fuckin-cops

Now Sheriffs Will Choose What Laws to Enforce Because That's What Sheriffs Think the Constitution Says

Hamilton Nolan · 01/25/13 04:03PM

As all schoolchildren know, the Firsteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads, "No law passed by the federal government may be enforced UNLESS it is cool with a bunch of sheriffs of rural counties." Leave it to the NObama administration to flagrantly ignore this Divine Right of Random Sheriffs to Decide About the Legality All Laws Based on Just Whatever Pops Into Their Heads.

Ending Unconstitutional 'Stop and Frisks' Would Be Too Much Hassle for Cops, Says Judge

Hamilton Nolan · 01/23/13 11:11AM

Sometimes the American justice system is too complex even for trained bloggers, so someone please feel free to explain to us the moral rationale for this sequence of events: the NYPD has a "stop and frisk" program, expressly designed to harass minorities without probable cause, which is clearly unconstitutional. Earlier this month, a federal judge finally ruled that the NYPD would have to stop its stop and frisk program in a certain area, because it is, you know, unconstitutional. Now, that judge says that the NYPD can resume that same stop and frisk program temporarily, because—write this on your yellow legal pad, law students—stopping this unconstitutional program would be too much hassle, for the cops.

Homeless Man Charged with Assault After NYPD Taped Beating Him Up

Max Read · 10/15/12 03:27PM

Last week, two NYPD officers arrived at the Aliya Institute on East New York Ave. on the border of Crown Heights in Brooklyn. They were responding to reports of a trespassing homeless man, later identified as Ehud H. Halevi. Halevi argued briefly with the police, and then, as you can see from the video above, they beat the shit out of him — punching him, hitting him with a nightstick, and pepper spraying him. He was later charged with assault on a police officer.

Ray Kelly Does Not Care About Black People

Hamilton Nolan · 07/11/12 12:40PM

Ray Kelly, the head of the NYPD, is just so full of shit. His police department has a massive "stop and frisk" program which, by the NYPD's own statistics, is existentially programmed to stop and frisk hundreds and hundreds of thousands of completely innocent young black and Latino men with no real cause. It is a minority dragnet, so blatantly racist that not even the police chief can quibble on that point. He can merely say: it's for the black people's own good.

'Stop and Frisk' Is Basically a Black Guy Harassment Program

Hamilton Nolan · 05/10/12 08:53AM

The NYPD's "stop and frisk" program has garnered criticism in the past, in part because it is essentially one big "Racism License: Hunt Anyone That Your Personal Prejudices Cause You to Deem as 'Suspicious' At Will" license for NYPD officers, who are not, as a group, known for their unerring sense of racial fairness. In other news, the numbers show the stop and frisk program is being used racist-ly.

You're Damn Right the Cops Are Giving that Waitress Her $12,000 Tip Back

Hamilton Nolan · 04/06/12 08:47AM

Stacy Knutson, a waitress at The Fryn' Pan restaurant in Moorhead, Minnesota, is exceptionally honest. When a customer left $12,000 in cash in a takeout container on one of Knutson's tables, she followed the customer out into the parking lot and tried to return it. The customer said, quote, "No, I am good, you keep it." Okay, so, what is the problem here?

New Rape Cop Emerges Right on Time

Hamilton Nolan · 04/02/12 03:55PM

It's been five days since former NYPD officer Michael Pena was found guilty of drunkenly sexually assaulting a Manhattan woman at gunpoint. Is New York ready for a week without a rape cop?

Rape Cop Guilty For a Change

Hamilton Nolan · 03/28/12 08:40AM

NYPD officer Michael Pena was found guilty of sexual assault yesterday for drunkenly kidnapping a Manhattan woman off the street and sexually assaulting her in an alleyway last summer. Pena's novel "didn't mean to" defense apparently did not work. Huh.

Rape Cop: My Rape Was Only Attempted Rape, So Chill

Hamilton Nolan · 03/16/12 08:48AM

Last summer, police say, off duty NYPD officer Michael Pena, drunk late at night, grabbed a Manhattan woman off the street, pulled her behind a building, and raped her at gunpoint. This case, which could be just another NYPD Rape Cop case, is remarkable for its wondrous levels of twisted logic.

The Harrowing Before-and-After Photos of Two Years in Solitary

Max Read · 01/27/12 01:24PM

On the left: Stephen Slevin in 2005, when he was arrested in New Mexico's Dona Ana County on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving a stolen vehicle (Slevin says the car was lent to him by a friend). On the right: Slevin in 2007, just before he was released after spending nearly all of two years in solitary confinement in the county jail.

Genius Cops Caught Apparently Planting Evidence By Own Dash Camera

Max Read · 01/03/12 12:40PM

Here's a video of two Utica, N.Y. police officers searching a car during a traffic stop. At 1:02, one officer pulls a small baggie of something out of his pocket and ducks into the car; at 1:31, he emerges again, holding the same baggie. Oops! (Update: Police have responded, saying that the full video shows the officer had previously found the baggie on the suspect and placed it in his pocket.)

Busted Drunk Bus Cop Too Drunk to Ride Bus

Hamilton Nolan · 12/30/11 09:33AM

Here you see (an extremely uncooperative) Carlos Fabara, an NYPD sergeant of 14 years experience, being hauled off a Greyhound bus and arrested, for being drunk. Too drunk to ride a Greyhound bus? Think about that. A helpful Youtube commenter explains: "yeah so before the video was taken, he and his friend were stumbling drunk and slurring when they boarded (too early) and refused to get off when they were asked to wait outside with the other ticketed customers. Plus, the driver was on a short fuse after [a man was kicked off for smoking cigarettes in the bathroom], so things just escalated really quickly. they weren't doing anything in particular, but they also weren't cooperating. not really sure if they deserved to get arrested, but the one officer did."