Welcome to UNKNOWN NEWS "News that's not known, or not known enough."
Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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This is our archive of bad cop reports.
For more recent reports, please visit our main page or scroll the sidebar to the right.

Police Chief gives SWAT team honors for bravery in gunfight and raid on wrong house

Cops taser severely injured teen 19 times "to keep him from getting hurt"

Jail inmate tasered to death in Charlotte

Cop accused of tasering handcuffed man to death may face charges

Cop might not get away with tackling cyclist, since the video's on YouTube
 
Cop's report of incident is utterly at odds with YouTube video

Law professor and cop agree: Never ever
ever ever ever ever ever talk to the cops
about a crime, even if you're innocent


SWAT team in drug raid at Mayor's house shoots dog in the back

Scores of black men were tortured into
giving false confessions by Chicago Police,
and remain behind bars today


Police sue AOL to finger critical blogger

Police taser newlyweds during wedding reception

Mother horrified as police shoot family dog, mace baby

For tasering kid for 37 seconds, triggering fatal heart attack, cop gets five-day suspension

Cop who killed black guy actually faces trial

Police use injections to subdue 'unruly' citizens

Cops use forfeiture policy to get free car rentals

Blind woman with cancer is tazed by police in her home

Police officer gives himself $21,000 raise using stop sign tickets

Police investigation finds that
forcibly removing inmate's clothes
wasn't a strip search


Ex-FBI agent arrested in plot to rob Orange County 'narcotics stash pad'

Cop won't be fired despite videotaped beating of shackled 60-year-old drunk

What happens to all that money and stuff that's seized by police?

Cops unlawfully arrest man for photography

Police sergeant arrested in stripping, fondling, spanking

Six deputies are put on leave after "the closest thing to
an assassination attempt" witness says he's ever seen


Dallas police find fifty pounds of cocaine in car used by officers

Police Dept either ignored evidence or doesn't understand how email works

Website reports lawbreaking by
Boston Police, so cops investigate
website (not the allegations)


Cop gets probation for beating up little boys

Cop who machine-gunned another cop gets three-day suspension

Cop gets 90 days in jail for killing un-armed, mentally disabled man

Crooked cop (now an air marshal) gets probation in fake cocaine scandal

Perv cop gets probation -- says high school boy "seduced him"

Police officer, fired for tazering handcuffed man, gets his job back

Homeowner freed after beating up cops

Jail guards in home invasion, burglary, and savage beating get ... probation

Police Chief forges documents, steals house -- gets probation

... and more cops you won't see on TV's Cops

Cop gets probation for embezzling from Fraternal Order of Police

Guard who fondled himself in front of busload
of schoolgirls gets probation, remains on active duty


 Some related resources we recommend:

American Civil Liberties Union:
I wish they had the funding and attitude to fight harder, but they do accomplish a lot of good.

America's toughest Sheriff?
The truth about nutty Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Bad Cop News:
A dang fine ongoing overview of cop corruption and abuse of authority in the news.

Bad Cop, No Donut:
A regular feature on The Bitter End radio show.

Black Robed Hooliganism: Does for judges what 'Stinky Badges' does for cops -- good coverage of the bad news.

Cops Suck!:
Another fine collection of not-so-fine cops.

CopWatch:
This is the big, national group that fights police abuse, brutality, and corruption, with lots of local chapters. It started with Berkeley Copwatch, and that's probably still their best local group. "Policing the police."

The Copwatch Database:
A permanent, searchable repository of complaints filed against police officers.

Flex Your Rights:
Protect your rights during police encounters

The Innocence Project:
Last chance after a guilty verdict.

Judicial Transparency now and San Diego Judges:
These sites track crooked judges, focused in the San Diego area.

More Bad Cop News:
Perhaps the most comprehensive collection of cop crimes

Meet up with others who care about police misconduct

Michaelbradford.com keeps a sharp, skeptical eye on the cops in California's Santa Clara county.

National Lawyers Guild: Lawyers with consciences.

PoliceAbuse.org: Well-funded organization runs video stings of police operations.

PoliceCrimes.com: News and information on police brutality and criminality.

PoliceCrimes.com: Real cover-up and corruption by law enforcement. Real family frustration and heartbreak.

Roadblocks:
What to expect and how to handle the situation

Truth in Justice, an educational non-profit organized to educate the public regarding the vulnerabilities in the U. S. criminal justice system that make the criminal conviction of wholly innocent persons possible

When the police don't take no for an answer
by Claire Wolfe, Backwoods Home Magazine
   
  Unknown News
This is who we are,
what we do, and why we do it
.
 

"Nothing will eliminate [police corruption]. As long as you have police officers, you always have the potential for corruption. As long as you have human beings, there is potential for crime."

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton

Why we're doing this

Cops are very nearly worshipped in our society. On endless TV shows, in movies, police procedural novels, in the newspapers and on the nightly news, police are usually presented as virtue personified -- as if it's heroic to button up a blue shirt and pin on a badge.

It's not.

What some cops do while wearing the uniform makes them heroes ... and what other cops do, on-duty and off, reveals them as thugs.

Well, if you're looking for more news of police heroism, you've come to the wrong place. If you want to be told that the policeman is your friend, that cops are the good guys and robbers are the bad guys, you'll find such reassurance on every 'news network,' in every newscast around the clock, and in every cop show from Dragnet to NYPD Blue.

This page serves a different purpose, for anyone brave enough to face facts:

All cops are not heroes.

But because of the myth that "all cops are heroes," there's minimal call for disciplining bad cops, and maximal call for "forgiving," and "understanding" the tough work of being a cop.

And that's despicable. And terrifying.

Police work is tough. It's among the most difficult jobs in the world. And turning a blind eye toward police misconduct -- allowing crooked, corrupt, outright criminal cops to have long careers in law enforcement -- only makes it more difficult and dangerous for the good cops.

Letting cops get away with crime ...

... Or "punishing" police misconduct with long, leisurely paid suspensions ...

... Or probation ...

... Or sweet deals that allow a policeman's own police record to be expunged ...

... Or any of the other special treatments cops typically receive when they're accused of wrong-
doing ...

... is assinine and counterproductive.

We'd like to see good cops get a raise, and bad cops held accountable for their crimes.

Any other policy is an invitation to savages and brutes -- to button up a blue shirt, pin on a badge, and break the law with impunity.

--Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
The bad news we're presenting here is, of course, only the tip of the tip of the iceberg.

As with any crime, only a tiny fraction of police misconduct is ever caught, and we can only guess what fraction of what's caught actually makes it into the newspapers, and of the rare police misconduct that is reported in the media, surely we stumble across only a tiny sliver.

Of that sliver, these are just a few selected highlights.


We welcome your clippings and comments; please send them to unknownnews at myway.com.



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Our front page is free from nudity and profanity, but interior pages and external links may not be safe for work, and you may be shocked, offended, or in trouble with your boss. A link doesn't imply that we agree with every sentence and every sentiment on every site we link to. We use our noggins, and suggest you use yours.

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