Police raid using SWAT invade a home for drugs, kills pets, and only finds a pipe

[The Toecutter]

So what happens when an anonymous informant gives a tip to police that someone is dealing drugs?

1) A judge rubberstamps a warrant with little or no evidence to support its justification
2) The chief of police waits 8 days to serve the warrant and conduct a raid, without bothering to collect any evidence of drug dealing
3) During the raid, the police wearing military gear storm the home and kill two dogs that pose no threat(one of them being a Welsh Corgi), and fire shots with a 7 year old child on the premesis
4) Their "big bust" was a pipe with marijuana residue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XmjNxKOQvg

This war on drugs makes no sense whatsoever. When will our inalienable rights finally be acknowledged? Perhaps when ordinary American citizens decide they have nothing to lose by returning the use of force where applicable? I know lots of people where if police barged into their homes in such a fashion, there would be deaths on both sides... and I certainly wouldn't blame them for protecting their property.

[Sejon]

Maybe they suspected the Welsh corgi was a drug-lord?

If Cowboy Bebop's taught me anything, it's that Welsh corgis can never be underestimated.

[Hrafn]

The officers who shot the dogs need to be fired. No ifs, ands, or buts. Suspended without pay until the inevitable investigation is complete, and then ****canned. Because these are clearly people too trigger-happy to be allowed to represent the law. It's their restraint which is supposed to separate them from those they are opposing.

And yes, not to beat a dead horse, but this whole interest in taking down nonviolent drug offenders is just ridiculous. I'm so glad government money was spent on efforts to remove heinous crime lords like Tommy Chong from society (and for a whopping 10 months or so, too). I slept safer after hearing that one.

[Dreamknight]

StlMdNcvCJo

[IamPinhead]

Corgie was a vicious combatant.
http://content6.flixster.com/question/36/58/28/3658280_std.jpg
Yeah.....a corgie? I've seen Cowboy Bebop too, but....really? You could probably punt that thing on accident. How come we never hear about cops doing anything cool anymore?

[Cutter De Blanc]

I wonder if they actually did deal drugs at that house and were just out, that would be funny.

[orius]

Huh? Did Terr just link to a Fox news video? What the hell is going on? :)

I would be more likely to blame points #1 and 2 on local politics rather than the drug war in general. Both look like the typical tactics/**** ups of corrupt local officials and could happen in any case. At first I thought that this was some small town out in the Midwest, but a quick check on Wikipedia reveals the community has a population of 100,000, so small town corrupt hick stereotypes may not apply here.

Shoot to kill cops? Bad idea. But if they broke into my house without a proper warrent, or caused excessive damage without cause, I would very much look into a lawsuit.

[Wavelength]

I've got mixed feeling about this whole thing because while I feel people should have the right to do what they want with their own bodies, some drugs (really anything heroin-level or above) will mess you up so badly that you're barely even a person once you've been on it for a while. We don't need to protect people from their own stupidity, but we do need to protect them from losing touch with reality entirely.

And we do need to raid the violent drug-dealers who are orchestrating peoples' murders in cold blood, and put them away for life. But a huge part of the reason the violent types are running the business in the first place is because we make it so economically rewarding for them by illegalizing relatively harmless drugs like marijuana.

This is a great (if one-sided) article I just read from AP Impact. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100513/ap_on_re_us/failed_drug_war) The cost of the war on drugs is staggering. I'll post an excerpt below:

In 1970, hippies were smoking pot and dropping acid. Soldiers were coming home from Vietnam hooked on heroin. Embattled President Richard M. Nixon seized on a new war he thought he could win.

"This nation faces a major crisis in terms of the increasing use of drugs, particularly among our young people," Nixon said as he signed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. The following year, he said: "Public enemy No. 1 in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive."

His first drug-fighting budget was $100 million. Now it's $15.1 billion, 31 times Nixon's amount even when adjusted for inflation.

Using Freedom of Information Act requests, archival records, federal budgets and dozens of interviews with leaders and analysts, the AP tracked where that money went, and found that the United States repeatedly increased budgets for programs that did little to stop the flow of drugs. In 40 years, taxpayers spent more than:

- $20 billion to fight the drug gangs in their home countries. In Colombia, for example, the United States spent more than $6 billion, while coca cultivation increased and trafficking moved to Mexico - and the violence along with it.

- $33 billion in marketing "Just Say No"-style messages to America's youth and other prevention programs. High school students report the same rates of illegal drug use as they did in 1970, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says drug overdoses have "risen steadily" since the early 1970s to more than 20,000 last year.

- $49 billion for law enforcement along America's borders to cut off the flow of illegal drugs. This year, 25 million Americans will snort, swallow, inject and smoke illicit drugs, about 10 million more than in 1970, with the bulk of those drugs imported from Mexico.

- $121 billion to arrest more than 37 million nonviolent drug offenders, about 10 million of them for possession of marijuana. Studies show that jail time tends to increase drug abuse.

- $450 billion to lock those people up in federal prisons alone. Last year, half of all federal prisoners in the U.S. were serving sentences for drug offenses.

At the same time, drug abuse is costing the nation in other ways. The Justice Department estimates the consequences of drug abuse - "an overburdened justice system, a strained health care system, lost productivity, and environmental destruction" - cost the United States $215 billion a year.

Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron says the only sure thing taxpayers get for more spending on police and soldiers is more homicides.

"Current policy is not having an effect of reducing drug use," Miron said, "but it's costing the public a fortune."

[Kire]

Cops shoot pet dogs all the time, even when they're not a threat...which is sad and disgusting. You think it's protocol?

[Gustaff 13]

hNF4UjQ2Vlw

[The Toecutter]

Shoot to kill cops? Bad idea. But if they broke into my house without a proper warrent, or caused excessive damage without cause, I would very much look into a lawsuit.

Bad idea it may be, sometimes it *is* the right thing to do, and sometimes you have no way of knowing they are cops.

What would your reaction be if you were sleeping, and all of a sudden heard a group of people breaking into your house, your dogs barking, and then shooting your dogs? Assume you had a firearm nearby and that you had no idea who was doing this. For all you know, they could be burglars with a penchant for violence.

It happens all the time in the U.S., thanks to "no knock warrants", where police enter your home unannounced(while that wasn't the case in this video, it does happen).

Guess what? There are cases of individuals in the U.S. who opened fire, and then went to jail for murdering police officers. Get this: often the police broke into the wrong house without wearing uniforms. If you shoot an officer that breaks into your own home unannounced without uniform, you get a murder charge and the possibility of the death penalty, even if your home was the incorrect target!

http://reason.com/archives/2006/10/01/the-case-of-cory-maye

Sometimes you don't have time to assess the situation... sometimes you pull the trigger knowing full well your life could depend on it.

IMO, there shouldn't be any charges.

There are also cases where police had broken into the wrong home using such a procedure with a no-knock warrant, and then when an innocent person fired upon them not knowing they were police, they were shot dead. It was also later discovered that the police even planted drugs on her in an attempt to cover their mistake.

IMO, the chief of police who ordered that raid should be charged with murder. Not the lighter manslaughter charges the courts gave to the officers that were acting on bad information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Johnston_shooting


Sometimes you don't know they are cops, but what difference does it make? If someone breaks into your home unannounced and is armed, technically you have a right to defend yourself; it's just our courts make exemptions if the person is a member of law enforcement, regardless of whether they were in uniform or not. THAT is disgusting.

And we do need to raid the violent drug-dealers who are orchestrating peoples' murders in cold blood, and put them away for life. But a huge part of the reason the violent types are running the business in the first place is because we make it so economically rewarding for them by illegalizing relatively harmless drugs like marijuana.

The US Central Intelligence Agency fits your description of violent drug dealers, at least certain members. I wonder what the reprecussions would be if police raided them?

[Wavelength]

Sometimes you don't know they are cops, but what difference does it make? If someone breaks into your home unannounced and is armed, technically you have a right to defend yourself; it's just our courts make exemptions if the person is a member of law enforcement, regardless of whether they were in uniform or not. THAT is disgusting.

If the police come into your home in plain clothes, and point a gun at you, and don't inform you that they are police, and you just happened to have a weapon nearby and use it in a self-defensive manner, then yes, I also feel you should be in the right there, so long as you can prove that you were acting in a reasonable heat-of-the-moment self-defense and weren't trying to shoot anyone who might happen upon one of the other shady things you were doing.

But I can't imagine this has happened in the US more than a few times this decade.

The US Central Intelligence Agency fits your description of violent drug dealers, at least certain members. I wonder what the reprecussions would be if police raided them?

Oh? What drugs does the CIA deal? Who buys them?

[The Toecutter]

But I can't imagine this has happened in the US more than a few times this decade.

The fact that it happens at all is cause for alarm and should at least effect those in our government to the extent necessary to think about changing their priorities...

Oh? What drugs does the CIA deal? Who buys them?

they weren't duirectly dealing drugs to people on the street, but they were selling in bulk to distributers.

Depending upon the place and date, the answers range from cocaine, crack, marijuana, and opium for the drugs sold and the customers ranged from Bangkok, Thailand when Mao ruled China, the Contras, Los Angeles, various miami drug barons during the 1980s and 1990s, Haiti from the 1980s to present day, Lebanon and Syria, Afghanistan today, and other incidiences.

One famous bit of investigated journalism pertaining to this even aired on 60 Minutes, where investigated reporter Gary Webb presented video footage of CIA operatives loading cocaine onto planes, and had statements from police officer Mike Ruppert in Los Angeles who had witnessed CIA operatives with crack-cocaine on their person.

The video of this 60 minutes episode was on youtube in 2007, but I can't seem to find it now.

There were many articles written by Webb published in the San Jose Mercury News.

Check the sources in the linked wikipedia article, on just one of the drug distribution incidents they were involed in:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_and_Contras_cocaine_trafficking_in_the_US

There are sadly a lot more...

[orius]

Bad idea it may be, sometimes it *is* the right thing to do, and sometimes you have no way of knowing they are cops.

What would your reaction be if you were sleeping, and all of a sudden heard a group of people breaking into your house, your dogs barking, and then shooting your dogs? Assume you had a firearm nearby and that you had no idea who was doing this. For all you know, they could be burglars with a penchant for violence.

It happens all the time in the U.S., thanks to "no knock warrants", where police enter your home unannounced(while that wasn't the case in this video, it does happen).

Guess what? There are cases of individuals in the U.S. who opened fire, and then went to jail for murdering police officers. Get this: often the police broke into the wrong house without wearing uniforms. If you shoot an officer that breaks into your own home unannounced without uniform, you get a murder charge and the possibility of the death penalty, even if your home was the incorrect target!

http://reason.com/archives/2006/10/01/the-case-of-cory-maye

Sometimes you don't have time to assess the situation... sometimes you pull the trigger knowing full well your life could depend on it.

IMO, there shouldn't be any charges.


No, there shouldn't be charges if the cops screw up, and if this is a really serious problem, then it should be addressed with political reforms. Though trying to protect people from a violent form of the Keystone Kops would be difficult, because the police unions and their supporters would complain that it's an attack on public safety.

It can be easy to label cops as thugs and brutes, but I think there are times when they get too much of a raw deal. The job itself can be very stressful at times, and sometimes their lives are at risk.

[Cutter De Blanc]

But I can't imagine this has happened in the US more than a few times this decade.


That's a few too many.

[Hrafn]

It can be easy to label cops as thugs and brutes, but I think there are times when they get too much of a raw deal. The job itself can be very stressful at times, and sometimes their lives are at risk.

Unquestionably. But this is not one of those times. If there's even an iota of justification for what they did, I've yet to see or hear of it.

[Wavelength]

The fact that it happens at all is cause for alarm and should at least effect those in our government to the extent necessary to think about changing their priorities...


That's a few too many.

It's something that in a perfect world wouldn't happen at all, and like I said, if this does happen to you and you act in reasonable self-defense, I agree you should be off the hook for anything that happens.

But let's not pretend that this isn't going to happen on extremely rare occasion. Once you've double-checked the house and gone in, you have to assume you're in the right place, and as much as I hate the shoot-first-ask-questions-later mentality, there are a lot of violent drug traffickers who go the route of kill-first-ask-questions-never.

If you tell them to freeze and ask for their name, they are going to take out a gun and try to kill you. So the officers have to be at least a little rash, and if they're also mistaken, it causes situations like this that are pretty horrible.

they weren't duirectly dealing drugs to people on the street, but they were selling in bulk to distributers.

...

Check the sources in the linked wikipedia article, on just one of the drug distribution incidents they were involed in:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_and_Contras_cocaine_trafficking_in_the_US

There are sadly a lot more...

Thanks Terr, that was an interesting read, and I'll keep my eyes open for more stuff like it. This article didn't seem to imply that any significant number of people in the CIA were actually involved in this distribution, and I think one of the quotes from the article says it well:

"Once you set up a covert operation to supply arms and money, it's very difficult to separate it from the kind of people who are involved in other forms of trade, and especially drugs. There is a limited number of planes, pilots and landing strips. By developing a system for supply of the Contras, the US built a road for drug supply into the US."

You know, though, honestly, this disturbs me just as much. I agree with you; it does seem incredibly hypocritical to aid people who are distributing cocaine as we crack down upon it in the US. More importantly, though, why is our government going in there and supporting violent rebel groups without the permission or even the knowledge of our people? That strikes me as more wrong than anything else, and twenty-five years later we can see that it did as much harm as good in South America and probably a lot more harm in the Middle East.

I'm not an isolationist; I feel there are a lot of truly evil governments in the world that need to be removed, and a few I think I'd personally be willing to go and fight for to see that happen. But this needs to be done with the consent of our people and in the best interest of theirs. None of these absurd "twilight wars".

[marcus]

You know, though, honestly, this disturbs me just as much. I agree with you; it does seem incredibly hypocritical to aid people who are distributing cocaine as we crack down upon it in the US. More importantly, though, why is our government going in there and supporting violent rebel groups without the permission or even the knowledge of our people? That strikes me as more wrong than anything else, and twenty-five years later we can see that it did as much harm as good in South America and probably a lot more harm in the Middle East.

I'm not an isolationist; I feel there are a lot of truly evil governments in the world that need to be removed, and a few I think I'd personally be willing to go and fight for to see that happen. But this needs to be done with the consent of our people and in the best interest of theirs. None of these absurd "twilight wars".

Nothing good came out of the Reagan Administration. Who do you think trained and funded Saddam Hussein? He spearheaded the war on drugs and created the ONDCP despite funding any insane organization that even mentioned in passing they were against communism. I'd say the only noteworthy thing he did during presidency was finally compensating Japanese-Americans for their forced imprisonment during WWII.

But things won't change so long as the individual states have regulation over their own police squads. Being a police officer is a tough job especially when you consider that you're under so many regulations and any slip up is scrutinized heavily by the public. I've always felt that there needed to be a central office that reviews and signs all warrants in accordance with the state judge but some people find this slows things down. It wouldn't matter if they were actually targeting the dealers instead of the users.

[IamPinhead]

If we're going to assume that because one small group, out of tens of thousands (if not more) screwed, the entire organization is corrupt, then we might as well abandon any and all forms of government. Those cops were obviously acting extremely rashly, and although what they did was certainly wrong, don't blame every man or woman in blue for it. People make mistakes, sometimes huge ones, but cops are people nonetheless.

As for getting the people's consent, that's good in theory. If everybody in the United States were rational and intelligent, then yes. If somehow the opposing country were completely ignorant of anything and everything relating to the matter while it was being discussed, then yes. If people weren't indecisive, and made a speedy and rational decision, then yes. We can't involve the people in everything we do, and in the case of any sort of covert operation, there are things we shouldn't know. Secrecy, deception, and the element of surprise are vital in determining the outcome of any operation. Without them it can and will all go to ka-ka.
http://careerlessonsfromtv.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/jef_char_232.jpg

[Armored]

then we might as well abandon any and all forms of government

Finally someone is making some sense in here :wily

[marcus]

If we're going to assume that because one small group, out of tens of thousands (if not more) screwed, the entire organization is corrupt, then we might as well abandon any and all forms of government. Those cops were obviously acting extremely rashly, and although what they did was certainly wrong, don't blame every man or woman in blue for it. People make mistakes, sometimes huge ones, but cops are people nonetheless.

As for getting the people's consent, that's good in theory. If everybody in the United States were rational and intelligent, then yes. If somehow the opposing country were completely ignorant of anything and everything relating to the matter while it was being discussed, then yes. If people weren't indecisive, and made a speedy and rational decision, then yes. We can't involve the people in everything we do, and in the case of any sort of covert operation, there are things we shouldn't know. Secrecy, deception, and the element of surprise are vital in determining the outcome of any operation. Without them it can and will all go to ka-ka.

Famous military quote "One ohshoot cancels 100 atta'boys." If you do something stupid people will rag on you for all eternity regardless of your past accomplishments. The police have saved countless more lives than innocent ones they ruined but human nature focuses on the negative and it's only when an accident occurs that reform is called for.

But on the last point we're talking about a SWAT assault based on an anonymous tip that wasn't investigated or followed up on. SWAT are used for heavily armed or dangerous situations where military-level training and weapons are called for to deal with a situation that's completely beyond some dudes with pistols and pepper-spray. What actually made them think to act so quickly in such a rash action? "Hey some random stranger says this guy's the biggest drug dealer on the planet better round up the big guns and GO GO GO!!!!"

[IamPinhead]

What actually made them think to act so quickly in such a rash action? "Hey some random stranger says this guy's the biggest drug dealer on the planet better round up the big guns and GO GO GO!!!!"
Neighbor was a commie, obviously a drug dealing terrorist hater of Coca Cola.

[Wavelength]

Nothing good came out of the Reagan Administration. Who do you think trained and funded Saddam Hussein? He spearheaded the war on drugs and created the ONDCP despite funding any insane organization that even mentioned in passing they were against communism. I'd say the only noteworthy thing he did during presidency was finally compensating Japanese-Americans for their forced imprisonment during WWII.

Whoa there, I never said I like Reagan! In a lot of ways, he was the most underhanded, scummiest power-broker in modern American politics. It's a shame to see so many people celebrate him and his administration, and it's both hilarious and sad to see every modern Republican Politician to compare themselves to him. (Though in a lot of ways, they're right.)

On the other hand, it would have been cool to see him play Survivor.

Famous military quote "One ohshoot cancels 100 atta'boys."

Well, when you have the potential to completely ruin lives, one ohshoot SHOULD cancel 100 atta'boys, right?

We should definitely focus a little more on the countless positive things they do, and I have nothing but positive things to say about most policemen I've met. But military and police, as armed protectors of the very people who have given them permission to wield such force (as well as generous salaries and benefits), need to hold themselves to an extremely high standard.

Neighbor was a commie, obviously a drug dealing terrorist hater of Coca Cola.

Come alive with the Pepsi Generation, baby!

[The Toecutter]

I agree that most cops aren't corrupt, but the few that are tend to get away with their crimes, and the organization as a whole does in fact cover for these few out of economic necessity.

That being said, a pro-marijuana legalization activist filmed a police officer stealing drug money and put the video on youtube; he was recently raided, and had a 7 year old child removed from custody...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPeT2W1SHoc

Texas police, from my experience, are quite corrupt as a whole. I've had encounters with police in Texas on five seperate occassions, and on only one occassion was their cause legit, and on that same occassion was the first cop I met in Texas that wasn't an asshole trying to get money from me in some fashion(in this case I made a turn in an improper lane; it was unclear that the lane next to mine was a turn lane because the paint on the road had completely worn off and there was nothing to denote that a seperate lane was there; the cop gave me a warning). I've had my car illegally impounded even; the police claimed I was driving without insurance, despite me having insurance, and used "having no license plate light" as justification for pulling me over when it in fact had a working light. They searched it without my consent and without a warrant, and found nothing illegal inside. When I got the car out of the impound lot, there was cocaine in the back seat. The charges were dropped, but the court refused to refund my impound fee and required me to pay court costs. I was stopped weeks later by cops looking for cocaine in my car(and searching it illegally), which was no longer there...

It's little wonder that people sometimes open fire.

[orius]

Texas police, from my experience, are quite corrupt as a whole.

I would say that that supports my earlier statement that at least some of the problems are local in nature. If the local police force is crooked, then yeah the cops are going to to be rat bastards. I see two different general problems here:

1) The corrupt local small town cops. The sheriff or whatever is probably a pillar of the community, and the locals respect him and don't dare question him. The locals might also be the stick up the hardass types who think the only people who question the cops must be guilty criminals by their very nature because good law abiding citizen have nothing to hide and always respect the police.

2) Large urban police departments that have thousands of officers. There might be groups in the police department that are corrupt or crooked and get away with it because there's too many people to keep track of at once.

[IamPinhead]

I agree that most cops aren't corrupt, but the few that are tend to get away with their crimes, and the organization as a whole does in fact cover for these few out of economic necessity.

That being said, a pro-marijuana legalization activist filmed a police officer stealing drug money and put the video on youtube; he was recently raided, and had a 7 year old child removed from custody...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPeT2W1SHoc

Texas police, from my experience, are quite corrupt as a whole. I've had encounters with police in Texas on five seperate occassions, and on only one occassion was their cause legit, and on that same occassion was the first cop I met in Texas that wasn't an asshole trying to get money from me in some fashion(in this case I made a turn in an improper lane; it was unclear that the lane next to mine was a turn lane because the paint on the road had completely worn off and there was nothing to denote that a seperate lane was there; the cop gave me a warning).

Five encounters with a police force of tens of thousands. Tens. of. Thousands.
http://www.usacops.com/tx/
I think they probably saw this in their radar:
http://www.classicalvalues.com/KarlMarx-420x0.jpg

[Eschaton Orochi]

Unfortunately, It kinda is protocol to shoot a dog (if there is potential for the dog to be threatening). It's sad, but true.

[orius]

I can see if it's something like a rottweiler or doberman or something, not an ankle biter. Unless they think it might have rabies or something.

[The Toecutter]

Five encounters with a police force of tens of thousands. Tens. of. Thousands.

If you had ever taken a course on statistics, you should understand the significance of these random encounters with random officers, with the majority of these encounters leading to unjustified outcomes. Granted, the sample size was small, but having 4 of 5 encounters with police being the nature of what they were told me a lot of information about what I could expect from them.

[mr.kraken]

Let us just stay away from these kinds of drugs eternally.
They are an annoyance, especially if you live next to a drug addict.

[IamPinhead]

If you had ever taken a course on statistics, you should understand the significance of these random encounters with random officers, with the majority of these encounters leading to unjustified outcomes. Granted, the sample size was small, but having 4 of 5 encounters with police being the nature of what they were told me a lot of information about what I could expect from them.

I don't need to have taken a course on statistics to tell you that such a miniscule sample size can't tell you jack about an entire state's police force. I'm sure that in every state if you picked five police officers, or five random outcomes you'll come up with assholes. It's because every group has a small selection of assholes. It also means that you can't make such an enormous judgment based on such a small sample.

[The Toecutter]

I don't need to have taken a course on statistics to tell you that such a miniscule sample size can't tell you jack about an entire state's police force. I'm sure that in every state if you picked five police officers, or five random outcomes you'll come up with assholes. It's because every group has a small selection of assholes. It also means that you can't make such an enormous judgment based on such a small sample.

You're missing the point. If the assholes are garanteed to be a small minority, it stands to reason that the likilihood of encountering them each more than 3 weeks apart and having 4 of 5 be corrupt in some manner and acting unlawfully towards me should approach zero. So either I am very unlucky, or something else is going on. I had cocaine planted in my car; do you have any idea the penalties that could have been incurred on me had it been discovered? Had those officers later decided not just to look for it in my back seat, but also swab test it, do you not understand the ramifications? You can vacuum your car all you want, and there will always be traces of it, which caries with it a felony charge, just for residue(could even be in a used car before someone buys it). Giving authorities the potential to have that degree of control over someone's life is repulsive.

I don't intend to have 20 more encounters with Texas police to increase the sample size, given my previous experiences. I don't want to either wind up dead, in prison, hundreds or thousands of dollars poorer, or maybe having to shoot one of them to save my own life when I did nothing wrong to begin with.

And the judgement I am making isn't on every individual officer(in fact I did state my opinion earlier that a minority were corrupt); it is on the organization. The organization can still be corrupt even if only a minority are corrupt, so long as it covers for and aids that minority; with regard to Texas and other states in the U.S., there is an abundance of evidence that demonstrates police organizations doing just that, whether it is at the city, county, or state level.

When that "one OH ****" kills that "100 attaboys", said organizations are faced with the prospect of re-organizing their priorities, but if those who lead the organization find that to be an unfavorable outcome, they'd rather just cover for the crooks and even commit crimes themselves.

[The Toecutter]

Another such 'isolated incident' and another still:


In the video linked below, an old lady describes how police knocked on her door, and asked to search her home. They were looking for her son,who hadn't lived there for 12 years. She had a dog, and asked the police if she could lock it in the bathroom or in the backyard; the policeman told her to put it in the bathroom. Later, one of the officers opened the bathroom door and shot the dog. The police allegedly then found a fortune cookie wrapper and attempted to claim that it was a baggie with drug residue.

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh65jf0A654n83mi8j

Another such incident involves a 21 year old man who was shot in his bathroom by officers during another botched drug raid; all the witnesses claimed the officers shot him unprovoked and that there were no drugs at all, while the police are claiming an unspecified amount of drugs were found. The policeman who shot him has a record with a total of 3 such questionable shootings.

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/special/las_vegas_police_kill_man_marijuana_raid_trevon_cole

[Red Dragon]

Don't do drugs kids.

Or the police will shoot your pets and rape your families.

MWAHAHAHA

[Jamos]

The story of Red Dragon's life.

[Red Dragon]

:tear

[IamPinhead]

Assholes, lots of 'em. They live in America. And other places.

[The Toecutter]

A murderer is quite distinguished from the garden variety asshole when it comes to the lack of regard for the rights and well-being of another... so much so that society usually imposes consequences for such behavior. It is most unfortunate that these standards aren't applied to a person just because they have a shiny badge and/or an inordinate sum of money available for use(whether their own or a taxpayer's).

[IamPinhead]

A murderer is quite distinguished from the garden variety asshole when it comes to the lack of regard for the rights and well-being of another... so much so that society usually imposes consequences for such behavior. It is most unfortunate that these standards aren't applied to a person just because they have a shiny badge and/or an inordinate sum of money available for use(whether their own or a taxpayer's).

It isn't just because their badge is shiny. It's a representation of status in a society. When people see a cop (depending on how much they hate authority) they think of somebody who holds themselves to a higher moral standard. These are people that took the job (presumably) for the betterment of their society and to take down criminals. We're more willing to think of these actions as justified because we believe these people to be good and not murderers. I know you hate establishment in all its forms, but you know I'm right. My point was that there are bad people in the United States, just like everywhere else in the world. That doesn't mean in any way that every single person in the United States is a bad person, nor that everybody who has a job governing it is bad. If you take a few isolated cases and blow them up, then of course the collective will look the same. These two cases to which you linked are terrible, but that doesn't mean that we should be storming the police station and burning it down for its murderous habits.

A person who has a **** ton of cash is just capable of bribing people more. And they most likely have an enormous legal shotgun behind them while the average schmuck does not.