Police

NBC News reports: The Justice Department is dismissing lawsuits against a number of local police departments and ending investigations into patterns and practices of unconstitutional behavior, officials announced Wednesday. The pullback from police oversight comes amid major change at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division since the start of the Trump administration and the confirmation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet …

The Washington Post reports: For two years, New Orleans police secretly relied on facial recognition technology to scan city streets in search of suspects, a surveillance method without a known precedent in any major American city that may violate municipal guardrails around use of the technology, an investigation by The Washington Post has found. Police increasingly use facial recognition software …

404 Media reports: Customs and Border Protection seized a shipment of t-shirts from a streetwear brand that sells an “Eliminate ICE” t-shirt and multiple shirts critical of police and capitalism. Emails seen by 404 Media indicate that the shirts are going to be shipped back to China or will be “destroyed.” Last we checked in with Cola Corporation, they were …

Reuters reports: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party was projected to win elections, broadcasters said on Saturday, in a comeback against once-resurgent conservatives powered by concerns about the influence of U.S. President Donald Trump. Supporters at Labor’s election party in Sydney cheered and hugged as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Sky News Australia announced Labor was likely to …

Fresh Take Florida reports: Florida’s new Halo Law, the controversial statute intended to protect law enforcement from harassment, went into effect at the start of this year. Now the first people arrested and prosecuted under it say they were left in the dark. At least 11 people so far have been arrested on charges of violating the new law, which …

404 Media reports: The Los Angeles Police Department obtained video footage from a Waymo driverless car as part of its investigation into a hit-and-run in which a separate, human-driven car hit a pedestrian. The LAPD published the footage, which has a note on it that reads “Waymo Confidential Commercial Information,” on its YouTube page to ask the public for help …

404 Media reports: American police departments near the United States-Mexico border are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for an unproven and secretive technology that uses AI-generated online personas designed to interact with and collect intelligence on “college protesters,” “radicalized” political activists, and suspected drug and human traffickers, according to internal documents, contracts, and communications 404 Media obtained via public …

Courthouse News reports: In a Supreme Court application docketed Tuesday, the group of four Seattle police officers explained that they had attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. Just hours after Trump’s remarks at that event, a group of his supporters breached the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to halt the congressional certification of then-President-elect …

The Vermont Digger reports: A Shelburne police sergeant had a YouTube video playing on a computer tablet mounted in his cruiser when he struck and killed a cyclist in South Burlington, according to documents filed in support of a felony charge against him. Kyle Kapitanski, 41, is set to be arraigned Thursday in Chittenden County Superior criminal court in Burlington …

The Hill reports: The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) announced it had been gifted the country’s first fleet of Tesla Cybertrucks for law enforcement use. During an address, LVMPD said an unnamed donor gifted the department at least 10 Cybertrucks to use for patrol and SWAT teams. “By the way, we ordered these before the Trump Tower [explosion]” Sheriff …

Cincinnati Public Radio reports: The Evendale Police Department Tuesday released body camera footage of officers’ response to a Feb. 7 neo-Nazi demonstration and counter-protest on the Vision Way overpass near Lincoln Heights. The 16 hours of footage shows Evendale officers and Hamilton County Sheriff deputies pull up to the scene where roughly a dozen members of the hate group were …

Gothamist reports: Former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban’s twin brother impersonated him on multiple occasions while visiting the 34th precinct as part of a scheme to influence nightlife enforcement in Washington Heights, according to a complaint filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The complaint alleges that James Caban, a former police officer, had a close relationship with Inspector Aneudy …

Gothamist reports: A state trooper staged his own shooting on the Southern State Parkway in Nassau County in October — firing into his own leg, state police and local prosecutors said. When Trooper Thomas Mascia reported that he’d been shot, it set off a dayslong, multi-state manhunt for a vehicle and driver that authorities have since said he made up …

Florida Politics reports: At least 15 civilian review boards across Florida, which review investigations of potential law enforcement misconduct after they’re completed, have dissolved or temporarily ceased operations after a new law targeting the panels took effect. The law assures that only law enforcement agencies will investigate reports of misconduct by law enforcement officers. Backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the …

The Guardian reports: At least eight deputies with the Los Angeles sheriff’s department have been dismissed for their roles in the arrest and beating of a transgender man in February 2023, the Los Angeles Times reports. An FBI investigation remains ongoing. Deputy Joseph Benza III, the main officer involved in the incident with then 23-year-old Emmett Brock, pleaded guilty in …

NBC News reports: Shane Lamond, the former head of the Metropolitan Police intelligence unit in Washington who was indicted last year for feeding information to a Proud Boys leader, was found guilty on Monday. Proud Boys chief Enrique Tarrio is serving 22 years after being convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. …

The New York Daily News reports: NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey resigned abruptly Friday night amid bombshell allegations from a female NYPD lieutenant who accused him of predatory sexual harassment, the Daily News has learned. In allegations that surfaced Saturday, Quathisha Epps claims that Maddrey repeatedly demanded sex from her and then paid her back by approving massive amounts …

San Diego’s NBC affiliate reports: San Diego police and paramedics were called out Friday afternoon after a fatal dog attack in a city park. Two people were attacked around noon, one man by his own three dogs in Mesa Viking Park just off Westonhill Drive, according to SDPD. A witness told NBC 7 that the man was being mauled when …

NBC News reports: As President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration solidifies its plan for mass deportations, local law enforcement agencies are preparing to ramp up a controversial program that allows them to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The 287(g) program empowers state and local law enforcement officers to help enforce federal immigration law and will likely be one of the …

Dayton’s CBS affiliate reports: Clark County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant John Rodgers has worked at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for more than 20 years and currently serves as the Road Patrol Supervisor, but recent posts have him, and the department, in hot water. Rodgers made posts that he would factor in a person’s voting record, in regard to the presidential …