Latest news with #sheriffs
ABC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Lawfare
A growing anti-government movement in Australia is challenging the authority of the courts, councils and cops. Some call themselves sovereign citizens, others freedom fighters. Supercharged during the COVID lockdowns, the movement's rising influence and resolve has made it one of the judiciary's primary concerns. They're flooding the legal system with pseudolaw claims, staging their own "trials" and targeting officials with campaigns of harassment and intimidation. While they claim to be peaceful, many express the desire for an armed population, ready to act against what they see as an oppressive government. This week on Four Corners, reporter Mahmood Fazal embeds with key figures inside the movement to see how it operates. From "sheriffs" serving their own court orders to government departments, to local council meetings overrun by anti-vax activists. Lawfare traces how the movement is trying to exert influence across Australia. Legal experts explain how this seemingly victimless civil disobedience can sometimes escalate into intimidation, violence and serious risks to public safety. The investigation exposes a movement that's testing the limits of Australian law and the institutions meant to uphold it. It examines the human and institutional impact of the movement and the danger to our democracy if it's not taken seriously. Lawfare, reported by Mahmood Fazal and produced by Amy Donaldson, goes to air August 18 at 8.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Yahoo
NYC Sheriff's academy delayed because instructors weren't certified
NEW YORK — Training for dozens of recruits hoping to be New York City deputy sheriffs was thrown into chaos after the Department of Investigation determined the academy's instructors responsible for investigation and firearms training weren't certified by the state, the Daily News has learned. After being delayed for more than three weeks, the graduation for more than 80 sheriff cadets — ballyhooed as the largest academy class in the agency's history — is scheduled for Saturday at the NYPD Police Academy in Queens. But with graduation a day away, the sheriff's office was still trying to finalize recruit background checks — since the sheriff's office swore in their academy class in February, the DOI received three complaints that academy instructors weren't certified by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. The DOI began its investigation on March 12 and asked the sheriff's office for a copy of the academy curriculum and a list of instructors. 'Despite numerous follow-ups, the sheriffs office did not provide the requested documents,' the DOI said in its letter, adding that they finally had to get them through the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. Following its investigation, which included interviewing the recruits and the instructors and checking the instructors credentials, DOI determined the instructors were not trained 'in the presence of a master instructor, rendering the certifications issued to them invalid,' according to a letter the DOI sent to New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda and city Department of Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack dated June 17. At the time the DOI rendered their findings, recruits were expected to graduate on June 24, officials said. The date was extended as the agency scrambled to get the appropriate accreditations, get certified instructors and retrain the recruits, agency sources told The News. More than a dozen of the recruits spent this past week at the NYPD range in Rodman's Neck to make sure they're certified on firearms before the graduation, the sources said. Some will also continue training after the graduation ceremony. In their letter to the sheriff's office, the DOI recommended that the agency conduct audits of their academy training to make sure it's up to DCJS standards, immediately recertify its instructors and 'work with DCJS to ensure that the deputy sheriffs in the 2025 training academy are certified in accordance with the DCJS requirements.' The agency should also 'require written approval from the DCJS confirming eligibility for both instructors and course methods.' 'Verbal authorization should no longer be accepted,' the DOI said. The sheriff's office took the DOI recommendations to heart, and are 'taking all necessary steps to ensure compliance with all regulations set by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services,' an agency spokesman said. 'Thanks to this administration the Sheriff's Office will be graduating the largest class of recruits ever,' the spokesman said. 'The Sheriff's Office and the Department of Finance are committed to upholding the highest standards of law enforcement training.' DCJS spokeswoman Janine Kava said that the sheriff's office 'retrained its recruits to ensure that they received the proper training to graduate.' 'DCJS will issue certificates of completion for those recruits upon receiving final documentation from the Sheriff's Office,' Kava said. Deputy sheriffs are responsible for executing eviction notices, orders of protection, and investigating financial and tax fraud. When Mayor Adams appointed Miranda, the sheriff's office was tasked with also inspecting illegal cannabis shops in the city but a recent court ruling has curbed that work. Questions about the sheriff's academy class came as the NYPD took steps to terminate 30 of its probationary officers who should have been disqualified by background checks.
CTV News
11-07-2025
- CTV News
Sheriffs close 'problem property' in southeast Edmonton
Edmonton Watch Alberta sheriffs have closed a house in southeast Edmonton they say they have received drug and criminal complaints about for years.
Fox News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Virginia sheriffs rip Dem challenger's 'criminals first' agenda in fiery endorsement of Jason Miyares
FIRST ON FOX: A group of 19 Virginia sheriffs has thrown their political weight behind incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares after Democrats nominated former Virginia state Del. Jay Jones to challenge him in November. "The choice is clear. The decision is ours," the group of Virginia sheriffs said in a letter to their colleagues just days after the primary. The sheriffs praised Miyares' "commitment to Virginia's law enforcement community and first responders" and urged their fellow Virginia sheriffs to coalesce behind the incumbent attorney general for re-election. Jones, a former assistant attorney general, has centered his campaign on protecting Virginia from President Donald Trump's administration. In a letter to the sheriffs of Virginia, the group of 19 sheriffs frame Jones' policy platform as anti-law enforcement. "Jay Jones has been an outspoken advocate of the many tools weaponized to weaken Virginia's law enforcement community, replacing prosecutors with social workers, who put criminals first and victims dead last. The litany of legislation aimed not at criminals but at law enforcement is not just a failure of policy, but a policy designed to fail Virginia families," the sheriffs said. They touted the "tremendous progress Virginia's law enforcement professionals have achieved over the last four years," as the sheriffs urged their colleagues to prevent Jones from returning a "tidal wave of lawlessness, violence, and illicit drug activity." "We ask that you join so many of us in the law enforcement community in standing united in our support of Attorney General Jason Miyares and ask each and every single member of Virginia law enforcement community to remind our friends, families, and local communities to remember the difference four years makes. We cannot go back to four more years of lawlessness, violence, and resistance to the men and women who serve," the sheriffs said. In the letter, the sheriffs outlined legislation supported by Jones they say is "designed to fail Virginia families." Those policies include investigating law enforcement for "pattern and practice" violations, causing "direct harm to Virginians" through Enhanced Earned Sentencing Credits (EESC), eliminating cashless bail and supporting qualified immunity, which they said would make it easier to sue police officers for civil rights violations. They also detailed Jones' support for eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing for selling drugs to minors in schools and school resource officers (SROs), which they said makes schools more dangerous. The letter was signed by Virginia Sheriffs Kyle M. Moore, William Kidd Jr., Travis M. Sumption, Richard A. Vaughan, Hank Partin, Robert Richardson, Whit W. Clark III, Darrell L. Hodges, Wayne Davis, Bryan Hutcheson, Mike Miller, Kevin Kemp, Jeremy Flemming, Donald Lowe, Brian Hieatt, Brian K. Roberts, Jayson Crawley, Jeremy A. Falls and Donald T. Sloan. Virginia is one of two states holding statewide elections this year, and the election results will be used as a bellwether ahead of the competitive 2026 midterm elections. On the campaign trail, Jones has applauded how attorneys general have sued the Trump administration to unlock federal funding and reject executive overreach, "but here in Virginia, MAGA extremist Attorney General Jason Miyares has put politics first and refused to join in the effort to defend against unconstitutional and un-American Trump policies." "Virginia needs leaders who will put Virginia first. Who will stand up to the powerful corporate special interests. Who will stand up for the rule of law. Who will keep us safe. And that's exactly what I will do as your attorney general," Jones said after securing the Democratic nomination for attorney general last week. Jones did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Mint
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Tom Homan to Zohran Mamdani: ‘Game on' after NYC Mayoral hopeful's anti-ICE agenda
US President Donald Trump's Border Czar Tom Homan delivered a fiery response to NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's vow to expel ICE from city facilities, warning the progressive Democrat that the federal government is ready to escalate operations in sanctuary cities like New York. 'It's game on,' Homan said bluntly speaking with Fox News, a day after Mamdani declared victory in the Democratic primary over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani, 33, a state assemblyman from Queens and Democratic socialist, has made immigration policy a core pillar of his mayoral campaign. 'Zohran Mamdani will fight Trump's attempts to gouge the working class and deliver a city where everyone can afford a dignified life,' his campaign website declares. 'He'll ensure our immigrant New Yorkers are protected by strengthening our sanctuary city apparatus: getting ICE out of all city facilities and ending any cooperation, increasing legal support, and protecting all personal data.' He has vowed to 'Trump-proof' New York City, accusing the President of using ICE to 'pluck New Yorkers from their families.' Homan dismissed Mamdani's promises as political rhetoric with no legal standing. 'Federal law trumps him every day, every hour of every minute,' Homan said. 'We're going to be in New York City, matter of fact, because it's a sanctuary city and President Trump made it clear a week and a half ago — we're going to double down and triple down on sanctuary cities.' The former ICE director said New York is now a top priority for immigration enforcement due to its sanctuary policies. 'We're going to concentrate in sanctuary cities because we know they're releasing public safety threats and national security threats back to the street,' Homan explained. 'So we know we've got a problem there.' He added, 'Not only are we going to send more agents to the neighborhood, we are going to increase worksite enforcement tenfold.' Homan contrasted the situation in New York with Florida, where, he said, local law enforcement cooperates fully with ICE. 'We don't have that problem in Florida, where the sheriffs work with us,' he said. 'So we're going to double up and triple up on New York.'
