KOB4: NYC to give greater access to police disciplinary records. “In his latest push for police reform, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that the city is launching an online database that will let New Yorkers track disciplinary cases against police officers accused of excessive force and other violations and view their administrative records.”
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Vice: Police Tactics Are Putting Protesters at Higher COVID Transmission Risk
Vice: Police Tactics Are Putting Protesters at Higher COVID Transmission Risk. “If police officers aren’t wearing PPE, they could risk transmitting COVID-19 to members of the general public. There have been dozens of confirmed cases of coronavirus among police precincts in Los Angeles, Chicago, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., and the NYPD has reportedly lost at least 43 of its members to COVID-19, with thousands of officers infected. Numerous reports indicate law enforcement officials across the country are not wearing masks at protests against police brutality after Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed by a Minneapolis patrolman on May 25, and that routine negligence could expose members of the public.”
Mercer Island Reporter: Mercer Island teen, who went viral for his COVID-19 dashboard, launches new website
Mercer Island Reporter: Mercer Island teen, who went viral for his COVID-19 dashboard, launches new website . “The site, which [Avi] Schiffmann announced June 2 on Twitter, aggregates and continually updates resources and information relevant to the recent wave of police-brutality protests happening nationally in response to the police killing of George Floyd and other black Americans.”
Vice: Police Violence at Protests Is Undeniable. All the Videos Are Right Here
Vice: Police Violence at Protests Is Undeniable. All the Videos Are Right Here. “Filming police brutality is always dangerous. But during these protests, the sheer volume of it that has been caught on camera and circulated online speaks to the fact that Americans are fed up and ready to press record, whatever the risk. Lawyer T. Greg Doucette and mathematician Jason Miller are working on compiling these clips and images of violence in a public Google Sheet, titled ‘GeorgeFloyd Protest – police brutality videos on Twitter.'”
Business Insider: Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley propose creating a national database of cops with a record of misconduct
Business Insider: Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley propose creating a national database of cops with a record of misconduct. “The National Police Misconduct Database and Transparency in Hiring Act, introduced by Merkley with support from Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, calls for creating a publicly searchable repository of law enforcement officers who engaged in misconduct. That includes the inappropriate use of force or discrimination.”
Complex: Cops to Reportedly Crack Down on Large House Parties Using Social Media
Complex: Cops to Reportedly Crack Down on Large House Parties Using Social Media. “According to TMZ, police departments in major cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City are reportedly planning on cracking down on large social gatherings that are in direct violation of the social distancing requests that are currently in place. And in an effort to try and curb any large functions, cops are reportedly planning on keeping an eye on social media and live streams as a way of tracking whether or not people are breaking the rules.”
Exclusive POLICE Survey: Officers Speak Out About Coronavirus (POLICE)
POLICE: Exclusive POLICE Survey: Officers Speak Out About Coronavirus. “An exclusive POLICE survey of law enforcement officers working during the coronavirus crisis paints a picture of the nation’s police as not always properly equipped to protect themselves from the disease, confused by their commanders’ and political leaders’ rules of engagement, and praying the conditions they now face are not the new normal.”
New Indian Express: Police meet Google officials on rising cyber frauds in Hyderabad
New Indian Express: Police meet Google officials on rising cyber frauds in Hyderabad. “Owing to an increase in cyber frauds through Google-based services such as customer care frauds on Google search, frauds through Google View Form, Google Pay and Google Ad services, Cyberabad police held a meeting with Google representatives. The cops discussed issues faced by investigating officers and vulnerabilities in Google services. They also discussed remedial steps taken by Google so far and further steps to be taken.”
Officer: Vermont City Plagued by Social Media Scandal Appoints 3 Police Chiefs in a Week
Officer: Vermont City Plagued by Social Media Scandal Appoints 3 Police Chiefs in a Week . I don’t usually post random municipal stuff like this but this is wild. “The state’s largest city, whose police department keeps getting mired in social media scandals, is appointing its third chief in a week as two have been forced to resign when underground Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts surfaced.”
Phys .org: Here’s what police know about digital evidence
Phys .org: Here’s what police know about digital evidence. “In today’s criminal justice system, a Play Station and iPhone are just as important pieces of evidence as eyewitness accounts. Yet, there isn’t a strong understanding as to how police officers identify digital evidence—everything from a laptop to a smart television—in the field.”
The Nation: The Hong Kongers Building a Case Against the Police
The Nation: The Hong Kongers Building a Case Against the Police . “Those on Hong Kong social media—especially on Twitter and some channels on Telegram, the secure messaging app preferred by the protesters—have made a concerted effort to document and publicize police brutality. #HongKongPoliceBrutality and #HongKongPoliceTerrorism are just two of the hashtags Hong Kongers use on Twitter as they recirculate videos and graphics contextualizing the violence. These netizen-protesters see themselves as being on the front lines of the information war over Hong Kong, coordinating a PR campaign to raise awareness—and get the international attention that they see as crucial to their movement’s success.” This was a great story, but The Nation had an pop-in ad for its mailing list that was really intrusive. I could only get rid of it by reloading the page.
My Champlain Valley: Public database of racial info from Vermont traffic stops launched
My Champlain Valley: Public database of racial info from Vermont traffic stops launched. “Five years after Vermont law enforcement officers first became required to document the race of all drivers they pull over in traffic stops, that information has proven to be difficult to come by. However, a Vermont racial justice group has just made the data significantly easier to find.”
BuzzFeed News: She Stole Something While Struggling With Heroin Addiction. Cops Turned Her Into A Facebook Meme.
BuzzFeed News: She Stole Something While Struggling With Heroin Addiction. Cops Turned Her Into A Facebook Meme.. “Wanted posters, the distracted boyfriend meme, #ThugThursday. Police departments have discovered how Facebook makes negative or extreme content go viral. Experts say it ruins people’s trust in cops.”
Motherboard: How Facebook Bought a Police Force
Motherboard: How Facebook Bought a Police Force. “The Bay Area has long been a sandbox for technology giants who are no longer merely occupying communities, but building and reshaping them. In Menlo Park, an affluent, mostly white city of 35,000, Facebook at one point paid workers not to live in lower-income neighborhoods near the company’s headquarters. And now, there’s a police unit that is funded by Facebook to patrol the area surrounding its campus. The bill comes in at over $2 million annually—big money in a small city.”
Tulane University: Grant Supports Creation of Comprehensive Database of Fatal Police Shootings
Tulane University: Grant Supports Creation of Comprehensive Database of Fatal Police Shootings. “‘Before we make new public policy, it’s important to know how things are currently operating,’ explains Patrick Rafail, an associate professor in the School of Liberal Arts Department of Sociology. Much of Rafail’s research has centered on policing protest, the institution of policing, and social control. Earlier this summer, Rafail was awarded a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation to create a comprehensive database of fatal police shootings in the U.S.”
