[UPDATE BELOW] Way back in 2007, rapper Ja Rule was stopped on West End Avenue for speeding following a concert at Beacon Theater, unfortunately for him, cops also found a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic in the car (with Ja Rule's DNA on it). Now the NY Post reports that he was in court earlier today pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon; the Manhattan judge told him, “Because of your guilty plea here today, you’ll have a record of having committed a violent felony. This is a very serious matter." more ›

Because fighting crime is a dirty job, beat cops and school safety officers are now being equipped with cute little bottles of liquid-sanitizer that clip onto their belts. "A police precinct is like a petri dish, with all the cops coming from the street with every bacteria," said a cop in lower Manhattan. The carrying cases (which look suspiciously like Sigg bottles) are stamped with “NYPD” in blue and can be refilled at precincts. A memo says it’s the commanding officers’ job to "ensure an adequate supply of sanitizer is maintained to refill." According to the Post, it also warned cops not to hook the hand sanitizer onto their firearm trigger guards, radio antennas and expandable batons. It’s good news for preventing sickness (swine flu in particular), but bad news for back pain: even with the “optional” hand sanitizer bottle, the average police belt—which contains handcuffs, keys, radio, bullets, pistol, pepper spray, flashlight and baton—weighs 16 pounds. more ›

An 8-year-old was arrested yesterday after he tried to show a classmate a loaded gun he carried into a Long Island school. A third-grade teacher overheard the student bragging about the weapon and confiscated a semiautomatic handgun from the adolescent's desk, according to cops. more ›

Following Monday night's Knicks game, Sean Combs was set to co-host a party with Kobe Bryant in honor of someone named DJ Clue's birthday...but Diddy never entered the club (M2 on West 28th Street). The NY Post reports that the rapper/entrepreneur/Vodka salesman wasn't a no-show, he was simply scared off by the NYPD's undercover gun detail set up to search every guest (those guys are always a buzz kill). They report that "a witness said he 'flipped out' when cops asked to search him and his friends." After one member of his entourage ducked back to the car, Diddy and the others "stormed off" and decided not to attend. Not suspicious at all! Especially when you already have a history of maybe opening fire in a club. more ›