Hawaii's Department of the Attorney General says it will not file criminal charges against the police officer whose K-9 partner died after being left in a patrol car outside a police station, citing insufficient evidence of a crime. Officer Sidra Brown was not placed on leave but was reassigned while the police department conducts its own internal review. In response to the incident, the police department says it will add heat sensors to K-9 patrol cars and use special collars that connect to the handlers' phones to monitor the dogs' health and send alerts if something goes wrong.
New Jersey corrections officer Anthony Nelson has been charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact for assaulting two inmates he supervised on December 1. Nelson has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of his case. The assaults occurred at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel, a state prison that houses and treats repetitive, compulsive sex offenders.
Former Clayton County, Georgia, jailer Jabin Bethea pleaded guilty in federal court to violating a pretrial detainee's civil rights. While transferring detainees between housing units, Bethea argued with a man who cursed at him, then slammed the detainee's head into a wall, threw him on the floor, and ordered him to put his hands behind his back. Surveillance and body-camera footage show the detainee lying on the floor, obeying orders, yet Bethea tased him at least six times. Bethea is scheduled for sentencing in 2026.
Lawton Chiles Middle School in Oviedo, Florida, briefly went into a "Code Red" lockdown after an AI-powered weapon detection system called ZeroEyes flagged what it believed was a man carrying a gun. Human reviewers confirmed the potential threat and alerted the police, sending officers rushing to the school. Authorities quickly determined that the "gun" was in fact a clarinet carried by a band student.
The New York City Council has passed a bill that would require landlords to provide air conditioning or cooling systems in tenants' apartments upon request at no charge. The bill, which still requires the mayor's approval, would also require landlords who control building temperatures to keep apartments cooled to 78 degrees between June 15 and September 15 each year.
A substitute van driver for Pennsylvania's West Shore School District got lost multiple times while taking kids home because he put the right address but the wrong city into his GPS, and heavy highway traffic then forced him to detour onto back roads. The driver called his supervisor twice to say he was lost, and district staff tried to give him directions over the phone, but after 5 p.m., they finally told him to pull over at a local business; families were then told to go pick up their kids.
Steven Keenan resigned after being suspended as director of facilities services for Akron Public Schools. According to a school board investigation, Keenan traded in 11 of the school district's lawn mowers to a vendor without authorization, then bought seven of them back at a discounted "friends and family" price for $5,693. He then listed five of those mowers for sale on Facebook Marketplace, asking $14,700 in all.
In Grand Prairie, Texas, police officers mistakenly went to Thomas Simpson's house while responding to a disturbance call. They say when they knocked on the door, Simpson confronted them with a gun and they shot him in the leg. Simpson says the officers did not announce themselves as police before shooting and he believed he was confronting burglars. Police admitted they were at the wrong house but blamed 911 dispatch for providing the wrong address. Officers also referred Simpson to be prosecuted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
In Annobón, an island province of Equatorial Guinea, residents wrote to the government with concerns about a construction company's use of dynamite, saying the explosions pollute their water and farmlands. The authorities responded by cutting off the island's internet access.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
Chris Bank has fought a four-year legal battle with the city of St. Peters, Missouri, over growing sunflowers in his front yard. City officials first said he broke a rule requiring at least a 50–50 ratio of flowers to grass. Bank disputed the violation, which the city dropped. In 2025, the city changed the ordinance, classifying sunflowers as a crop and limiting them to 10 percent of a front yard. Bank refused to remove his plants, and the case is now headed to trial.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
In England, a Thames Valley police officer visited cancer patient Deborah Anderson's home to demand that she apologize for a social media post or go down to the police station for an interview. The officer presented the ultimatum after someone filed a report saying they found her comments upsetting. Anderson refused, citing her right to speech. The police ultimately dropped the investigation after pushback, but they have repeatedly declined to provide details on the offending comment.
Trevor Walker, a sheriff's deputy in New Mexico, faces charges of embezzlement and fraud after investigators discovered he deposited checks meant for his former employer into his personal account. When Walker joined the Aztec Police Department in September 2022, he received nearly $17,000 as a retention bonus that required him to stay for a full year, but he left a month early in August 2023 and joined the Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Office in October. The city of Aztec sued, and a judge ordered his wages garnished from his new salary to repay the bonus. Due to a clerical error, seven checks totaling nearly $5,300 went to Walker's home instead of Aztec. He signed and cashed the checks despite not being a payee.
Vanessa and Donald Pearce parked their Tesla near a bakery in San Diego, California, and paid for 30 minutes of parking. When Vanessa returned about 20 minutes later to add more time, she found an $85 ticket on the car. The parking enforcement officer insisted the vehicle had been there since early morning, but the Tesla's Sentry Mode camera footage told a different story. It showed the officer chalking the tire at 12:55 p.m. and issuing the ticket immediately afterwards, faking an overtime violation. The couple posted the video on social media, where it quickly went viral. The San Diego Police Department opened an internal investigation, canceled the ticket, and said it may review other citations issued by the officer.
In Portsmouth, England, the local council has ordered residents living in council-owned housing to remove Christmas wreaths and other decorations from outside their front doors. The council's housing service sent letters warning that placing these items in communal areas violates tenancy agreements, as well as health and safety rules. Officials said hallways, doors, and shared spaces must remain clear to reduce fire risks and other hazards, and suggested residents decorate inside their homes or on private balconies instead. If residents do not take them down, staff will remove them and charge a $33 fee to retrieve them. A council spokesman acknowledged the rule is "frustrating" but said it is "designed to protect everyone."
Mary Ann Magdamit, a former U.S. postal worker in Torrance, California, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. From at least 2022 until July 2025, while working as a letter carrier, she stole mail, including 133 credit and debit cards, 16 U.S. Treasury checks, and even a ghost gun, all of which were found during searches of her apartment. Prosecutors say Magdamit activated many of the stolen cards online to make purchases, sold others to coconspirators, and had others cash the checks using fake IDs. She used the money to buy luxury items, including a Rolex watch, and to fund vacations she flaunted on Instagram. She was ordered to pay back $660,200 to the victims and to forfeit her luxury goods.
A study by the Royal College of Surgeons of England found that almost half of National Health Service surgeons perform just one planned inpatient operation per week or fewer. Almost three-quarters of surgeons said a lack of space is an issue, with more than half citing shortages of operating staff and almost half citing a lack of hospital beds. These constraints make it hard to schedule surgeries even when surgeons are ready. This bottleneck is delaying treatments for patients waiting for procedures like hip replacements and hernia repairs. It is also impairing the training of new surgeons.
In London, England, a man returned from vacation to find four parking tickets on his car after Croydon Council painted a disabled parking bay around his legally parked vehicle while he was away. The bay was created with no prior notice to residents, and contractors painted around the car to avoid delays. Even though the contractor left a note asking that no fines be issued, a parking attendant ticketed the vehicle on multiple days. The man, who did not want to be identified, shared CCTV footage of the workers on social media after facing online criticism. The council apologized and said it would cancel the tickets.
Former Florissant, Missouri, police officer Julian Alcala pleaded guilty to 20 felony counts after stealing intimate photos and videos from the phones of women he pulled over during traffic stops. Prosecutors say Alcala allegedly stopped women for minor traffic or vehicle-document checks, took their phones under the pretense of checking insurance or registration, and then searched their photo albums, copying or forwarding nude images and videos to his own device. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than three years in prison.
Former Memphis, Tennessee, police officer Patric J. Ferguson has been sentenced to 38 years in federal prison after admitting to civil-rights violations, kidnapping, using a firearm in a violent crime causing death, conspiracy, and obstruction. While on duty, Ferguson abducted and killed Robert Howard, who was dating a woman Ferguson had previously been involved with. He used a police database to locate Howard, drove his patrol car to the woman's home, kidnapped Howard, and shot him in a parking lot. Ferguson and an accomplice later disposed of the body in a river.
The city council of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, has banned pickleball at Forest Hill Park, the only public park in town with pickleball courts, making it a criminal offense punishable by a $1,000 fine to play there. The ban follows repeated noise complaints from a few nearby residents. City officials considered quieter equipment and other compromises, but ultimately rejected them, saying the park's location was incompatible with pickleball.
West Yorkshire police arrested Jon Richelieu-Booth at his home after someone complained about a LinkedIn photo he posted of himself legally holding a gun while on vacation in Florida. He spent the night in a cell. Police initially cited allegations of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, as well as stalking. Those charges were quickly dropped, but then he was accused of a public order offense related to a different social media post, though police never specified which one. After months of legal trouble, the Crown Prosecution Service dropped that charge too.
The Scottsdale, Arizona, city council has updated its smoking restrictions to include e-cigarettes and vape pens, banning their use in enclosed public spots (such as malls, theaters, bars, and restaurants), in city-owned areas (such as bus stops, playgrounds, pools, and stadiums), and anywhere within 50 feet of public schools. Violators could face fines of up to $300.
British Justice Secretary David Lammy has proposed ending jury trials for most criminal cases, reserving them only for rape, murder, manslaughter, or other "public interest" offenses. Cases that currently go before juries would instead be handled by a new judge-only "bench division." The ministry cites a backlog of over 78,000 cases, and Lammy says judge-only trials would reduce delays for victims and defendants. But many lawyers warn the change would erode a foundational safeguard of the justice system and say the backlog stems from chronic underfunding of the judicial system rather than jury trials.
West Covina, California, police officer Jose Antonio Garcia has been charged with one felony count of misappropriation of public funds, one felony count of grand theft by embezzlement, and two misdemeanor counts of petty theft. Prosecutors say he repeatedly stole cash from motorists during traffic stops.
A Texas grand jury has indicted Uvalde County Judge William Ross Mitchell on a charge of official oppression after he ordered the detention of a UPS driver who angered him while delivering packages to the courthouse. Mitchell became angry when the driver left packages on the first floor rather than carry them to the third floor because the elevator wasn't working. Mitchell instructed a deputy to detain him and had him handcuffed briefly before releasing him. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct has suspended Mitchell without pay pending the resolution of the case.
The British government plans to ban the resale of tickets for live events at prices above their original face value. The new rule would apply to concerts, theater, sports, and similar events, meaning resale platforms and scalpers could no longer sell tickets for profit. The government says the ban will help fans avoid inflated prices, curb ticket touting by scalpers using automated bots, and make tickets more affordable and accessible. Critics argue that capping resale prices will simply push ticket sales onto unregulated black-market channels, reduce legitimate resale options, and prompt platforms or sellers to hike fees in other ways.
The city of Chicago must borrow $283.3 million to resolve a growing backlog of police misconduct lawsuits, according to Mayor Brandon Johnson. The borrowing could cost taxpayers about $52 million in interest over the next five years. This comes even as the city has already spent at least $285.3 million in 2025 on settlements and judgments, more than triple its annual budget for such payouts. Critics note that the city is settling suits against officers while still spending money to defend some of those officers in ongoing lawsuits, raising concerns about accountability even as costs soar.
People with learning disabilities in the United Kingdom are being given "do not resuscitate" (DNR) orders in their medical records without the knowledge or consent of their families, despite National Health Service guidance requiring case-by-case decisions. Families told ITV News that hospitals routinely place DNRs on the records of their disabled relatives simply because of their disability, with no conversation about what the patient or their loved ones would actually want. One woman said her non-verbal sister has had a DNR added to her record between 15 and 20 times without explanation. Another family discovered a DNR only after requesting their sister's medical file following her death. The order cited "learning disability" as a reason not to attempt resuscitation. Health Secretary Wes Streeting called the practice "repugnant and immoral."
Marion County, Kansas, officials have agreed to pay about $3 million and issue a formal apology after law enforcement officers raided the Marion County Record newspaper, the publisher's home, and a city council member's house in August 2023. The raids stemmed from a dispute involving a local restaurant owner, whose driving record the newspaper had obtained while reporting on her liquor license application. A local prosecutor later said there was insufficient evidence to justify the raids. The settlement resolves five federal lawsuits and divides the payout among the publisher, former staff, and the council member.
In Louisville, Kentucky, Cuqita Boyd was charged with DUI after a minor crash in January 2022, despite repeatedly asking for a portable breathalyzer, which the arresting officer did not provide. In a deposition, the officer explained that using breathalyzers "wasn't my thing." Boyd later got a breathalyzer test at the jail, which read 0.0, and a blood draw found no detectable alcohol in her system. Body camera footage shows the officer admitting she did not smell alcohol and that Boyd was not slurring her words, but claiming she was too slow to follow commands. Boyd spent 14 months fighting the charges before they were dismissed. Her family has sued, claiming the prolonged legal ordeal contributed to Boyd's death in May 2025 from high blood pressure complications.
In England, the Hertfordshire Constabulary will pay Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine around $26,000 after wrongly arresting them for complaining about their daughter's school in a private WhatsApp group. Six police officers arrested the couple at their home and detained them for 11 hours on suspicion of harassment and malicious communications. Their "offense" was questioning the school's head teacher recruitment process. The school reported the parents to the police, claiming their messages upset staff. After a five-week investigation, police found insufficient evidence and took no further action.
Many Australians are waiting years to see public medical specialists. In some cases, the wait stretches more than six years for a neurologist or over three and a half years for urgent neurosurgery. Doctors warn these delays are causing "irreversible complications" and even life-threatening conditions. Under the taxpayer-funded Medicare system, patients can see public specialists at little or no cost with a referral from a general practitioner. Yet demand far exceeds capacity. Health authorities insist they are adding more specialists and improving referrals, but shortages persist, especially in the most understaffed specialties.
In Glasgow, Scotland, the owner of the News Plus convenience store says shoplifters have hit his shop "every day," costing him $26,345 in stolen goods. Mohammad Sheikh has called the police more than 100 times in a year, often providing CCTV footage. Despite his constant reports and pleas for help, he claims no one has ever been arrested or charged, leaving him unsure whether he can keep the store open. Police say they are aware of the issues at his shop and have a special task force targeting retail crime in the city, but Sheikh says he feels like nothing is being done to stop the daily thefts plaguing small businesses like his.
Adams County, Colorado, officials will pay $80,000 to settle a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Barry Zatkalik, who was wrongfully arrested while filming a sheriff's deputy from a distance during a February 2024 traffic stop. Zatkalik, a former reserve officer for the Denver Police Department, had pulled over to record Deputy Walter Berlinski, believing the deputy was speeding without lights or sirens. When Berlinski noticed and demanded his ID, Zatkalik refused and asked for a supervisor while continuing to film, which is protected by law. Berlinski handcuffed and arrested him for obstruction, even threatening to Taser him. Bodycam and dashcam footage later revealed other officers telling Berlinski he had no probable cause to arrest Zatkalik. Berlinski himself conceded his case was weak.
In February 2024, Honolulu Police Department (HDP) Maj. Mike Lambert hand-delivered a memo to the assistant chief warning that officers were arresting sober drivers for DUI. In an audit, Lambert found 166 DUI arrests where drivers were later released without charges. This included 11 cases where officers claimed to smell alcohol in the car but not on the driver, which made field sobriety tests unjustified, according to the memo. Lambert urged the department to figure out whether this was bad training or intentional misconduct. Nothing happened. At least 82 more people were arrested and released with 0.00 breath tests in the months after the memo. And when reporters asked the HDP for a copy of the memo, the department claimed it didn't have it.
Livingston Parish, Louisiana, sheriff's deputy Dustin August was fired and arrested after his supervisors discovered he had used a police database to stalk and harass someone. August was charged with stalking, malfeasance in office, and making improper phone calls related to domestic violence.
Residents of Horsham Close in Banbury, England, say their road hasn't been completely resurfaced since it was built back in 1983, and they're fed up with what they call quick remedial works that fix nothing. Oxfordshire County Council's transport chief responded by saying that the national average resurfacing cycle is 103 years, citing limited funds and a "risk-based" approach to repairs. The council promised to inspect Horsham Close later this month but didn't commit to a resurfacing date, saying busier roads must come first.
After 27 years, the Berkeley Math Circle's flagship BMC-Upper program has shut down because the University of California, Berkeley implemented new background check rules requiring campus visitors to be fingerprinted. As part of the process, prints must be sent off to the state government, and the process can take more than a month. Berkeley Math Circle organizers said the new requirement made it impossible to continue operations. Long known for mentoring top high-school students and producing numerous math competition champions, BMC met weekly on campus with volunteer instructors. Organizers said the rule created prohibitive delays and costs for the large number of short-term volunteers their program depends on.
The Maldives has banned anyone born on or after January 1, 2007, from buying, using, or selling tobacco. The health ministry says the ban "applies to all forms of tobacco, and retailers are required to verify age prior to sale." A tobacco control official cited previous action against vaping as a first step. He noted tourists must follow the rules but said he does not expect the law to hurt tourism.
A federal grand jury in Boston indicted former postal fraud inspector Scott Kelley on wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering for allegedly using his position to steal over $330,000 from elderly victims of telemarketing scams. Prosecutors say from 2019 to 2023, Kelley had postal employees send him a total of 1,950 packages that had been flagged as containing cash from scam victims. He then opened the packages and stole the money, which he spent on a heated pool, Caribbean cruises, and sex with escorts during the workday.
Michael Hayes, a police detective in Lakeland, Florida, was arrested for falsely reporting a crime. Hayes said three juveniles threw an object and shattered the rear window of his unmarked agency-issued SUV while he was driving. But deputies later found a picture of his car, with the window damaged, taken 24 hours before the reported incident. Hayes, a 12-year veteran assigned to the property crimes unit, then admitted his child likely broke the window with a baseball.
After five shoplifting incidents at his vintage clothing store in Wales, Rob Davies put up a sign calling the thieves "scumbags." When a member of the public complained, police visited the store and told Davies to take the sign down because it could cause offense.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
Parents in Vancouver, Canada, are not allowed to teach their children how to swim during public swim times. They say lifeguards prevented them from giving "unsanctioned swimming lessons" and must leave instruction to city programs, but spots in those lessons are limited and fill up quickly. Nearby communities, such as North Vancouver, allow parents to work with their kids during public swims.
The city of Orlando painted over a rainbow crosswalk that memorialized the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting. Demonstrators protested its removal by drawing on the crosswalk with colored chalk. Police then arrested several protesters on felony charges of "defacing a traffic device," which typically applies to traffic lights or crosswalk signals. The charges were later dropped; a lawyer for the protesters noted the chalk was water-soluble and did not cause enough damage to warrant a felony.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
The New York City Police Department arrested Trevis Williams after facial recognition technology misidentified him as a suspect in an indecent exposure incident in Manhattan. Even though Williams was 8 inches taller than the suspect the victim described, he was detained for two days. The case was dismissed when attorneys presented the police with cellphone data showing Williams was driving from Connecticut to Brooklyn at the time of the incident.
Authorities in Georgia indicted Cobb County Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor on counts of destroying government records and violating her oath of office. An investigation revealed she illegally kept passport application fees for herself, totaling more than $220,000 in 2021 alone. Taylor allegedly directed an employee to delete or destroy emails and financial records that would implicate her, saying to "Donald Trump this thing."
Illustration: Peter Bagge
Authorities in Nova Scotia fined Jeff Evely $28,872.50 (about $20,600 U.S.) for violating a province-wide ban on entering the woods. The Nova Scotia government enacted the ban to help prevent wildfires.
Former Fresno police officer Rey Medeles has been charged with two counts each of grand theft and preparing false evidence. Officials say he stole more than $60,000 in cash from the department's evidence room. Even as he faces criminal charges, the city is defending him in three separate civil rights lawsuits filed by local business owners, who say he stole from them and illegally arrested them when they complained. Under the California Peace Officer Bill of Rights, the city must defend officers from such suits if it determines an officer's actions are part of the scope of their work.
Nashid Akil, a former Philadelphia police captain, and eight current or former officers have been charged with conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, and receiving stolen property. They are accused of misusing about $392,000 in city anti-violence grant funds tied to Guns Down, Gloves Up—an after-school youth boxing program Akil started. Prosecutors say the program paid Akil and the other officers while they were also on duty with the police department, in some cases during their scheduled working hours, even though city employees are barred from collecting grant money.
A woman in Brampton, Ontario, died in a November 1 car crash, but police did not discover her body until hours later, after the vehicle was towed away. First responders had only found and removed a male driver from a wrecked Honda Civic, but a woman's family later reported her missing, and her location was traced to the crash site. When officers later reexamined the demolished vehicle, they found the woman's remains in the back seat.
In England, the government has banned "buy one get one free" deals and other multi-buy promotions on foods high in fat, salt and sugar, in its latest push to tackle childhood obesity. The rules also include a prohibition on free refills of sugary drinks in restaurants. In addition, the government soon plans to ban ads for such foods on television before 9 p.m. and online.
Prosecutors in Aurora, Colorado, declined to file criminal charges against two firefighters who were recorded in February driving a fire engine at high speed, activating spotlights, and swerving into the oncoming lane, which forced a police vehicle off the road—actions Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley described as "childish and foolish." Though they will face no charges, the driver and lieutenant on the fire engine were demoted by the department.
Enforcement officers in London, England, handed Burcu Yesilyurt a £150 ($197) fine after pouring the last of her coffee into a storm drain near Richmond Station before boarding a bus. The fine was issued under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which forbids disposing of waste in a way that could pollute land or water. Yesilyurt said she wasn't aware the act applied to pouring liquid into a drain and called the penalty "not proportionate." The local council later canceled the fine following a public backlash.
The Caddo Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff's Office fired Danny C. Taylor, a deputy who worked in the Caddo Correctional Center. Officials said Taylor told one inmate to walk into another inmate's cell and beat him up. Security video showed Taylor watching the attack without trying to stop it. Taylor now faces one count of second-degree battery and one count of malfeasance in office.
In Franklin Township, New Jersey, Police Sgt. Kevin Bollaro has been charged with misconduct and tampering with records for his role in the investigation of a double murder-suicide on August 1. Prosecutors say Bollaro ignored multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming, and he instead went to an ATM instead of responding right away. When he did respond, he drove without lights or siren to the scene. He wrote in his report that he was canvassing the area, when he was actually at a pizzeria. The victims, Lauren Semanchik and Tyler Webb, were found dead in her home. Ricardo Santos, a state police lieutenant and Semanchik's ex-boyfriend, was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. If convicted, Bollaro faces up to 10 years in prison.
Louisiana State Police arrested two former Alexandria Police Department officers, Austin Butler and Dylan Tritle, after they were fired for using excessive force in three separate incidents in July 2025. Both were charged with malfeasance in office, while Butler faces a charge of simple battery. In one case, the officers responded to a noise complaint at a hotel and ordered a man to leave the premises, but they got aggressive, blocking his path while he grabbed his belongings. When his stuff accidentally bumped one of the officers, they tackled him, arrested him, and even threw his possessions in the trash. In another incident, the officers told a bar patron to exit; he asked them for a ride, which they declined, and when he approached their patrol car, they tackled and beat him.
Lawrence Smith, a Baltimore City Schools Police officer of 22 years, pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and tax evasion charges. Smith admitted stealing roughly $215,000 in taxpayer funds by logging overtime when he was not actually working. He has not yet been sentenced, but he faces as much as 25 years in prison and must forfeit at least $200,000 to the government and $61,233 to the IRS. But he will still draw his pension, because under current rules, the Baltimore City Employee Retirement System lacks a "bad-boy clause" to strip pensions for misconduct not involving elected officials.
In Pace, Florida, the Social Security Administration mistakenly declared Patsy Rosher dead after her husband died, which led to termination of her Social Security, Medicare and supplemental insurance benefits just as she was diagnosed with aggressive pancreatic cancer. Doctors told Rosher she no longer had coverage, and when she went to a Social Security office, she was told the ongoing government shutdown meant the agency couldn't immediately fix the error.
An investigation by Cedar Rapids' KCRG-TV found that totally sober drivers in Iowa are routinely arrested and charged with operating while intoxicated (OWI), and there's no system to keep track of how often this happens. Over the past two years, more than 2,000 OWI cases were dropped, and in the last year alone, nearly 1,000 breath tests on arrested drivers showed zero alcohol. Defense attorney Bobby Rehkemper says he sees 10 to 20 of these mistakes every year, blaming unreliable field sobriety tests that officers use to justify arrests based on their gut feelings. In one 2023 instance, police arrested Dominic Tangen, strip-searched him, and held him for six hours before charging him with OWI because an officer said he seemed high on a stimulant. More than two months later, Tangen's urine test came back, showing he had been clean at the time.
Los Angeles County's outgoing CEO, Fesia Davenport, received a $2 million payout after Measure G, a 2024 ballot initiative, turned her appointed job into an elected one, damaged her reputation. Davenport claimed the measure's language damaged her reputation by implying she'd failed in her role. She also said she deserved compensation for the retirement benefits she will lose because the measure cuts her time in that post short. The County Board of Supervisors approved the confidential settlement in a closed session, requiring her to drop any legal claims and avoid criticizing the county. Supporters of Measure G called the payout an abuse of taxpayer money and proof that reform was needed.
Sheriff's deputies in Seminole County, Florida, forced their way into the apartment of Victor Gordillo Jr. after a mix-up with local police, who were actually seeking his father. Victor Gordillo Sr., born 23 years earlier, was wanted for stealing $120 worth of frozen shrimp from a supermarket. Body camera footage shows deputies forcing their way into Gordillo's home, tackling him to the floor, and handcuffing him as his wife and children screamed. Gordillo, an Army Reservist of two decades, already had multiple injuries, and officers appeared to injure his leg during the scuffle; he was later taken to the hospital for treatment. The sheriff's office says the deputies were reprimanded and retrained.
