Um usuário descreveu como “uma ferramenta revolucionária para a mudança em nossa sociedade.” Outro chamou de “Fodão” e Barry Cooper do NeverGetBusted.com que é ex-detetive da polícia decorado chamou de “o novo 911, mas mais seguro.”  Outros usuários descreveram-no como “uma linha direta de algum cyberpunk de ficção” e um usuário disse que “Eu definitivamente usaria isto antes de chamar a polícia!”  Os elogios continuam chegando e a polícia odeia isso:

“É simplesmente o que eu estava esperando”

“É um aplicativo ótimo para pessoas que vivem em áreas onde os cidadãos e a polícia não trabalhamos bem juntos”

“É como o UBER para 911!”

“Em breve, 911 será uma coisa do passado…”

Este novo aplicativo móvel tem sido um sucesso de ativismo e policiais odeiam isso. É chamado Cell411  e é um aplicativo criado por ativistas para ativistas, mas também para qualquer pessoa que pode encontrar-se em uma emergência e querendo chamar por um grupo de amigos confiáveis, ao invés da polícia.

O aplicativo, que está disponível tanto nas plataformas iOS e Android, permite que aos usuários emitir alertas de vários grupos confiáveis de membros da família, vizinhos e amigos. A questão de abordar situações de emergência sem envolvimento da polícia veio para o primeiro plano do debate devido a brutalidade policial como muitos casos têm mostrado a resposta da polícia a emergências e atirando cães, matando indivíduos suicidas e muitas vezes não ajudando aqueles que pedem ajuda, mas sim prejudicando-os ou até mesmo matando-os.

O aplicativo de smartphone permitirá que você crie grupos públicos ou privados, em sua área geográfica e use-os como um método para enviar ajuda em caso de emergência. Você pode notificar seus amigos quando você tiver um pneu furado, ficar parado, tem um problema médico ou quando a polícia está perseguindo você. Você pode até mesmo espelhar um vídeo ao vivo para todos os seus amigos e evitar a possibilidade do vídeo ser excluído pela polícia ou provas sendo destruídas por um indivíduo mal-intencionado.

Uma vez solicitada ajuda, seus amigos receberão suas coordenadas por GPS e direções passo-a-passo para a sua localização exata; Você será notificado de uma ETA e o quão longe seus amigos estão.

Há mesmo um modo de “patrulha” disponível que ainda permite que você envie os chamados “alertas globais”, significando que qualquer pessoa usando o aplicativo em sua área receberá notificações e será capaz de ajudar, para que eles se sintam como um bom samaritano naquele dia.

A melhor coisa sobre este aplicativo é que é totalmente gratuito, e a opção de permitir que os usuários criarem “grupos públicos” que qualquer um poderia entrar é muito poderosa e oferece as comunidades a opção de se auto policiar. Aqui estão alguns outros exemplos das possibilidades fantásticas que este aplicativo oferece:

Por exemplo, um grupo da vigilância de bairro de vizinhos poderia criar um grupo e usar o aplicativo para notificar um ao outro em caso de emergência.

• Pessoas idosas poderiam usar o aplicativo para notificar todos os membros da sua família, se eles estão em uma necessidade específica.
• Ativistas observando a atividade da polícia ou abuso da polícia poderiam notificar todos os ativistas em uma área e espalhar um vídeo para todos os seus amigos.
• Departamentos de bombeiros voluntários poderiam incentivar suas comunidades para usar o aplicativo como uma opção livre de “despacho”.
• Crianças em idade escolar podem enviar alertas, se elas estão sendo maltratado ou abusado na escola.
• Membros da família podem enviar alertas quando os veículos quebram e precisam de ajuda urgente.

Existem inúmeras outras possibilidades para este aplicativo, e os criadores estão claramente visando o aplicativo para usuários que desejam ser autossuficientes e não dependem de serviços do governo e funcionários do governo para responder às emergências.

Você pode baixar Cell411 do http://getcell411.com.

O pequeno vídeo abaixo explica as características básicas do aplicativo.

By I Quant NY

New York City is a complex place to drive.  And when it comes to parking, there are plenty of rules and regulations to follow.  It’s no wonder that sometimes people get confused and end up getting their cars ticketed or towed.

But in all of these rules, there is one thing that very few drivers seem to know. As of late 2008, in NYC you can park in front of a sidewalk pedestrian ramp, as long as it’s not connected to a crosswalk.  It’s all written up in the NYC Traffic Rules, and for more detail, take a look at this article. The local legislation making these parking spots legal was proposed by Council Member Gentile, and adopted by the Department of Transportation before it ever made it for a vote.  Though few people seem to know about the change.

Is it a problem that drivers don’t realize that there are some extra parking spots they are now allowed to park in?  Not so much.  But, I’ve got a pedestrian ramp leading to nowhere particular in the middle of my block in Brooklyn, and on occasion I have parked there.  Despite the fact that it is legal, I’ve been ticketed for parking there.  Though I get the tickets dismissed, it’s a waste of everybody’s time. And that got me wondering- How common is it for the police to give tickets to cars legally parked in front of pedestrian ramps?  It couldn’t be just me…

In the past, there was not much you could do to stop something like this. Complaining to your local precinct would at best only solve the problem locally.  But thanks to NYC’s Open Data portal, I was able to look at the most common parking spots in the City where cars were ticketed for blocking pedestrian ramps.   It’s worth taking a moment upfront here to praise the NYPD for offering this dataset to begin with.  Though we are behind on police crime data in the city, we are ahead in other ways and the parking ticket dataset is definitely one of them.

What I found when I dove into the data surprised me.  To start, I found the top address where this ticket were given: in front of 575 Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn, where over $48,000 in parking fines were issued in the last 2.5 years.

To my surprise, the spot, (or really spots since there are two ramps), are legal, since they are in the middle of the block, with no crosswalk.  $48,000 in tickets at a legally parked spot, and that is just the last 2.5 years.  If we had more historical data, I suspect we would see a similar story.

The next top spots on the list had the same story to tell.

1705 Canton Avenue in Brooklyn, 273 Tickets, $45,045: Legal.

270-05 76 Avenue in Queens, 256 Tickets ($42,440) Legal.

143-49 Cherry Ave, Queens, 246 Tickets, ($40,590).  Legal.

Those were of course the most extreme cases that topped the list.  I started to skip down the list.  This spot in Battery Park, ranked #16 on my list and the top spot in Manhattan, had 116 tickets ($19,140) and turned out to be legal.  (Yellow paint has no meaning in NYC traffic enforcement, and the spot has no crosswalk)

I started to skip down the list faster and faster.  Take #1000 in my top list, at 1059 Virginia Avenue, where 8 tickets had been given ($1320).  It is a classic T intersection, meaning it’s legal.

See the pattern?  I did.  So I then selected 30 random spots that had received 5 or more tickets over the time period, and based on Google Maps found that all of them appeared to be legal parking spots!  (Randomly selecting spots with a single ticket in the database showed some illegal spots as well, so I chose 5 as a conservative cutoff.)

How many spots received 5 or more of these pedestrian ramp tickets in the last 2.5 years?  We are talking 1,966 spots that are generating about 1.7 million dollars a year in tickets at parking spots that are mostly legal.  Are all 1966 spots legal?  Surely not, but the majority sure are and many more that have fewer than five tickets are likely legal too.

To see where the hotspots were for this sort of abuse of drivers, I mapped the top 1000 pedestrian ramps generating parking tickets below, so you can see if you have a spot in your neighborhood that the police have been wrongly ticketing.  Clicking on a spot tells you if the tickets are given in front of, or opposite the address, as well as how many tickets have been given.

My challenge to you…  click on a spot and then look at pictures of it on Google Maps to determine if its legal.  You will most likely find it is.

Other findings in the data:

Brooklyn’s 70th Precinct seems to have the most cars wrongly ticketed, bringing in over $100,000 in fines a year.  The 77th, also in Brooklyn, comes in second:

So what is going on here? Well, it seemed from my browsing that many police officers were systematically ignoring the 2009 rule change, all across the city.

But that is not where the story ends. As mentioned, we live in a city progressive enough to release parking ticket data.  I’ve repeatedly said that putting data into the hand of citizens will make our city run better and more equitably.  So, I reached out to the NYPD via the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer’s Office (who is one of NYC’s earliest NYC’s Open Data champions)  to tell them about the findings.  They helped me get in touch with the appropriate people at the NYPD, and then I waited.

After a couple of weeks, I received the following quote from the NYPD:

“Mr. Wellington’s analysis identified errors the department made in issuing parking summonses. It appears to be a misunderstanding by officers on patrol of a recent, abstruse change in the parking rules.  We appreciate Mr. Wellington bringing this anomaly to our attention.

The department’s internal analysis found that patrol officers who are unfamiliar with the change have observed vehicles parked in front of pedestrian ramps and issued a summons in error. When the rule changed in 2009 to allow for certain pedestrian ramps to be blocked by parked vehicles, the department focused training on traffic agents, who write the majority of summonses.

Yet, the majority of summonses written for this code violation were written by police officers. As a result, the department sent a training message to all officers clarifying the rule change and has communicated to commanders of precincts with the highest number of summonses, informing them of the issues within their command.

Thanks to this analysis and the availability of this open data, the department is also taking steps to digitally monitor these types of summonses to ensure that they are being issued correctly.”

I was speechless.  THIS is what the future of government could look like one day. THIS is what Open Data is all about.  THIS was coming from the NYPD, who is not generally celebrated for its transparency, and yet it’s the most open and honest response I have received from any New York City agency to date. Imagine a city where all agencies embrace this sort of analysis instead of deflect and hide from it.   (For comparison purposes, see NYC Department of Health response to earlier work as example of how NOT to respond to Open Data.)

Democracies provide pathways for government to learn from their citizens. Open data makes those pathways so much more powerful.  In this case, the NYPD acknowledged the mistake, is retraining its officers and is putting in monitoring to limit this type of erroneous ticketing from happening in the future.  In doing so, they have shown that they are ready and willing to work with the people of the city.  And what better gift can we get from Open Data than that.

——

See Previous Government Changes brought on by this blog below:
-DOT Repainting Streets due to confusing fire hydrant
-TLC Reprogramming Cabs due to odd tipping algorithms
-MTA Redoing subway vending machines due to change issues.

See all blog coverage on NYPD here.

——

Parking Ticket Data Available here, here and here.
Map made in cartodb
Analysis done in pandas with IPython.

La aplicación de celular que la policía no desea que tengas

Un usuario la describió como “una herramienta revolucionaria para el cambio en nuestra sociedad”. Otro la llamó “radical” y Barry Cooper de NeverGetBusted.com, un ex detective de la policía con condecoraciones, la llamó “el nuevo 911 pero más segura”.  Otros usuarios la han descripto como “salida de una historia de ficción ciberpunk” y un usuario dijo

“¡Definitivamente voy a usarla antes de llamar a la policía!”. Los elogios siguen llegando y la policía la odia:

“Es justo lo que estaba esperando”

“Es una gran aplicación para las personas que viven en las zonas en las que la gente y la policía no trabajan bien juntos”

“¡Es como el UBER del 911!”

“Pronto, el 911será historia…”

Está nueva aplicación móvil ha tomado al mundo del activismo por sorpresa y la policía la odia. Se llama Cell 411 y es una aplicación creada por activistas para activistas, pero también para cualquiera que se encuentre en una situación de emergencia y prefiera llamar a un grupo de amigos confiables en lugar de a la policía.

La aplicación, que está disponible tanto en las plataformas Android como las plataformas  iOS, permite a los usuarios emitir varias alertas a varios grupos confiables de familiares, vecinos y amigos. El problema de enfrentarse a emergencias sin la involucrar a la policía ha sido una cuestión de importancia en el debate acerca de la violencia policíaca, ya que en muchos casos la policía responde a llamadas de emergencia disparando a perros, matando a individuos con tendencias suicidas y, con frecuencia, no ayudando a aquellos que solicitan la ayuda, sino que los ponen en peligro y en ocasiones incluso causan su muerte.

Un grupo público permite a los voluntarios vigilar Central Park en búsqueda de actividad criminal

La aplicación de celular le permitirá crear grupos privados o públicos en su área geográfica y utilizarlos como un método para proporcionar ayuda en caso de emergencia. Usted podrá notificar a amigos cuando pinche una rueda, cuando lo detengan, si tiene un problema médico o cuando la policía lo esté maltratando. Usted podrá incluso transmitir video en directo a todos sus amigos y evitar la posibilidad de que el video sea borrado por la policía o que la evidencia sea destruida por un individuo malintencionado.

Una vez que solicite ayuda, sus amigos recibirán sus coordinadas de GPS e indicaciones paso a paso para llegar a su ubicación exacta. Usted recibirá una notificación ETA y le indicará qué tan lejos sus amigos se encuentran.

Hay incluso disponible un “modo patrulla” que le permitirá enviar las denominadas “alertas global”, lo que significa que cualquier persona que se encuentre utilizando la aplicación en el área recibirá su notificación y podrá acercarse a ayudar en caso que se sientan como un buen samaritano es día.

Lo mejor de esta aplicación es que es completamente gratuita y la opción que permite a los usuarios crear “grupos públicos” a los que cualquiera puede unirse es muy poderosa y ofrece a las comunidades la opción de actuar como policía autónoma. Aquí hay algunos ejemplos adicionales de las fantásticas posibilidades que ofrece esta aplicación:

Por ejemplo, un grupo de vigilancia vecinal podría crear un grupo y utilizar la aplicación para enviar notificaciones los unos a los otros en caso de emergencias.

• Las personas mayores pueden utilizar esta aplicación para notificar a los miembros de su familia si se encuentran con una necesidad particular.
• Los activistas que observan actividades de la policía o abusos policíacos pueden notificar a todos los activistas en el área y transmitir video a todos sus amigos.
• Los departamentos de bomberos voluntarios pueden animar a sus comunidades a utilizar la aplicación como una opción de “llamada” gratuita.
• Los niños en edad escolar pueden enviar alertas si están siendo intimidados o abusados en la escuela.
• Los miembros de una familia pueden enviar alertas cuando sus vehículos se descomponen y necesitan ayuda inmediata.

Existen incontables posibilidades para esta aplicación y los creadores apuntan claramente esta aplicación a los usuarios que desean ser autosuficientes y no depender de los servicios públicos y de los empleados del gobierno para responder a las emergencias.

Puede descargar Cell 411 desde http://getcell411.com.

El breve video a continuación explica las características básicas de la aplicación.

“He just took a step back and he just shot at the dog,” Smarr said. “And then he started laughing afterward.

ATLANTA — A woman whose dog was shot and killed by police said she is still facing charges for not having proper pet owner’s documentation.

Claudette Terry told Atlanta’s Channel 2 News that she was moving to a residence on Pineglen Drive in May when police approached her friend who was sitting in her driveway.

“My son opened the door the dog ran out and kind of stood by me where the other officers were,” said Terry. “He didn’t bark, growl, or anything.”

Terry’s neighbor, Aijohli King, said she witnessed police shoot the dog from across the street. “He just shot the dog and stood there with no remorse, no regrets in front of her and her kids,” King said.

From the 2 News report:

Terry explained she was already speaking to two other officers when a third officer, Walter Dennard, walked up. In his incident report, Dennard said the family’s 5-month-old lab-pit mix ran and lunged at him.

Witness Brandon Smarr said that’s not true.

“He just took a step back and he just shot at the dog,” Smarr said. “And then he started laughing afterward.”

“The dog was shaking on the ground,” Terry said. “And he walked up to the dog and shot it a second time. He walked closer and shot it a second time.”

Terry said at first she wondered if anyone else was hit by the bullets.

“When the gun went off, my son went down in the yard crying. I looked thinking my son may have been shot,” she said.

The puppy named 8-Ball was friendly, according to friends, and well-loved, especially by Terry’s daughter.

Officer Dennard’s file showed several use of force complaints, including a suspension for Tasing a suspect in the neck. But Terry is the one facing charges for not having her dog on a leash or showing rabies paperwork.

A Clayton County police spokesperson said the Office of Professional Standards is conducting an internal investigation and they cannot comment in the meantime.

By Deric Lostutter

Under an alias, Martin Collar, my source has come forward to offer a handsome reward for proof that his child was born in the United States of America. The Harvard MBA Grad and private investor from San Francisco, California, has come forward with a $5,000 reward for any person that can help prove that his child was born in the United States, and that his former partner, Emily Hsuan Yeh, did in fact, as suspected, ignore repeated court orders for compliance with demands for paternity tests to establish his rights as a father.

Martin and Emily’s heated court battle was previously showcased in TruthVoice, receiving national attention, and many theories as to how she circumvented the court’s orders, eventually leaving the United States and returning to her homeland of Taiwan.

Martin is certain that Emily had his child in the United States, due to forensic computer evidence provided by Opsec CyberSecurity Solutions LLC, and an eyewitness account of a security guard at Emily Yeh’s lawyer’s office. The I.P. address grab, pictured below, coincides with the timing of the witness statement, taken by San Francisco Police Department (also pictured below), thus, Emily Yeh must have been in the United States at the time of her child’s birth, and illegally removed the child from United States soil, to avoid court.

Emily clicked a link sent by a fake email address, to a remote server, which logged her I.P. address.

Barry Schneider, who represents Emily Yeh, has not yet responded to TruthVoice’s request for comment sent on July 24th, 2015.

Emily was seen in the law office, just before the child’s communicated expected birth date, “looking very pregnant”, according to the guard on duty. This would make it especially hard for Emily Hsuan Yeh to have the child in Taiwan, as she claimed, because most United State’s airlines tend to bar woman who are in their third trimester from flying due to increased risk of premature labor.

As soon as Martin was told by the security guard that he did, in fact, witness Emily Yeh in person around the time of the I.P. Address grab pictured above, it solidified his belief that Emily was in the Bay Area, and he contacted San Francisco Police Department, who took a witness statement, which he then submitted to the courts.

Photo of Emily, with contact information of security guard, and police department statement ticket

Emily is a very well traveled person, due to the nature of her work as Vice President of Operations with international music artist booking company, EL-Live Productions.

If you have any information that may be helpful to this case, Martin asks that you submit it to a third party website dedicated to this case via the contact form at: http://emilyhsuanyeh.com/

(h/t The Anti-Media)

Officials say a northeastern Oklahoma town is without a working police force after the chief and its patrol officers resigned amid tension stemming from a local businessman’s arrest earlier this year.

The department previously consisted of four full-time officers, including Chief Chris Bohl who resigned this week, and two part-time patrolmen, the Tulsa World reported. The town of Chelsea has around 2,000 residents.

“There was a meeting held between a couple of councilmen, city manager and the reserves to see if the reserves planned to stay,” Chelsea Police Department Records Clerk Val Donna said.”

Rogers County Sheriff’s deputies are watching the town and taking criminal reports until the department can be shored up.”

The departure of Chelsea’s officers comes after the Town Board voted 3-1 in May to keep Town Administrator Kenny Weast. Assistant Police Chief Travis Hogan, who left around two weeks ago, claimed that Weast had intervened during a March 3 traffic stop involving a local construction company owner. The board also voted 3-1 to allow officer Nicholas Pappe who arrested the businessman on a drunken driving complaint to stay on at the department.

The businessman admitted drinking two beers before driving, according to an arrest report. The businessman told Pappe that Weast would take him, the vehicle and two passengers home from the scene of the traffic stop.

>Officers previously said Pappe refused to allow Weast to take the businessman home.

Weast hasn’t commented on the traffic stop issue. But in a Wednesday statement he said that the Sheriff’s Office will help patrol the town.

“While there have been many erroneous reports and rumors, our citizens’ protection, safety and trust has and always will be [our] priority,” Weast said.

Donna said that Terry Gorham, one of seven remaining reserve officers, was appointed as interim police chief during an emergency meeting Wednesday.

This story appeared on the Associated Press wire

Bogota’s already criticized police department got embarrassed further on Wednesday when a video leaked of police recruits brutally fighting and apparently tasering each other.

The video was released on the Facebook page of Mi Bogota, a social media platform from Colombia’s capital.

In the video, a pair of recruits is seen fighting each other while being cheered by a group of approximately ten colleagues.

At one point, one of the rookies kicks his rival in the head after which other recruits get involved and a brawl breaks out.

The policemen quickly disperse after a woman, or “bitch” according to one the aspiring officers, is heard calling them out on their behavior.

A sheriff’s deputy won’t be charged for fatally shooting 13-year-old Andy Lopez as he walked with a BB pellet rifle that resembled an AK-47 in Santa Rosa last October, in a shooting that triggered a spate of protests and calls for criminal charges. Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced the decision not to file criminal charges on Monday afternoon. The teen died at the scene. Ravitch called the shooting of Lopez “absolutely tragic,” but said the actions of Sonoma County sheriff’s Deputy Erick Gelhaus were lawful and that he would not be charged. A sheriff’s deputy won’t be charged for fatally shooting 13-year-old Andy Lopez as he walked with a BB pellet rifle that resembled an AK-47 in Santa Rosa last October, in a shooting that triggered a spate of protests and calls for criminal charges. Mark Matthews reports. (Published Monday, Jul 7, 2014) “Here the implementation of lethal force was a reasonable response under the circumstances according to all of the evidence we have reviewed,” she said.

Gelhaus told investigators he ordered Lopez to drop the rifle, but the barrel of the gun rose as the teen turned toward the deputies’ patrol car. Gelhaus, who said he feared for his life, fired eight shots at Lopez, who was struck by seven bullets and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The district attorney’s office released a 52-page report on what Ravitch called an “exhaustive” investigation into the details of the shooting. The FBI is still conducting its own independent investigation.

In response to the announcement, the Lopez family issued the following statement:

“After a long delay, District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced today that she will not be filing criminal charges against Erick Gelhaus, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy who shot and killed 13-year-old Andy Lopez.
This disheartening decision leaves the family feeling as though Andy had been killed again today. It is impossible to accept Ravitch’s conclusion that Gelhaus shot and killed Andy in response to what he ‘honestly and reasonably believed was an imminent threat of death to himself or others.’ No reasonable officer in such circumstances could believe he was encountering anything but a teenager with a toy gun on a sunny afternoon in a residential area.
Erick Gelhaus’ exaggerated and careless response deserves a truly transparent and impartial evaluation. Ms. Ravitch’s conclusion is a mockery of justice and confirms that her office cannot meaningfully sit in judgment of local law enforcement. This cowardly political decision sends the tacit message that law enforcement officials who use excessive force in Sonoma County will not suffer meaningful consequences and, instead, will enjoy immunity from local prosecution.
The family, through their attorney, will petition the U.S. District court for the immediate lifting of the stay of the proceedings as to Erick Gelhaus and thereby allow the civil case to move forward as to him and Sonoma County.
The family will also urge the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Attorney’s office to conduct an impartial investigation as to the shooting and killing of Andy Lopez.
Lastly, for those who share their anguish over this decision, the family asks that the Sonoma County community to continue to observe peace.”

Sonoma County Sheriff Steve Freitas also released a statement about Ravitch’s decision, saying his “heart goes out to the friends of Andy Lopez, the involved deputies, and the entire Sonoma County community during this difficult time.”

“We as a community need to come together to find every possible way to minimize the potential of a tragic incident like this from happening again,” Freitas said.

About a dozen protesters were gathered outside the building where Ravitch disclosed the results of her review.

Human rights attorney Jonathan Melrod has led the charge against the sheriff’s department and Deputy Gelhaus in numerous protests since the shooting.

“He was shot because he was a kid carrying a toy gun where kids play,” Melrod said. “The militarization of the police is evolving into ‘us versus them.’”

Community organizer Nicole Guerra, whose son was Lopez’s friend, said it is ridiculous that “police can use the excuse they were in fear of their lives.”

“Kids are in fear because they know cops can get away with it,” Guerra said. “He should have known that was a toy.”

And on Monday night, protesters gathered at the Andy Lopez memorial and continued to voice their anger and opposition to the decision.

Daniel Lopez brought his 12-year-old son to the rally. He said the DA’s decision deepens his fear of law enforcement.

“The same thing can happen to him or to any of us,” Daniel Lopez said.

With criminal charges off the table in the Lopez case, mothers like Christina Garcia said they wonder how she and other families can be sure their kids are safe.

“I have kids, and I have teenager boys,” Garcia said. “Something needs to stop this.”

Protesters said they plan to gather at the district attorney’s office Tuesday to make sure she is aware of their anger.

A hilarious story from Boing Boing is making us scratch our heads.

Police in Shelby Township, Michigan had an interesting encounter with a pig who escaped from its owner, ran around town for a while, then ended up in the back of a cop car pooping all over the place.

“You would never believe it,” Deputy Chief Mark Coil told WWJ’s Pat Vitale. “Just when you think after 25 years in the business you’ve seen it all, you get a call from a shift commander telling you that we have corralled a pig.”

Coil said the whole thing started after police received a 911 call around 7 p.m. Thursday, from a woman who said there was a pig on the loose and she didn’t know what to do. According to reports, the woman was doing yard work when the pig came barreling toward her. It then chased her into the front yard before getting distracted by a decorative ball.

“Officers responded and were able to detain the pig and get him in the back seat of the patrol car,” said Coil. “Realistically, the pig didn’t give us much trouble. We used a dog pole that we would use for a dog at large and were able to corral the pig and take the pig into custody without any problems whatsoever.” The real problem occurred afterward — when officers got the pig back to the station.

“Well, lets say the pig either out of excitement or otherwise felt the need to use the back seat of our patrol car as a bathroom,” said Coil.

Everyone’s okay now. There’s video on the police department’s Facebook page.

WACO, Texas – When gunfire erupted outside a Texas restaurant, most of the leather-clad motorcycle riders watching the confrontation immediately ran away from the shooting. A few tried to direct people inside, crawling on all fours heading for safety.

One biker ran away with blood on his face, hands and torso. A woman could be heard screaming, “Oh my God!” Others yelled, “Get down!”

According to restaurant security video shown to The Associated Press exclusively, only one of the dozens of bikers was seen firing a gun from the patio of the Twin Peaks restaurant where nine people were killed.

Many of the bikers on tape are likely to have been arrested by Waco police, who rounded up about 170 people, charged them with felony engaging in organized criminal activity and set their bonds at $1 million.

Police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton declined to comment about the video Wednesday. Swanton has said the people arrested were members of biker gangs with criminal elements that have been monitored by local authorities for months.

“They were not here to drink and eat barbecue,” Swanton said earlier this week. “They came here with violence in mind.”

The video shows bikers on the restaurant patio Sunday, ducking under tables and trying to get inside. At least three people were holding handguns.

Before the shooting, the inside of the restaurant appears to be mostly empty. Bikers and other patrons can be seen walking to the windows facing the parking lot, where most of the shooting happened, when the confrontation was apparently underway.

When gunshots start at 12:24 p.m. on the video, most bikers, other patrons and staff immediately run away from the windows and into the restaurant’s interior. At least three people can be seen holding handguns.

One camera angle shows bikers running into the men’s bathroom. When there’s no space left in the bathroom, they dash toward the kitchen.

The AP was shown the video Wednesday by representatives of the Twin Peaks franchise, who have said the fighting began outside the restaurant, not inside as police have said. The franchise has not released the video publicly, citing the ongoing investigation.

None of the nine video angles shows the parking lot.

Video shows police with assault rifles entering the door about two minutes after the shooting begins. As two officers enter, bikers can be seen lying on the floor with their hands spread.

Before the shooting, at least 20 members of the Cossacks biker gang can be seen on the patio. Members of the Scimitars, Boozefighters and Leathernecks can also be seen on the tape. While no Bandidos are immediately visible, police and one member of that biker gang have said some of their members were at the event.

Among those arrested was Theron Rhoten, who showed up at the Twin Peaks restaurant for a regional motorcycle club meeting. But, according to his wife, he soon found himself in the middle of a deadly shootout involving scores of other bikers.

Katie Rhoten said her husband ran for cover and was later arrested, along with motorcycle-riding friends and other “nonviolent, noncriminal people.”

Police have said that all those arrested were part of criminal motorcycle gangs, but only five of the nine people killed had criminal histories in Texas, based on court records and a search of their names in a database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Police have acknowledged firing on armed bikers, but it is not clear how many of the dead were shot by gang members and how many were shot by officers.

This story found on the Associated Press wire