Dirty cops exposed: cut to front of PS3 line

Are you kidding? You fire them, and they forfeit their pensions.

Cops don't get a free pass just because they're cops.

One week suspension without pay, and a public apology.

Lucas, since you obviously don't know what they do, I recommend that you don't claim that they haven't done anything for you, since they do a lot more than write speeding tickets and help stranded motorists. Actually, the Department of Transportation is in charge of the incident management vehicles (I deal a lot with the DOT as well). Don't claim that someone's not doing their job unless you know what that job is.

And yes, you should be commended for helping stranded motorists. Good for you.

Did the cops do anything wrong? You're damn right they did, and they should be punished for it.

In no way should they lose their jobs.

Being an officer of the law is a thankless job. A few bad apples spoils the bunch and gives them all a bad name.

You get no thanks from the public and also from the city/town/borough you work for.

My brother is a Philadelphia Cop and he caught #1 on the Philadelphia's most wanted list, and the thanks he got was a pat on the back from his superiors.

They often go above and beyond the line of duty, yet as soon as something like this happens, people are grabbing their pitchforks and torches and ready to lynch them.

They are human. And as such, sometimes, they have a lapse in judgement. This was one of those times.

They should be punished, something to remind them that having a badge doesn't give you special priviledges.

It should also be something that shows the other cops in the precinct that kind of behavior will not be tolerated.

It will be something that goes on their permanant record which would affect them when trying for a promotion.

boy, this is corruption of the highest order don't you think....throw their asses in jail

Quote:

You wanna know someone that deserves accolades as a public servent? Look to your local fire department. They save lives without harassing the public or abusing authority.

Posted at 5:44PM on Dec 7th 2006 by Lucas

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Actually cops are known for putting out small fires and stealing a bunch of stuff from residences and businesses ALL THE TIME. So easy on the firefighter love a bit OK?

Cops are called for EVERYTHING...including fires by the way. It doesn't work the other way around.

Also cops get "hated on" all the time from everyone. (see this entire thread basically) - so you have to take the good with the bad and some handle it better than others.

JACKSON AND LUCAS, you guys need to quit smoking dope and go back to school, crack a book, or maybe at least listen to some news and get some freakin' perspective on the world. You think cops in this country are corrupt and are here just to harass you? If cops took the ONE day off in San Francisco, Jackson, there would be complete anarchy in the streets, riots, gun fights on every street, in short it would be Baghdad. You have absolutely no idea of how thin a wall of civilization exists, especially in a place like San Francisco. Corruption? Try living in 80% of the rest of the world (Mexico, South America, Eastern Europe, Most of Asia, Most of Africa, etc) where getting shaken down for bribes by government officials is just part of living your everyday life. When these people come to our country they can't believe how safe our roads and highways are compared to how they are in their country.

You guys are lucky enough, and it is only luck, to live in the 15% or so of the world that doesn't have to deal with horrible government corruption, poverty, war, etc. So two rich kids didn't get their PS3 because a couple cops abused their authority. I'm sure the kid in Baghdad who's arms got blown off from a car bomb when he went to get ice cream feels really bad for them.

You guys want to know what it's like to live in a place where 90% of the police are corrupt? They're hiring contractors in Iraq right now. Have fun!!

I'd like to see them be forced to donate the PS3s to a children's charity somewheres but I doubt that they can legally be forced to do this. Even though what they did was unethical they did pay for them (I'm assuming) and you can't just take their property from them.

I'm fully aware that many police officers risk their lives every single day for the good of the population.

However..

In my experience with cops (noting, of course, that my experience is somewhat minimal as I am only 17 years old), they tend to be power-hungry, controlling people. It's what attracts most of them to the job in the first place.

In the majority of my encounters with police officers, I have been condescended to, had accusations made toward me, and even been flat-out harassed.

There's no doubt in my mind that the police do a lot of good for society - we couldn't go without them. But occurences like this.. using a badge for such a petty and selfish purpose. It's just despicable.

It's not acceptable, and they should most certainly be punished in some way that is more than a mere slap on the wrist. It's the principal of the matter, more than the actual harm of the incident.

Dear Lucas,

http://www.chieftain.com/national/1165398674/1

http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=5763268

http://www.nleomf.com/TheMemorial/memorial.htm

The severe limitations of your experience and perception are not reality. It would behoove you to remember that.

#57

“Cops are constantly deified in our society through nearly every medium, from cookie cutter movies about the gritty tough lives of our protectors in blue to commercials to even nearly all news media praising them simply for their choice of occupation. No human life is more deserving over another and most cops should hardly be given a "pat on the back" more than any other job holder in this country.”

When I said they deserved a pat on their backs, I was referring to the fact that being a police officer is a very thankless job, and cops put their lives on the line every day.

“ Did you or any of your fellow officers sacrifice a high-paying job at Wall Street to patrol our streets? I highly doubt the profession of police officer is chosen because of a person's grandiose selfless devotion to protecting the innocent.”

No, you're right. Most cops take the job so they can shoot innocent people, abuse their power, and write tickets to underserving people to maintain quotas.

Could you sense the sarcasm?

“Last month where I live in Portland, two officers gunned down a 16 year old in the back and were given a paid vacation. A couple weeks ago, New Yorkers watched as trigger happy police unloaded on fleeing civilians.”

It’s always unfortunate when anyone loses their life, no matter what the circumstances are. I don’t have all the facts in either one of these cases, as I’m sure you don’t either, so I’m not going to make any pre-determined judgements, unlike you. Funny how you didn’t mention any killings of police officers on duty this year?

Don’t get me wrong, if these officers acted out of their scope of authority, then they should pay for what they did.


“Much of my family lives in the Chicago area and each one of them admits to bribing, or having seen a bribery of, a cop (generally to escape tickets). I have a friend who spent 12 hours in a drunk tank simply for suspicion of petty theft. I can't count the amount of times I was pulled over during my formative driving years simply because I was DWT (Driving While Teenager).”

I’m not even going to comment on this. Way too laughable, especially the part about your family bribing police to get out of tickets.

“Police officers have far too much unrestrained power in our society. I, and no one that I know, feel safe when a cop is nearby, all we feel is fear and unease. When was the last time anyone has seen our "finest" help someone with a flat tire on the side of the road? I haven't witnessed an act like that since I was a young child - they're more obsessed with meeting their state-imposed ticket quotas (which they're afraid to call "quotas" for legal reasons).”

Fear and unease? No one you know feels safe? State-imposed ticket quotas?

Do you write fiction for a living? Give me a break.


“Cops aren't better than anyone else and we need to start realizing that.”

Neither are all the other people in all walks of life who think they are better than most people. You think cops are the only people who can have a superiority complex? Give me a break. Tell that to doctors/lawyers/politicians/etc. No one is better than anyone else, not just cops.

"If cops took the ONE day off in San Francisco, Jackson, there would be complete anarchy in the streets, riots, gun fights on every street, in short it would be Baghdad."

Steve, I think YOU should stop smoking dope. I'm not as down on cops as some here, but I'm not as down on ordinary folks as you are, either. MAYBE, if it was announced far and wide that the cops would be out for a day there would be a small spike in some crime. But complete anarchy? 99% of people would simply go about their daily lives like they do every fricking day. If there was no announcement, I'd guess there would hardly be any difference at all. People behave themselves because they WANT a normal life.

The anarchy in Baghdad is not caused due to lack of police officers (there certainly are plenty of authorities with guns there), it's because of the expectations of the population and the presence of terrorists.

I see your complete lack of perspective in one direction worse than others lack of perspective here. They're saying cops are dirty, you're saying the whole damn population is just waiting for an excuse to riot.

Yeah, abuse of power is wrong and, if I understand it correctly,
is
illegal in this particular situation, but lets not go crazy here. I
don't feel that the officers need to be tarred and feathered like most
of you seem to. It's the Christmas season, I say they should just
donate the systems to charity, maybe toys for tots or something like
that, and whatever the standard punishment for abuse of power is.
I'm sure they have some sort of precedence with this sort of thing.
Maybe not exactly this situation but something similar. Maybe
cutting in line for concert tickets or something like that. In any
event, people need to understand that sometimes people make poor
decisions based on the influence of the moment. At the time of the
launch plenty of people made very poor decisions that involved
breaking the law. Many of those poor decisions ended up in much more
serious loss than a couple people walking away empty handed. Let us
just put this kind of stuff into perspective, shall we?

Donut Eatin' Bastards...

"Sorry there fella, but I personally have been harassed by you dirty pigs all my life."


Any possibilty of an informed, intelligent response from you was crushed right there. You may be 24, but you have a lot to learn about maturity.

Hi John!
I don't know where you got the idea that I thought the whole population is waiting to riot. It only takes a very, very small part of the population to cause riots however. If 99% of the population goes about there business and 1% decide to start robbing and stealing everything in sight (and yes, 1% would), then there would be panic across the streets, businesses would shut down and board up, etc. As soon as other people found out that they could steal with no consequences, the riots would start just like in L.A. years ago.

Baghdad isn't about terrorists and expectations, it's because there is no strong central government, and the police serve whatever local warlord or group serves their purpose. The police are as likely to gun you down as help you and nobody trusts them, which of course they shouldn't.

In Iraq, 99% of people just want a normal life too, but without a strong government and good police they will never have it.

Now my example was one day, do you seriously believe that if the police were gone for say a week or two, there would be a small spike in crime? I could produce thousands of current and historical events to show you're wrong. What evidence do you have?

This makes me think of an "old school" NWA song...

Cops rule, but those 2 were wrong for what they did. an apology to the public sounds good. Don't diss cops, not all are bad. every occupation has its bad apples, show some class folks.

Death to Tyrants. One day the oppressed of this country will seek our justice in blood. And when we do all pigs will find nice homes in Hell.

What's really sad is that the security guards - who have no power especially when confronted with police who DO have power - are losing their jobs and the police who ACTUALLY did something wrong won't.

"Any possibilty of an informed, intelligent response from you was crushed right there. You may be 24, but you have a lot to learn about maturity."

Its funny how you ignored all my REAL LIFE incidents because I called you a name. How mature is that? It's funny how you can't retort to these types of incidents that happen ALL the time. You just saw "dirty pig" and right away jump on that instead of trying to clarify said events. Well whatever, I know what I've been through with those cops and because of them, NOT rap music, NOT movies, NOT any form of media, I really don't like cops.

I do agree that it's sad that out of so many bad cops the few good ones get mixed in with them.

Jojo, you poor bastard. Not for being harassed, but for thinking so. I'm sorry to tell you this, but you are being neurotic. I am not exaggerating.

Checking up on people is part of a police officer's job. It's not personal. While the excuses offered may seem flimsy, the reasons behind them are not. How many guns, drugs, or even murderers get uncovered by random spot checks? Enough to keep them going, that's for sure. If you've done nothing wrong, you have no reason to sweat.

I've been stopped out of the blue and asked to present ID. I probably looked suspicious walking down a deserted street at 2:00 AM. They ran my name through the computer, it came back clean, and they let me continue on my merry way. They said, "Have a good night," and I said, "You too."

How would the police know you were picking up your brother from softball? Maybe you were there to sell crack. Maybe you were there to ogle little boys. The fact that a 24 year old man is hanging around a softball field does not make you suspicious? It will when you have kids.

I've been tailgated by police on the freeway. People jump on a conspiracy--"They were waiting for you to speed so they could catch you!" And the way to do that is to fill up my rearview mirror with a big ass cop car? Use some common sense. They were running my license plate. After a few minutes they passed me, heading for bigger fish.

Are any of these harassment? NO, they are NOT. I was raised in the Caribbean, where police abuses are the norm, so I know what harassment and corruption looks like. What you describe is paranoia on your part. Relax. Stop wanting so desperately to be repressed and try to see it from their view. You weren't handcuffed, detained, and strip-searched without cause. It doesn't sound like you've ever even been in jail.

Just act cool with most cops, and they'll be cool with you. Give it a try, it'll save you stress, and maybe even a traffic ticket or two.

"You weren't handcuffed, detained, and strip-searched without cause."

Stuffed into the back of a cop car for 'loitering' for picking up my bro is not being detained or handcuffed huh? whatever you have your POV and i have mine. Im just not blind.

Ok this is not a criminal thing, just police using their oh mighty powers to think they are a little better than others, we see this all day long if you ever watched them drive our tax paying dollars in our police cruisers. For some reason it appears that a lot of our Public Servants now beleive they are our Public Supervisors. Its sick, but its a fact! We must all remember there are still good law abiding Police out there but the pickings are getting slim. To many untrained Police that dont understand the Constitution and their oath of office they swear to uphold. Police should be setting good examples for the general public but it appears they fall short of this. The Chief should not give punishment out to these cops, the people of the city should do this. For this I dont believe that they should get fired, but maybe have to hold up a sign in the public for a few hours saying.
" We are your Public Servants " Oh Well
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