Courtesy of Seattle crime blog extraordinaire, Seattle 911, comes an infuriating answer to a reader question about cops and hand-held cell phones. While the rest of us face fines of $124 for driving while operating a hand-held cell phone, the officer writing that ticket and pulling you over just might be using theirs, completely legally. It turns out the recently enacted law does not apply to police officers or ambulance drivers when they are operating......

"SPD Bike" by Seattlest Flickr Photographer Slightly North Though we don't know his name yet, we do know that an off-duty Seattle Police detective and Police Guild board member shot a Hells Angels biker during this years' Sturgis bike rally. The shooting occurred early Saturday morning at a packed bar during the week-long rally. The officer involved in the shooting identified himself as a member of the Iron Pig motorcycle club. (Funny how, when it's......

Despite the fact that medical marijuana is legal in the State of Washington and the Seattle Police Department are paid to uphold said laws, the SPD handed over 12 ounces of illegally seized medicinal marijuana to the DEA. The SPD turned the medical marijuana to the DEA at the request of U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan, who asked for it to be destroyed. Strangely, this same attorney's office is not pursuing criminal charges or any......

The state Supreme Court unanimously overturned a 30 year-old precedent which allowed Washington State Police to arrest an entire car-load of people if the officer even smelled marijuana. Now, if a police officer pulls you over and approaches you because they smell chronic, they have the right to search your car for proof of the drugs. But, they can no longer just arrest you based on a cop's sensitive sniffer. Considering the continued aggression the......

"WTOpolice_1" by Seattlest Flickr Pool contributor ntisocl. Daaang, he got right in there. Thanks! We learned our code of behavior from America's suburbs: if the cop's right behind you when you see flashing lights, pull over and turn off your radio. If the flashing lights are on the side of the freeway, slow down a little bit so you can bear proper witness to the speeding culprit's shame. If the flashing lights are parked......

At an afternoon press conference, the Seattle Police announced they have arrested a man they believe groped an Asian woman in South Seattle on Saturday and who they hope may be behind over two-dozen similar attacks. Darin Boler has been charged with second-degree robbery and fourth-degree assault for Saturday's incident. (The robbery charge is for stealing a would-be-witness' cell phone/camera.) Boler is a registered sex offender and has been previously convicted for raping a......

An armed man was forcibly subdued in the lobby of a downtown hotel this weekend after an alarmed ex-girlfriend alerted staff that the man had a gun and intended to use it. The altercation, which involved as many as four employees, escalated into a full-fledged wrestling match as the suspect became violent and refused to hand the firearm over. Seattle Police responded relatively quickly and relieved the hotel staff of the suspect, whom they......