Steve Gessmann, vice president of operations for Breaking News Network servicing media groups, private security firms and government agencies, says, “Secrecy from the news media threatens to damage the trust and goodwill that the NYPD is working so hard to maintain.”

“Breaking News Network (BNN), a company that has monitored police communications for 30 years has concerns about the new encryption scheme,” Gessmann said. “The inability to monitor these communications could delay news of threats, crimes, and other emergencies, possibly endangering the community at large.”

The secrecy is the point.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24208804

https://x.com/Jaybefaunt/status/1878482335236001939

And in case you want to read the article without giving the NY Post any ad money: https://archive.is/h8SHL

Here's some mind-bending stuff from the article:

Luckhurst, 42, now serves as a cop in Benavides, about 150 miles from San Antonio, according to Benavides Police Chief Andre Hines, who said the 2023 hiring “reflects the department’s commitment to honesty and accountability.”

[...]

Bizarrely, that same year, [note: not 2023] Luckhurst was accused of defecating in one of the San Antonio police department’s female restrooms before wiping a brown, feces-like substance on one of the toilet seats, reported the San Antonio Express-News. He reportedly never denied being behind the bathroom incident.

[...]

Hines said Luckhurst’s record in Benavides “has been exemplary, with no complaints or issues reported, and said “a thorough background check” helped ensure “all aspects of his history were carefully considered.”

Apparently "honesty and accountability" is when you harass women and the homeless with your weird poop fetish.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/post/411426

DoJ report acknowledges attack ‘was so systematic and coordinated that it transcended mere mob violence’ > >

The DoJ’s findings acknowledged the role of Tulsa law enforcement in the massacre, including that of Tulsa police who “deputized hundreds of white residents, many of whom – immediately before being awarded a badge – had been drinking and agitating for [a lynching]”. According to the report, more than 500 men were deputized in less than 30 minutes. > > he was told he “could now ‘go out and shoot any [N-word] you see and the law’ll be behind you’”. > >

A new announcement is coming soon that will clarify matters.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24135976

~~> Communities should not be overly moderated in order to enforce a specific narrative. Respectful disagreement should be allowed in a smaller proportion to the established narrative.~~

~~> Humans are naturally inclined to believe a single narrative when they're only presented with a single narrative. That's the basis of how fiction works. You can't tell someone a story if they're questioning every paragraph. However, a well placed sentence questioning that narrative gives the reader the option to chose. They're no longer in a story being told by one author, and they're free to choose the narrative that makes sense to them, even if one narrative is being pushed much more heavily than the other.~~

~~> Unfortunately, some malicious actors are hijacking this natural tendency to be invested in fiction, and they're using it to create absurd, cult-like trends in non-fiction. They're using this for various nefarious ends, to turn us against each other, to generate profit, and to affect politics both domestically and internationally.~~

~~> In a fully anonymous social media platform, we can't counter this fully. But we can prune some of the most egregious echo chambers.~~

~~> We're aware that this policy is going to be subjective. It won't be popular in all instances. We're going to allow some "flat earth" comments. We're going to force some moderators to accept some "flat earth" comments. The point of this is that you should be able to counter those comments with words, and not need moderation/admin tools to do so. One sentence that doesn't jive with the overall narrative should be easily countered or ignored.~~

~~> It's harder to just dismiss that comment if it's interrupting your fictional story that's pretending to be real. "The moon is upside down in Australia" does a whole lot more damage to the flat earth argument than "Nobody has crossed the ice wall" does to the truth. The purpose of allowing both of these is to help everyone get a little closer to reality and avoid incubating extreme cult-like behavior online.~~

~~> A user should be able to (respectfully, infrequently) post/comment about a study showing marijuana is a gateway drug to !marijuana without moderation tools being used to censor that content.~~

~~> Of course this isn't about marijuana. There's a small handful of self-selected moderators who are very transparently looking to push their particular narrative. And they don't want to allow discussion. They want to function as propaganda and an incubator. Our goal is to allow a few pinholes of light into the Truman show they wish to create. When those users' pinholes are systematically shut down, we as admins can directly fix the issue.~~

~~> We don't expect this policy to be perfect. Admins are not aware of everything that happens on our instances and don't expect to be. This is a tool that allows us to trim the most extreme of our communities and guide them to something more reasonable. This policy is the board that we point to when we see something obscene on [email protected] so that we can actually do something about it without being too authoritarian ourselves. We want to enable our users to counter the absolute BS, and be able to step in when self-selected moderators silence those reasonable people.~~

~~> Some communities will receive an immediate notice with a link to this new policy. The most egregious communities will comply, or their moderators will be removed from those communities.~~

~~> Moderators, if someone is responding to many root comments in every thread, that's not "in a smaller proportion" and you're free to do what you like about that. If their "counter" narrative posts are making up half of the posts to your community, you're free to address that. If they're belligerent or rude, of course you know what to do. If they're just saying something you don't like, respectfully, and they're not spamming it, use your words instead of your moderation abilities.~~

Actors throughout Memphis’s criminal legal system know that MPD officers do not feel particularly constrained by what is legal. One prosecutor told the Justice Department that some MPD supervisors do not review arrests and might not even have the training to recognize whether probable cause exists. A judicial commissioner told the Justice Department that they must “often” remind officers that probable cause is needed to conduct a search or an arrest. A judge expressed frustration that MPD officers are sometimes unable to articulate probable cause in their arrest reports. The Justice Department writes that judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys all raised concerns about MPD’s “over-reliance on ‘high-crime areas’ as a justification for stops.”

Put more colloquially, Memphis police conduct a lot of bogus stops and searches, and everybody knows it. Nichols’s killing is an extreme example of the consequences of this stop-and-search policing approach, but the report makes clear that unnecessary violence is all too common and that people in some Memphis neighborhoods are subjected to degrading, dehumanizing detentions and searches every day.

Bolding added, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250109131854/https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/crime-suppression--policing-and-excessive-force-at-the-memphis-police-department

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24040885

TO COPS

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/29592751

A tragic situation went from bad to worse in Evansville, Illinois, after police who responded to complaints about animal neglect ended up shooting the dog they were summoned to help, WISH reported.

Kentucky dispatchers repeatedly told police officers the address of a house they were supposed to raid over an alleged stolen Weed Eater, only for the cops to raid the wrong home and kill the man inside.

But the man who police say admitted to stealing the Weed Eater from a home of a local judge had already been in custody prior to the deadly raid that took place minutes before midnight last month, according to WLEX. That man told police he had stored the stolen Weed Eater at a home at 489 Vanzant Road which is a rural area outside of London city limits.

Crosspost from news

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.bestiver.se/post/176874

Kentucky dispatchers repeatedly told police officers the address of a house they were supposed to raid over an alleged stolen Weed Eater, only for the cops to raid the wrong home and kill the man inside.

But the man who police say admitted to stealing the Weed Eater from a home of a local judge had already been in custody prior to the deadly raid that took place minutes before midnight last month, according to WLEX. That man told police he had stored the stolen Weed Eater at a home at 489 Vanzant Road which is a rural area outside of London city limits.

But London police chose to raid a home at 511 Vanzant Road where they shot and killed Douglas Harless, a 63-year-old white man who had nothing to do with the alleged stolen Weed Eater.

Fuck these cops. 2020 memories getting dim already I guess.

Over and fucking Over:

Police: Create deadly situation for someone else to react to, because despite being empowered to use deadly force, they don't see the need to worry about any kind of rigor or care in their actions since they work in a system that will back them no matter what.

Someone else: Reacts

Police: Use the situation they created as justification to kill the person.

The system: Shrugs.

Police Union: Giggity.

Remember folks: Police exist to protect property and wealth, not people.

I want those body cams.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23949586

Summary

Robert “Bobby” Kinch, a former Las Vegas homicide detective, is revealed as the leader of the Utah-based Oath Keepers USA, a spinoff of the militia linked to the January 6 Capitol attack.

Kinch, who retired from the force in 2016, has a controversial history, including Facebook posts advocating a “race war” and a photo of him pointing a gun at a plate with Barack Obama’s image.

Critics highlight the threat of extremists in law enforcement.

The Oath Keepers remain active, adding police officers to their ranks amid Trump’s potential return to power.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23666674

Summary

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond dismissed a felony assault charge against Sgt. Joseph Gibson, a police officer who slammed 71-year-old Lich Vu to the ground during a traffic ticket dispute, breaking his neck.

Drummond stated the officer acted within his training and lacked criminal intent, adding that Vu should not have touched Gibson.

The dismissal sparked criticism from Oklahoma County DA Vicki Behenna and outrage in Oklahoma City’s Vietnamese community, citing Vu’s language barriers during the incident.

Gibson’s actions were initially deemed an unreasonable use of force by prosecutors.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23511181

"Payne, 36, died after he was handcuffed, shot with a stun gun and then held down with deputies’ knees on his back outside the jail, despite his pleas that he could not breathe, according to court documents."

"The judge ruled that the deputies involved are not entitled to qualified immunity at this stage in the case, finding that the deputies “knew or should have known” that placing pressure on Payne’s back or neck could result in asphyxia."

"Griesel “muted his body cam” audio while talking with medics, in violation of Eugene police policy"

Fuck the police. Thank god for this judge, it's incredibly rare to see qualified immunity revoked. AFAICT none of these officers faced any form of discipline for this.

Help end qualified immunity - aaqi.org

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23425246

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=david+mascarella&t=h_&ia=web

David Mascarella returned to the Suffolk County Police Department in New York on Thursday following an 18-month unpaid suspension for driving drunk and crashing into a car carrying two children, one of whom was permanently injured. In August 2020, Mascarella spent his day off golfing and lunching during which he claimed he drank up to three 12-ounce vodka soda cocktails, Newsday reported after an extensive investigation.

That day, the off-duty police officer drove his pickup truck 20 mph over the speed limit while texting and rear-ended a compact vehicle driven by Kevin Cavooris. Cavooris's two young sons were passengers in his car.

When the crash occurred, instead of calling 911, Mascarella called his union delegate. At the scene, a detective said he wanted to administer a breathalyzer test but the responding sergeant contacted a Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association delegate who drove Mascarella away before the test was given, according to Newsday.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23372796

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Eric DeValkenaere will be home for Christmas. Late Friday afternoon Missouri Governor Mike Parson commuted Devalkenaere for the December 2019 killing of Cameron Lamb.

Lamb was shot and killed by DeValkenaere as he was backing a truck into a garage at his home. DeValkenaere’s attorneys argued the detective and his partner were doing their jobs, following up on reports that Lamb’s vehicle had been chasing another car through town.

The attorneys argued that the detectives believed Lamb was reaching for a gun and DeValkenaere was worried about his partner.

DeValkenaere was convicted in a bench trial of second-degree manslaughter in the case. He was sentenced to six years in prison, but his legal team appealed. He was allowed to stay out of jail while awaiting an appeal decision. The appeal was denied, and DeValkenaere was taken into custody in October 2023.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/23752434

Schaetzel suggested that Floyd died of high levels of catecholamines, a neurohormone associated with the flight-or-fight response, or Takotsubo myocarditis, a heart condition caused by intense emotional or physical experiences.