Cop Watch

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Miami Police Take New Tack Against Terror

MIAMI (AP) — Miami police announced Monday they will stage random shows of force at hotels, banks and other public places to keep terrorists guessing and remind people to be vigilant.

Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said officers might, for example, surround a bank building, check the IDs of everyone going in and out and hand out leaflets about terror threats.

"This is an in-your-face type of strategy. It's letting the terrorists know we are out there," Fernandez said.

The operations will keep terrorists off guard, Fernandez said. He said al-Qaida and other terrorist groups plot attacks by putting places under surveillance and watching for flaws and patterns in security.

Police Chief John Timoney said there was no specific, credible threat of an imminent terror attack in Miami. But he said the city has repeatedly been mentioned in intelligence reports as a potential target.

Timoney also noted that 14 of the 19 hijackers who took part in the Sept. 11 attacks lived in South Florida at various times and that other alleged terror cells have operated in the area.

Both uniformed and plainclothes police will ride buses and trains, while others will conduct longer-term surveillance operations.

"People are definitely going to notice it," Fernandez said. "We want that shock. We want that awe. But at the same time, we don't want people to feel their rights are being threatened. We need them to be our eyes and ears."

Mary Ann Viverette, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said the Miami program is similar to those used for years during the holiday season to deter criminals at busy places such as shopping malls.

"You want to make your presence known and that's a great way to do it," said Viverette, police chief in Gaithersburg, Md. "We want people to feel they can go about their normal course of business, but we want them to be aware."

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Bad Cop, No Donut! - November 24/2005

Your weekly wrap-up of North American police brutality, misconduct and corruption.

Download audio: MP3 at 21.9 mebibytes (download torrent)

This week:

Tennessee cop arrested for selling cocaine

Minnesota cop arrested after beating girlfriend

Drunk Virginia cop threatens to shoot dog

2 NYC cops accused in sex assault of woman at home while family sleeps

Florida deputy arrested driving drunk on duty

Ontario cop arrested with 15 kilos of cocaine

Florida cop arrested for beating homeless man

New taser deaths

and much more!


Please let me know if you broadcast this program. Email: ron@ckln.fm

Produced at CKLN 88.1 FM in Toronto.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Bad Cop, No Donut! - November 17/2005



Download audio: MP3 at 22.1 mebibytes (download torrent)

This week:

North Carolina cop turned robber

Louisiana cop accused of brutality

California deputy arrested for child pornography

Officer arrested in Texas after fleeing hurricane duty in New Orleans

Oregon deputy arrested for rape

Colorado cops put man on life support

Pennsylvania cop pleads guilty to drug charge

Texas cop accused of sexually assaulting 15 year old

and much more!

Brunswick County Detention Officer Arrested



A jailer in Brunswick County was arrested and lost his job, all in the same day.

Investigators say Gerry Van Childress stole a gift card from an inmate's purse. The gift card was for the Lowe's Home Improvement store. The incident happened more than two months ago.

Investigators say the female inmate, who was in jail for DWI, realized her card was gone when she was released.

Officer Arrested After Taser Use

Champaign County - Charges have been filed against a man that normally protects and serves one area community.

The Champaign County State's Attorney's office has filed charges against Champaign County Corrections Sergeant William Alan Myers.

Myers is being charged with aggravated battery and obstruction of justice for an incident that occurred Monday night.

Myers was reported to have caused bodily harm to Ray Hsieh with a taser gun without legal justification at the correction center.

Miami Police Officer Arrested On Birthday, Charged With Bribery

MIAMI -- It wasn't quite the birthday party one Miami police officer expected when he was arrested Wednesday on felony charges of unlawful compensation.

David Donaldson
Police said David Lee Donaldson took $200 from a suspected drug dealer in exchange for inside information. Donaldson was celebrating his 50th birthday.

Authorities said Donaldson has been dealing with known drug dealers since the 1980s.

"It's always a sad day in the Miami Police Department when you have to arrest one of your own," Chief John Timoney said.

Donaldson, a 23-year Miami Police Department veteran, has been reprimanded before. He was suspended in the 1990s for unlawful compensation, official misconduct and filing false insurance claims.

In all three instances he was not prosecuted and admitted back on the force.

Attempts to reach Donaldson at his home were unsuccessful.

Donaldson was released on a bond of $7,500.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Local Teen Makes Police Brutality Claim

NBC - "He's already in handcuffs, so what more can a child make you do to pull a car over and beat my child like they did."

Porsche Calloway says Roanoke City Police beat and bruised her 16-year-old son. . . Donsha Calloway.

She showed...home video from the hospital that night, she claims proves what police did. Medical reports show X-rays were taken and treatment provided for his forehead.

Shreveport Officer Accused of Brutality

A Shreveport police officer who is no stranger to controversy is now accused of police brutality. The claims were lodged by a fellow officer and a Shreveport resident, according to Capt. Mike Clary with the department's Internal Affairs Division. News 12 has learned they concern the actions of Cpl. Kevin Strickland.

Shreveport resident Debra Turner said the alleged incident happened in late September at her home on Silver Pine Lane in southwest Shreveport. She said Strickland arrived with another officer, Cpl. Tisha Lensey, and attempted to arrest her oldest daughter, Makiya, 25.

"So when he began to handcuff her, she opened the door and she ran in and locked up in the bathroom," she said.
Turner said Strickland then turned his anger and attention toward her and another of her children, Demiya, 24.
"He's steady using force pushing me and pushing me and then he slams me on the floor."

Ex-officer to admit guilt in meth lab case

PITTSBURGH - A fired Ross police officer is expected to plead guilty today in federal court to his role in operating a small methamphetamine lab out of his Shadyside apartment, his attorney said.

Taser death ruled homicide; no charges will be filed

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) -- The death of a man who died after sheriff's deputies shocked him with a Taser was ruled a homicide Wednesday, but the district attorney will not press charges.

Timothy Mathis died last month in part because of heart failure from being shocked three to seven times with the stun gun during an altercation with Larimer County Sheriff's deputies, the coroner's office said.

However District Attorney Larry Abrahamson said there are other things beyond an autopsy report to consider when looking at homicide charges, such as intent. He ruled that force was justified in the case.

Ex-Fayetteville officer indicted on charges related to theft ring

A former Fayetteville police officer used his badge to scout out vacant homes that would be easy marks for eight others in a burglary ring, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

A federal grand jury last month indicted Jared Benjamin Parsek, 26, of Fayetteville, on 12 offenses including civil rights violations, drugs and firearms possession, and making false statements to an FBI agent, federal prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday.

Two police officers indicted after allegations of abuse

COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Two Columbia police officers have been indicted on child abuse charges after they allegedly restrained an 11-year-old boy while his stepfather spanked him, officials say.

Former New Orleans officer arrested in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- A former New Orleans police officer who resigned after being accused of abandoning his post during the Hurricane Katrina crisis was arrested while driving a stolen truck, authorities said.

Willie Earl Bickham, 39, was expected to face felony charges including unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and impersonating a police officer, said Houston police Sgt. Nate McDuell.

Bickham told Houston police he was still a New Orleans police officer. But police officials in Louisiana said Bickham resigned in early September to avoid being fired for abandoning his duties.

Bad Cop, No Donut! - November 10/2005



Download audio: MP3 at 21.4 mebibytes (download torrent)

This week:

150 armed Toronto cops protest at city hall in uniform

Montana deputy steals drugs from dead man

New Mexico cop indicted for rape of 14 year old

California cop arrested driving to work drunk

Mississippi cop charged with negligent homicide

Washington trooper convicted for groping women at traffic stops

NY cop arrested on child pornography charges

and much more!

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Bad Cop, No Donut! - November 03/2005



Download audio: MP3 at 25.6 mebibytes (download torrent)

This week:

Ohio cop facing sexual misconduct charge

Tennessee deputy arrested in drug raid

Alabama cop accused of accepting bribes

Quebec cop gets five years for sex assaults

North Carolina deputy arrested on drug charges

45 New Orleans cops fired

20 year sentence for pot growing Illinois cop

NY cop arrested for stalking ex-girlfriend

2 Philadelphia cops videotaped having sex on duty

and much more!


Please let me know if you broadcast this program. Email: ron@ckln.fm

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Bad Cop, No Donut! - October 27/2005



Download audio: MP3 at 32.5 mebibytes (download torrent)

This week:

Toronto cop guilty of misconduct

2 polygamist Arizona cops fired

Georgia deputy arrested for sex assault

Minnesota cop facing sexual misconduct trial

Indiana cops caught in videotaped on-duty sex

Chicago cop charged in fatal hit and run

Texas cop arrested for sex attack on transsexual

Colorado deputy arrested for robbing banks

NYPD detective beaten up by co-workers

and much more!