Worst of the Month — January 2013
We are starting a new feature here on the web site. We’re basically going to highlight what we think was the worst police misconduct story each month. We invite feedback from our readers–whether by...
View ArticleWorst of the Month – February 2013
This month it is the story from California where totally innocent people were shot by police during the manhunt for Christopher Dorner. There is no greater responsibility for a police officer than...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — March 2013
This is a bit tardy because of recent travels, but for March it is the story about former Police Chief Bruce Barlow from Mendenhall, Mississippi:The indictment said Barlow instructed “his officers to...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — April 2013
This month we have two particularly egregious cases in which police officers have been accused of crimes against victims. That is, these are instances in which people called the police for help, but...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — May 2013
For May, the worst story was the David Sal Silva case.From the New York Times:LOS ANGELES — When Maria Melendez emerged from Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, Calif., just before midnight last...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — June 2013
For June it was the woman who found herself arrested for simply asking to see the warrant the police claimed to have for her son.Turns out the police did not have any warrant at all. A false arrest...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — July 2013
For July it was the Anthony Mitchell Case: LAS VEGAS (CN) – Henderson police arrested a family for refusing to let officers use their homes as lookouts for a domestic violence investigation of their...
View ArticleWorst of the Month – August 2013
For August, it was the home invasion by the Dekalb County officers. There were probably worse consequences in some of the other August reports, but the DeKalb case didn’t result from a mere momentary...
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Worst of the Month – September 2013
So for September it was the case of Christina West. Not because it was particularly unique, but because it puts such a visceral image to the problem of police brutality. In this case, violence was...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — October 2013
So for October it was Atlantic City Police Officer Sterling Wheaton. Recall that David Castellani had exchanged words with police outside a casino. Those officers took Castellani to the ground....
View ArticleWorst of the Month — November 2013
For November, it had to be the repeated, forced, anal rape-search of young men—in two separate occurrences—in New Mexico. The first victim, David Eckert, was pulled over and detained for not making a...
View ArticleLooking Back at 2013
The Huffington Post has a post on the worst police misconduct incidents of 2013. It is good to see more web sites and organizations paying more attention to all this. We’ll be back to work next week....
View ArticleWorst of the Month — December 2013
The worst misconduct incident for December was the case of Eric Crinnian, a Kansas City man who was threatened by police for refusing them warrantless entry into his home. When Crinnian, a lawyer,...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — January 2014
The worst police misconduct incident for January was the case of a Boiling Springs Lake, NC officer who callously shot a 90-pound, mentally-ill teenager while two other officers held the teen down....
View ArticleWorst of the Month — February 2014
So for February, it was the case from Towson, Maryland, where the local police seem to think they can suspend the First Amendment. A young man was recording a late night altercation involving arrests...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — March 2014
So for March it was the case of the soon-to-be-former Philadelphia police officer, Kevin Corcoran. Mr. Corcoran was driving the wrong way down a one-way street near a group of individuals when one...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — April 2014
The worst misconduct for the month of April is the story of the five Chicago police officers who each took the witness stand to testify about how evidence was obtained in connection with a drug case....
View ArticleWorst of the Month — May 2014
Our choice for May was not difficult–the Georgia police officers who threw a flashbang grenade into an infant’s crib after ramming the door open to look for a drug dealer. The officers were executing...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — June 2014
Earning worst of the month for June is police officer Ronald Harris. Recall that he attempted to rob a woman at Memphis International Airport. But this was an extraordinary theft. Harris was trying...
View ArticleWorst of the Month — July 2014
The worst police misconduct of July was the case of Eric Garner, who was killed by New York City police officers using a banned chokehold maneuver. A cell phone video of the incident shows Garner (who...
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