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Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

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Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#13

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

pjc50 wrote: post #8

Until police are jailed for this, nothing will improve. What's the US equivalent of the Independent Police Complaints Commission?

As I argued elsewhere here, I believe a stronger incentive would be to come after pay and pensions for police units whose officers have cost the municipality millions in lawsuits. Instead of friends and coworkers trying to protect each other for abuses of power, they will instead take on the role of protecting their families' livelihood. You would be less likely to abuse your authority if your entire department and their retired friends are more incentivized to distance themselves from you than to cover you up.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#16

Post by elthran »

bdisraeli wrote: post #9
pjc50 wrote: post #8

Until police are jailed for this, nothing will improve. What's the US equivalent of the Independent Police Complaints Commission?

There is no national body that oversees police, but Chicago has the Independent Police Review Authority. However IPRA rarely upholds complaints against police (it's staffed by ex-cops and other people connected to the police), and recently an investigator was fired after finding a shooting unjustified[1]. [1] http://www.wbez.org/news/city-fires-investigator-who-found-c...

Has this been proposed at all? Is there anything weird about american policing/law that would mean a national, federal agency wouldn't be able to take on this role?

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#17

Post by ghufran_syed »

pjc50 wrote: post #8

Until police are jailed for this, nothing will improve. What's the US equivalent of the Independent Police Complaints Commission?

Part of what stops police from routinely infringing civil rights in the pursuit of justice is the legal doctrine that evidence obtained illegally is inadmissible, as is all evidence gained from further (lawful) investigation based on that evidence [1]. what is needed is a law that operates in a similar way, that states that in any lawsuit or complaint against the police, there is a presumption of guilt on the part of the police officer in the event of 'malfunction' of monitoring devices. The only way to make the police comply is to make it in their self-interest (or at least in the interests of the city that would regularly have to pay out presumptive damages) to make sure they are working.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_of_the_poisonous_tree

Edit: typo

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#18

Post by gopowerranger »

moron4hire wrote: post #14

How long before people start defending them, "It's just a few bad apples"? And I won't hold my breath waiting for them to remember the full phase is "a few bad apples spoils the barrel."

There are thousands and thousands of cops and you want to hold up one example as being representative?

And before you scour the web looking for a second example, remember that there are thousands and thousands of police activities every day.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#19

Post by maxerickson »

pjc50 wrote: post #8

Until police are jailed for this, nothing will improve. What's the US equivalent of the Independent Police Complaints Commission?

The US Department of Justice can investigate local police departments.

They have investigated several of the local departments that have been in the US national news in recent years, with some actual improvements coming out of the investigations.

Re: Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams to Block Audio, Records Show

#20

Post by late2part »

moomin wrote: post #12

Just to be clear: what we are looking at is a concerted and coordinated criminal conspiracy to cover up a range of activities including murder.

This can't be upvoted enough. You're right. The police are protected by their dependent partners, the prosecutors. Anyone who does this should at the very least be prosecuted for one of the following:

  1.  Interfering with a police officer
  2.  Obstruction of justice
  3.  Destruction of property
Ask yourself why they aren't? Is it the police union? Is it a true explicit conspiracy?

What world we we live in that people get 3 days suspension for breaking a recording device their management put in?

Can you do this to the cameras at your work location?

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