Carluccio, McCaffery Get Pennsylvania Supreme Court Nominations

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania voters nominated Republican Montgomery County President Judge Carolyn Carluccio and Democratic Superior Court Judge Daniel McCaffery to run against each other for state Supreme Court. 

By a margin of 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent, Carluccio bested Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough in a contentious nomination campaign for the seat left open by the death of Democratic Chief Justice Max Baer last autumn. McCaffery defeated his Superior Court colleague Debbie Kunselman in his primary 59.4 percent to 40.6 percent. 

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Law Enforcers in Philadelphia Suburbs Blame Krasner’s Performance on Spreading Crime

In Delaware County on Monday, law-enforcement experts asked Pennsylvania GOP state lawmakers to consider a variety of responses to the state’s crime epidemic… and to one left-wing official’s lack of urgency about it. 

Speakers suggested various ideas like increased resources for detention facilities and youth courts. Over the course of the hearing, numerous testifiers complained that the leniency of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) remains a major hindrance to public safety in the City of Brotherly Love and nearby communities.

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Fraternal Order of Police Endorses Beth Harwell in TN-5 Race

Former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell announced on Monday that the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) endorsed her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives.

James Smallwood, the President of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement provided to The Tennessee Star, “As speaker, Beth Harwell always prioritized public safety in Tennessee and was attentive to the needs of law enforcement professionals as we worked to promote safer and stronger communities across the State. Now, more than ever, we need that same attention in Washington D.C. The members of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police are proud to support Beth Harwell for Congress because we know she’s the right person for the job!”

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George Soros, Unions, Other Far-Left Entities Donated Heavily to Defeat Pro-Police Ballot Measure in Austin, Texas

Police lights on top of car

A ballot measure aimed at increasing the number of police officers in the city of Austin, Texas was defeated in Tuesday’s election after hundreds of thousands of dollars was spent against it by George Soros, unions, and other organizations from outside of Texas, as reported by Fox News.

The question before voters, known as Prop A, would have required the city to hire two police officers for every 1,000 residents, and would subsequently increase officer training to accommodate the new hires. The measure was put on the ballot in response to a surge in violent crime in the wake of last year’s violent race riots, and a subsequent decline in the number of officers due to the “defund the police” movement as well as increasingly strict vaccine mandates.

The bulk of the money spent against Prop A came from outside the state of Texas. Chief among them was the far-left Equity PAC, which was given $500,000 by George Soros’s Open Society foundation, contributing to a total war chest of around $1.2 million. Other culprits include the equally far-left group known as the 1630 Fund, which spent $100,000 against Prop A, and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, which spent another $100,000. Another Soros-linked group, the Fairness Project, spent $200,000 to defeat Prop A.

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2021 Set to See More Police Officers Shot in the Line of Duty than 2020

National Fraternal Order of Police

Halfway through the month of May, the year 2021 has currently seen 106 police officers wounded in the line of duty, with 23 killed, as reported by Fox News.

A statement from the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) on Thursday said that these numbers are indicative of grim trends for the remainder of the year, which is “on pace to surpass last year’s historic numbers” of officers killed and wounded in the line of duty.

Of the 106 wounded, 27 were deliberately targeted in 22 different attacks that were carried out like ambushes. Since Monday of this week, which marked the beginning of National Police Week, six officers have been shot while on duty.

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Mayor John Cooper Announces Detective John Drake as New Metro Nashville Police Chief

Veteran Detective and Interim Chief John Drake has been selected as Metro Nashville Police Department’s new chief, Mayor John Cooper announced Monday at a press conference.

Drake, 56, is a Nashville native who began his MNPD career in 1988 and has served in a number of jobs throughout the department, the city said in a press release here.

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Community Oversight Board Declares Use of Force Consent Decrees for Metro Police

The Community Oversight Board (COB) approved a report issuing use of force consent decree recommendations. Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) will work with the COB to implement these recommendations.
Mayor John Cooper tasked members within the Community Oversight Board to explore use of force policies following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

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Grand Jury Indicts Metro Nashville Police Officer Delke on First-Degree Murder Charge in Hambrick Shooting

A grand jury indicted Metro Nashville Police Department Officer Andrew Delke on a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting of Daniel Hambrick. District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office announced the decision Friday, Nashville Public Radio (WPLN) said. The case will be tried in the Criminal Court of Davidson County, NewsChannel 5 said. Delke, who is out on bond, will plead not guilty. Judge Melissa Blackburn decided at the preliminary hearing two weeks ago there was probable cause to bound the case over to the grand jury. This is the first time an on-duty Nashville police officer has been indicted for a fatal shooting, WPLN said, quoting a police spokesperson. NewsChannel 5 said Delke has been decommissioned but remains on administrative assignment. Arraignment is expected in seven to 10 days. The shooting has been fraught with racial undertones. WTN radio’s Dan Mandis tried to hold a reasoned debate last August with Joy Kimbrough, the attorney representing the Hambrick family, The Tennessee Star reported at the time. The audio of Mandis’ intervew on Super Talk 99.7 is available here. Video of the shooting is available here on the Nashville Scene. Kimbrough used what Mandis called “inflammatory language” repeatedly even as he said…

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Nominations to Serve on Nashville’s Controversial Police Oversight Board Expected to Increase As Deadline Approaches

Nominations to serve on Nashville’s new police oversight board are due in two weeks. While a handful of people have come forward, numerous community groups plan to submit more names, and across a wide spectrum, Nashville Public Radio says. Several organizations that fought to create the board say they’re preparing nominees, and if there are dozens of names, the Metro Council could hold special meetings to vet them before voting in an 11-person panel before the end of January. “If there are a lot of names, then we will figure out how to winnow that down,” said Theeda Murphy with Community Oversight Now, which advocated for the board’s creation. But even opponents, like the Fraternal Order of Police, are considering who could represent their views. President James Smallwood acknowledged that the board doesn’t allow current law enforcement to serve. “Former law enforcement, people that understand the law — so those would be attorneys — people that are or have been exposed to the way that officers are trained,” Smallwood said. One day after the vote, Smallwood said in an emailed statement it’s important this coming board not exclude the perspectives of law enforcement officers, The Tennessee Star reported. As reported,…

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Nashville’s $15 Million for Amazon is Corporate Welfare, FOP Says

Nashville’s police union is criticizing the city’s plans to award up to $15 million in incentives for Amazon’s new facility, calling it “corporate welfare,” the Associated Press reported. The Nashville Fraternal Order of Police is calling for cost-of-living adjustments the city reneged on earlier this year amid budget woes. Amazon has said its total incentive package in Nashville includes up to $102 million in performance-based incentives based on creating 5,000 jobs over the seven-year timeframe, with an average wage over $150,000. Nashville Mayor David Briley gave merit raises to 20 members of his own staff even as rank-and-file city workers got shafted on the promised salary increases, The Tennessee Star previously reported in September. Two of the mayor’s staff received 6 percent increases. The city’s excuse for not giving the salary adjustments was a shaky budget. James Smallwood, president of the Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 5, issued this statement to The Star about Amazon: The Fraternal Order of Police was pleased to learn that Amazon, in their selection of Nashville as a finalist for their new facility, had recognized what Nashvillians have always known. That Nashville is a safe, vibrant and welcoming city with an enormous potential for future growth. However,…

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Nashville FOP Demands PAC Stop Using Officer Likenesses to Advocate for Civilian Oversight Board

The Fraternal Order of Police sent a cease-and-desist letter to Accountability Matters PAC, saying the group used police officers’ images without permission to support Amendment 1 (setting up a civilian oversight board). The commercial uses photographs of several Metro Nashville Police Department officers without their permission, James Smallwood, president of Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 5 of the FOP, said in a press release. The commercial also depicts the MNPD officers as proponents of Amendment 1. The officers shown without their consent in the video are opposed to Amendment 1 and were mad to learn their picture was being used without their consent. [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/FOP-letter-cease-and-desist_.pdf”] “Today, on behalf of the officers, we sent the … cease and desist letter to Comcast demanding that they immediately stop airing the Accountability Matters commercial that uses the likeness of our officers without their consent. We expect Comcast will pull the commercial immediately and force Accountability Matters to remove the unauthorized photographs from its commercial,” Smallwood said in the press release. “It is troubling that Accountability Matters placed the officers of the MNPD in a position where they are potentially violating not only federal law but MNPD policy that prohibits appearing in uniform for political…

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Police Civilian Oversight Board Redundant, Expensive, Denies Due Process of Officers: FOP President

A civilian oversight board for the Nashville Metro Police Department “sounds like a warm and fuzzy,” but one expert says that is not the case. James Smallwood is president of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police. “People immediately think, ‘Well, that’s a great idea,’” Smallwood told The Tennessee Star this week. A circuit court judge in September ruled against the Fraternal Order of Police in a lawsuit the group filed trying to throw out a referendum to establish a community board overseeing Metro Police, News Channel 5 said. Once you get into the minutiae, it becomes apparent the Amendment 1 initiative that is on the Nov. 6 ballot will have a “massive cost” of $10 million over five years, Smallwood said. That is more expensive than any comparable civilian oversight board in the nation. That is not a viable option when the city is in dire financial straits. The board also would be redundant, he said. There are at least eight layers of oversight of Metro Police already, including civilian and government agencies. The new board would not give police equal representation – there are no regulations on who can sit on the board, other than they cannot be officers or married…

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Nashville Fraternal Order of Police: Proposed Amendment One Not Constitutional

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Members of the Nashville Fraternal Order of the Police said Tuesday they have serious constitutional concerns about the proposed Amendment One. If voters approve it next month then city officials would create a community oversight board over the police. Former FOP President Robert Weaver spoke for the organization at a press conference at the Nashville Metro Courthouse late Tuesday. “There are several aspects of this legislation that are constitutionally questionable. There are issues we have (with this proposed amendment) that don’t address due process,” Weaver said. “It appears this board is not set up for fact finding and truth finding. It appears this board is set up for some means of retaliation and retribution for a problem that doesn’t seem to exist.” Weaver said this plan, if enacted, will waste $10 million taxpayer dollars. He called the proposed board “redundant” because there are other means for redress against the police already available in Nashville. “You already have the ability to file a complaint with an officer’s supervisor. You have the ability to file with the district attorney’s office, the US attorney’s office, or the TBI and the FBI. There is even recourse through civil courts if you…

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Fraternal Order of Police Endorses Blackburn

The Fraternal Order of Police on Tuesday announced its endorsement of Marsha Blackburn for U.S. Senate. Speaking about the endorsement, Scottie DeLashmit, Fraternal Order of Police State President, said, “Marsha Blackburn has consistently been a friend to law enforcement in Tennessee. Her commitment to providing the resources we need to maintain law and order in our communities is paramount to our ability to care for the safety and security of the residents of our state. The Tennessee Fraternal Order of Police is proud to endorse and support Marsha in her race for U.S. Senate.” U.S. Representative Blackburn (R-TN-07) said, “The Fraternal Order of Police is a dedicated community of law enforcement officials committed to fostering a community of law and order. I am honored to receive the FOP’s endorsement in my race for United States Senate. As Tennessee’s next senator, I will always work to support the law enforcement community and ensure they have the resources they need to protect us.” Blackburn is running against Democratic former Governor Phil Bredesen for the seat of Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), who is retiring. Blackburn leads Bredesen in the race by eight points, 50 percent to 42 percent, in a new CBS News Battleground Tracker poll,…

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