4 ms·

Cops are, with rare exception, ever held liable for their abuses of power. Lawsuits are payed by the taxpayers, so they have zero incentive to behave legally.

ceejayoz 7y ago
Yup. A particularly egregious case: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190909/12232742945/ninth-circuit-upholds-previous-declaration-that-cops-stealing-your-stuff-doesnt-violate-constitution.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190909/12232742945/ninth... The Ninth Circuit: "We recognize that the allegation of any theft by police officers - most certainly the theft of over $225,000 - is deeply disturbing. Whether that conduct violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, however, would not "be 'clear to a reasonable officer.'"" Note: Theft! Not asset forfeiture, but actual theft!
- vageli 7y ago
  > Yup. A particularly egregious case: > https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190909/12232742945/ninth.. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190909/12232742945/ninth.... > The Ninth Circuit: > "We recognize that the allegation of any theft by police officers - most certainly the theft of over $225,000 - is deeply disturbing. Whether that conduct violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, however, would not "be 'clear to a reasonable officer.'"" Ignorance of the law is no defense...oh wait.
- pytester 7y ago
  It gets worse than stealing: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/06/witness-in-amber-guyger-case-found-shot-dead-in-dallas https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/06/witness-in-a... "authorities have not identified a suspect or determined a motive." Internal affairs clearly isn't a thing in the US. Or, if it is, it's a thing that doesn't work, coz when the witness of somebody getting murdered by a cop gets murdered in suspicious circumstances then it's not all that hard to identify a motive.
  - dbuder 7y ago
    That has been solved, it was drug related.
- dbuder 7y ago
  Qualified Immunity needs to go, it was supposed to be a moat, it is now the whole field.
armitron 7y ago
Let me rephrase that: Cops _in the USA_ are almost never held liable for abuses of power including outright murders. This is unheard of in other first world countries, especially in Europe. I'm American but I've lived in England, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland where the cops are really polite civil servants. In the UK, cops don't even carry guns. The current state of affairs in the US, including rapid militarization of police, is a harbinger of things to come.
- pstuart 7y ago
  Yes, good point. Typical American arrogance on my part :-)
- valley-green 7y ago
  Cops _in the USA_ are almost always held liable for abuses of power including outright murders. We can’t disarm our police because you will always be able to buy assault rifles in sane states like Texas. Do you want your police to be outgunned by the bad guys? I would like for my police officers to be more well armed than the criminals, maybe that’s just me. I would like to see you try to do their job without any weapons. Fool.

ceejayoz 7y ago

Yup. A particularly egregious case: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190909/12232742945/ninth-circuit-upholds-previous-declaration-that-cops-stealing-your-stuff-doesnt-violate-constitution.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190909/12232742945/ninth... The Ninth Circuit: "We recognize that the allegation of any theft by police officers - most certainly the theft of over $225,000 - is deeply disturbing. Whether that conduct violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, however, would not "be 'clear to a reasonable officer.'"" Note: Theft! Not asset forfeiture, but actual theft!

vageli 7y ago
> Yup. A particularly egregious case: > https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190909/12232742945/ninth.. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190909/12232742945/ninth.... > The Ninth Circuit: > "We recognize that the allegation of any theft by police officers - most certainly the theft of over $225,000 - is deeply disturbing. Whether that conduct violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, however, would not "be 'clear to a reasonable officer.'"" Ignorance of the law is no defense...oh wait.
pytester 7y ago
It gets worse than stealing: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/06/witness-in-amber-guyger-case-found-shot-dead-in-dallas https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/06/witness-in-a... "authorities have not identified a suspect or determined a motive." Internal affairs clearly isn't a thing in the US. Or, if it is, it's a thing that doesn't work, coz when the witness of somebody getting murdered by a cop gets murdered in suspicious circumstances then it's not all that hard to identify a motive.
- dbuder 7y ago
  That has been solved, it was drug related.
dbuder 7y ago
Qualified Immunity needs to go, it was supposed to be a moat, it is now the whole field.

armitron 7y ago

Let me rephrase that: Cops _in the USA_ are almost never held liable for abuses of power including outright murders. This is unheard of in other first world countries, especially in Europe. I'm American but I've lived in England, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland where the cops are really polite civil servants. In the UK, cops don't even carry guns. The current state of affairs in the US, including rapid militarization of police, is a harbinger of things to come.

pstuart 7y ago
Yes, good point. Typical American arrogance on my part :-)
valley-green 7y ago
Cops _in the USA_ are almost always held liable for abuses of power including outright murders. We can’t disarm our police because you will always be able to buy assault rifles in sane states like Texas. Do you want your police to be outgunned by the bad guys? I would like for my police officers to be more well armed than the criminals, maybe that’s just me. I would like to see you try to do their job without any weapons. Fool.