Arizona: Pima County Sheriff’s Department (PCSD) Dep. Travis Reynolds, 22, was arrested and fired on March 27, 2026, for sexual misconduct during a custodial transport, KPNX in Mesa reported. Prosecutors charged Reynolds with kidnapping after he held a handcuffed arrestee in his cruiser for two hours outside the County Detention Complex in Tucson, sharing a vape pen with her and telling her that she was a hot “MILF” as he showed explicit cellphone videos of himself having sex with another woman. When he offered to help with her case and she asked how, he allegedly suggested that the two go to a hotel for sex. She refused and asked to be taken into the jail, but he continued to solicit sex from her, she said. Eventually she agreed to lift up her shirt and show him her bra. PCSD surveillance video reportedly corroborated parts of her story. Now held on a $200,000 bond, Reynolds faces allegations that this was not an isolated incident.

Arkansas: Osceola Police Department (OPD) Chief Robert “Bobby” Ephlin, 59, resigned on April 15, 2026, just 13 days after being sworn in, following release of a viral video showing him slapping and choking a paraplegic man in a wheelchair. The incident occurred on April 6 when Ephlin responded to a domestic disturbance at the residence of the victim, Danarius Williams, according to WMC in Memphis. The footage sparked public outcry and a reprimand from city leadership. “Well, when I saw the video for the first time, it really, really it pissed me off. I’m going to just say it, it did,” said Mayor Joe Harris Jr., who accepted the Chief’s resignation. The city has initiated a formal independent review, as well as a search for a new chief. Harris appointed OPD Cpt. William Skaggs as interim chief.

California: A multi-year federal crackdown on corruption in the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments concluded with the sentencing of the 10th and final defendant on March 24, 2026, KPIX in San Francisco reported. Former Antioch Police Department Off. Eric Allen Rombough, 46, was sent to federal prison for four years and two months, after pleading guilty to conspiracy and deprivation of rights under color of law. Evidence revealed that Rombough and his co-conspirators deployed excessive force, ordering a K-9 to bite suspects—including a cyclist stopped for a broken bike light, as CLN reported; they also circulated text messages making light of the violence, with Rombough adding, “I’m only stopping them cuz they black.” The officers then wrote fraudulent reports to justify the illegal force. [See: CLN, Mar. 2026, p.50.]

Colorado: KCNC in Denver reported that former Loveland Police Department (LPD) Off. Dylan Miller, 30, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison on April 13, 2026, for the on-duty sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. Miller was convicted of depriving the victim of her civil rights under color of law during an August 2023 incident at North Lake Park, where he isolated the girl from a friend to victimize her while in full uniform. Miller removed his body-worn camera (BWC) prior to the assault, which was cited as evidence of premeditation. His attorney requested a 10-year sentence, noting Miller’s military service and family status. But the judge countered that Miller lied when he denied ever meeting the victim. While federal prosecutors sought a 45-year term, the court imposed the shorter sentence plus five years of supervised release. Upon release, Miller must also register as a sex offender and undergo mental health treatment. His legal troubles are not over, either; he faces additional state felony charges, including kidnapping and official oppression, in Larimer County District Court.

Georgia: Former Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office (CSO) Dep. Stephen Bunte, 42, was sentenced on April 16, 2026, to 15 years in federal prison followed by 15 years of supervised release for his role in an international child exploitation network, WSB in Atlanta reported. CSO fired Bunte upon his arrest in June 2024. He pleaded guilty in November 2025 to charges of enticement of a minor and receipt of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Federal authorities intercepted over 14,000 messages and 15 phone calls between Bunte and an unnamed trafficker in the Philippines who offered him “hands-on access to the children, including the trafficker’s own children,” prosecutors said. Bunte eventually purchased 35 CSAM images involving victims aged 14, 10 and 6. Upon completion of his prison term, he must register as a sex offender.

Georgia: Former Savannah Police Department (SPD) homicide detective Ashley Wood, 36, will not spend any time behind bars despite pleading guilty on March 23, 2026, to eight felonies, including perjury and violation of oath, WTOC in Savannah reported. The charges traced to an internal SPD review of a September 2021 murder investigation, at the conclusion of which Wood and fellow SPD Det. Darryl Repress arrested Marquis Parrish for killing Charles Vinson. Parrish spent two years in jail before the charges were dropped, when investigators found that Wood falsely claimed he appeared in surveillance video purchasing cleaning supplies after the killing—a lie used to obtain five search warrants, all of which were then invalidated. Parrish has filed a civil rights suit over that in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. See: Parrish v. Wood, USDC (S.D. Ga.), Case No. 4:23-cv-00261. Prosecutors have also been forced to drop charges in five other murder cases based on the detectives’ deceit. Yet because she is a “first offender,” Wood was entitled to a probated 15-year sentence and, if she successfully completes it, expungement of her conviction. She must relinquish her state law enforcement certification, so at least she won’t be railroading more Georgians into court.

Illinois: The Chicago Police Department (CPD) cost the city $175.6million to settle misconduct litigation in the first four months of 2026, according to investigative reporting by WTTW in Chicago. That’s more than double the city’s annual $82.5 million settlement budget. The recent payouts included $9.5 million to Carl Reed, 65, for 19 years of wrongful incarceration before he was exonerated of the 2001fatal stabbing of Kim Van Ho, 66. Reed, who suffers from severe cognitive disabilities, was beaten and shackled to a metal bench for 55 hours by former CPD Det. Richard Zuley, now 80, to coerce Reed’s signature on a confession that he couldn’t even read. Another $90 million went to victims framed by former CPD Sgt. Ronald Watts, settling 176 suits filed by 212 suspects whose charges were eventually dropped. Watts, now 62, spent 22 months in federal prison before retiring to Las Vegas in 2015. Beyond wrongful arrests—leaving the true perpetrators to roam free—botched police pursuits have cost the CPD an additional $40.6 million this year, a “misconduct tax” that diverts critical resources from community investment.

Kentucky: Former Kentucky State Police (KSP) Trooper Hayden Kilbourne, 33, was sentenced to five years in prison in February 2026 for a brutal 2023 assault on a compliant suspect. The Louisville Courier Journal reported that BWC footage released on March 19, 2026, showed Kilbourne striking Robert Kidd multiple times with a metal baton while Kidd lay on the ground with his hands raised. During the attack, Kilbourne repeatedly threatened to kill the 20-year-old victim. Kilbourne pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and terroristic threatening. Under the plea agreement, he is ineligible for probation and must permanently relinquish his law enforcement credentials. While Kilbourne remains incarcerated at the Laurel County Detention Center, he faces a federal civil lawsuit for injuries to Kidd, including broken teeth.

Maryland: A high-ranking officer in the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., was behind bars in suburban Maryland following an undercover sting targeting child predators, according to WRC in Washington. Lt. Matthew Mahl, a 23-year veteran and former police union chairman, was charged with soliciting sex from a minor and possessing child pornography. Court documents revealed that Mahl, 47, allegedly utilized his official position to groom a victim he believed was a 15-year-old boy. The “minor” was an undercover deputy with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, whose investigators say that Mahl transmitted sexually explicit images of himself taken inside his police office, as well as photos in full uniform. Acknowledging the potential for “losing everything,” Mahl proceeded to arrange a date where he was arrested on April 14, 2026. He was being held without bond in the County Detention Center.

Maryland: On April 15, 2026, a federal judge handed down the following sentence to popular Baltimore police officer and high school football coach Lawrence Smith, 52: One year and a day in federal prison, plus $215,000 restitution to City Schools and $61,233 to the IRS. WBFF in Baltimore reported that the 21-year veteran cop and coach utilized his position to orchestrate a massive payroll fraud scheme, falsifying overtime forms to steal approximately $215,000 between 2020 and 2023. Investigations by the FBI and local media revealed that Smith claimed to be working sensitive assignments, including homicide investigations and COVID-19 site security, while actually vacationing in Michigan, attending photo shoots, or boating on the Chesapeake Bay. Smith pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion in October 2025.

Mississippi: Javery Howard, 31, a former police officer in both Metcalf and Hollandale, entered a guilty plea in federal court on March 26, 2026, to one count of conspiracy to aid and abet the distribution of illegal narcotics, WLBT in Jackson reported. His plea agreement detailed a lucrative “pay-for-protection” scheme in which Howard took $31,000 in bribes to provide armed police escorts for drug traffickers. At sentencing he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison up to life, and a fine up to $10 million. It was the fifth conviction in a sprawling corruption scandal that saw undercover agents posing as Mexican cartel members and paying law enforcement to provide armed escorts for what they believed were shipments of narcotics and drug money traveling along Highway 61, as CLN reported. [See: CLN, Feb. 2026, p.50.]

Missouri: Former Joplin Police Department SWAT sniper Keaton Siebenaler, 36, was sworn in as a Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) trooper on April 10, 2026, despite a 2022 incident in which he mistakenly shot and killed two-year-old Clesslynn Crawford during a hostage standoff. KCUR in Kansas City interviewed forensic experts who highlighted critical errors in Siebenaler’s conduct; though it was dark, he removed his rifle’s night-vision attachment and fired at a silhouette he believed to be the toddler’s father, which the experts termed “careless” and “difficult to justify.” Siebenaler’s identity remained shielded by a two-year legal battle until his recent graduation from the MSHP academy. The MSHP confirmed it was aware of the killing but cleared Siebenaler through a “full background investigation,” asserting that he met all professional standards for state-level employment.

New York: On April 16, 2026, former New York Police Department (NYPD) Sgt. Erik Duran, 38, was sentenced to three to nine years in prison for hurling a heavy picnic cooler that killed a suspect fleeing a narcotics operation on a motorized scooter in 2023. As CNN reported, Duran blamed the death of Eric Duprey on a “split second decision” for which he should be granted qualified immunity. But state criminal court Judge Guy Mitchell rejected that argument, concluding that the cop acted out of frustration. Just one week later, appellate judge Saliann Scarpulla ordered Duran’s release on $300,000 bond pending his appeal. If his conviction survives, the sentencing will mark the first time an NYPD officer has been imprisoned for an on-duty killing in two decades.

North Dakota: The Independent reported an awful case of “algorithmic injustice,” when Angela Lipps, 50, spent nearly six months incarcerated in two states after being wrongly identified by facial recognition software as the suspect in a Fargo bank fraud case. Lipps, a Tennessee grandmother who had never stepped foot in North Dakota, was arrested at gunpoint by U.S. Marshals in July 2025. Classified as a fugitive, she languished in a Tennessee jail for four months without bail before being extradited 1,200 miles to Fargo. The case was built on profound police incompetence; Fargo detectives relied entirely on software and superficial social media checks, failing to verify Lipps’ whereabouts. But basic financial records, including Uber Eats and local bank transactions, conclusively proved that she was in Tennessee when the crimes occurred. By the time of her Christmas Eve 2025 release, Lipps had lost her home, her car, and her dog because she was unable to pay bills from jail. Fargo officials offered no apology. It was the eighth documented wrongful arrest in the U.S. to date involving facial recognition.

Ohio: In a landmark ruling, Judge David T. Matia vacated the death sentence of CharlesMaxwell, 60, on April 7, 2026, ordering him resentenced to life without parole for the 2005 killing of Nicole McCorkle. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, it was the 10th time that relief has been granted under Ohio’s pioneering 2021 Serious Mental Illness (SMI) law. Neuropsychiatric evidence revealed that Maxwell’s condition, characterized by paranoia and auditory hallucinations linked to several traumatic brain injuries sustained throughout his life—including a severe beating at age 20 and a motorcycle accident in 2003—significantly impaired his ability to conform his conduct to the law when he fatally assaulted McCorkle, who was carrying his child, in 2005. Ohio and Kentucky are the only states with statutory SMI exemptions which provide a pathway for relief from capital punishment for those suffering a severe mental impairment that may constitutionally prohibit execution.

Ohio: A judicial crisis in Delaware County has ignited a wave of appeals as defendants challenge convictions presided over by Judge James Schuck, according to WSYX in Columbus. The turmoil follows allegations from an assistant prosecutor that Schuck sexually assaulted her in his chambers and subsequently subjected her to relentless harassment. The scandal has drawn complaints of bias from high-profile defendants, including Rhonda Coomes, 54, who was sentenced to 42 years in prison in 2025 after pleading guilty to 14 counts of endangering children in the daycare that she ran. Schuck admitted to having an affair and took a leave of absence, and the Delaware County Prosecutor commissioned an external review by the Warren County Prosecutor of all 30 cases that involved both Schuck and the assistant prosecutor.

Ohio: Former East Cleveland Police Department (ECPD) Chief Kenneth Lundy, 55, entered a not-guilty plea during his arraignment on a sweeping 31-count indictment in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on April 8, 2026. The charges, which included bribery, perjury, and theft in office, stemmed from alleged misconduct during Lundy’s tenure as an ECPD detective, according to WOIO in Cleveland. Prosecutors described a “pay-for-play” scheme in which Lundy solicited a $50,000 Chevrolet Tahoe and a $10,000 cash payment from drug suspects in exchange for dropping or reducing the charges against them. He was further accused of diverting $3,000 in investigative “buy money” into his personal bank account. Most outrageous was the allegation that Lundy manipulated a homicide investigation by using a sexual relationship with an unnamed witness to coerce her false testimony against Jerry Sims, who was later convicted of murder. That conviction has since been vacated. Lundy was fired in July 2025 and remains under GPS monitoring on a $10,000 bond.

South Carolina: WPDE in Florence reported that former Horry County Police Department Off. Aldrich Roshun Calloway, 35, was arrested on April 17, 2026, for running a “pay-to-play” bribery scheme involving traffic citations. The warrant issued by the State Law Enforcement Division accused Calloway of soliciting bribes via Facebook or in recorded phone calls in exchange for promises to dismiss tickets for reckless driving and equipment violations. In one instance, Calloway brazenly instructed a driver to send $400 via Cash App, boasting of a “notebook” he kept of dropped tickets. In another case, he characterized a $200 cash demand as “making a deal under the table.” Now facing multiple counts of bribery and misconduct in office, Calloway was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center near Myrtle Beach.

Tennessee: A former LaFollette police officer faces felony charges following a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) probe into a violent 2024 off-duty encounter, according to WVLT in Knoxville. Isaiah Lloyd, 34, was indicted on April 13, 2026, for official misconduct and witness coercion. The indictment describes a pattern of lawless behavior: Lloyd allegedly donned a hoodie to vandalize a Campbell County home in January 2024 and, when confronted by the homeowner, tossed a homemade explosive device before fleeing. He told his wife, Joy, about the incident, knowledge she later used to keep his mistress, Cheyenne White, from pressing charges when the irate spouse tracked Lloyd to White’s home. Lloyd’s law enforcement career is marked by other controversy; he resigned from the state Highway Patrol in 2018 to avoid termination following sexual misconduct allegations, resulting in a two-year certification suspension. Despite his history, he was able to find employment in LaFollette and Union County.   

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