Police

Police hiring standards matter. But they alone cannot stop abuse

Research on who becomes an abusive officer is real but partial, argues Jordan DeVylder — and the US rate of police killings cannot be explained by recruitment screening alone.

19 September 2026

Grandmother falsely accused of bank theft after alleged AI facial recognition match sues for $10M

Angela Lipps spent nearly six months in jail after AI facial recognition matched her social media photo to a fake ID used by a bank thief. Her charges were dropped, and she is suing the city of Fargo for $10 million. An extract.

17 September 2026

$14M more set to be paid in settlements tied to disgraced former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara

Chicago faces nearly $14 million more in settlements for two men framed for murder by Detective Reynaldo Guevara, on top of a misconduct bill that has already passed $80 million.

11 September 2026

‘Trew’s Law’ urges automatic review of jailed cop’s files to prevent miscarriages of justice

Appeal's campaign would make the state review the case files of every police officer sent to prison, so a corrupt officer's wrongful convictions surface.

11 September 2026

Nonprofits sue DOJ over refusal to provide public records on now-defunct national police accountability database

Four organisations have sued the Department of Justice in federal court after it failed to release records on the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, a federal police misconduct registry created in 2023 and shut down in early 2025.

8 September 2026

Row over Met guide to 'inappropriate' terms

A 14-page Met document lists dozens of 'inappropriate terms' officers must avoid in reports sent to senior officers and CPS lawyers, and legal experts warn it tells police to abandon neutrality in records that later reach a courtroom.

6 September 2026

Australia’s most shocking wrongful prosecutions

One was a cop branded a serial rapist. Another was accused of a nightclub drugging. But these men share one thing in common: they were all innocent.

27 August 2026

Man who served 30 years for crime he didn't commit sues Albany, detectives for $80M

Corey Young served 30 years for a 1995 Albany shootout he did not commit. He is now suing the city and two detectives for $80 million over coerced witnesses.

19 August 2026

Pueblo woman exonerated of murder sues county, officers

Acacia Lyn-Darr, exonerated in 2025 after nearly 12 years in prison, is suing Pueblo County and its officers over a conviction built on coerced testimony.

19 August 2026

ICE pitches legal insurance to help shield local officers who make arrests

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pitching a plan to help shield local police officers who make immigration arrests from possible financial consequences if they are accused of on-duty misconduct.

17 August 2026

Police collusion: Judge slams statement sharing

Two NSW Police officers shared witness statements before submitting them as evidence. A judge said it “undermines confidence” in their accounts — then allowed the evidence and ruled the arrest lawful.

15 August 2026

A Washington Post investigation prompts changes at surveillance company Flock

The Post found dozens of cases of police misusing license plate readers. Flock is adding safeguards intended to prevent abuse.

14 August 2026

New Zealand

Alan Hall wrongful conviction case: Former cops not guilty of perverting course of justice

Alan Hall was wrongfully convicted nearly 40 years ago of murdering Arthur Easton. Two former police officers involved in the investigation have been found not guilty of perverting the course of justice.

12 August 2026

Man thrown behind bars over an underscore mark

His name had one “_”. The criminal's had two. He got 18 months anyway.

31 July 2026

False allegations

Police vetted dubious allegation only after Buttigieg was separated from children

The Michigan attorney general’s office is investigating how the accusation that separated the ex-Cabinet secretary from his 4-year-old twins was handled.

27 July 2026

‘Properly shafted’: How the courts failed to get to grips with the wrongful conviction of Eddie Gilfoyle

The psychologist whose report made Merseyside Police suspect Eddie Gilfoyle of murdering his pregnant wife now calls his own advice 'nonsense'.

3 July 2026

New Zealand

One of NZ’s worst miscarriages of justice goes to trial

One of New Zealand’s worst wrongful convictions returned to court yesterday, 40 years after the murder and subsequent police investigation that led to it.

30 June 2026

New Zealand

Former police officers on trial for wrongful conviction of Alan Hall

The two officers are charged with perverting the course of justice in one of New Zealand’s most high profile wrongful convictions.

29 June 2026

Institutional Cowardice: Grooming Gangs and False Allegations

Patrick O'Loan draws a parallel between the grooming gang scandal and the handling of false allegations: in both, institutions feared activist backlash more than injustice.

27 May 2026

Lawyers of man convicted of Stephen Carroll murder refer PSNI surveillance to miscarriage of justice body

Brendan McConville’s solicitors have referred his case to the CCRC after a review confirmed the PSNI obtained their communications data ahead of his 2013 appeal.

21 October 2025

Tasmanian DV truth teller under attack

Bettina Arndt on the campaign against Dr Fiona Girkin for teaching police an evidence-based approach to domestic violence.

25 May 2025

What if the police and prosecution were told to ‘believe all victims of false allegations’?

A Bristol criminologist inverts the instruction: if police and prosecutors had to believe every claimed victim of a false allegation, would they accept it?

22 January 2024

Sexual abuse – or justice abused? A priest’s tale

Fr Gordon MacRae's own account of the New Hampshire investigation, the plea deals he refused and the 1994 trial that left him serving 33½ to 67 years.

8 January 2024

False rape allegations aren’t so rare

The much-quoted 5 per cent figure comes from a meta-analysis that excluded whole categories of cases. Two Australian researchers put the real rate above 10 per cent.

21 October 2023

Corruption Pervades Police Forces in Australia and United Kingdom: Part 2

The headline of a report in the Age Newspaper on Wednesday 22 March 2023 read, “Gobbo seeks immunity deal to dob on police.” Gobbo refers, of course, to Nicola…

3 April 2023

Corruption Pervades Police Forces in Australia and the United Kingdom: Part 1

Part one of an examination of corruption pervading police forces in Australia and the United Kingdom.

20 February 2023

‘Terrible nightmare’: Bill Spedding’s seven-year ordeal before $1.48 million payout

Bill Spedding was harassed and ostracised after police laid historical sex charges against him during the William Tyrrell investigation. The NSW Supreme Court found the prosecution was malicious.

1 December 2022

Police ‘should not automatically believe abuse victims’ to avoid another ‘Nick’ scandal

Head of college of policing said force had ‘overreacted’ to criticism of the handling of historic sexual abuse

15 October 2022

Officer Charged with Fabricating Evidence, But His Victim Explains that Coverups Run Deep

A NSW officer is charged with fabricating evidence, but his victim explains that the cover-ups run far deeper.

7 October 2022

How a murder case was unravelled by a police interview

How a police interview unravelled the case built in the investigation of the 'execution-style' murder of Lois Tolley.

2 October 2022

Met officer ‘left out evidence’ in UK holidaymaker murder investigation

The IOPC found DCI Neil Hibberd would have had a case to answer for gross misconduct over the evidence he gave at the trial of Ali Kololo, convicted of the 2011 murder of British holidaymaker David Tebbutt in Kenya.

24 June 2022

Celebrities

Public are losing faith in police watchdog following wave of scandals including the disastrous VIP child sex abuse inquiry, MPs say

Speaking out: Lady Brittan is seeking justice over the treatment of her husband, the former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, after false allegations were made…

1 March 2022

'How dare they': NSW Police officer threatened to break man's legs after unlawful arrest

NSW Police officers threatened to break a man's legs after an unlawful arrest, with the state paying out for their misconduct.

22 September 2020

Courts

Australia: Exposing the cost of NSW police misconduct

NSW Greens MLC David Shoebridge moved a motion in state parliament on 5 August, calling on the Department of Communities and Justice to release the figures…

14 August 2020

Exposing the Cost of NSW Police Misconduct: An Interview With David Shoebridge

David Shoebridge on the tens of millions NSW pays out over police misconduct and the culture that protects it.

11 August 2020

Police in England and Wales dropping rape inquiries when victims refuse to hand in phones

Rape investigations in England and Wales are being dropped when complainants refuse to hand over their mobile phones.

17 June 2020

A cancerous phenomenon

One of Australia's most respected former detectives, Colin McLaren, breaks rank to explain why he no longer trusts the judicial system — and why Australia still has no criminal cases review commission.

13 June 2020

Police watchdog orders inquiry into failure to investigate fantasists

The pair, known as A and B, told 'deliberate lies' about a VIP Westminster paedophile ring in 2015, prolonging investigations. The Metropolitan Police ignored advice to investigate the serial liars.

1 May 2020

Courts

Police officer charged with falsifying evidence cries in court

A policewoman cried when she appeared in court today with three other officers all accused of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

6 January 2020

Celebrities

Henriques report into Operation Midland: Met ‘broke law’ over Carl Beech abuse case

Sir Richard Henriques’s review found Met officers unlawfully misled a judge to obtain warrants against public figures falsely accused by Carl Beech.

5 October 2019

False allegations

Social worker: 'Why I falsely accused father of abusing daughter'

Cafcass social worker Suzi Smith admitted falsely accusing Jonathan Coupland of abusing his daughter, and said police pressured her to stand by the claim.

9 August 2014