Longtime Friend of the DogS(h)ite® Khal S. notes in comments that the Bernalillo County DA has leveled murder charges against the Albuquerque cops who shot dead a homeless man (as seen on CopCam!). Here’s the Albuquerque Journal story, which may require you to answer a few stupid questions but contains more detail than The New York Times piece referenced above.

This will be one to watch for a number of reasons. First, the killing was captured on video, which law prof David A. Harris says can make it “impossible to deny some of the very basic facts.” And second, the local gendarmes have thus far gone uncharged despite having compiled a body count that even Westhisface would envy.

Elsewhere, we learn about the potential for collateral damage from those cheapo flash-bang grenades the cops are so fond of. The Albuquerque officers used one against the homeless guy, before shooting him with assault rifles and beanbag guns and finally setting a police dog on him; apparently arty and air support were unavailable. Seems a flash-bang can do a lot more than make scary lights and noise. They’ve also “severed hands and fingers, induced heart attacks, burned down homes, and killed pets.”

There was a time, back when your man on the beat carried a .38 Special, that the cops considered themselves under-gunned in comparison with the bad guys. I think it’s fair to say that the pendulum may have swung a tad too far in the other direction. And some of the “bad guys” just aren’t that bad.

• Extra-Credit Reading On Crime and Punishment: Check out The Baltimore Sun story on the drunk bishop. Based on the choice of image I’d say someone manning the website has a particularly dark sense of humor.