Guest Post by John W. Whitehead
“There is one criminal justice system for citizens—especially black and brown ones—and another for police in the United States.”—Redditt Hudson, former St. Louis police officer
President Trump needs to be reminded that no one is above the law, especially the police.
Unfortunately, Trump and Jeff Sessions, head of the Justice Department (much like their predecessors) appear to have few qualms about giving police the green light to kill, shoot, taser, abuse and steal from American citizens in the so-called name of law and order.
Between Trump’s pandering to the police unions and Sessions’ pandering to Trump, this constitutionally illiterate duo has opened the door to a new era of police abuses.
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As senior editor Adam Serwer warns in The Atlantic, “When local governments violate the basic constitutional rights of citizens, Americans are supposed to be able to look to the federal government to protect those rights. Sessions has made clear that when it comes to police abuses, they’re now on their own. This is the principle at the heart of ‘law and order’ rhetoric: The authorities themselves are bound by neither.”
Brace yourselves: things are about to get downright ugly.
By shielding police from charges of grave misconduct while prosecuting otherwise law-abiding Americans for the most trivial “offenses,” the government has created a world in which there are two sets of laws: one set for the government and its gun-toting agents, and another set for you and me.
No matter which way you spin it, “we the people” are always on the losing end of the deal.
If you’re a cop in the American police state, you can now break the law in a myriad of ways without suffering any major, long-term consequences.
Indeed, not only are cops protected from most charges of wrongdoing—whether it’s shooting unarmed citizens (including children and old people), raping and abusing young women, falsifying police reports, trafficking drugs, or soliciting sex with minors—but even on the rare occasions when they are fired for misconduct, it’s only a matter of time before they get re-hired again.
For example, Oregon police officer Sean Sullivan was forced to resign after being accused of “grooming” a 10-year-old girl for a sexual relationship. A year later, Sullivan was hired on as a police chief in Kansas.
St. Louis police officer Eddie Boyd III was forced to resign after a series of incidents in which he “pistol-whipped a 12-year-old girl in the face in 2006, and in 2007 struck a child in the face with his gun or handcuffs before falsifying a police report,” he was quickly re-hired by another Missouri police department.
As The Washington Post reports: “In the District, police were told to rehire an officer who allegedly forged prosecutors’ signatures on court documents. In Texas, police had to reinstate an officer who was investigated for shooting up the truck driven by his ex-girlfriend’s new man. In Philadelphia, police were compelled to reinstate an officer despite viral video of him striking a woman in the face. In Florida, police were ordered to reinstate an officer fired for fatally shooting an unarmed man.”
Much of the “credit” for shielding these rogue cops goes to influential police unions and laws providing for qualified immunity, police contracts that “provide a shield of protection to officers accused of misdeeds and erect barriers to residents complaining of abuse,” state and federal laws that allow police to walk away without paying a dime for their wrongdoing, and rampant cronyism among government bureaucrats.
Whether it’s at the federal level with President Trump, Congress and the Judiciary, or at the state and local level, those deciding whether a police officer should be immune from having to personally pay for misbehavior on the job all belong to the same system, all with a vested interest in protecting the police and their infamous code of silence: city and county attorneys, police commissioners, city councils and judges.
It’s a pretty sweet deal if you can get it, I suppose: protection from the courts, immunity from wrongdoing, paid leave while you’re under investigation, the assurance that you won’t have to spend a dime of your own money in your defense, the removal of disciplinary charges from your work file, and then the high probability that you will be rehired and returned to the streets.
It’s a chilling prospect, isn’t it?
According to the New York Times, “Some experts say thousands of law enforcement officers may have drifted from police department to police department even after having been fired, forced to resign or convicted of a crime.”
It’s happening all across the country.
This is how perverse justice in America has become.
Incredibly, while our own protections against government abuses continue to be dismantled, a growing number of states are adopting Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBoR)—written by police unions—which provides police officers accused of a crime with special due process rights and privileges not afforded to the average citizen.
In other words, the LEOBoR protects police officers from being treated as we are treated during criminal investigations.
Not only are officers given a 10-day “cooling-off period” during which they cannot be forced to make any statements about the incident, but when they are questioned, it must be “for a reasonable length of time, at a reasonable hour, by only one or two investigators (who must be fellow policemen), and with plenty of breaks for food and water.”
These LEOBoRs epitomize everything that is wrong with America today.
Now once in a while, police officers engaged in wrongdoing are actually charged for abusing their authority and using excessive force against American citizens.
Occasionally, those officers are even sentenced for their crimes against the citizenry.
Yet in just about every case, it’s still the American taxpayer who foots the bill.
Human Rights Watch notes that taxpayers actually pay three times for officers who repeatedly commit abuses: “once to cover their salaries while they commit abuses; next to pay settlements or civil jury awards against officers; and a third time through payments into police ‘defense’ funds provided by the cities.”
This is a recipe for disaster.
“In a democratic society,” observed Oakland police chief Sean Whent, “people have a say in how they are policed.”
Yet as I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, America is a constitutional republic, not a democracy, which means that “we the people” not only have a say in how we are policed—we are the chiefs of police.
Hahabababababa
Time for some real MEN with sniper rifles to take action.
Jack……..Won’t be a sniper rifle; there will be honest men that will just get pushed to the limit with CAF and they will find out where the cop lives, stalk him, and take him down with a load of Buckshot to the face. The individual won’t care at all that the police will kill him – he will die happy knowing that he got rid of a POS.
If it becomes known that CAF was the reason, then all it takes is for someone to start the ball rolling to eliminate the CAF cops.
I am as opposed to police abuse of law-abiding, decent citizens (including black and brown ones) as anybody. That said, let’s cut through the bullshit. Our police forces were created mainly to keep the underclass in line and, in general, that underclass has been black and, in more recent times, brown. I feel sorry for any decent black man who through no fault of his own gets caught up in this reality but the truth is that many blacks have nobody to blame but themselves for their troubles with the police. The idea that law enforcement in America can or should be “color-blind” is just silly. Blacks are many, many times more likely to attack whites than vice versa. Ditto for rape, armed robbery, drug dealing and on and on. Do you really expect street cops to ignore this truth? Northerners often denounce the South for Jim Crow laws. Again, let’s cut to the chase. They were enacted for a reason and that reason was to keep blacks away from whites as far as possible in order to avoid what we are seeing today on our streets. If you do not mind blacks invading your home, raping your wives and daughters, robbing your banks, and dealing drugs to your kids, that is fine with me. I do mind and I expect the cops to keep a close eye on blacks. That is what the cops are there for. If the blacks don’t like it they can damn sure police their own kind.
Let me play Devil’s Advocate with you.
What if blacks are arrested many more times than whites — let’s say for drugs —- because copfuks patrol black areas much more often?
I watch that show “Cops” once in a while …. when I feel like cursing and throwing shit. So many episodes are about drug use … mostly minor shit. And there they are, randomly cruising around Da Hood just looking to start some shit with someone who looks ‘suspicous’.
And I say to Ms Freud … are those copfuks just looking to shit on someone in Beverly Hills, or Short Hills NJ, or the Hamptons, or any other well off neighborhood, even when they KNOW those rich fuckers are snorting coke or whatever like there’s no tomorrow? NOPE!!!
Hey, I’m not making excuses for blacks, and I really don’t want to get into RAAAACISSST shit …. but, it’s suitable for making my point; copfuks play favorites and are fucken hypocrites.
Good to see you back Stucky.
Deer hunters, when hunting deer go to places that deer frequent.
Cops hunting criminals do the same. They gots to keep up with quotas or da budget gets cut and cops get unemployed. It’s the circle jerk of life.
Let Beverly Hills get overrun with purse snatchers, pickpockets, rapists and the like and cops will be hunting in Beverly Hills.
Low income black neighborhoods are where the crime takes place. 99% of the shootings in Chicago are black on black crime. Cops go where the crime lives. Crime in America has a color & its black. Statistics bear that out!
Like the DUI Checkpoints down the street from the private country club instead they are always in blue collar frequented and black frequented areas
You know, I am no fan of seeing anyone being bullied by the asshole revenue collecting copfucks, but Southern Sage makes an excellent point. These blacks and browns that you see being “policed” usually are not guys just minding their own business, driving to work, in slacks and a button down shirt. Usually, and with little exception, they are either A: A black with his fucking jeans hanging down to his knees, looking a like a dumb ass thug or B: A “chollo” looking Mexican or other brown, with tattoos that looks like he just got released from a supermax prison.
I get the argument that no one should be harassed simply because of how they look, but these people would go a long way towards their goal of not being “policed” by simply getting a fucking clue, and taking the advice that I heard plenty when I was working for someone else “dress for the job you want”. These thugs are dressing / acting for the job they want, and then wondering why they are treated as such. Well duh, dumbass.
The “police” situation is simple. Cop fucks should be judged by EXACTLY the same standards and laws as a citizen in a similar situation. Period. If it is found a cop guns someone down in cold blood, well, that is homicide. If their life was truly in danger, well self defense. And, as far as civil asset forfeiture, the person who is accused must be PROVEN beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of their pears before dollar one is taken. Period.
Until that happens, resentment, violence towards “officers” and the like will simply get worse, until you start seeing what Jack above stated, start happening. Cop Fucks will be treated to their own brand of justice via the citizen. Yin and Yang.
Quick disclaimer – There are two types of cops – Cop Fucks – basically government sanctioned bullies with guns, and Police Officers. Police Officers actually do try and do the right thing, but cop fucks are just assholes and gang members, just working for a different gang. I have no problem with Police Officers, Detectives etc., I do have a huge problem with Cop Fucks.
“The function of the law is not to provide justice or to preserve freedom. The function of the law is to keep those who hold power, in power.”. Gerry Spence, Attorney at Law
I’m 64 and never had handcuffs on yet. When questioned I begin and end with yes Sir or yes Ma’am, thanks and have a great day sir, ma’am. Works wonders, and if other people, mainly black and brown would act as if they actually had brains and show common courtesy then they wouldn’t be behind bars, would they? But they would rather act as if they just came down from the trees yesterday instead of walking upright in dignity and honor. So, they have a choice, act adult, or keep hitting their head with the same old coconut. thanks
Hope you never meet up with a cop with a hard on for you because you fired his cousin from your company . All the polite ass kissing in the world won’t save you and you most likely won’t be able to do shit about ! You will go home in 72 hours or less with an apology and hopefully not with a bloody asshole ! Which will be described as your fault !
It’s your lie, make it as big as you want! The people in jail richly deserve to be there. In our town it’s the same ole repeat offenders, forever blaming society, family, and circumstances for their pathetic little lives. The problem with you can be seen in the mirror, not the thin blue line. thanks
So you’ve never been ordered to lie prostrate on the asphalt because you were driving with a tail light out? You would feel differently if you had.
I am glad to see the racial balance on TBP. So many of the commenters buying the shit spewed by Reddit Hudson. Ex St Louis cop and professional nigger employee of the NAACP.
I have known a few and many of them carry a flick knife and a small packet of drugs…just in case!
More accurately:
1) Police are not given special rights in criminal proceedings, they actually lost a big one from the Miranda Warnings: the right to remain silent. An avg citizen can keep silent and lawyer up. A police officer is compelled testify against his own activities. When a govt administration forces a person to testify under duress, it is a violation of 5th amendment; Thus, in a police officer involved shooting, they are given a period of time to arrange to have legal representation, because they must testify (whereas, a private citizen can remain silent until his lawyer arrives, and still remain silent after that… which is exactly what he should do… but if he was a cop, he does not have that option because he must speak about the incident).
2) No kidding there are bad cops out there… but what usually happens in the MSM, is that every police officer is tarnished with a ‘collective guilt’ (even libertarians now use this communist tactic of the left). If every police officer was doing what every bad cop did, there would be about half a million bodies every year as a result (there would be bodies all over the place, and there is not).
3) The biggest police abuse is the unreasonable amount of traffic ticket quotas and militarized swat teams that exist in small suburban/rural police departments, who some have the tendency of treating working people like criminals. However, in the few times it appeared in the news, that a police union complained about being forced to issue an excessive amount of a traffic ticket quotas, there was not any significant public outrage to stop the practice (as there should have been). Traffic ticket quotas have turned these small local police departments into glorified govt revenue collectors, to which they then use their Swat teams to go after the deadbeats.
[The second biggest problem in policing is the never ending failed drug war, and its resultant tendency to produce excessive police tactics in order to appease public demand to “do something about drugs”].
4) Inner city cops have to deal with real violent crime… and that is an experience for those who never lived around in a high violent crime area do not get. This libertarian/leftist fantasy that the BLM movement is some freedom fighter group looking to protect themselves, because Afro Americans are just victims of oppression, who minding their own business, don’t randomnly hate whitey, and are not in fact killing more of their fellow citizens than all other defined categories of people (including terrorist), is just utter nonsense.
5) Many people alive today, who did not experience the bad old days, do not understand how bad inner city crime rate was in comparison to today… If they want to curtail police powers, so be it (and if crime increases, so be it as well)… but one thing that should apply for everyone (including the police) is one’s absolute right to protect ones own life… by allowing BLM, ACLU, SPLC, and other SJW groups to attack the police officers right to defend his own life, he also allowing a backdoor movement to remove that right for the rest of us as well (yeah, the leftist are really not going to curtail your right of self defense, after he curtails the police right to defend themselves… if you believe that, come to NYC and I will sell you a bridge). Can anyone remember Bernie Goetz, or Trayvon Martin cases… that may be you one day.
6) In inner city policing, there is a frequent demand for the police to do something about crime. Unfortunately what is ignored is the fact that the police is only one aspect of the criminal justice system. What should be demanded instead is that criminal sentencing for violent offenders should be imposed at the same rates as they were prior to the 1960s. This prevents the same violent offender from constantly being turned loose so he can commit Robbery, Rape, Burglary, and Murder again and again (and again). That reduces the need for the police to keep chasing the same criminal, just to return him to the catch and release system again (eventually burning out and having a why bother attitude). This (as well as the elimination of traffic tkt quotas) would reduce the need for the excessive police citizen interactions that exist today.
[the current trend it racial equalization in sentencing where we release Afro Americans who committed violent offenses and incarcerate other races for innocuous victimless offenses, especially on the federal level].
7) Police administrators favor the aggressive ego centric officer more than any other type of personality (even more than those who believe being a police officer is a calling, because ultimately they have a conscious, and will not blindly follow the dictates of the administration if he believes what is demanded is unwarranted). That is because the aggressive ego centric officer will produce high arrest/ticket stats that the administer can use for self promoting political advantage. They will protect the aggressive egocentric officer, including against other cops (who are usually unofficially punished for challenging the aggressive ego centric officer), so he can obtain the fruits of his aggressive police behavior … that is until it goes too far, to which the administrator will then pretend he did not know anything about his rogue behavior, and off load him quickly out of political expedience (with the aggressive ego centric officer themselves naively not realizing that they have been used) .
Thanks