Driving While Black, abbreviated as DWB, is a phrase in the contemporary American vernacular that refers to the criminalization of black drivers. An alternate phrase, Driving While Brown, is more encompassing, referring to the crime of being a non-Caucasian driver. “Driving While Black” is word play on the name of a real U.S. crime, driving while intoxicated. The phrase implies that a motorist may be pulled over by a police officer simply because he or she is black, and then questioned, searched, and/or charged with a trivial offense. This concept stems from a long history of racism in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries. The term refers to racial profiling, which is said to be used by police and other law enforcement officials. Read more: Wikipedia

In the blink of an eye, what began as a routine police check turned into a chaotic scene. The dash cam video, exclusively obtained by KOMO News, shows more questionable conduct by Seattle police. The footage shows two dock workers waiting for work get handcuffed. One is hit with a Taser, and both are arrested by police just because the passenger “lips off” to police. KOMO News uncovered what the American Civil Liberties Union calls a classic case of “contempt of cop.” This type of contact, which starts off as a minor stop and quickly escalates to use of force and arrests, is at the heart of what critics say is wrong with Seattle police. Officer Harris was suspicious when he saw two dock workers, a mother and her son, sitting in a parked car for more than ans hour. They were waiting for a work call-out. Harris and another officer approached the pair, and the situation quickly turned violent when the son appeared to to ignore the officer’s demands for ID. Read more: KOMO News

The Edmonds Police Department has released the following information on a Level 3 sex offender in the area. Mark Edward Johnson has been convicted of a sex offense that requires registration with the sheriff’s office in the county of their residence. His previous criminal history places him in a classification level, which reflects the potential to re-offend. Johnson has served the sentence imposed on him by the courts and has advised the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office that he will be living in the 82XX Hundred Block of 215th Street S.W., Edmonds, WA.

King County prosecutors have charged the husband of a high school volleyball coach with voyeurism after a camera was found in a bathroom at a building where the volleyball team was having a slumber party.
Steven C. Meeks faces one count of voyeurism in the case, according to charging documents. Read more: KIRO News

Her hysterical 911 call made her seem every inch the grieving wife.
Michelle Williams was sobbing so much that the operator could barely understand her say that her husband Gregory had been shot dead in their Texas home. But now after a three-month investigation police say it was all a lie and the tears were fake – because she was the one who murdered him. Officers believe that Williams, 42, sedated her husband and shot him dead from one foot away after turning up the volume on the TV to mask the noise. Read more: DailyMail

A mother was jailed for 45 years today for suffocating her six-year-old son in a motel room and dumping his body along a dirt road.
Julianne McCrery, 42, of Texas admitted killing Camden Hughes by kneeling on his back and covering his mouth with her hand.
The discovery of his body last May in Maine set off a nationwide effort to identify him. Meanwhile, his mother called his kindergarten daily to report him absent with appendicitis. Read more: DailyMail

An Iowa minister has been charged with attempting to purchase sex after being busted in a prostitution sting, police said. Rev. Jonathan L. Offt, 41, of Cedar Rapids, was one of nine men charged with one count of prostitution Friday. The men were taken into custody after they responded to a phony Internet ad and arranged to meet an undercover female police officer for sex, Marion Assistant Police Chief Shellene Gray told The Huffington Post. Offt, a married father of three, has served as the senior pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church since 2003. The church has a school and house of worship in Cedar Rapids. Read more: HuffingtonPost

A man and woman in North Carolina are charged with cruelty to animals for allegedly killing and skinning a puppy. The animal’s meat was used by the couple to feed other dogs, police said. Gina Marie Alfano, 43, and Kevin John Diers, 52, of Newport, were also charged with failing to dispose of a deceased domesticated animal. Both suspects posted a $25,000 bond and were released from the Carteret County Jail. Read more: HuffingtonPost

Police in Texas have arrested a published crime writer who allegedly tried to hire a hit man to kill her husband. Nancy Mancuso Gelber, 53, has been charged with solicitation to commit capital murder. Gelber is being held at the Brazos County Jail on $75,000 bond. Read more: HuffingtonPost

Police in Wisconsin’s capital city barely had to try to catch a pair of unlucky suspected thieves. Madison police say two men in their late 20s stole DVDs and computer games from a Target store Tuesday and discussed their plans to fence the goods while driving away. Investigators say the duo didn’t realize one of them had accidentally pocket-dialed 911. A dispatcher listened in for nearly an hour as they discussed what they had stolen and where they might sell it. Police say they even described their vehicle. Read more: HuffingtonPost