Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 03/13/2006 12:54:46 PM PST by freepatriot32
We've got something for everybody this week: Cops as gangsters, DEA agents as thieving real estate speculators, a Texas police chief who never let any drug evidence get away, cops in Miami and Chicago planting drugs, evidence gone missing in East St. Louis, and, of course, another greedy prison guard, this time in Georgia. Let's get to it:
In Los Angeles, at least 19 people, including five police officers have been charged with belonging to a ring led by LAPD Officer Ruben Palomares that committed armed robberies disguised as drug raids. Thirteen had been previously charged in the case, but six more were indicted last week, including a former LA County Sheriff's deputy, and LAPD officer, and a Long Beach police officer, the Associated Press reported. They face multiple counts of conspiracy to possess drugs with the intent to distribute, use of a firearm in a drug trafficking crime, and deprivation of rights under color of law. Palomares allegedly supplied his gang with uniforms, radios, and badges, and the group sometimes used LAPD patrol cars to drive to drug houses they had previously targeted. Their victims were allegedly restrained, threatened, beaten, and robbed. The gang made off with at least 600 pounds of weed, TVs, jewelry, cash, and weapons. Palomares is currently serving a 15-year sentence for his role as gang leader.
In Atlanta, a federal grand jury indicted a DEA agent Monday for stealing DEA funds to buy real estate while he worked Atlanta's Hartsfield airport, WXIA TV reported. Agent Gregory Campion, 44, is charged with embezzling money as a federal officer, embezzling public funds, and money laundering. According to the indictment, on at least seven occasions Campion stole money seized during drug busts from a secure storage vault and used it to buy properties in Orlando, where he currently lives. Prosecutors are seeking to seize those properties. The DEA has suspended Campion without pay.
In Troup, Texas, the police chief and a police officer were arrested last Friday after a six-week investigation into missing drugs and other evidence, the Dallas Morning News reported. Police Chief Chester Kennedy is charged with evidence tampering and Officer Mark Turner is charged with evidence tampering and delivery of marijuana. The investigation by the Smith County Sheriff's Department and the FBI came about after the sheriff received complaints from both inside and outside the department that Troup police had not sent any drug evidence to be tested in five years. They zeroed in on four cases where people were arrested, but the drugs disappeared, including an eight-ball of methamphetamine, several plants, and a gallon bag filled with weed. Kennedy has admitted that he knew evidence had gone missing and that he had given some seized bootleg alcohol to an officer. Turner sold a small quantity of pot to an undercover agent, and police found more in his home later.
In Miami, former Miami Police Officer Torrance Gary was arrested March 2 on charges he planted drugs at the scene of an arrest, local TV News 10 reported. Gary had claimed to see a man trying to flush heroin down a toilet during a drug bust, but it later became clear he could not have seen what he claimed from his vantage point, investigators said. They also said that although heroin was discovered in the bathroom, the man did not put it there. Gary, a 15-year veteran before he resigned two weeks earlier, is out on a $10,000 bond.
In Chicago, the Sun Times reports that Police Sgt. Kevin Morrison has been fired for misconduct in a 2001 drug case. When a teacher complained that she was arrested after her ex-husband had drugs planted in her car, Morrison "failed to cooperate" in the investigation, the Police Board found. Andrea Sullivan was arrested outside her school after Morrison, acting on a tip, pulled her over and found 250 Ecstasy tablets and 43 grams of cocaine. She immediately accused her ex-husband, William Sullivan, of planting the drugs. Morrison was cited for refusing to identify the informant he said gave him the tip drugs were in the car, although his cell phone records showed he had received a call from William Sullivan's brother Stuart. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Andrea Sullivan a month later and said they didn't have enough evidence to charge anyone with planting the drugs. Of the board's eight members, five voted to fire him, two said he deserved lesser punishment, and one found him not guilty on the departmental administrative charges. Bizarrely, Andrea Sullivan has remarried, and her new husband, Chicago Police Officer Michael Allegretti faces criminal charges he ordered women to expose themselves to avoid traffic tickets.
In East St. Louis, Illinois, somebody ripped-off an unknown amount of guns and drugs from the police evidence vault, and the mayor thinks it was an inside job. No one is sure yet exactly what is gone, and Police Chief James Mister said it will take until the end of the month to figure it out, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. (Former Police Chief Ronald Masters will be sentenced March 20 after being convicted of obstructing federal agents investigating a felon illegally carrying a gun as an auxiliary police officer.) Mayor Carl Officer told the Belleville News-Democrat Monday the theft was an inside job and called it "an attempt to cover up and divert some ongoing investigations into police corruption."
In Griffin, Georgia, Spalding County Deputy John Dabbs was busted March 2 on charges he was selling marijuana to inmates at the Spaulding County Jail. The night-shift guard fell prey to an undercover officer planted in a cell block, WSB TV in Atlanta reported. Dabbs went down after being caught discussing the transfer of cash for narcotics, the Spalding County Sheriff's Office told the station.
-- END --
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
ping
Do you suggest that if drugs are leagalized police corruption will be less?
This babe sure knows how to pick 'em.
That'll be San Francisco's next move.
ping for later
Sometimes I almost feel they deserve it.
Hey, let's just take it to the (il)logical conclusion. Let's have NOTHING illegal. No laws. Without laws, there would not be a need for cops. No cops? No cop corruption!
Actually, we only need to get rid of 90%, provided we disarm the rest and arm the citizenry.
Newsflash: Just like there are scumbags in every occupation in the country, there are scumbag cops. There would be scumbag cops no matter what the drug laws were.
In other news, water is wet.
}:-)4
I would post "Incarceration: This Week's Corrupt Felon Stories" but every time I click COPY -> PASTE from the original text, my computer bombs out from a lack of memory.
Yes that is exactly what i suggest.During prohibition one almost every cop in every big city was on the take from the rum running gangs and after that failed experiment in social engineering there were a lot of out of work corrupt federal cops that were on the take to the rum runners that were in danger of having to get real jobs.So as a make work program for those guys they created prohibition two and j edger hoover was so scared that they would corrupt his new FBI agents that he had congress pretty much create the dea to funnel all the corrupt feds to that agency and keep them away from the new FBI.
If you legalize drugs tomorrow the murder rate across the country would drop anywhere from 50-75 percent.The bloods and the crips would go bankrupt and most of the cops that are on the take to drug gangs would lose a lot of money and have fewer ways to be corrupt.There are still cops that protect bookie for a small fee but the classic barroom bookie is becoming an endangered species as Internet sportsbooks and casino gambling become more popular everyday
Which drugs would you legalize?
Did I read that there are more people in jail in the USA than in China? Not per capita, but real numbers?
Could someone straighten me out on that?
Thanks
PING.
Right on! If drugs were legalized (or "decriminalized" tomorrow) does anyone suppose that drug dealers, who've been selling crack cocaine and heroin to minors (among others) would suddenly declare all their previously illegal income to the IRS so that they could be taxed out of the business? You'll still have corrupt cops following the drug dealers, 'cause that's where the money is. BTW, is there a uniform idea of what "legalization" or "decriminalization" entails?
LOL! That was my thought. If drugs were legalized crooked cops could still shakedown motorists but then legally have posession of it.
Addicts still won't have any money to buy drugs whether or not they're legalized.
A total disgrace to their uniform and profession. Throw the book at them. Hopefully they will get put in a cell with a disgruntled customer.....
dont forget the all encompassing the war on drugs is for the children that has been brought up on every drug thread since freerepublic has been founded.See below for some examples of how the drug war is protecting children
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/apr2001/peru-a24.shtml
Missionary plane shot down in Peru: collateral damage in US "drug war"
Following the revelation that a reconnaissance aircraft carrying CIA contract employees participated in the April 20 shoot-down of a plane carrying an American missionary family over the Peruvian Amazon region, Washington has attempted to pin the blame on the Peruvian military.
Whatever the exchange between the CIA contractors and the Peruvian Air Force officer aboard the spy plane, a Peruvian jet fighter was called in and shot into the plane, killing the woman and her baby. It then continued strafing the survivors—the wounded pilot, Ms. Bowers' husband James and their six-year-old son—as they clung to the plane's burning wreckage after it crashed into the Amazon River.
DEA Kills 14-Year-Old Girl in San Antonio, Claims Self Defense 
Fourteen-year-old Ashley Villarreal of San Antonio died on February 11 after being shot in the head three days earlier by a DEA agent while driving away from her home.
Ashley Villarreal was the unintended victim of a DEA stake-out designed to catch her father, Joey Villarreal, whom the DEA suspected of involvement in cocaine sales.
The man in the vehicle, David Robles, was not the DEA's suspect.
According to Trevino, Ashley Villarreal continued to drive toward the approaching agents, at which point two DEA agents fired two shots each into the car, striking the girl in the back of the head. Trevino did not explain how a boxed-in car could continue to drive or how it became a threat to the narcs.
There are other questions and doubts about the police version of events. "The agents made it very clear to the people in the car that they were police, that they were agents," Trevino said. But David Robles told the Express News that as Ashley drove him away from the house, it appeared that they were being pursued by unknown assailants. Neither, said Robles, did the assailants identify themselves as law enforcement officers until after they shot into the trapped vehicle, fatally wounding the girl.
Robles' account was supported by "earwitnesses" who heard a crash and then shots. Manuel Martinez, who lives across the street from the shooting site, told the Express News he heard a crash followed by gunfire. "I heard them call to 'Stop! Don't move,'" he said. "I didn't hear them say they were policemen." Other witnesses cited by the Express News supported that account, raising the obvious question about what threat Ashley posed to the agents after her vehicle had already been stopped and boxed in.
DEA agent Bill Swierc has been named as the man who fired the fatal shots, and both the DEA and the San Antonio Police Department are investigating the killing. But as readers of this newsletter know, police shooters in drug cases are rarely bound over for prosecution.
http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/169/modesto.shtml
Last October, DRCNet reported on the shooting death of elementary school student Alberto Sepulveda during a raid by the Modesto, California, SWAT team as it executed a federal search warrant in a methamphetamine trafficking investigation Now, after three separate investigations by Modesto police and the city attorney, Modesto police can say only that it was an accident.
Hawn, a veteran member of the Modesto SWAT team, shot and killed young Sepulveda as the boy, following Hawn's barked commands, lay prone on his bedroom floor. At a January 10th press conference called to announce the result of the department's investigations, Police Chief Roy Wasden said Hawn's Benelli shotgun could have misfired, Hawn could have accidentally squeezed the trigger, or Hawn's equipment, particularly a knife on his belt, could have accidentally caused the gun to discharge.
Wasden, however, pointed the finger at the federal law enforcement agencies -- DEA, FBI, and IRS -- at whose behest the Modesto SWAT team executed the warrant.
On April 17, 2003, four unarmed male teens begged for their lives after being caught in a drug sting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Police shot them all in the back of the head, execution style. At their funerals, unrepentant officers harassed and intimidated the family members of their victims, hoping to scare them from pressing charges.
One night in 1993, 50 homeless children lay huddled together on the steps of a Rio church. According to media reports, five hooded men, arriving in vehicles, fired into their sleeping mass, killing four before they could begin to flee, perhaps before they awoke. A fifth was shot in the back as he ran for cover. Three more were abducted and two of those three were executed later that night. The third was left for dead after being shot in the face. It was later discovered that three of the hooded gunmen were off-duty military police, employed by the US in the war on drugs.
In 2001, police officially killed 52 children in Rio alone. The majority of all police killings in Rio were done with a single shot from behind or to the head. To keep the numbers down, police used secret graves to bury many little bodies
True. One can tell the crime climate of a nation by the number of police it has.
in teh early 1970's a police agency in Harris county TX rulled a death a suicide. The guy was shot in the back 5 times with a bolt action 30-06.
My question still stands, which drugs would you legalize?
Sounds more like the cracking down on corrupt cops.
from the above link
According to the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College London, the U.S. currently has the largest documented prison population in the world, both in absolute and proportional terms. We've got roughly 2.03 million people behind bars, or 701 per 100,000 population. China has the second-largest number of prisoners (1.51 million, for a rate of 117 per 100,000), and Russia has the second-highest rate (606 per 100,000, for a total of 865,000). Russia had the highest rate for years, but has released hundreds of thousands of prisoners since 1998
elkfersupper wrote: Actually, we only need to get rid of 90%, provided we disarm the rest and arm the citizenry.
From my 10th-floor condo, with the aid of binoculars, I personally witnessed several crimes being committed this Saturday. Three men on motorcycles wearing yellow jackets were standing about half-a-mile away, on a street corner in an industrial area (i.e., no children playing or anything). Every so often, one would run into the street and flag down a car. After 15-20 minutes, the car would drive off - holding what I assume to be a bill totaling hundreds of dollars ("fine," plus insurance). During two hours, they ran no fewer than 30 motorists off the road. 30+ motorists that did nothing wrong to deserve to lose hundreds of dollars. In these 30+ transactions, who were the real criminals?
GLDNGUN: Is this the "need" for cops of which you speak? Should everything be illegal???
elkfersupper: At the very least, I'd like to get rid of 90% of what cops actually do. There may or may not be too many cops, but rather too many LAWS. Whoever is left can go back to "protecting and serving" rather than "enforcing the law."
Why don't you answer him/her?
All of them.With certian restrictions on some like pcp and meth like if you want to do pcp or meth you would have to stay in a padded room away from others in the stores you buy them from becasue some people absolutely freak out out on it.So I would make them stay seperated from others so they cant harm them if the do freak out and being in a padded room they would not hurt themselves.
other drugs like marijuana i would say keep them nextto the cigarettes at krogers or a tobacco store where you can walk in and buy it and go home and smoke it to your hearts content
see post 32 i have been tracking down websites for some others on this thread as well as for al l the people on my libertarian ping list it takes a few minutes to answer people sometimes
We don't execute as many prisoners as China and Russia do.
And you came up with that number how again?
Your idea of legalizing drugs is horrifically bad. I can't believe sane, rational people actually think it has any merit. Wait, make that I DON'T believe sane, rational people actually think it has any merit. Maybe you should use a new tagline...something like...give me liberty or give me meth!
They only do that at select times on weekdays around here. Presumably to increase the likelihood of contacting people with jobs that are too busy to fight and have income and assets.
Weekends are reserved for the seat belt / child safety seat / glass of wine with dinner scam.
Actually, I would start with antihistamines / decongestants and tobacco products. Maybe alcohol.
I would also legalize "strike-anywhere" matches, fast food and soft drinks.
The rest would probably take care of itself.
"We don't execute as many prisoners as China and Russia do."
Argh - research before you post!! There is a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia (it's been years since they executed anyone). So, we actually DO execute more prisoners. Now, if the population over there was allowed to vote on the issue, it'd be back on the table (same in Great Britain, if you ask me).
Ping to #36.
Yeah, kinda like picking the "Peaceful Muslim" out of the crowd. A bit hard to do anymore, isn't it? Blackbird.
I get it. You hate the police.
How does America's murder rate compare to countries where more drugs are legalized?
I'm curious.
And you came up with that number how again?
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/drugs_and_violence/Drugs_and_violence.html
Notice where the spikes are ?Hmmmm what happen around the late 20s to late 30s that could possibly explain that spike and what happened around 1972 to the present that could possibly explain that spike in murder ?
From the link at the top of the page
A glance at the figures for U.S. murder rates over the course of this century provides some support for the critics' position (Figure 1).[1] Murder rates were high during the period of alcohol prohibition, fell after repeal, rose again with increased efforts to prohibit illegal drugs, and remain high.
The impression given by the graph is confirmed by more sophisticated analysis. Jeffrey A. Miron has analyzed the relation between violent crime in the U.S., as measured by the murder rate, and the enforcement of drug prohibition (including alcohol prohibition) as measured by expenditures by the federal agencies in charge of enforcing prohibition (Figure 2), over the entire period for which murder rates are available on a national basis. His statistical results "suggest the homicide rate is currently 25%-75% higher than it would be in the absence of drug prohibition."[2]
The case of the U.S. is particularly interesting for at least two reasons. One is that the U.S. murder rate is anomalously high relative to other countries that are otherwise similar–about 8 to 10 murders per 100,000 population over the past two decades, compared to 1 to 2 for countries such as Canada, Australia, the U.K. and countries in western Europe. The other is that the U.S. provides data on both the murder rate and enforcement of drug prohibition over a fairly long period of time.
see post 48
Sounds like a sting operation.
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