Attempted murder, deceit, collusion, perjury, obstructing justice and something else that won't be revealed until a disciplinary tribunal in March. These are your cops, Toronto. "It certainly has been an anomaly week for our service," said Police Chief Mike Saunders, confirming the latest charges Thursday. And you've got to feel some sympathy for the guy, who's barely had a moment's peace since he got the top job. Const. James Forcillo: Guilty of attempted murder in the six rounds he fired at the already dying teenager Sammy Yatim. [continues 1110 words]
It's been pretty well documented that the War on Drugs is in large part a war on black people (read Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow). New allegations from Dothan, Alabama, could be revealing one of the most insidious cases ever to come to light. The Henry County Report (HCR), a police watchdog blog, recently ran a piece that had some of the most salacious allegations one can find: crooked cops in a secret club, cover-ups, evidence planting, and young African-American men systematically victimized by the police. [continues 1353 words]
Toronto police committed "egregious wrongful conduct" after they planted heroin in a drug suspect's car to create a pretext for searching the vehicle, a judge has found. In January 2014, police arrested Nguyen Son Tran in the city's Chinatown after finding 11 grams of plastic-wrapped heroin behind his car's steering column. But Ontario Superior Court Judge Edward Morgan ruled last week the officers never had the right to search the car and they knew that, so they scattered loose powder in a visible location next to the driver's seat. [continues 578 words]
It Was the Largest Dismissal in One Day in City History. A Philadelphia judge on Friday reversed 158 narcotics convictions tainted by allegations of police corruption - the largest such dismissal in one day in city history. The rulings by Common Pleas Court President Judge Sheila Woods-Skipper were the latest fallout from the federal prosecution of seven police narcotics officers. The officers - Thomas Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, Perry Betts, Linwood Norman, and John Speiser - were acquitted of all charges at a federal trial in May. [continues 501 words]
He Said Drug Squad Stayed Within the Law. Michael Spicer, one of six Philadelphia police narcotics officers charged in a federal corruption case, testified in his defense Friday. And with his career and his freedom in question, he sought to set a few things straight. He never saw anyone on his squad plant drugs, he said. Nobody stole anything, either. And most important, Spicer stressed, nobody ever tried to throw anyone off a balcony. "I don't think I even went out on that balcony. That never happened," he said, rejecting an allegation that in 2010 he threatened to toss a drug suspect from his Old City apartment's third-floor terrace. "That's a complete lie." [continues 632 words]
CAMDEN -- Five men have emerged as symbols of the worst excesses by a squad of rogue cops whose misconduct has spawned dozens of lawsuits against the city. There's Ron Mills, who weighs more than 300 pounds and walks with a cane. He spent nine months in prison after allegedly discarding drugs while outrunning police. And Kenneth Pitts, who was jailed for 11 months and a day after a 2008 arrest for an alleged drug deal he said never happened. The Lawnside man contends he was arrested while bringing groceries to a friend's house in Camden after serving as a chaperone for a youth group. [continues 1182 words]
ST. PETERSBURG - They give police the location of a drug buy, a lead on a witness, the name of a killer. In exchange, confidential informants get cash or a good word put in with a judge to help reduce a criminal sentence. 'Informants are incredibly necessary to solve crime,' said retired Pasco County sheriff's Lt. Bobby Sullivan, a former vice commander. 'Nobody knows crime like the criminal, but you have to keep in mind that they are a criminal. 'They are on the other side.' The distinction was blurred this week when the FBI arrested St. Petersburg police Detective Anthony Foster on charges that he extorted $8,000 in cash and goods from an informant who was trying to avoid jail time. [continues 943 words]
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico-Two Americans detained last year by soldiers who said they found two marijuana-filled suitcases in their truck were found guilty of drug trafficking by a Mexican court. Shohn Huckabee, 23 years old, and Carlos Quijas, 36, were sentenced to five years in prison by a judge here Wednesday. The men said Thursday that they will appeal the verdict. "We aren't guilty," Mr. Huckabee said in an interview at a Ciudad Juarez jail Thursday. "The judge didn't take into account the evidence that was in our favor." [continues 534 words]
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico-Two Americans were driving back to El Paso, Texas, last December after an afternoon across the border in Ciudad Juarez. A few blocks from the border, they were surrounded by Mexican army trucks and pulled from their Dodge Ram. Mexico's military says it found two suitcases full of marijuana in the cab of the pickup truck. Two soldiers later testified that they drove the two Americans to a military compound on the outskirts of town, questioned them briefly, then turned them over to civilian authorities. The Americans were charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell. [continues 2797 words]
ST. JOSEPH - The Berrien County prosecutor said he will dismiss drug charges against seven people after further investigation into the alleged misconduct of a former police officer. Andrew Thomas Collins, 26, a former Benton Harbor police officer, was arrested Dec. 2 on drug trafficking charges, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Grand Rapids. The indictment claimed Collins used his position as an officer to keep the drugs. He was charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 5 grams of crack cocaine, according to a news release from Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian K. Delaney. Berrien County Prosecutor Arthur J. Cotter said his office met with FBI investigators Monday to review the case. [continues 318 words]
CANDAHUG, Palo, Leyte - The director general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) admitted that his agency, tasked with the elimination of the supply of and demand for illegal drugs in the country, is forced to "plant evidence" in "some special cases." Undersecretary Dionisio Santiago's admission of the planting of evidence like shabu or other drug paraphernalia stemmed from the question of a reporter during a news conference here Wednesday. The reporter asked how the agency is helping victims of planted drug evidence. [continues 422 words]
Included in charges are evidence tampering, false reporting, drugs Two Huntsville police officers were indicted Friday for allegedly tampering with evidence, falsifying reports and attempting to possess drugs, the department announced Tuesday. Deputy Chief Andy Jackson said the charges stemmed from an internal investigation into alleged policy violations. Officers Wesley Little and Ryan Moore of the north precinct were arrested and booked in the Madison County metro jail. They have since been released on bond. Little was charged with attempting to possess a controlled substance, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, tampering with physical evidence and false reporting to law enforcement authorities. [continues 352 words]
RALEIGH -- As a Robeson County deputy, James Owen Hunt stole at least $150,000 from drug dealers he stopped on Interstate 95. On Monday, a federal judge ordered him to spend two years in prison and repay the money. Hunt, 41, of Ladson, S.C., cried as he apologized to U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle before his sentencing. "Every day, I think about what I've done and how bad it was," Hunt said. "How it affects my life, and it hurts." He thanked federal prosecutors for giving him the chance to offset his wrongdoing by providing evidence against at least 22 other former Robeson County lawmen who have been implicated in the Operation Tarnished Badge corruption investigation. Hunt had faced a maximum 20 years, but his cooperation landed him a far lower term. [continues 396 words]
An Edenton police officer charged with evidence tampering has pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of willfully failing to discharge his duties. Michael Aaron Davidson, 32, won't spend any time in jail but he will have to surrender his law enforcement certification, court officials said Thursday. Davidson, of 437 Ryland Road, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail, suspended on the condition he complete 18 months of unsupervised probation and pay $545 in fines and court courts. One of the conditions of his probation is that he resign from his police officer job with the Edenton Police Department and surrender his law enforcement certification in North Carolina permanently. Davidson had been an officer with the Edenton department for nearly three years when he was put on administrative leave last summer. At the time, he was employed as a detective. [continues 341 words]
(1) DEA RAIDS 10 POT SHOPS Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles Times Author: Steve Hymon, Times Staff Writer Agents Hit the Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Shortly After the L.A. City Council Bars New Facilities for a Year to Write Better Regulations. The gap between state and federal drug laws became apparent again Wednesday when federal agents raided 10 local medical marijuana facilities only minutes after the Los Angeles City Council placed a moratorium on new facilities so rules could be drafted to better regulate them. [continues 7838 words]
Davidson Worked 4 Years As Detective Criminal cases worked on by an Edenton police detective charged with altering evidence will be reviewed, District Attorney Frank Parrish said Thursday. Parrish didn't immediately know how many cases Michael Aaron Davidson had worked on during his nearly four-year tenure with the Edenton Police Department. But Parrish's office does intend to conduct a full review of the detective's cases, he said. "We haven't made any decisions on any one of those cases," Parrish said. He declined to elaborate further, saying he couldn't comment on the matter because it's part of an ongoing investigation. [continues 212 words]
Davidson Says He Has $5k In Seized Money An Edenton police officer charged with altering evidence in a criminal case has acknowledged having nearly $5,000 seized in another case, court documents show. According to an application for a search warrant, detective Michael Aaron Davidson told Edenton Police Chief Greg Bonner July 12 that he had in his possession $4,975.21 seized from drug suspect William Bland in 2005. Bonner had asked Davidson, currently on administrative leave from the Edenton department, about the money after it turned up missing during a State Bureau of Investigation review of Davidson's cases, the search warrant application states. [continues 262 words]
The state probe of an Edenton police detective facing felony criminal charges was sparked by allegations he planted criminal evidence on several suspects he arrested, court documents show. The State Bureau of Investigation's application for a search warrant also indicates that Michael Aaron Davidson -- charged July 10 with altering evidence in a criminal investigation -- has been investigated multiple times during his law enforcement career for allegations that include missing money, use of excessive force and planting evidence. The investigations occurred while Davidson was a police officer with the Kinston Police Department and a deputy with the Tyrrell County Sheriff's Office, the application states. [continues 619 words]
Rafael Perez, the disgraced LAPD officer at the center of the Rampart corruption scandal, pleaded no contest Tuesday to perjury for lying on a driver's license application. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 30 to three years' probation. His plea was entered in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Torrance. Perez was arrested in July for using the name Ray Perez on a license application in June 2005, the Department of Motor Vehicles said. Perez, 39, has since changed his name to Ray Lopez, according to a district attorney's office statement. [continues 60 words]
Repugnant, repulsive and revolting are just a few choice words that describe the actions of three former Jones County sheriff's deputies accused of misdeeds while they were members of a task force established to ferret out illegal drug activity. And those are gentler adjectives. What was once known as the Southeast Mississippi Drug Task Force can now go down as a public farce, all thanks to the actions of Roger Williams, 44; Chris Smith, 34; and Randall Parker, 32. On Tuesday, the three former deputies waived their right to a grand jury investigation and agreed to plead guilty to charges ranging from planting evidence to assaulting defendants and embezzlement. [continues 361 words]
