Judge Orders L.A. Times to Alter Story About Glendale Cop

A federal judge on Saturday (July 14, 2018) ordered the Los Angeles Times to remove information from an article that described a plea agreement between prosecutors and a Glendale police detective accused of working with the Mexican Mafia, a move the newspaper decried as highly unusual and unconstitutional. The agreement was supposed to have been filed under seal, but it was mistakenly made available on PACER, a public online database for federal court documents.

Kelli Sager, an attorney representing The Times, said the 1st Amendment includes a strong presumption against government actions that prevent someone from speaking or publishing information.

Judge Walter did not explain in his order the legal justification for demanding that The Times withdraw the article.  (The LA Times, July 14, 2018)
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It is extremely concerning when the government orders major newspapers, like the LA Times, to alter the content of their published articles. It does not appear that there was any ruling that the LA Times article contained false or inaccurate information. Rather it appears that the government is censoring the press to conceal the details of a plea bargain that was made available on PACER.

 

Toronto Shooter Identified by Canadian Authorities as Faisal Hussain, 29

Police in Ontario, Canada, have identified the perpetrator of Sunday’s shooting attack in Toronto, in which two people were killed and 13 were injured, as Faisal Hussain. The attack took place in Toronto’s Greektown neighborhood on Sunday night, when a man dressed in black opened fire on the crowd of restaurant goers.

The police would not immediately identify the motive behind the shooting.

Despite relatively restrictive firearms ownership laws in Canada, Toronto has seen 23 gun-related homicides so far this year, compared to 16 in the first half of 2017.
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Lottery Scams

A new report by Better Business Bureau (BBB) says sweepstakes, lottery and prize schemes are using ever-changing methods to hurt victims financially and emotionally. These frauds concentrate on seniors, targeting them by direct mail, cold calling, social media, and even text messages and smartphone pop-ups. BBB warns consumers to be on guard against these serious frauds and their perpetrators.

Among the report’s key findings:

The majority of lottery or sweepstakes scam victims are between 65 and 74 years old. Among that age group, people who recently experienced a serious negative life event, and who expect their income in the near future to remain steady or decline, are even more likely to be victimized.

Sweepstakes/lottery fraud can strike through many channels – phone calls, text messages, pop-ups on a smartphone’s Internet browser, social media, and mailings.

In 2017, 2,820 individuals reported sweepstakes and lottery scams to BBB Scam Tracker. These reports show a median loss of $500, with wire transfer as the most common method of payment.

Jamaica is a major source of “cold calls” to victims who are told they have won money, although similar calls come from Costa Rica.

Some fraudsters contact victims on their phones, using text messages or pop-ups on the phone browser claiming people have won large gift cards or new smartphones. The goal of this type of fraud is to gather information to sell to other scammers, and to get people enrolled in “free trial offers.”

Another major set of fraudulent actors send mailings to victims telling them they have won a large sum of money and need to send a small amount, typically $20, to receive their winnings.

Mail also is used to tell people that they have won and need to call a number to learn more about their winnings. These letters also may include counterfeit checks that will supposedly cover the “fees.”

Read the complete BBB Report here.

True lotteries or sweepstakes don’t ask for money before you claim a prize.
If they want money for taxes, themselves, or a third party, they are crooks.

 

 

Robocall Company Exposes Hundreds of Thousands of Voter Records

Hundreds of thousands of voter records were left exposed on an Amazon S3 bucket, ZDNet reports, this time by Virginia-based robocalling firm Robocent. Among the information that was left accessible were names, home addresses, gender, phone numbers, age, birth years, ethnicity, education and language spoken as well as state-provided or inferred political leanings such as "weak Democrat," "hard Republican" and "swing" voter.

Last year, information on nearly 200 million US citizens was exposed by a political ad-targeting strategist, and a voting machine supplier leaked personal information from over 1.8 million Chicago residents. (Yahoo Finance 18 Jul 2018)
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It's not a matter of if a database of personal information is going to be exposed, it's just a matter of when. Whenever some business or organization asks that you provide them with your personal information, ask yourself whether they really need it and what benefit you get by providing it.

Kent Officer Killed by Fellow Officer After Being Struck by Patrol Car During Chase

It is with heartbreak and sadness that we read of the loss of an officer from the Kent, WA Police Department, killed in the line of duty.

An officer who was deploying spike strips was struck and killed by a patrol car that was pursing a suspect in Kent, WA early Sunday morning (July 22, 2018).

Just before 2 a.m. Sunday, Kent police officers responded to 911 calls of shots fired in the area of Russell Rd. S and W Meeker St. Officers in the area at the time heard the gunshots and noticed a red truck fleeing a parking lot of a Shari's Restaurant. A witness who also saw the red truck indicated the truck may have been involved, so officers followed the vehicle.

"They tried to initiate a stop and the vehicle fled from them and made attempts to elude them," said Kent Police Commander Jarod Kasner.

Kasner says officers chased the vehicle all the way to Kent Des Moines Rd., where officers were deploying spike strips at an intersection in an attempt to stop the truck. An officer who was deploying the spike strips was struck by one of the patrol cars who was pursuing the suspected vehicle.

Medical attempts were made at the scene to help the struck officer, but he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The other officer in the patrol car was involved in a collision immediately after the crash. He was also injured and transported to Harborview Medical Center, where he was listed in satisfactory condition.

The fleeing red truck continued east on Kent Des Moines Road, where it crashed near Washington Ave. One suspect was placed in custody and arrested. Police officers were looking for two other suspects.  (King 5 News, July 22, 2018)
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Your Web Browser's Incognito Mode

I discussed private browsing here in the blog back in January 2018. Consumer Reports (June 19, 2018) published an article the further discusses private browsing ("Incognito Mode").

All of today’s major web browsers—Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari—offer a feature that provides a private browsing window and deletes the browsing history on your computer after you close it. These windows can help reduce the amount of information collected on you by retailers and advertising companies. Private browsing mode does some useful things, but you’re absolutely not anonymous when browsing in this mode.
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Civil Rights Lawsuit Awards $640,000 Against Federal Way Police Department

A federal civil-rights jury has awarded a Federal Way man $640,000 after finding a Federal Way police officer used excessive force when arresting the man, who was a bystander at an accident scene in September 2014.

The jury gave Josiah Hunter $40,000 for the excessive-force claim and tacked on $600,000 in punitive damages, which U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said could be awarded only if the panel found the officer’s conduct “was malicious, oppressive or in reckless disregard of the plaintiff’s rights.” (Seattle Times, July 20, 2018)  (King 5 News Video, July 21, 2018)

Police officers have to deal with many complex and dangerous situations as part of their duties on a daily basis. But this does not and cannot not excuse excessive actions by officers and departments.

Whether it is the unnecessary use of force, unwarranted investigations, or the abuse of authority by department leadership, juries in Washington are awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in judgments against police departments because of their conduct.