NYPD using counterterrorism tactics on lawful citizens

Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, for the Associated Press, report that undercover NYPD officers attended meetings of liberal political organizations and kept intelligence files on activists who planned protests around the country, according to interviews and documents that show how police have used counterterrorism tactics to monitor even lawful activities.

Elmira Star-Gazette reporter Jason Whong showed that despite having the benefit of the newspaper's archives and knowing where to look and which dates to research, New York's Freedom of Information and open records law couldn't help him -- or any parent -- find much evidence of an accused sexual predator's history of similar crimes and convictions going back 42 years.

Six years ago, the federal government set out to indefinitely detain some of the nation's most dangerous sex offenders, keeping them locked up even after their prison sentences had ended.

But despite years of effort, the government has so far won court approval for detaining just 15 men.

Far more often, men the U.S.Justice Department branded as "sexually dangerous" predators, remained imprisoned here for years without a mandatory court hearing before the government was forced to let them go, a USA TODAY investigation has found. The Justice Department has either lost or dropped its cases against 61 of the 136 men it sought to detain. Some were imprisoned for more than four years without a trial before they were freed.

A six-month Palm Beach Post investigation into unregulated Florida summer camps has revealed that the state's lax laws have allowed convicted child molesters to get jobs in Florida camps, where they went on to molest still more victims.

For every child who was harmed, many more are at risk -- especially in the state's poorest neighborhoods. The Post also found that Florida lawmakers have known of the dangers for 30 years yet have failed to safeguard kids in camps.

"An investigation by the Orlando Sentinel found that police cars in Florida are crashing at the astonishing rate of 20 a day, resulting, over a five-year period, in thousands of injuries and more than 100 deaths. The findings led to a three-part series, “Collision With the Law,” which began Sunday, Feb. 12."

"Rene Stutzman and Scott Powers used Florida crash data to identify more than 37,000 police car crashes from 2006-2010. The data, crash reports, traffic homicide files and interviews helped reveal officers were at least partly at fault a quarter of the time, but rarely faced tickets or prosecutions."

"A three-month investigation by the Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale found almost 800 cops from a dozen agencies driving 90 to 130 mph on Florida’s highways.
The inquiry, using toll records, found that many officers weren't on duty but commuting to and from work in their take-home patrol cars." Following the Sentinel's report, many police agencies have started internal investigations.

"In a multi-part series, The Seattle Times has found that almost 300 sex offenders in the state of Washington are detained indefinitely in a civil-commitment program. The center protects society from these predators, but is has been plagued by runaway legal costs, a lack of financial oversight and layers of secrecy"

A Columbus Dispatch investigation of domestic violence in 2009 found flaws in Ohio laws and policies that created a culture of tolerance. Two years later, more agencies are reporting more abuse and deaths, yet reform legislation remains stalled.

"The call it "piling on": Police officers, looking to pad their paychecks with overtime, add their names to arrest reports and other investigative paperwork, no matter how minor their role. Then, when a case arises in court, they get called to testify - and possibly paid overtime."

The Philadelphia Inquirer has learned that this could have been the case for former Philadelphia Police Lt. Richard Brown. According to Internal Affairs investigators, Brown stretched the truth on paperwork to "rack up nearly $17,000 in court compensation that he wasn't entitled to between 2006 and 2009."