law enforcement

Street Cop Training files for bankruptcy as NJ cops face retraining

About 240 New Jersey police officers will have to be retrained next month, more than two years after they attended a 2021 Atlantic City conference that state officials said maligned women and minorities, glorified violence and likely violated state laws.

A Feb. 18 memo from Attorney General Matthew Platkin directed all current law enforcement officers who in any way participated in the October 2021 sessions by Street Cop Training to attend retraining on March 14 in Trenton.

Street Cop Training, an in-person and online police training company that recently filed for bankruptcy, has been listed as a prohibited training agency in nine states, including New Jersey, Illinois and California.

Police officers who attended the 2021 training by Street Cop will have to undergo more training in March.

Founded in 2012 by former police officer Dennis Benigno, Street Cop Training was the subject of a State Comptroller’s Office investigation after the 2021 conference.

Released in December 2023, the report detailed numerous instances of unconstitutional policing tactics, discriminatory behavior, glorification of violence and denigration of women and minorities during the training event.

“We found so many examples of so many instructors promoting views and tactics that were wildly inappropriate, offensive, discriminatory, harassing, and, in some cases, likely illegal,” acting Comptroller Kevin Walsh said in a December 2023 statement.

Instructors advocated

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February 25, 2024 by ATTORNEY

Dozens of former clients claim Tampa attorney stole thousands after shutting down law firm

Attorney shuts down firm, no refunds for clients

Aaron Mesmer reports.

TAMPA, Fla. – A Tampa attorney who recently closed his business continued to come under fire Monday from former clients who said he took thousands of dollars from them and won’t refund their money.

Croce is the latest former client of Dennis Szafran to contact FOX 13 about her situation. She said she reached out to attorney Dennis Szafran in 2021 to help her maintain guardianship of her soon-to-be 18-year-old son, Vincent Croce.

Croce has a receipt showing she paid Szafran $3,800 in September. Less than a month later, Szafran shuttered his business. Croce said he never filed her case.

Clients claim Szafran stole thousands.

“I regret the fact that I ever looked him up and actually retained him as an attorney,” she told FOX 13, adding her son turned 18 last week, but the celebration was hardly what she envisioned. “To try to make it as happy as I could for him was so hard.”

Croce said she never received any notification that Szafran planned to close.

RELATED: Bay Area lawyer under investigation after shutting down business with unfinished cases, no refunds for clients

Other clients spoke with

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November 1, 2023 by ATTORNEY

NOLA District Attorney joins effort to unseal secret Archdiocese records for criminal investigation

It’s the first time that law enforcement has made moves to expose secret records the Archdiocese has fought to protect for decades.

NEW ORLEANS — Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams is urging a federal court to unseal sworn testimony by the Rev. Lawrence Hecker, as well as records held in secret by the New Orleans Archdiocese about Hecker, saying his office needs them to bring potential criminal charges against the accused child molester.

“The continued sealing of the documents in this case serves as a major impediment to a proper investigation,” Williams wrote in a motion filed Tuesday. “Sworn deposition testimony concerning the commission of a crime should not be withheld from a prosecutorial authority merely because reputations may be harmed. Evidence that a crime has been committed should be brought before the proper court.”

It’s the first time that law enforcement has made moves to expose secret records the Archdiocese has fought to protect for decades. 

Even after the local church placed Hecker on a list of priests credibly accused of child sexual abuse in 2018, the Archdiocese has argued its 2020 bankruptcy prevents the records from being released.

The motion by Williams supports efforts by attorneys representing

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June 10, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Murdaugh family saga: A timeline of death, alleged embezzlement and an insurance scam

But now, the family has been closely connected to a bloody tragedy, allegations of embezzlement and a bizarre murder-for-hire plot to score millions in life insurance.

The latest blow to the family’s name came this week as Alex Murdaugh was indicted on a charge of murder for the 2021 killings of his wife and son.

So what were the twists and turns that led to this point? Here’s a timeline of everything we know about the Murdaugh family saga:

Over three generations, a member of the Murdaugh family has served as the 14th Circuit Solicitor, which leads prosecutions for Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties in the southern part of South Carolina.

Randolph Murdaugh Sr. was elected to the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office in 1920 and served in the position until his death in 1940.

His son, Randolph Murdaugh Jr., then took over the position and served until his retirement in 1986.

Murdaugh Jr.’s son, Randolph Murdaugh III, was then elected to the role in 1987 and served through the end of 2005. Alex Murdaugh is his son.

In 2006, then-Gov. Mark Sanford appoints attorney Duffie Stone to serve as the 14th Circuit Solicitor, making him the first non-Murdaugh
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July 23, 2022 by INSURANCE

Uvalde officials use a legal loophole to block the release of records : NPR

Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas. When the gunman arrived at the school, he hopped its fence and easily entered through an unlocked back door, police said.

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP


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Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas. When the gunman arrived at the school, he hopped its fence and easily entered through an unlocked back door, police said.

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP

Uvalde city officials are using a legal loophole and several other broad exemptions in Texas to prevent the release of police records related to last month’s mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead, according to a letter obtained by NPR in response to public information requests filed by member station Texas Public Radio.

Since the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School, law enforcement officials have provided little and conflicting information, amid mounting public pressure for transparency. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is leading the state investigation, previously said that some accounts of the events were preliminary and may change as more witnesses are interviewed.

The City of Uvalde

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June 25, 2022 by LAW
May 2024
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