Ex-Phoenix Cop’s Misconduct Hangs Over Jacob Harris Case
Jacob Harris’s father is heading to appeals court on Wednesday. Federal judges will decide the fate of his wrongful death suit against the city of Phoenix.
Meg O'Connor Sep 13, 2023
More in Policing
Cop City Protesters Hit With RICO Charges in Latest Act of Political Repression
Organizers with the movement say the charges are meant to “send the chilling message that any dissent to Cop City will be punished with the full power and violence of the government.”
Meg O'Connor Sep 05, 2023
Los Angeles Commits Another $1 Billion to LAPD Despite Falling Violent Crime
Police say they need pay raises to help with hiring and retention. But crime has been falling in LA, even as the department reports having its lowest number of officers in decades.
Meg O'Connor Aug 23, 2023
‘They Killed Freddie Gray’: New Book Reveals Dark, Hidden Truth About Gray’s Death
In her new book, “They Killed Freddie Gray”, Justine Barron reveals much of what the public has believed about Gray’s death is incorrect.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Aug 23, 2023
Atlanta Voters Want to Decide the Future of Cop City. Will Their Leaders Let Them?
Organizers say they’ve collected thousands of signatures for a referendum to put Cop City on the November ballot. But local officials seem intent on making sure it doesn’t reach a vote.
Aja Arnold Jul 27, 2023
D.C. Violates ADA By Sending Police to Mental Health Crises: ACLU
A new lawsuit alleges that the city is discriminating against people with mental health disabilities by continuing to send armed officers to mental health calls.
Meg O'Connor Jul 06, 2023
LASD Says It Wants to Keep Hitting People in the Head
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has taken legal action against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to stop deputies from hitting incarcerated people in the head so often. Yesterday, LASD said it should not be forced to change.
Meg O'Connor Jun 27, 2023
Cops and Republicans Are Criminalizing Pregnant People Without Roe
Lawmakers in seven states proposed bills to make abortion murder punishable by death. Cops arrested three women for their pregnancy outcomes.
Meg O'Connor Jun 21, 2023
Phoenix Is Clearing Its Largest Homeless Encampment. The ACLU Says It’s Breaking the Law.
As Phoenix begins to displace around 700 people from an encampment near downtown, the ACLU of Arizona is asking a judge to find the city in contempt of a court order prohibiting it from violating the rights of the unhoused.
Meg O'Connor May 18, 2023
How California Cops Exploit Legal Gray Areas to Continue Their War on Cannabis
Years after legalization, the state’s growers say police are taking a “seize first, ask questions later” mentality toward marijuana enforcement, sometimes with heavily militarized operations that allegedly violate their rights.
Kate Mishkin Apr 20, 2023
Indiana Jail Let Man With Schizophrenia Starve to Death in Solitary, Lawsuit Alleges
Graphic video footage obtained by The Appeal shows 29-year-old Joshua McLemore wasting away and rolling in his own waste in the Jackson County Jail before eventually dying of malnutrition.
Tana Ganeva Apr 12, 2023
Behind Georgia’s Authoritarian Crackdown on ‘Stop Cop City’ Protests
At least 42 people have been charged with “domestic terrorism” under the state’s wide-ranging statute. Legal experts are calling it a “sloppy” and unprecedented attack on constitutional rights to free speech and protest.
Aja Arnold Apr 03, 2023
Police Killed His Son. Prosecutors Charged The Teen’s Friends with His Murder.
It’s been four years since a Phoenix police officer killed Jacob Harris. Records obtained by The Appeal show officials have made inconsistent or false statements about the night police killed him. As Harris’s friends grow up behind bars, his father won’t stop until he gets justice for his son.
Meg O'Connor Mar 14, 2023
Without Political Change, Police Brutality Footage Has Become Trauma Porn
Absent structural organizing and actual political change, societal consumption of anti-Black violence instead reinforces the dehumanization of Black people that is central to white supremacy.
Nneka Ewulonu Mar 08, 2023
Report: Nearly 200 New Orleans Cops Were Accused Of Sexual Misconduct, Domestic Violence, or Harassment
A judge ruled the report can be used as evidence in the civil case against an ex-NOPD officer who sexually assaulted a teenage rape victim.
Meg O'Connor Mar 07, 2023
Police Surveillance Firms Are Just Data-Brokers by Another Name
ShotSpotter, Flock Safety, and Fog Data Science pitch themselves as third-party public-safety platforms, but they really are are “data brokers”—companies that profit by selling bulk information to others.
Edward Vogel Feb 01, 2023
Tyre Nichols’s Killing Has Everything to Do With Race
“That Black officers can also be the face of police brutality against Black people doesn’t disprove the racism at the institution’s core,” writes Ieshaah Murphy.
Ieshaah Murphy Jan 31, 2023
Police Killing of Protester Brings Grief, Urgency to Atlanta’s ‘Stop Cop City’ Movement
Organizers are calling on national support for their continued efforts to halt the construction of a police militarization facility in the Atlanta forest.
Aja Arnold Jan 20, 2023
As Trust in Police Wanes, Cops are Replacing Human Witnesses With Robots
As more people criticize or refuse to cooperate with police, writers Emily Galvin-Almanza and Khalid Alexander argue most departments aren’t taking that criticism to heart—they’re replacing human sources and interactions with computer-generated evidence instead.
Emily Galvin-Almanza, Khalid Alexander Dec 20, 2022
Fake Victims Lead to Real Arrests in Online Child Sex Stings
Federally funded police task forces carry out thousands of online stings each year, despite little evidence that they prevent abuse.
Steven Yoder Dec 19, 2022
Adams’ Forced Hospitalization Plan Will Have Lifelong Consequences
New York law can leave people who are involuntarily committed financially liable for their hospital bills and ambulance ride
Jerry Iannelli Dec 07, 2022
Cops Are Asking to Kill People With Robots. What Could Go Wrong?
Multiple major cities including San Francisco and Oakland this year have considered obtaining armed police robots that can kill people.
Jerry Iannelli Nov 29, 2022
Halloween is Over and It Looks Like No One Got Fentanyl Candy After All
Law-enforcement spent weeks scaremongering about opioids showing up in candy this Halloween. Despite the media frenzy, no drugs seem to have actually turned up.
Jerry Iannelli Nov 01, 2022
Sheriffs Offered Caribbean Cruises and Florida Retreats as Part of Jail Telecom Contracts
Smart Communications, a for-profit Florida company that sells phone, videochat, and email-like services to prisons and jails, told at least one sheriff’s department that it can live “the resort life” on a trip to Florida.
Hayden Betts Oct 17, 2022
DOJ Finds Orange County Sheriff, DA Violated Civil Rights Using Illegal Jailhouse Informants
After a six-year investigation, the DOJ says Orange County law-enforcement unconstitutionally used jailhouse informants to elicit confessions and incriminating evidence from people for years.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, Jerry Iannelli Oct 13, 2022
Nearly Half the People at Crowded Atlanta Jail Haven’t Been Formally Charged With a Crime, ACLU Says
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat says the county needs more jail beds to fix the jail’s crisis. But a new ACLU report says that significant numbers of people in the jail can be released.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Oct 12, 2022
FBI Crime Data is Out. Here’s What You Need to Know.
Lies, damned lies, and crime statistics.
Ethan Corey Oct 05, 2022
DOJ Admits It Has No Idea How Many People Die in Law Enforcement Custody
Thousands of deaths in jails, prisons, and police custody have gone uncounted in recent years. Now the DOJ is calling for changes to federal law.
Ethan Corey Sep 20, 2022
New School Year, Same School-to-Prison Pipeline
The fight to remove cops from classrooms is still raging, with some successes.
Anna Simonton Sep 14, 2022
Florida’s ‘Loud Car’ Ban Gives Cops a New Excuse to Harass Drivers
Florida seems to be sprinting in the opposite direction of progress. A new law allows cops to pull people over for driving loud cars.
Jerry Iannelli Jul 27, 2022
28 Years, 160 Arrests: What One Man’s Record Reveals About San Diego’s Broken Justice System
What do you do with people who are repeatedly failed by social services and the legal system?
Kelly Davis Jul 11, 2022
Why the U.S. Marshals Spend Millions on Sex-Offense Registrant Sweeps
The real aim of these operations might be to boost support for cops.
Steven Yoder Jul 08, 2022
Justice Department Launches Investigation Into NYPD’s Troubled Special Victims Division
The probe will assess whether the SVD engages in a “pattern or practice of gender-biased policing,” according to the DOJ.
Meg O'Connor Jun 30, 2022
Man Left Paralyzed After Hospital Denies Care And Calls Police: Lawsuit
Accused of faking his symptoms, Joshua Lee Smith was dragged from his hospital bed, called a “junkie,” and thrown in jail, his lawsuit says. Then, he woke up paralyzed.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg May 16, 2022
Can Residents Trust Durham’s Police Chief After She Cooperated With ICE?
Patrice Andrews once promised she’d never work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But in 2018, she directly ordered the arrest of immigration activists during an ICE deportation.
Tina Vasquez May 13, 2022
Don’t Let Cops Co-Opt Denim Day
Her jeans were so tight, she couldn’t have been raped, the judges said.
Meg O'Connor Apr 27, 2022
The Truth About Marijuana and the Criminal Legal System
We’re celebrating 4/20 by tackling some popular myths about marijuana and the criminal legal system.
Katie Jane Fernelius Apr 20, 2022
Florida Cops Nearly Sent a Five-Year-Old to Jail
Reporters entertained the notion that a toddler deserved prison time with headlines like ‘No Charges for 5-Year-Old in Pembroke Pines School Attack’
Nneka Ewulonu Apr 13, 2022
More Black Representation on Police Forces Will Not Solve Police Violence
In the wake of more horrific police killings, it’s important to remember that Black cops cannot fix America’s fundamentally broken and racist policing system.
Mustafa Ali-Smith Mar 17, 2022