Police Who Steal From Drug Suspects Are Charged With Theft of "Government" Property
The drug war has a rather tragic tendency to turn police into perps. Our ability to run a weekly feature with the latest news on domestic drug war corruption is just one example of the ubiquity with which law-enforcement becomes complicit in the very activity they are responsible for preventing.
Inevitably, when one hears about a police officer being sentenced to jail time, you simply know that their crimes were drug war-related:
On one occasion, prosecutors said Silva acquiesced while Kasperzyk improperly relocated confiscated narcotics during a drug raid to solidify a case against a suspect. Another time, prosecutors said Kasperzyk stole $1,000 confiscated during a drug raid and later gave $500 to Silva. Silva kept the money and did not report the theft, prosecutors said.Kasperzyk has pleaded guilty to theft of government property and a civil rights conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced in March. [Hartford Courant]
So if police steal during a drug raid, they're charged with robbing the government, not the suspect. It is often literally impossible for a drug suspect to be robbed by police, because their property ceases to belong to them once police start grabbing at it. Whether it ends up in an evidence bag or an officer's pocket, it's all the same to the innocent-until-proven-guilty drug suspect.
Isn't it interesting that the government maintained its ownership of the property here even though the arresting officers turned out to be liars and thieves? Even when police are found guilty of planting and stealing evidence, the government still keeps the fruits of their felonious labor. Anyone presiding over a policy such as this has no business enforcing laws against theft in the first place.
How can government possibly expect moral accountability from agents who are trained to steal on its behalf?
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Comment posted by hippiemommaida on Wed, 01/09/2008 - 1:26pmWhat is the difference between a thief and and a robbery cop?
Not much. They use the same skills. They even tell you, they have to think like the perp.
police
Comment posted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/09/2008 - 1:27pmThere is not an honest one on earth.There never has been one;and there will never be one!
Honest Police
Comment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/10/2008 - 5:20pmI grew up with a guy who dreamed of being a police officer. He got his wish. He was the perfect officer candidate. After only a year on the force he quit; he was extremely horrified at what he saw, and wanted nothing to do with them at all afterwards. That is what happens to all people with honesty and good intentions and caring a lot about people. Our system is not designed for good people like him; they cannot cope. the system has modified into something else/??? That is no longer good for the people in its charge.
cops
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/11/2008 - 1:28pmThe Government has declared war on a large segment of our population, and the police are it's "Army" in this fight. It doesn't much care how it's Army conducts its affairs, it's even allowing them to make a profit on this war by stealing people's posessions and selling them. It's only natural that in this dishonest atmosphere there would be dishonest cops.
I consider it treason for cops to make war on the American people.
.org
The stolen items belong to the goverment
Comment posted by hippiemommaida on Wed, 01/09/2008 - 1:23pmWhy can the goverment own the "illegal" drugs? The goverment is not supposed to be some heavy anvil about to fall on the masses. It is not supposed to be above the law, it should uphold the law.
I have heard of a 215 grower, in Mendo, Cali, who were robbed (general robbers, not cops) and called the cops. They arrested the robbers and returned the pot.
Maybe there is hope.