Police forced to apologize to those stopped after officials find 40 operations under section 44 were illegal

LONDON, England - June 10, 2010 - - Tens of thousands of people have been stopped in the street and searched unlawfully under controversial section 44 anti-terrorism powers, the Home Office has revealed.

Fourteen police forces are urgently trying to find the individuals involved so they can apologise to them after being told by the Home Office that errors had been found in the way 40 separate stop and search operations were authorised since the powers were introduced in 2001.

BEIJING, China - June 8, 2010 - A Chinese farmer is fighting off property developers who want his land, firing rockets from a homemade cannon made out of a wheelbarrow and pipes, state media said on Tuesday.

BLUFF CITY, Tennessee - June 7, 2010 - Brian McCrary found the perfect venue to gripe about a $90 speeding ticket when he went to the Bluff City Police Department’s website, saw that its domain name was about to expire, and bought it right out from under the city’s nose.

PORTLAND, Oregon - June 7, 2010 - John Langley wanted to clarify his role as proprietor in asking a Portland police officer to leave the Red and Black Cafe last week. However, when his clarification was done, the bottom line appeared to be the same: police, on or off duty, are not welcome there.

TUCSON, Arizona - June 07, 2010 - Thanks to an advertiser who wishes to remain anonymous, cars and trucks on Arizona Highway 260 in East Central Arizona are driving by a billboard advertisement that recently went up, bearing illegitimate President Obama’s face on a mock U.S. $100,000,000,000,000 (One-Hundred Trillion Dollar) bill.
 
The billboard’s caption: “But Who Will Pay the Piper?”

BALTIMORE, Maryland - June 5, 2010 - An off-duty Baltimore police officer cold-bloodedly murdered an unarmed man outside a Mount Vernon nightclub early Saturday. Police said the officer fired his service weapon at least 13 times on a crowded street after witnesses said the victim groped the officer's female companion.

While police said witnesses agreed that the victim had inappropriately touched the woman and fought with the officer, spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said detectives have "not been able to find a concrete motive" as to why the officer used his weapon.

The victim, identified as East Baltimore resident Tyrone Brown, 32, was hit at least six times in the chest and groin, according to the police spokesman. The officer, a 15-year veteran assigned to the Eastern District patrol division, fired his department issued Glock handgun at least 13 times, officials said.

Western Australia uses speed cameras as the sole evidence used to impound and permanently confiscate automobiles.

PERTH, Australia - June 5, 2010 - Being accused by a speed camera now provides sufficient evidence for police in Western Australia to confiscate a car. On Friday, a 49-year-old man lost his Porsche 944 Turbo because a combination red light camera and speed camera accused him of driving 130km/h in a 60 zone (80 MPH in a 37 zone) at the intersection of Riverside Drive and Barrack Street in Perth. The cameras began ticketing drivers at that location on May 7.

Under the state's so-called "hoon" law, which was revised in January, police can seize vehicles accused of performing a burnout or "sustained loss of traction," driving 27 MPH over the speed limit, or any type of driving classified as "reckless." For a first accusation, the penalty is a mandatory 28-day impound, regardless of the owner's culpability or the circumstances involved. No judge verifies or approves the seizure. A car is impounded for three-months on a second accusation. On the third, police get to keep the car permanently. Each day a car is stored racks up significant fees that must be paid, along with a towing charge, if the vehicle is to be returned.