An estimated 850 police departments in the United States mandate video recordings of interrogations. They do this for a variety of reasons, but mainly to ensure accountability on both sides of the questioning table. Still, the Philadelphia Police Department doesn’t. They maintain they simply don’t have the money for it, ignoring the possibility that such documentation could actually save costs in the long run. [Read more…]
A Moment in PA Police Brutality History
If you’ve never heard of John Hirko, Jr., it’s time you did. He was a young man from Bethlehem. He had no criminal record. He was killed by the Bethlehem SWAT team.
According to a running series from Radley Balko at the Huffington Post, this is only one of countless raids-gone-wrong over the past few decades—raids that demonstrate the growing militaristic police force and the dangers we all face when confronted by them. [Read more…]
Philly Drug Charges Dropped, Many Questions Raised
District Attorney Seth Williams has dropped at least 11 drug cases in recent weeks. The reason? He says that six narcotics officers that worked to build these cases have lost credibility and would not be called as witnesses, making the cases against the defendants too weak to try. But what the officers did to lose this credibility is still in question. [Read more…]