Octopus Overlords

For two years, the FBI has followed and harassed Refaie as part of an apparent effort to recruit him to become an informant or cooperate in some way with counterterrorism investigations. The FBI has more than 15,000 informants today, many working because they have been coerced or threatened by criminal prosecution or immigration enforcement. Classified FBI policy documents published by The Intercept in January revealed the often heavy-handed methods used by the government to recruit informants, including so-called threat assessments as “a means to induce him/her into becoming a recruited [informant] mainly through identifying that person’s motivations and vulnerabilities.” What’s unique about Refaie’s interactions with the FBI is that he recorded and documented the conversations and events that led to his indictment. The FBI did not respond to a request for comment or a list of questions about Refaie’s case.

A Bronx cop has been indicted on 67 counts related to paying a teenage girl for sex and recording the encounter, seven months after police raided his apartment.

The authorities seized Officer Raul Olmeda's computer, multiple external hard drives, his phone, and a video camera, reportedly obtaining recordings of his sexual encounters.

Nevertheless, the New York Police Department (NYPD) kept Olmeda on the job, where he was able to keep tabs on the Internal Affairs investigation of him. Prosecutors claim that Olmeda was even able to have sex with the teenager two more times after the raid. Olmeda is also under investigation for tax fraud.
...
There is absolutely no reason Olmeda should have been allowed to remain on the force and abuse his access and power to monitor his investigation. No reason, that is, except that the NYPD's union contract keeps the department from summarily dismissing officers who misbehave.

Instead, such officers are placed on desk duty, as Olmeda was. That only gave him more spare time to follow his own investigation and potentially try to impede it.

Continuing to pay problem cops also soaks up resources that could be used to hire better officers. Instead, a culture like the one at the 42nd Precinct festers, as bad cops remain on the force and continue to corrupt their environments.

Brian wrote:The officer who arrested the nurse in Utah has been fired.

Payne's supervisor, Lt. James Tracy, was also demoted to officer. His lawyer, Ed Brass, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Moliere wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:46 pmIs it wrong to be relieved that it is a black cop beating up black students?

A sheriff's deputy is accused of stealing from the empty house of a dying man while Hurricane Irma put south Florida in a state of emergency. The incident was caught on security video...

...Here is how the affidavit describes the incident:
Cooke, in uniform, arrived at Rosoff's home about an hour and a half after the other deputies left.

The home's surveillance camera alerted Jay Rosoff and his brother Steven that there was movement inside their father's home. They immediately watched the footage, and said they saw Cooke enter the home through the garage. The deputy learned the entry code by listening to the initial call, officials said.

The video shows Cooke go into the master bedroom, the documents say, but it is unknown what he did there because the camera is in the common area. He reappears a couple of minutes later as he walks from the bedroom to the kitchen. Cooke picks up an item that seems to be a container and empties it on his hand before putting it in his pocket, the documents say, adding that he does this again with a second item and proceeds to inspect the kitchen cabinets and drawers.

Cooke disappears as he goes to the rooms in the front of the house. He later reappears walking back to the garage and is seen holding his hand on his mouth as if he were consuming something, the documents say.

The deputy left the home minutes after he entered it.

When the car was stopped for a minor traffic violation, it was discovered that both adults had outstanding warrants for routine misdemeanor offenses. Upon arresting the women, the officer contacted DHS claiming that the child was “abandoned” as a result of the women being detained. The baby’s grandmother arrived on the scene within minutes, yet the officer still insisted that the child be taken before Judge [John] Shirley at the Pearl Youth Court. Less than half an hour later, Judge Shirley awarded custody to the baby’s grandmother. An order was later entered prohibiting “Mother A” from having any contact with her baby until court fees were paid in full.

The mother has been forbidden from any contact with her newborn for 14 of the 18 months the child has been alive. After reaching out to the MacArthur Center, an attorney there looked into the matter and found other cases in which the judge had barred poor people from seeing their children until they paid off court fines.

Michael D. LaPorta was shot in the head with a bullet from Officer Patrick Kelly’s service weapon on Jan. 12, 2010. The two had been close friends, and the shooting happened in Kelly’s home after the two men had gone out drinking with Kelly’s co-workers.

As he awaited the verdict to be read, LaPorta held his mother’s hand. After jurors announced their decision, he fist-bumped his attorneys in celebration.

“I feel whole again,” he tells CBS 2’s Dave Savini, who has long followed the case.

The city of Chicago is on the hook for $15 million, with the balance to be paid by private insurance, Savini reports. The award does not include another $10 million in attorneys’ fees.

“if y’all, this is how I feel, if y’all think I did it, I know that I didn’t do it so why don’t you just give me a lawyer dog cause this is not what’s up.”

Federal authorities have arrested Frank Nucera Jr., who until recently was chief of Bordentown Township Police Department. They allege the now-retired officer referred to African-Americans using various racial slurs and instructed his officers to position police dogs at high school basketball games in order to intimidate African-American patrons, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday.

(Warning: This story contains offensive racial slurs.)

Nucera Jr., 60, is facing a hate crime charge and a federal civil rights charge...

...“These n****rs are like ISIS, they have no value,” Nucera allegedly said. “They should line them all up and mow ’em down. I’d like to be on the firing squad, I could do it. I used to think about if I could shoot someone or not, I could do it, I’m tired of it.”

Nucera also “instructed police officers to bring canines to certain games and position the canine vehicles at the entrance to the gymnasium in order to intimidate African American patrons,” according to the FBI. In another instance, Nucera allegedly told an officer to walk a police dog through an apartment complex to African-American residents see him.

LAPD body-camera video played in court Thursday directly contradicts an officer’s sworn testimony in the case of a man arrested after a hit-and-run accident, a CBS2 News investigation has learned.

And a defense attorney even claims the video proves an officer planted drugs on the man.

LAPD officer Samuel Lee left a Van Nuys courtroom Thursday after a defense attorney showed Los Angeles Police Department bodycam video that he says caught the officer in a lie. The officer had no comment.

“He looked dumbstruck to me,” attorney Steve Levine said. “Period. He had really no answer.”

dbt1949 wrote:Wish they would replace all the bad cops overnight with goods ones. Is that too much to ask?

Moliere wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:40 pm Detroit police officers brawl during undercover drug bust gone wrong

What happens when undercover cops try to buy drugs from a different set of undercover cops. Hilarity!

Empowered by the city councils in Coachella and Indio, the law firm Silver & Wright has repeatedly filed criminal charges against residents and businesses for public nuisance crimes – like overgrown weeds, a junk-filled yard or selling popsicles without a business license – then billed them thousands of dollars to recoup expenses. Coachella leaders said this week they will reconsider the criminal prosecutions strategy, but the change only came after defense attorneys challenged the city in court, saying the privatized prosecutors are forcing exorbitant costs on unsuspecting residents.

“Fixing his house was just a side effect. Collecting this money was always their goal,” said attorney Shaun Sullivan, who represents Garcia in a lawsuit seeking to erase his $31,000 bill from Silver & Wright.

“They saw a potential payday and jumped at it," Sullivan added. "When it’s this easy, and this lucrative, they are going to look for ways and opportunities to do this as often as possible.”

Through an extensive review of public records, The Desert Sun has identified 18 cases in which Indio and Coachella charged defendants more than $122,000 in “prosecution fees” since the cities hired Silver & Wright as prosecutors a few years ago. With the addition of code enforcement fees, administration fees, abatement fees, litigation fees and appeal fees, the total price tag rises to more than $200,000.

Moliere wrote: ↑Thu Apr 27, 2017 1:09 pm How do you pat down and search every student at a high school and find no drugs? That seems statistically improbable.

Moliere wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 3:04 pm

Moliere wrote: ↑Thu Apr 27, 2017 1:09 pm How do you pat down and search every student at a high school and find no drugs? That seems statistically improbable.

If the cops "confiscate" everything they find.

Moliere wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:30 pm Bronx Cop Kept Job After Authorities Found Video of Sex With Underage Girl

A Bronx cop has been indicted on 67 counts related to paying a teenage girl for sex and recording the encounter, seven months after police raided his apartment.

The authorities seized Officer Raul Olmeda's computer, multiple external hard drives, his phone, and a video camera, reportedly obtaining recordings of his sexual encounters.

Nevertheless, the New York Police Department (NYPD) kept Olmeda on the job, where he was able to keep tabs on the Internal Affairs investigation of him. Prosecutors claim that Olmeda was even able to have sex with the teenager two more times after the raid. Olmeda is also under investigation for tax fraud.
...
There is absolutely no reason Olmeda should have been allowed to remain on the force and abuse his access and power to monitor his investigation. No reason, that is, except that the NYPD's union contract keeps the department from summarily dismissing officers who misbehave.

Instead, such officers are placed on desk duty, as Olmeda was. That only gave him more spare time to follow his own investigation and potentially try to impede it.

Continuing to pay problem cops also soaks up resources that could be used to hire better officers. Instead, a culture like the one at the 42nd Precinct festers, as bad cops remain on the force and continue to corrupt their environments.

Today in Chicago, Judge Leroy Martin threw out the convictions of 15 men in what defense attorneys call a landmark decision and the "first mass exoneration" in Cook County. The men, who all served prison terms, claim they were framed by former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts and officers under his command. One of the men, Leonard Gipson, spent four years in prison and says Watts would demand money and then drugs on a person and arrest them if he was not paid.

Four years ago, Watts was convicted of extorting money from a drug dealer who turned out to be an FBI informant. Prosecutors in the Cook County State's Attorney office said after reviewing the cases of the 15 men, the office didn't have confidence in the police reports and testimony. They asked the court to throw those cases out and said they are looking into several more that are tied to Watts' command.

Moliere wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:31 pm

Chicago OOers, have fun paying for more police lawsuits.

Rip wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2017 2:05 pm I wouldn't worry about it too much. Once you have a few days of riots the feds will rush in with a bunch of resources.

Moliere wrote:Can't pay the $55 court fee? Spend 27 days in jail at a taxpayer cost of $2400. Another example of poor people getting the criminal justice system shaft and the taxpayer footing the bill.

Moliere wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2017 4:16 pm Can't pay the $55 court fee? Spend 27 days in jail at a taxpayer cost of $2400. Another example of poor people getting the criminal justice system shaft and the taxpayer footing the bill.

Moliere wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2017 4:16 pm Can't pay the $55 court fee? Spend 27 days in jail at a taxpayer cost of $2400. Another example of poor people getting the criminal justice system shaft and the taxpayer footing the bill.

“Fixing his house was just a side effect. Collecting this money was always their goal,” said attorney Shaun Sullivan, who represents Garcia in a lawsuit seeking to erase his $31,000 bill from Silver & Wright.

“They saw a potential payday and jumped at it," Sullivan added. "When it’s this easy, and this lucrative, they are going to look for ways and opportunities to do this as often as possible.”

Through an extensive review of public records, The Desert Sun has identified 18 cases in which Indio and Coachella charged defendants more than $122,000 in “prosecution fees” since the cities hired Silver & Wright as prosecutors a few years ago. With the addition of code enforcement fees, administration fees, abatement fees, litigation fees and appeal fees, the total price tag rises to more than $200,000.

In most of those cases, the disparity between the crime and the cost is staggering. Defendants who faced no jail time and were fined only a few hundred dollars ended up paying five or ten times that much to prosecutors who attended a couple of court hearings.