Lying Is a Fundamental Part of American Police Culture
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I don’t know that it’s lying so much as it is “spin“. I can’t open the link above from my cell phone so I haven’t seen it yet. But, in my view, for what it’s worth, I review police reports, supplemental investigation reports, interview room video, body worn camera video as well as surveillance video and crime scene photos. on a daily basis. The police spin the facts in favor of the state prosecution and it’s a defense attorney’s job, my job, to review the evidence to make sure that they are not overstepping the law or blatantly lying. Since none of us were there at the commission of the crime, it’s the trier of fact, the jury, or the judge’s job to weigh that evidence. There are serious consequences for either the Police or defense if they should commit fraud upon the court by presenting known false facts. If a defendant comes to me and said something like “look, I did it, but this is what we’re going to say........” he would be shown the door. It’s not worth my career. I know some police officers and we have all taken our boys pheasant hunting together from time to time. On balance, they are good people.
Markus
Level 7
Apr 4, 2018
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From the article (Police officers lie under oath in court so often that they've even given the practice a nickname. "Behind closed doors, we call it testilying," New York City police officer Pedro Serrano told the New York Times.) The article also goes into a Baltimore case where the Gun Trace Task Force stole "including police theft of "more than $300,000, at least three kilos of cocaine, 43 pounds of marijuana, 800 grams of heroin and hundreds of thousands of dollars in watches from suspected drug dealers and civilians," (Among the most sinister revelations was that some cops, on advice from team sergeant Wayne Jenkins, drove around with fake guns in their possession to plant on unarmed suspects they shot.) DA's in Philadelphia creating a cheat list of 66 officers whose well-established track records of falsehoods made them unreliable witnesses. I would consider these and the more within the article as blatant.
Then you can add this onto why the public is losing faith in our law enforcement around the county.
" Police lying is as old as policing itself, and like all culturally ingrained customs, it will not disappear without the sustained intervention of outside forces. That is especially true in law enforcement, an institution governed by its own insular codes of silence, conduct and reprisal for speaking out. The US government has never been deeply invested in seeing justice done, but the Obama administration had begun taking the most tentative of steps in the right direction by investigating abuses of major police departments around the country. But in his first speech after taking office last year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions promised to halt those reviews, just one aspect of his Justice Department's complete lack of interest in protecting civil rights, particularly those of marginalized people."
What do you call it when an officer is in the chair and gives false testimony, then after the defense shows video contrary to that testimony, he's forced to recant his testimony? I personally believe that awards him a seat with the 66 mentioned above. At the least! How many innocent people are in jail from this around the country? Or dead!?! While nothing is being done to these people, of equal relevance, opening up us to be their next victim.
@William_Mary The cases you mention are perfect examples of blatant criminality. In the case of the 66 you mentioned in the Philadelphia Police Department, that’s 1.03% of a police force totaling 6400 uniformed officers. I just haven’t seen it where I am. In 22 years. I haven’t seen “false testimony” so much as biased in favor of the prosecution and no “recant” occurs. His testimony should be exposed and to be taken as less credible and discounted by the Jury. If there is intent to perpetrate a falsehood he should be prosecuted criminally. In most cases though, it’s not black and white (no pun intended) the remedy is usually in a civil rights violation. I understand that others may have a different point of view.
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