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Newsbrief:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
10/22/04
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/359/thisweek1.shtml
Transparency International
(http://www.transparency.org)
this week released its annual corruption perception ratings. The
US placed 17th among the least corrupt nations, while Haiti, Nigeria, and
Burma ranked among the most corrupt. But the Americans' poor placing
in corruption is not for lack of trying, as this week's entries in the
corrupt cops sweepstakes demonstrate:
-
In Doraville, Georgia, a former
police chief has been charged with theft and violating his office.
Former Chief Ron Davis, who resigned in 2002, is accused of taking money
from drug busts and using it to buy hunting equipment for himself and his
buddies, the Associated Press reported Monday. Also indicted was
his former assistant chief, Cliff Edwards, who died earlier this year.
Edwards reportedly is not overly concerned, but Davis is facing up to 15
years in state prison.
-
In Chicago, the DEA has busted
two customs and border protection officers and 16 others as part of a drug
ring that smuggling millions in drugs from Mexico to US cities, the Associated
Press reported Monday. Customs agents Jaime Garcia, 27, and Alma
Teran, 28, were arrested at Chicago's Midway Airport, where they worked.
According to law enforcement officials, the pair used law enforcement databases
to see if agents were investigating members of the smuggling ring, including
themselves. They face 10 years to life in prison if convicted.
-
In Los Angeles, the Rampart
scandal continues to reverberate. According to the Los Angeles Times,
a former LAPD officer already serving 15 years on drug trafficking and
gun charges has admitted that he and other officers went on a robbery spree
that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars between 198 and 2001.
Ruben Palomares, 34, and his gang of blue-clad goons robbed cash, drugs,
guns, and other items in robberies that were staged to look like police
raids and sometimes turned violent, Palomares admitted in documents submitted
as part of a plea bargain. Palomares and crew dressed in police uniforms,
drove police cars, and flashed their badged during the robberies, he said.
They shot at least two men with stun guns, beat another man with a billy
club, and tortured yet another man by burning him with a cigarette lighter
and sticking a gun in his mouth. The robberies netted at least 700
pounds of marijuana and 100 pounds of cocaine, according to the court documents.
The robbery crew included at least five LAPD officers, Palomares said.
His attorney told the Times Palomares had become a born again Christian
and is trying to make amends for his misdeeds, but under the plea agreement,
Palomares can win sentence reductions only if he snitches out his fellow
thieves.
-- END --
|
Issue #359, 10/22/04
Editorial: Twenty Years? |
California Initiative to Rein-In Three-Strikes Law Appears Headed for Victory |
English Drug Reformers Map Route to Post-Prohibition Drug Policy |
In California Senate Race, Judge Jim Gray Gets No Respect from Media, Polls, or Debates, Despite Strong Showing |
DRCNet Book Review: "15 To Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom," by Tony Papa with Jennifer Wynn Feral House Press, $22.95 HB) |
A Message from the Executive Director on What DRCNet is Planning After Election Day and Why We Need Your Help |
Newsbrief: Kerry Says Feds Should Butt Out of Oregon Laws |
Newsbrief: Alaska Marijuana Initiative Backers Sue Lieutenant Governor Over Election Pamphlet |
Newsbrief: Bush, Kerry, Nader Respond to HEA Query |
Newsbrief: African-American Professional Groups Form Coalition to Change Drug Policies |
Newsbrief: Federal Judge Rules Cops Can Lie on the Stand |
Newsbrief: End of Opium Cultivation Spells Looming Disaster for Burmese Peasants |
Newsbrief: Three Dead in Peru Coca Confrontation -- Cocaleros Occupy Buildings in Provincial City |
Newsbrief: Dutch Medical Marijuana Program Runs Up Against Law of the Market |
Newsbrief: Actress's Marijuana Bust Challenge Causing Waves in South Korea |
Newsbrief: Canadian Government to Reintroduce Marijuana Reform Bill, But Adds Driver Drug Testing, Too |
Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories |
This Week in History |
The DARE Generation Returns to DC: Students for Sensible Drug Policy 2004 National Conference Next Month |
Apply Now to Intern at DRCNet! |
Administrative Assistant: Part-Time Job Opportunity at DRCNet |
The Reformer's Calendar
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