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Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #606)
Drug War Issues

More crooked jail guards, and a trooper who must have had a whopper of a habit. Let's get to it:

If we can't keep drugs out of the prisons, how can we keep them out of the country?
In Newark, New Jersey, a New Jersey state trooper was indicted Tuesday on heroin possession charges. Trooper Jason Hanrahan had been arrested January 15 after he was observed buying heroin from a Newark man, who has also been indicted. Hanrahan was allegedly in possession of "less than a half ounce" of heroin when he was detained. Although Hanrahan was not charged with a drug trafficking or intent or conspiracy charge, a half ounce of heroin is much, much more than the typical personal dose. Since New Jersey law separates heroin possession offenses by weight, and less than half an ounce is the offense for which small-time possessors are charged, Hanrahan could have been popped with only a personal dose or two. Or he could have been popped with nearly a half ounce. If the former, Hanrahan doesn't belong in the corrupt cop crowd -- he's just another user who got caught. Either way he is looking at up to five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, a former Wake County Jail guard was arrested last weekend for selling drugs and providing a weapon to an inmate. Former guard Timothy Bullock, 26, faces six counts each of selling or delivering marijuana, conspiring to sell or deliver marijuana, and possession of marijuana with intent to sell or distribute. He will also face eight counts of providing drugs to an inmate. The offenses allegedly took place in April and May. Bullock quit his job in May. The inmate has also been arrested. Bullock was jailed on a $100,000 secured bond.

In Chattanooga, Tennessee, a Silverdale Detention Center guard was arrested Monday on charges of possessing drugs in a jail and inappropriate contact with inmates. Guard Sifrona Cotton, 31, was arrested by Hamilton County sheriff's deputies. Silverdale is a privately owned prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Rwolf (not verified)

Almost every week Prison Guards are reported "here" bringing illegal-drugs into detention facilities: the Guards don't appear very smart. I read years ago, that some state correctional systems having difficulty finding prison guards, lowered the IQ requirement on applicant' tests. It appears the IQ requirement to be a prison guard, should be at least the average IQ of the inmates they are guarding.

Fri, 10/30/2009 - 1:41pm Permalink
The Prison Gua… (not verified)

I simply do not understand while so many people are hostile to persons making between $8.00 and $15.00 an hour with limited benefits and risking getting beaten to Death on any Given Sunday copping a little graft on the side? Police officers do it, why not prison guards? Let's face it people, life in prison sucks, who wouldn't want a little heroin or pot or alcohol every once in a while? Imagine if it were YOU stuck serving a three year beef with no drugs or fun? Speaking of which I logged onto the guards Facebook page and she ain't half bad-looking, well really in jail who cares anyway? So let me get this straight, She's providing protection, drugs AND sex! Heck yeah where do i sign up for the free bed and cable T.V.? You know about the "weapon thing" come on, who hasn't had the experience where you're about to get gang raped in all holes and then beaten nearly to death because you didn't give up your vanilla pudding treat at dinner time to Jailhouse thugs? Bet you wished you had a caring, thoughtful, horny female guard before you got to the showers huh! When will Americans accept reality, your all criminals in some way just you haven't been caught yet. Go easy on our prison guards, you'll need a nice on too someday.

Fri, 10/30/2009 - 4:44pm Permalink
DP63 (not verified)

In reply to by The Prison Gua… (not verified)

I have no sympathy for prison guards. They are the cogs that run the private prison industry, which has turned "the United States of America" into "the PRISON STATES OF AMERIKKA".

Private prisons lobby politicians for more convicts so they can make money. They then hire prison guards. Therefore, prison guards benefit from other people's misery. Prison guards may risk their lives, but they are also corrupt, sneaking in drugs and weapons to inmates.

A cop is a bully too stupid to be a politician. A prison guard is someone too stupid to be a cop.

Fri, 10/30/2009 - 5:20pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by DP63 (not verified)

your either an f**ing idiot or former inmate either way u r too stupid too be called a human. CCA is a joke, their company is a joke, they don't employee guards they employee day care workers....to pacify inmantes they give coke bucks and candy bars.....screw that...u messed up in society....Im with the Arizona Sheriff....make them wear pink and live outside...u dont deserve TV, movies, hot meals etc. you broke the law END OF STORY

Sun, 11/01/2009 - 6:03pm Permalink
Anonymouse (not verified)

sarah pulled over while driving

Cop: Do you know why I'm standing here mam?
Sarah: Because you got all C's in school?

best line ever!

Fri, 10/30/2009 - 7:27pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

"A cop is a bully too stupid to be a politician. A prison guard is someone too stupid to be a cop."... well said, anonymouse, except you need to realize that the bully cops are themselves too stupid to be cops, & must rely on the trickery they're taught in cop-school (such as, "how to make sure even your drugless little Granny won't pass sobriety tests".
"It appears the IQ requirement to be a prison guard, should be at least the average IQ of the inmates they are guarding." Rwolf, don't you realize that what sets them apart is that cops and jail/prison guards alike were smart enough to become guards before getting busted?

As an "old baby-boomer" I only found out approx. 5 years ago that there are more criminals, in politics & L.E. both, than behind any prison bars in this country. It isn't propaganda or something I learned by "reading someone else's opinion". It came by first-hand experience, after a false arrest that eventually brought out the FACT that the county 911 office (also police dispatch, of course) had a manager who colluded with at least 1 D.A. in falsifying recordings to exclude exculpatory evidence, so they could coerce wrongful guilty pleas and keep from having to pay out for all the false arrests their stupid cops were perpetrating.

I know the system is too rife with protection for cops (as strong as any mafia) to go after them, but with all these "great drug warriors" out there, why isn't somebody focusing in on jail and prison guards? They could make busts to last them a decade if they only put their energies there. Of course, then they'd have prisons full of ex-guards, and where would they find "straight" folk to guard the guards?

Sat, 10/31/2009 - 12:07pm Permalink

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