The Police Accountability Report

The Holguin family’s troubles with the El Paso Police Department began in 2022, when Adzari Holguin, then a high school senior, was asked by relative to film the police while they responded to a call about a domestic dispute. After police became aggressive once they noticed Adzari was recording, her father, Eddie Holguin, stepped in to escort his daughter home.  That’s when police staged an illega...

Two years ago, Michigan-based cannabis entrepreneur Coty Cecil’s camper van broke down in Milton, West Virginia. As he was awaiting repairs,  Cecil was confronted by Milton police at his door . Despite appearing without a warrant, police demanded entry into the camper van. During the subsequent raid, police smashed Cecil’s window and confiscated eight hemp plants.  Cecil now faces a 10-year senten...

Jose Palomares, an off-duty cop, was moonlighting as a security guard at a homeless services center in Ft. Worth when a dispute arose over $20. Officer Palomares chose to intervene—immediately accusing the man who believed he'd had $20 stolen from him, of being a drug dealer. After calling in the drug dogs and conducting an illegal search, Palomares failed to find sufficient drugs to justify his a...

The weather outside is frightful, and so is the behavior of police departments around the country! In a special holiday-themed livestream aired on Dec. 14, Police Accountability Report looks at a series of police abuse incidents around the country. From a Washington state trooper's car crash to a botched raid in Kentucky, Stephen and Taya report live on the latest incidents of cops behaving badly...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/oklahoma-cop-grabs-indigenous-grandmother-for-not-walking-on-a-sidewalk Police brutality and racial profiling are not uncommon in the city of Shawnee, Oklahoma—a place where multiple Indigenous nations were forcibly relocated to during the 19th century. Shawnee today has a high population of Indigenous and Latine residents, and one woman...

A recent article in The Washington Post highlighting the growth of cop watcher YouTube channels provided a rare mainstream spotlight on a movement that's developed entirely outside of elite institutions. But for all The Washington Post got right, a lot was missed as well. Police Accountability Report sits down with popular YouTube cop watchers The Battousai and James Freeman to discuss the state o...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/la-county-sheriffs-keep-pulling-people-over-for-bogus-reasons-this-time-they-got-caught A Los Angeles County Sheriff's traffic stop, allegedly conducted for excessive window tinting, led to a fishing expedition that stranded an innocent passenger at night without her phone, wallet, keys or transportation. But cop watchers @laurasharkcw @...

Chalk artist Joshua Hinson was finishing up a community art project in Leon Valley, Texas when local cops confronted him over his art, which they incorrectly described as "graffiti." Hinson's arrest, which was captured on video, has raised questions about the protection of art under the First Amendment, and the overreach and abuse of power exercised by police in regulating public space. The charge...

Arkansas resident Shawn Chaperone was cut off by a reckless driver and was shocked that police chose to pull him over. However, it was the local police department's turn to be surprised when they discovered how well Shawn knew his rights and local ordinances! Join us for this episode of the Police Accountability Report, which illustrates the importance of knowing your rights and the dangers of arb...

David Michaud had just checked into a motel in Hot Springs, MT when he was approached by local police and ordered to present identification. After Michaud demanded to know why he was being questioned, a contentious exchange ensued that ended with police tasering Michaud multiple times. Michaud, who is Chamorro, was asked by officers whether he was "tribal" before being tasered and arrested. Police...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/us-marshals-swat-bully-alzheimers-patient-into-warrantless-search Lance Thornton was sitting at his home in Erie, Pennsylvania, on the morning of March 12, 2023, when US Marshals, Pennsylvania State Police, and a SWAT team appeared at his door demanding to be let in. The officers were responding to the recent shooting of two state troope...

Click here to read the transcript: https://therealnews.com/atlantas-cop-city-is-a-blueprint-for-americas-future We went on the ground in Atlanta, GA to find the truth behind the Cop City protests, the police shooting death of Manuel "Tortuguita" Tehran and the dark money funding the creation of the Atlanta Public Safety Center. We will also have special guests joining us like cop watcher, auditor...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/weymouth-police-demanded-to-see-his-id-his-refusal-led-to-assault-charges Across the US, people who attempt to resist the seemingly limitless power of the police often find themselves ensnared in a legal system that ostensibly exists for their protection. When a local police officer approached Paul Brophy of Weymouth, Massachusetts, and...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/cops-illegally-raided-his-house-this-is-what-happened-when-he-fought-back On Sept. 30, 2020, a SWAT team burst into the Henderson County, Indiana, home of Chris Reiter under a falsely obtained warrant. Reiter's girlfriend, Tiffany Napier, was severely injured as police ransacked the house, ultimately finding nothing before departing with...

Texas cop watcher Manuel Mata has been jailed again after he confronted a Ft. Worth officer on sidewalk while he was making arrest. The charges of interfering with public duties Mata is facing raise serious questions about the right to film police, and if law enforcement is ratcheting up the pressure on 1st amendment activists. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/t...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/cops-discovered-he-was-filing-a-complaint-against-them-then-they-struck-back A Georgia man who tried to file a complaint against law enforcement in Bullock, GA, but found himself in handcuffs instead. Studio: Stephen Janis Post-Production: Stephen Janis, Adam Coley Help us continue producing Police Accountability Report by following us a...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/a-cop-watcher-attended-the-trial-of-a-corrupt-officer-the-judge-made-him-pay-for-it The trial of Ft. Worth police officer Aaron Dean for the killing of Atatiana Jefferson ended in a conviction for manslaughter and 12-year sentence. But in this episode, PAR investigates how the judge retaliated against supporters of Jefferson’s family who...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/his-wrongful-arrest-was-caught-on-camera-now-the-cops-wont-leave-him-alone Daniel Alvarez first appeared on the Police Accountability Report in June, 2021 after an LA sheriff put him in handcuffs for stopping at a stop sign. Since then, Alvarez has documented numerous instances of LASD officers continuing to target and harass him. Alvare...

Editor's note: This video was recorded prior to Ray Liotta's passing. Police Accountability Report show hosts Taya Graham and Stephen Janis kick off the holidays with a spoilers-free review of the exceptional film Cop Land. Taya and Stephen take a tour behind the scenes of police culture and explore how difficult it really is for individual officers to hold other police accountable for their crime...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/body-cam-shows-baltimore-county-police-arresting-citizen-watchdog-at-gunpoint An unnamed motorist was stopped by Baltimore County police, held at gunpoint, and manhandled by multiple officers before being arrested. Body cam footage reveals the motorist, who has requested anonymity, requesting multiple times to speak with a supervisor and...

Taya Graham and Stephen Janis of the Police Accountability Report host a live discussion on the rapid growth of police budgets and aggressive tactics. Are cops the ones preventing crimes, or actually causing them? Help us continue producing Police Accountability Report by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-pod-par Sign up for our newsletter: https...

In May 2006, Rey Rivera disappeared from his North Baltimore home. Roughly a week later, his body was found in the second floor concourse of Baltimore's historic Belvedere hotel. The 2020 Netflix reboot of Unsolved Mysteries brought international attention to Rivera's mysterious death. The Real News journalists Taya Graham and Stephen Janis have previously covered Rivera's death, asking why his in...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/trenton-nj-police-pull-man-from-car-break-his-nose-and-search-his-vehicle-for-aggressive-behavior-body-cameras-tell-a-different-story Michael Q. Banks was in his car one evening when a specialized crime unit of Trenton police suddenly pulled him from his vehicle and slammed him on the pavement, breaking his nose. When PAR traveled to Tre...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/cops-tried-to-confiscate-his-phone-without-a-warrant-things-turned-ugly-when-he-refused Dramatic video shows a Texas police officer brutally beating a man who refused to turn over his phone to police. The victim was not suspected of a crime and was voluntarily cooperating with police. Nevertheless, the police turned on him. The attack ra...

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/how-to-make-sure-you-go-home-and-not-to-jail-a-civil-rights-attorney-shares-the-ugly-truth The small town of Loveland, Colorado, has found itself in the national spotlight due to the wanton brutality and corruption of its police department. In June 2020, Loveland police violently arrested Karen Garner, a 73-year-old woman with dementia....