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posted by martyb on Saturday March 24 2018, @03:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the protect-and-serve dept.

From the New York Times:

The [Bronx] court sealed the case file, hiding from view a problem so old and persistent that the criminal justice system sometimes responds with little more than a shrug: false testimony by the police.

[...] "Behind closed doors, we call it testilying," a New York City police officer, Pedro Serrano, said in a recent interview, echoing a word that officers coined at least 25 years ago. "You take the truth and stretch it out a little bit."

[...] An investigation by The New York Times has found that on more than 25 occasions since January 2015, judges or prosecutors determined that a key aspect of a New York City police officer's testimony was probably untrue. The Times identified these cases — many of which are sealed — through interviews with lawyers, police officers and current and former judges.

In these cases, officers have lied about the whereabouts of guns, putting them in suspects' hands or waistbands when they were actually hidden out of sight. They have barged into apartments and conducted searches, only to testify otherwise later. Under oath, they have given firsthand accounts of crimes or arrests that they did not in fact witness. They have falsely claimed to have watched drug deals happen, only to later recant or be shown to have lied.

[...] Many police officials and experts express optimism that the prevalence of cameras will reduce police lying. As officers begin to accept that digital evidence of an encounter will emerge, lying will be perceived as too risky — or so the thinking goes. [...]

Yet interviews with officers suggest the prevalence of cameras alone won't end police lying. That's because even with cameras present, some officers still figure — with good reason — that a lie is unlikely to be exposed. Because plea deals are a typical outcome [...]

"There's no fear of being caught," said one Brooklyn officer who has been on the force for roughly a decade. "You're not going to go to trial and nobody is going to be cross-examined."

[...] Police lying raises the likelihood that the innocent end up in jail — and that as juries and judges come to regard the police as less credible, or as cases are dismissed when the lies are discovered, the guilty will go free. Police falsehoods also impede judges' efforts to enforce constitutional limits on police searches and seizures.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Sunday March 25 2018, @12:05AM (5 children)

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Sunday March 25 2018, @12:05AM (#657707) Journal

    all they need is a cop whom they have corrupted to arrest them irregularly.

    Cop lies: loses the job, and any ability ever get the job back, anywhere.

    A very good use for a "Violation of Public Trust" registry.

    With great power comes great responsibility. Or should.

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  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by archfeld on Sunday March 25 2018, @12:36AM (4 children)

    by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Sunday March 25 2018, @12:36AM (#657719) Journal

    Then step up and do the job rather than sit back and biatch. Those that can't, teach, those that can't teach, criticize. As a former deputy sheriff any officer who knowingly or willingly lies, whether to get the bad guy or cover up evidence of a crime should get what's coming to them. A lie of omission is a slightly different thing, as any defense attorney who is defending a criminal he KNOWS did the crime will attest to. I never understood the get out of jail free card idea either and I can say I've never worked anywhere that 'officially' acknowledged such a quid pro quo policy like they apparently do on the east coast.

    --
    For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
    • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @01:04AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 25 2018, @01:04AM (#657732)

      Anyone who quotes that tired bullshit about teachers is a moron. Then we find out you were accepted into law enforcement where they negatively select for intelligence. Things aren't looking good for you here.

    • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Sunday March 25 2018, @02:54AM (2 children)

      by fyngyrz (6567) on Sunday March 25 2018, @02:54AM (#657770) Journal

      Then step up and do the job rather than sit back and biatch. Those that can't, teach, those that can't teach, criticize.

      I can't do the job (if we're talking about police work.) I do help with our local legislation. And I am teaching. But I can't make anyone learn. Some people refuse, others are incapable, yet others are bewildered beyond recovery. And the context... the entire system is corrupt and/or broken: legislation, enforcement, both the judicial process and the judiciary, and most of the punishment mechanisms. That's one serious hill to climb. I do try, but just as we see here in our little Soylent microcosm, there's a huge amount of toxic thinking throwing sand in the gears.

      As a former deputy sheriff ... I never understood the get out of jail free card idea

      What do you mean by this? Given that you were a deputy sheriff, if you were good at it, I would expect you to have a very nuanced grasp on why things are supposed to work along the lines of holding the entire process to a very high standard (but usually don't, and I'd expect you to understand that end of it as well.) Care to elaborate?

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by archfeld on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:26AM (1 child)

        by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Sunday March 25 2018, @08:26AM (#657832) Journal

        Perhaps I was unclear, In stating that I don't understand the idea of institutionalizing systemic abuse of power I was expressing my disgust at the local group that supported such. As for my skill I was very good at it, if I hadn't turned my back on a crack whore who was being beaten by her husband and called for aid to help my partner subdue said husband and then decided the cops were at fault and hit me in the head with an iron skillet I might still be at the job. I get headaches to this day and oddly enough a joint seems to help more than anything. The world is a strange place...

        --
        For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
        • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Sunday March 25 2018, @12:57PM

          by fyngyrz (6567) on Sunday March 25 2018, @12:57PM (#657876) Journal

          Nothing odd about it. Pot's usually a lovely thing. Almost all the ugly comes from idiot legislation.