Internet hoaxes are capable of tricking not only your grandma, but also the Los Angeles Police Department. An 8-year-old yarn about terrorists — dressed as UPS workers thanks to uniforms bought on eBay — who could deliver explosives disguised as packages spurred the force to send out an alert to residents. An unidentified state law enforcement agency passed the info to the police department. [More]
police
Economic Downturn Puts Police Horses Out To Pasture
By 2.16.11
Have you seen a police horse lately? The New York Times reports that mounted patrols are on the decline nationwide, victims to budget cuts despite their popularity with the public and ability to put a cuddly, slightly archaic face on policing. “They are a valuable element to policing. The problem is I just couldn’t afford it,” the police director of Newark, N.J. told the Times. [More]
BlueAnt Cares When Bluetooth Fails And Police Caught You
By 1.12.11
The BlueAnt Bluetooth headset that Bixby’s wife normally uses to talk on the phone in the car failed to connect one day…which just happened to be the day that a police officer saw her holding her phone, which was on speaker phone at the time. She received a ticket. Bixby wrote to BlueAnt about the situation, and received a surprise. [More]
NJ Cracks Down On Cops Juicing
By 1.11.11
After a damning Star Ledger investigation exposed how a local doctor was the steroid dealer for “hundreds” of New Jersey cops and firefighters, lawmakers there have put forth a bill to crack down on the practice. The law would add steroids to the list of drugs law enforcement is randomly tested for and personnel would need to get a health checkup before they could be prescribed anabolic steroids and growth hormones. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that the problem is not limited to the Garden State. [More]
Utah Police Chief Placed On Leave After Yelling At Walmart Employees
By 12.29.10
Yelling profanities at store employees is frowned upon by the Perry, Utah police department, so the Chief has found himself with a little extra vacation time this holiday season after he got into an altercation at a Walmart in another Utah town. The Chief was placed on paid administrative leave while police investigate the innocent. [More]
Cop Threatens To Arrest Guy For Refusing To Show Receipt At Best Buy
By 11.29.10
Mark used a gift card to buy a couple DVDs at a Florida Best Buy, then walked out the door without showing his receipt to the employee at the door. For this “crime,” a sheriff’s deputy stopped Mark and threatened to arrest him if he didn’t go back and let an employee check his receipt. [More]
Maryland Judge Says It's OK To Record Traffic Stops
By 9.28.10
A Maryland motorcycle rider who recorded his confrontation with a traffic cop had the right to do so, a county judge ruled. [More]
How To (Maybe) Get Out Of A Traffic Ticket
By 9.25.10
When a cop pulls you over, what you do and say in the next few minutes may well determine whether you get pounded with a ticket for the maximum fee or skate like a celebrity. It’s not so much about being able to talk your way out of a ticket — because let’s face it, the cop has probably decided your fate before he asks for your license — but avoiding digging yourself any deeper. [More]
The Continent's Most Notorious Speed Traps
By 9.3.10
Some cities have garnered a reputation for employing guerrilla methods to snag speeding motorists. Speed traps help keep drivers honest. But more importantly for the municipalities, they keep the money flowing. [More]
Cab Driver Locks Doors, Holds Passenger Hostage For Trying To Pay With Credit Card
By 8.30.10
There’s a driver for Pittsburgh Yellow Cab Company who doesn’t like it when you try to pay with a Discover card, even though the company’s website says they accept it. When Adam tried this, the driver accused him of trying to avoid paying, then locked the doors and initially refused to let him go to an ATM 15 feet away unless he left all of his belongings behind. While Adam called the cab company to complain (he was routed to a voicemail inbox), the driver called the police. Twice. [More]
Cities Are So Broke They're Outsourcing The Police
By 7.19.10
The new trend in government cost-cutting involves disbanding the police department, says the WSJ. The paper has an article about Maywood, a tiny city southeast of Los Angeles. The city lost its insurance after its carrier decided to cancel its policy “because of the $21 million in legal expenses and judgments against the city stemming from the conduct of its police department.” This means that Maywood can’t employ anyone. [More]
Angry Driver Buys Police Department's Website, Launches Anti-Speed Camera Site
By 6.9.10
Brian McCrary in Bluff City, TN received a $90 speeding ticket in the mail earlier this year, thanks to an American Traffic Solutions speed camera the police department turned on in January. McCrary says when he looked up information to call the police department with questions about the ticket, he discovered something else: that their website’s domain registration was about to expire. So he bought it. [More]
Coffee Shop Owner Throws Cop Out Of Joint Because He's A Cop
By 6.9.10
Many small businesses like to have police officers as clientele because their presence is a deterrent to would-be criminals, but a Portland, Ore. coffee shop owner threw a cop out of his shop because he feared the officer would start a game of Taser tag. [More]
Ohio Cops Can Guesstimate Your Speed To Ticket You
By 6.3.10
Ohio cops have been granted superpowers by the state’s supreme court, which has ruled that officers needn’t bother with such needless trivialities as radar guns. A visual estimate of speed is all that’s necessary to give a driver a ticket, the court decided in a 5-1 vote. [More]
Police Officer Prepares Orders At McDonald's
By 5.10.10
Wherever Craig lives, that’s where the most Hamburgler-proof McDonald’s in the country is located. He says he was there the other night and a police officer got up from the seating area, went around behind the counter, and prepared his order for him. When Craig asked why the officer was also a McDonald’s employee, the officer followed him outside and asked why he cared. That officer probably thought you were the Hamburglar, Craig. [More]
CVS Employee Strangles Shoplifter
By 5.10.10
A CVS employee in Chicago chased a 35-year-old shoplifter out of his store and held him in a chokehold for “several minutes” on Saturday morning until police came. The thief–who had stolen tubes of toothpaste–was taken to a hospital and initially described as in “fair-to-serious” condition, but then declared dead about 45 minutes later, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The death is being ruled an accidental homicide, and the police aren’t going to press charges against the employee. [More]
Wendy's Employee And Customer Reenact Jerry Springer Episode At Drive-Through
By 5.4.10
Wendy’s employee Lorissa Mendez and Wendy’s customer Ashley A. Roberts have been feuding over the father of Mendez’s child. Ashley and her two friends pulled up at the drive through at 1 a.m. Sunday morning while Lorissa was working, and according to Lorissa they started “talking shit” about her. Lorissa responded by throwing a cup of fruit punch in Ashley’s face. The police were called once Ashley tried to climb through the drive-through window to get at Lorissa. Meanwhile someone at the counter was probably wondering why his Frosty order was taking so long to fill. [More]
Pretending To Sell Kids On Craigslist Not Considered Funny By Police
By 4.25.10
The New York State Police do not think it is funny when you place a listing for your two sons on Craigslist. [More]
