8 ms·

This reads like some sort of dark comedy. These police officers plant drugs on the poor guy's car, they then take him out. He wasn't even the driver BTW. Bec

• random314 7y ago
  You forgot the major hit. The defendant pled guilty to possessing drugs and wont be able to find employment because of a criminal record.
  • mirimir 7y ago
    Huh. So doesn't that get reversed, once it's clear that the cops planted drugs on him? Or what, does he get charged with perjury over his plea bargain?
  • ianferrel 7y ago
    He pled guilty to resisting arrest. I agree with the general point, though.
    • abhorrence 7y ago
      I wonder if there’s any recourse on the count of resisting arrest. It seems reasonable that someone being framed by the cops might resist arrest.
      • jjeaff 7y ago
        While I 100% think these cops should be immediately fired and prosecuted, being innocent is not an excuse to resist arrest.
        • beatgammit 7y ago
          What if it's obvious that the police are framing you? I've seen videos where the police outright refuse to tell the suspect what they're accused of, so the arrest is illegal. In those cases, resisting unlawful arrest seems reasonable.
          • AnimalMuppet 7y ago
            Define "reasonable". Reasonable in the sense of "in a just world, it would be a good idea"? OK. Reasonable in the sense of "in this world, it's a good idea"? Absolutely not. It gets you physically hammered to whatever degree they decide is necessary to get you to the point where you don't (or can't) resist any longer. And then it gets you charged with resisting arrest. And if you're going to say that, even if it's a bad idea in this world, it's the only way to move is toward that more ideal world, I would say that it does not seem to be having any effect whatsoever in doing so.
• chrisco255 7y ago
  If this is true the guy can sue and should do so.
  • atoav 7y ago
    I don't think he should have to. If a police force isn't automatically held accountable in such a case you are looking at a systemic issue.
  • anigbrowl 7y ago
    Except that litigation is expensive, slow, and tiresome and he'll probably be subject to threats to his person, property, and family from dirty cops.
    • chrisco255 7y ago
      The cops aren't the ones who get sued. It's the city government. So no, there's no chance of that. Threats to person, property or family are illegal and punishable. Not all cops are dirty. The vast majority are ethical.
      • TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
        > Threats to person, property or family are illegal and punishable. What's your point here? Isn't planting evidence also illegal? The problem is that, well, the law is expensive, slow, and tiresome, and there's an inherent power imbalance. The topic here revolves around how law enforcement officers are able to act with impunity.
      • gouggoug 7y ago
        > Threats to person, property or family are illegal and punishable So is planting drugs, and obviously the law's not being enforced. > Not all cops are dirty. Of course not. But that doesn't make OP's comment "he'll probably be subject to threats to his person, property, and family from dirty cops" less true.
        • 7y ago
• sneak 7y ago
  > Is there a way to just start over when it comes to policing in America? There is, but it’s mighty illegal.
  • ludamad 7y ago
    Success breeds legality
  • gruez 7y ago
    So was the american revolution
• Natsu 7y ago
  > The officers walk away with no punishment This has too much media attention, I doubt they'll get away with no charges for long, but it might take them some time to get to the point of charging them. Ideally this would stay in the news until such time as the officers responsible were permanently removed from the force. They should never be permitted to be cops again and they should spend a long time behind bars as well.
  • jacobush 7y ago
    I will be very surprised if they are found guilty of anything or even charged.
    • brlewis 7y ago
      FWIW, it happens: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-pinheiro-ruling-20181109-story.html https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-pinheiro-ru...
      • jacobush 7y ago
        On a somehow slightly ironic note I cannot read about these uplifting events from the EU. :-) The EU is just not free enough, or something: "Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to the EU market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism."
        • brokenmachine 7y ago
          Easier to add that message than to have a popup for you to mindlessly click "agree" on.
          • jacobush 7y ago
            Is it? I don't think a cookie popup is the issue here. EU websites have those too. I think what's being done with the data they are collecting is the issue.
• bsanr2 7y ago
  Yes. IMO: Seriously resolve to disband them. Just recognize that the institution is fundamentally dysfunctional and take the necessary action. Reassign their duties to separate agencies with appropriate oversight: the general security forces should not be the investigators should not be the large crowd control force. Absolutely none of them should be military, and absolutely all of them should have degrees in psychology, at the very least, and from institutions accredited by an independent body. Finally, disarm them all by default, and rearm based on independently-determined necessity.
  • mygo 7y ago
    > disarm them all by default That would be a mistake.
    • bsanr2 7y ago
      I disagree.
      • mygo 7y ago
        Can I get a reason why not? I’ll start. I think it would be a mistake because if you have LEO who are disarmed, then criminals may be emboldened and LEO wouldn’t be able to defend themselves in the situations where they need to do so. We can’t both be advocating for better police training, police with all psychology degrees as a minimum, and then also saying we wouldn’t trust them to be armed.
        • madhadron 7y ago
          The USA is very unusual in the developed world in having armed police. In Germany, for example, the officers on the streets do not carry firearms. What they do have is riot squads a couple minutes away if force is actually necessary. > then criminals may be emboldened and LEO wouldn’t be able to defend themselves in the situations where they need to do so I hear arguments like this in the USA a lot, but it doesn't seem to be a major issue in the rest of the world. I suspect it's another talking point that assumes certain conditions as universal that are very unusual and strange.
• giancarlostoro 7y ago
  Do we need to start over or take the Bill of Rights much more seriously? The Miranda Rights thing only helps so much sadly. People need to lawyer up and not speak to cops period. Also we need to ensure cops like these are only given 1 single chance and when they go under scrutiny the 2nd time no paid leave. No exceptions. The law matters more than protecting scumbags. Course if you are caught as a officer interfering with the law you should be charged of the same crime in addition to what anybody else would be charged of for doing the same.
  • hermitdev 7y ago
    When I was a senior in college, I got pulled over by Chicago Housing Authority while driving (with out of state plates) through the south side projects ostensibly for a lane change without signalling (which is bullshit, signalling is a pet peeve of me, and I always signal). There were 3 officers. One was being a real dick. Was asking me all sorts of questions unrelated to the traffic stop, like why am I here, where do I work, etc. Told him it was non of his business. Then, he threatened to arrest me. Told him I'm not answering any more questions without a lawyer present. He went back to the van to write up the ticket. The other 2 officers apologized to me, but did nothing to stop the ticket. They were trying to get me to admit I was trying to score drugs. I was just on my way to school to take a final. They took my license as bail, leaving me without photo ID, the week I was supposed to fly home for Christmas. Had to get a state ID. Only cost $4, but I was broke, didnt even have enough to take out at an ATM. Paid the $4 in dimes so I could have a photo ID to fly. The clerk at the DMV was pissed, but once I explained the circumstance, she patiently delt with me. Tldr; white college student with out of state plates is profiled in a poor black neighborhood known for dealing druga on his way to take a final. And, no, I didnt fight it. It would have been my word against 3 cops. The only way I could have won is if all 3 cops didn't show up to court. Repercussions of pleading np contest are far less than pleading not guilty and losing in Illinois.
• downerending 7y ago
  Stories like these make me feel like Orwellian ubiquitous surveillance might not turn out so bad after all.
  • mannykannot 7y ago
    We are in an Orwellian situation: there is extensive surveillance, but its use is firmly in the hands of the government and its institutions. if the government were promoting justice and protecting rights, that would be one thing, but in cases like this, it is not.
    • cinquemb 7y ago
      The radical solution will be eventually to extend the tools of surveillance and place them in the hands of the masses. Increasingly cheaper hardware and increasingly prevalent knowledge of software will support this.
      • bsanr2 7y ago
        Until deepfakes become more sophisticated. We have a serious problem on our hands, that we will probably need to solve as much with social and pyschological system retools as with technological ones.
        • cinquemb 7y ago
          Well regardless of whether social and psychological can keep up, the incentives to push the technological ones forward are happening now. Those who wont be able to adapt to the fact that entrenched power structures will become increasingly irrelevant at being the arbiters of truth and information will suffer most.
          • bsanr2 7y ago
            Well, 2 things: 1) The entrenched power structures will be most able to abuse this technology, as they have the social structure through which the technology acts on their side, and 2)The lack of any authority, central or otherwise, makes the importance of these soft and constructed parameters even more important, not less. If you're betting on anarchy sorting more effectively because you think authority distorts a natural balance, that's probably not the case. When you remove the tentpole, you're not freed from the tent, it just collapses on top of you with all its weight. Everyone needs to have their personal pillars ready.
• K0SM0S 7y ago
  > Is there a way to just start over when it comes to policing in America? I'm afraid this would be a beginning, not a start over, because what you're describing is technically not meeting the definition of a democratic "police". As a foreign observer, were this my country— I'd feel in presence of an occupying force, whose master and goals are unclear but randomly hostile. Apparently they do worship the god "prison", feeding it as many people as possible, in the worst shape possible¹. These is emphatically not the behavior of a group whose ultimate responsibility is to citizens. It is not worthy, ethically or technically, of the name police. There are other (notably italian) words to qualify such practices. ____ 1: I know it's a caricature, but frankly the notion of "police" in the USA is itself but a sorry caricature, compared to any other modern rich country. Citizen-police interactions too often devolve into quasi-dystopian (certainly authoritarian) situations, straight from the 1980s of Orwell where words and actions are so twisted they no longer make any sense.
  • golergka 7y ago
    Any government is an occupying force for the society, by it's very nature.
  • LordDragonfang 7y ago
    Leftists really like to point out that the American police system has deep roots in the paid slave catchers that would return escaped slaves in free states to their masters. And the fact that America never actually abolished slavery, just made it contingent on being punishment for a crime. Stories like this make you wonder if they're right.
    • tylerl 7y ago
      Really? That's certainly not something I generally hear. You can levy a lot of complaints against police systems, especially the a few of the more infamous departments. But that one seems like it's pushing a bit to make a specific connection.
      • Seirdy 7y ago
• deleted 7y ago
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