Police

Public Defender, Judge Say Cops Are Avoiding Questions in Depositions; Department Responds

​Last week, Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein sent a letter (thanks, JAABlog) to Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler condemning "offensive, oppressive and highly questionable police tactics in predominately black neighborhoods within your city."That includes arrests for what Finkelstein cal ... More >>

Gene Stimmler's Alleged Penis Comments Led to Police Finding a Dead Cougar in His Freezer

Palm Beach County Sheriff's OfficeGene Stimmler​When the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office received a report about a landlord-tenant dispute that involved 73-year-old Gene Stimmler allegedly talking about his penis to a 15-year-old boy, a sheriff's deputy had some questions for him.Then the deput ... More >>

Former Accused Cop in Heavily Contested Judge Race

John Fry is facing John Howes in a runoff for a Broward County Judge right now, but ten years ago, that must have seemed like an impossibility. He had lost his job as a Margate cop and was facing criminal charges for, as the Miami Herald put it at the time, participating in an arrest ... More >>

Arizona Sheriff's Reign of Terror Becomes State Policy

Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Reign of Terror Becomes State Policy, Thanks to State Sen. Russell Pearce and Gov. Jan Brewer

Van Strikes 13-Year-old, Flees the Scene

Around 3:55 this afternoon, we got another hit-and-run case in Fort Lauderdale. Sounds like this case will be easier to break than the others, thanks to a motorist who chased down the suspect. From the Fort Lauderdale Police news release:Investigators have learned that a 2001 Dodge van was traveling ... More >>

Busted Boycott? WPB Police Officers Will Be at SunFest

We're hearing reports now that the controversy involving West Palm Beach police officers and SunFest has been resolved... kind of.The Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association claims the city treats it unfairly and divulged plans last week that involved West Palm Beach police officers' boycott ... More >>

Police Brutality Rarely Ends With Punishment for the Cops

NEW UPDATE: Child Abduction in Boynton Beach Was Just Spat With Dad

Boynton Beach Police Department​The Boynton Police have released news about the girl "abducted" in Boynton today: It was her dad. And he wasn't kidnapping her, just being extra persuasive about getting her back in his car. The father had just dropped his 5-year-old son at the bus stop when his dau ... More >>

Diop Kamau's BSO Police Abuse Investigation: Shall We Revisit?

Kamau: Keeping an eye on BSO​Got police abuse? Diop Kamau is your go-to guy. Kamau is CEO of policeabuse.com and former head of the Police Complaint Center in Washington, DC. Kamau, who got his training as a California police detective, now runs an office in Tallahassee devoted to investigating co ... More >>

Hollywood Cops Lose Appeal; Five Fired After Alleged Cover-Up in Traffic Accident

The four Hollywood Police officers who had a role in a fabricating a police report to conceal an officer's role in a traffic collision have lost their appeal and have been terminated from the department.The incident stems from a collision that occurred on the night of February 17, when officer Joel ... More >>

Boynton Beach Fires Cop After Domestic Abuse Case, Despite Acquittal

Photo: Palm Beach Sheriff's OfficeThomas Jones​Thomas Jones, an officer with the Boynton Beach Police Department, has been fired following his arrest for domestic battery in January of last year. Jones was acquitted in a jury trial in April, but in a memo released today, Boynton Beach City Manager ... More >>

Car Alarm Leads Lauderdale Burglary to Escalate to Sexual Assault

Javerros Wright​The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is reporting that a man broke into a woman's car early this morning. After the woman came outside to investigate the alarm, the thief sexually assaulted her, say police.Javerros Wright, 22, was arrested in connection with the incident, which oc ... More >>

Delray Beach Cop Charged With Domestic Abuse, Battery

Roldry Philia, a 34-year-old Delray Beach Police officer, was arrested late last night on charges of beating his wife. The probable cause affidavit released by the Boynton Beach Police Department does not mention the name of Philia's wife, just that she's 24 years old. She told police that she'd bee ... More >>

BSO Officer Shot in Head Plans to Sue

Hernandez, after the shooting​A BSO deputy who was shot in the head in 2007 by a convicted felon on parole has notified the state of his intent to file suit against the Department of Corrections: The felon who shot 29-year-old officer Maury Hernandez during a routine traffic stop owned a handgun t ... More >>

Several Dead in Miramar

Several people have been found dead at a home on Encino Street in Miramar, along with at least one survivor who is at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood. Still no word on a suspect, a motive, nor the cause of death or even an exact number of those killed. We're trying to reach the Miramar Polic ... More >>

North Florida Murder, South Florida Evidence, Leads to North Pennsylvania Arrest

A multijurisdictional murder case started, it appears, when Broward sheriff's deputies responded to a Crimestoppers tip that a red Mazda truck left at the Greyhound bus stop in Fort Lauderdale was involved in a murder. The truck was registered to 76-year-old Tommy Lee Kellum of Lake City, Florida. A ... More >>

Vigilante Dumper Hits Hollywood Police HQs

Photo courtesy Stephan ClevelandThe car parts decorating a Hollywood man's front lawn.For people like Stephan Cleveland who are trying sublet a condo, the weekend is prime time for prospective tenants to come calling. Which is why he was mighty peeved when on Friday afternoon, he discovered a pile o ... More >>

Plantation's Police Chief Breaks Records Laws to Cover for Cops on Steroids

According to No New Evidence, Deceased Pathological Liar Killed Adam Walsh

Well, it sure is nice to clear this case from the file room! Ottis Toole killed Adam Walsh, says Hollywood Police Chief Chad Wagner, citing approximately zero nuggets of new information.This is either some great detective work... or it's a police chief eager to close an infamous, mangled, 27-y ... More >>

We Rent the Night

New York cop drama holds the audience hostage

Gun-Toting Prosecutor Let Off Easy

Cops and Gypsies

Friendly law enforcement officers become the weapons of rival destruction in the gypsy tribal wars

Negligent Notification in the Pines

Dred Scott!

Spring Bling

Miami Developer Nabbed For Crotch Grab

Mayor's Boy

You know Mara and Stacey. Now, meet Michael, the Giulianti family's tough guy.

Remembering David Royce Truman

Mr. Snyder's Opus

A police beating can't hold back the Hallandale band director and his irrepressible charges.

Tender Loving Justice

Give the Kid — er, My Kid — a Break

Bad Lieutenant

In Hollywood, being a good cop doesn't seem to matter.

Letters for April 6-12, 2006

Muscles, Murder, and a Messiah

Ex-cop and bodybuilder Gil Fernandez Jr. murdered three men in the Everglades. But he only admits to killing the man he was.

2005's Egregious Eleven

The scam artists/malfeasants come at you in waves in South Florida

Letters for October 20-26, 2005

Tailpipe

PBA Putsch

Sex Talk

The Etiquette of Whoring

Tale of the Tape

A video with cops' knuckle sandwiches excised might send an ex-con to prison

Below the Bar

This women's rights champion is still a tough broad fighting the system. But now it's to dodge debts.

Charlie Numbers

Forget the Mob ties, says ex-cop Clay, and send me to City Hall

One-Way Street

Popped for DUI? Smile. You've just fallen victim to the DHSMV's kangaroo court.

Missing Leg

The cops tagged amputee Duane Brown as one of "America's Most Wanted," but now he's fighting back

Neighborhood on the Cusp

Residents of South Middle River fear that budget cuts might send them spiraling back to crime and crack

You Can't Handle the Truth!

Law enforcement's attempts to muzzle the media help no one

Wally's War

Walter Philbrick's Hollywood lair is the one-stop shop for all your post-9/11 needs - and home to some truly odd characters

Undercurrents

Censorship becomes a Seminole rule on the reservation

Best Name For A New Business

Crime Scene Clean-Up

Lights! Camera! Conflict of Interest!

Sally Hester has videotaped Hollywood cops working for SunCruz, the same casino company her city is suing

These Are the Times That Try Victims' Souls

Take a number and wait. That, in essence, is what the Broward County courts are telling crime victims even those who get shot at.

Shades of Macho

In Margate, fashion-conscious cops are complaining about a sunglass crackdown that cramps their style