NewsWatch: Public Safety -- Police Call "Ticket Furlough"

Ticket Furlough: DeKalb police Write 30 Percent Fewer
DeKalb County police officers are fighting back against pay cuts and hitting the county where it hurts: revenue. Records found that officers wrote 30 percent fewer traffic tickets last month compared with July of 2009. Last month, the AJC reported that officers were calling for a ticket furlough to protest the county's unpaid holidays. Officers, who have promoted the protest on a DeKalb police blog, said they are issuing more warnings for speeding and other violations. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Court Upholds "Obstruction" Ordinance
The 8th Circuit has reinstated a Springfield, Mo., ordinance allowing police officers to jail a mother for berating them as they arrested her son outside her home. The ordinance banned people from resisting or obstructing a city officer during an arrest. Courthouse News Service

County Accused of Shackling Pregnant Inmates During Delivery
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and an inmate advocacy group said today that some county jails, including Dallas County, Texas, are still shackling pregnant female inmates to hospital beds during labor and delivery, in violation of a state law passed last year. Dallas Morning News

Traffic Stop Filmed, Wiretapping Charge Added (Video)
Anthony Graber, a staff sergeant in the Maryland Air National Guard filmed the events that followed his being stopped for speeding on his motorcycle. However, Time magazine reports that he now could face up to 16 years in jail for his film, one with which he decided to grace YouTube. It seems that the police officer in question reportedly cut Graber off in a vehicle that wasn't obviously police issue, he was not in uniform, and seems to have raised his voice, gun in hand, before actually mentioning that he was a state trooper. CNET

Judge Halts New York City From Using Exam Results to Hire Firefighters
A federal judge has temporarily enjoined New York City from using its current examination for appointing entry-level firefighter candidates. "Because the test questions do not measure the abilities required for the job of entry-level firefighter, the examination cannot distinguish between qualified and unqualified candidates, or even between more and less qualified candidates," Eastern District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis wrote in United States v. The Vulcan Society Inc., 07-cv-2067. Law.com