Amnesty International Urges Stricter Limits on Police Taser Use as U.S. Death Toll Reaches 500.  More…

544 Taser-Related Deaths in the United States Since 2001.  More…

Cops Laugh & Congratulate Each Other After Tasering Florida Teen …
Aug 8, 2013 – … Congratulate Each Other After Tasering Florida Teen To Death August 08, 2013 – 18-year-old Israel Hernandez was killed when police…

Miami Taser death: Are police relying too much on stun guns …
Aug 11, 2013 – A young graffiti artist in Miami Beach, Fla., died last week afterpolice shot him with a Taser, reigniting a debate about whether police are using …

Autopsy states Raleigh police Taser likely caused man’s death
Thomas Jeffrey Sadler likely died of cardiac arrhythmia – an irregular heartbeat – resulting from being stunned by a police Taser, according to …

Celebrity Bodyguard Norman Oosterbroek Tasered To Death …
7 days ago – Rihanna, Lady Gaga, And Beyoncé’s Bodyguard Tasered To Death By Cops After … Mrs. Jung called police and officers were forced to taser …

Police Taser Man to Death and Cost City $1 Million Alex Jones …
Jul 22, 2013 – Sylvia Hsieh Lawyers.com. July 22, 2013. The city of San Jose must pay $1 million to the family of a truck driver who was Tasered to death by …

Naked Man Tasered and Killed in Pinecrest Was Famed …
Sep 4, 2013 – Just before 11 p.m. this past Monday, Pinecrest police responded to a … violently resisted, so cops used a Taser, which led to his death.

Police use Taser; man dies at hospital – Connecticut
Jun 10, 2013…One of the police officers used a Taser in an attempt to gain control of the man ….. The medical examiner has …

Local Police Officers Cleared In Suspect Taser Death – Waco
A McLennan County Grand Jury has declined to indict four Waco police officers in connection with the 2010 death of a suspect who died after he was stunned …

Suspect Dies After Police Use Taser Three Times During … – Louisville
But the Justice Department is reviewing the use of Tasers in the wake of 180 deaths in recent years. This is the first time since Louisville police began using …

Elderly Man Tasered To Death By Police
Jul 27, 2013 – An elderly man tasered to death by police was first reported on Saturday by NBC Chicago. This hard to believe there wasn’t an easier way case …

Police taser a man off a roof, choke, drag him face-down on stairs …
Aug 21, 2013 – Police Taze Phoenix Man to Death Off Roof  …Lysander Spooner (19th Century abolitionist) Police taser a man off a …

Neighbor: Man who died after Tasered by cops was acting … – Chicago
Dec 14, 2012 – A man who died after police twice used a Taser on him had been shouting and acting erratically moments before officers arrested him near his …

Phoenix Suspect Dies After Three Taser Hits
His death marks the second time in a week that someone died after a Taser shock and comes only two days after the mayor of Birmingham, Ala., ordered police …

Police: Reckless driver dies after being shocked by Taser…
Jul 10, 2013 – A reckless driver in St. Cloud died Wednesday after police shocked him with a Taser, authorities said.

Fort Worth man dies after being shocked by police Taser
May 17, 2013 – Police said an officer fired his Taser when Darden resisted arrest. His mother said … The cause of death had not been determined late Friday.

St. Louis Park nursing home patient dies after police use Taser on him
Aug 22, 2013 – … from complications of injuries suffered when he was subdued by apolice Taser. … Diao’s family also declined to comment on his death.

Montgomery County Police investigate Taser death
Apr 20, 2013 – Montgomery County Police are investigating the death of a man after two officers used their tasers on him in Gaithersburg. 51-year-old Anthony …

Young man dies after being shot by police Taser gun in Manchester …
Jul 25, 2013 – On arrival a Taser was discharged to detain a 23-year-old man.” Regarding Begley’s death, the police have refused to give any details, stating …

Bangor police release report on man’s death after being hit with Taser
May 30, 2013 – BANGOR, Maine — The use of a Taser by Bangor police last September did little to slow a local man on synthetic bath salts who was growling …

95-Year Old Man Tasered to Death by Police in Illinois Nursing Home
Jul 29, 2013 – It appears that the militarized police force running rampant on the streets of America just can’t handle the threats of a 95-year old man in a …

Man’s death, after police used Taser, described by his sister … – Seattle
Feb 26, 2013 – The sister of a man who died after Tukwila police responded to a disturbance at their home last summer testified on the incident Tuesday during …

Taser death Orlando police: Man Tased by police at Orlando …
Jun 2, 2012 – Adam Johnson is one of seven men who died after being shocked by stun guns wielded by Orange County law enforcement in the past decade …

Another Meaningless Taser Death: Police Use Of Stun Guns Out Of …
Nov 15, 2007 – The latest taser incident to be captured on film again highlights how fast our society is sleepwalking into a brutal police state where it is the …

Death by Police Taser
Millions of people were stunned and outraged by the videos that showed Oakland BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) cop Johannes Mehserle …

Death by Taser: Police Accused of Cover-Up in Death of African …
Police in the city of Winnfield, Louisiana are being accused of covering up the death of twenty-one-year-old …

Jordan Begley Police Taser Death: Anger of Manchester Family …
Aug 22, 2013
Suspect died after being electrocuted by police stun gun but family still prevented from collecting body.

World War II veteran, 95, died after police shot him with taser and …
Aug 8, 2013 – A 95-year-old world War II veteran died after being Tasered and hit with bean bag rounds by police for threatening care home staff – but his …

NAACP reviewing death, Meriden police Taser use 
Jun 11, 2013 – MERIDEN, Conn. — Connecticut NAACP officials say they’re investigating Meriden police’s use of a stun gun on an injured man who later died.

Anthony Howard Died After Police Use Taser
Apr 21, 2013 – GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WUSA9) — Montgomery County Police released the identity of a man who died after getting tasered by police.

Man dies after confrontation with police, Taser use on … – Indianapolis
Aug 8, 2013 – An officer then used a Taser to subdue him. … Internal Affairs Unit are investigating the death, which police said is standard for such a case.

Architect, 48, dies after police struggle leads to Taser use –
Carl D’Andre Johnson was an accomplished architect and religious man, his brother said, not the type of person who would challenge police …

Taser director and doctor contacted Vermont police after man’s death
Oct 1, 2012 – Two days after a man was shot in the chest by a Vermont trooper’s Taser, a doctor sitting on the weapon manufacturer’s board of directors …

Ft. Worth Man Tasered to Death in Fruitless Drug Raid …
May 31, 2013 – Fort Worth police have yet to publicly comment on the death, but …Worth police be better trained in the use of tasers “to prevent serious injury …

Mount Joy police officer fired after Taser incident is … – Lancaster
15 hours ago – A Mount Joy police officer who was fired after a 2010 Taser incident that ended in a man’s death has been reinstated.Tyson Woods had argued …

Man, 23, dies after being Tasered by police
A 23-year-old man has died after police shot him with a Taser stun gun,… to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the death to …

1. Jan 9, 2009: Derrick Jones, 17, Black, Martinsville, Virginia
2. Jan 11, 2009: Rodolfo Lepe, 31, Hispanic, Bakersfield, California
3. Jan 22, 2009: Roger Redden, 52, Caucasian, Soddy Daisy,Tennessee-
4. Feb 2, 2009: Garrett Jones, 45, Caucasian, Stockton, California
5. Feb 11, 2009: Richard Lua, 28, Hispanic, San Jose, California
6. Feb 13, 2009: Rudolph Byrd, 37, Black, Thomasville, Georgia
7. Feb 13, 2009: Michael Jones, 43, Black, Iberia, Louisiana
8. Feb 14, 2009: Chenard Kierre Winfield, 32, Black, Los Angeles, California
9. Feb 28, 2009: Robert Lee Welch, 40, Caucasian, Conroe, Texas
10. Mar 22, 2009: Brett Elder, 15, Caucasian, Bay City, Michigan
11. Mar 26, 2009: Marcus D. Moore, 40, Black, Freeport, Illinois
12. Apr 1, 2009: John J. Meier Jr., 48, Caucasian, Tamarac, Florida
13. Apr 6, 2009: Ricardo Varela, 41, Hispanic, Fresno, California
14. Apr 10, 2009: Robert Mitchell, 16, Black, Detroit, Michigan
15. Apr 13, 2009: Craig Prescott, 38, Black, Modesto, California
16. Apr 16, 2009: Gary A. Decker, 50, Black, Tuscon, Arizona
17. Apr 18, 2009: Michael Jacobs Jr., 24, Black, Fort Worth, Texas
18. Apr 30, 2009: Kevin LaDay, 35, Black, Lumberton, Texas
19. May 4, 2009: Gilbert Tafoya, 53, Caucasian, Holbrook, Arizona
20. May 17, 2009: Jamaal Valentine, 27, Black, La Marque, Texas
21. May 23, 2009: Gregory Rold, 37, Black, Salem, Oregon
22. Jun 9, 2009: Brian Cardall, 32, Caucasian, Hurricane, Utah
23. Jun 13, 2009: Dwight Madison, 48, Black, Bel Air, Maryland
24. Jun 20, 2009 Derrek Kairney, 36, Caucasian, South Windsor, Connecticut
25. Jun 30, 2009, Shawn Iinuma, 37, Asian, Fontana, California
26. Jul 2, 2009, Rory McKenzie, 25, Black, Bakersfield, California
27. Jul 20, 2009, Charles Anthony Torrence, 35, Caucasian, Simi Valley, California
28. Jul 30, 2009, Johnathan Michael Nelson, 27, Caucasian, Riverside County, California
29. Aug 9, 2009, Terrace Clifton Smith, 52, Black, Moreno Valley, California
30. Aug 12, 2009, Ernest Ridlehuber, 53, Race: Unknown, Greenville, South Carolina
31. Aug 14, 2009, Hakim Jackson, 31, Black, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
32. Aug 18, 2009, Ronald Eugene Cobbs, 38, Black, Greensboro, North Carolina
33. Aug 20, 2009, Francisco Sesate, 36, Hispanic, Mesa, Arizona
34. Aug 22, 2009, T.J. Nance, 37, Race: Unknown, Arizona City, Arizona
35. Aug 26, 2009, Miguel Molina, 27, Hispanic, Los Angeles, California
36. Aug 27, 2009, Manuel Dante Dent, 27, Hispanic, Modesto, California
37. Sep 3, 2009, Shane Ledbetter, 38, Caucasian, Aurora, Colorado
38. Sep 16, 2009, Alton Warren Ham, 45, Caucasian, Modesto, California
39. Sep 19, 2009, Yuceff W. Young II, 21, Black, Brooklyn, Ohio
40. Sep 21, 2009, Richard Battistata, 44, Hispanic, Laredo, Texas
41. Sep 28, 2009, Derrick Humbert, 38, Black, Bradenton, Florida
42. Oct 2, 2009, Rickey Massey, 38, Black, Panama City, Florida
43. Oct 12, 2009, Christopher John Belknap, 36, Race: Unknown, Ukiah, California
44. Oct 16, 2009, Frank Cleo Sutphin, 19, Caucasian, San Bernadino, California
45. Oct 27, 2009, Jeffrey Woodward, 33, Caucasian, Gallatin, Tennessee
46. Nov 13, 2009, Herman George Knabe, 58, Caucasian, Corpus Christi, Texas
47. Nov 14, 2009, Darryl Bain, 43, Black, Coram, New York
48. Nov 16, 2009, Matthew Bolick, 30, Caucasian, East Grand Rapids, Michigan
49. Nov 19, 2009, Jesus Gillard, 61, Black, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
50. Nov 21, 2009, Ronald Petruney, 49, Caucasian, Washington, Pennsylvania
51. Nov 27, 2009, Eddie Buckner, 53, Caucasian, Chattanooga, Tennessee
52. Dec 11, 2009, Andrew Grande, 33, Caucasian, Oak County, Florida
53. Dec 11, 2009, Hatchel Pate Adams III, 36, Black, Hampton, Virginia
54. Dec 11, 2009, Paul Martin Martinez, 36, Hispanic, Roseville, California
55. Dec 13, 2009, Douglas Boucher, 39, Caucasian, Mason, Ohio
56. Dec 14, 2009, Linda Hicks, 62, Black, Toledo, Ohio
57. Dec 19, 2009, Preston Bussey III, 41, Black, Rockledge, Florida
58. Dec 20, 2009, Michael Hawkins, 39, Caucasian, Springfield, Missouri
59. Dec 30, 2009, Stephen Palmer, 47, Race: Unknown, Stamford, Connecticut
60. Jan 6, 2010, Delano Smith, 21, Black, Elkhart, Indiana
61. Jan 17, 2010, William Bumbrey III, 36, Black, Arlington, Virginia
62. Jan 20, 2010, Kelly Brinson, 45, Black, Cincinnati, Ohio
63. Jan 27, 2010, Joe Spruill, Jr., Black, Goldsboro, North Carolina
64. Jan 28, 2010, Patrick Burns, 50, Caucasian, Sangamon County,Illinois
65. Jan 28, 2010, Daniel Mingo, 25, Black, Mobile, Alabama
66. Feb 4, 2010, Mark Morse, 36, Caucasian, Phoenix, Arizona
67. Mar 4, 2010, Roberto Olivo, 33, Hispanic, Tulare, California
68. Mar 5, 2010, Christopher Wright, 48, Black, Seattle, Washington
69. Mar 10, 2010, Jaesun Ingles, 31, Black, Midlothian, Illinois
70. Mar 10, 2010, James Healy Jr., 44, Race: Unknown, Rhinebeck, New York
71. Mar 20, 2010, Albert Valencia, 31, Hispanic, Downey, California
72. Apr 10, 2010, Daniel Joseph Barga, 24, Caucasian, Cornelius, Oregon
73. Apr 30, 2010, Adil Jouamai, 32, Moroccan, Arlington, Virginia
74. May 9, 2010, Audreacus Davis, 29, Black, Atlanta, Georgia
75. May 14, 2010, Sukeba Olawunmi, 39, Black, Atlanta, Georgia
76. May 24, 2010, Efrain Carrion, 35, Hispanic, Middletown, Connecticut
77. May 27, 2010, Carl Johnson, 48, Caucasian, Baltimore, Maryland
78. May 29, 2010, Jose Martinez, 53, Hispanic, Waukegan, Illinois
79. May 31, 2010, Anastasio Hernández Rojas, 42, Hispanic, San Ysidro, California
80. Jun 8, 2010, Terrelle Houston, 22, Black, Hempstead, Texas
81. Jun 12, 2010, Curtis Robinson, 34, Black, Albuquerque, New Mexico
82. Jun 13, 2010, William Owens, 17, Black, Homewood, Alabama
83. Jun 14, 2010, Jose Alfredo Jimenez, 42, Hispanic, Harris County, Texas
84. Jun 15, 2010, Michael White, 47, Black, Vallejo, California
85. Jun 22, 2010, Daniel Sylvester, 35, Caucasian, Crescent City, California
86. July 5, 2010, Damon Falls, 31, Black, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
87. July 5, 2010, Edmund Gutierrez, 22, Hispanic, Imperial, California
88. July 8, 2010, Phyllis Owens, 87, Caucasian, Clackamas County, Oregon
89. July 9, 2010, Marvin Booker, 56, Black, Denver, Colorado
90. July 12, 2010, Anibal Rosario-Rodriguez, 61, Hispanic, New Britain, Connecticut
91. July 15, 2010, Jerome Gill, Race: Unknown, Chicago, Illinois
92. July 18, 2010, Edward Stephenson, 46, Caucasian, Leavenworth, Kansas
93. July 23, 2010, Jermaine Williams, 30, Black, Cleveland, Mississippi
94. Aug 1, 2010, Dennis Sandras, 49, Caucasian, Houma, Louisiana
95. Aug 9, 2010, Andrew Torres, 39, Hispanic, Greenville, South Carolina
96. Aug 18, 2010, Martin Harrison, 50, Caucasian, Dublin, California
97. Aug 19, 2010, Adam Disalvo, 30, Caucasian, Daytona Beach, Florida
98. Aug 20, 2010, Stanley Jackson, 31, Black, Washtenaw County, Michigan
99. Aug 24, 2010, Michael Ford, 50, Black, Livonia, Michigan
100. Aug 25, 2010, Eduardo Hernandez-Lopez, 21, Hispanic, Las Vegas, Nevada
101. Aug 31, 2010, King Hoover, 27, Black, Spanaway, Washington
102. Sep 4, 2010, Adam Colliers, 25, Caucasian, Gold Bar, Washington
103. Sep 10, 2010, Larry Rubio, 20, Caucasian, Leemore, California
104. Sep 12, 2010, Freddie Lockett, 30, Black, Dallas, Texas
105. Sep 16, 2010, Gary L. Grossenbacher, 48, Caucasian, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
106. Sep 18, 2010, David Cornelius Smith, 28, Black, Minneapolis, Minnesota
107. Sep 18, 2010, Joseph Frank Kennedy, 48, Caucasian, La Mirada, California
108. Oct 4, 2010, Javon Rakestrau, 28, Black, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana
109. Oct 7, 2010, Patrick Johnson, 18, Caucasian, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
110. Oct 12, 2010, Ryan Bain, 31, Caucasian, Billings, Montana
111. Oct 14, 2010, Karreem Ali, 65, Black, Silver Spring, Maryland
112. Oct 19, 2010, Troy Hooftallen, 36, Caucasian, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
113. Nov 4, 2010, Eugene Lamott Allen, 40, Race: Unknown, Wilmington, Delaware
114. Nov 6, 2010, Robert Neill, Jr., 61, Caucasian, Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
115. Nov 7, 2010, Mark Shaver, 32, Caucasian, Brimfield, Ohio
116. Nov 23, 2010, Denevious Thomas, 36, Black, Albany, Georgia
117. Nov 26, 2010, Rodney Green, 36, Black, Waco, Texas
118. Nov 27, 2010, Blaine McElroy, 37, Race: Unknown, Jackson County, Mississippi
119. Dec 2, 2010, Clayton Early James, Age: Unknown, Black, Elizabeth City, North Carolina
120. Dec 11, 2010, Anthony Jones, 44, Black, Las Vegas, Nevada
121. Dec 12, 2010, Linel Lormeus, 26, Black, Naples, Florida
122. Dec 20, 2010, Christopher Knight, 35, Black, Brunswick, Georgia 
123. Dec 31, 2010, Rodney Brown, 40, Black, Cleveland, Ohio 
124. Jan 5, 2011, Kelly Sinclair, 41, Race: Unknown, Amarillo, Texas
125. Feb 5, 2011, Robert Ricks, 23, Black, Alexandria, Louisiana
126. March 15, 2011, Brandon Bethea, 24, Black, Harnett County,North Carolina
127. Apr 3, 2011, Jairious McGhee, 23, Black, Tampa, Florida
128. Apr 22, 2011, Adam Spencer Johnson, 33, Caucasian, Orlando,Florida
129. Apr 23, 2011, Ronald Armstrong, 43, Caucasian, Pinehurst,North Carolina
130. Apr 25, 2011, Kevin Darius Campbell, 39, Race: Unknown, Tallahassee, Florida 
131. May 1, 2011, Marcus Brown, 26, Black, Waterbury, Connecticut
132. May 6, 2011, Matthew Mittelstadt, 56, Caucasian, Boundary County, Idaho
133. May 11, 2011, Allen Kephart, 43, Caucasian, San Bernadino County, California 
134. June 13, 2011, Howard Hammon, 41, Caucasian, Middleburg, Ohio 
135. June 22, 2011, Otto Kolberg, 55, Caucasian, Waycross, Georgia 
136. June 28, 2011, Dalric East, 40, Black, Montgomery County, Maryland
137. July 5, 2011, Kelly Thomas, 37, Caucasian, Fullerton, California
138. July 10, 2011, Joshua Nossoughi, 32, Caucasian, Springfield, Missouri
139. July 19, 2011, Alonzo Ashley, 29, Black, Denver, Colorado 
140. July 21, 2011, La’Reko Williams, 21, Black, Charlotte, North Carolina 
141. July 30, 2011, Donald Murray, 39, Caucasian, Westland, Michigan
142. August 4, 2011, Pierre Abernathy, 30, Black, San Antonio, Texas
143. August 6, 2011, Everette Howard, 18, Black, Cincinnati, Ohio
144. August 6, 2011, Debro Wilkerson, 29, Black, Prince William County, Maryland
145. August 6, 2011, Gregory Kralovetz, 50, Caucasian, Kaukauna, Wisconsin 
146. August 12, 2011, Joseph Lopez, 49, Hispanic, Santa Barbara, California
147. August 17, 2011, Roger Chandler, 41, Caucasian, Helena, Montana 
148. August 21, 2011, Montalito McKissick, 37, Black, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
149. August 24, 2011, Michael Evans, 56, Race: Unknown, Fayetteville, North Carolina
150. August 30, 2011, Nicholas Koscielniak, 27, Caucasian, Lancaster, New York
151. September 11, 2011, Tyree Sinclair, 31, Black, Corpus Christi, Texas
152. September 13, 2011, Damon Barnett, 44, Caucasian, Fresno, California 
153. September 17, 2011, Richard Kokenos, 27, Caucasian, Warren, Michigan
154. September 24, 2011, Bradford Gibson, 35, Black, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
155. September 24, 2011, Donacio Rendon, 43, Hispanic, Lubbock, Texas
156. September 29, 2011, Howard Cook, 35, Black, York, Pennsylvania
157. October 4, 2011, Glenn Norman, 46, Caucasian, Camden County, Missouri
158. October 9, 2011, Darnell Hutchinson, 32, Black, San Leandro, California
159. October 31, 2011, Chad Brothers, 32, Caucasian, Colonie, New York
160. November 6, 2011, Darrin Hanna, 43, Black, North Chicago, Illinois
161. November 13, 2011, Ronald Cristiano, 51, Caucasian, Bridgeport, Connecticut
162. November 15, 2011, Jonathan White, 29, Black, San Bernardino, California
163. November 22, 2011, Roger Anthony, 61, Black, Scotland Neck, North Carolina
164. December 16, 2011, Marty Atencio, 44, Hispanic, Phoenix, Arizona
165. December 22, 2011, Wayne Williams, 27, Black, Houma, Louisiana
166. January 15, 2012, Daniel Guerra, 24, Hispanic, Ft. Worth, Texas
167. February 29, 2012, Raymond Allen, 34, Black, Galveston, Texas
168. March 5, 2012, Nehemiah Dillard, 29, Black, Gainesville, Florida
169. March 12, 2012, Jersey Green, 37, Black, Aurora, Illinois 
170. March 19, 2012, James Barnes, 38, Caucasian, Pinellas County, Florida
171. April 10, 2012, Bobby Merrill, 38, Black, Saginaw, Michigan
172. April 21, 2012, Angel Heraldo, 41, Hispanic, Meriden, Connecticut 
173. April 22, 2012, Bruce Chrestensen, 52, Caucasian, Grass Valley, California
174. May 10, 2012, Damon Abraham, 34, Black, Baldwin, Louisiana
175. June 9, 2012, Randolph Bonvillian, 41, Caucasian, Houma, Louisiana
176. June 20, 2012, Macadam Mason, 39, Caucasian, Thetford, Vermont 
177. June 30, 2012, Victor Duffy, 25, Black, Tukwila, Washington
178. July 1, 2012, Corey McGinnis, 35, Black, Cincinnati, Ohio
179. July 5, 2012, Sampson Castellane, 29, Native American, Fife, Washington 
180. September 1, 2012, Denis Chabot, 38, Caucasian, Houston, Texas 
181. September 14, 2012, Bill Williams, 60, Caucasian, Everett, Washington
182. November 29, 2012, Robert Maurina, 46, Caucasian, West Allis, Wisconsin
183. December 13, 2012, Philip Coleman, 38, Black, Chicago, Illinois
184. December 25, 2012, Kevin Culp, 29, Black, Richmond, Washington
185. January 1, 2013, Andrew Layton, 26, Caucasian, Mankato, Minnesota
186. February 23, 2013, Christopher Parker, 33, Caucasian, Spokane, Washington 
187. April 19, 2013, Anthony Howard, 51, Black, Gaithersburg, Maryland 
188. July 21, 2013, Deomain Hayman, 28, Black, Wilmington, Delaware
189. July 24, 2013, Dainell Simmons, 29, Unknown, Middle Island, New York 
190. July 26, 2013, John Wrana, 95, Caucasian, Forest Park, Illinois 
191. July 29, 2013, Zheng Diao, 76, Asian, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
192. August 6, 2013, Israel Hernandez, 18, Hispanic, Miami, Florida 
193. August 21, 2013, Michael Ruiz, 44, Hispanic, Phoenix, Arizona

$1.1 Million Worth Of Drugs Stopped At Calexico Border

Kidnappings Escalate

Kidnappings by the cartels and the gangs who work for them have become a serious problem in several U.S. cities on the Southwest border. In the past, kidnap victims were usually rivals in the drug trade. Sometimes victims were kidnapped for revenge, sometimes to intimidate. And paying a ransom was no guarantee the victim would be released.

But when the gangs realized how easy—and profitable—kidnapping could be, they started abducting anyone who looked wealthy enough to command a hefty ransom, and that included Americans on either side of the border.

In the Texas border town of McAllen, for example, the rate of kidnapping has nearly quadrupled. Between October 2008 and September 2009, 42 people were kidnapped in the McAllen area, compared with 11 the previous year. And many kidnappings go unreported because the victims may be involved in illegal activity and don’t want to contact authorities.

***************************************************************

ON THE SOUTHWEST BORDER
Corruption, Drugs, Gangs, and More

08/02/10

The U.S. border with Mexico extends nearly 2,000 miles, from San Diego, California to Brownsville, Texas. At too many points along the way, criminals ply their trade with surprising ease and devastating results.

Drug cartels transporting kilos of cocaine and marijuana, gangs who think nothing of kidnapping and murder, traffickers smuggling human cargo, corrupt public officials lining their pockets by looking the other way—any one of these offenses represents a challenge to law enforcement.

Watch Video: The FBI’s role on the border.

Taken together, they constitute a threat not only to the safety of our border communities, but to the security of the entire country.

During the next several weeks, FBI.gov will take you to the Southwest border for a firsthand look at our efforts there to fight crime. We will take you to San Diego—home of the world’s busiest port of entry—and across the border into Tijuana. We will also visit El Paso, Texas, whose sister city in Mexico—Juarez—has become as deadly as any war zone thanks to the drug cartels.

In articles, pictures, and video, we will chronicle the Bureau’s efforts to combat Southwest

Assistant Director Kevin Perkins

border crime through our participation in drug, violent crime, and public corruption task forces; our extensive intelligence-gathering efforts; and our vital partnerships with Mexican law enforcement.

Despite our continuing successes, however, much work is left to be done.

“With such a great expanse of territory to cover,” said Kevin Perkins, assistant director of our Criminal Investigative Division, “there are places where the border is permeable. In some areas of the desert, people can cross illegally at will, and they do. The U.S. government has built fences and other barriers that our adversaries are continually trying to defeat, and in some cases they are defeating them,” he added.  “Either they’re tunneling under, flying over, or actually cutting through the various defenses we’ve put up.”

The cartels make billion-dollar profits trafficking drugs. Gaining and controlling border access is critical to their operations. They maintain that control through bribery, extortion, intimidation, and extreme violence. Some areas on the Mexican side of the border are so violent they are reminiscent of the gangster era of Chicago in the 1930s or the heyday of the Mafia’s Five Families in New York. In Tijuana, for example, a man who came to be known as “The Strew Maker”—El Pozolero—worked for one of the cartels dissolving hundreds of murder victims in acid to dispose of the evidence. In Juarez, decapitated heads of murdered cartel members have been displayed on fence posts to intimidate rivals.

“We think al Qaeda is violent,” said one of our senior agents in El Paso, “but the cartels here are often just as willing to resort to extreme brutality and bloodshed to carry out their objectives.”

The disturbing level of violence sometimes overshadows the national security risks along the border, Perkins said. “Unfortunately, there are border guards who are corrupt—people who can wave vehicles through checkpoints. Those vehicles could contain narcotics or illegal aliens, but they could also be pieces to the next dirty bomb brought into the country by terrorists. We are working very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer Michael Gilliland is seen in surveillance video in 2006 waving cars through his lane at a border crossing in San Diego. He was arrested hours later. Video

ON THE SOUTHWEST BORDER
Public Corruption: A Few Bad Apples

08/09/10

In the surveillance footage taken hours before his arrest, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Michael Gilliland can be seen nonchalantly waving a car through his lane at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego. He was knowingly allowing illegal aliens across the border, and he would do this several more times throughout the evening. His actions that night would earn him nearly the equivalent of his annual salary—and eventually a five-year prison term.

Gilliland, a former U.S. Marine and veteran Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer with 16 years of experience, has been in jail since 2007. But his case continues to illustrate the pervasive problem of corruption along the Southwest border and the damage that can occur when officials betray the public’s trust.

Although the vast majority of U.S. government employees working on the border are not corrupt, as one senior agent who investigates such crimes noted, “Even one bad apple is too many.”

Of our 700 agents assigned to public corruption investigations nationwide, approximately 120 of them are located in the Southwest region. We work closely with many federal agencies, including CBP and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The result has been more than 400 public corruption cases originating from the Southwest region—and in the past fiscal year more than 100 arrests and about 130 state and federal cases prosecuted.

We have 12 border corruption task forces in the Southwest, which consist of many state and local law enforcement agencies as well as our federal partners. Recently, we established a National Border Corruption Task Force at FBI Headquarters to coordinate the activities of all regional operations.

At our Border Corruption Task Force office in San Diego, Special Agent Terry Reed—who headed the Michael Gilliland investigation—points out the “Wall of Shame.” Displayed are pictures of a dozen former officials convicted of public corruption offenses in the San Diego area. They are a diverse group of men and women from a variety of state and federal government agencies. They were all in it for the money, sex, or both—a fact not lost on the drug cartels.

“The cartels have developed into very sophisticated businesses,” said El Paso Special Agent Tim Gutierrez. “Despite their brutality and violence, they use sophisticated tactics.”

The cartels actively engage in corrupting public officials. They recruit by exploiting weaknesses, sometimes gaining intelligence through surveillance methods usually employed by law enforcement. Cartel members have been known to observe inspectors at ports of entry using binoculars from the Mexican side of the border. Maybe an inspector has a drinking or gambling problem. Maybe he flirts with women and could be tempted to cheat on his wife. Maybe an employee is simply burned out on the job.

“If you’re an inspector and you are legitimately waving through 97 out of 100 cars anyway,” Gutierrez said, “and you realize you can make as much as your annual salary by letting the 98th car go by, it can be easy to rationalize that.”

“The cartels are always looking for the next Michael Gilliland,” Agent Reed said. “But using our combined investigative and intelligence gathering skills, the task force has been very successful in rooting out corrupt public officials at the border.”

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The kidnappings, beatings, and murders that mark the drug-related violence of Mexican border cities like Tijuana and Juarez have increasingly spilled over the border.

ON THE SOUTHWEST BORDER
When Violence Hits Too Close to Home

08/12/10

Emerging from the port of entry’s administrative offices into a sunny San Diego morning, Special Agent Dean Giboney spoke in fluent Spanish with the man whose temporary U.S. visa he had just helped renew. The man was smiling, happy to be out of Mexico, even though he understood that being on U.S. soil was no guarantee of safety from the Tijuana drug cartel that has put a price on his head.

The kidnappings, beatings, and murders that mark the extreme drug-related violence of Mexican border cities such as Tijuana and Juarez have increasingly spilled over the border. Agent Giboney is hoping the man—we’ll call him José —can provide information that will help in the Bureau’s efforts to dismantle the cartels and the criminal enterprises they fuel.

A few years ago, José started working for the Arellano Felix Organization (AFO) in Tijuana to earn extra money. But when he saw how routine the act of murder was for the cartel—leaders thought nothing of having even their own people killed for real or perceived insubordination—he started to fear for his life and contacted the FBI to help him flee the country.

Sources like José are just one of many ways the Bureau gathers intelligence to combat border crime. Agent Giboney is particularly interested in gaining information regarding fugitives in the Los Palillos case, one of San Diego’s most notorious examples of so-called “spillover violence.”

Los Palillos—the “Toothpicks”—was a rogue spinoff from the AFO. From 2004 to 2007, the San Diego street gang carried out a brutal crime spree in which 13 people were abducted and nine were killed. Bodies turned up in cars, on jogging paths, and inside houses in quiet, residential neighborhoods.

The group’s leader, Jorge Rojas-Lopez, is serving a life sentence without parole for the crimes, and several of his henchmen are also in prison. But five members of the gang are still at large.

Rojas-Lopez—a former AFO member—was fighting the cartel for a piece of the billion-dollar drug trade, but he was also fighting for revenge, because the AFO had ordered the murder of his brother.

“This level of extreme violence is very typical of the way the cartels operate south of the border,” Giboney said. Unfortunately, Los Palillos is not an isolated case north of the border, either.

What explains this level of brutality? “The cartels and the gang members they employ want to be Al Pacino in the movie Scarface,” Giboney said. During raids on the homes of cartel members, he has seen movie posters of the machine-gun-wielding Pacino, who played a vicious drug kingpin. “They want to live that lifestyle—the nice cars, going out to clubs, throwing money around. But once you’re in that lifestyle,” he explained, “it’s hard to get out, even if you want to.”

José understands how difficult it is to get away from the cartel. The “narcos,” as he calls AFO members, are powerful as well as ruthless, and their influence is felt at every level of Mexican society. “Whatever they want to know about you they can find out,” he said. “They will stop at nothing to protect their interests, even if it means crossing the border.”

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FBI Special Agent Mike Eckel, left, is one of the Bureau’s five border liaison officers. He meets about once a week with counterparts like Alejandro Lares of the Tijuana Police Department.

ON THE SOUTHWEST BORDER
Forging Ties in Tijuana

08/16/10

Amid the car horns, engine exhaust, and constant flow of people on foot and in cars, Special Agent Mike Eckel inched through traffic at the San Ysidro Port of Entry—the world’s busiest land border crossing—on his way from San Diego to Tijuana. Although the Mexican city can be a dangerous place for Americans, in his role as one of the Bureau’s five border liaison officers, Eckel makes the trip about once a week.

Watch Video: Liaison officer Alejandro Lares describes working in Tijuana with the FBI.

On this day, he will visit his counterpart at the Tijuana Police Department in hopes of locating a U.S. citizen wanted for a 2009 murder in Nevada who may be hiding with relatives in that region of Mexico.

“The idea behind the border liaison program is to build relationships and to exchange information with Mexican law enforcement,” said Eckel, who speaks fluent Spanish. “We try to take geography out of the equation so we can share intelligence and help each other and bring criminals to justice on both sides of the border.”

In the past, such relationships were difficult to cultivate in Tijuana because of the level of corruption there, according to U.S. and Mexican officials. “But the tide is turning,” Eckel said. “There is less corruption now, and the FBI and other federal entities have established solid working relationships with our Mexican partners.”

Less than an hour after crossing the border, Eckel sat in a small office in a busy Tijuana police substation. He was speaking with officer Alejandro Lares about the Nevada murder fugitive and other matters, including suspected cartel members who live freely in San Diego, where they have committed no crimes. Lares, who has been on the Tijuana force for four years, has served as the liaison officer for U.S. law enforcement for the past year.

“Today, the cartels have less power than they had in the past,” Lares said, largely because the Mexican federal government has exerted its military presence in the area. “We are moving in the right direction,” he added, but acknowledged that the crime and corruption associated with the drug trade will never disappear completely.

Thanks to drug money, the cartels have enormous power—and they use it to bribe, intimidate, and murder. To get what they want from police and government officials in Tijuana and elsewhere along the Mexican border, the cartels offer “the silver or the lead”: the silver being money and the lead being bullets.

Even well-intentioned public servants who refuse outright bribes might be compelled to look the other way if their lives—or the lives of their families—have been threatened. “And these are not hollow threats,” Eckel said. “They will kill you.”

But efforts such as the border liaison program and the determined, collaborative work of law enforcement on both sides of the border are making a difference.

“Sharing information is the key,” Eckel said. “By being able to gather intelligence and quickly analyze and share it, we can actually save lives. I have seen that happen.” Working with the Mexicans as well as other U.S. partner agencies, he added, “We help keep each other safe. We all get along extremely well, because our lives can depend on it.”

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A vanload of drugs confiscated near the border.

ON THE SOUTHWEST BORDER
A Drug Buy in El Paso

08/30/10

It may look like any other afternoon along this busy shopping strip outside El Paso, Texas, with people walking in and out of stores and restaurants and traffic moving at a steady clip. But inside a particular establishment, one of our sources is waiting to buy nearly $20,000 worth of cocaine from a local gang member.

The operation represents one of the many ways we are fighting the drug trade along the Southwest border. From small street-level drug buys to major cases targeting the highest levels of cartel and gang leadership, our agents and law enforcement partners attack the problem from every angle to gain intelligence and to disrupt and dismantle trafficking organizations.

On this day, agents from our criminal enterprise/gang squad are working with local and state officers to build a case against the gang. Members of the team—all in plain clothes and driving unmarked vehicles—are inconspicuously and strategically parked near the site of the establishment. The source inside is wearing a wire, and his conversations can be heard on car-to-car radios. If anything goes wrong, the source will say a code word and the team will quickly be inside.

At a final briefing before the operation began, the team leader—one of our veteran agents—spoke to the group in a parking lot behind a nearby municipal building. He went over the plan again in detail, stressing the danger involved and the need for extreme caution to make sure everyone stayed safe. Then, like a basketball coach before a game, he gathered the team in a circle and read aloud the Bureau’s policy on the use of deadly force.

An hour later, the source was inside, but the target wasn’t—he called to say he would be late. While they waited in their car and listened to the radio chatter, two of our agents on the operation—we’ll call them Smith and Johns—explained the economics of the drug trade in El Paso and across the border in Juarez.

“Where you have gangs,” Smith said, “you have drugs. And in El Paso, all the drugs are coming from across the border.” A kilo of cocaine in El Paso costs about $20,000, but can be sold in Chicago, Atlanta, New York, or Miami for more than $30,000. There is a lot of money to be made.

Finally, the target arrived, but without any drugs and only vague promises to produce them that day. The team leader sent a text message to the source to leave, and then canceled the operation. “We’ll try again tomorrow,” he said.

False starts and dead ends are typical in such drug cases, Agents Smith and Johns said later. But the work is important. Even though small drug buys won’t break the backs of the cartels, Johns explained, “We gain a lot of intelligence from these operations, and sometimes we develop new sources as a result. And every kilo of coke we take off the streets is one that doesn’t make its way to American kids.”

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Methamphetamine confiscated near the border. Photo courtesy of DEA

ON THE SOUTHWEST BORDER
Going After the Major Players

09/08/10

Methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and cash—the amount of drugs and currency crossing the border in and around El Paso, Texas can be difficult to comprehend.

“El Paso may be the busiest city in the world in terms of the flow of drugs,” said Special Agent Mike Cordero, a member of the FBI/DEA Strike Force, an investigative team established in 2007 to target “the biggest of the big” drug trafficking organizations.

“If they are major players,” Agent Cordero explained, “we’re going after them. Our mission is to disrupt and dismantle these organizations.”

It is estimated that 40-60 percent of all illegal drugs that come into the U.S. enter through the border areas encompassed by our El Paso Field Office. The drugs flow across the border from Juarez, and U.S. currency flows back into Mexico. Every month, tens of millions of dollars in cash pass into Juarez, enabling the cartels to corrupt public officials, purchase weapons, and engage in other criminal activity beyond drug trafficking.

The strike force in El Paso—one of several along the Southwest border—is designed to fight this cycle of crime and violence. The program is funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a longstanding Department of Justice initiative that combines federal, state, and local law enforcement efforts to fight organized crime and drug traffickers. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI have lead roles in operating the strike force.

Working with undercover operatives, sources, and Mexican law enforcement, the team uses an intelligence-driven approach in its investigations. Besides orchestrating large drug buys, agents pay close attention to the money laundering aspects of drug trafficking. Perhaps most importantly, the actionable intelligence gathered by the strike force benefits many other investigations and law enforcement agencies both domestically and internationally.

The El Paso strike force consists of 10 FBI agents and 10 DEA agents, as well as representatives from the Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

“We are a badge-less operation,” Agent Cordero said. “When you walk in our office, you can’t tell who is FBI and who is DEA. There is a concerted effort to put the cases first and not to worry about who gets the credit,” he added. “A win is a win for everybody.”

Recently, during a nationwide drug trafficking takedown called Project Deliverance, the strike force arrested 133 individuals on drug charges and seized 800 pounds of marijuana, 11 kilos of cocaine, and nearly $140,000 in cash. The operation also contributed intelligence to numerous other investigations around the country. “Because El Paso is a pivotal location for the Mexican drug trade,” said Special Agent Raul Bujanda, another member of the strike force, “the intelligence we gather allows us to spin off a lot of cases to other offices.”

Twelve pounds of heroin confiscated during Project Deliverance. Photo courtesy of DEA

“We’re very proud of the work we do,” Agent Cordero said. “There are no egos involved in the strike force—it’s all about the cases and bringing down the drug traffickers.”

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Mesa Police Department Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Police Shooting for $3,000,000.00 after 15 year old Mario Madrigal threatened suicide with a knife. Police storm house, taser him once, and then 3 officers shoot him 10 times killing him

Wrongful Death, Family awarded $1.2 million settlement after Anthony Scott had left a birthday party to buy candles and cigarettes at a gas station, confronted by police, asked to step out of the vehicle and was shot twice because it appeared he was trying to reach for a weapon in his lap.

Illinois Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settled by Police Over Excessive Taser Use. Although Roger Holyfield was unarmed, handcuffed and laying facedown on the ground, the officers reportedly shot him with a Taser several times resulting in his death.

Taser Lawsuit Settled for $2.4M and Police Will Suspend Stun Gun Use over the death of Stanley Harlan, who was struck with a Taser three times for resisting attempts to handcuff him following a stop for suspected drunk driving

City Settles Wrongful–Death Lawsuit for Police Shooting after victim was shot in the back by a police sniper on Nov. 4, 2005, while he was talking on a cell phone

Indiana Police Settle Wrongful Death Suit Over Police Crash. Police agreed to pay man $75,000 after his fiancee was killed and he was seriously injured when a driver fleeing police crashed into his car.

Shelby Township police settle $1.95 million wrongful death of man who was being apprehended for running in traffic in his underwear. Victim was struck repeatedly by police with Tasers and beaten, he was then suffocated to death while police were restraining him

Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Police Shooting Settled after man was was fatally shot in the back of the head by trooper during a police pursuit.

$1.2 Million Wrongful Death, Police Shooting, jury verdict on behalf of a mother whose schizophrenic son was shot 14 times and killed by police

Family Files Wrongful Death Suit Over Police Chase That Ended in Fatality of a Billings nurse killed by a drunken teenager who was fleeing from police

New Jersey family settles $1.35 million police wrongful death lawsuit after police officer fatally shot the victim six times during a confrontation in the man’s apartment

Wrongful–Death Suit Filed in Police Beating of mentally disabled man who died when he was shot, handcuffed, then beat at least a dozen times by Charleston police

Wrongful death suit against Epping Police continues dispite a request to dismiss the case brought against the Epping Police Department by the family of murdered man

Wrongful Death Suit Settled Against Chattanooga Police, after victim that suffered fractured ribs, a dislocated shoulder joint with a fracture and multiple abrasions in the arrest, died from positional asphyxia

SEEKING VICTIMS’ NEXT OF KIN

DESCRIPTION

As part of the Civil Rights-Era Cold Case Initiative, the FBI is currently re-assessing more than 100 unsolved or inadequately solved racially motivated homicides from the civil rights era. The FBI intends to notify the victims’ families of the results of the investigation. Unfortunately, however, due to the passage of time and the migration of many families, the FBI has been unable to identify the next of kin in 33 cases. The names and circumstances of these victims are listed below in hopes that the public may be able to provide information that can assist the FBI in locating surviving family members.

Atlanta Division:

A.C. Hall: A.C. Hall was shot and killed on October 11, 1962, in Macon, Georgia, after being identified by a Caucasian woman as the man who stole a pistol from her car. The woman observed a person breaking into her car and the police responded. The officers drove her and her husband through the neighborhood to find the perpetrator. The couple identified Hall as the person who may be responsible and after a foot chase he was shot and killed by the officers.

Arthur James Hill: Arthur James Hill was allegedly shot and killed on August 20, 1965, by an individual during an altercation with a group of Caucasian men in Villa Rica, Georgia. One of the men who shot Hill stated that Hill was pulling out a shotgun when Hill was shot.

Ernest Hunter: Ernest Hunter was arrested in Savannah, Georgia, on September 13, 1958. Later that day, he was shot and killed by a police officer following an alleged struggle inside the holding cell at the police station. Hunter was arrested after he interfered with the officer’s attempts to give Hunter’s wife a traffic citation.

Maybelle Mahone: On December 5, 1956, a Caucasian male shot and killed Maybelle Mahone in her home in Molena, Georgia.

Clarence Horatious Pickett: Clarence Horatious Pickett was beaten by a police officer on December 21, 1957, in Columbus, Georgia, while Pickett was in jail. Pickett died as a result of his injuries on December 23, 1957.

Birmingham Division:

Nathan Johnson: On May 8, 1966, two police officers in Alabaster, Alabama, stopped Nathan Johnson for driving under the influence of alcohol. Johnson was transported to the station where he allegedly struggled with one of the officers and was shot and killed.

William Lewis Moore: On April 23, 1963, William Moore was shot and killed by an individual near Attalla, Alabama. Moore, a postal worker from Baltimore, Maryland, and a former Marine had begun a solo march from Chattanooga, Tennessee, en route to Jackson, Mississippi, to deliver a letter to the governor urging the integration of the University of Mississippi.

Johnny Robinson: Johnny Robinson was a 16-year-old African-American who was shot and killed by a police officer in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963, during the aftermath of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.

Columbia Division:

James Waymers: On July 10, 1965, James Waymers was killed in Allendale, South Carolina, after an argument with an individual regarding Waymers’ efforts to string electrical wires into the home of an African American.

Dallas Division:

John Earl Reese: On October 22, 1955, John Earl Reese, a 16-year-old African-American male was shot and killed along with two other African-American females by two men who fired several rounds into a predominantly African-American café in Gregg County, Texas.

Jacksonville Division:

Joseph Hill Dumas: On May 5, 1962, Joseph Dumas was killed in Perry, Florida, by a law enforcement officer who may have shot him accidentally during a traffic stop. Dumas and his family were detained during the stop in Taylor County, Florida.

Jackson Division:

Eli Brumfield: Eli Brumfield was stopped for speeding in McComb, Mississippi, on October 13, 1961. When Brumfield allegedly jumped from his car with knife, he was shot and killed by the police officer.

Silas Ernest Caston: Silas Ernest Caston was shot and killed by a law enforcement officer in Hinds County, Mississippi, on March 1, 1964.

Jimmie Lee Griffin: Jimmie Lee Griffin’s body was discovered on a local highway near Sturgis, Mississippi, on September 24, 1965.

Ernest Jells: Ernest Jells was shot to death on October 20, 1963, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, by a police officer after Jells allegedly pointed a rifle at officers who were attempting to arrest him for stealing a banana from a local grocery store.

William Henry Lee, aka, John Patrick Lee: Lee’s body was discovered near railroad tracks in Rankin County, Mississippi, on February 25, 1965. Lee may have walked away from his disabled vehicle to seek assistance.

George Love: George Love was shot and killed near Ruleville, Mississippi, on January 8, 1958, by police officers after Love allegedly shot and seriously wounded a Ruleville night marshal who sought to question Love about a robbery.

Neimiah Montgomery: Neimiah Montgomery stopped at a gas station on August 10, 1964, in Cleveland, Mississippi, and asked the attendant to put gas in his car. Montgomery allegedly refused to pay for the gas and attacked the attendant. A police officer shot and killed Montgomery when he arrived on the scene.

Jessie James Shelby: Jessie Shelby was shot and killed by a police officer in Yazoo City, Mississippi, on January 21, 1956.

Ollie Shelby: Ollie Shelby was shot and killed on January 22, 1965, while he was incarcerated in the Hinds County Jail in Mississippi.

Ed Smith: Ed Smith was allegedly shot and killed on April 27, 1958, in State Line, Mississippi.

Isaiah Taylor: Isaiah Taylor was shot and killed on June 26, 1964 in Ruleville, Mississippi, by a police officer following a traffic stop.

Mobile Division:

Hiliard Brooks: On August 13, 1952, Hiliard Brooks was shot and killed by a police officer over a dispute regarding whether or not Brooks paid his bus fare.

Rogers Hamilton: On October 22, 1957, one or two men came to Rogers Hamilton’s home in Lowndes County, Alabama, and took him out of his house. Hamilton got into the truck with the men. His mother found Hamilton’s body in the road. He had been shot and killed.

Bessie McDowell: Two men went to Bessie McDowell’s home in Andalusia, Alabama, in 1956 to collect a debt from an individual who resided with McDowell. When the individual fled, the men shot into the house and accidentally struck McDowell killing her.

James Earl Motley: On November 20, 1966, James Motley was detained by a police officer in Elmore County, Alabama, during a traffic stop. After an alleged altercation with responding officers, he was transported to the police station. He was later found dead in the holding cell.

Archie Wooden: Archie Wooden was sixteen years old when he allegedly cut his leg on the branch of a tree and bled to death in 1967 in Camden, Alabama.

New Orleans Division:

Izell Henry: Two individuals claimed that they found Izell Henry in a roadside ditch about a mile from his home in Greensburg, Louisiana, on July 28, 1954. They transported him to Lallie Kemp Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

David Pitts, Albert Pitts, Marshall Johns, Ernest McPharland: On July 23, 1960, an individual shot and killed four of his employees in Monroe, Louisiana.

New York Division:

Jimmy Powell: On July 16, 1964, Jimmy Powell was fifteen years old when he was shot and killed by a police officer in New York City for allegedly charging at the officer with a knife.

San Antonio Division:

Preston Bolden: On May 8, 1953, Preston Bolden was found dead in the vicinity of 419 Nolan, in the proximity of the 600 block of North Walnut Street in San Antonio, Texas, near a railroad track. Bolden’s neck was broken.

Ann Thomas: Ann Thomas’ partially-clothed body was found on April 8, 1969, near the intersection of Rotary Street and Hamil in San Antonio, Texas. She had been sexually assaulted and shot four times in the head.

Ladislado Ureste: Ladislado Ureste was found on April 22, 1953, by a police officer near Concepcion Park in San Antonio, Texas. He was taken to a local hospital where he died.

Ethan is biracial. He is Hispanic and White. Ethan has a small chip on his front right tooth. Carla has a scar on her forehead.

CHRISTINE MICHELLE BOOKER

Christine has scars on both shoulders and red highlights in her hair. Christine’s nicknames are Christie and Tina.

D’ANDRE JEROME LAYNE

D’Andre has a scar on his hand and a tattoo on his arm. His nickname is Dee.

MARISSA ANN BENSON

Marissa was last seen on October 7, 2009. Her hair is dyed black.

MARLENE NICOLE GONZALEZ

Marlene may be in the company of her mother. They may travel to San Diego or Santa Barbara, California, or Baja or Guadalajara, Mexico.

ARACELY CARRILLO

Aracely was last seen September 17, 2009. She may be in the company of an adult male. They may have traveled to Guatemala. Aracely wears glasses. CAUTION ADVISED.

MARCUS MARTINEZ

Marcus may be in the company of an adult male and female relative. They may travel to Coral Springs or Parkland, Florida.

ASHLEY NICOLE CAMPBELL

Ashley may be in the company of Harlan McIntosh. A felony warrant is on file for Harlan. They may have traveled to Somerset, Kentucky. Ashley may go by the nickname Ash.

JASHON WILLIAMS

The child was last known to be with his mother on November 13, 2009. His mother was discovered deceased later that same day and the child could not be located. His current whereabouts are unknown.

MADYSON STORMY STAR JAMISON

Madyson was last seen on October 8, 2009. The two photos on the left are both of Madyson. She may be in the company of her father, Bobby Jamison, and her mother, Sherilynn Jamison. Their vehicle was found abandoned in Red Oak, Oklahoma, on October 17, 2009; however, their whereabouts are unknown. When Madyson was last seen, her front teeth were missing. She was last seen wearing blue jeans and a long sleeve pink shirt with small flowers printed on it.

Shannon Lea Dedrick

The 7-month-old girl was found alive and well under her baby sitter’s bed several days after she was reported missing Oct. 31 from her family’s home in Chipley, Fla., police said. Authorities said her mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, conspired to hand her over to sitter Susan Elizabeth Baker before reporting her missing. Both women have been charged.

Shaniya Davis

The 5-year-old girl went missing from Fayetteville, N.C., on Nov. 10. Mario Andrette McNeill has been charged with kidnapping her, and her mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, has been charged with human trafficking and a child abuse offense involving prostitution. Shaniya’s whereabouts remain unclear.

Elizabeth Olten

The 9-year-old disappeared Oct. 21 after leaving a neighbor’s home in St. Martins, Mo. Her body was found in a wooded area two days later. A 15-year-old girl was arrested in her slaying.

Somer Thompson

The 7-year-old girl was walking from school to her home in Orange Park, Fla., when she disappeared Oct. 19. Her body was found two days later in a Georgia landfill where garbage trucks dump trash from her neighborhood.

Hasanni Campbell

The 5-year-old Oakland, Calif., boy, who has cerebral palsy, was reported missing Aug. 10. Police arrested his foster parents, Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell, on Aug. 28 on suspicion of murder but said later they did not have enough evidence to charge them. Police said they were still focusing on Ross and Campbell, who is Hasanni’s aunt.

Jaycee Dugard

The 11-year-old was kidnapped while walking to a bus stop near her South Lake Tahoe, Calif., home in 1991. On Aug. 26, she walked into a police station in Concord, Calif. Convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido and his wife were arrested. Police said the couple kept her as a virtual slave and that she had two children with Garrido.

Robert Manwill

The 8-year-old’s body was pulled Aug. 3 from a canal in Idaho. Robert was reported missing July 24 from his mother’s apartment on the southwest side of Boise. His mother, Melissa Jenkins, and her boyfriend were indicted Aug. 19 on first-degree murder charges in his death. Prosecutors said Jenkins did nothing as Daniel Ehrlick repeatedly beat and tortured her son, and hid the boy’s injuries from people who might have intervened.

Nevaeh Buchanan

The 5-year-old girl was last seen May 24 outside the apartment building where she lived with her mother in Monroe, Mich. Two fishermen found her body June 4 on the banks of the River Raisin in Monroe. Police have questioned two registered sex offenders described as friends of Nevaeh’s mother but no arrests have been made.

Daniel Hauser

Authorities began looking for the 13-year-old Minnesota boy after he and his mother failed to show at a May 19 court hearing. A judge has ordered that Daniel receive chemotherapy for his Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but his mother wants to use natural remedies for religious reasons. After a week on the run, Daniel and his mother returned home on May 25.

Briant Rodriguez

California authorities issued an Amber Alert May 3 for the 3-year-old, who was kidnapped from his San Bernardino home by two gunmen who broke into the house, tied up his family and robbed the place. He was reunited with his mother May 16 after being found wandering in a Mexican border town.

Joshua Childers

The 3-year-old was reported missing on May 4 after he wandered away from his home near Arcadia, Mo. The frantic search for Joshua ended two days later when he was found alive in the rugged terrain of the Mark Twain National Forest.

Brittanee Drexel

The 17-year-old’s mother said her daughter disappeared April 25 while on a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. Her mother, Dawn, said she didn’t give her daughter permission to go on the trip.

Stephanie Condon

Authorities announced March 25 that remains found in Southern Oregon on March 13 were those of the 14-year-old, who vanished while baby-sitting in 1998. Dale Wayne Hill is charged with kidnapping and killing Condon.

Haleigh Cummings

The 5-year-old apparently disappeared from her bed in her father’s double-wide trailer early on Feb. 10. The father’s girlfriend told police she woke to find Haleigh missing. Police were treating the case as an abduction.

Tiana Rice

The 16-year-old’s parents spent more than a month looking for her after she vanished Dec. 30 in New York City. All the while, her body was lying unclaimed in a morgue. She was finally identified Feb. 3. In March, officials ruled her death a homicide, saying she died from an asthma attack triggered by being raped.

Adam Herrman

Adam, of Towanda, Kan., was 11 when he vanished in 1999, but his adoptive parents never reported it. Authorities only recently learned Adam, who would now be 21, was missing. They said Jan. 6 that his parents, Doug and Valerie Herrman, are “people of interest” in the case.

Caylee Anthony

Caylee was last seen in June 2008, but her mother didn’t report the 2-year-old missing until nearly a month later. Police said Dec. 20 that DNA tests confirmed that remains discovered in a wooded area of Orlando, Fla., belonged to the girl. Her mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with murder.

Brooke Bennett

The 12-year-old girl disappeared on June 25, 2008, after she was spotted at a convenience store with her uncle, registered sex offender Michael Jacques. Her body was found in a makeshift grave the following July. Jacques faces charges of drugging, raping and killing her.

Reigh Boss

Police said Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who calls himself Clark Rockefeller, abducted his daughter during a visit supervised by a social worker in Boston on July 27, 2008. Nearly a week later, FBI officers rescued Reigh and arrested her father in a Baltimore apartment after receiving a tip.

Madeleine McCann

The British girl was 3 years old when she vanished from her family’s vacation apartment in Portugal on May 3, 2007. In July, prosecutors closed their investigation into her disappearance but said they would reopen the case if new evidence emerges.

Jessica Lunsford

The 9-year-old girl was snatched from her Homosassa, Fla., bedroom in February 2005. Neighbor John Couey, a convicted sex offender, was found guilty in 2007 of kidnapping and raping Jessica before burying her alive. He was sentenced to death. The case led to the passage of the Jessica Lunsford Act in Florida and to similar legislation on convicted sex offenders in other states.

Sarah Michelle Lunde

In 2005, the 13-year-old girl disappeared after returning from a trip with her church youth group. A six-day search ended when her body was discovered in a pond near her home in Ruskin, Fla. David Lee Onstott, who had once dated Sarah’s mother, was found guilty of second-degree murder in August.

Shasta and Dylan Groene

Joseph Edward Duncan III snatched the siblings from their home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in May 2005, after bludgeoning their older brother, their mother and their mother’s boyfriend to death. Duncan killed Dylan at a campsite, but Shasta was rescued when she was recognized in a restaurant. Duncan is serving six life sentences in prison.

Shawn Hornbeck

In October 2002, Michael Devlin kidnapped the 11-year old Missouri boy near his Washington County, Mo., home. Shawn was rescued more than four years later, in January of 2007, after Devlin abducted another boy and a witness tip led authorities to Devlin’s home. Devlin is serving multiple life terms for kidnapping and assaulting the boys.

Elizabeth Smart

In June 2002, drifter Brian David Mitchell, allegedly broke into the Smart family’s Salt Lake City home and forced Elizabeth, 14, from her bedroom at knife point. She was found in March 2003 on a street in Sandy, Utah, with Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Ilene Barzee. Mitchell and Barzee face charges of kidnapping, sexual assault and burglary.

Megan Kanka

In July 1994, Jesse Timmendequas, a repeat violent sexual offender, lured his 7-year-old neighbor to his home in Hamilton Township, N.J., with an invitation to see his new puppy. He then kidnapped, raped and murdered the girl. Her death brought about “Megan’s Law,” which is now in effect in all 50 states. The law requires communities to be notified when a convicted sex offender moves into their neighborhoods.

Polly Klaas

The 12-year-old girl was abducted in 1993 during a sleepover party at her home in Petaluma, Calif. Her body was found in December of that year in a shallow grave near a freeway. Richard Allen Davis was convicted of kidnapping and killing Polly. He is on death row in San Quentin State Prison in California.

Johnny Gosch

The paper boy vanished on Sept. 5, 1982, while delivering the Des Moines Register. His mother said she believes her son was forced into sexual slavery. Noreen Gosch told authorities that Johnny briefly visited her in 1997 but said he feared for his life and wouldn’t give details about himself. In 2006, photographs were left at her door apparently showing her son bound and gagged. Some have tried to discredit the photos.

Adam Walsh

The 6-year-old boy was found murdered after disappearing from a Florida shopping mall in 1981. Nearly three decades later, authorities in Florida identified a convicted pedophile who died in prison as the boy’s killer. After their son’s death, John and Reve Walsh, lobbied Congress to pass the Missing Children’s Act in 1982, requiring the FBI to track information about missing kids in a national crime database.

Etan Patz

On May 25, 1979, Etan disappeared near his home in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. A judge declared Etan legally dead in 2001, clearing the way for his parents to file — and win — a wrongful death lawsuit against Jose Antonio Ramos, a Pennsylvania inmate whom the family claimed molested and then killed Etan. In tribute to Etan, former President Ronald Reagan declared May 25 National Missing Children’s Day.

Charles Lindbergh Jr.

The toddler son of world famous aviator Charles Lindbergh was abducted from his home in March 1932. A ransom note demanding $50,000 was left on the window sill. The boy was found dead two months later. Bruno Hauptmann was convicted of murder and executed. Charles’ case spawned the Lindbergh Law, making kidnapping a federal crime. (Sources: AP, Fox News, CNN, San Francisco Chronicle)

AMBER Alert Success Stories

October 7, 2009
Bowling Green, OH
The Bowling Green Police in coordination with the Ohio State Highway Patrol Columbus Communications Center issued an AMBER Alert for a 19-month-old girl who was abducted by her biological father.  The suspect had made threats to kill the mother and her family.  He also stated that if he could not have his daughter then no one could have her.  The suspect heard the AMBER Alert on the radio and turned himself in to the Bowling Green Police at a gas station.   The child was safely rescued and the suspect was arrested.

October 2, 2009
Fresno, CA
The Fresno Police Department requested an AMBER Alert for a 2-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl, who were forcibly abducted from their home along with their mother, by their father.  The suspect was believed to be armed with a handgun and threatened to kill his family.  A regional AMBER Alert was issued.  Bakersfield Area California Highway Patrol units, who were aware of the AMBER Alert based on information from a BOLO, located the vehicle on the freeway approximately 20 minutes after its activation   After a short pursuit, the suspect vehicle overturned and struck a “big- rig” truck.   At some unknown point during the event, the suspect sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.   The children and mother were safely located in the vehicle and were transported to a medical facility for precautionary medical evaluation.

September 4, 2009
Miami, FL
An AMBER Alert was issued for a  2-year-old boy who was taken by his mother after a confrontation with the aunt of the child. The mother was dropping off another child at a daycare the next morning and saw the AMBER Alert on the television.  She called law enforcement and turned herself in.  The child was safely rescued.

September 1, 2009
Sarasota, FL
A 3-year-old boy was with his babysitter when the child’s mother instructed the babysitter to bring the child back home.  When the babysitter refused, an AMBER Alert was issued.  The babysitter saw the AMBER Alert and contacted law enforcement to turn himself in.  The child was safely rescued.

August 19, 2009
Pleasanton, CA
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Department activated a regional AMBER Alert on behalf of the Pleasanton Police Department for a 2-month-old boy who was taken by force by his father and the child’s uncle.  The mother of the suspect observed the AMBER Alert on the local news media and contacted the suspects to arrange for their surrender.  The suspects turned themselves in to the Antioch Police Department and the child was safely rescued.

August 10, 2009
Flagstaff, AZ
On August 9, 2009, the parents of a 6-year-old boy were in a custody dispute involving the time frame as to when the father would return the child.  According to court documents the child was supposed to be returned to his mother that day.  Law enforcement contacted the father the next day stating that he had to return the child.  During the phone conversation the father told law enforcement that “if you don’t hear from me in one hour, my son and I will be dead.”  He then called the judge involved in his case and made a similar statement.  An AMBER Alert was quickly issued.   A Mohave County Deputy Sheriff who lived next door to the father recognized the vehicle from an attempt to locate and a SWAT call was initiated on the residence.  At 1510 hours, the suspect turned himself in.  The child was rescued after he was found in the residence unharmed.  The father was taken into custody and charged with custodial interference and pending kidnapping charges.

August 9, 2009
Durham, NC
The mother of a 3-week-old boy was assaulted by the child’s father after he forced his way into her home.  The suspect left the residence with the child and fled in a vehicle. Since he was known to be violent and possibly a drug user, an AMBER Alert was quickly issued.  An individual who knew the abductor saw the AMBER Alert and contacted law enforcement with a tip.  The child was safely rescued.

July 27, 2009
Sikeston, MO
A father took his 5-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter after an argument with the children’s mother. He had kicked the mother out of the vehicle and stated he would kill anyone, including the children, if he saw law enforcement.  Because of his statements and possible intoxication, an AMBER Alert was issued.   After the father was contacted and told there was an AMBER Alert, he contacted authorities and was taken into custody. The children were rescued and safely returned to their mother.

July 24, 2009
Marengo, OH
An AMBER Alert was issued for a 17-month-old girl  who was abducted by her non-custodial mother, who is bi-polar, suicidal, and threatened to kill herself and the child. The suspect’s brother told her about the AMBER Alert, and she turned herself in at the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office approximately 30 miles from the abduction site.  The child was safely rescued and safely returned home.

July 14, 2009
Norwalk, CA
On July 14, 2009, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) requested an AMBER Alert for a 2-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy who were abducted by a stranger.  The children were left inside a vehicle parked outside a strip mall in Los Angeles when the suspect stole the vehicle. A regional AMBER Alert was issued.  Approximately 4 hours later an individual who was aware of the AMBER Alert observed the vehicle in a 76 Gas Station parking lot and notified local law enforcement.  The Compton LASD Sub Station responded to the scene and safely rescued both children.

July 7, 2009
Springfield, OH
An AMBER Alert was issued for a 9-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl after the suspect assaulted the mother, threatened to kill her and the children, and threw the mother out of the vehicle  The suspect turned himself in after he saw the AMBER Alert on television.  The children were safely rescued and the suspect was charged with domestic violence, assault, two counts of endangering children, disruption of public service and interfering with custody.

June 11.2009
Zebulon, NC
An AMBER Alert was issued for a 1-year-old child who was abducted by his father during an altercation with the child’s mother. A law enforcement officer who was aware of the AMBER Alert spotted the vehicle and made the traffic stop. The child was safely rescued.

June 5, 2009
Tempe, AZ
A 1-year-old girl was on supervised visitation with her non-custodial mother at a mall, when the mother took the child  away without permission. They were reported missing to the Tempe Police Department and an AMBER Alert was issued.   The parents of mother’s boyfriend saw the AMBER Alert and  told their son to call the police.  A tip from the boyfriend led Phoenix Police Department to the location where the child was rescued unharmed and the mother arrested.

July 2, 2009
Plano, IL
A 3-year-old girl was left in the care of her non-custodial mother after the hospitalization of her custodial father.  After being dismissed from the hospital, the custodial father tried to locate the child and mother.  After several hours, he reported the situation to law enforcement. Soon after, an  AMBER Alert was activated.  An individual who was aware of the AMBER Alert contacted law enforcement with information about the whereabouts of the child and abductor. The child was safely rescued.

May 14, 2009
East Lansing, MI
A 16-year-old girl was reported missing by her mother, after the child was taken by her boyfriend from her home in the Cedar Hill area of East Lansing, MI. The abductor had a history of assault, so an AMBER Alert was quickly issued. An individual recognized the vehicle from the AMBER Alert and contacted law enforcement. The child was safely rescued.

May 3, 2009
San Bernardino, CA
On May 3, 2009, The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department requested an AMBER Alert for a 3-year-old child abducted during a home invasion robbery.  Two suspects, armed with hand guns entered the home, tied up the mother and other children, then kidnapped the 3-year-old child.  An AMBER Alert was activated in Southern California.  On May 15, 2009, the child was found walking the streets in Mexicali, Mexico, apparently released by his captors.  He was found wandering the streets of Mexicali, Mexico by local authorities and was identified as the child in the active AMBER Alert. The child was safely rescued and returned home.

April 24, 2009
Maricopa, AZ
A woman telephoned her husband and said that she was going to take her children aged 2 years and 8 months  and then commit suicide. The mother had a history of suicide attempts and had become infatuated with media accounts of mothers who took the lives of their children and then committed suicide.  When the husband arrived home, both his wife and children were missing.  An AMBER Alert was quickly issued. A Department of Public Safety Officer made a traffic stop on a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle described in the AMBER Alert. The children were rescued unharmed.

April 8, 2009
Shasta, CA
An AMBER Alert was issued for 2 children, ages 2 and 5, who were taken by their father during a domestic dispute.  The dispute started while the father, mother, and two victims were in transit in a motor vehicle.  At some point during the dispute, the mother got out of the vehicle and the father threatened the children with an edged weapon.  The mother, fearing for the children’s lives, notified the Sheriff’s Department.  A BOLO (Be On the Lookout) that originated from the AMBER Alert was issued and a sheriff’s patrol unit located the suspect vehicle in transit.  The suspect refused to yield and a pursuit ensued.  The pursuit was turned over to the California Highway Patrol and the suspect was subsequently taken into custody at the end of the pursuit.  It was learned that the suspect had dropped the victims off earlier in the afternoon at a residence in the city of Redding.  The Redding Police safely rescued both victims at that residence.

April 3, 2009
Salt Lake City, UT
The Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office issued an AMBER Alert after a woman stole a vehicle with 3-year-old boy in the back seat.  The child’s parents had stopped at a gas station in separate vehicles and  were putting gas in one car when a woman jumped into the other vehicle and sped away.  The stolen vehicle and the victim were found in a nearby neighborhood.  A resident discovered the victim playing with her children and told authorities she recognized the boy from the AMBER Alert.  Deputies arrived moments later and confirmed the child was the victim in the AMBER Alert. The rescued child  was reunited with his family and the abductor was charged with first-degree felony child kidnapping.

March 29, 2009
Bradenton, FL
An AMBER Alert was issued for a 12-year-old girl who may have been lured from her home, possibly via the Internet by an adult male. The suspect saw the AMBER Alert, became scared and dropped the victim off close to her home, and the child was rescued.  The suspect was later identified and arrested.

March 24, 2009
Plant City, FL
An AMBER Alert was issued for a 2-month-old girl who was taken from her mother by a woman allegedly impersonating a public official.   An individual saw the AMBER Alert and notified police with the suspect’s information, and were advised that the suspect had previously tried something similar with the caller.  The child was safely rescued.

March 24, 2009
Kentwood, MI
Four children ages 9, 5, 4, and 1 were taken by the father of one of the children after he assaulted the child’s mother. An AMBER Alert was quickly issued. The suspect saw the AMBER Alert on television and released the children unharmed.  The rescued children were returned home.

March 10, 2009
Alexandria, KY
An AMBER Alert was issued for a 6-month-old infant who had been taken from her foster mother by her biological mother. The child was ill and needed special medication and special formula, none of which the biological mother had. A relative who took mother and child to a neighboring county heard the AMBER Alert and immediately called reporting the location of mother and child. The child was safely rescued.

March 7, 2009
An AMBER Alert was issued for a 2-year-old boy who was abducted by his father, who has a history of being bi-polar, drug abuse-crack cocaine, attempted suicide and does not have medications with him.  An individual spotted the suspect’s vehicle in Springfield, Ohio and the suspect was arrested by the Springfield Police Department.  The victim was safely rescued and reunited with his mother at the Springfield police station.

March 2, 2009
Yreka, CA
On March 2, 2009, the Yreka Police Department requested an AMBER Alert for a 3-year-old child who was abducted from her residence.  The child was at home in bed, when a man entered the residence and kidnapped her.  ENTAC issued an AMBER Alert in Northern and Central California.  Additionally, the AMBER Alert extended into Oregon and parts of Nevada.  The Yreka Police Department located the suspect and took him into custody; however, the victim and suspect vehicle were not found at the time.  Approximately one hour later, an individual who knew about the AMBER Alert saw tire tracks on a dirt road and followed them on foot where they located the victim walking down the road.  The suspect remained in custody and the victim was safely rescued.

February 28, 2009
Frankfort, KY
A 2-year-old girl went missing when her father failed to return her after an authorized visit.  The abductor’s grandfather reported that he was suicidal and was unsure where he went with the child; he also reported his car missing along with a handgun.  An AMBER Alert was issued.  A high school friend of the father saw him in Alabama, later saw the AMBER Alert, and reported the sighting to Alabama law enforcement authorities. The abductor then went to Tennessee where the grandfather’s vehicle was discovered at a local motel, by a Tennessee officer who was also aware of the AMBER Alert. The officer checked local taxi companies and the bus depot. He was able to determine through eyewitnesses and video that the perpetrator and child were on a bus to Mexico. The abductor was  located in Monterey Mexico by Mexican authorities and the F.B.I. and the child was safely rescued.

February 18, 2009
Cameron, MO
A 3-year-old girl was taken by her grandmother during the middle of the night.  The mother realized her daughter was missing when she went to wake her up in the morning.  The grandmother’s mental issues led authorities to believe that the girl might be in danger, so an AMBER Alert was issued.  A truck driver who had heard the alert on the radio saw the vehicle drive into the truck stop parking lot and contacted law enforcement. The girl and her grandmother were located at a truck stop and the child was safely rescued.

February 14, 2009
San Bernardino, CA
The San Bernardino Police Department requested an AMBER Alert for a 23-month-old child, taken by her estranged father.  The father allegedly assaulted her mother with an ice pick before taking the child and her vehicle.  The suspect threatened to kill the child if the police found him.  The suspect’s relative saw the AMBER Alert on the television, then called the suspect and advised him the police were attempting to locate him and recover the child.  The suspect subsequently dropped the child off at the relative’s house and then fled.  The relative called police, who safely rescued the child.

January 28, 2009
Vandalia, OH
An AMBER Alert was issued by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in coordination with the Vandalia Police Department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol for a  3-year-old boy who was abducted by his father, a known drug user.  An individual recognized the vehicle description and called the Vandalia Police Department, who met with the suspect and resolved the issue peacefully.  The child was safely rescued.  


January 27, 2009
Greensboro, NC
An AMBER Alert was issued for 2 children ages 4 and 7 who had been taken by their father’s live-in girlfriend without his knowledge or permission. She had borrowed a car, ID, credit card from a friend before she left with the kids and has a known drug habit.  An individual who had seen the AMBER Alert notified the police of the suspect’s whereabouts.  Law enforcement found her checked in an area hotel under an alias name and the children were safely rescued.

January 22, 2009
Tempe, AZ
A 7-month-old boy and his mother were abducted at gunpoint by his father, who made threats and caused damage to the residence. Since the child was believed to be in imminent danger an AMBER Alert was issued resulting in a tip.  That tip led officers to the home of the child’s grandmother, where the child and mother had been dropped off.  The abductor fled on foot and the child and mother were safely rescued.

January 16, 2009
Ogden, UT
A 14-year-old girl allegedly ran off with a 22-year-old woman. Police believed the suspect may have had a sexual relationship with the victim and was possibly taking her to Las Vegas, California or Mexico.  An AMBER Alert was issued. A trucker heard the AMBER Alert on the radio and called 911 when he spotted the suspect’s vehicle.  Less than two hours after the AMBER Alert went out authorities rescued the victim and apprehended the suspect in Washington County, 27-miles from the Utah-Nevada border.  The suspect has been charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor and providing shelter to a runaway.

January 12, 2009
San Jose, CA
An AMBER Alert was issued for an 8-year-old girl who was abducted by her mother’s ex-boyfriend, who walked into a school and took the little girl. The suspect saw the signs with the AMBER Alert and dropped the girl off unharmed outside of an establishment.  She was safely returned to her mother.

January 5, 2009
Lucas, IA
An AMBER Alert was issued for a pregnant 17-year-old who was observed being taken by the 20-year-old father of her unborn child.  The abductor heard the AMBER Alert on the radio and turned himself in at the Lucas County Courthouse.  The girl was safely rescued.

January 4, 2009
West Columbia, SC
An AMBER Alert was issued for a 7-month-old boy and his mother who were abducted at gunpoint by the child’s father.  As a direct result of the Levi’s Call issued in Georgia, a Georgia State Trooper spotted the vehicle at a hotel in Madison, directly off of I-20, the suspected route of travel.  Upon approach, the perpetrator fired shots at the officers and a standoff began, lasting through the night with involvement by GBI, FBI, Georgia State Patrol and local law enforcement. The suspect surrendered the next day and the child was safely rescued.

January 1, 2009
Candler, NC
Two siblings ages 10 and 6 were taken by their biological father, who was a suspect in a triple homicide.  The children’s mother was one of the victims. An AMBER Alert was quickly issued. Law enforcement received a tip from a neighbor who knew the whereabouts of the children. The children were safely rescued.

The Wanted by FBI New Orleans page has been updated to include a poster seeking information regarding the murders of eight women; Loretta Lynn Chaisson Lewis, Ernestine Daniels Patterson, Kristen E. Gary Lopez, Whitnei Charlene Dubois, Laconia Shontell Brown, Crystal Shay Benoit Zeno, Brittney Gary and Necole Jean Guillory. The victims, who range in age from 17 to 30 years old, were found deceased in and around the Jennings, Louisiana area from May 2005 through August 2009.

THE DETAILS SURROUNDING THE CRIMES

A Multi-Agency Investigative Team led by the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office located in Jennings, Louisiana, is seeking information regarding the murders of eight women; Loretta Lynn Chaisson Lewis, Ernestine Daniels Patterson, Kristen E. Gary Lopez, Whitnei Charlene Dubois, Laconia Shontell Brown, Crystal Shay Benoit Zeno, Brittney Gary and Necole Jean Guillory. The victims, who range in age from 17 to 30 years old, were found deceased in and around the Jennings, Louisiana area from May 2005 through August 2009.

For additional information relating to these crimes/cases, please see Crimes in Jefferson Davis Parish at http://www.jeffdaviscrimes.net.

Everett Jackson, Age 39
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-08-48614 Occured on: 2008-09-14Case Information: Mr. Jackson’s torso was found floating in the Ocklawaha River, near the Sharpe’s Ferry Bridge. His vehicle was found abandoned in the City of Ocala.

Benjamin Carroll, Age 24
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-08-116 Occured on: 2008-01-01Case Information: Benjamin Carroll was stabbed during a Home Invasion Robbery at 6800 NW Gainesville Rd. Lot #40. Two B/M suspects are responsible. The Homicide is believed to be drug related.

Derrick Wilcoxen, Age 41
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-07-41062 Occured on: 2007-08-10Case Information: Derrick Wilcoxen was stabbed to death in his white and maroon colored Ford Econoline van in Marion Oaks at approximately 7:45 p.m. He was with H/M Angel Molina and B/M Kenneth Phillips (AKA “Casino”) at the time of his death.

Aliisa Gehring, Age 30
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-06-55983 Occured on: 2006-11-19Case Information: Aliisa Gehring was shot and killed at her home at 3614 SE 33rd Ave. Ocala, Fl. during an alleged Home Invasion Robbery by a black male suspect. She had just returned home from work at Club Zanzabar in the Pine Plaza. Her boyfriend, Josh Scarbrough, was also shot during the incident.

Javier Huerta, Age 20

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Case: S-06-54530 Occured on: 2006-11-06Case Information: Javier Huerta and Gustavo Olivares-Rivas were found near the Marion-Lake County line on Highway 19 just North of SR 40 East. Both victims were found inside a black in color 2006 Nissan Titan 4 door pick up. Javier Huerta and Gustavo Olivares-Rivas were shot multiple times. Javier Huerta and Gustavo Olivares-Rivas were working in the Deland area in construction and lived in Pierson, Fl.

Gustavo Olivares-Rivas, Age 28

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Case: S-06-54530 Occured on: 2006-11-06Case Information: Gustavo Olivares-Rivas and Javier Huerta were found near the Marion-Lake County line on Highway 19 just North of SR 40 East. Both victims were found inside a black in color 2006 Nissan Titan 4 door pick up. Gustavo Olivares-Rivas and Javier Huerta were shot multiple times. Gustavo Olivares-Rivas and Javier Huerta were working in the Deland area in construction and lived in Pierson, Fl.

Margaret Mohrenne, Age 33
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-05-38103 Occured on: 2005-07-17Case Information: Margaret Mohrenne was found murdered in her home at 3612 NE 22 Ct. Ocala, Fl. after a fire was discovered by a passerby. Margaret Mohrenne died from blunt trauma injuries. Ms. Mohrenne was a home health care nurse at the time of her Murder.

Patricia Sofia, Age 51
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-05-2251 Occured on: 2005-01-12Case Information: Patricia Sofia was found shot to death in her residence at 11231 SE 40th Ave. Belleview, Fl. Patricia Sofia worked for Wal-Mart in Silver Springs at the time of her Murder.

James Frazier Sr., Age 45
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-04-71775 Occured on: 2004-12-21Case Information: James Frazier Sr. was Found Murdered on the side of the road in the 15800 block of NW 51 Ave. in Reddick, Fl. He was shot to death.

Eileen Gaffney, Age 84
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-04-50166 Occured on: 2004-09-02Case Information: Eileen Gaffney was found Murdered at her residence at 3901 SE 44th St. She was found in her pool and died from blunt trauma injuries. She was retired at the time of her Murder.

May Craft, Age 21
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-03-26014 Occured on: 2003-07-05Case Information: May Craft was found laying beside the road deceased at 5299 NE 97 St. Rd. in Anthony, Fl. She lived at the Shangri La Motel in Ocala, Fl. at the time of her death.

Maurice White, Age 36
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-00-3195 Occured on: 2000-01-24Case Information: Maurice White was shot to death in his mobile home at 16746 NE 22nd Terrace Citra, Fl. during an alleged Home Invasion Robbery.

Roberta Johnson, Age 38
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-99-13425 Occured on: 1999-04-26Case Information: Roberta Johnson was last spoken to around 04-24-99. Her vehicle was located at the Winn Dixie at NW 44th Ave. and Hwy 27 abandoned. On 04-26-99 Her body was located in a shallow grave in the 6400 Block of NW 44th Ave. She was 9 months pregnant at the time of her Murder.

Samuel Rittenhouse III, Age 63
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-96-24031 Occured on: 1996-07-26Case Information: Samuel Rittenhouse was found Murdered in a wooded area near SE 3rd St. off of CR 475 in Ocala, Fl. He died from blunt trauma injuries. His white in color 1988 Dodge van was stolen and later recovered in Williston, Fl.

Susie Dwyer, Age 28
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-96-23030 Occured on: 1996-07-17Case Information: Susie Dwyer was reported missing from Gainesville, Fl. Her remains were found in the underbrush at CR 329 and NE 47th Ave. in Sparr, Fl.

Jorge Sulsona-Maitin, Age 61
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-95-39694 Occured on: 1995-12-19Case Information: Jorge Sulsona-Maitin was found shot to death in a secluded area near Bay Pass and Guava Pass in Ocklawaha, Fl. He was found near his blue in color Cadillac. Jorge Sulsona-Maitin was retired at the time of his Murder.

Robert Dlugoborski, Age 34
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-94-16473 Occured on: 1994-06-13Case Information: Robert Dlugoborski was found shot to death in his 1989 white in color Ford F250 truck in front of Associated Fruit Packers at 1180 SE 114 St. Rd. in Ocklawaha, Fl.

Maxine Vogel, Age 63
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-93-22924 Occured on: 1993-08-05Case Information: Maxine Vogel was located outside her residence at 16300 SE 80th Ave. Summerfield, Fl. after her mobile home was set on fire. Maxine Vogel died from blunt trauma injuries. She operated a greyhound kennel and had more than 80 greyhounds there at the time of her Murder. The fire was discovered at about 1:00 AM and was the result of an Arson.

James Holland, Age 57
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-92-18394 Occured on: 1992-07-18Case Information: James Holland was found shot to death in his home at 6800 NW 115 Ave. Ocala, Fl.

Douglas Giddens, Age 46
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-90-9381 Occured on: 1990-04-06Case Information: Douglas Giddens was located shot to death in the 300 block of NE 33rd street in Ocala, Fl.

Jose Garcia, Age 25
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-87-70774 Occured on: 1987-11-27Case Information: Jose Garcia’s decomposed remains were found in the Ocala National Forest on the Ocala Trail in Salt Springs. He was here on a hunting trip from Miami, Fl. He was shot to death.

Gayle Beall, Age 32
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-83-35745 Occured on: 1983-12-09Case Information: Gayle Beall was last seen at a bar in Ocklawaha leaving with an unknown white male. Her remains were discovered in a field at Juniper Loop Court and Juniper Loop Circle in Silver Springs Shores. She was stabbed multiple times. An artist’s sketch of the suspect is available. Gayle Beall worked at a local horse farm at the time of her Murder.

Wanda Faye Baldwin, Age 20
Click For Larger Image	Case: S-83-35576 Occured on: 1983-12-07Case Information: Wanda Faye Baldwin was found murdered in her home at 28476 SE CR42 in Umatilla, Fl. She died from blunt force trauma.

Killer Freed After Serving 9 Months – Oklahoma City News Story …

Aug 6, 2010 … SHAWNEE, Okla. — An Oklahoma man who went to jail on a capital murder charge was initially sentenced to serve just one year, …

• In July, H. Beatty Chadwick, 73, was finally released from a Pennsylvania jail after serving more than 14 years behind bars because a series of judges believed they could thereby force him to admit that he was hiding marital assets from his 1995 divorce (which he always denied). Chadwick was the longest-serving incarcerated American who had not been charged with a crime.

• A British prison research organization revealed in July that, over the last 10 years, the country’s notoriously generous inmate furlough program has seen almost 1,000 of its prisoners escape, including 19 convicted murderers. (The government said the rate of “non-return” is less than it used to be.)

• New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was livid in June when he learned that inmate Tuvia Stern, housed in the city’s notorious lockup The Tombs, had arranged a privately catered, 50-guest bar mitzvah for his son inside the facility’s gym, officiated by a prominent rabbi and assisted by five jail guards. The caterers were even allowed to bring in knives for food preparation and dining. It was not surprising that it was Stern who pulled it off, because at the time he was awaiting sentencing for running two slick business scams.The normal way that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons transfers “low-risk” inmates between institutions is to buy them bus tickets and release them unescorted with an arrival deadline. In the last three years, reported the Las Vegas Sun in May, 90,000 inmates were transferred this way, and only about 180 absconded. Though supposedly carefully pre-screened for risk, one man still on the loose is Dwayne Fitzen, a gang-member/biker who was halfway through a 24-year sentence for cocaine-dealing. (Since the traveling inmates are never identified as prisoners, Greyhound is especially alarmed at the policy.)

• The head of Florida’s Department of Corrections admitted in May that at least 43 children (including a 5-year-old), who observed their parents’ prison jobs as part of “Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day” in April, were playfully zapped by 50,000-volt stun guns. DOC Secretary Walt McNeil said the demonstrations (in three of the state’s 55 prisons) even included one warden’s kid, but that only 14 children were individually shot (with the rest part of hand-holding circles feeling a passing current). Twenty-one employees were disciplined.

• Blind Justice: An administrator of criminal-case appeals in Louisiana committed suicide in 2007, partly (according to his suicide note) because of guilt that, for 13 years, he had complied with a judge’s order to deny, sight-unseen, all appeals filed by defendants who were acting without lawyers. (Under state law, only death row convicts get assistance for appeals; all others, even convicted murderers, either fend for themselves or forfeit the appeal right, no matter how indigent.) According to the administrator (the extent of whose claims are still being investigated by the state Supreme Court), none of the supervisory judges involved in denying the 2,400 appeals ever read a single word in them.

• In the 1920s, when inmate “chain gangs” were in their heyday, Alabama sheriffs were allotted a prison meal budget of $1.75 per prisoner per day, with thrifty sheriffs allowed to pocket any excess for themselves. According to a May Associated Press investigation, the policy, and the amount, are unchanged to this day in 55 of the state’s 67 counties, and also unchanged is the fact that sheriffs have cut the menus so cleverly or drastically that some sheriffs still make money on the deal. (The per-meal fee under the National School Lunch program for low-income students is $2.47.)

• In February, a court in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, sentenced Briton Keith Brown, 43, to the standard four-year-minimum term in prison for violating the country’s extreme “zero tolerance” drug laws, even though the only drug found was a “speck” (0.003 grams) of cannabis caught in the tread of his shoe and discovered only because the Dubai airport uses sophisticated drug-detection equipment. Previously, a Canadian man was imprisoned for “possession” of three poppy seeds (from a bread roll he had eaten at Heathrow Airport in London) that had fallen into his clothing as he prepared for a flight to Dubai.

• (1) Sheriff’s deputies arrested Cynthia Hunter, 38, in Brandon, Fla., in October, and she remained in jail for 50 days until a lab finally concluded that the “methamphetamine” in her purse was really dried cat urine that she had legally purchased for her son’s science project. (2) Deputies arrested Andrew Johnson, a white man, in Ocoee, Fla., in November, believing he was Anthony Johnson, a black man wanted on a felony drug charge. Andrew Johnson was allowed to post bond while the case was under investigation, but his driver’s license was confiscated, and his mother had to drive him to and from work.Until a July Florida appeals court ruling, Mark O’Hara, 45, had been in prison for two years of a 25-year mandatory-minimum for trafficking in hydrocodone, based solely on the 58 tablets found in his possession in 2004, even though his supply had been lawfully prescribed by a physician. The state attorney in Tampa had pointed out that Florida law did not mention a “prescription” defense to trafficking, and even though O’Hara had lined up a doctor and a pharmacist to testify, the jury wasn’t allowed to consider the issue. After the appeals court called the case “absurd” and ordered a new trial with the prescription evidence allowed, the state attorney still refused to drop the case.

• Injudicious Judges: In September, District of Columbia Superior Court judge Judith Retchin ordered Jonathan Magbie, 27, to jail for 10 days for first-offense marijuana possession (a virtually unheard-of sentence in D.C.), despite the fact that Magbie was a quadriplegic with permanent tracheal, urinary, and stomach tubes and was often ventilator-dependent, in addition to having various other infirmities. (Magbie died four days later, after what the D.C. Health Department concluded in December was severely inadequate care in jail and in an emergency room.)

Police brutality: The intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer. It is in some instances triggered by “contempt of cop”, i.e., perceived disrespect towards police officers. Police brutality is one of several forms of police misconduct, which include false arrest, intimidation, racial profiling, political repression, surveillance abuse, sexual abuse, and police corruption.

Police misconduct: Inappropriate actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Police misconduct can lead to a miscarriage of justice and sometimes involves discrimination.

Types of misconduct: False confession, False arrest, Falsified evidence, False Imprisonment, Intimidation, Police brutality, Police corruption, Political repression, Racial profiling, Sexual abuse, Surveillance abuse

False Arrest
The claim that is most often asserted against police is false arrest. Persons bringing this claim assert that police violated their Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizure. If the officer had probable cause to believe the individual had committed a crime, the arrest is reasonable and the Fourth Amendment has not been violated. Police can arrest without a warrant for a felony or misdemeanor committed in their presence. (Some states also allow warrantless arrests for misdemeanor domestic assaults not committed in the officer’s presence.) Even if the information the officer relied upon later turns out to be false, the officer is not liable if he believed it was accurate at the time of the arrest. To prevail on a false arrest claim, the victim must show that the arresting officer lacked probable cause, that is, facts sufficient to cause a reasonable person to believe that a crime had been committed.

Malicious Prosecution
A malicious prosecution claim asserts that the officer wrongly deprived the victim of the Fourteenth Amendment right to liberty. To win this type of claim, the victim must show four things: 1) the defendant police officer commenced a criminal proceeding; 2) the proceeding ended in the victim’s favor (that is, no conviction); 3) there was no probable cause; and 4) the proceeding was brought with malice toward the victim. As with false arrest, this claim will fail if the officer had probable cause to initiate criminal proceedings.

Excessive Force
Excessive force claims receive the most publicity, perhaps because the results of excessive force seem the most outrageous, involving serious physical injury or death. Whether the officer’s use of force was reasonable depends on the surrounding facts and circumstances. The officer’s intentions or motivations are not controlling. If the amount of force was reasonable, it doesn’t matter that the officer’s intentions were bad. But the reverse is also true: if the officer had good intentions, but used unreasonable force, the excessive force claim will not be dismissed.

Failure to Intervene
Officers have a duty to protect individuals from constitutional violations by fellow officers. Therefore, an officer who witnesses a fellow officer violating an individual’s constitutional rights may be liable to the victim for failing to intervene.

PoliceWatch.US

Police Watch has been online since July 4th 2006. We are very proud that in only a few weeks we have already filed over a dozen personnel complaints with departments all over the United States. Some of the complaints have resulted in immediate legal action. Our services are free of charge and the membership is also free. We are working with civil rights attorney’s from all over the country who are able to review your reports and contact you you regarding your case! We facilitate the filing of personal complaints against officers and keep them on public record! Feel free to browse through our reports online, comment on reports, and send us feedback on our services! We hope that you will support us in our efforts to STOP Police Brutality!

ACLU American Civil Liberties Union

The ACLU is our nation’s guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country. Nearly 200 ACLU staff attorneys and thousands of volunteer attorneys handle countless civil liberties cases every year.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Civil Rights Division

Federal laws that address police misconduct include both criminal and civil statutes. These laws cover the actions of State, county, and local officers, including those who work in prisons and jails. In addition, several laws also apply to Federal law enforcement officers. The laws protect all persons in the United States (citizens and non-citizens).

Lawyers for Human Rights

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Police misconduct is prosecuted under the Department of Justice authority because, if civil rights are violated, it is a federal crime. Make sure you write down as many details as possible about the misconduct as you may be asked to recall those details in court.

LAW ENFORCEMENT CODE OF ETHICS*
All law enforcement officers must be fully aware of the ethical responsibilities of their position and must strive constantly to live up to the highest possible standards of professional policing.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police believes it is important that police officers have clear advice and counsel available to assist them in performing their duties consistent with these standards, and has adopted the following ethical mandates as guidelines to meet these ends.

Primary Responsibilities of a Police Officer
A police officer acts as an official representative of government who is required and trusted to work within the law. The officer’s powers and duties are conferred by statute. The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the community; safeguarding lives and property; protecting the innocent; keeping the peace; and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality and justice.

Performance of the Duties of a Police Officer
A police officer shall perform all duties impartially, without favor or affection or ill will and without regard to status, sex, race, religion, political belief or aspiration. All citizens will be treated equally with courtesy, consideration and dignity.

Officers will never allow personal feelings, animosities or friendships to influence official conduct, Laws will be enforced appropriately and courteously and, in carrying out their responsibilities, officers will strive to obtain maximum cooperation from the public. They will conduct themselves in appearance and deportment in such a manner as to inspire confidence and respect for the position of public trust they hold.

Discretion
A police officer will use responsibly the discretion vested in the position and exercise it within the law. The principle of reasonableness will guide the officer’s determinations and the officer will consider surrounding circumstances in determining whether any legal action shall be taken.

Consistent and wise use of discretion, based on professional policing competence, will do much to preserve relationships and retain the confidence of the public. There can be difficulty in choosing between conflicting courses of action. It is important to remember that a timely word of advice rather than arrest which, may be correct in appropriate circumstances-can be a more effective means of achieving a desired end.

Use of Force
A police officer will never employ unnecessary force or violence and will use only such force in the discharge of duty as is reasonable in all circumstances.

Force should be used only with the greatest restraint and only after discussion, negotiation and persuasion have been found to be inappropriate or ineffective. While the use of force is occasionally unavoidable, every police officer will refrain from applying the unnecessary infliction of pain or suffering and will never engage in cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment of any person.

Confidentiality
Whatever a police officer sees, hears or learns of, which is of a confidential nature, will be kept secret unless the performance of duty or legal provision requires otherwise.

Members of the public have a right to security and privacy, and information obtained about them must not be improperly divulged.

Integrity
A police officer will not engage in acts of corruption or bribery, nor will an officer condone such acts by other police officers.

The public demands that the integrity of police officers be above reproach. Police officers must, therefore, avoid any conduct that might compromise integrity and thus undercut the public confidence in a law enforcement agency. Officers will refuse to accept any gifts, presents, subscriptions, favors, gratuities, and promises that could be interpreted as seeking to cause the officer to refrain from performing official responsibilities honestly and within the law. Police officers must not receive private or special advantage from their official status, Respect from the public cannot be bought; it can only be earned and cultivated.

Cooperation with Other Officers and Agencies
Police officers will cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their representatives in the pursuit of justice.

An officer or agency may be one among many organizations that may provide law enforcement services to a jurisdiction. It is imperative that a police officer assist colleagues fully and completely with respect and consideration at all times.

Personal/Professional Capabilities
Police officers will be responsible for their own standard of professional performance and will take every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve their level of knowledge and competence.

Through study and experience, a police officer can acquire the high level of knowledge and competence that is essential for the efficient and effective performance of duty, The acquisition of knowledge is a never-ending process of personal and professional development that should be pursued constantly.

Private Life
Police officers will behave in a manner that does not bring discredit to their agencies or themselves.
A police officer’s character and conduct while off duty must always be exemplary, thus maintaining a position of respect in the community in which he or she lives and serves. The officer’s personal behavior must be beyond reproach.

Crime Lab Audit Stirs Calls For Independent Operation

A legislative committee meets today to discuss the State Bureau of Investigation.

There are increasing calls for the state crime to become independent from the SBI  after an audit found problems with 230 cases in which analysts misrepresented or wrongly reported blood evidence. WFAE’s Greg Collard takes a closer look at the issue in this report.

Law enforcement agencies run nearly all of the country’s crime labs.

Greg Taylor of Durham would like that to change. He spent 17 years in prison for a murder he did not commit thanks in large part to the failure of an SBI lab analyst to tell prosecutors that key blood evidence actually tested negative for blood.

“These scientists are performing these tests and procedures should be reporting in an unbiased way. And, to report in unbiased way, should report to an unbiased authority,” Taylor says.

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Hundreds of D.C. Residents Could Have Been Wrongfully Convicted of a DUI

Nearly 400 people were convicted of driving while intoxicated in Washington, D.C. in 2008 because of inaccurate calibrations of the breath test equipment.

Imagine being charged and convicted of a crime, only to find out nearly two years later that your conviction was the result of faulty police technology. This is exactly what happened to nearly 400 people. They were convicted of driving while intoxicated in Washington, D.C. in 2008 because of inaccurate calibrations of the breath test equipment.

According to results of an investigation led by D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles, breath analysis equipment used by city’s law enforcement officers was found to be improperly adjusted, resulting in inaccurate readings. Analysis of all 10 of the District’s breath test machines found that readings produced a driver’s blood-alcohol content (BAC) to be about 20 percent higher than it actually was….

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Report Condemns Police Lab Oversight

The New York State Police’s supervision of a major crime laboratory was so poor that it overlooked evidence of pervasively shoddy forensics work, allowing an analyst to go undetected for 15 years as he falsified test results and compromised nearly one-third of his cases, an investigation by the state’s inspector general has found.

The analyst’s training was so substandard that at one point last year, investigators discovered he could not properly operate a microscope essential to performing his job, the report released on Thursday said.

And when the State Police became aware of the analyst’s misconduct, an internal review by superiors in the Albany lab deliberately omitted information implicating other analysts and suggesting systemic problems with the way evidence was handled, the report said. Instead, the review focused blame mostly on the analyst, Garry Veeder, who committed suicide in May 2008 during the internal inquiry.

“Cutting corners in a crime lab is serious and intolerable,” said the state’s inspector general, Joseph Fisch. “Forensic laboratories must adhere to the highest standards of competence, independence and integrity. Anything less undermines public confidence in our criminal justice system.”

Several lab workers whose actions were criticized in the report remain in their jobs pending an internal review of the inspector general’s findings, the State Police said.

The State Police superintendent, Harry J. Corbitt, said that the agency planned to hire an outside consultant. “Appropriate remedial measures will be taken with respect to any conduct falling below the highest standards,” said Mr. Corbitt, whose nomination last year by Gov. David A. Paterson was meant to help rehabilitate the scandal-tainted agency.

After the State Police began its internal investigation last year, it notified district attorneys across the state that evidence in criminal cases examined by Mr. Veeder might have been compromised. Mr. Veeder worked in the crime lab analyzing so-called trace evidence, like fibers, hair, impressions and other physical material found at scenes of crimes, including homicides.

But on Thursday, police officials said that none of the district attorneys had found that Mr. Veeder’s work had cast doubt on any of their convictions.

“We are satisfied that there were no wrongful convictions, nor any miscarriages of justice which resulted from these improper procedures,” Mr. Corbitt said, stating a viewpoint also shared by Mr. Fisch.

Still, forensic science experts and advocates for those wrongfully convicted said the case pointed to longstanding problems in police behavior and underlined the need to hold law enforcement agencies accountable.

“It is a wake-up call to the forensic community,” said Barry Scheck, director of the Innocence Project and a member of the New York State Commission on Forensic Science, which monitors all the state’s crime labs. “What’s alarming about this report and others that we’ve seen like it is it’s not so much the bad actors, it’s the fact that the system didn’t detect them earlier.”

There have been several high-profile cases in recent years in which police labs mishandled crime scene evidence, casting doubt on convictions. A convicted rapist was released in 2003 after an examination of the Houston Police Department’s lab found widespread deficiencies. Detroit shut down its police crime lab last year after an outside audit found errors in 10 percent of cases surveyed.

In Mr. Veeder’s case, supervisors discovered during an internal inquiry that he had routinely skipped a preliminary fiber analysis and then created data “to give the appearance of having conducted an analysis not actually performed,” the inspector general’s report stated.

The State Police have disputed the effectiveness of the preliminary test and said there was no evidence that Mr. Veeder’s work resulted in a piece of trace evidence’s being misidentified.

The report said Mr. Veeder used a “crib sheet” provided to him by a former supervisor to falsify the test results. At one point, Mr. Veeder told investigators, “They told me from the past, you go to this and plug it in,” the report said. “This is how I was trained to, how we’ve always done it.”

But Mr. Veeder’s allegations involving other lab workers were never part of the final report to the State Police’s internal affairs division. State Police investigators and the lab’s management “minimized and precipitously discarded the seriousness and extent of problems” at the lab, the inspector general’s report said.

It said that one State Police investigator, Keith Coonrod, mischaracterized Mr. Veeder’s responses implicating other lab scientists and skewed Mr. Veeder’s statements to give the impression that it was his incompetence — not widespread misconduct — that led to the problems.

Mr. Coonrod has been temporarily reassigned to a State Police job outside of the lab pending the outcome of the internal review.

Despite Mr. Coonrod’s omissions, the inspector general also faulted Mr. Coonrod’s superiors. “There exists no doubt that laboratory management possessed sufficient information that Veeder’s individual misconduct implicated potentially broader systemic issues, but failed to take appropriate action,” the report said.

The report named a number of lab supervisors at the time — including the director, Gerald Zeosky, and assistant director Richard Nuzzo — and describes them as unfazed by the inquiry and dismissive of Mr. Veeder’s broader claims. Mr. Zeosky remains in charge of the lab. Mr. Nuzzo was promoted and given a new job in the internal affairs division, but police officials said he would have had no involvement in the investigation of the lab.

Another section of the report stated that Mr. Nuzzo was also found to have intimidated a lab technician who was working on a case unrelated to Mr. Veeder.

Problems with Mr. Veeder’s work were first detected in 2008 during an accreditation review by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board. The State Police then did an internal investigation and alerted the inspector general’s office, which began its own review.

On May 23, 2008, Mr. Veeder hanged himself in the garage of his home outside Albany.

Faulty forensic test put innocents in jail over decades

A faulty forensic analysis has put hundreds of innocent people in jail over decades, according to a joint investigation by The Washington Post and 60 Minutes. Eventually found to be unreliable, it was quietly dumped four decades later without alerting those convicted.

The “comparative bullet-lead analysis” claimed to link a bullet with ones in suspects’ possession. However, faulty statistical analysis of the elements contained in different lead samples resulted in false matches.

Excerpt from eFluxMedia:
The comparative bullet-lead analysis was based on the supposition that each batch of lead would have a particular, almost unique, chemical makeup. The National Academy of Sciences, however, has invalidated this claim in 2004, pointing out that FBI experts who claimed to jurors the test linked a particular bullet to those found in a suspect’s gun or cartridge box were more or less misleading the jury.
Unfortunately, according to The Washington Post:
But the FBI lab has never gone back to determine how many times its scientists misled jurors. Internal memos show that the bureau’s managers were aware by 2004 that testimony had been overstated in a large number of trials. In a smaller number of cases, the experts had made false matches based on a faulty statistical analysis of the elements contained in different lead samples, documents show.
The reporters have since alerted the FBI on at least 250 cases that may require closer examination.

John Miller, FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs, noted that the FBI is taking a series of steps to try to fix this snafus on cases where the conviction might have resulted from the flawed analysis.

The question remains as to why it took a media investigation for the FBI to notice and take action.

Thinking ahead, what do you reckon are the chances of flawed computer forensics resulting in a hapless computer idiot being charged for computer crimes that they did not commit.

Read more about faulty forensics here:

Stop Police Abuse

Faulty forensic evidence

Biased Forensics

Serious Problems with Forensic Science

Innocent people in jail because of bite-mark testimony

Eyewitness Misidentification and Unvalidated or Improper Forensic Science

CSI Myths: The Shaky Science Behind Forensics

For every criminal conviction that comes after a trial, 19 other cases are settled by plea bargain. This system can easily be abused by over zealous prosecutors and low paid public defenders.  It can extract guilty pleas from absolutely innocent people who plead guilty to charges they did not commit because they can’t afford the risk of going to trial. Especially when their own lawyer is telling them that they stand a good chance of going to prison unless they accept the agreement that the prosecution is offering.

So why would an innocent person admit to a crime they didn’t commit? If an individual refuses to take the plea bargain and accept a guilty plea, and is later convicted, they face penalties up to ten times greater than if he were convicted of trial.

About 95 percent of all felony convictions in the United States are the result of plea bargains.

Judge Ralph Adam Fine’s comment on plea bargaining:

During my nine years as a trial judge, I had several defendants who wanted to plead guilty even though when I then asked them to tell me what they did, responded with stories of innocence. When I asked them why they were trying to plead guilty, they all told me that they had been threatened with harsher penalties if they insisted on going to trial. In rejecting their pleas, I told them that we had enough guilty persons to convict, and that we did not need to dip into the pool of the innocent.

In each of the instances, we went to trial and the defendants were acquitted.

Judge Fine proves that plea bargaining is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in an excellent article he wrote for the Federalist Society; the article is located here (large .pdf).

Prosecutors are under significant pressure to negotiate plea agreements. a criminal trial costs approximately $10,000 per day to prosecute, prosecutors have very heavy case loads, the jails are crowded and the criminal court calendars are full. In addition, various pressures lead defense attorneys to plea bargain most cases.

Going to a jury trial is a roll of dice—even with the best attorneys and the most exonerating evidence in the world, you just never know what kind of decision a jury of 12 people will come to with your case!

When plea bargaining is available, prosecutors can extract a guilty plea in nearly every case, including very weak cases, simply by adjusting the plea concession to the defendant’s chances of acquittal at trial. When almost every case results in a plea of guilty, regardless of the strength of the evidence, prosecutors have much less interest in screening away weak cases. Since some cases are weak because the defendant is innocent, however, more innocent defendants are charged and as a result more are convicted.

More Reading On This Topic:

In the prosecutor’s view, there is no such thing as an innocent suspect or defendant.

Prosecutors are intimidating, and threatening to those who are being prosecuted for something they did not even do.

For every false conviction due to plea bargaining, there exists a criminal on the streets whom the police no longer care about.

Seeking Information on Robbery of Bank of America Branch in Chula Vista

The FBI and Chula Vista Police Department are seeking the public’s assistance to identify the unknown male responsible for robbing a Chula Vista Bank of America today.

On Thursday, January 14, 2010, at approximately 11:45 a.m., a lone male entered the Bank of America located at 295 E St., Chula Vista, CA. The robber entered the bank and placed an oral demand for cash. While the robber threatened a weapon, none was shown.

Witnesses describe the robber as follows:

“Billy Goat Bandit” Robs Again

Now Suspected in at Least 11 Area Heists

The Houston FBI Bank Robbery Task Force is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a man who is now suspected in at least 11 Houston area bank robberies. The latest occurred at the Wells Fargo located inside the Randall’s Grocery Store located at 12860 Memorial in Houston, Texas earlier today. In previous robberies, the robber sported a unique straggly beard with extra long chin hair, earning him the nickname of the “Billy Goat Bandit.” During some recent robberies, the robber’s chin whiskers were more neatly trimmed. During this robbery, it appeared as though his whiskers were gone, but his face was unshaven.

At about 1:45 p.m., the bandit entered the Randall’s Store and approached the bank located inside the store. He held up a threatening note which demanded cash. The teller handed him some money and he fled on foot. No weapon was observed during the robbery. No one was physically hurt during the robbery.

The “Billy Goat Bandit” is described as a black male, mid-twenties, 5’10”-6’ tall, with an average build. He had a dark complexion and trimmed goatee. He wore a dark blue jacket, medium blue shirt, khaki pants, and an off-white baseball cap with an orange bill.

The “Billy Goat Bandit” is suspected in at least 11 other Houston area robberies from 10/16/2009 to the present.

Crime Stoppers is offering up to $5,000 for information leading to the charging and arrest of the “Billy Goat Bandit”, or any felony suspect. If you have information about this crime, please call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 713-222-TIPS (8477) or the Houston office of the FBI at 713-693-5000.

Seeking Public’s Assistance in Locating Beneficial Bank Branch Robber

The FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department are seeking the public’s assistance to identify and locate the subject responsible for the robbery of the Beneficial Bank branch located at 6401 Woodland Avenue earlier today.

At approximately 4:09 p.m. today, the subject entered the Beneficial Bank branch and presented a threatening demand note to a teller. After obtaining an undisclosed amount of cash, the subject fled the area of the bank on foot.

The subject is described as a black male, 40 to 50 years old, 5’5” to 5’6” tall, medium build, with a bald or shaved head, a mustache, wearing a black zippered hooded sweatshirt, and carrying a black bag with an Adidas logo on the side. The subject may have red dye stains on his clothing and/or skin.

Three photographs from the bank’s security cameras are below. This subject is considered armed and dangerous, and anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 215-418-4000 or the Philadelphia Police Department. There may be a reward for information leading to the identification and apprehension of this subject. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

To view flyers of this and other bank robbery subjects wanted by the FBI/Major Crimes Task Force, please visit http://www.ppdonline.org and click on the Detectives Box and the Violent Crimes Task Force link.

Seeking Public’s Assistance to Identify the Individuals Responsible for Robbing Two Banks in San Diego County

The FBI, San Diego Sheriff’s Department, and San Diego Police Department are seeking the public’s assistance to identify the unknown males responsible for robbing two banks in San Diego County this week.

On January 11, 2010, at approximately 4:52 p.m., a lone male entered the Chase Bank located at 3830 Valley Centre Dr., San Diego, CA. The robber made a verbal demand for cash and fled on foot. No weapon was seen.

Witnesses describe the robber as follows:

On January 12, 2010, at approximately 5:30 p.m., a lone male entered the Bank of America located at 405 S. Highway 101, Solana Beach, CA. This robber also made a verbal demand for cash. Again, no weapon was seen.

Witnesses describe the robber as follows:

Agents are investigating the possibility of these two robberies being connected though there is no certainty of that at this time.

Anyone with information concerning either of these robberies is asked to contact the FBI at telephone number (858) 565-1255.

Mile High Bank Robbed by Lone Male

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force (RMSSTF) are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the man who robbed the Mile High Bank at approximately 10:00 this morning. The Mile High Bank is located in an office building at 8905 W. Bowles Avenue, Littleton, Colorado. The robber entered the bank and approached a teller. He passed a bank robbery demand note threatening a weapon. After he received an undisclosed amount of cash, he fled the bank on foot. No vehicle description is available.

The robber was described as: white male; mid 20’s to 30 years of age; approximately 170 pounds; 6’00”; “scruffy” in appearance—unshaven; wearing blue jeans, dark sweatshirt, baseball cap.

If anyone has any information on the bank robbery described above, or the bank robber, please call the FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force at 303-629-7171; OR, you can remain anonymous and earn up to two thousand dollars ($2,000) by calling CRIMESTOPPERS at 720-913-STOP (7867).

Seeking Information on Robbery of Suntrust Bank Branch in Knoxville

The Knoxville Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Chief Sterling Owen IV of the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the man who robbed a Knoxville bank today.

At approximately 3:00 p.m., a man entered the Suntrust Bank located at 700 East Hill Avenue in Knoxville, presented a note, and demanded money. Witnesses described the suspect as a black male, early 20s, approximately 6’ tall and weighing approximately 160 to 175 pounds. The suspect was wearing blue jeans, a black t-shirt, a dark-colored hooded jacket, black shoes, and black gloves. After obtaining an undetermined amount of money, the suspect left the scene on foot.

A reward is being offered for any information which leads to the arrest of this individual. Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 865-544-0751 or the KPD at 865-215-7212. This matter is being investigated jointly by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force (which consists of personnel from the FBI, KPD, and KCSO) and the KPD Major Crimes Unit.

All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Seeking Information on Robbery of BB&T Bank Branch in Knoxville

The Knoxville Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Chief Sterling Owen IV of the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the man who robbed a Knoxville bank today.

At approximately 2:34 p.m., a man entered the BB&T Bank located at 7709 South Northshore Drive in Knoxville, vaulted the teller counter, threatened to use a knife, and demanded money. Witnesses described the suspect as a white male, in his late 20s to early 30s, between 5’8” and 6’ tall, and weighing approximately 150 to 170 pounds. The suspect was wearing a red fleece jacket with a white shirt under the jacket, khaki pants, and black mask. He was also carrying a brown plastic bag. After obtaining an undetermined amount of money, the suspect left the scene on foot.

A reward is being offered for any information which leads to the arrest of this individual. Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 865-544-0751 or the KPD at 865-215-7212. This matter is being investigated jointly by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force (which consists of personnel from the FBI, KPD, and KCSO), and the KPD Major Crimes Unit.

All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Seeking Information on Serial Bank Robber in Metro Atlanta Area

ATLANTA—Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Gregory Jones, FBI Atlanta, requests public assistance in identifying and locating a serial bank robber responsible for the robbery of the following metro Atlanta area banks:

Wachovia Bank, 1028 Killian Hill, Lilburn, GA
1/11/2010 at 4:40 p.m.

Chase Bank, 4081 Stone Mountain Highway, Lilburn, GA
1/12/2010 at 11:16 a.m.

Wachovia Bank, 1815 Rock Bridge Road, Stone Mountain, GA
1/12/2010 at 2:41 p.m.

Beginning yesterday, 1/11/2010, a lone black male embarked on a bank robbery crime spree by walking in to the Wachovia Bank, located at 1028 Killian Hill, Lilburn, Georgia and announcing a bank robbery. After obtaining an undisclosed amount of money, the robber departed the bank without further incident.

This morning, the same robber entered the Chase Bank, located at 2081 Stone Mountain Highway, Lilburn, Georgia, at 11:16 a.m., and announced a robbery. While engaging the bank teller, the robber pulled back a portion of his clothing to reveal a possible weapon/handgun. Later that afternoon, at 2:41 p.m., the robber struck again at the Wachovia Bank, located at 1815 Rock Bridge Rd., Stone Mountain, Georgia.

The robber is described as being a black male, light complexion, 25-35 years of age, 5’4”-5’9” in height, 145-170 lbs., light facial hair, possible mole on left side of face/mouth. A mid 2000 model Chevrolet Impala, black or dark blue in color, with possible Florida license plate, was observed at one of the robberies and is of interest to investigators.

Wachovia Bank has announced a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification and apprehension of this individual. Anyone with information regarding this matter should contact the Atlanta Office FBI at (404) 679-9000.

City Notes First Bank Robbery of 2010

The First Federal Bank, 7015 North Mesa, El Paso, Texas, became the city’s first bank robbery of the year. About 11:20 this morning, a Hispanic male approached the bank several times before finally deciding to enter the bank. He then walked into the bank and wrote out a note on a deposit slip. The man left the bank briefly then returned. He went to the teller and told her that he had forgotten his identification card. He left the bank again, returned a third time and handed the teller a note demanding money. He then left on foot toward an unknown vehicle. This subject has been dubbed the Boomerang Bandit.

Subject Description:

• Hispanic male, 35-40 years of age
• 5’3”-5’5” in height, light skin, lock-style goatee
• prescription, wire-framed glasses
• brown knit cap, black and light brown jacket and blue jeans

This case is being worked by the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force, which includes the El Paso Police Department and El Paso Sheriff’s Department. If anyone was in the vicinity of this bank, located at Resler and Mesa, and has information about this robbery, please call the FBI at 915-832-5000.

Mom Forced Teen to Eat Feces And Urine, Cops Say

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A 37-year-old mother is accused of beating her teenaged sons and forcing the younger one to lick up urine and eat his own feces and vomit, according to prosecutors.

Auburn woman arrested on child abuse charges

Father faces first-degree murder charge in infant son’s death

Mulberry Mayor Is Accused of Sex With 17-Year-Old Boy

Tea Party Candidate Accused Of Sex With A Minor Met The Girl At …

… Eric W. Deaton — the Ohio Constitution Party candidate for US Senate who was indicted on Tuesday for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor …

Teacher Accused Of Soliciting Sex From Minor – Houston News Story …

… CONROE, Texas — A junior high school teacher is accused of going online and trying to get a 14-year-old girl to have sex with him.

Eric W. Deaton, Conservative Senate Candidate, Indicted for Sexual …

… Another day, another political sex scandal—but this one involves a minor. Ohio’s Eric W. Deaton, Senate candidate for the conservative …

Charleston Man Admits to Soliciting Sex from Minor – WOWK-TV …

… Jodi Cunningham, 45, was working at a gas station when he offered to pay a 16-year-old boy for sex.

Former police officer sentenced for sex with minor

… In July a jury found him guilty of having sex with an underage girl. Friday the former Nebraska police officer is sentenced to 30–to–60 …

Additional charges of sexual assault of a minor for local man …

… MIDDLETOWN — A Loveland Street man has been hit with additional first-degree sexual assault charges involving a minor just months after …

‘Cake Boss’ Co-Star Remy Gonzalez Arrested for Sexual Assault …

… ‘Cake Boss’ Co-Star Busted for Sex Assault on Minor … one of the stars of “Cake Boss” has been arrested for sexually assaulting a minor. …

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12/17/2009 – New Jersey Man Charged with Enticing Minor

PHILADELPHIA—Jon J. Lackner was indicted today on charges that he used interstate communications to attempt to induce a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, traveled with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, and attempted to transfer obscene material to a minor in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy. The indictment charges that from on or about September 9, 2008 to on or about March 24, 2009, Lackner used the mail, the Internet, and a telephone to attempt to induce a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. Further, the indictment alleges that on March 24, 2009, Lackner traveled from New Jersey to Bensalem, Pennsylvania for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. Finally, the indictment charges that on March 12, 13, and 15, Lackner used the Internet to attempt to transfer obscene material to a minor.

INFORMATION REGARDING THE DEFENDANTS

NAME: Jon J. Lackne

ADDRESS: Cherry Hill, NJ

AGE OR YEAR OF BIRTH: 45

If convicted the defendant faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison with a maximum of life, a mandatory minimum of five years’ supervised release, a $1,250,000 fine, and a $500 special assessment.

12/17/2009 – Webster Parish Man Indicted for Child Exploitation and Child Pornography

SHREVEPORT, LA—Curtis Dale Lolly, 54, of Doyline, La., was indicted for production and attempted production of images involving child exploitation and possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Donald W. Washington announced today. Lolly was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of attempted exploitation of children, and two counts of possession of child pornography. Lolly is scheduled to appear for arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Mark Hornsby on January 5, 2010.

The indictment alleges that Lolly used females under the age of 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of the conduct and that he possessed images of child pornography.

If convicted, Lolly could face a maximum sentence of 30 years and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both, for each count of sexual exploitation of children. Child pornography is punishable by a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

12/16/2009 – Kirksville Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charges

ST. LOUIS, MO—Glen William Ketterlinus entered a plea of guilty to federal child pornography charges, Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap, Adair County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Williams and Kirksville Police Chief Jim Hughes announced today.

GLEN WILLIAM KETTERLINUS, Kirksville, Missouri, pled guilty December 14, 2009, to four felony counts of production of child pornography. Between January 2005 and May 2007, Ketterlinus videotaped a minor under the age of 18 in sexually explicit conduct. He appeared Monday before United States District Judge Henry E. Autrey, who set sentencing for March 10, 2010.

Each count of production of child pornography carries a penalty range of 15 to 30 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

12/16/2009 – Bedford Man Admits Producing Child Pornography

FORT WORTH, TX—Thomas James Murphy, III, 26, of Bedford, Texas, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Bleil to one count of production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Murphy, who has been in custody since his arrest on October 6, 2009, faces a maximum statutory sentence of not less than 15 years or more than 30 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. He also must register as a sex offender. Sentencing is set for April 12, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means.

In October 2009, FBI agents discovered a lead which indicated that Murphy was creating child pornography by using his own daughters. These videos and images showed sexually graphic conduct between Murphy and one of his daughters. Both daughters were under the age of three at the time of the creation of the child pornography.

When FBI agents visited the Murphy residence, he identified his two daughters as the minor children in the images and also identified himself as the naked adult male in the images. He admitted that he took images of himself sexually engaged with one of two daughters and sent those images over the Internet to another individual. An examination of his computer and related storage media was performed and agents discovered the images of Murphy with his two daughters.

Fugitive Sex Offender Caught
Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:01:08 -0600

December 09, 2009 – A man wanted by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender was arrested by the United States Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force Atlanta Office in Fulton County, Georgia. Timothy Collins, 42, was being sought by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department on a warrant for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender after his release from state prison.

12/7/2009 – Newfield Man Sentenced to 60 Months in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

CAMDEN—A Newfield man was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison today for possessing child pornography on his home computer, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman also ordered Robert Kevin Carlino, 32, to serve 10 years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison term. Judge Hillman continued the defendant’s release on a $50,000 bond, with the conditions of home confinement with electronic monitoring, pending his surrender to officials with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on a date to be determined by prison authorities.

12/7/2009 – Ohio Man Sentenced on Child Pornography Charge

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated today that Frederick Horne, 74, of Mansfield, Ohio was sentenced today to 27 months for possessing child pornography. United States Chief District Judge William K. Sessions, III, also sentenced Horne to five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, on August 15, 2007, Horne began chatting over the Internet with a person who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl from Vermont. In reality, the person was an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl. During the chat, Horne sent the undercover officer numerous images depicting prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Horne was arrested in Ohio in September 2007 and he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on June 30, 2008.

12/7/2009 – Jacksonville Man Indicted on Federal Child Pornography Charges

JACKSONVILLE, FL—United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton announces today that Anthony William Denham (age 23, of Jacksonville) has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Jacksonville on one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. If convicted, Denham faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in federal prison for the receipt count. On the possession count, Denham faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Denham is currently in custody, and his arraignment and detention hearing will be held in federal court in Jacksonville before United States Magistrate Judge Monte C. Richardson on December 11, 2009 at 10:30 a.m.

Sexual Assault Suspect Captured in Mexico
Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:48:49 -0600

December 08, 2009 – United States Marshal Federico Rocha of the Northern District of California announces the arrest of Fermin Pucheta-Temich. On December 4, Pucheta-Temich, 32, was extradited from Mexico City on a warrant of arrest out of San Francisco for multiple federal charges of sexual assault with a minor.

12/4/2009 – Cahokia Man Receives 114-Month Prison Sentence for Possession of Child Pornography

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on December 4, 2009, GREGORY P FEENEY, age 53, of Cahokia, Illinois, was sentenced in East St. Louis, Illinois after previously pleading guilty to a single count indictment charging him with Possession of Child Pornography. FEENEY was sentenced to a term of 114 months of imprisonment, a $750 fine, and 15 years of supervised release.

The violation took place in October of 2007, in St. Clair County, Illinois.

12/4/2009 – Fishers Man Sentenced to 40 Years for Distributing Child Pornography

INDIANAPOLIS—Jeffrey Taylor, age 46, a former resident of Noblesville, Indiana, was sentenced late yesterday to 40 years in prison following his conviction for distributing child pornography through the Internet, announced Timothy M. Morrison, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.

Taylor, appearing before U.S. District Court Judge Larry J. McKinney in Indianapolis, Indiana, was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release following his release from prison and to forfeit all items seized during the investigation that were used to commit his offense.

On January 6, 2009, Taylor distributed video and image files of child pornography through a computer in his Noblesville home. After discovering his criminal activity, federal, state, and local law enforcement agents found during a search of his residence that Taylor’s collection of child pornography included over 10,000 images files and 500 video files of child pornography. The content of this material included sexually explicit material involving very young children, bestiality involving minors, and sadistic abuse. Taylor made this collection available to other persons on the Internet so that he could obtain child pornography from them in exchange.

According to Assistant U. S. Attorney Steve DeBrota, who prosecuted the case for the United States, during the investigation it was discovered that Taylor also molested four children he knew in the past. Under federal sentencing law, this conduct was used to enhance his sentence. The molestations occurred at various locations in Indiana over a period of several years. Taylor denied these molestations during his testimony, but Judge McKinney found untrue his denial of responsibility for this child sexual abuse.

12/4/2009 – Tribal Member Sentenced to Prison for Sexual Abuse of a Child

Man Engaged in Pattern of Sex Abuse of Young Relative

THOMAS LEE PETERS, 47, an enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison and ten years of supervised release for three counts of sexual abuse of a minor. PETERS molested a young relative while residing on the Swinomish Indian Reservation in Western Washington. At sentencing Chief U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik ordered PETERS to get a sexual deviance evaluation and register as a sex offender. Chief Judge Lasnik said “the crime was like throwing a rock in a pool and sending out waves of damage that impact PETERS’ family and community.”

PETERS pleaded guilty in September 2009, admitting that on multiple occasions in 2005, 2006, and 2007, he sexually molested a young relative. Because PETERS is a tribal member, and the abuse occurred on tribal land, the case was prosecuted in federal court.

12/4/2009 – Neopit Man Indicted for Sexual Abuse of a Minor and Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

Michelle Jacobs, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment against Wayne Wheelock, of Neopit, Wisconsin, for allegedly engaging in a sexual act with a minor. Wheelock is alleged to be a repeat offender as he was convicted in August 1996 of engaging in a sexual act with a person physically incapable of declining.

A federal grand jury also returned an indictment alleging that Wheelock failed to register and update a registration as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act while entering, leaving or residing on the Menominee Indian Reservation.

Exploiting Children
New York Man Pleads Guilty
A New York man pled guilty after being accused of possessing sexually explicit computer images of minors.

Acting United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar announced today, December 1, 2009, that Kyle Rice, a resident of Panama, New York, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of children.

Rice, age 21, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin.

In connection with the guilty plea, Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold advised the court that Rice possessed and attempted to possess computer images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Exploiting Children Chester Man Receives 17 Years

RICHMOND, VA—James Yager, 31, of Richmond, Va., was sentenced to 17 years in prison for distributing child pornography after having previously been convicted of child pornography distribution in 2001.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Jennifer Love, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne.

“Prosecuting crimes against children is a high priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “This case should send a strong message to those convicted of exploiting children through pornography: If you return to trading these disturbing images of abuse, we will find you and send you back to prison for a long time.”

Yager served 48 months in prison after pleading guilty on May 2, 2001, to distributing child pornography. According to court documents, in May 2009, Yager engaged in Internet chats with an undercover FBI agent that culminated in Yager making available via a peer-to-peer file sharing program dozens of images of child pornography for the undercover agent to download.  In June 2009, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Yager’s residence and discovered that after having been released from federal probation for his prior conviction, Yager traded hundreds of images of child pornography on the Internet using a peer-to-peer file sharing program that he had configured to allow the sharing of files through a photo card, which contained thousands of images of child pornography.

Infant Sex Tape Case Horrifies Indiana Town

Woman To Be Sentenced Dec. 2

VEEDERSBURG, Ind. — Single dad Robert Jones felt comfortable with his decision to hire Samantha Light as his toddler son’s baby sitter. She was from a respected, churchgoing family in this close-knit community, he knew her family and she was soon to be a young mother herself.Jones was thunderstruck when he learned that Light and her boyfriend had been arrested on charges of molesting and videotaping sex acts with at least four children in their care, including two under age 2.”I didn’t know how to react,” he said. “I basically said, ‘Where are they at and do you have pictures

He was relieved to find that his child was not one of the ones involved in the case, but the question of whether his son was abused still haunts him.Light’s image had remained wholesome until March, when a 3-year-old girl and her mother walked into the sheriff’s department with allegations that would rock this quiet western Indiana town of 2,100: Light had touched the girl’s genitals, and there was video.Investigators armed with a search warrant descended on the little white bungalow that Light shared with her mother and boyfriend, Stephen E. Quick II. They found a videotape whose graphic images, taken over five months beginning in September 2008, sickened even longtime deputies:A sexual device being used on an infant girl. A young boy engaging in intercourse. A toddler being sodomized.”I’ve been a police officer for almost 30 years and it was probably the most sick, disgusting thing I’ve ever seen,” said Chief Deputy Dana Jeffries.Even though Jones’ son, who was about 16 months old while in Light’s care, was not among the children on video, physicians examined the boy. The doctors told Jones they found no signs of abuse. He said he found other child care when Light had her baby and that his son wasn’t in her care at the time of the arrests.But he still isn’t sure his son wasn’t harmed. Now when his son doesn’t like to get his diaper changed he wonders whether he was abused or if he’s just being a stubborn toddler.”I don’t have no closure,” he said. “I just want to know if they did anything to my kid.”Prosecutors charged Light, 26, with four counts of child molestation and one of child exploitation related to the video’s production. Quick, 32, faced three counts of child molestation and one of child exploitation. Light pleaded guilty to three counts of molestation Oct. 9 and is to be sentenced Wednesday. Quick is discussing a plea agreement and faces a Dec. 15 hearing at which he could plead guilty or have a trial date set, Fountain County prosecutor Terry Martin said.Attorneys for Light and Quick have declined to comment.Jones has had thoughts of revenge since he learned of the allegations.”Whatever they get, they deserve — and that’s not enough,” he said.He said Light sent him a letter from jail July 31 claiming Quick used threats to get her to participate in the assaults.”Steve made me do the things I would have never done if he hadn’t threatened my family,” Light wrote, according to Jones. But he isn’t buying it.”You don’t do stuff like that to kids,” Jones said.The scars the case has left could be permanent, both for the victims and the one-stoplight community about 65 miles northwest of Indianapolis.”There was a trust level — and that’s been broken, big time,” said Jim Keeling, a 41-year-old mill worker who lives next door to the house where Light and Quick lived.And the people here are angry about losing the town’s unique sense of innocence.Life in Veedersburg moves along at a laid-back pace and many residents are related. The quiet town has grown quieter as the recession forced many foreclosures and jobs at two local brickyards disappeared.Until Light and Quick were arrested, crime was almost an afterthought. Doors stay unlocked, keys are left in cars, and with only one pub in town, there aren’t even many arrests for public intoxication or disorderly conduct. Town Marshal Neil Beck, a retired Indiana state trooper, says only one working meth lab has been found during his 8 1/2 years on the job.”People don’t worry about everyday dangers,” Beck said.Light, whose family has lived in town for years, had a reputation as a good baby sitter after returning to Veedersburg from Indianapolis, where she spent three years working as a clerk for the Indiana State Teachers Association’s insurance trust. She quit her clerk job in February 2008. She and Quick had been together about a year at the time of their arrests.Jones, a 40-year-old factory worker, said he had felt comfortable leaving his son in her care.Folks around town knew little about Quick’s background, however, and ugly rumors began to surface as time passed.Police records show Quick had a theft and burglary arrest in Clinton County in the 1990s. He was the focus of a 2000 child molestation investigation in Frankfort after a 3-year-old girl said Quick had shown her pornographic magazines. Frankfort Detective Bill Hackerd said the case was dropped for lack of evidence. Quick’s attorney didn’t return calls about those allegations.Investigators say the assaults occurred between September 2008 and February 2009 and that they do not believe there are any victims other than those shown on the tape. Those on the tape are believed to be the 3-year-old girl whose complaint started the investigation, a boy between the ages of 6 and 10, an infant girl under a year old and a boy about 18 months old.Families in town have become careful about checking their baby sitters’ backgrounds since the arrests, said Keeling, Light’s neighbor.The Rev. Matt Swisher, pastor at Veedersburg United Methodist Church, said the wounds are still fresh.”There’s a lot of hurt that happened and just a lot of prayer that needs to be going on,” he said.

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Girl’s body found in North Carolina, police say

(CNN) — The body of a missing 5-year-old girl has been found in North Carolina, police said Monday.

Theresa Chance, public information officer of the Fayetteville Police Department, confirmed the body was discovered.

Earlier Monday, about 200 people searched for the body of Shaniya Davis after “reliable information” indicated that she might be dead, Fayetteville, North Carolina, police said.

The search focused on land near a roadway because “reliable information received that the body of Shaniya Davis may have been dumped there,” the Fayetteville Police Department said in a statement.

Investigators had been searching for Shaniya for several days.

Police have charged the girl’s mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, with trafficking and other offenses, authorities said. Davis was “prostituting her child,” Chance said.

Other charges against the mother include felony child abuse, prostitution and filing a false police report, according to the Fayetteville Police Department.

The mother told police last week that the child vanished from their mobile home in Fayetteville.

Hotel surveillance video taken around the same time Shaniya was reported missing showed the girl with a man identified as Mario Andrette McNeill. He was charged with first-degree kidnapping.

Police said they dropped kidnapping charges against another man, Clarence Coe, who was arrested Thursday in connection with the case.

Mother Arrested In Drowning Of 3-Year-Old Daughter

A three-year-old girl was found drowned in a bathtub on Sunday morning, and the victim’s mother has been arrested on suspicion of murder, according to authorities.

The Sacramento Police Department said they found three-year-old Divya unresponsive after receiving two calls from the girl’s father, who feared the mother had hurt her.

Anul Ram, 31, picked up her daughter and her seven-year-old son from her ex-husband’s house at about 1:00 a.m. Sunday, according to police. Relatives told CBS13 that Anul had scratches all over her face, and her ex-husband called police after they left to ask for an officer to check on his family.

Police said no officers were available at the time because of a homicide that happened two hours earlier.

After Anul returned to her apartment on Greenhaven Drive in Sacramento, she allegedly called her ex-husband and told him she had drowned their daughter in the bathtub, according to a relative who did not wish to be identified.

Divya’s father called police again, who responded and attempted to resuscitate the girl. The victim was transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Anul Ram is on suicide watch at the Sacramento County Jail, where she is being held on murder charges and being in the country illegally.

She was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder within the last year, according to a relative.

Dugard’s Alleged Kidnapper Apologizes

AP

6th Man Arrested in Missouri Sex Case

LEXINGTON, Mo. (Nov. 14) – The case against a family accused of child sex abuse expanded with the arrest of a sixth relative — a 72-year-old Florida man who had called the allegations against his kin repulsive and appalling.

Darrel Wayne Mohler has been charged with raping two children in Missouri more than 20 years ago. His arrest Friday came a day after he told The Associated Press that the alleged child abuse by his relatives was “unspeakable.” 

Evangelist Tony Alamo Sentenced to 175 Years for Sexually Exploiting Minors
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:54:08 -0600

Bernie Hoffman, aka Tony Alamo, founder and leader of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, was sentenced to 175 years in prison following his conviction on charges that he transported minor girls across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity.

Child Predator Sentenced in Midland Federal Court
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:18:06 -0600

November 13, 2009 – Permian Basin residents can rest a little easier today as one more child predator is sentenced to prison time under the Adam Walsh Act, also known as the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 in which U.S. Marshals have primary investigative authority. Kenneth Daniel Spriggs was sentenced yesterday by Federal District Judge Rob Junell in Midland, to 30 months in custody with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, to be followed by a term of 20 years of supervised release.

Five Family Members Charged in Missouri Child Sex Case

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department

Burrell Mohler Jr.

Burrell Mohler Jr.

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Five men from the same family are in custody in a stunning child sex crimes case in Missouri — and cadaver dogs are now being used in a hunt for possible bodies of victims, Fox4KC.com reports.

Police are searching a patch of land on a farm property Wednesday near Bates City, Mo., a day after the men were charged with committing sex crimes against children, according to Fox4KC.com.

Charged with multiple counts of child rape are 77-year-old Burrell Edward Mohler Sr. and his son Burrell Edward Mohler Jr., 53, both of Independence, Mo., along with 48-year-old Jared Leroy Mohler of Columbia, Mo.

David A. Mohler, 52, of Lamoni, Iowa, was charged with one count of child rape, and Roland Neil Mohler, 47, of Bates City, Mo., is accused of using a child in a sexual performance — a felony. The relationships of Jared, David and Roland Mohler to Burrell Mohler Sr. and Burrell Mohler Jr. weren’t immediately known.

The crimes allegedly were committed from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s.

The elder Burrell Mohler is accused of drugging and forcibly raping a child under 12 and using a child in a sexual performance. His son is charged with sexual assault of a child under 14 and using a child in a sexual performance.

It wasn’t clear how many young victims there allegedly were. All five men are being held behind bars without bond.

A press conference will be held Wednesday to discuss more details of the case.

Click for more on this story from Fox4KC.com.

Convicted child-sex predator in court to face state charges

Convicted child predator John “Jacky” Worman, already facing 120 years in a federal penitentiary, was back in Delaware County court Tuesday to face hundreds of state charges involving the rape and sexual abuse of a number of children, some as young as 6 weeks old.

Worman, 42, who has been described by authorities as a “monster,” is facing trial on 203 counts of rape of a child, 186 counts of deviate sexual intercourse and hundreds of related offenses for his alleged abuse of 12 children over a nine-year period.

He was convicted in federal court last year on 55 counts of manufacturing child pornography and one count of child pornography. The case against Worman involved more than 1 million horrific images of child pornography — documented by the defendant while he committed anal, oral and vaginal sex on his victims who ranged from infancy to 15 years.

In August, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Stengel sentenced Worman to 120 years in a federal prison, saying the crimes he committed against his victims were the worst in the country.

He is now back in Delaware County to face prosecution on hundreds of state charges.   Read More

Nov 05, 2009

Fetus Found At City Water Plant

Thursday, November 05, 2009 1:52:46 PM

ORLANDO — A human fetus has been found in a waste water tank at a city treatment plant.

According to Orlando police spokeswoman Barbara Jones, an employee at the water treatment facility found the fetus around 8:20 a.m. Thursday in an area that sifts debris from the water.

The plant, located at 5420 L.B. McLeod Road, serves an area south of International Drive, north of state Road 50, west of MetroWest and east of downtown Orlando, including Parramore.

Officials said the area where the fetus was found is usually automated, but it had been manually operated over the last couple of weeks, leading to the discovery.

Workers were cleaning drainage equipment, and found the fetus when they cleaned out the sediment.

The fetus was taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Homicide investigators said the partial fetus’ gestational age was at about 14 to 15 weeks. Officials did not specify whether the fetus was male or female.

Northwest Georgia Crimes Against Children Task Force Announces Arrest

Northwest Georgia Crimes Against Children Task Force Announces Arrest

ATLANTA—Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Gregory Jones, FBI Atlanta, announces on behalf of the Northwest Georgia Crimes Against Children Task Force, the following arrest:

Rocky Davis Jr., age 21, an EMT and fireman for Walker County, Georgia, was arrested on Friday, October 30, 2009 on state charges related to attempting to solicit a minor child for sex. Davis traveled to Catoosa County, Georgia after having engaged undercover officers/agents of the FBI’s Northwest Georgia Crimes Against Children Task Force in a series of chats on the Internet.

Davis is currently incarcerated at the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department jail.

he Northwest Georgia Crimes Against Children Task Force consists of federal agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and officers from the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, Dalton Police Department, Dade County Sheriff’s Office, Rossville Police Department, and the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office.

The public is reminded that all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

October 31, 2009

Girl shot dead after Calif. school football game

Police searching for suspect in attack that injured two others

LONG BEACH, Calif. – A 16-year-old girl died and two men were wounded after being shot following a football game at a Southern California high school.

Long Beach police Sgt. Dina Zapalski said it’s unclear what led to Friday night’s shooting at Wilson High School. Police are searching for a suspect.

The girl died at a hospital. Her name has not been released.

Police: As many as 20 present at gang rape outside school dance

Police say a student at Richmond High School was gang raped outside during a homecoming dance.

Richmond, California (CNN) — Investigators say as many as 20 people were involved in or stood and watched the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance Saturday night.

Police posted a $20,000 reward Tuesday for anyone who comes to them with information that helps arrest and convict those involved in what authorities describe as a 2½-hour assault on the Richmond High School campus in suburban San Francisco.

Two teenage suspects have been jailed, but more arrests, as many as 20 total, are expected, according to a police detective.

“We will be making arrests continually as we develop probable cause,” said Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan. “With this number of people implicated in the incident we’re going to be making arrests on an ongoing basis.”

As many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lighted back alley at the school, while another 10 people watched without calling 911 to report it, police said.

A 1999 California law makes it illegal not to report a witnessed crime against a child, but the law applies only to children 14 and under.

“We do not have the ability to arrest people who witnessed the crime and did nothing,” Gagan said. “The law can be very rigid. We don’t have the authority to make an arrest.”

Charles Ramsey, a member of the Richmond school board, said the school district bears some responsibility for the attack. School administrators and police apparently weren’t watching the area as they should have, Ramsey said.

The school said it would hold a safety meeting for parents and students Wednesday evening to address the assault.

The victim was found unconscious under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday, after police received a call from someone in the area who had overheard people at the assault scene “reminiscing about the incident,” Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan said.

The girl was flown by helicopter to a hospital where she was admitted in critical condition. She was in stable condition Tuesday, police said.

Investigators canvassed the community with fliers, which included the reward offer, hoping to identify more suspects Tuesday.

“There is one individual in custody who has made some spontaneous statements that have led me to believe that he is culpable for what happened,” Richmond police Lt. Johan Simon said.

Nineteen-year-old Manuel Ortega, described as a former student at the school, was arrested soon after he fled the scene and will face charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, police said.

A 15-year-old was later arrested and charged with one count of felony sexual assault. A third teenager was being interviewed, Gagan said.

“Based on witness statements and suspect statements, and also physical evidence, we know that she was raped by at least four suspects committing multiple sex acts,” Gagan said.

“As people announced over time that this was going on, more people came to see, and some actually participated,” Gagan said.

The attack occurred on school grounds as the annual homecoming dance was under way inside the school Saturday night, authorities said.

Virginia Man Sentenced for Sex Trafficking of Minors and Transporting Minors Across State Lines for Prostitution in Virginia and Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, FL—U.S. Attorney Brian A. Albritton announces that U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced Marvin Leigh Madkins (age 29, of Virginia) to 50 years in federal prison for sex trafficking of minors and transporting minors across state lines for prostitution. A federal jury had found Madkins guilty of those charges on March 6, 2009.

According to evidence presented at trial, Madkins recruited two minors from the state of Virginia to engage in prostitution in Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida, knowing that force, fraud, or coercion would be used to cause the minors to engage in commercial sex acts. Madkins promised the minors that if they would serve as prostitutes in Virginia for a short period of time, they and he would earn enough money to go to Florida for an extravagant vacation. Madkins also told the minors that, once in Florida, he would obtain cocaine, sell it, and use the proceeds from the drug sales to fund trips to Miami, Atlanta, and New York.

After Madkins engaged the minors in prostitution in Virginia, the minors rode with Madkins on a Greyhound Bus to Jacksonville using false names on tickets that Madkins had obtained. Within days of their arrival in Jacksonville, the minors were required to engage in prostitution to pay for hotels, food, and other items. Madkins engaged the minors in prostitution from a number of local hotels and obtained multiple customers using various methods, including Internet postings on Craigslist.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mac D. Heavener, III and Nicholas A. Pilgrim.

More Than 50 Children Rescued During Operation Cross Country IV

Over the past 72 hours, the FBI, its local and state law enforcement partners, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) concluded Operation Cross Country IV, a three-day national enforcement action as part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative. The operation included enforcement actions in 36 cities across 30 FBI divisions around the country and led to the recovery of 52 children who were being victimized through prostitution. Additionally, 691 others, including 60 pimps, were arrested on state and local charges.

“Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces,” said Kevin Perkins, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “There is no work more important than protecting America’s children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization. Through our strategic partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies, we are able to make a difference.”

Task Force operations usually begin as local actions, targeting such places as truck stops, casinos, street “tracks,” and Internet websites, based on intelligence gathered by officers working in their respective jurisdictions. Initial arrests are often violations of local and state laws relating to prostitution or solicitation. Information gleaned from those arrested often uncovers organized efforts to prostitute women and children across many states. FBI agents further develop this information in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and file federal charges where appropriate.

To date, the 34 Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups have recovered nearly 900 children from the streets. The investigations and subsequent 510 convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences, including multiple 25-years-to-life sentences and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.

“It is repugnant that children in these times could be subjected to the great pain, suffering, and indignity of being forced into sexual slavery for someone else’s profit,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, “but Cross Country IV has shown us that the scourge of child prostitution still exists on the streets of our cities. The FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and all the state and local law enforcement agencies that contributed to this operation are to be commended for their dedication to this cause. We will all continue to work tirelessly to end the victimization of innocent children.”

In the spring of 2003, the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, in partnership with the Department of Justice’s CEOS and NCMEC, formed the Innocence Lost National Initiative to address the growing problem of children forced into prostitution.

“Child trafficking for the purposes of prostitution is organized criminal activity using kids as commodities for sale or trade,” said Ernie Allen, President and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “These kids are victims. They lack the ability to walk away. This is 21st century slavery. We are proud to have worked hand-in-hand with the FBI and Justice Department in a partnership that is unprecedented, historic, and working.”

This program brings state and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers all from around the country to NCMEC, where the groups are trained together. In addition, CEOS has reinforced the training by assigning prosecutors to help bring cases in those cities plagued by child prostitution.

The FBI thanks the 1,599 local, state, and federal law enforcement officers representing 112 separate agencies who participated in Operation Cross Country and ongoing enforcement efforts.

The charges announced today are merely accusations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

For more information on Operation Cross Country and the Innocence Lost National Initiative, visit http://www.fbi.gov, http://www.justice.gov or http://www.ncmec.org

John Joseph Gotti, Jr. (October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was a boss of the Gambino Crime Family, one of the Five Families in New York City.

Early Years
Gotti was involved in street gangs until he began working for the Gambino family in the 60s, fencing stolen goods and hijacking cargo from Northwest and United airlines.

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Joe Adonis (November 22, 1902 – November 26, 1971) moved from Naples to New York as a child. In the 1920s he began working for Lucky Luciano and participated in the assassin of crime leader, Giuseppe Masseria. With Maseria out of the way, Luciano’s power in organized crime grew and Adonis became a rackets boss.

After being convicted of gambling in 1951, Adonis was sent to prison then later deported to Italy when the authorities discovered he was an illegal alien.

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Albert Anastasia, born Umberto Anastasio, (September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was a Gambino crime family boss in New York known best for his role in running the contract killing gang known as Murder, Inc.

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Liborio “Barney” Bellomo (b. January 8, 1957) became a Genovese capo in his 30s and grew quickly to acting boss of the Genovese crime family of New York after Vincent “the Chin” Gigante was indicted on racketeering in 1990.

By 1996, Bellomo was facing charges for racketeering, murder and extortion and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was indicted again for money laundering in 2001 and another four years was added to his prison time.

Due out in 2008, Bellomo again faced racketeering and was indicted along with six other wiseguys on racketeering, extortion, money laundering and for his involvement in the 1998 murder of Genovese capo Ralph Coppola. Bellomo agreed to a plea bargain and received a year and a day longer on his sentence. He is scheduled to be released in 2009.

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Otto “Abbadabba” Berman was known for his mathematical skills and became the accountant and advisor for gangster Dutch Schultz. He was killed by gunmen hired by Lucky Luciano at the Palace Chophouse tavern in Newark, N.J. in 1935.

This mug shot was taken when he was 15 and arrested for attempted rape, but found not guilty. The next photo was taken in 1935, months before his death.

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Giuseppe Bonanno (January 18, 1905 – May 12, 2002) was a Sicilian-born American organized crime figure who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family in 1931 until his retirement in 1968. Bonanno was instrumental in forming The Mafia Commission, which was designed to oversee all Mafia activities in the U.S. and serve to resolve conflicts between the Mafia families.

Bonanno was never imprisoned until after he stepped down as the Bonanno family boss. During the 1980s he was sent to prison for obstructing justice and for contempt of court. He died in 2002, at the age of 97.

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Louis “Lepke” Buchalter (Feb. 6, 1897 to March 4, 1944) became the administrative head of “Murder, Incorporated” a group formed to carry out murders for the Mafia. In March of 1940, he was sentenced to a term of 30 years to life for racketeering. He was sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary in April 1940, but was later sentenced to death after Murder Inc. killer Abe “Kid Twist” Reles cooperated with prosecutors in convicting Lepke of murder.

He died in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison on March 4, 1944.

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Tommaso Buscetta (Palermo, July 13, 1928- New York, April 2, 2000) was one of the first members of the Sicilian Mafia that broke the code of silence and helped authorities prosecute hundreds of Mafia members both in Italy and the U.S. In return for his many testimonies he was allowed to live in the U.S. and was placed in the Witness Protection Program. He died of cancer in 2000.

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In 1909, Giuseppe Calicchio, an immigrant from Naples, began work for the Morello gang in Highland, New York as a printer and engraver of counterfeit Canadian and US currency. In 1910, the printing plant was raided and Calicchio along with his boss Giuseppe Morello and 12 other gang members were arrested. Calicchio received 17 years hard labor and a $600 fine, but was released in 1915.

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Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), was an Italian American gangster who became the boss of the criminal organization known as The Chicago Outfit. He made a fortune in bootleg liquor during Prohibition.

His reputation as a ruthless rival in Chicago was solidified after the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre on February 14, 1929, when seven members of the “Bugs” Moran mob were machine-gunned against a garage wall by rivals posing as police.

Capone’s rule over Chicago was stopped in 1931 when he was sent to prison for tax evasion. After his release he was hospitalized for dementia as a result of having advanced syphilis. His years as a mobster were over. Capone died in his house in Florida, never returning to Chicago after his release from prison.

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Paul Castellano (June 26, 1915 – December 16, 1985) was the head of the Gambino crime family in New York in 1973 after the death of Carlo Gambino. In 1983 the F.B.I. wired Castellano’s house and obtained over 600 hours of Castellano discussing mob business.

Because of the tapes Castellano was arrested for ordering the murders of 24 people and was freed on bail. Just months later he and several crime family bosses were arrested based on information from the tapes in what became known as the Mafia Commission Trial, designed to connect Mafia mobsters to the construction business.

It is believed by many that John Gotti hated Castellano and ordered his murder which was carried out on Dec. 16, 1985, outside Sparks Steak House in Manhattan.

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In 1908, Antonio Cecala was a counterfeiter working for Giuseppe Morello. His career was short lived after he was convicted in 1909 of conterfeiting and sentenced to 15 years and a $1,000 fine.

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Frank Costello, head of the Luciano crime family between 1936 and 1957, was one of the most powerful Mafia bosses in U.S. history. He had control over much of the gambling and bootlegging activities across the country and had gained more political influence than any other Mafia figure. As a leader of what authorities referred to as the “Rolls-Royce of organized crime”, Costello preferred to lead with his brain rather than muscle.

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Michael “Mickey Scars” DeLeonardo (b. 1955) was a New York gangster who at one time was a captain for the Gambino crime family. In 2002 he had a falling out with the Family boss, Peter Gotti, for hiding family money. Also in 2002 he was indicted on labor racketeering, extortion, loan sharking, witness tampering, and the murders of Gambino associate Frank Hydell and Fred Weiss.

After a failed suicide attempt, DeLeonardo decided to go into the Witness Protection Program and provided the federal government with damaging testimony against Peter Gotti, Anthony “Sonny” Ciccone, Louis “Big Lou” Vallario, Frank Fappiano, Richard V. Gotti, Richard G. Gotti, and Michael Yanotti, John Gotti, Jr., Alphonse “Allie Boy” Persico and underboss John “Jackie” DeRoss.

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Thomas “Tommy Ryan” Eboli (b. June 13, 1911 – July 16, 1972) was a New York City mobster, known for being the acting boss of the Genovese crime family from 1960 through 1969. Eboli was murdered in 1972, allegedly after he was unable to repay Carlo Gambino $4 million dollars he had borrowed for a drug deal, much of which authorities seized in a raid.

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Benjamin Fein was born in New York City in 1889. He grew up in a poor neighborhood on the Lower East Side and participated in gang activity most of his life. As a child he was a petty thief and as an adult he became a notorius gangster who dominated New York labor racketeering in the 1910s.

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Gaetano “Tommy” Gagliano (1884 – 16 February 1951) served as a low-profile Mafia boss for the Lucchese crime family, one of the most notorious “Five Families” in New York. He served for 20 years before turning the leadership over to Underboss, Gaetano “Tommy” Lucchese in 1951.

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Carlo Gambino came from Sicily in 1921 at the age of 19. A seasoned gang member, he immediately began his growth up the New York Mafia ladder. He worked in gangs led by Joe “the Boss” Masseria, Salvatore Maranzano, Philip and Vincent Mangano, and Albert Anastasia. After the murder of Anatasia in 1957, Gambino became the head of the family, and changed the name of the organization from D’Aquila to Gambino. Known as the Boss of Bosses, Carlo Gambino grew to be one of the most powerful Mafia bosses of all time. He died of heart failure at age 74 in 1976.

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Vito Genovese rose from the Lower East Side gangs as a teen to becoming the boss of the Genovese crime family. His 40-year relationship with Charlie “Lucky” Luciano gained him the position as Luciano’s underboss in 1931. Had it not been for murder charges which sent Genovese into hiding in Italy, he would have most likely taken over as head of the family when Lucia was sent to prison in 1936. It was not until his return to the U.S. and after key Mafia players were killed, that Genovese would become “Don Vito” the powerful boss of the Genovese family.

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Vincent Gigante

Mug Shot

Vincent “The Chin” Gigante (March 29, 1928 – December 19, 2005) went from the boxing ring to a New York mobster who headed the Genovese crime family.

Dubbed “the Oddfather,” by the press, Gigante faked mental illness in order to avoid prosecution. He was often seen wondering Greenwich Village in New York City in his bathrobe and slippers, mumbling incoherently to himself.

The act helped him avoid prosecution for his crimes until 1997 when he was convicted of racketeering and conspiracy charges. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but had an additional three years added on when he pleaded guilty to faking his mental illness. Gigante died in prison in 2005.

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By age 31, Gotti was an acting capo for the Gambino family. Against the rules of the family, Gotti and his crew were dealing in heroin. When it was found out, family boss Paul Castellano wanted the crew broken up and possibly killed. Instead, Gotti and others organized the killing of Castellano who was shot six times in a Manhattan restaurant. Gotti then took over as the Gambino family boss and remained so until his death in 2002.

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John Angelo Gotti (born February 14, 1964) is the son of the now deceased Gambino crime boss John Gotti. Allegedly Junior Gotti was a capo in the Gambino family and was the acting boss when during times his father was in prison. In 1999 Junior Gotti was arrested and found guilty on racketeering charges and was sentenced to six years in prison.

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Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano (born March 12, 1945) became an Underboss of the Gambino crime family after teaming up with John Gotti in planning and executing the murder of Paul Castellano, the then-Gambino boss. After Castellano’s murder, Gotti moved into the top position and Gravano moved in as his Underboss.

In 1991, a F.B.I. investigation led to the arrest of several key players in the Gambino family including Gotti and Gravano. Looking at a long prison sentence, Gravano became a government witness in exchange for a lighter sentence. His testimony against Gotti, which included admitting to their taking part in 19 murders, resulted in a conviction and life sentence for John Gotti.

His nickname “Sammy the Bull” quickly changed to “King Rat” among his peers after his testimony. For awhile he was in the U.S. protection program, but left it in 1995.

After leaving the U.S. federal Witness Protection Program in 1995, Gravano moved to Arizona and started trafficking in ecstasy. In 2000, he was arrested and convicted of drug trafficking and received a 19-year sentence. His son was also convicted for his participation in the ecstasy drug ring.

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Henry Hill grew up in Brooklyn, New York and at an early age ran errands for the local Lucchese crime family.

Being of Italian and Irish decent, Hill was never “made” into the crime family, but was a soldier of capo, Paul Vario, and participated in hijacking trucks, loan sharking, bookmaking and took part in the infamous 1978 Lufthansa Air heist.

After Hill’s close friend Tommy DeSimone vanished and he ignored warnings from his associates to stop dealing drugs, Hill became paranoid that he would soon be killed and became an F.B.I. informant. His testimony aided in the conviction of 50 criminals.

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Meyer Lansky (born Majer Suchowlinski, July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983) was a major figure in organized crime in the U.S. Referred to often as the “Godfather of Godfathers”, Lansky, along with Charles Luciano, was responsible for the development of The Commission, the governing body of the Mafia in the U.S. It is also said that Lansky was responsible for Murder, Inc., a group that carried out murders for the crime families.

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Joseph A. “Socks” Lanza (1904-October 11, 1968) was a member of the Genovese crime family and head of the Local 359 United Seafood Workers union. He was convicted of labor racketeering and later for extortion, which he was sentenced seven to 10 years in prison.

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Phillip Leonetti (b. March 27, 1953) seemed to pattern his life after his uncle, Philadelphia crime family boss Nicodemo Scarfo. In the 1980s, Leonetti was moving through the family crime ranks as a mob hitman, capo and then underboss to Scarfo.

After receiving a 55-year prison sentence in 1988 on murder and racketeering charges, Leonetti decided to work with the federal government as an informant. His testimony resulted in the convictions of high-ranking mobsters including John Gotti. In return for his cooperation he was released from prison after serving only five years.

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Samuel “Red” Levine (b. 1903) was member of the Mafia gang, Murder, Inc., a notorious group created to carry out murders for the Mafia. Levine’s list of victims included Joe “The Boss” Masseria, Albert “Mad Hatter” Anastasia and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel

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Charles “Lucky” Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania) (November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was a Sicilian-American mobster who grew to be one of the most powerful men in organized crime. To this day his influence over the gangster activity in the U.S. still exists.

He was the first person to challenge the “old Mafia” by breaking through ethnic barriers and creating a network of gangs, which made up the national crime syndicate and controlled organized crime long past his death.

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Ignazio Lupo (March 19, 1877 – Jan. 13, 1947) became a powerful and dangerous crime leader in the early-1900s and is known for being responsible for organizing and setting up Mafia leadership in New York. He has been credited with running one of the most notorious Black Hand extortion gangs, but lost most of his power after being convicted on counterfeiting charges.

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Vincent Mangano (March 28, 1888 – April 19, 1951) got his start with the Mafia controlling the Brooklyn docks for The D’Aquila crime family in the 1920s. After crime boss Toto D’Aquila was killed and the Commission was formed, Lucky Luciano appointed Mangano as the boss of the D’Aquila family along with allowing him to serve on the Commission.

Mangano and his underboss, Albert “Mad Hatter” Anastasia, clashed regularly over how the family business should run. This led to Mangano’s demise, and in 1951 he disappeared and his younger rival, Anastasia, took over the family.

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Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria (c. 1887–April 15, 1931) was the head crime boss of New York City during the 1920s until he was shot to death, seemingly on the orders of Charlie Luciano at a restaurant in Coney Island in 1931.

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Joseph C. Massino (January 10, 1943) dubbed by the media as The Last Don, was the head of the Bonanno crime family starting in 1993 until he was convicted in July 2004, of racketeering, murder, extortion and other similar crimes. To avoid the death penalty Massiono cooperated with investigators and recorded a coversation with his successor, Vincent Basciano, discussing Basciano’s plan to kill a prosecutor. He is currently serving two life sentences.

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Giuseppe Morello (May 2, 1867 – Aug. 15, 1930) came to the U.S. in the early 1900s and set up the Morello Mob, which specialized in counterfeiting until 1909 when Morello and several of his gang were arrested and sent to prison.

Morello was released from prison in 1920 and returned to New York and became a powerful Mafia “boss of all bosses.” He made money for the family with Black Hand extortion and counterfeiting.

Morello’s leadership style was considered too conservative by many of the up and coming Mafia players and in 1930 he was murdered.

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Bugsy Siegel

Mug Shot

Benjamin Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was a career gangster who dealt in gambling rackets, bootlegging, car theft and murder with childhood friend, Meyer Lansky, in what became known as the “Bug and Meyer” syndicate.

In 1937 Siegal moved to Hollywood and enjoyed a lavish life, mingling in impressive Hollywood circles while continuing his illegal gambling activity. He invested heavily into building the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, with money borrowed from the mob. He was eventually shot and killed when he failed to turn a profit quickly enough and pay back the money.

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Ciro Terranova (1889-February 20, 1938) was a one time leader of the Morello crime family in New York. He earned a lot of money and his nickname “The Artichoke King” by controlling the produce in New York City. Terranova was also involved in narcotics, but managed to maintain good relations with corrupt New York police and politicians. By 1935, Charlie Luciano took over Terranova’s produce rackets, rendering Terranova financially bankrupt. He died from a stroke on Feb. 20, 1938.

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Joseph Michael Valachi was a member of Lucky Luciano’s crime family from the 1930s until 1959 when he was convicted on narcotics charges and sentenced to 15 years.

In 1963, Valachi became a key witness for Arkansas Senator John L. McClellan’s congressional committee on organized crime. His testimony confirmed the existence of the Mafia and exposed the names of several members of the five New York crime families and gave graphic details of their criminal activities.

In 1968, with author Peter Maas, he published his memoirs, The Valachi Papers, which was later turned into a movie starring Charles Bronson as Valachi.

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Earl Weiss served as boss of Chicago’s Irish-Jewish gang in 1924, but his rein was short lived. Weiss was shot on October 11, 1926, after refusing to make peace with the powerful Chicago gangster, Al Capone.

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Charlie (Charles) Workman was a hitman for Murder Inc. run by Louis Buchalter. Murder Inc., specialized in hiring killers for the Mafia. Workman’s “fame” came when he and another hitman, Mendy Weiss, shot Dutch Schultz and three of his top men on October 23, 1935. Schultz developed peritonitis from the rusty bullets the killers used. He died 22 hours after being shot. Workman eventually was found guilty of Schultz’s murder and spent 23 years in prison.

Our Mission

The mission of the National Center for Victims of Crime is to forge a national commitment to help victims of crime rebuild their lives. We are dedicated to serving individuals, families, and communities harmed by crime.

How We Help Victims of Crime

Working with local, state, and federal partners, the National Center for Victims of Crime:

• Advocates for laws and public policies that secure rights, resources, and protections for crime victims;

• Delivers training and technical assistance to victim service organizations, counselors, attorneys, criminal justice agencies, and allied professionals serving victims of crime; and

• Fosters cutting-edge thinking about the impact of crime and the ways in which each of us can help victims of crime rebuild their lives.

Contact us for help, information about your options, and referrals to local services anywhere in the country.

American Civil Liberties Union:
The ACLU is our nation’s guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.

America’s toughest Sheriff?
The truth about Phoenix’s nutty and cruel Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Bad Cop, No Donut:
A regular feature on The Bitter End radio show.

Blue Must Be True:
“… to hold law enforcement officers and government officials accountable when police performance lacks integrity and professionalism.”

BobbyWatch:
Keeping an eye on police corruption in the United Kingdom.

Roadblock Revelations:
“General information and discussions regarding growing threats to our right to privacy & travel”.

CopWatch:
Fights police abuse, brutality, and corruption. It’s a national group with lots of local chapters, but it started with Berkeley Copwatch (I was a member when I lived there), and that’s probably still their most effective local group. “Policing the police.”

Drue Myers Journal:
Ongoing coverage of official corruption cases, with a strong interest in criminal cops, prosecutors, judges, and jailers.

Flex Your Rights:
Protect your rights during police encounters.

HighwayRobbery.net:
Info & advice about California red light camera tickets.

Injustice Everywhere:
“… gathering information about reported incidents of police misconduct across the US, analyzing and compiling statistics based from several sources, and then publishing the results of all this information in a reader-friendly way in order to encourage informed debate where it was once impossible to do.

The Innocence Project:
Last chance after a guilty verdict.

Judicial Transparency now
and San Diego Judges:
These sites track crooked judges, focused in the San Diego area.

National Lawyers Guild:
Lawyers with consciences.

PoliceAbuse.org:
Well-funded organization runs video stings of police operations.

PoliceCrimes.com:
News and information on police brutality and criminality.

Photography is Not a Crime:
Activist Carlos Miller’s blog keeps an eye on the more egregious cases of police misconduct, especially in interactions with reporters and photographers.

RateMyCop.org:
“… allows registered users to leave written feedback about their interactions with police officers, and rank the officer’s service based on three criteria: Professionalism, Fairness and Satisfaction.”

RealCrimes.com:
Real cover-up and corruption by law enforcement. Real family frustration and heartbreak.

Roadblocks:
What to expect and how to handle the situation

Simple Justice:
A New York criminal defense blog, with a healthy distaste for police corruption and misconduct.

Truth in Justice:
An educational non-profit organized to educate the public regarding the vulnerabilities in the U. S. criminal justice system that make the criminal conviction of wholly innocent persons possible

When the police don’t take no for an answer
by Claire Wolfe, Backwoods Home Magazine

Police brutality results

A MESSAGE FOR PARENTS
How to Protect Your Kids with ID Kits

A child disappears in a crowd at the fair. A toddler wanders out an open door. A teen doesn’t return from the mall. Every year, hundreds of thousands of kids in the U.S. are reported “missing.”

Here’s one important suggestion: have information that helps identify your child ready to hand to law enforcement the instant you report your child missing.

We recommend a kit distributed through the National Child Identification Program started by the American Football Coaches Association in 1997. The FBI has been a partner in this program since 2002.

Each package includes:

• All you need to take inkless fingerprints;
• Cards for detailing your child’s physical descriptions—including abody map for pointing out scars, birthmarks, and other identifying features;
• A place to keep current photos; and
• More recently, an easy-to-use swab to take and store a small DNA sample.

Recording your child’s fingerprints is particularly important. Why? Not only because everyone’s fingerprints are unique, but also because they don’t change over time like physical appearances. We also recommend that you update the photos of your kids in the kits at least once a year.

Are the fingerprints or other information in the kits kept by the FBI? No! You keep the kits and fingerprints yourselves in a safe place…and provide the information to us only in case of emergency. Even then, we don’t keep the information in our records permanently without your permission.

Where can you get a kit? You can order one—for a small fee—through the National Child Identification Program website. The kits are also distributed free at select college football games across the country in partnership with local FBI offices. Check with your local FBI office to see if they are sponsoring a game this fall.

This year, we are working with the National Night Out organization, which helps communities nationwide hold anti-crime activities once a year. Along with the coaches association, we hope to set a new single-day record for distributing free identification kits during National Night Out events on August 1.

“It’s a neat program,” said Thomas E. Bush III, our assistant director for Criminal Justice Information Services, which coordinates the FBI’s involvement in the program. “It’s a great tool for parents have at their disposal to help protect their children.”

Links: Crimes Against Children | The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Who’s Protecting Us From The Protectors?

The following stories and links are just a small example of the reports from news agencies around the web. Read recent updates and get an idea of the magnitude of this problem at the following link:

>> Bad Cops, Bad Cops, Who Ya’ Gonna Call<<

Corruption in Government agencies goes far beyond crooked cops. It comes from all levels of government at local, state and federal levels. It does appear to be hidden better or covered up deeper at the higher levels. However, once in a while, we may hear a whisper that it exists.

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LA ethics panel urges ban on some free tickets for top officials

Deltona, FL Mayor bought 4 vodka shots on city’s dime

Deltona Mayor Dennis Mulder has promised to repay the city for four vodka drinks he bought with his city credit card…

Impeachment trial of federal judge gets under way in US Senate

Image of a t-shirt that was sold by the Denver police union as a way to thank their member officers for what they did during the 2008 Democratic National Convention in a way that mocked allegations of excessive force during that event.

And they’re proud of it!!

National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (NPMSRP) places them in 6th position as the worst in America.

This just goes to show how they feel about their reputation.

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Marcia Powell’s Death Unavenged: County Attorney Passes on Prosecuting Prison Staff

Woman Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison For Prostitution. Prison Guards Put Her In A Human Cage In 107 Degree Heat In Arizona Desert For 4 Hours. Then, Illegally Terminate Her Life Support At The Hospital, She Dies. Attorney General Refuses To Prosecute.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has chosen not to prosecute Arizona Department of Corrections staff in the death of inmate Marcia Powell.

Powell, 48, died May 20, 2009, after being kept in a human cage in Goodyear’s Perryville Prison for at least four hours in the blazing Arizona sun. This, despite a prison policy limiting such outside confinement to a maximum of two hours.

The county medical examiner found the cause of death to be due to complications from heat exposure. Her core body temperature upon examination was 108 degrees Fahrenheit. She suffered burns and blisters all over her body.

Witnesses say she was repeatedly denied water by corrections officers, though the c.o.’s deny this. The weather the day she collapsed from the heat (May 19 — she died in the early morning hours of May 20) arched just above a 107 degree high.

According to a 3,000 page report released by the ADC, she pleaded to be taken back inside, but was ignored. Similarly, she was not allowed to use the restroom. When she was found unconscious, her body was covered with excrement from soiling herself.

(Ryan lacked the authority to do this)

ADC conducted its own criminal investigation into Powell’s agonizing demise. The information I have indicates that ADC submitted its conclusions to the county attorney earlier this year.  ADC was seeking charges of negligent homicide against at least seven c.o.’s, as well as related charges against other prison staff.

Why didn’t the county attorney’s office pursue those charges? Apparently, they didn’t think they could prevail in court.

County attorney spokesman Bill Fitzgerald issued the following terse statement.

“There is insufficient evidence to go forward with a prosecution against any of the named individuals,” he e-mailed me, declining to elaborate further.

Donna Hamm of the advocacy group Middle Ground Prison Reform wasn’t buying it.

“Having read the bulk of those 3,000 pages of reports,” she told me, “if someone in a prosecutorial position can’t find a crime in those pages, they have absolutely no credibility in my opinion.”

Hamm noted that guards passed Powell several times throughout her stay in the cage, and that some mocked her pleas for water. As for c.o. claims that Powell was given water, Hamm countered that Powell’s eyes “were as dry as parchment,” and that the autopsy results show there was no sign of hydration.

Hamm was incredulous that the county attorney couldn’t find enough evidence to bring charges.

“It’s just beyond comprehension,” she stated. “This is the same office that has prosecuted mothers who left their babies in a couple of inches of water to go outside and take a cell phone call or look in the mail.”

She also cited the case of “Buffalo Soldier” Charles Long, who was prosecuted by the MCAO for negligent homicide in the 2001 death of a kid who had enrolled in his program for troubled teens and died after being exposed to the heat and put in a bath, where he inhaled water.

The ADC did make some reforms in the wake of Powell’s death. It was discovered that the cages were being used to control unruly prisoners, and the ADC claims this practice has stopped. However, Hamm says she has uncovered a case of a man in a Tucson facility who, earlier this year, was held all day and overnight in an outside cage.

Some 16 prison employees were sanctioned in one way or another as a result of the Powell incident, and some were fired. But Hamm says she believes some of those sanctioned have been reinstated.

The outdoor cages are still in use, but have been retrofitted to provide shade, misters, water stations, and benches, which, ironically, Hamm says are metal, and would thus soak up the heat. She’s toured ADC facilities to see the redone cages, and admits that changes are positive, but too late to save Powell’s life, obviously.

“All the retrofitting in the world is worthless if the staff doesn’t follow the policy,” she insisted.

Powell had been diagnosed as mentally ill, and was on more than one psychotropic drug, drugs that increased her sensitivity to heat, sunlight and lack of water. All the more reason, according to Hamm, that prison staff should be held accountable.

The only next of kin that was located for Powell was an aged, adoptive mother in California, who had not had contact with Powell for years, and did not want to take possession of the remains.

So, with the help of Hamm and others, Powell’s ashes were interred last year at Phoenix’s Shadow Rock Church of Christ.

Brophy College Preparatory School also dedicated a plaque to Powell on school grounds this year.

But with no one with standing to bring a federal lawsuit (Hamm says the deadline for a state lawsuit has expired), and with the MCAO unwilling to bring a case against those responsible for Powell’s well-being, there looks to be no justice for the schizophrenic deceased woman.

I asked Hamm what this means for the case.

“It means they’ve gotten away with the most colossal example of brutality I have seen against a female prisoner in the history of the Arizona Department of Corrections,” remarked Hamm, adding, “And they got off scot-free.”

Stephen Lemons, Wed., Sep. 1 2010

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Woman claims IMPD officer’s beating caused miscarriage

Cop beat a woman so badly she miscarried. Now she’s suing the police.

Indianapolis – The Indianapolis Metro Police chief plans to investigate allegations of police brutality involving one of his officers.

An Indianapolis woman is suing the city in federal court. LaDonna Dixon claims the officer beat her so severely during an arrest that she had a miscarriage.

“[He was] punching me, kicking me, after he maced me,” Dixon said.

“This person was angry, was enraged and just beat her,” said Dixon’s attorney, Everett Powell. “I would say it’s a crime.”

LaDonna Dixon is suing the city over what she claims happened in her yard last June. She says she was helping a friend who collapsed from a seizure and needed medicine.

When police arrived, the complaint says Officer Scott Childers told Dixon she was disrupting emergency crews and that she needed to get in her house.

Dixon admits she argued with Childers, but says that’s when the officer turned violent.

“He says I was resisting arrest, but I don’t see how I’m resisting when I’m already handcuffed and maced,” Dixon said.

Dixon claims that the beating continued even after she told the officer she was three months pregnant. She says she miscarried at Marion County’s arrestee processing center, just hours after her arrest.

“She was beaten so bad that she passed out,” Powell said. “She was hemorrhaging directly after getting beaten like this.”

Dixon says she was refused medical attention at the jail.

Her attorney filed a tort claim with the city last year.

It was denied in March, saying “a settlement is not warranted in this matter.”

Now, Dixon has filed suit in federal court, seeking punishment for the officer in what she claims was an unnecessarily violent arrest.

“Justice, I mean…can’t bring back my child,” Dixon said.

Dixon’s attorney fears a pattern in excessive force by police.

This lawsuit comes just a few weeks after a Metro officer was fired and another disciplined after beating an Indianapolis teenager.

Wednesday evening, Metro Police Chief Paul Ciesielski released the following statement:

“After claims of alleged police brutality being brought to my attention today, I have begun a review process of the arrest of Ms. Ladonna Dixon on June 21, 2009 at 6132 Nelson Place. We have decided to voluntarily review this arrest and will release more information once this review is completed.”

Jennie Runevitch/Eyewitness News

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Former Hockley County Chief Deputy Sheriff Pleads Guilty in Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy

LUBBOCK, TX—Gordon Clark Bohannon of Levelland, Texas, the former Chief Deputy of the Hockley County Sheriff’s Office, pleaded guilty this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to his role in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Bohannon and 27 others were charged in July 2009 in a 110-count indictment with operating a major methamphetamine trafficking organization in west Texas, Arizona, and in the Modesto, California area since 2003. One other Hockely County Sheriff’s Deputy charged in that indictment, Jose Jesus Quintanilla, 39, of Smyer, Texas, pleaded guilty last month to one count of misprision of a felony, and is awaiting sentencing. The lead defendant in the case, Bobby Duwayne Froman, of Levelland, Texas, pleaded guilty to his role as leader of the conspiracy earlier this month. If the Court accepts the terms of Froman’s plea agreement, he will face a 240-month prison sentence and will be required to forfeit two residences, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and a truck. Additionally, he will have to pay a $900,000.00 money judgment to the United States. A sentencing date for Froman has not yet been set.

Bohannon, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. He faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison and a $4 million fine. Under the terms of the plea agreement, however, Bohannon faces a sentence of 120 months in prison, and no fine, if the Court accepts the plea. Judge Cummings ordered a pre-sentence investigation report with sentencing to be scheduled after the completion of that report. Bohannon has been in custody since his arrest in July. All but one of the defendants charged in the case have pleaded guilty to their roles and are awaiting sentencing. The indictment was dismissed against three of the defendants.

In October 2007, law enforcement initiated an investigation into the narcotics trafficking activities of Bobby Duwayne Froman, a/k/a “Quick,” the founder of the Aces and Eights Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMG). From January 2003 to early July 2009, defendants Bobby Duwayne Froman, Gordon Clark Bohannon, Charity Bell Barron, Jeffrey Paul Bayer, Clifford Leroy Clark, Earnest Gale Flowers, Sharon T. Froman, Billy Charles Fuller, Bradley Gene Gore, Danny Keith Gregory, Jason Gutierrez, Dennis Carl Hegwood, Gary Duane Hegwood, Kimberly Hull, Andrew Clay Hurst, Kenneth Ray Johnson, Teddy Ralph Johnson, Stephanie Renee McKee, Keith Allen Miller, Jamie Paul Nickell, Kristi Ann Quillen, Jose Jesus Quintanilla, Hector Ramos, Perry Dean Roberson, David Lee Russell, Steven Allen Savell, Toni Jo Petska-Wood, and Marvin Lee Whittington, conspired with each other and others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine.

Froman’s co-conspirators transported large amounts of U.S. currency from Lubbock and Levelland, Texas, to Modesto to purchase large quantities of methamphetamine from Russell and Hegwood. Froman and others then distributed it in Levelland, Lubbock and throughout the South Plains area of West Texas.

Some of the conspirators maintained the following residences to store, weigh, package and distribute the methamphetamine: (1) Froman’s residence on Cactus Drive in Levelland; (2) Bayer’s residence on North Highway US 385 in Levelland; (3) Gore’s residence on Elgin Avenue in Levelland; (4) Whittington and Petska-Wood’s residence on 53rd Street in Lubbock; and (5) Ramos’s residence on 91st Street in Lubbock County.

Bohannon was employed as deputy, lieutenant, and chief deputy of the Hockley County Sheriff’s Office. According to documents filed in court, on April 1, 2009, the government asked permission to conduct a wire intercept of Froman’s cell phone, which the district court granted. Based in part on information obtained from that wiretap, the district court authorized the Government to conduct a wire intercept of Bohannon’s cell phone. During the approximate two-month period that Froman’s calls were intercepted, 473 pertinent calls were recorded. For the approximate month that Bohannon’s calls were intercepted, 155 pertinent phone calls were recorded.

Bohannon played a vital role in the conspiracy by using his position in law enforcement to protect and shield Froman’s methamphetamine trafficking organization. Bohannon not only obtained sensitive law enforcement information for the benefit of the conspiracy, but he also disrupted legitimate law enforcement efforts to investigate the conspiracy, thereby protecting it from discovery and its members from apprehension. In so doing, Bohannon aided and abetted prohibited persons in possessing firearms, aided and abetted a co-conspirator in possessing a sawed-off shotgun, and assisted that same co-conspirator in fabricating a statement in an attempt to avoid liability for that illegal shotgun.

Bohannon made several efforts to get charges against Froman dropped after Froman was arrested on December 30, 2007, for evading arrest with a motor vehicle, including meeting with the District Attorney and vouching for Froman, asking the DA if he could find it in his heart to dismiss the current case against Froman in the interest of justice. As Froman’s state trial date approached, Bohannon’s attempts to influence the District Attorney to dismiss the case escalated.

Bohannon disclosed confidential law enforcement information. In one instance, on May 15, 2009, Bohannon advised Bradley Gene Gore that law enforcement was executing a search warrant on Gore’s residence. Bohannon expressed concern that Gore possessed a sawed off shotgun, a prohibited weapon, and coached Gore to fabricate a false statement regarding the sawed off shotgun.

The following month, on April 20, 2009, Bohannon disclosed confidential law enforcement information when he advised Froman that his (Froman’s) residence was under surveillance, revealing the identity of two Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) surveillance vehicles that were, in fact, involved in an active surveillance in and around Levelland to augment the ongoing wiretap and react to information gleaned from that wiretap. Bohannon later admitted to FBI agents that he had talked to Bobby Froman and “alerted him to the fact he was being watched, and [he] kn[ew] this was not the right thing to do. It was wrong to tell Bobby Froman of the law enforcement operations.”

In another instance, Bohannon vouched for Froman when he received a phone call from a narcotics detective with the Roswell Police Department who informed him that he was involved in a narcotics investigation, which was probably going to go federal, and that during the investigation an informant gave the name Bobby Froman as a major methamphetamine dealer. Bohannon told the narcotics detective that it would be a waste of time to investigate Froman.

Bohannon also retaliated against people he perceived to be a threat to the drug distribution conspiracy. Bohannon furnished the name of informants to Froman and used Deputy Jose Jesus Quantinilla to help orchestrate one person’s arrest in June 2009. After Froman and Patrick McKnight’s arrest on December 30, 2007, Bohannnon instructed Deputy Jose Jesus Quintanilla to get a search warrant for McKnight’s residence. Bohannon told Quintanilla that the dope would be in a stereo speaker in the “little house” where McKnight resided. Quintanilla obtained a search warrant for McKnight’s residence on October 16, 2008. Quintanilla and other deputies executed the search warrant while Bohannon was physically located at the Sonic in Levelland. Co-conspirators Froman, Gore, and J.P Nickell watched from Froman’s back yard on ladders. While Quintanilla found two syringes, he could not find any methamphetamine. He called Bohannon at the Sonic and told him there was no dope. Bohannon asked Quintanilla if he was sure, telling him to look in the stereo system cabinet for a Marlboro box which would contain the methamphetamine. Quintanilla told Bohannon that the box was there, but there were only two syringes. Bohannon told Quintanilla to look in the speakers and that he was going to send the confidential informant over there. Bohannon then stated words to the effect of “well, hold on, let me call and see where she pu . . ., hold on I’ll call you back.” This was a reference to Bohannon contacting the purported confidential informant, who was to plant methamphetamine in McKnight’s residence. Bohannon stated he was going to send the confidential informant over there to Quintanilla, stating you’ll know the CI when she comes. Bohannon then contacted Gore and instructed Gore to pick up the confidential informant and bring her to Quintanilla. Bohannon did this to discredit McKnight and further assist Froman in having his state drug case dismissed. Prior to this incident, J.P Nickell heard Froman tell Bohannon that McKnight was a snitch on Froman, and “we’re going to get him.” Bohannon responded okay.

On July 10, 2009, Bohannon admitted to FBI agents that some of the guns in Gore’s possession belonged to Froman. Bohannon admitted that he knew Froman was a convicted felon who was prohibited from owning or possessing firearms.

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Marshal Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Hockley County District Attorney’s Office, the Levelland Police Department, the Lubbock Police Department, and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys C. Richard Baker, Jeffrey R. Haag, and Denise Williams, of the Lubbock, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office, are prosecuting the case.

Two Former San Juan Municipal Police Officers Sentenced for Using Excessive Force Resulting in Death

WASHINGTON—Two former San Juan, Puerto Rico, Municipal Police Officers, Elias Perocier Morales and Eliezer Rivera Gonzalez, were sentenced yesterday in federal court for using excessive force that resulted in the death of Jose Antonio Rivera Robles, the Justice Department announced.

Perocier Morales received a sentence of 10 years in prison.Rivera Gonzalez received a sentence of six and a half years in prison.

Both Perocier Morales and Rivera Gonzalez pleaded guilty in June 2009.In the plea proceedings and court documents, Perocier Morales admitted that on July 20, 2003, in the course of arresting Rivera Robles, he punched his prisoner repeatedly in the face while Rivera Robles was handcuffed and incapable of defending himself.He also admitted to later kicking Rivera Robles hard when he appeared unconscious.Rivera Gonzalez admitted to kicking Rivera Robles extremely hard when he was lying face down toward the ground, in no way posing a threat to anyone. Both men admitted that their actions, together with the actions of their fellow officers, resulted in Rivera Robles’s death.

On Aug. 13, 2009, three other officers were convicted, following trial, of civil rights violations arising out of the fatal assault, and one other officer was convicted of obstruction-related offenses.Vidal Maldonado, Juan Morales Rosado, Carlos Pagan Ferrer, and Jose Pacheco Cruz will be sentenced on their convictions at a later date.

“Every person has the right to expect that they will be safe when in the custody of law enforcement officers. Today’s sentence reflects the damage done to the public trust when law enforcement officers engage in such egregious misconduct,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said.“The Civil Rights Division will continue to aggressively prosecute officers who abuse their power in this manner.”

Special Agent Louis Rivera of the FBI’s San Juan Office investigated this matter.The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Antonio Bazan, Special Litigation Counsel Gerard Hogan, and Trial Attorney Avner Shapiro of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges

ST. LOUIS, MO—Christian Brezill pleaded guilty to the theft of government property by stealing stolen merchandise after an arrest, Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap announced today. According to court documents, Ronald Jackson and Christian Brezill were uniformed patrol officers assigned to work in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Sixth District out of the North Patrol Division. They were responsible for collecting, preserving and inventorying evidence; interviewing witnesses; making lawful arrests; conducting lawful searches; and making truthful and accurate reports of their official activities.

Court documents and statements made in court during the plea hearing by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith state that on July 27, 2009, Jackson was on duty when he received information from an individual that a woman identified in the court documents only as Jane Doe was in possession of electronics equipment stolen from the retailer Best Buy, and was in a vehicle on the parking lot of the Phillips 66 station at 5728 West Florissant Avenue. Jackson agreed with the individual that he would find Jane Doe, seize the stolen electronics equipment from her vehicle, and split some of the stolen electronics equipment with that individual. Jackson then shared that information with Christian Brezill, who was also on duty and they both drove their police vehicles to the Phillips 66 station to meet Jane Doe. Jackson and Brezill did a computer check on Doe, discovered that she had outstanding minor traffic warrants, arrested her on those traffic warrants, and placed her handcuffed into Brezill’s police vehicle. They searched the trunk of Doe’s vehicle and discovered brand new electronics equipment, in original boxes and in Best Buy store bags, including a Sony speaker system, a Phillips I-Pod docking system, speaker cable, a Wii gaming system, an X-Box gaming system, a Logitech computer speaker system, a Dell Inspiron laptop computer, and a Dynex LCD flat screen television. Jackson and Brezill removed all of the electronics equipment from Doe’s vehicle, and placed the items into the trunk of Brezell’s police vehicle. They then conveyed Jane Doe to the North Patrol Division where she was booked on the outstanding minor traffic warrants. Doe was neither arrested nor charged relative to her possession of the electronics equipment. Jackson and Brezill failed to report to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, either verbally or in writing, their seizure of the electronics equipment from Jane Doe’s vehicle.

After their work shift ended during the early morning hours of July 27, 2009, Jackson and Brezill met at a residential location and split up the seized electronics equipment between themselves. Jackson kept the Sony speaker system, the speaker cable, the X-Box gaming system, and the Dynex LCD flat screen television; he later gave the Sony speaker system and the speaker cable to the individual who had originally provided him the information regarding Jane Doe, and sold the Dynex LCD flat screen television to another individual for cash. Brezill kept the Phillips I-Pod docking system, the Wii gaming system, the Logitech computer speaker system, and the Dell Inspiron laptop computer; he later sold the Phillips I-Pod docking system and the Logitech computer speaker system to an individual for cash.

Unbeknownst to Jackson and Brezill, Jane Doe was cooperating with federal law enforcement, and the electronics equipment seized from her and stolen by the defendants was the property of the United States of America.

Brezill, 25, St. Louis City, plead guilty to one felony count of theft of United States Property before United States District Judge Donald J. Stohr, who set sentencing for March 19, 2010.

Co-defendant Ronald Jackson, 58, St. Louis City, pleaded guilty last week to one felony count of theft of United States Property, and is scheduled for sentencing March 12, 2010.

Theft of United States Property carries a maximum penalty of 10 years and/or fines up to $250,000. Reap commended the work on the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith, who is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer pled guilty to stealing stolen merchandise after an arrest.

ST. LOUIS, MO—Ronald Jackson pleaded guilty to the theft of government property by stealing stolen merchandise after an arrest, Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap announced today.

According to court documents, Ronald Jackson and Christian Brezill were uniformed patrol officers assigned to work in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Sixth District out of the North Patrol Division. They were responsible for collecting, preserving and inventorying evidence; interviewing witnesses; making lawful arrests; conducting lawful searches; and making truthful and accurate reports of their official activities.

Court documents and statements made in court during the plea hearing by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith state that on July 27, 2009, Jackson was on duty when he received information from an individual that a woman identified in the court documents only as Jane Doe was in possession of electronics equipment stolen from the retailer Best Buy, and was in a vehicle on the parking lot of the Phillips 66 station at 5728 West Florissant Avenue. Jackson agreed with the individual that he would find Jane Doe, seize the stolen electronics equipment from her vehicle, and split some of the stolen electronics equipment with that individual. Jackson then shared that information with Christian Brezill, who was also on duty and they both drove their police vehicles to the Phillips 66 station to meet Jane Doe. Jackson and Brezill did a computer check on Doe, discovered that she had outstanding minor traffic warrants, arrested her on those traffic warrants, and placed her handcuffed into Brezill’s police vehicle. They searched the trunk of Doe’s vehicle and discovered brand new electronics equipment, in original boxes and in Best Buy store bags, including a Sony speaker system, a Phillips I-Pod docking system, speaker cable, a Wii gaming system, an X-Box gaming system, a Logitech computer speaker system, a Dell Inspiron laptop computer, and a Dynex LCD flat screen television. Jackson and Brezill removed all of the electronics equipment from Doe’s vehicle, and placed the items into the trunk of Brezell’s police vehicle. They then conveyed Jane Doe to the North Patrol Division where she was booked on the outstanding minor traffic warrants. Doe was neither arrested nor charged relative to her possession of the electronics equipment. Jackson and Brezill failed to report to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, either verbally or in writing, their seizure of the electronics equipment from Jane Doe’s vehicle.

After their work shift ended during the early morning hours of July 27, 2009, Jackson and Brezill met at a residential location and split up the seized electronics equipment between themselves. Jackson kept the Sony speaker system, the speaker cable, the X-Box gaming system, and the Dynex LCD flat screen television; he later gave the Sony speaker system and the speaker cable to the individual who had originally provided him the information regarding Jane Doe, and sold the Dynex LCD flat screen television to another individual for cash. Brezill kept the Phillips I-Pod docking system, the Wii gaming system, the Logitech computer speaker system, and the Dell Inspiron laptop computer; he later sold the Phillips I-Pod docking system and the Logitech computer speaker system to an individual for cash.

Unbeknownst to Jackson and Brezill, Jane Doe was cooperating with federal law enforcement, and the electronics equipment seized from her and stolen by the defendants was the property of the United States of America.

“The vast majority of police officers are dedicated men and women who put their own safety on the line everyday to protect their communities,” said Roland Corvington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in St. Louis. “But the few who put their own self interests first taint the credibility of all the others making it that much harder for the honest officers to perform their duties.”

Jackson, 58, St. Louis City, pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft of United States Property before United States District Judge Donald J. Stohr. Sentencing has been set for March 12, 2010.

Co-defendant Christian Brezill, 25, St. Louis City was indicted on the same charge and awaits trial.

Theft of United States Property carries a maximum penalty of 10 years and/or fines up to $250,000.