More than two decades after the body of a child was found inside a cooler, the New York Police Department is seeking help identifying the girl dubbed “Baby Hope.” On Tuesday, the 22nd anniversary of the unsolved crime, police offered a $12,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
The chief spokesman for the New York Police Department on big stories such as the failed 2010 Times Square car-bombing has landed a job at the University of Notre Dame.
Paul Browne was named Thursday as the university’s vice president for public affairs. He’ll start Aug. 19.
Browne has been the voice of the nation’s largest police department for more than a decade. He’s also been a close adviser to police Commissioner Raymond Kelly during a period of record declines in serious crime and when the NYPD was criticized for its secret surveillance of Muslims, a program detailed in a series of stories by The Associated Press.
Critics have accused Browne of duplicity in his defense of the program. But Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have called him tireless and trustworthy.
Notre Dame’s president say Browne is highly qualified.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
By Chris Iseman Members of the NYPD and FDNY spend much of their lives protecting baseball fans and making sure they’re safe in New York City. On Tuesday, Major League Baseball showed its appreciation by honoring both departments as part of Tribute Day at the T-Mobile All-Star FanFest. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
Some New York City patrolmen say they’re being harassed because they’ve challenged the police department’s street stop tactics.
One officer says a rat sticker appeared on his police locker when he decided to testify at an ongoing civil rights case challenging the stops.
The NYPD has made 5 million stops in the past decade. A civil rights lawsuit contends illegal quotas are behind wrongful stops of black and Hispanic men.
The officers follow in a line of police whistle-blowers who have paid a price for testifying against their own. The most famous is Frank Serpico, whose story is etched in popular culture by the hit movie starring Al Pacino.
In an interview, Serpico says he tries to give comfort to the current crop of officers who have reported wrongdoing.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
New York Road Runners is enhancing baggage security measures for a 4-mile race on Sunday in Central Park in response to the Boston Marathon bombings — and the New York City police department is bringing in extra cameras for added surveillance.
The NYPD purchased 100 mobile cameras it will use at the race as a result of the bombings, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Friday. There will also be significantly increased police presence at the race as well as at a 5K run/walk to the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum on Sunday, he said.
Runners were being encouraged not to bring bags to the City Parks Foundation Run for the Parks, but people who do will be asked to put all their belongings in a clear, plastic bag provided by race officials. The NYRR cautioned runners that any unattended bags will be confiscated.
Runners in shorter-distance events have traditionally been allowed to use their own bags to stash their clothes and other post-race items, which are stored in a designated area staffed by volunteers. But many longer, larger races tightened their gear-check policies several years ago, requiring all runners to use a bag — often clear — provided by organizers. Organizers of the half-marathon and marathon in Austin, Texas, for example, have been providing runners with clear plastic bags for their belongings for almost a decade.
At Sunday’s London Marathon, only gear stored in the official bag provided by race organizers will be accepted. Next weekend’s Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and Half-Marathon, organized as a tribute to the victims of the 1995 bombing that killed 168 people at that city’s federal building, only accepts gear in the clear plastic bag it provides runners.
New York Road Runners puts on dozens of races a year, including the New York City Marathon. The club did not say if the policy for Sunday’s run will extend to future races.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/ENa3EcPm8pA/
Sometimes the bait is a small amount of cash in a stray wallet. Or a credit card. Even a pack of cigarettes can do the trick.
Police in New York City leave the items unattended — on subway platforms, on park benches, in cars — and wait to see if someone grabs them.
The New York Police Department says the practice has been a valuable tool for catching career criminals and deterring thefts in public places. But a recent court ruling throwing out a larceny case against a Bronx woman cast a harsh light on a tactic critics say too often sweeps up innocent people.
Judge Linda Poust Lopez found that there was no proof Deirdre Myers tried to steal anything — and that she was framed by a sting that took the tactic way too far.
Upholding the charges “would greatly damage the confidence and trust of the public in the fairness and effectiveness of the criminal justice system, and rightly so,” the judge wrote.
Myers, a 40-year-old single mother with no criminal record, has since sued the city, claiming she and her daughter were traumatized by a wrongful arrest in 2010.
“You know how embarrassing and humiliating this was?” Myers said. “I’d never been stopped by the police for anything in my life.”
The city Law Department is still reviewing Myers’ lawsuit, city attorney Raju Sundaran said in a statement. But, he added, “undercover sting operations are lawful and help reduce crime.”
The judge suggested that Myers’ brush with the law had its roots in the so-called lucky bag operation that the NYPD began in 2006 to deter thefts of wallets, shopping bags, smartphones and other valuables in the subways.
A typical scenario was for a plainclothes officer to place a handbag with cash on a train platform and briefly look or step away. Anyone who took the bag, then passed up chances to return it to the undercover cop or to report it to a uniformed officer posted nearby could be locked up.
At the time, police credited the subway operation with driving down crime there. They say they still use the tactic when they see a spike in thefts of personal property in public places such as Grand Central Terminal or Central Park. But they now require more evidence of intent — a suspect trying to hide a wallet or taking cash out of it and throwing it away — before making an arrest.
Last year, police arrested a tourist from Atlanta in Central Park after he picked up a purse and took out $27 stashed inside, according to court papers in another pending civil case. He ended up paying a $120 fine as part of a plea bargain.
Authorities began using “bait cars” about six years ago in the Bronx to combat a chronic problem with car thefts and break-ins in working-class neighborhoods. In most cases, police plant property — an iPad, a pack of cigarettes — in plain sight as the bait for thieves but make sure the car is locked so that a suspect would
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/yrI8WtaTBpQ/
It’s a tactic the New York Police Department has used for years: leaving cars and bags loaded with valuables in plain sight to see if anyone takes the bait. Those who leave without trying to turn in the valuables are arrested.
A judge’s strong words in a ruling this year throwing out one such case has drawn renewed attention to the practice.
Police took Deirdre Myers and her teen daughter into custody in the Bronx in 2010 during what’s known as a “bait car” operation. It involved leaving a wad of cash in an unattended car and seeing if thieves would take advantage.
The judge found there was no proof Myers ever tried to steal anything and said she was the victim of a misguided prosecution.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/8DPBf1RvpIE/
By The Huffington Post News Editors
NEW YORK — The man who was until last month the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the NYPD claimed in court on Wednesday, during the federal trial of the city’s stop-and-frisk policing tactic, that city residents had never complained to him that they were stopped because of their race.
“I don’t get a complaint from a civilian,” former Chief of Department Joseph Esposito said. “I’ve heard it from Al Sharpton‘s group.”
It was the second day of testimony for Esposito, who retired last month. After he became chief of department in 2000, the NYPD‘s stops rose 600 percent, leading community groups to claim that young black and Latino men were being targeted because of their race. Those stops are supposed to happen only when cops have reasonable suspicion, but a massive increase in the use of the tactic fueled the civil lawsuit, called Floyd v. New York.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
PIX11
Source: FULL ARTICLE at AOL
By The Huffington Post News Editors
And you thought zombies were only in it for brains.
A zombie whose job is to stalk the streets of New York City put his undead instincts on hold Saturday to save a cat that was darting through traffic. What 22-year-old Jeremy Zelkowitz didn’t know is that this particular cat — named Disaster — had been missing from his NYPD cop owner for two years, the New York Daily News reports.
Zelkowitz wears a blood-colored jacket and dark makeup to attract passersby to Times Scare, a house of horrors near Times Square in Manhattan. So onlookers were surprised to see him in costume, chasing a black cat down the street on Saturday.
Read More…
More on Animals In The News
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
By The Huffington Post News Editors
In 100 episodes of “Castle,” novelist-turned-NYPD ride-along Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) has had an education in real crimes and plenty of near-death experiences … but that doesn’t mean he’s matured at all.
We’ve got an exclusive sneak peek at “Castle’s” 100the episode, titled “The Lives of Others,” which finds Castle trying to entertain himself while he’s stuck at home nursing a broken leg. He’s a boy with a lot of toys, but it’s a pair of binoculars that’ll bring his detective work closer to home this time.
Watch the clip above and tell us: What’s been your favorite episode of “Castle” so far?
By The Huffington Post News Editors
NEW YORK — Lawyers behind a federal class-action suit brought against the New York Police Department and the practice known as stop and frisk are expected to introduce over the next month one of the few known recordings of “Stop, Question and Frisk” in action, community activists say.
The recording, made secretly by a 15-year-old Latino boy who was stopped and frisked on an East Harlem Street in 2011, according to activists, has the potential to become a key piece of evidence in the proceedings that began last week to determine whether the NYPD‘s stop-and-frisk policy relies on racial profiling.
As the trial continues, a litany of audio records have been played in court. Plaintiffs’ lawyers with The Center for Constitutional Rights have offered another secret recording, made by a Bronx police officer, which reveals NYPD Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack talking about reducing robberies by targeting black teens for stop and frisk. Lawyers defending the NYPD and representing New York City have also played a recording of police radio traffic in which officers indicate the description of a wanted man fits that of a man they stopped and frisked.
Read More…
More on Stop And Frisk
Police officers are being grilled about the New York Police Department‘s practice of stopping, questioning and frisking people on the street.
Lawyers questioned two officers on Wednesday about stopping an innocent 13-year-old boy in Harlem in 2010. One admitted taunting the teen by telling him to stop “crying like a little girl.”
The testimony came at a federal civil rights trial in Manhattan that began last week. A judge could order major changes to the nation’s largest police force.
The case is based on stories from a dozen black and Hispanic men who say they were targeted because of their race. It’s being heard by a judge who’s already indicated in earlier rulings that she is deeply concerned about the tactic.
A federal civil rights trial is in New York is providing a window into the workings of the nation’s largest police force, and the often unexplainable ways officers do their jobs.
The trial seeks to reform the practice of stop, question and frisk. New York officials hail it as a program that’s deterred crime by taking weapons off of would-be killers and by making crooks reconsider carrying weapons.
But the trial exposes how the tactic creates messy and difficult encounters between police and the public.
The department has made about 5 million stops in the past decade, mostly younger black and Hispanic men. Only about 10 percent were arrested and few weapons are actually recovered, leaving many of those let go feeling angry and humiliated.
By NewsEditor
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg admits that soon, NYPD surveillance cameras will be on nearly every corner and in the air.
In NYC, any masochist can apply for a gun permit. The labyrinthine, invasive, and expensive vetting process was designed by bureaucratic sadists to discourage the general public from ever attempting it. On that level, it works.
Even applicants who pass extensive background investigations can ultimately be rejected for reasons that are not explained and for which there is no appeal. Moreover, if you get turned down, that fact alone can be used against you in unrelated matters. And just so you know, if you are an average upstanding American citizen with a clean record seeking a ‘concealed carry’ permit, your chances are zero to none.
Not surprisingly, cops and criminals possess the majority of handguns here in Fun City. Permits are carefully meted out to the political class, celebrities, bodyguards, P.I.s, and the well-connected. Don’t let the hand-wringing liberal politicians pull the wool over your eyes: Bloomberg’s ‘gun control’ in NYC is the future of the nation if he and the Obamas and Feinsteins prevail on watering down the Constitution, inch by inch.
Once the Second Amendment becomes a holey dishrag, stripping local law enforcement of their weapons will be the likely next step for “progressives,” just like in England. The police already carry the weight of endless oversight and immediate accountability for the thankless task of taking down some of the most violent, recidivist criminals in the country. And, God forbid, imagine if a cop must use a weapon in the process, particularly in their own self-defense?
For instance, when an NYPD officer shoots anyone today, the first questions asked by the press and lawyers are not “Are you all right?” but “Did the “victim” have a gun? Did you see him fire it? Where is it now?” Sadly, establishing the race of the cop and the ‘victim’ are one of the first ‘issues of concern’ of all parties involved. If the cop is even asked if he’s unharmed, it’s likely by another cop.
Whenever police officers shoot and kill a suspect here, there’s almost always an outcry from the liberal media, racial “spokesmen,” and, of course, the ACLU. When criminals use their weapons against cops, the excuses and rationalizations are equally predictable and prepackaged. If the cops are white, immediate accusations of racism follow. If the cops are black or Hispanic, police brutality is suggested.
So America, here’s a cautionary word from the Big Apple. If you live beyond the boundaries of this city and state, just an average guy or gal enjoying uncorrupted rights to own legal firearms, stay where you are. Do not come here. Make sure those reasonable gun laws where you live are maintained, for the sake of our Constitution and your own self-preservation.
NYC is your future without those protections. Recognizing gun permits issued in other states, even in the rest of NY State – legally called ‘reciprocity’ – does not exist in this city or state. If you are found in possession of a firearm here, no matter how legal or vetted you or your weapons are …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism
Police officers are testifying about being forced by their superiors to make a certain number of arrests.
Officer Adhyl (aye-dahl’) Polanco says he was told he needed 20 summonses, five street stops and one arrest per month. He says it didn’t matter whether the stops were done properly.
Polanco testified at a federal trial challenging the constitutionality of some street stops made by police. Other officers are expected to testify Wednesday.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs want to show that officers are not stopping people for valid reasons.
The suit seeks a court-appointed monitor to oversee changes to how the police make stops.
A federal judge will rule on whether the department must make changes.
Two weeks ago, while on routine patrol, two New York City police officers saw a black teenager named Kimani Gray acting in a manner they deemed suspicious. Gray had adjusted what they surmised was a gun in his waistband. When they attempted to stop and question Gray, he pulled the gun up in preparation to use it. That was a mistake that cost the 16 year old his life.
Choosing to disregard the code of the streets (which requires non-cooperation with the police), three witnesses, speaking on the record, said they heard the police warn Gray but that Gray disregarded the warning. Gray was promptly shot dead.
This incident appears to be an open-and-shut case of a foolhardy criminal losing a gunfight to two trained police offers. That interpretation has become meaningless to the feral adolescents who roamed the streets with Gray. His death has become an occasion for the type of dangerous yet quite entertaining party they crave to satisfy their demand for entertainment. They are adrift in a sea of patronizing and hand-holding, provided by New York City liberal Democrats who see to it that every need or want of these marauders has been provided in exchange for nothing but the votes of their elders.
Alas, free food, shelter, schooling, clothing, and everything else they could ask for has become a stale “given” in the world of Kimani Gray’s friends. Looting local stores and attacking anyone who doesn’t look like them has becomes a kind of sport for their entertainment.
Rhythmically chanting “NYPD, KKK, how many kids did you kill today?” is part of the “fun.” Nevertheless, it’s very doubtful that many of these revelers know the Klu Klux Klan was formed by the Democrats they think are their friends; but what difference does that make when throwing bottles and playing “grown-up tag” with the police is so much fun?
The taxpayer-paid-for goods and services they have been given all of their lives is never enough. They don’t care that their lifestyle is paid for by the tax money of the merchants whose stores they are destroying. They demand that society provide them with entertainment; and if they are not given entertainment, they will forcibly take their entertainment at society’s expense.
With the Democrats holding their hands and encouraging them, why should they think otherwise?
A teen and a man in his 20s were the first people to testify about their encounters with police at a federal trial about the New York Police Department‘s practice of stopping, questioning and frisking people.
The two, who are black, testified Monday that they were wrongly targeted because of their race. Lawyers say the trial will include stories from other black and Hispanic men who say they also were targeted because of their race. Police officers and criminologists are scheduled to testify.
Police have made more than 5 million stops in the past decade, mostly of black and Hispanic men.
The suit seeks a court-appointed monitor to oversee changes to how the police make stops.
A federal judge will rule on whether the department must make changes.
The civil case continues Tuesday.
Five New York Police Department employees, including three police officers, have been arrested in separate incidents on charges including driving while intoxicated and unlawful surveillance.
Off-duty police officers Joseph King and Dennis Munge were each charged with driving while intoxicated on Sunday in Queens. King was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident and refusing to take a breathalyzer test.
Off-duty NYPD administrative aide Curline Brown was arrested on Saturday in the Bronx and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Two employees were arrested in the Bronx on Friday. Officer Miguel Gomez was charged with unlawful surveillance.
NYPD traffic agent Denise Johnson was charged with obstructing government administration, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property.
