Latest Law Enforcement Headlines

All the headlines from our Law Enforcement Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Lawsuit Holds Police in Oregon City Negligent in Man’s Death

Feb 1 2021 // The sister of an Oregon man who died of asphyxiation in a Eugene police car after wrapping a seatbelt around his neck has filed a $9 million wrongful death suit against the city and police department.The federal civil...

Former Washington Police Chief Getting $125K Settlement

Jan 13 2021 // A former Washington state police chief who was fired last year is expected to collect a $125,000 settlement.Michael Campos was fired in May as Wapato police chief with cause after an internal investigation found evidence...

Kentucky Police Officer Fights Termination Over Breonna Taylor Killing

Jan 4 2021 // At least one Kentucky police officer connected to the fatal shooting of a Black woman, Breonna Taylor, is fighting a police move to terminate his employment.An attorney for Louisville Metro Police detective Joshua Jaynes...

Iowa Police Chief Sues Law Enforcement Academy Over Toxic Gas Leak in 2018

Dec 17 2020 // A police chief is suing the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy for injuries he suffered from a 2018 carbon monoxide leak that exposed dozens of recruits to unsafe levels of the toxic gas.Justin Lyman, police chief in the...

Louisville Approves Police Oversight Board to Investigate Complaints, Killings

Dec 7 2020 // Officials in Kentucky’s largest city have approved the formation of a police oversight board.The Louisville Metro Council voted last month on the ordinance that will create the 11-member Civilian Review and...

Road Rage Lawsuit Has Implications for Police Shootings: Opinion

Nov 25 2020 // Can you be fired from a government job for using a firearm in self-defense? That question arose in a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The answer was … equivocal.Let’s first...

Oregon Man Arrested After Tesla Crashes, Sends Batteries Flying

Nov 23 2020 // An Oregon man crashed a Tesla while going about 100 mph, destroying the vehicle, a power pole and starting a fire when some of the hundreds of batteries from the vehicle broke windows and landed in residences, police said....

Vallejo $750K to End Lawsuit Over Police Beating

Nov 23 2020 // A handyman who was left bloodied after he was beaten and choked by Vallejo police will receive $750,000 from the city, it was announced Friday.The San Francisco Bay Area city agreed Thursday to settle a civil rights...

Connecticut Town Officials Charged in Probe of Hazardous Waste Dumping

Nov 23 2020 // Five former or current officials of Fairfield, Connecticut, are among several people who have been arrested in connection with the illegal dumping of hazardous materials next to the town’s public works garage and...

Texas Officer, City Sued by Family of Black Woman Shot Through Window

Nov 18 2020 // Family members of a Black woman who was killed when a white police officer fired through a window of her mother’s Texas home have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer and the city.The federal lawsuit...

Baton Rouge Council Nixes $5M Settlement in Police Killing of Alton Sterling

Nov 9 2020 // The governing council in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has again rejected a proposed $5 million settlement in a lawsuit over the death of Alton Sterling, a Black man fatally shot by a white police officer in 2016.Baton Rouge...

Lawsuit Against Police Department in Hawaii Settled for $1.84M

Nov 6 2020 // An assistant chief of police in Kauai settled a lawsuit against his department and Kauai County for $1.84 million.Mark Begley sued the county and the Kauai Police Department in 2016, alleging he was harassed and retaliated...

Nigerian Insurers Expect Record Claims from Police Brutality Protests

Nov 3 2020 // Nigerian insurers are facing their biggest claims on record after protests against police brutality turned violent, leading to large-scale looting and destruction.Risk underwriters all over the country are inspecting...

Reporter Tear Gassed at Oregon Protest Settles Lawsuit

Nov 2 2020 // A Eugene Weekly reporter who was hit with a tear gas canister while he filmed police breaking up a protest in late May in Oregon has settled a lawsuit against the city of Eugene.Henry Houston said he and the Civil...

Ex-Police Chief in Washington Turned Pinup Model Charged with Workers’ Comp Fraud

Nov 2 2020 // A Snohomish County, Wash., woman faces two charges of making false or misleading statements to collect more than $67,000 in workers’ compensation benefits from the Washington State Department of Labor &...

California City to Pay $7M to Family of Man Killed by Officer

Oct 30 2020 // A San Francisco Bay Area city has agreed to pay $7.3 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of a man who died after an officer placed him in a controversial neck hold that has since been banned in California in the wake...

Black Man Killed by Police in Louisiana Did Not Have Knife, Lawsuit Says

Oct 28 2020 // The parents of a man killed by police in Louisiana is suing the Lafayette Police Department, saying their son did not have a knife when he was killed.Trayford Pellerin, 31, was killed Aug. 21 as he walked away from a...

1 Killed, 20-Plus Injured When Western Illinois Hayrack Ride Overturns

Oct 28 2020 // A woman was killed and more than 20 other people were injured over the weekend when a hayrack side overturned in rural western Illinois, police said.Troopers were called to the scene in Hancock County on Saturday night...

New York City Sued Over Clashes with Floyd Protesters

Oct 28 2020 // Two civil rights organizations are suing New York City on behalf of protesters who say they were assaulted and abused by police officers because they expressed anti-police views during nightly demonstrations in the spring...

Black Man Shot by Iowa Police Settles Suit for $400K

Oct 26 2020 // A Black man who was shot by police outside an Iowa nightclub five years ago and alleged he was singled out because of his race has agreed to a nearly $400,000 settlement.Jovan Darnell Webb, 33, was wounded while attempting...