NewsWatch: Public Safety -- Police Ordered to Ignore Subpoenas, More ...

Photo: Russian Police Officer Alexey Dymovskiy

Cop Exposes Corruption, Youtube Video Viewed 2 Million Times
One day last fall, a Russian police officer put on his uniform and sat on a drab tan couch before a video camera. In a halting monotone, he recorded two video appeals to Vladimir V. Putin, 13 minutes in all. He was a nobody cop from a nowhere city, but his words would startle this country. "How can a police officer accept bribes?" the officer asked. "Do you understand where our society is heading?" New York Times

Emergency Manager's Dilemma: Should You Take Your BlackBerry on Vacation?
As emergency managers, you can't delegate responsibility for what happens -- when you're there or on vacation, you're responsible for what gets done or is left undone. Emergency Management

San Francisco Tests Electric Scooters for Cops
Pedestrians walking down Mission Street Wednesday afternoon seemed startled to see two police officers  whizzing up the street in what appeared to be white, combat-style Segway scooters. But no one was more surprised than the suspect they caught up with at Sixth Street. "You guys look like Robo-cops," he said, after denying that he was the person they were attempting to apprehend. The city is trying the scooters for two weeks. San Francisco Chronicle

Plainfield Considers Gunshot Tracking Technology
As Plainfield, N.J.'s mayor and Police Department try to tackle a gang violence problem, a company showed off a high-tech gunshot detection system Wednesday that could cost the city an estimated $700,000 to get running. Representatives from the Mountain View, Calif.-based ShotSpotter gathered the mayor, police director and other city officials, at the Rock Avenue ball fields where they fired blanks from a shotgun and an assault rifle to demonstrate the product. New Jersey Star-Ledger

Dallas Police to Enforce Teen Curfew
More than 30 officers will be patrolling in a stepped-up nighttime curfew initiative, to run through Saturday night. The police stressed that they'll be enforcing the curfew all summer -- albeit not with this week's manpower. Dallas Morning News

Houston PD Ordered to Ignore Subpoenas
In an effort to slash $4 million in Houston police overtime, officers have been ordered to ignore subpoenas for morning appearances in municipal court, a policy change that has infuriated citizens, riled defense attorneys and angered police union officials. Houston Chronicle

Congress Reduces Disparities in Cocaine Sentencing
Congress on Wednesday changed a 25-year-old law that has subjected tens of thousands of Americans to long prison terms for crack cocaine convictions while giving far more lenient treatment to those caught with the powder form of the drug. The House, by voice vote, approved a bill reducing the disparities between mandatory crack and powder cocaine sentences, sending the measure to President Obama for his signature. Washington Post

Vandal Leaves Mark on Boulder County Justice Center
Despite a crackdown on graffiti by the Boulder, Colo., Police Department, at least one vandal managed to hide his or her work in plain sight this week -- on the front entrance to the Boulder County Justice Center. Using what appears to have been a set of stencils and white paint, someone added a set of quotation marks around the word "justice" on the facility's main sign at the corner of Sixth Street and Canyon Boulevard. Denver Post