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"Even as municipal and state officials around the country react to the killing of George Floyd with measures aimed at curbing police misconduct, members of the criminal justice community warn that little will change unless officers feel safe enough to expose wrongdoing in their ranks."
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Showing posts with label police corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police corruption. Show all posts
Chicago Rarely Penalizes Officers for Complaints, Data Shows
"In
18 years with the Chicago Police Department, the nation’s
second-largest, Jerome Finnigan had never been disciplined — although 68
citizen complaints had been lodged against him, including accusations
that he used excessive force and regularly conducted illegal searches.
Then,
in 2011, he admitted to robbing criminal suspects while serving in an
elite police unit and ordering a hit on a fellow police officer he
thought intended to turn him in. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. 'My bosses knew what I was doing out there, and it went on and on,' he
said in court when he pleaded guilty. 'And this wasn’t the exception to
the rule. This was the rule.'
Mr. Finnigan is one of thousands of Chicago police officers who have
been the subject of citizen complaints over the years but have not been
disciplined by the department, according to data
released this month by the Invisible Institute, a nonprofit journalism
organization, and the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic of the University of
Chicago Law School. Such information is rarely made public and has come
to light in Chicago only after a decade-long legal battle by the institute and the clinic."
The Police Are Still Out of Control
"...Today the combination of an excess of deadly force and near-total lack of accountability is more dangerous than ever: Most cops today can pull out their weapons and fire without fear that anything will happen to them, even if they shoot someone wrongfully. All a police officer has to say is that he believes his life was in danger, and he’s typically absolved.... In some ways, matters have gotten even worse. The gulf between the police and the communities they serve has grown wider.... The automatic weapons and bulletproof vest may protect the officer, but they also insulate him from the very society he’s sworn to protect. All that firepower and armor puts an even greater wall between the police and society, and solidifies that 'us-versus-them' feeling."
"...Today the combination of an excess of deadly force and near-total lack of accountability is more dangerous than ever: Most cops today can pull out their weapons and fire without fear that anything will happen to them, even if they shoot someone wrongfully. All a police officer has to say is that he believes his life was in danger, and he’s typically absolved.... In some ways, matters have gotten even worse. The gulf between the police and the communities they serve has grown wider.... The automatic weapons and bulletproof vest may protect the officer, but they also insulate him from the very society he’s sworn to protect. All that firepower and armor puts an even greater wall between the police and society, and solidifies that 'us-versus-them' feeling."
Jail Sentences for Cops Who Planted Pot on 92-Year Old They Killed in Botched Drug Raid
By Christopher Moraff, AlterNet. Posted February 26, 2009.
Three former Atlanta police officers were sentenced for shooting Kathryn Johnston and attempting to cover up their cruel acts.
Three former Atlanta police officers were sentenced to prison time this week for the shooting death of a 92 year-old grandmother after breaking down her door during a botched drug raid.
Jason Smith, Gregg Junnier and Arthur Tesler received sentences ranging from five to 10 years on charges of conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death.
In November 2006, the officers -- all members of Atlanta's narcotics squad -- gunned down Kathryn Johnston inside her home. The police claimed to be acting on information they received from a confidential informant that drugs were being sold from the house. That allegation turned out to be false.
Read on...
Three former Atlanta police officers were sentenced for shooting Kathryn Johnston and attempting to cover up their cruel acts.
Three former Atlanta police officers were sentenced to prison time this week for the shooting death of a 92 year-old grandmother after breaking down her door during a botched drug raid.
Jason Smith, Gregg Junnier and Arthur Tesler received sentences ranging from five to 10 years on charges of conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death.
In November 2006, the officers -- all members of Atlanta's narcotics squad -- gunned down Kathryn Johnston inside her home. The police claimed to be acting on information they received from a confidential informant that drugs were being sold from the house. That allegation turned out to be false.
Read on...
The necessity of dishonesty: Police deviance, "making the case", and the public good
by Jona Goldschmidt and Anonymous. Published in Policing & Society, v.18, no.2 (2008): 113-135
This article is available online to the U. of T. community. It is also available in print at the Centre of Criminology Library
This study presents the results of structured interviews of 10 urban police officers conducted by an insider - a fellow police officer - regarding their attitudes towards and motivations for the use of dishonesty and extra-legal means in furtherance of their law enforcement function. Their vocabulary of motives include a wide range of justifications and rationalisations for their own and their fellow officers' unlawful stops, searches, arrests, planting of evidence, false report writing, and perjured testimony. The officers' techniques for neutralising their own moral guilt or others' questioning of their untoward conduct go beyond furtherance of their noble cause, which is a dominant force. The officers benefit both personally and professionally from their deviance. They express a firm belief that their extra-legal methods are a necessary deterrent to criminal behaviour, and even desired by those segments of society most victimised by criminal behaviour. Given the constellation of motives driving the officers' behaviour, the authors suggest that multiple approaches will be necessary to address the police dishonesty problem.
This article is available online to the U. of T. community. It is also available in print at the Centre of Criminology Library
This study presents the results of structured interviews of 10 urban police officers conducted by an insider - a fellow police officer - regarding their attitudes towards and motivations for the use of dishonesty and extra-legal means in furtherance of their law enforcement function. Their vocabulary of motives include a wide range of justifications and rationalisations for their own and their fellow officers' unlawful stops, searches, arrests, planting of evidence, false report writing, and perjured testimony. The officers' techniques for neutralising their own moral guilt or others' questioning of their untoward conduct go beyond furtherance of their noble cause, which is a dominant force. The officers benefit both personally and professionally from their deviance. They express a firm belief that their extra-legal methods are a necessary deterrent to criminal behaviour, and even desired by those segments of society most victimised by criminal behaviour. Given the constellation of motives driving the officers' behaviour, the authors suggest that multiple approaches will be necessary to address the police dishonesty problem.
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