The NYPD's recruiting woes appear to be continuing through 2008, with a sharp drop-off in the number of candidates applying to sit for the Police Officer Exam, which is the first step to qualifying to enter the Police Academy. According to the New York Post, the number of test takers is down 20% from number of people who took the exam at the same time last year. "Slightly fewer than 20,000 have applied for the......

The story of Philadelphia anchorwoman Alycia Lane gets stranger and stranger. Her first call upon release from custody after punching a NYPD officer was, according to the Philadelphia Daily News, to Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell. A spokesman for the Pennsylvania governor told the paper, she did it to "make sure he knew her side of the story because he is an opinion-maker and runs around in influential circles." And "I think she knew better than......

The police department has launched a citywide dragnet to find suspects who fired at two police officers during a Brooklyn traffic stop early yesterday morning. 23-year-old police officer Russel Timoshenko was shot twice in the head while 26-year-old police officer Herman Yan was shot in the arm and chest. A surveillance video showed that the cops were shot before they had reached the driver and passengers in the car. The Daily News' Michael Daly......

A three year old German Shepherd dog on the NYPD's K-9 unit was seriously injured when he was literally sniffing out a suspect. Ranger and his handler, Police Officer Neal Campbell, were looking for Ivan Boston, a felon who was suspected of violating his parole. They entered Boston's apartment, and the floor was filled with broken dishes and glass. Boston refused to appear, so Ranger went into a bedroom by himself. Boston had been hiding......

An ugly tale from this weekend unfolded from the Queens District Attorney's office. Two white men were charged with beating two Chinese-Americans in Douglaston, and then tried to get away from police later on by crashing into the police cruiser and hurting the officers. From the DA's press release:District Attorney Brown said that, according to the criminal charges, four Asian males – Reynold Liang, 19, John Lu, 19, David Wu, 19, and Wing Chung Poon......

The defense attorney of one of the men accused of beating up an off-duty police officer says his client will be cleared. Police Officer Eric Hernandez so badly injured when a group of men beat him at a White Castle that he was seemingly unable to hear an on-duty police officer's request for him to lower his gun, only the other officer to shoot him. The Bronx DA released footage of an interview with the......

Police Officer Eric Hernandez, the star of the NYPD football team, had part of his right leg amputated as his injured leg's condition worsened. Hernandez's right and left legs, as well as stomach, were shot when a fellow police officer, Alfredo Toro, appeared on the scene of a brawl at a Bronx White Castle. Hernandez had been beaten by a group inside the fast food joint, and was trying to leave when Toro came. It......

While the start of the year means hope and promise for good things to come, it got to a rocky start in NYC: - A New Jersey woman's three month old baby died on an uptown 1 train. The mother, Leslie Abad, was trying to get Harlem for a New Year's celebration, and noticed the baby was quiet and bleeding and got out at Columbus Circle, screaming for help. The ME's office will conduct an......

- Some of L.A. gets a blackout; so far, it doesn't seem to be Al Qaeda but rather some "overzealous cable cutting"... however, it's unlikely that blackout babies will be conceived, since power should be going up soon - NYU has taken in some students from colleges affected by Hurricane Katrina - At the Art Parade, Elijah Wood tries to dispel the "hobbits are gay" rumors - New York Rangers captain Mark Messier retires (yes,......

The only bright thing to come from the City Hall shooting, and it's only bright because of a tragedy, is the promotion of Police Officer Richard Burt to Detective, after his quick thinking and actions on Wednesday, killing Othniel Askew who had shot Councilman James E. Davis. Mayor Bloomberg praised, "Thankfully, we will never know what would have happened had Officer Burt not been there, been so quick on his feet and been so accurate......