Archive for the 'Police' Category

News from the land of geniuses.

Penfield, N.Y./Perinton, N.Y. — An investigation is underway following an incident Wednesday that reportedly began after a New York State Police trooper’s personal vehicle was rear-ended in Penfield.

According to State Police, a sergeant was reportedly driving to work in his personal vehicle around 8:15 p.m. when the vehicle was struck while stopped at a traffic light on Penfield Road at State Route 441.

They allege the driver of the other vehicle fled the scene.

That vehicle was reportedly followed to the Pines of Perinton, where troopers say the vehicle became stuck.

State Police say the trooper approached the vehicle, identified himself as a member of the State Police and told the driver to exit the vehicle. Investigators say the driver didn’t comply.

At that point, State Police say the sergeant hit the side passenger window with his personally-owned handgun in order to break it open. As this happened, they say one round was accidentally discharged. The bullet reportedly lodged in a door frame. No one was hurt.

Troopers say the suspect was treated for minor injuries at the scene. The sergeant was taken to the hospital for minor hand injuries.

So a guy jumps out of an unmarked vehicle and starts making demands of somebody.  I wouldn’t roll the window down either, and most assuredly wouldn’t get out of the car if he was displaying a firearm.

Then be beats the window in with his pistol, causing a discharge.  I guess cops are the “only ones beating enough.”

Listen.  A gun is not a hammer.  Do not use it that way.  I had to say the same thing when I saw a complaint about the stock of an AR-15 breaking when somebody used it to bang in tent pegs.  The complaint was that it must not have been a Milspec part.

Good Lord.  Like the design engineers considered use of the AR for banging in tent pegs.

Don’t do that.  Your AR is not a hammer.  Your pistol is not a hammer.  Do not beat things with firearms.  No design engineer can undo the second law of thermodynamics.

This cop is fortunate he didn’t do that somewhere in N.C. or S.C. where people carry guns.  He might have been shot.

Seen at Ken’s place, this ridiculous report.

Cops who returned fire after gunshots erupted outside of a high school football game in the suburban Philadelphia area last week likely killed an eight-year-old girl and wounded three others.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer released the preliminary findings of the investigation into Fanta Bility’s death on Thursday.

Bility’s sister, who was cheerleading during the game, was also shot. She is in stable condition after a bullet grazed her arm.

Eh, who needs a backstop when you’re throwing lead if you’ve got a badge?

As we’ve observed so many times before, you’re never in more danger than when the cops are around.

News from Nevada.

The Nevada trooper first told Stephen Lara the highway patrol was educating drivers “about violations they may not realize they’re committing” and that he’d been pulled over for following a tanker truck a bit too closely. After some small talk, the trooper admitted an ulterior purpose: stopping the smuggling of illegal drugs, weapons and currency as they crossed the state.

Lara — a former Marine who says he was on his way to visit his daughters in Northern California — insisted he was doing none of those things, though he readily admitted he had “a lot” of cash in his car. As he stood on the side of the road, police searched the vehicle, pulling nearly $87,000 in a zip-top bag from Lara’s trunk and insisting a drug-sniffing dog had detected something on the cash.

Police found no drugs, and Lara, 39, was charged with no crimes. But police nonetheless left with his money, calling a Drug Enforcement Administration agent to coordinate a process known as “adoption,” which allows federal authorities to seize cash or property they suspect is connected to criminal activity — without levying criminal charges.

“I left there confused. I left there angry,” Lara said in an interview with The Washington Post. “And I could not believe that I had just been literally robbed on the side of the road by people with badges and guns.”

You can believe it.  It happens all over America, every day.  They confiscate whatever they want and buy guns, ammunition, body armor, expensive Dodge Chargers, and other toys to keep them occupied.

And all over America, they’ll come for you if you use a firearm to defend yourself, which they stand and allow Antifa to assault people with impunity.

Now people are learning that they are thieves too.  This is no different than a carjacker stealing your vehicle, or someone breaking into your home to burglarize it.

Honestly, cops are beginning to wonder why people hate them.  Why should they wonder?

Oh, and also remember that the awful Jeff Sessions highly favored civil asset forfeiture laws and spoke on their behalf.

Taliban.

“All girls over the age of 15 and widows younger than 40 should be married to the insurgent fighters,” a Taliban commander was quoted saying by The WSJ.

They demand the children and abuse people.  Thank God no government in the Western world behaves that way.  Oh wait.

They are herding thousands upon thousands of children in stadiums, without their parents, to perform (allegedly) voluntary mass vaccinations, despite the possible dangers. The army has been deployed to check papers and vaccine status at road checkpoints.

[ … ]

Generally speaking, the Australian police have taken to their role as fascist enforcers with remarkable ease in the past year. They’ve been sending threatening letters to independent journalists, hitting protesters with their cars, stamping on their heads, pepper-spraying teenaged girls and performing dangerous chokeholds with genuine enthusiasm.

So who’s worse?

And I’ll say it again, both to the Afghanis and the Australians.  Never give up your guns.

News from Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The Myrtle Beach Police Department obtained AR-15s, sniper scopes and a military tactical vehicle from the Pentagon through an obscure program that provides surplus military equipment to law enforcement, an open records request reveals.

Although officers maintain the program is essential for meeting threats on the ground, critics say it contributes to the militarization of the police at a time when many are asking for more restraint from law enforcement.

“Patrol rifles are rifles carried in cars for Patrol Rifle-certified officers,” said Cpl. Tom Vest, spokesperson for MBPD. “If an officer is describing a threat that is bigger than the pistol can handle, then they can be used.”

To obtain the equipment, MBPD submits applications to the S.C. Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO), which determines whether the agency meets the right criteria.

Since the equipment is already paid for, MBPD is only responsible for covering the cost of transportation and maintenance.

Controlled items — like the the Mine-resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) military tactical vehicle and the 18 AR-15s — are audited by LESO every year. Other controlled items include infrared scopes and medical supplies.

Over its decade-long participation in the program, the department has acquired nearly 150 controlled items collectively worth over $2.7 million.

Uncontrolled items only have to be tracked through the first year.

“Things like boots, t-shirts, multi-tools, sunglasses, watches, etc., are not controlled items and were issued to officers, and are no longer tracked based on the time frame,” Vest said in an email.

[ … ]

To some, an MBPD recruitment video from 2019 showcasing some of the equipment plays into that criticism.

In the clip, posted to the department’s YouTube page, officers wearing camo fatigues file out of an MRAP and brandish M16s as they carry out a raid of a dilapidated warehouse, throwing a flash bang before storming a room on the top floor. An action movie score plays in the background.

Several in the comments section call out the militaristic image put forth by the department.

“This makes your department look like a military assault unit,” wrote Michael Ferrini.

Vest said this was intentional.

“When we were looking at video, we were looking at recruitment bases,” he explained. “One of them was military, from one of our local bases. Some aspects of this job speak to different people.”

Are you ready for the best part?

According to NBC News, Obama banned “tanks and other tracked armored vehicles, weaponized aircraft and vehicles, firearms and ammunition measuring .50-caliber and larger, grenade launchers and bayonets.”

But in August 2017, then-President Donald Trump repealed the ban.

“We will not put superficial concerns above public safety,” then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions told the Fraternal Order of Police at a conference. “We have your back and you have our thanks.”

The Trump Justice Department argued that concerns around the program were cosmetic and that the program deterred crime and protected officers.

Well there you have it.  Jeff Sessions.  Militarized police.  The GOP and militarized police go hand-in-hand.

News from California.

A photo of an airsoft gun sent by a teenager to other passengers on a plane at San Francisco International Airport on Thursday forced the removal of everyone so officials could rescreen them and inspect the aircraft, according to an airport spokesman.

According to a report by NBC Bay Area, United Airlines Flight 2167 from San Francisco to Orlando was preparing to leave the gate when several passengers reported receiving a photo of an airsoft gun sent via AirDrop from another passenger, airport spokesman Doug Yakel said.

Although Yakel said it was determined the photo was taken at an earlier date at a location other than at the airport and that the teen did not have the gun on him, passengers were evacuated from the plane “out of an abundance of caution” and rescreened.

A security inspection of the plane was performed by officials who later cleared it for reboarding, but the teenager was not allowed to reboard the plane, Yakel said.

Somebody was paid to do that on that particular day, and is probably paid to do such things all the time.  Paid money.

Hey, the good thing is that their “abundance of caution” kept the dangerous kid and his dangerous, scary airsoft gun out of the heads of the Karens during the flight.

Whew!  Glad that problem was solved.

Detroit.

Video shows a man pull out a gun and start firing right before Detroit police officers appear to flee.

The department has launched an investigation into what was captured on the police dashcam. The officers could face consequences from the incident that happened on June 30 if wrongdoing is found.

The gunman hung out of the back of a car and fired shots at a man, striking him. Video appears to show officers speeding away instead of jumping into action.

“Troubling, not consistent to training,” Interim police Chief James White said.

White said the officers did return to help the man who was shot. He said the department is investigating if the officers called the shooting in.

“Shocking is an understatement. I think we all have the understanding the police are to run towards danger as we are running away from it,” Local 4 Legal Analyst Neil Rockind said.

And where did you get that false understanding?  Who taught that to you?  You’re a legal analyst – you’re supposed to know better.

Y’all recall the coverage of Mr. Walker who was stopped by the crude, vulgar, loud-mouthed jerk cop because he was carrying an AR-15 to Coyote hunt in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia?  I wasn’t aware of the fact that the first decision at the Fourth Circuit was a panel.  The Attorney representing him, John Bryan, has filed a petition for rehearing in the case.

If the Panel Opinion remains, Black is meaningless, because there will always be “more” available to any police officer. Even if an individual has violated no law, they will be subject to detainment based on any speculative crime which generally could be committed by any anonymous person. A man walking in the direction of any woman might be a rapist, given that he would appear to have the physical ability to carry out a rape. Any driver of a car heading in the direction of any other human being might be a potential murderer, because they appear to have the physical ability to run-over people, should they so choose. The analogies could go on and on because, like the Michael Walker case, these scenarios are all generalized, rather than based on individualized reasonable suspicion.

Deputy Donahoe did, and claims to have done numerous other times, exactly that which Black forbade: to assume that being a felon in possession of a firearm was the default status; that, without more, he could detain and ID anyone he saw with a firearm. He admitted that he had no information that Walker may have been a prohibited person. (J.A. 162:5-8). Donahoe admitted under oath that had no indications that Mr. Walker was a threat to anyone, nor appeared to have any ill intentions (J.A. 167:1-4). Donahoe told Mr. Walker at the beginning of the stop, “At this point, I have the absolute right to see whether you’re legal to carry that gun or not.” (See J.A. 209 – Video of Incident).

I like the cut of his jib.  Either the Fourth Circuit mans up and does the right thing, or else their decision in the Black case is meaningless (we’ve covered this case too having to do with Mr. Black and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department).

I discussed this case with a Charlotte cop I know at length – I’ll reiterate what we discussed at some point again in the future.  Needless to say, I was disappointed at the cop’s lack of concern over what the Fourth Circuit had decided, and equally disappointed in the rights he felt he had to detain people.

Let’s get this off to an educated start.  Here’s a miscalculation for you.  I’ve seen engineers do it before despite being taught better in engineering courses.

Let’s say you’re trying to get the cross sectional area of a tube in stress with an inner and outer radius.  You cannot use this formula: pi() * (r2 – r1)^2, or pi() * (d2 – d1)^2 / 4.  Because that’s not the same thing as pi() * (r2^2 – r1^2).  That’s a miscalculation, and it’s the sort that can kill people (or over-design and cost money).  I corrected the engineer I saw doing this.

The title of this article is LAPD bomb squad ‘miscalculated” weight of homemade fireworks when ‘controlled detonation’ went horribly wrong destroying armored truck and leaving 17 people injured.

Los Angeles police have admitted their bomb squad ‘miscalculated’ the weight of fireworks before a planned controlled explosion which went wrong last month, destroying the team’s armored truck and leaving 17 people injured.

[ … ]

The vehicle has an iron chamber which is designed to contain 25 pounds of explosives, and officers estimated they were putting in 16.5 pounds in to it, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said Monday.

But investigators later weighed the remains of the explosives and calculated that there must have been about 42 pounds of fireworks loaded into the device.

The resultant catastrophic failure of the armored chamber sent a plume of fire into the air, injured 17 people and shattered the windows of nearby buildings.

Chief Moore gave the update the investigation on Monday morning at the LAPD Headquarters and said an ‘apparent miscalculation’ and ‘human error’ led police to overload the containment truck.

“Apparent miscalculation.”  He uses those words.  I do not think he understands what it means, and it makes me wonder if these folks have ever calculated anything in their lives.

If they tried, could they drive the intelligence quotient of LEOs any lower than it is right now?

And why couldn’t they have driven the truck into the middle of a field rather than do this on a city street?

Tip: WiscoDave.