A Baltimore cop, identified as Richard Pinheiro, was recorded on video planting drugs then "finding" them moments later - in front of two other unnamed cops. The video was made possible due to Pinheiro's body camera being designed to keep the 30 seconds of video prior to it being "switched on".
Charges against the civilian suspect have been dropped; no word yet on any criminal charges against any of the three cops.
Also at Ars Technica, The Baltimore Sun, USA Today and vox.com.
(Score: 5, Informative) by qzm on Friday July 21 2017, @02:00AM (11 children)
He will be on administrative leave with full pay (ie: a holiday) until the media lose interest, then told to be more careful next time.
The Police, pretty much the largest organised gang in [insert any country here].
The ones who try and do a good job (and yes, there are certainly some) get squashed into irrelevance by the rest.
Unfortunate, but true.
(Score: 1) by Arik on Friday July 21 2017, @02:05AM
Then again, Baltimore huh?
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday July 21 2017, @02:05AM (5 children)
Depends on your interaction with police, there are clearly good and bad, but the ratio is very debatable, and varies wildly by location and other factors.
If your only interaction with police is when you've triggered a traffic stop trap, then, yeah, they're 99% lying douche bags. I really worry that they're O.K. with portraying that image to the otherwise law abiding public.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 21 2017, @01:59PM (4 children)
"they're 99% lying douche bags"
Closer to 66% in my experience. I've payed a lot of tickets over the years. I actually earned about 1/3 of them. Possibly a little more than one in three. But, yeah, traffic cops are notorious liars.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Friday July 21 2017, @03:00PM
By the letter of the law, I've "earned" >1000x as many tickets as I have received, as have >99/100 cars I meet on the road.
When it comes time to actually write a ticket, I'd agree with you, about 1/3 are more or less factually based, the other 2/3 are lacking proof or just outright made up BS to give them an excuse to fill their quota. Profiling, misuse of measurement equipment, fishing for confessions, especially the last two days of the month.
Thankfully, profiling is starting to work for me instead of against: grey-white hair, I've only been cited once in the past 10 years.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Friday July 21 2017, @09:38PM (2 children)
Huh...they're usually pretty honest about being full of shit IME.
"You know, when I pulled you over I didn't even know this was illegal...I had to get on the radio and have them look it up so I'd have something to cite you for." -- that's an exact quote (or close to it, it's been a while) of an RI state trooper that pulled me over last year. Ended up with a $35 fine, which was dismissed...but then I had to pay a $35 court fee.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 21 2017, @11:12PM
Sounds like Albequerque courts. I got a ticket there that was outrageously bogus. I called and bitched, and was assured the ticket would be dismissed. All I had to do was pay the same amount as the ticket was for "court costs". In states like that, you're going to pay, no matter what. The only question is, how many points are added to your driving record. It's not about safety, it's all about the money.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday July 22 2017, @03:34AM
Well, there's a difference between the ones running traps and the ones that pull you out of genuine concern.
Long ago, I drove around significantly over the limit a lot, and when off duties and other cops would stop me then, they would also generally cut me loose with a warning, after a couple of minutes of "getting to know you" chat time.
It's Betty the Traffic Cop who thinks that Traffic is beneath her, but stakes out a corner on the 28th of the month to pump up her numbers to make quota - she'll lie her ass off, in front of a judge if necessary, to tell a story that backs up her "observing" you running a red light, even though she couldn't see the intersection from her donut consuming nest.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Justin Case on Friday July 21 2017, @04:29AM (2 children)
Yeah, thanks to video we are starting to see irrefutable evidence of what many already knew: cops can steal and even kill innocent civilians with utter impunity. It is to the point where it is hard to believe they deserve any respect at all, much less a claim to moral authority over the rest of us.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday July 21 2017, @03:06PM
And yet, for some reason, prosecutors and at least enough jurors find a way to not see that irrefutable evidence. Which is one reason that the cops continue to act with impunity.
The impression I get from some folks is "Cop shot him? He musta done something!" Which is a fundamentally authoritarian argument.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Friday July 21 2017, @05:00PM
Be reasonable; the Morlocks have to eat something. What's the loss of an Eloi or two versus the greater good of a well-functioning society?
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Grishnakh on Friday July 21 2017, @04:16PM
The Police, pretty much the largest organised gang in [insert any country here].
The ones who try and do a good job (and yes, there are certainly some) get squashed into irrelevance by the rest.
Unfortunate, but true.
No, it's not completely true. There's a bunch of countries where the police actually do a good job in general, and don't act like an organized gang. I hear the police in Germany and Finland are really good, for example. Nor would I be worried about being mistreated by the police in Switzerland or Norway or Iceland.
But your statements are 100% true for the US and various other 3rd-world nations with very high corruption.