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> [The police] don't realise that false positives happen. Rather, they don't care. Neither do the prosecutors. They don't want to imprison innocents, but they
by genwin 14y ago
> [The police] don't realise that false positives happen.
Rather, they don't care. Neither do the prosecutors. They don't want to imprison innocents, but they also have a strong incentive to look the other way. That's why, for example, prosecutors fight hard to block initial DNA tests on those already imprisoned. (In the US anyway.)
- eckyptang 14y agoIndeed. I've recently had an issue along those lines albeit on a lesser scale as a witness. The police were more interested in securing a good case for the CPS than actually fairly evaluating the situation. I was actually advised that my statement should only refer to the facts which were likely to aid a conviction rather than be a fair and balanced account of what happened. The moment a conviction was not obviously going to happen, they recommended that I withdraw my statement before they submit the case to the CPS. I wrote an addendum sheet for the statement instead stating that they'd asked me to do that. That didn't go down well so I better move to another area if I want any policing or assistance in the future... For ref, no-one was hurt other than insurance companies in this case. Two idiots bounced a car off each other at 20mph - neither need prosecuting.