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The Latest News About First Amendment Audits and Police Accountability

FAMILY SETTLES FOR $1.9 MILLION AFTER POLICE HOLD CHILDREN AT GUNPOINT

A Black family of five was awarded $1.9 million to settle their lawsuit against the City of Aurora, Colorado, after being wrongfully...

JUDGE DISMISSES ALL CHARGES AGAINST “LONG ISLAND AUDIT” STEMMING FROM NYPD INCIDENT

A New York court has dismissed all charges against well-known First Amendment auditor SeanPaul Reyes, AKA Long Island Audit, for a 2023...

NY CITY COUNCIL ACTS TO INCREASE POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

In a significant political defeat, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer and advocate for strong policing, lost a...

WOMAN WHO POLICE LEFT AT A DUMP AWARDED $3 MILLION

A Chico, California, woman has received $3 million from the city of Oroville for a lawsuit stemming from a 2021 incident that left her...

MICHIGAN CASE HIGHLIGHTS PUBLIC TRUST EROSION DUE TO POLICE DISHONESTY

In Keego Harbor, Michigan, a white police officer, Richard Lindquist, was accused of lying to a Black pedestrian, Brian Chaney, during a...

INCREASED POLICE SPENDING NOT LINKED TO LOWER CRIME RATES

A recent study of twenty Canadian municipalities has found no clear link between increased police spending and lower crime levels....

NYC'S BATTLE FOR POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY: THE HOW MANY STOPS ACT VOTE

The New York City Council is set to vote on Tuesday to override Mayor Eric Adams' veto of a contentious police stops bill, known as the...

STOPPING POLICE LYING DURING INTERROGATIONS TO INCREASE POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

A Virginia legislator is spearheading an effort to establish guidelines for police interrogation practices, aiming to enhance police...

MAN ALLEGES POLICE BRUTALITY, SUES FOR $40 MILLION

A 58-year-old Elyria, Ohio, man has filed a $40 million lawsuit against Lorain County (OH) and the city of Elyria employees, alleging...

FLORIDA BILLS LIMITING POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY MOVE FORWARD

Two significant bills that could reshape the oversight of law enforcement in Florida are advancing through the state legislature. One...

GET OUT OF JAIL FREE: OFFICER PUNISHED FOR FIGHTING POLICE CORRUPTION

A lengthy article in the New York Times describes the plight of Mathew Bianchi, a police officer in Staten Island, New York. Bianchi...

$300K SETTLEMENT TO CANCER PATIENT FOR POLICE BRUTALITY

The City of Long Beach, California, has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by a man who was...

COURT: OFFICIAL’S FREE SPEECH RIGHTS VIOLATED FOR CRITICIZING SHERIFF

An Ohio county commissioner found herself at the center of a pivotal First Amendment case when she was arrested for criticizing the local...

MORE CITIES ENACTING PUBLIC PHOTOGRAPHY POLICIES

As part of a growing trend, the City Council in Zachary, Louisiana, has approved a resolution designating which areas in city buildings...

WRONGFUL DEATH: THE TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES OF A POLICE ENCOUNTER

A California woman whose son was paralyzed and then died as a result of an encounter with police is now suing the Stanislaus County (CA)...

MAN SUES AFTER FLORIDA COP PULLS GUN AND UNLAWFULLY ARRESTS HIM

A Palm Beach, Florida, man is suing a former Palm Beach Police officer for pulling a gun on him and arresting him improperly. This...

POLICE SHOOTING AN INNOCENT BYSTANDER WILL COST DENVER $2.3 MILLION

The Denver City Council is expected to approve a $2.3 million settlement with a Denver man who was blinded in his left eye after being...

OFFICER ARRESTED FOR ABUSING HANDCUFFED MAN

A Waukegan (IL) Police Department officer has been arrested and charged with two counts of felony official misconduct and two counts of...

ALASKA BOROUGH ISSUES POLICY REGARDING PUBLIC PHOTOGRAPHY

In response to a First Amendment Audit incident last year, the Kenai Peninsula Borough (AK) has issued a new policy detailing rules for...

MORE FORMER COFFEE CITY OFFICERS INDICTED – “WANDERING OFFICERS” HIGHLIGHTED

Two former officers of the now-disbanded Coffee City (TX) Police Department have been indicted by a grand jury for alleged misconduct,...

DISORDERLY CONDUCT SENTENCE INCLUDES WASHING POLICE CARS

In Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Mercheleyn Shane Fisher, a 30-year-old Philadelphia woman, has been re-sentenced to wash police vehicles...

POLICE MISCONDUCT: TWO OFFICERS ACCUSED OF EXCESSIVE FORCE HIRED BY NEIGHBORING COUNTY

In a controversial move, the Callaway County Sheriff's Office in Missouri has hired two former Columbia Police Department (CPD) officers...

POLICE CHIEF FIRED, THEN ARRESTED, POLICE DEPARTMENT DISBANDED

The former police chief in Coffee City, TX, who was fired by the City Council in September, has now been arrested on charges of tampering...

POLICE BRUTALITY OFTEN IGNORED IN MISSISSIPPI

An in-depth investigation by the New York Times, Mississippi Today, and the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting found that in...

DOES ENCRYPTING POLICE SCANNERS THREATEN GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY?

Many police departments, driven by concerns over safety and privacy, are moving to encrypt their emergency radio communications. As a...

UNLAWFUL ARREST: MAN SUES AFTER BEING CHARGED FOR FLIPPING OFF COP

Video from February 2018 shows Gregory Bombard, a Vermont resident, being arrested by state trooper, Jay Riggen, for allegedly using...

COPS MISBEHAVING: THROWING SLUSHIES PUTS TWO COPS IN JAIL

Over two dozen videos have been released showcasing former Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers engaging in disturbing...

SEATTLE POLICE CONSISTENTLY VIOLATE LAW REQUIRING LAWYER ACCESS FOR KIDS

An audit conducted by the Seattle Office of Inspector General has revealed that the Seattle Police Department has consistently failed to...

OFFICER SAVED BY SUPERVISOR AFTER MAKING RETALIATORY ARREST

In an incident reported by James Freeman, a routine traffic stop In New Braunfels, Texas, escalated into a controversial arrest. The...

OFFICERS FIGHTING RESULTS IN ARREST WARRANT

The Muscogee Lighthorse Tribal Police has issued an arrest warrant for an Okmulgee County (Oklahoma) jailer for allegedly assaulting a...

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Audit Watch: The Accountability Alert Blog

IN SEARCH OF BALANCE: POLICING, JUSTICE, AND THE PATH FORWARD

Two recent studies shed light on the complex landscape of police violence and the judicial system's response to it, particularly in the...

CROSSING THE LINE: THE TUG-OF-WAR BETWEEN TRESPASSING AND FREE SPEECH

Trespassing laws are crucial for safeguarding personal and property rights. They delineate clear boundaries for where public access ends...

EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY: UNPACKING THE MYTHS FOR FIRST AMENDMENT AUDITORS

One of my favorite moments in a First Amendment audit occurs when someone tells the auditor “You don’t have my permission to record me.”...

Accountability Alert:
Protecting Our Civil Liberties

Accountability Alert champions the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, supporting auditors who hold public officials accountable. Our Police Interaction Simulator offers a realistic, interactive experience to educate users on navigating encounters with law enforcement effectively and lawfully. Our e-bulletin (coming soon) will offer summaries of recent audits with links to the full YouTube videos, engaging subscribers in the defense of our constitutional rights.

parchment paper with the First Amendment on it

Congress shall make no law...

icon with Muslim and Jewish images, representing freedom of religtion

Respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

woman speaking into a megaphone, representing freedom of speech

Or abridging the freedom of speech...

crowd of reporters holding microphones, representing freedom of the press

Or of the press...

crowd of people marching, representing the right to peaceably assemble

Or the right of the people peaceably to assemble...

Martin Luther King speaking, representing the right to petition government to redress grievances

And to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

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