police misconduct
Undercover ATF Agents Exploited and Arrested Mentally Disabled Drug Addicts
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently discovered that the ATF has misplaced guns, manipulated the mentally disabled into buying automatic weapons, and even talked some teenagers into getting neck tattoos.
Homeland Security Is Afraid of Mentally Ill Canadian Tourists
Ellen Richardson was stopped by the Department of Homeland Security from traveling to New York because she suffers from depression and tried to commit suicide in 2001. How the heck does that qualify as "border security"?
The Department of Homeland Security Helped Itself to a Journalist’s Documents
Audrey Hudson had some of her papers seized when the cops searched her house on a completely unrelated case. That doesn't seem like something that should be happening.
The Police Need to Lay Off the Mentally Ill
On October 14, a 52-year-old who had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia was shot in the stomach by a cop, even though he wasn't posing an immediate threat to anyone. This kind of incident is depressingly common.
The Horrible Quota Policy Followed by Immigrant Detention Centers
Though illegal immigration is at its lowest levels in years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) still has to keep an average of 34,000 people in custody, even if that means detaining legal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes.
Wait a Second Before Cheering a Police Shooting
Early reports suggested that a gunman, maybe even a terrorist, was attacking the Capitol in Washington, DC—but it turned out to be an unarmed, possibly disturbed woman who was killed by cops with her daughter in the back seat.
The DEA Thinks Medical Records Don't Count as "Private"
The Feds say they can peek into any records that are shared with a pharmacist, even without a warrant. This directly contradicts state law in Oregon, so the ACLU and the state are fighting back.
Did Police Screw Up During the DC Navy Yard Shooting?
Some Cops Claim a Tactical Team Was Prevented from Going In
Another Unarmed Man Meets Trigger-Happy Police
Jonathan A. Ferrell got into a car accident early Saturday morning and attempted to get help from a nearby house—but the homeowner called 911, the cops showed up, and Ferrell got shot for no reason at all.
Even the EPA Is Using SWAT Teams Now
An EPA-led task force appeared in tiny Chicken, Alaska, with body armor and guns in order to look into potential Clean Water Act violations, then later claimed they needed to be strapped up because there were drug dealers and human traffickers about.
The DEA Is Monitoring Your Phone Calls
Over the weekend, revelations that AT&T is freely sharing a massive amount of phone data with the DEA and local law enforcement agencies underlined just how connected the surveillance state is to the war on drugs.
The Cops Should Always Be on Camera
As a pilot program in Rialto, California, reveals, when cops film all their interactions with civilians and suspects, complaints against officers go down. So why aren't more departments around the country doing this?