When the Bad Guys Have the Badge

Lashanna Snipes was fatally wounded in a St. Louis car crash and another adult passenger was also injured, as were three children.

The accident occurred when a car being pursued by Upland Park Police ran a stop sign, hitting Ms. Snipes' vehicle in an intersection and though at least one of the suspects have since been arrested, the driver, the two people in the car being pursued originally fled on foot.

While investigating the accident for a February (sweeps) report, the local Fox affiliate (KTVI) discovered that the officer who engaged in the high-speed chase, which tragically ended more than two miles out of his jurisdiction was not licensed to be a police officer by the State of Missouri and had not received the required training.

They also found that the unlicensed police officer had previous convictions for assault, stalking and possession, plus he had been arrested 51 times for similar crimes along with trafficking, forcible rape, assault on an officer and 1st degree murder.

When trying to get a statement from a local official, investigative reporter Chris Hayes was asked to leave the "night court" by another officer, whom Mr. Hayes knew to be on criminal probation.

And as the result of preparing dossiers on previous officers from the same department with a troubled history, Reporter Hayes found a former partner of one mentioned in the original report working in neighboring town, also unlicensed and lacking the proper training.

Both video reports follow the jump;

Snip: Local Talk Radio

Jaye gives out the phone number, the e-mail address. The lines light up. Just minutes after she ridicules Yoder's exploratory committee, Jaye's own exploration becomes live-radio drama.

It's just the kind of thing encouraged by a sign hanging to the left of the engineer's booth: "PPM IS LISTENING NOW!!! Are you teasing effectively?!? Content is king!!! What are you doing to keep the listener's interest? Why should the listener care? MUST LISTEN RADIO!!!!!!"

PPM is the "Portable People Meter," a wearable device from Arbitron that can detect audio streams from radio and TV. It could revolutionize the way radio stations understand their audiences.

And right now, creating "MUST LISTEN RADIO" means that Jaye has to talk like a probable candidate.

(Source)