Slashdot | Phoenix Police Seize PCs of a Blogger Critical of the Department: "raided his home and seized his computer hardware"
Ok, let's follow this...
1. Man has a bad separation and divorce from his ex-wife and from whatever happened, gets a poor opinion of the Phoenix Police Department. I've seen it happen. Emotions run high, people feel they got the bad end of whatever decision was made, but in the end, all charges against him were dismissed for lack of evidence, so maybe the enforcement was a bit one sided.
so...
2. Man forms blog website criticizing and and tracking unethical behavior on the Phoenix Police Department. It's a free country, with freedom of speech. He even went so far as cultivating sources within the department to provide information on police misconduct, so there certainly seems there is a problem there. So, sounds like he may be on to something...
also...
3. Man files lawsuit related to alleged police harassment during the aforementioned divorce proceedings.
later that week...
4. Phoenix police raid the man's home, seize all of his computer and networking equipment, along with backups of all of his files in a locked safe. The search warrant indicates an investigation for petty theft and computer tampering with the intent to harass, namely involving high level officers within the Phoenix Police Department.
Who is the Phoenix Police Department kidding?
I can say many things about my time in law enforcement, but I can say that this would not fly in an honest department. If they wanted the investigation to have been handled with relative objectivity and professionalism, they should have gotten another agency involved as soon as the lawsuit was filed. Instead, this has come off as a clumsy attempt to silence a critical voice of the department, one that sounds like he has at least a few things right.
