a lawyer, told CBS Boston on Thur[...]
August 7th, 2015 - 3:07 pm § in Uncategorized
South Carolina cops strive for racial equality in their policing practices
This time, the unarmed teen guilty of nothing more than a minor drug infraction shot dead by the police was a white kid. Read story here. [...]
August 7th, 2015 - 2:56 pm § in Misc.
California cop suspended after pulling his gun on homeowner standing in his driveway
A Rohnert Park, California, cop is on on paid administrative leave after a video of his encounter with a local resident was posted on YouTube and went viral. The video shows a police car entering the cul-de-sac where resident Don McComas was standing in his driveway, slowly circling, stopping, and t[...]
August 5th, 2015 - 10:09 pm § in Misc.
What happens when cops think they’ve disabled the security cameras but missed one
Several Santa Ana, California, cops are in hot water after raiding a pot shop on May 26. First they smashed down the doors, rushed in with drawn guns, and made the customers lie face down on the floor. Then they disconnected the security cameras — except they missed one. Then they began eating[...]
August 2nd, 2015 - 8:20 pm § in Uncategorized
How St. Louis County municipalities rob poor black people
In Pagedale, Missouri, a St. Louis suburb like Ferguson, town officials raise money by slapping fines on poor black residents. Among Pagedale’s municipal ordinances, according to a local lawyer: “[Y]ou can’t have a hedge more than three feet high. You can’t have a basketbal[...]
August 2nd, 2015 - 5:57 pm § in Misc.
San Jose cop threatens black family with drawn gun for no damn reason
The San Jose, California, police department is being sued by a black family over an ugly incident of racial profiling. Emmanuel Stephens and Jasmine Whitley (pictured) had picked up their 7-year-old daughter from school and were driving home when a cop began following them. When they arrived at home[...]