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Rappers Come Together to Express Support for Police, Open Dialogue

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Rappers Snoop Dogg and The Game led a peaceful march on Friday to the Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters, where they expressed their support for work of law enforcement and their desire for an open dialogue.

Appearing at a joint press conference with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Police Chief Charlie Beck, Snoop Dogg said, “We are here to show love and support to the police force and get some understanding and some communication.”

The rapper added, “Our whole mission today was to move in peace and to show that LA can be unified, and not to bash the police, but to come up here and get some dialogue and communication, because we are all angels like [Mayor Garcetti] said. We are all for Los Angeles. We all represent the same cause, and we all want to go home to our families. Today was the first step to many steps.”

The Game, whose legal name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor, said during the press conference, “While I have all these cameras on me … I want to tell everyone that has their eyes on me that I love you — no matter what race you’re from, no matter where you come from, no matter what gang you’re from or what police force you stand for, what badge you put on, what school you teach, whoever you are in the world,” he continued. “If you are a human being … this is a day of change … Embrace yourself in positivity.”

The Game also expressed hope that Los Angeles in coming together could set an example for the country and even the world. The performer said he had no idea when he called his friend Snoop Dogg and suggested they do the march that they would end up meeting the mayor and the police chief.

He also found it meaningful the march coincided with the graduation of a new class of police officers, who they were able to meet.

“Sometimes God works in mysterious ways,” Mayor Garcetti said of the two events converging. Both he and Chief Beck expressed their appreciation for the chance to meet with the rappers and discuss ways for better community relations. (For more from the author of “Rappers Come Together to Express Support for Police, Open Dialogue” please click HERE)

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Ex Cop: Quit Targeting My Brothers in Blue

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Everything seems to be upside down right now. After decades of far-Left division politics, culture wars, and disingenuous attempts to portray honest political disagreements as moral failings on the part of conservatives, it appears as if the ideological civil war the radical far-Left has always wanted has hit our streets with a fury. As a former police officer and a federal agent, I cannot recall a time where the good guys, our cops, have become the subject of such hatred by radical activists. And yesterday’s horrific murders of the heroic Dallas police officers is just another manifestation of the far-Left’s unending war on America, and her values.

Unlike the broad-based swipes the radical far-Left often takes at conservatives, I will not blame the Democrats for this. I’m sure there are many people of genuinely good faith within the Democrat party who love our country and simply feel that the path to a better tomorrow is best walked down using a different legislative agenda. But, it’s undeniable that a large swath of the modern progressive movement is driven by an anti-American ideology hell-bent on destroying our culture, our values, our standing in the world, and any institution reflecting the principles of American power and law and order.

The harsh rhetoric directed at our police officers is a reflection of this war on law and order, and our institutions, and the tragic body count is adding up. Whether it was the two NYPD police officers brutally murdered in broad daylight by a killer self-described as being motivated by the Black Lives Matter movement, or the Dallas murderer who claimed that he wanted to “kill white people” and cops, it’s clear that the violent, toxic, far-Left rhetoric is bringing the war to our streets.

How much more blood needs to flow, and how many more kids need to salute the coffins of their dead police officer parents before these far-Left propagandists self-reflect on the damaged they’ve caused? It’s time for ALL Americans, regardless of their personal politics, to stand united in ostracizing the dividers among us. The greatest country on Earth will collapse from within if we insist on maintaining the current ideological Tower of Babel being shoved down our throats by radicals who have committed themselves to a political ends regardless of the means. (For more from the author of “Ex Cop: Quit Targeting My Brothers in Blue” please click HERE)

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On One of the Worst Days of His Life, Dad Gets Pulled Over by a Cop. First, He Was ‘Agitated’ — but He’ll ‘Never, Ever Forget’ What Occurred

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Indiana State Police Sgt. Todd Durnil pulled a man over Monday in Indianapolis for speeding. But after talking to the distraught truck driver, Durnil decided to let the man off, not with a warning, but a with prayer.

Rodney Gibson, a 60-year-old man who had just received news that his daughter was dying of breast cancer, was so devastated that he did not realize he was speeding, WRTV-TV reported.

Durnil was inspecting Gibson’s vehicle when he noticed an angel pin tucked into the truck’s visor that was identical to the one he keeps in his cruiser.

The officer told WRTV that Gibson told him ”with tears in his eyes” that the pin was a gift from his daughter to help keep him safe while driving. Gibson then told Durnil about the unfavorable cancer diagnosis.

Durnil told WRTV that instead of issuing a ticket or even a warning, he planned on asking his family and church to pray for Gibson.

(Read more from “On One of the Worst Days of His Life, Dad Gets Pulled Over by a Cop. First, He Was ‘Agitated’ — but He’ll ‘Never, Ever Forget’ What Occurred” HERE)

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Texas AG: ‘In God We Trust’ Decals on Cop Cars Constitutional

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There’s nothing wrong with stickers or decals featuring the phrase “In God We Trust” on police vehicles, the Lonestar state’s top cop assured lawmakers.

Attorney General Ken Paxton weighed in on the matter on Nov. 4 with a letter to two Republican state senators who asked if police departments were inviting legal trouble by including the phrase on patrol cars. Pointing to precedent in a series of court cases, Paxton noted challenges to “In God We Trust” on money, police vehicles and goverment property haven’t been successful.

“Displaying ‘In God We Trust’ on police vehicles is a passive use of a motto steeped in our nation’s history that does not coerce Citizen approval or participation,” Paxton wrote to the state senators. “A law enforcement department’s decision to display the national motto on its vehicles is consistent with that history. Thus, a court is likely to conclude that a law enforcement department’s display of ‘In God We Trust’ on its patrol vehicles is permissible under the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”

Slapping the phrase on police vehicles has become a contentious issue in recent months, with more than 60 police departments — most of them in the south and midwest — approving decals or stickers on patrol cars, according to the National Constitution Center, a Philadelphia-based non-profit dedicated to civic education.

In each case, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has challenged the use of the phrase on government-owned vehicles. The Wisconsin-based group advocates for separation of church and state in all matters, and has said the phrase amounts to “phony pandering” to the nation’s religious demographic, especially in socially conservative states. “In God We Trust” became the national motto in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into law, a move that also made the phrase mandatory on American currency. (Read more from “Texas AG: ‘In God We Trust’ Decals on Cop Cars Constitutional” HERE)

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Sheriff Posts This Controversial Warning Sign To Everyone Entering His Town

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A sign a Georgia county sheriff erected earlier this week is generating a strong response, nationwide.

Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley placed a sign in front of the sheriff’s office on Tuesday morning, which reads:

WARNING: Harris County is politically incorrect. We say: Merry Christmas, God Bless America, and In God We Trust. We salute our troops and our flag. If this offends you…LEAVE!

The sheriff got the idea from the picture of a similar sign he saw posted in another part of the country. “I’m humbled by the attention the sign has received,” Jolley told WTVM. “Over the years, I’ve witnessed the silent majority grow and as a true patriot and a Christian, I felt it was time for the silent majority to speak up. I truly believe what’s on the sign.”

Since putting up the sign up, the sheriff has received hundreds of emails and Facebook comments in support of its message, according to WRBL.

Not everyone is pleased with the sheriff’s sign. The atheist group, the American Humanist Association sent him a lengthy letter on Wednesday, saying that a “concerned citizen” had contacted their office. The letter demands the sign be removed immediately, charging it violates the First Amendment and the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. (Read more from “Sheriff Posts This Controversial Warning Sign to Everyone Entering His Town” HERE)

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NYC to Let the UN Run Its Police Force

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American tradition, values and mores continue to erode thanks to constant pressure by the political left to destroy a culture they see as illegitimate and dangerous to the globe — despite our nation’s appeal to millions around the world and the opportunities we create for ourselves and for others.

Now, the liberals who run New York City are even prepared to cede at least some policing power to “a new global, terror-busting network to try to combat homegrown extremism,” according to a September 29 press statement, The New American reports.

In an announcement made at the United Nations, avowed socialist Mayor Bill DeBlasio declared New York City’s intent to join the UN and the United States Department of Justice in their bid to combat “all forms of violent extremism, whether it’s based in religious, or racial, or nationalistic or ideological intolerance.”

With this, de Blasio has effectively ruled that American patriotism is an “intolerance” he won’t tolerate. Save for 9/11, however, when was the last time we’ve seen a major act of “extremism” in New York City (that hasn’t come from the mayor himself), anyway?

As The New American further reported, the Obama Justice Department is claiming that this new law enforcement partnership program — dubbed “Strong Cities” — is really aimed at inspiring “action on a global scale.” (Read more from “NYC to Let the UN Run Its Police Force” HERE)

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NYC Police Union Calls for Tarantino Boycott After Anti-Cop Rally

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The city’s police union is calling for a boycott of Quentin Tarantino films after the “Pulp Fiction’’ director took part in an anti-cop rally less than a week after an officer was killed on the job.

“When I see murders, I do not stand by . . . I have to call the murderers the murderers,” the director — notorious for his violent movies — told a crowd of protesters in Washington Square Park on Saturday, adding that cops are too often “murderers.”

Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, lashed out against the “Reservoir Dogs” auteur Sunday.

“It’s no surprise that someone who makes a living glorifying crime and violence is a cop-hater, too,” Lynch said in a statement.

“The police officers that Quentin Tarantino calls ‘murderers’ aren’t living in one of his depraved big-screen fantasies — they’re risking and sometimes sacrificing their lives to protect communities from real crime and mayhem. (Read more from “NYC Police Union Calls for Tarantino Boycott After Anti-Cop Rally” HERE)

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In Chattanooga’s Wake, DHS Wants to Revive Terrorism Alert System

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By Kevin Baron. President Barack Obama’s top homeland security official has ordered a review of the nation’s terrorism alert system to reflect what he called the growing threat of attacks originating within the United States.

The U.S. has never used the National Terrorism Alert System, a two-level system that replaced the oft-derided color-coded terrorism alerts installed after 9/11 to spread the word about potential attacks from abroad. But after a “homegrown violent extremist” killed five service members in Chattanooga, Tenn. — and amid the expectation of more terrorist-inspired attacks — the Department of Homeland Security wants to revise and jumpstart the system.

“I’ve asked our folks to consider whether we should revise that system to accommodate how the terrorism threat has evolved,” DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C.“That review is underway now.”

Instead of the post-9/11 green-to-red progression, the NTAS has just two states of alert. An “elevated threat” means there is a credible threat against the United States. An “imminent threat” alerts the public to just that, “a credible, specific, and impending terrorist threat against the United States.”

Under the old system, DHS took much criticism that the nation was being held on constant orange alert for no good reason. But the department has since been criticized for never issuing any alerts. U.S. intelligence and national and local law enforcement officials have opted to keep the public in the dark to avoid panic with a sudden terrorism alert. (Read more from “In Chattanooga’s Wake, DHS Wants to Revive Terrorism Alert System” HERE)

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NYPD Has Super-Secret X-Ray Vans

By Yoav Gonen and Shawn Cohen. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton won’t let the NYCLU — or anyone else — bully him for details on the NYPD’s super-secret X-ray vans.

The top cop was asked Tuesday about the counter-terror vehicles, called Z Backscatter Vans, in light of the NYCLU’s request to file an amicus brief arguing that the NYPD should have to release records about the X-ray vans.

“They’re not used to scan people for weapons,” Bratton insisted. “The devices we have, the vehicles if you will, are all used lawfully and if the ACLU and others don’t think that’s the case, we’ll see them in court — where they’ll lose! At this time and the nature of what’s going on in the world, that concern of theirs is unfounded.”

He declined to give more specific details about the devices themselves.

“Those are issues I’d prefer not to divulge to the public at this time,” Bratton said. “I will not talk about anything at all about this — it falls into the range of security and counter-terrorism activity that we engage in.” (Read more from “NYPD Has Super-Secret X-Ray Vans” HERE)

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Private Database Lets Police Skirt License Plate Data Limits

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For years, police nationwide have used patrol car-mounted scanners to automatically photograph and log the whereabouts of peoples’ cars, uploading the images into databases they’ve used to identify suspects in crimes from theft to murder.

Nowadays, they are also increasingly buying access to expansive databases run by private companies whose repo men and tow-truck drivers photograph license plates of vehicles every day.

Civil libertarians and lawmakers are raising concerns about the latest practice, arguing that there are few, if any, protections against abuse and that the private databases go back years at a time when agencies are limiting how long such information is stored. (Read more from “Private Database Lets Police Skirt License Plate Data Limits” HERE)

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Police Program Aims to Pinpoint Those Most Likely to Commit Crimes

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51644a6b4a568ea1dacdaafc639dc28a.1000x563x1At the request of his probation officer, Tyrone C. Brown came to a community auditorium here in June and sat alongside about 30 other mostly young black men with criminal records — men who were being watched closely by the police, just as he was.

He expected to hear an admonition from law enforcement officials to help end violence in the community. But Mr. Brown, 29, got more than he had bargained for. A police captain presented a slide show featuring mug shots of people they were cracking down on. Up popped a picture of Mr. Brown linking him to a criminal group that had been implicated in a homicide . . .

Mr. Brown, whose criminal record includes drug and assault charges, is at the center of an experiment taking place in dozens of police departments across the country, one in which the authorities have turned to complex computer algorithms to try to pinpoint the people most likely to be involved in future violent crimes — as either predator or prey. The goal is to do all they can to prevent the crime from happening.

The strategy, known as predictive policing, combines elements of traditional policing, like increased attention to crime “hot spots” and close monitoring of recent parolees. But it often also uses other data, including information about friendships, social media activity and drug use, to identify “hot people” and aid the authorities in forecasting crime.

The program here has been named the Kansas City No Violence Alliance, or KC NoVA. And the message on that June night to Mr. Brown and the others was simple: The next time they, or anyone in their crews, commit a violent act, the police will come after everyone in the group for whatever offense they can make stick, no matter how petty. (Read more from “Police Program Aims to Pinpoint Those Most Likely to Commit Crimes” HERE)

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