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Accountability Alerts
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...


MAN ARRESTED FOR EXERCISING HIS FIFTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS
LackLuster Media reported on a welfare check conducted by the Stuttgart Police Department (Arkansas) that escalated into a contentious...


WOMAN SUES OVER DAMAGES TO HOUSE IN MISTAKEN SWAT RAID AND UNLAWFUL SEARCH
In a dramatic turn of events, a SWAT team in Indiana mistakenly raided the wrong house while searching for a murder suspect. The unlawful...


VIRGINIA OFFICERS INDICTED AFTER ASSAULTING 77-YEAR-OLD MAN
Two Virginia sheriff's deputies have been indicted following a traffic stop incident that resulted in the death of 77-year-old Ralph...

OFFICER CRASHES INTO GAY BAR, BAR OWNER ARRESTED
A recent incident has sparked controversy in St. Louis after a police SUV, driven by two city probation officers, crashed into Bar PM, an...
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