Law Enforcement

Female deputy DA found bloody, beaten after gang attack in California: source

A deputy district attorney was the victim of a gruesome gang attack in Orange County, Calif., in an apparent attempt to prevent her from giving closing arguments in a gang murder trial. The woman, whose name has been withheld, stumbled — bloody and bruised — into the Newport Workout gym in Newport Beach early Thursday morning, Fox 11 Los Angeles reported. A trainer inside the gym came to her aid. “It looked as if a bucket of red-blood paint was poured over her head and every part of her face and shirt was red,” trainer Ron Cary told Fox 11, adding that he initially thought the woman had fallen while jogging. “One of the trainers yelled, ‘Call the police.’ She didn’t run and fall, she was attacked,” Cary said. “I overheard her saying she either works for the DA or is the DA of San Bernardino and she’s either in a trial or acting for the murder trial.” San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Christopher Lee confirmed to Fox 11 the following: “A member of our office was involved in an incident that is currently under investigation.” Lee declined to comment further. A law enforcement source told the local news station that the woman was about to give closing arguments in a gang murder trial and may have been targeted by gang members and that she’s been followed before. “I heard things coming out of her mouth like, ‘Was I raped?,’ ‘I was unconscious. I don’t know how long,’ ‘Are they here?,’ ‘Are they coming?’ Still a little scatterbrained,” Cary said. “We turned around and saw a woman who could barely walk covered head-to-toe in blood.” Newport Beach police say the woman was not sexually assaulted or robbed. The victim doesn’t remember anything about her attackers, police said. There were no arrests as of early Friday morning.

Just awful..  We hope this poor woman makes a speedy recovery, and that the animals who did this to her are arrested and properly charged.  As many of you know, we tend to avoid the human interest stories here at The Daily Buzz.  There are plenty of other outlets for that in the checkout lane at your local grocery store.  But, sometimes we make an exception.  Such is the case here..  These are the kind of animals, many of them illegal aliens (i.e. MS-13, etc.), that we need to get off of our streets, and/or round up and get out of our country.  Unreal..

Opinion: Trump’s pardon of ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio was the right (and courageous) thing to do

President Trump stood up for justice and for enforcement of our immigration laws when he courageously granted a pardon Friday to Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. Despite knowing he would face criticism, the president did what was right. Arpaio was convicted by a federal judge in July of criminal contempt after being charged with violating a court order that attempted to prevent suspected illegal immigrants from being targeted by the sheriff’s traffic patrols. The sheriff acknowledged continuing the patrols, but said that targeting was not the focus. Arpaio’s conviction arose out of a lawsuit wrongfully accusing the sheriff’s office of violating the rights of Hispanics, allegedly using racial profiling tactics to identify people for traffic stops, and detaining convicts based only on the suspicion that they were illegal immigrants. Arpaio denied all wrongdoing. I sat in the courtroom through Arpaio’s trial and concluded that he was wrongfully convicted. As a former law enforcement officer myself and former executive director of the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, I know that Arpaio was dedicated to protecting the public he served and that his highest priority was keeping his community safe. Hearing testimony during Arpaio’s trial, I realized that any reasonable person who was there to pass judgment on this honest law-abiding man – who gave his life to the rule of law – could never have found him guilty on the evidence presented. However, the only one who could pass judgment on the former sheriff was U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton, because Arpaio was denied his right to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The judge’s verdict convicting Arpaio was a travesty of justice. Arpaio’s critics have claimed for a long time that he is a racist and biased against Hispanics. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Under his command, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office boasted the highest percentage of Hispanic deputies, detention officers and staff in the state of Arizona. Moreover, he promoted more Hispanic officers to command positions than any other law enforcement agency in the state. On top of this, Arpaio has two grandchildren who are of Hispanic descent. To say he is biased again his own family members is absurd. Labeling him a racist for enforcing U.S. immigration law is a tired, exhausted, left-wing strategy that fails time and time again. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump said that he would be the voice for law enforcement officers everywhere and always fight to protect them when they protected the public. President Trump held true to his promise by using his presidential pardon for Arpaio to set an important precedent: judges should interpret law and not try to rewrite it. And good men like Arpaio should not be prosecuted, persecuted and punished for doing their jobs. President Trump recognized that Sheriff Arpaio was doing his job, following the law, and protecting the people of Maricopa County – which includes Phoenix – by punishing criminals to the fullest extent, under the laws on the books. Arpaio was first elected as sheriff in Maricopa County 1992. He maintained that position for 24 years, receiving the honor of being the longest-serving sheriff ever been elected in the county. In June, the National Center for Police Defense, which I now head, delivered 40,000 petitions to the U.S. Department of Justice urging it to drop charges against the sheriff. Arpaio’s case has been politically motivated from the beginning, when the Obama administration’s Department of Justice filed misdemeanor charges against him a mere two weeks before the election, contributing to Arpaio’s loss in his reelection bid. The Department of Justice typically refrains from taking legal action against an elected official so close to an election in order to avoid influencing the outcome. Arpaio is now 85-years-old and has over 55 years of experience serving in law enforcement. He knows the limits of his power, and for 55 years stayed within those limits, while keeping the bad guys off the streets and the good people of his community safe. That’s how he earned the title of “Americas Toughest Sheriff.” By pardoning the wrongly convicted former sheriff, President Trump has shown he stands with the law-abiding people of our great country, who have the right to live in peace and safety. And the president has shown he stands against criminals, including those who have crossed our borders illegally. The author leads The National Center for Police Defense (NCPD) a non-profit dedicated to helping law enforcement officers who have been charged with a crime while following, “to the best of their ability,” the training and knowledge that they have been taught to use, by their departments. His charity supported former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s legal defense. James J. Fotis is president of National Center for Police Defense and a former law enforcement officer. He served more than 23 years as the Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA) an association of law enforcement officers, crime victims and concerned citizens. Follow his organization on Twitter @defendpolice

Author James Fotis is, of course, spot on here.  Sheriff Joe’s prosecution, and subsequent conviction, was entirely politically motivated, and clearly a violation of Sheriff Joe’s 6th Amendment right to a trial by a jury.  After over a half century of honorable service in law enforcement, Pres. Trump was absolutely right in granting this pardon.

Cops put parking lot crack cocaine in ‘lost and found’

Police in northeastern Pennsylvania say they’ve put about $1,600 worth of crack cocaine in their “lost and found box” in hopes of reuniting the drug with its rightful owner. The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens’ Voice reports the drug was found in the parking lot of a shopping center outside Wilkes-Barre. Wilkes-Barre Township police posted about the find on the department’s Facebook page. In a post headlined “FOUND ITEM,” police quipped the drug had been placed in the department’s “lost and found box” and invited the owner to come retrieve it. The post requested a picture of the crack’s owner holding the drug, along with ID and a “written statement containing your claim to the crack.”

No, you are NOT reading The Onion..  Let’s see if the “owner(s)” come forward to claim their “lost and found” item.  We’ll keep ya’ posted.

House passes bill which targets police shootings

The House approved legislation Thursday that makes killing a state or local police officer an aggravating factor that juries and judges would consider in death penalty cases. Under current law, killing a federal law enforcement officer is already an aggravating factor in death penalty deliberations. The bill’s supporters say it’s important to apply that standard to the murder of state and local law enforcement and other first responders, too, because it sends a message of accountability. The vote was 271-143. Some lawmakers and civil rights groups said the legislation ignores racial biases in the imposition of the death penalty. They also called the legislation duplicative since the killing of any police officer likely meets one of the other 16 aggravating factors that federal juries already consider in death penalty cases. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., acknowledged the scenarios the bill would apply to “are probably limited.” Still, he said it would be important in some acts of terrorism where a state or local officer is killed, or if an officer serving on federal task force were killed. He said it would also cover volunteer first responders. “This legislation sends a simple message. The stalking and killing of a law enforcement officer will not be tolerated,” Goodlatte said.

Excellent!!  Glad to see the House doing something which supports our first responders like this.

MS-13 gang targeted in pre-dawn sweep across Los Angeles

Hundreds of federal and local law enforcement fanned out across Los Angeles in pre-dawn sweeps, serving arrest and search warrants as part of a three-year investigation into the ultra-violent street gang MS-13. Federal prosecutors unsealed a sweeping indictment Wednesday morning charging dozens of members and leaders of the brutal street gang with a variety of crimes, including murder. Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra Brown said the 127-page anti-racketeering indictment targets 44 members and associates of the gang, including the one-time leader of a Los Angeles faction of MS-13. Three people accused of murder could face the death penalty, she said. Twenty-one people named in the indictment were arrested in pre-dawn raids across Los Angeles and Brown said warrants were served at more than 50 locations. Jail officials around the region also conducted cell searches, as some of those indicted were already in custody on unrelated charges. About a dozen of those arrested were so-called “shot callers” for the gang. At least three people were still at large Wednesday. “It’s one of the largest and most entrenched gangs in Los Angeles,” Brown said. “Today’s actions will deal a critical blow to the top leadership.” Brown said MS-13 is responsible for murders of rival gang members, drug and human trafficking, prostitution and illegal alcohol sales, among other crimes. She described the racketeering case as one of the largest single cases targeting MS-13, a gang that started in Los Angeles but has expanded to nearly every state and El Salvador. The gang is blamed for horrific violence that has sent Salvadoran immigrants fleeing that country for the United States. Because of the group’s propensity for violence, federal and local agencies used tactical and SWAT teams to serve some of the warrants, including at a storefront along a strip of dilapidated buildings near downtown that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said was being used as a “casita,” or sort of club house, for one group of gang members. Just before 4 a.m., heavily armed ATF agents raided the building and found at least seven people locked in a room. FBI Assistant Director in Charge Deirdre Fike said investigators are trying to determine if those people are human trafficking victims. As the agents made their way through the building, they described over a police radio a labyrinth of walls and secreted rooms, something that made clearing the building time consuming. The raids and the indictment are part of a multi-agency case led by the FBI that started in 2014. More than half of those arrested and charged in the case are in the country illegally, Fike said. It was unclear how long they had been in the United States or what countries they are from. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and others said the suspects’ immigration status was of little consequence, given the nature of the criminal charges. “These are criminals. Regardless of their immigration status they are going to go to prison,” Beck said. “If they ever get out…their immigration status may become an issue, but it has nothing to do with their arrest today.” The chief said this latest indictment and raid marks the seventh time that local, state and federal authorities have targeted MS-13 and its leadership. That law enforcement pressure, he said, has led to a steady decline in the gang’s influence in the Los Angeles area. In 2012 and 2014, his department ranked the group as the number one street gang in the area, but the group has since dropped to seventh, Beck said. There are currently about 800 known MS-13 members in the city, down from a peak of about 1,200 in recent years. Beck said the indictment and arrests may not dismantle the gang, but they will have significant impact on its power structure, as have previous busts. MS-13 has become a primary target of the Justice and Homeland Security departments amid the Trump administration’s broader effort to crack down on illegal immigration and violent crime. President Donald Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly said MS-13 poses a particular risk to American communities and is among the most ruthless street gangs. Trump signed an executive order in February specifically directing federal law enforcement to focus resources on combating street gangs and transnational criminal organizations. MS-13 leaders in El Salvador were targeted for financial sanctions by the Obama administration in 2012 as part of an earlier executive order targeting such groups.

We’re definitely glad to see this effort to target MS-13 by law enforcement.

Trump takes aim at Black Lives Matter, slams ‘hostility and violence’ against police

Criticized for firing the FBI director, President Trump sought to reinforce his bond with law enforcement Monday, decrying the ambush-style killings of police last year during the Black Lives Matter movement, pledging to restore respect in the White House for police and even illuminating the White House in blue lights. At a memorial ceremony for fallen officers at the Capitol, Mr. Trump referred to the assassinations of police officers in Dallas, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana during the peak of anti-police protests as “a stain on the very fabric of our society.” “We are living through an era in which our police have been subject to unfair defamation and vilification, and even worse … hostility and violence,” Mr. Trump said. “More officers were slain last year in ambushes than in any year in more than two decades.” Mr. Trump seemed to refer to former President Barack Obama when he told the audience of police officials and families of fallen officers, “I want you to know that patriotic Americans of all backgrounds truly support and love our police. A very sad thing is that many of today’s politicians don’t want to say that, don’t want to talk about that because it’s not politically correct or they think it might hurt them with the voters. I will say it and I will talk about it proudly.” During the ceremony, Mr. Trump tossed a white USA cap to 6-year-old Micah Glasser, son of Phoenix, Arizona, police officer David Glasser, who was killed in shootout a year ago. The president even put his support for police in lights. The White House was bathed in blue light Monday night, a move that Mr. Obama had resisted. Some law-enforcement officials criticized Mr. Obama during the height of police-minority tensions, accusing him of emboldening the BLM movement and putting more cops at risk by expressing sympathy for some unarmed minorities killed by police. Mr. Obama convened a task force on police practices in an effort to build better relations between police departments and minority communities. President Chuck Canterbury of the National Fraternal Order of Police praised Mr. Trump for the shift in tone. “In his short time in office, he has let America know that our law-enforcement officers are important and that their lives matter,” he said. The new administration’s attitude toward law enforcement is more than blue lights and warm words. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who attended the ceremony, announced last week that the Justice Department is reversing an Obama administration policy and charging nonviolent, less-serious drug offenders with the most serious provable crimes, including some with mandatory-minimum sentences.

Bomb-sniffing dog who has protected Trump struck by bullet meant for deputy

A South Florida bomb-sniffing dog who has helped protect President Trump was shot and wounded in the line of duty Friday when he took a bullet meant for his two-legged partner. K9 Kasper is recovering after being shot in the side when deputies with the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office exchanged gunfire with a wanted stick-up man who was killed, Fox 13 Tampa reports. None of the deputies were injured. “During the gunfire, PBSO K9 Kasper was shot while protecting his handler,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that included a photo of the wounded dog on a veterinarian’s operating table. The sheriff’s office posted video on Twitter Saturday of Kasper leaving the hospital to go home. Kasper has protected Trump at times in Palm Beach, WPBF-TV reported. Deputies say Phillip O’Shea, 46, was wanted in connection with an early morning hold-up at a West Palm Beach bar. They say O’Shea got away after firing shots at deputies and car-jacking a woman’s car. About 13 hours later, three deputies spotted O’Shea in Jupiter, the Palm Beach Post reported. They confronted him in a parking lot. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said O’Shea lived in West Palm Beach and had an extensive criminal history. Bradshaw said O’Shea was wanted in Raleigh, North Carolina, in connection with a May 2 motel robbery.

What a hero Kasper is!!  Man’s best friend, indeed!  To see the video of him leaving the hospital, click on the text above.  Good job Kasper!!    🙂