CHICAGO - It's not unusual or illegal for police officers to flip on a camera as they get out of their squad car to talk to a driver they've pulled over. But in Illinois, a civilian trying to make an audio recording of police in action is breaking the law. "It's an unfair and destructive double standard," said Adam Schwartz, a ...

NEWARK — Newark police detective Natombe Simmonds was in such great shape that even the criminals he arrested had to be impressed. Fellow detective Jermaine Marbury was with Simmonds in 2009, when their four-man squad was called to Muhammad Ali Boulevard to track down a suspected gunman. The suspect ran when he saw the officers, said Marbury, who figured the gunman ...

MID-HUDSON, NY – Ulster County Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum and Orange County Sheriff Carl DuBois remind drivers that a new state law designed to protect law enforcement, fire personnel and emergency workers takes effect on January 1, 2011. The law requires motorists to move over or slow down when approaching a parked authorized emergency vehicle with emergency lights flashing. The Ambrose-Searles “Move ...

A police advocacy group has criticized an appeals court judgment last week overturning a law that prevented violent felons from owning body armor, saying the ruling will put officers and the public in danger. The decade-old ban was enacted after the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, a confrontation between police and two heavily armored bank robbers that injured officers and civilians. The ...

NEW YORK - As we celebrate the 235th birthday of the Marine Corps today, on the eve of Veterans Day, it is fascinating to explore why the smallest branch of the armed forces holds such a big place in American society. To start, Marines historically have taken disproportionate casualties, a trend that has continued during the global war on terror. The ...

Rifle scopes bearing references to the New Testament no longer will be issued to American troops, and scopes already in service will have the references removed. Military optics manufacturer Trijicon Inc., of Wixom, Mich., apparently concerned that a Pentagon review of the situation could lead to a loss or interruption of its multi-million dollar contract for the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, ...

MILBRAE, CA - The Millbrae Police Department's only canine handler is suing the city in federal court on allegations she hasn't been paid for the time she spends taking care of the dog while off duty. Officer Rebecca Rosenblatt alleges that federal labor law obliges Millbrae to compensate her for the time -- at least 3 ½ hours per week -- ...

BOSTON - A Massachusetts State Police trooper and Army war hero was arrested after a chaotic scene unfolded early yesterday morning when he allegedly drove drunk and crashed his car on his Dorchester street, pointed a gun at an off-duty Boston police officer, and then ran into his house and fired his gun into a ceiling. He came outside and was ...

NEW YORK – The homeless man lay face down, unmoving, on the sidewalk outside an apartment building, blood from knife wounds pooling underneath his body. One person passed by in the early morning. Then another, and another. Video footage from a surveillance camera shows at least seven people going by, some turning their heads to look, others stopping to gawk. One ...

HICKORY, N.C. -- Hickory Police Department Investigator Robert Falowski was convicted Thursday of driving while impaired. "I believe police officers are held to a higher standard than other people," said District Court Judge Deborah Brown of Iredell County during the sentencing. "You are expected not to go home after an accident and have a beer to claim you got drunk after ...

CAMDEN — If you get into a car accident in Camden, the city’s chief of police has this advice: Don’t bother calling the cops unless there are injuries or blocked traffic. Likewise, don’t call about vandalism. Or minor thefts. With the city’s police force cut almost in half by layoffs, Chief Scott Thomson said his department no longer has the manpower ...

Gov. Pat Quinn has suspended a program that allowed hundreds of inmates to be released early by earning credit for good behavior. Quinn said Sunday that his office will review the Illinois Department of Corrections' "meritorious good time" release program, which came under fire after an analysis showed some inmates with past convictions for drunken driving, battery and weapons violations spent ...

SAN FRANCISCO - Fire and police teams say city policy and budget cuts are to blame for emergency teams watching from shore while a 52-year-old man apparently took his own life in the Bay Area surf near San Francisco on Memorial Day. The San Jose Mercury News says Alameda police and firefighters responded quickly to a 911 call about an attempted ...

YUBA CITY, Calif.—The son of a grandmother fatally shot by Yuba City police says his mother was likely startled when a census worker and officers showed up after dusk. Police said they were called at 9:04 p.m. Thursday after a census worker reported a man with a gun answered the door of a Yuba City home. The census worker reported residents ...

Streamlining the upper management of the Los Angeles Police Department, Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday he plans to take 130 officers off desk duty and return them to the streets. "This will be the first wave of officers as we move forward," Beck said, outlining the organizational changes he is making during his first months as chief. "This will be extremely ...

OLATHE, KS - There is no doubt about it — people can legally give police officers the finger and tell them “f...you.” It isn’t polite, but the Olathe Police Department found out recently that responding with a ticket can be costly. In the latest in a long line of such cases nationwide, Olathe last week agreed that its insurance company would ...

DETROIT - A former Detroit police officer -- who was acquitted in 2004 of federal civil rights violations -- shot and killed a man on Detroit's east side Wednesday morning during a robbery near his home, police said. Matthew Zani was questioned by investigators about the shooting, his lawyer Frank Eaman said Wednesday. The incident, which happened about 1:10 a.m. near ...

CARY, NC - Traffic was thick but fluid Friday evening when Jessica Elliott saw a Cary motorcycle police officer accelerate toward the Morrisville-Carpenter Road and N.C. 55 intersection. From three cars back, Elliott in her GMC pickup saw his life flash before her eyes in a blink. As Officer Chad Penland sped through the intersection with sirens and lights blaring, a ...

PARAMUS, NJ - Are you ready for this? From her hospital bed, Paramus Police Officer Rachel Morgan sent a message to everyone praying for her recovery -- and thanked her backup, Officer Ryan Hayo: “I may not have survived had u not gotten there so fast,” she wrote. “Not much time to [c]hat,” Morgan posted on the “Thoughts & Prayers for ...

WAUWATOSA, WI - A 79-year-old man had his tongue bitten off by his wife after he tried to give her a goodnight kiss. Victim Willard Lueders was able to mumble to emergency dispatchers that he needed an ambulance at his home in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. When police arrived at the house his wife Karen, 57, threw coffee at the officers. They were ...