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Pepper Spray

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'Unconstitutional:' Feds Slam Trenton Police For Excessive Force, Illegal Stops 'Unconstitutional:' Feds Slam Trenton Police For Excessive Force, Illegal Stops
'Unconstitutional:' Feds Slam Trenton Police For Excessive Force, Illegal Stops Federal investigators have accused the Trenton Police Department (TPD) of widespread civil rights violations, including excessive force and illegal arrests, calling the department’s practices “unconstitutional” in a damning report released Thursday, Nov. 21. The Department of Justice (DOJ) found that TPD officers routinely stopped and searched individuals without reasonable suspicion, made arrests without probable cause, and escalated encounters with excessive force.  These practices, compounded by poor training, inadequate oversight, and a lack of accountability, have eroded community…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Heroin Found On NY Driver Pepper Sprayed By Officers After Pursuit Through NJ Yards, Police Say Heroin Found On NY Driver Pepper Sprayed By Officers After Pursuit Through NJ Yards, Police Say
Heroin Found On NY Driver Pepper Sprayed By Officers After Pursuit Through NJ Yards, Police Say A 50-year-old Rockland County man was found with heroin after leading a police pursuit over state lines, that ended with him hitting multiple vehicles — including police cars — in Mahwah, NJ on Tuesday evening, July 9, police said. Trouble began sometime around 5:15 p.m., when Eugene McDermott, of Tomkins Cove, NY fled the scene of a motor vehicle accident in Sloatsburg, Mahwah Police Lt. Michael Blondin said. Officers tried stopping McDermott, who was operating a Dodge pickup truck with significant damage, but he fled, Blondin said. McDermott struck several vehicles including a Suffern p…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Long Island Fugitive Dies By Suicide In NJ Gas Station Police Encounter, AG Says Long Island Fugitive Dies By Suicide In NJ Gas Station Police Encounter, AG Says
Long Island Fugitive Dies By Suicide In NJ Gas Station Police Encounter, AG Says State officials are investigating a death during a police encounter at a New Jersey gas station. Woodbridge police officers had stopped a vehicle at a gas station on Route 9 north around 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 14, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said. The male driver, the sole occupant, had an active National Crime Information Center (NCIC) warrant issued in New York for an active criminal investigation in Nassau County, AG Matthew J. Platkin said. When officers asked the man to exit the van, he refused and instead moved to the van’s rear compartment, behind a curta…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
NJ Child Services Imposter Shows Up At Victim's Doorstep, Blasts Her With Pepper Spray: Police NJ Child Services Imposter Shows Up At Victim's Doorstep, Blasts Her With Pepper Spray: Police
NJ Child Services Imposter Shows Up At Victim's Doorstep, Blasts Her With Pepper Spray: Police A 24-year-old New Jersey woman was arrested and charged on Tuesday, Oct. 10, after she blasted a woman with pepper spray while impersonating a child protection agent, authorities said police said. On Saturday, Sept. 30, Maplewood police responded to Brown Street where a woman had received a call from Widda Deneus claiming to be from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, Maplewood police said.  After the phone call, Deneus showed up at the woman's front door and asked to come inside, police said. The woman refused since Deneus did not present any identification and was not ac…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Civilians, Police Need Decon After Officer Dispenses Pepper Spray In Dispute At Bergen Lake Civilians, Police Need Decon After Officer Dispenses Pepper Spray In Dispute At Bergen Lake
Civilians, Police Need Decon After Officer Dispenses Pepper Spray In Dispute At Bergen Lake Nearly a dozen people had to be treated at a Bergen County lake after a sheriff's officer responding to a dispute dispensed pepper spray, authorities said. It began when one group of mostly juvenile lake-goers at Darlington County Park got into an argument that somehow involved another group. Because Darlington is a county park, Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton has officers stationed there during peak hours. His officers responded to the dispute and summoned Mahwah police. The incident on Saturday, July 15, began when one group of mostly juvenile lake-goers at Darlington County P…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Nozzle Behavior: Oopsie! Woman Pepper-Sprays Herself In Glen Rock Dunkin' Donuts Dispute Nozzle Behavior: Oopsie! Woman Pepper-Sprays Herself In Glen Rock Dunkin' Donuts Dispute
Nozzle Behavior: Oopsie! Woman Pepper-Sprays Herself In Glen Rock Dunkin' Donuts Dispute If you’re going to carry pepper spray, it’s always best to know how to use it. A 21-year-old Fair Lawn woman tried – and failed – during some type of squabble with a 46-year-old man at the Dunkin Donuts on Prospect Street in Glen Rock, local police said. “During the dispute, the woman took out a small canister of pepper spray and somehow managed to spray herself with it,” Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. Responding officers rendered aid to the woman, who refused further medical attention, the chief said. Meanwhile, the man she was arguing with drove to police headquarters, he said. Beca…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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NJ Puppy, Owner's Aircraft Mechanic Roommate Recover After Brutal Attack NJ Puppy, Owner's Aircraft Mechanic Roommate Recover After Brutal Attack
NJ Puppy, Owner's Aircraft Mechanic Roommate Recover After Brutal Attack A 4-month-old dog and his owner's roommate were recovering from a brutal attack by an unleashed pit bull in Camden County. The puppy's owner, Nicholas Denny of Cherry Hill, recently became a dad to Cheddar. He works as an aircraft mechanic at McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Air Force Base with his roommate, Brett Spaulding. Nick Denny and Cheddar.Nick Denny Facebook "Tonight my roommate was taking the little guy for a walk around our neighborhood when the worst possible thing happened," Denny wrote on this GoFundMe page about last week's attack.  "They were attacked by an unleashed, unmuzzled dog…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Wyckoff Man Busted For Criminal Mischief: Prosecutor Wyckoff Man Busted For Criminal Mischief: Prosecutor
Wyckoff Man Busted For Criminal Mischief: Prosecutor Three men were arrested for hanging sheets of stickers on parking and traffic signs near the Somerville Train Station, according to police.  Claudino G. Petruccelli, 22, Steve V. Koshlyak, 34, and Zackerji I. Ivanovic, 41 were arrested for criminal mischief for placing stickers on Borough and State property after a Somerville Patrol Officer witnessed them do it the evening of Nov. 27, Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson said. One of the men even had on latex gloves to hide his fingerprints while placing the sheets of stickers on parking and traffic signs, according to …

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by Joe Gomez
News
AMERICAN DREAM MALL ROBBERY: Fleeing Bandits Pepper-Spray Employee At Saks AMERICAN DREAM MALL ROBBERY: Fleeing Bandits Pepper-Spray Employee At Saks
American Dream Mall Robbery: Fleeing Bandits Pepper-Spray Employee At Saks Two would-be robbers doused an employee with pepper spray before fleeing empty-handed from the Saks Fifth Avenue store in the American Dream Mall, New Jersey State Police confirmed. Troopers responding to the store shortly after 6 p.m. Monday found that the bandit blasted the employee after he tried to stop them from shoplifting at the East Rutherford mall, NJSP Sgt. Philip Curry said. "The employee was able recover the stolen merchandise and the suspects fled the scene," he said. Authorities didn't provide a description of the robbers. They did issue a "Be On the Lookout (BOLO)" aler…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
51 Unruly Inmates In Hudson County Jail's Max Security Unit Lead Midday Riot 51 Unruly Inmates In Hudson County Jail's Max Security Unit Lead Midday Riot
51 Unruly Inmates In Hudson County Jail's Max Security Unit Lead Midday Riot The Hudson County jail's maximum security unit was on lockdown for nearly two hours as 51 inmates refused to return to their cells in a riot on Thursday, NJ Advance Media reports. Jail Director Ron Edwards told the outlet that the inmates poured soapy water at the unit's entrances and tied sheets to door handles just after 12:30 p.m. Corrections officers negotiated with the inmates for 45 minutes before deploying pepper spray, Edwards said. Inmates did not have a list of concerns, said Edwards, noting last week the jail lost power when a utility pole was knocked down. The air apparently ca…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Use Of Force By Jersey City Police Breaking Up Massive Street Fight Deemed Justified Use Of Force By Jersey City Police Breaking Up Massive Street Fight Deemed Justified
Use Of Force By Jersey City Police Breaking Up Massive Street Fight Deemed Justified The use of force by Jersey City police officers breaking up a massive street fight in May has been deemed justified, authorities in Hudson County announced Wednesday. Multiple 9-1-1 callers reported 20 to 100 people screaming, punching and kicking in a street fight that broke out on Bostwick Avenue between  Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Ocean Avenue just after 5:15 p.m. on May 5, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. This incident that quickly went viral on social media occurred during the Executive Order signed by Gov. Phil Murphy that required people to stay home and socia…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Kids Pepper-Sprayed At Jersey City School; 2nd Such Incident In JC Since May Kids Pepper-Sprayed At Jersey City School; 2nd Such Incident In JC Since May
Kids Pepper-Sprayed At Jersey City School; 2nd Such Incident In JC Since May Six students were hospitalized for respiratory distress after they were exposed to pepper spray at their Jersey City middle school Monday, a city spokeswoman said.  Police and firefighters responded to Frank Conwell Middle School around 1:30 p.m. and were told the pepper spray had been deployed inside the gym. A total of 18 students were evacuated and six taken to Jersey City Medical Center for treatment.  A Hazmat team determined the spray had cleared. Other first-responders provided the school with cleaning materials and advised them of safety procedures.  The spokeswoman …

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by Paul Milo