over policing
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Black Woman Wins $205,000 Settlement After Charging Texas Cop Yanked Out Her Tampon in the Middle of the Street
A woman has agreed to accept a payout of $205,000 from the city of San Antonio, Texas, to settle her suit charging that her constitutional rights were violated when a cop not only performed a vaginal cavity search in the middle of the street but yanked out her tampon in the midst of it. Natalie…
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On DC’s MLK Avenue, Where Over-Policing Reigns, King’s Dream Is Far From a Reality for Residents
When remembering Martin Luther King Jr., society often removes some of his most radical politics from discussion. King is perhaps most remembered in Washington, D.C., for delivering his notable “I Have A Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of over 250,000 in 1963. But what’s often glossed over is…
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Exclusive: New Report Shows Gentrifiers Use Police to Terrorize Communities of Color—Without Even Calling 911
It was a story so ridiculous it seemed destined to go viral: A new Harlem resident, a white woman going only by the name Mackenzie, launched a veritable war against a neighborhood ice cream truck, complaining loudly and persistently about the noise and attempting, several times, to call 311—New York City’s hotline for quality of…
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Unprotected, Underserved: The (False) Criminalization of Black America
Editor’s note: This week, The Root will examine the many facets of law enforcement and its effects on the black community with our weeklong series Unprotected, Underserved: The Policing of Black America. Any attempt at understanding the effects of policing in black America must begin from a rational, objective perspective. We must first free ourselves…
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‘I Quit’: Georgia Officer Resigns After Dragging 65-Year-Old Woman From Car During Traffic Stop [Updated]
Updated: Saturday, May 12, 2018, 10 a.m. EDT: The Alpharetta Police Department released a statement Friday saying that the officer at the center of a police stop where an elderly black woman was dragged from her car has resigned. Former Officer James Legg, who began his letter by saying, “I quit,” offered his side of…
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Woman Says NYPD Held Her Hostage in Her Own Apartment for 10 Hours
A Brooklyn, N.Y., woman says that officers with the New York City Police Department held her hostage in her apartment for 10 hours while they conducted an investigation of her adult children. Rolinda Walls, 54, is a resident of the Van Dyke Houses in the Brownsville section of the city’s Brooklyn borough. She told the…
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There’s a Cop Who Calls Himself the ‘Riot King’ of St. Louis and His Behavior Is Scarier Than His Name
He uses the hashtag #ProtestSeason like it’s a period set aside for hunting demonstrators as if they were deer. The Riverfront Times calls him the “police department’s protest hammer.” He tagged a picture of himself on a Facebook post for his side business with #RiotKing—a protester-given nickname that describes his behavior during the demonstrations following…
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TLC’s T-Boz Demands Justice for Cousin Killed by Ill. Police
T-Boz wants justice for her mentally ill 25-year-old cousin who was shot 18 times by Peoria, Ill., police after officers said surveillance footage showed him committing armed robbery at the First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust. But according to the singer, the officers’ stories aren’t matching up and have been changing over the last couple of…