Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit • Hacker News Board

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#101

Post by jessaustin » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:11 AM UTC

kps wrote: post #70

hackuser wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Its not in any cops's interest to have all their actions even in the heat of the moment put under a microscope. Honest police may feel it's in their interest. It protects them from false accusations, and from leal and reputational consequences of being associated with dishonest associates. Being honest, they might also want to see dishonest, criminal actions stopped and punished.

> Honest police may feel it's in their interest. Yes. I choose to have a dashcam in my car; it has once proved me not at fault, but if I screw up, it could equally prove me at fault. I think it is in my interest because I think it is overwhelmingly likely that the truth will be in my favour.

As a private citizen there is no expectation that one will have a dashcam, so with discretion it would be possible to benefit from good driving without being penalized for bad driving.

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#102

Post by dzhiurgis » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:12 AM UTC

jacobolus wrote: post #44

dzhiurgis wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was stating the fact that happened in my country ruled by gangsters who were extorting innocent people. Why you are reading something that is not there?

Your three-sentence story was about police battling the “explosion of mafia” using underhanded tactics, and makes no mention of innocent people. The case under discussion is police planting drugs and guns on people who were wrongly arrested and who had no prior criminal record or connection to gangsters, because the police were hateful racists. Since those two scenarios seem completely unrelated, my inference was tha…

Rather than inferring that all thugs are black, you should have inferred that mafia isn't there to help people.

Anyhow, sorry if my story isn't interesting.

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#103

Post by simoncion » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:13 AM UTC

kps wrote: post #76

jMyles wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Downvote me all you want: it won't change the facts. I downvoted you because you are simply incorrect about the facts. Black people make up 12% of the US population, and use illicit drugs at approximately a proportionate rate. Yet, black people make up more than half of the prison population of drug offenders, and nearly two thirds of those under any form of criminal supervision for drug offenses. Why are you sayin…

I upvoted him because it's difficult to read what he wrote (and I routinely upvote grey comments). HN should decide whether a downvote means ‘I disagree’ or ‘this isn't worth reading’ — ‘I disagree therefore this isn't worth reading’ is incompatible with reasoned discussion.

> I upvoted him because it's difficult to read what he wrote

Does this mean that you upvote greytext comments because it makes the text too difficult to read, and you find that upvoting such a comment not infrequently makes it easier for you to read it?

If yes, then you might be pleased to know that you can solve the contrast issue by selecting the text with your mouse or whatever other pointing device you use.

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#104

Post by newman314 » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:14 AM UTC

taurath wrote: post #40

hackuser wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Its not in any cops's interest to have all their actions even in the heat of the moment put under a microscope. Honest police may feel it's in their interest. It protects them from false accusations, and from leal and reputational consequences of being associated with dishonest associates. Being honest, they might also want to see dishonest, criminal actions stopped and punished.

To play devil's advocate: if I were the most decent nicest cop in the world I could see why I wouldn't want my every word and action on camera. It'd severely limit things I could say in confidence to anyone, and if I were say speaking to a victim of a crime its difficult to comfort people with a camera in their face. I'd be worried to being reduced to essentially the role of a call-center employee with every interact…

Well, given the mandate by some police departments to only hire the less intelligent...

I subscribe to the notion that cops absolutely need to be held to a higher standard, esp. given their potential for exponentially causing harm (because guns and LE powers).

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#105

Post by jessaustin » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:16 AM UTC

ashwinaj wrote: post #75

hackuser wrote: post #8

It seems like there is a smoking gun in this case (though I didn't review the evidence thoroughly). Widespread availability of video recording and distribution has provided many more smoking guns. Certainly, there are many more incidents where no smoking gun evidence is available. For a long time, black Americans have been claiming that such things happen and were widely ignored or disbelieved. It was and is a grave…

Well put, but I suspect large swaths of people will still be in denial since any criticism about the police (or military) is off limits. In any case, if this keeps on going the police force would be the first to be "roboticized". I even have a simple algorithm: 1. Investigate reported crime (race/gender/economic parameters are ignored) OR catch criminal red handed. 2. Create a police report and submit evidence. 3. Te…

I suspect physical security will be robotized before policing is. Robots could get very good at recognizing firearms held in human hands (i.e. rather than stored in a holster) and then incapacitating the owner of those hands. Once enough such robots are installed in crowded public areas, the current mass-murder-mania (and one hopes, the hysteria that has arisen in reaction) would be eliminated.

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#106

Post by pipermerriam » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:17 AM UTC

This is an honest question.

Realistically, how do we dismantle the police state. It seems like the NSA, FBI, and some not insignificant percentage of the police forces have gone entirely rogue or lost track of their mission entirely.

It feels hopeless. So much outrage but so little actual ever changes. Does anyone have any ideas because I'd love to hear them.

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#107

Post by purpled_haze » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:18 AM UTC

hackuser wrote: post #8

It seems like there is a smoking gun in this case (though I didn't review the evidence thoroughly). Widespread availability of video recording and distribution has provided many more smoking guns. Certainly, there are many more incidents where no smoking gun evidence is available. For a long time, black Americans have been claiming that such things happen and were widely ignored or disbelieved. It was and is a grave…

> What do we do about the legions of victims?

Financial compensation and putting those that caused the injustice in prison equaling the total of all of the terms served by all of those affected. That is as close to justice as could be had.

As for preventing corruption- there's no way to do this as long as there are people that can be corrupted. You can add oversight. You could replace the entire force with minorities. But if there are people that are corruptible, these efforts will fail. The best that you can do is to (1) promote ethics education in schools and flag students that reject it/scoff at it as they may need much more help and (2) don't divorce government and schools from religion which is an additional force for peer-pressure and community support against corruption.

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#108

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:18 AM UTC

airkumar wrote: post #84

rewqfdsa wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The higher criminality drives the police mistreatment. If you're a police offer and interact with mostly black criminals all day, your priors are set so that you think most blacks are criminals. So when you see an honest black person, you assume he's guilty of _something_, and consider framing him the honest thing, since you believe you're just putting the black man away for crimes he's doubtlessly committed, but for…

"criminality" is not an inherent trait in any race, including black Americans. The increased crime rates are a function of a number of inputs, many of which stem all the way back to slavery-- which has never fully been addressed/redressed in our public policy. To fail to recognize this and treat "black criminality" as some initial condition is to fail to critically think about our collective history and the resulting…

[deleted]

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#109

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:18 AM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #87

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Opinion: 1) Police are corrupt. Maybe not all of them, but enough of them that "police are corrupt" is true. This will always be the case. Police don't fight crime, nor prevent it. They create it. If you think this isn't so you haven't had enough exposure to them. Maybe my opinion is coloured by my experience: illegal search of person, car, and house. They ransacked my house, stole money and property from me. It took…

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I think some police officers don't even realize the extent to which they can totally fuck up your life. Then there are the ones that know it well and enjoy it. Or the ones that think they are planting that evidence in order to get the bad guy and the ends justify the means. Since there's historically been no check and balance behind the Blue Wall absolute power has corrupted absolut…

[deleted]

Re: Leaked Documents Reveal Police Department Planted Drugs for Years, DA Complicit

#110

Post by gnaritas » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 3:19 AM UTC

jrs235 wrote: post #29

hackuser wrote: post #8

It seems like there is a smoking gun in this case (though I didn't review the evidence thoroughly). Widespread availability of video recording and distribution has provided many more smoking guns. Certainly, there are many more incidents where no smoking gun evidence is available. For a long time, black Americans have been claiming that such things happen and were widely ignored or disbelieved. It was and is a grave…

I propose that if an officer is caught planting evidence or government official is caught covering up such acts and found guilty that the officer or official will serve twice and amount of time and twice any monetary amount the wronged served. And follow the drug war policy of mandatory sentences so no judge can reduce the sentence. For examole if these guys planted evidence that resulted in 10 guys behind bars, each…

> I propose that...

We're not in short supply of proposals, so what's the point? Everyone has ideas like this, they're meaningless because they don't address the problem, cops don't police themselves and never will.