Published: Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 1:00 AM
Updated: Friday, August 27, 2010, 2:37 PM

In the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina, an order circulated among New Orleans police authorizing officers to shoot looters, according to present and former members of the New Orleans Police Department.

By William Lee, Tribune reporter
7:26 p.m. CDT, August 25, 2010

Chicago police Lt. John Andrews knew that he was nudging a hornet's nest when he posted an essay on his personal blog criticizing the Police Department as beleaguered by a manpower shortage, low morale and public perceptions of rising crime.

Last week, he finally got stung.

Jennie Runevitch/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - The Indianapolis Metro Police chief plans to investigate allegations of police brutality involving one of his officers.

An Indianapolis woman is suing the city in federal court. LaDonna Dixon claims the officer beat her so severely during an arrest that she had a miscarriage.

"[He was] punching me, kicking me, after he maced me," Dixon said.

"This person was angry, was enraged and just beat her," said Dixon's attorney, Everett Powell. "I would say it's a crime."

Pain Ray, Rejected by the Military, Ready to Blast L.A. Prisoners
By Noah Shachtman Email Author
August 24, 2010 3:02 pm

Inmates of the Pitchess Detention Center, watch your step. If you get out of line, you may get blasted with an invisible heat ray.

"Assault Intervention Device" comes to Pitchess Detention Center
By JOHN ADAMS
Updated 7:17 AM PDT, Mon, Aug 23, 2010

Guards at the Los Angeles County jail complex in Castaic will start using a newfangled weapon that produces a deep burning sensation -- which is not to be confused with a “warm fuzzy feeling” -- in whomever it is aimed at.

The 7 1/2-foot-tall “Assault Intervention Device,” which sheriff's deputies demonstrated Friday at the Pitchess Detention Center, emits an invisible beam that causes an unbearable sensation, reported the Daily News.

By Christopher N. Osher
The Denver Post
Posted: 08/14/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT

Denver officials are deeply divided over the proper level of punishment for a police officer who was seen on video tackling and beating a 23-year-old man who was doing nothing but talking on a telephone outside a LoDo nightclub.

By ILEANA MORALES
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 17, 2010; 5:54 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — Advocates for prison inmates on Tuesday accused Attorney General Eric Holder of "dragging his feet" on adopting national standards for preventing rape in prisons.

Justice Department statistics show that an estimated 4.5 percent, or 60,500 inmates, report being victims of sexual assault in federal prisons, said Pat Nolan, vice president of outreach program Prison Fellowship. It happens to almost 1 in 8 juveniles in custody.

August 17, 2010 4:13 PM
Posted by Naimah Jabali-Nash

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) A California man who spent 13 years in prison after trying to break into a church to find something to eat, and who became an example of the state's strict three-strikes law, has been ordered released from prison by a Superior Court judge.

Tears rolled down the face of 47-year-old Gregory Taylor when Judge Peter Espinoza ordered that he be set free, reducing his sentence from 25 years to life, to the time he has already served.

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- The city of Atlanta will pay $4.9 million to the family of Kathryn Johnston, a 92-year-old woman killed in a botched November 2006 drug raid, Mayor Kasim Reed's office announced Monday.

Johnston was shot to death by narcotics officers conducting a "no-knock" warrant. Investigators later determined the raid was based on falsified paperwork stating that illegal drugs were present in the home.

By Adam Cohen Wednesday, Aug. 04, 2010

Anthony Graber, a Maryland Air National Guard staff sergeant, faces up to 16 years in prison. His crime? He videotaped his March encounter with a state trooper who pulled him over for speeding on a motorcycle. Then Graber put the video — which could put the officer in a bad light — up on YouTube.