Cops could face death in post-Katrina shootings
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100714/ap_on_re_us/us_katrina_bridge_shootings Five former New Orleans police officers already have pleaded guilty to helping cover up the shootings on the Danziger Bridge that left two men dead and four wounded just days after the August 2005 hurricane that devastated the city. In one instance, a mentally disabled man was allegedly shot in the back and stomped before he died.
Prosecutors say officers fabricated witness statements, falsified reports and planted a gun in an attempt to make it appear the shootings were justified. It was a shocking example of the violence and confusion that followed the deadly hurricane.
The case is one of several probes of alleged misconduct by New Orleans police officers that the Justice Department opened after the storm. Last month, five current or former officers were charged in the shooting death of 31-year-old Henry Glover, whose burned body turned up after Katrina.
3 Philly officers face drug, corruption charges
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_philly_police_heroin_schemeBy MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jul 13, 9:37 pm ETPHILADELPHIA – Three Philadelphia police officers plotted with drug dealers and staged a traffic stop and drug seizure in a scheme to steal $15,000 worth of heroin from a supplier and sell it, federal authorities charged.
Officers Mark Williams, James Venziale and Robert Snyder were named in a 14-count indictment announced Tuesday, along with Snyder's wife and three suspected drug dealers. The plan went awry when the officers tried to sell the 300 grams of heroin through an undercover federal agent, Assistant U.S. Attorney Virginia Gibson said...
In May, Williams and Venziale staged a traffic stop of co-defendant Angel Ortiz after Ortiz obtained heroin from a supplier on credit, authorities said. With the supplier's courier looking on, the officers appeared to arrest Ortiz, who was allegedly in on the scheme, and seize the drugs, Gibson said. Ortiz paid those two officers $6,000 for their help and an unidentified amount to Snyder's wife, the indictment said.
The group then tried to sell the heroin through the undercover agent, prosecutors say.
According to the indictment, Christal Snyder served as a conduit, passing information by phone and text between the officers and the alleged dealers, Ortiz and co-defendant Zachary Young.
