Yesterday was the 38th Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March, and thousands of people participated - from shimmying and showing off their outrageous costumes to waving gay pride flags and hollering their support. The grand marshals of the parade were religious leaders Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum and Reverend Dr. Troy Perry; Kleinbaum said, "We stand for a progressive religious voice. Those who use religion to advocate an anti-gay agenda I believe are blaspheming......

The NY Times reported that the city settled with a protester who was kicked in the head back by a high-ranking police officer in 2003. Apparently the city wanted to avoid trial, because activist Cynthia Greenberg had "planned to offer as evidence a videotape of the encounter." If you watch the video, via I-Witness Video, you can definitely see someone's knee hit Greenberg's head. The police officer who Greenberg says kicked/kneed her is recently retired......

In the wake of a federal judge criticizing the NYPD's videotaping procedures last week, I-Witness Video looks at what the NYPD actually uses to record public events and calls it "360 degrees of surveillance," best illustrated by what the police used during the 2004 Republican National Convention. Officers used "lipstick cameras" which are easily concealed, as well as helicopters with "military-style infrared imaging." And Fuji lent the NYPD its BlimpCam, and I-Witness Video describes......

Newsday reports that NYPD Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka is retiring. While many officers Newsday spoke to love Smolka, he leaves behind an interesting legacy. Let's paraphrase Aaron Naparstek's 2005 piece about Smolka for the NY Press' 50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers issue:...Smolka was the commanding officer of the NYPD’s infamous Street Crimes Unit. It was his officers who, in February 1999, pumped 41 bullets into Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant guilty of nothing more......

Videotape is used in all sorts of police investigations. In fact, business owners (like bar owners) are encouraged to install video cameras in order to capture activity in case there is a crime. But what's interesting is that the police don't like the cameras - video or otherwise - pointed at them and seem to get upset when they see them. WCBS 2 did a report this dynamic. You can watch the video here, but......