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Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

baltimore.cbslocal.com

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Re: Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

#31

Post by codyb »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #29
na85 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frankly I think that anyone who applies to be a cop should be automatically blacklisted, and that police should be essentially conscripted for, say, $total_training_time + 2 years after education, the way some countries do with their military. To me, the mere act of wanting the authority to arrest and shoot your peers means you are the last person I want to have that power.

Politicians as well. Those who seek power rarely have the necessary moral fortitude.

Some people become police officers because it's a stable job with a pension. I have a buddy who might become a corrections officer but I don't think it's because he's excited to baton an inmate as much as the salary and benefits that is the driving motivation.

Re: Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

#32

Post by johnpmayer »

na85 wrote: post #28
myrandomcomment wrote: post #20

We need to live in a country where the law enforcement agencies are above reproach. There are 3 things we can do for this. 1. Pay for officers should be high without overtime. 2. Stop militarizing everyday law enforcement. 3. Body cams on at all times. Cameras on police cars should be on at all times.

Frankly I think that anyone who applies to be a cop should be automatically blacklisted, and that police should be essentially conscripted for, say, $total_training_time + 2 years after education, the way some countries do with their military. To me, the mere act of wanting the authority to arrest and shoot your peers means you are the last person I want to have that power.

This is silly and short-sighted. There are many people who genuinely want to 'serve and protect', multiple generations in some families. Some people take duty very seriously and in good faith. Applying to be a cop in no way implies that a person holds arrests and the use of deadly force as anything other than a necessary component of the real-world, end-to-end justice system.

Re: Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

#33

Post by protomyth »

Yhippa wrote: post #2

What's the incentive for cops to plant drugs on people? I assume they get some kind of bonus or have a performance review rating on how many "criminals" they apprehend?

Quotas and fines / property that get seized and added to the departments budget.

Re: Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

#34

Post by doug1001 »

na85 wrote: post #28
myrandomcomment wrote: post #20

We need to live in a country where the law enforcement agencies are above reproach. There are 3 things we can do for this. 1. Pay for officers should be high without overtime. 2. Stop militarizing everyday law enforcement. 3. Body cams on at all times. Cameras on police cars should be on at all times.

Frankly I think that anyone who applies to be a cop should be automatically blacklisted, and that police should be essentially conscripted for, say, $total_training_time + 2 years after education, the way some countries do with their military. To me, the mere act of wanting the authority to arrest and shoot your peers means you are the last person I want to have that power.

during my four-year hitch in the Corps, a quick poll of the first-term enlisted jarheads in a USMC infantry battalion, asking "what are you going to do when you're hitch is up?" the most frequent answer would have been "become a cop"

and these were guys who, when off-duty, wore t-shirts with aphorisms like

"kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out"

and

"join the Marines, travel to exotic places, meet interesting people, and kill them"

----

i have a (completely untested) hypothesis, that police forces which require officers to be trained as EMTs and police officers (San Jose?) have far lower incidence of claims and proven instances of incidence of excessive force, abuse of authority, etc.

Re: Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

#35

Post by protomyth »

charlesdm wrote: post #13
cbanek wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because once they have "proof" that you're a criminal, then they get greater leeway in what they want to do in terms of searches and detaining you, and even if they turn up nothing, they still have something to charge you with and hang over your head. Although these days, they don't even need to prove you're a criminal to steal your money with civil asset forfeiture, they just need to be able to find your money.

Sounds like a good reason to hold bank accounts outside of the US?

Good luck with that given current US law and the increasing number of foreign banks that want nothing to do with US citizens.

Re: Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

#36

Post by icantdrive55 »

myrandomcomment wrote: post #20

We need to live in a country where the law enforcement agencies are above reproach. There are 3 things we can do for this. 1. Pay for officers should be high without overtime. 2. Stop militarizing everyday law enforcement. 3. Body cams on at all times. Cameras on police cars should be on at all times.

Yea, this is way past due.

Along with these implementations, I would like to see just an AA in psychology, and require at least 12 units of law, including a course in constitutional law.

Just a high school diploma is not enough.

Re: Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

#37

Post by adventured »

myrandomcomment wrote: post #20

We need to live in a country where the law enforcement agencies are above reproach. There are 3 things we can do for this. 1. Pay for officers should be high without overtime. 2. Stop militarizing everyday law enforcement. 3. Body cams on at all times. Cameras on police cars should be on at all times.

> Pay for officers should be high without overtime.

Pay is high for police officers. At the median they're earning nearly 70% more than the overall median US income.

Median pay for all police officers is near $62,000 now. [1] Versus the median for all jobs, closer to $37,000.

[1] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/police-and-detect...

Re: Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

#38

Post by Shivetya »

adventured wrote: post #37
myrandomcomment wrote: post #20

We need to live in a country where the law enforcement agencies are above reproach. There are 3 things we can do for this. 1. Pay for officers should be high without overtime. 2. Stop militarizing everyday law enforcement. 3. Body cams on at all times. Cameras on police cars should be on at all times.

> Pay for officers should be high without overtime. Pay is high for police officers. At the median they're earning nearly 70% more than the overall median US income. Median pay for all police officers is near $62,000 now. [1] Versus the median for all jobs, closer to $37,000. [1] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/police-and-detect...

plus don't forget retirement is quite nice too, opportunities to double dip exist because of how many of these are structured, and all sorts of tricks are permitted with cashing out accrued time so that it bumps retirement pay.

some cases in california were called into question as there were cops with 100k pensions,but california suffers from lots of government employee pension tricks. these are not limited to just California and are busting the budgets of many cities and now even some states.

but with regards to this Baltimore issue, he damn well best serve time for this and everyone on that call should be off the force.

it might just be time for, if you camera malfunctions your arrests are not valid if it one vs one in testimony.

Re: Baltimore State Attorney Drops Dozens of Cases: Body Cam Shows Drug-Planting

#39

Post by akira2501 »

myrandomcomment wrote: post #20

We need to live in a country where the law enforcement agencies are above reproach. There are 3 things we can do for this. 1. Pay for officers should be high without overtime. 2. Stop militarizing everyday law enforcement. 3. Body cams on at all times. Cameras on police cars should be on at all times.

I want two more important steps:

4. The video is archived for at least 90 days, with 360 being preferable.

5. The video is immediately encrypted when it is stored and should only be accessible by the district attorneys office.

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