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Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #620)
Drug War Issues

A dope-dealing probation officer, a detective who buddied-up to a dope dealer, and a sticky-fingered small town cop make the roll-call of dishonor this week. Let's get to it:

evidence room cash
In Cranston, Rhode Island, a juvenile probation officer was arrested Tuesday after police said he sold heroin to an undercover officer. Michael Ayer, 49, faces two counts of delivering heroin to a police officer. He went down after the State Police High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force got a tip from an informant last month. He allegedly made repeated heroin sales to the undercover officer, and did so using his state vehicle and his state-issued cell phone. There is no indication Ayer peddled any dope to his probationers.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, a Santa Fe police detective has been recommended for termination after he was caught on an FBI tape promising to provide a gun to a drug dealer "who clearly conveyed his intent to commit murder," according to police documents. Detective Jose Valencia, who headed the police union at the time of the taping, is also accused of providing an undercover narc's description to the drug dealer and making disparaging remarks about fellow officers. Valencia faced a hearing Thursday to revoke his certification as a law enforcement officer in New Mexico. That decision will be made next month.

In Moab, Utah, a former Moab police officer was arrested February 4 for stealing $900 in drug bust proceeds from his own police station. Edward Guerrero, 43, faces burglary and theft charges in the break-in, which occurred last August.

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

Anonymous (not verified)

Recently President Obama's signed Executive Order EO 12425 that the authorizes INTERPOL to act within the United States without being subject to 4th Amendment Search and Seizure laws at most locations. It would appear INTERPOL can tap American phones without a warrant. And U.S. Police can now use INTERPOL to circumvent the Fourth Amendment to arrest Americans and or forfeit their assets by bringing INTERPOL into a criminal or civil investigation.

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 2:50pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

I live in a town where the police have a reputation of abuse, especially women and those of the community with mental health problems. The local public mental health clinic has offered on numerous occasions to give the police training in dealing with their patients and de-escalation techniques in general. But, of course, they say they don't need it.

Unfortunately, I have experienced their brutality firsthand during a traffic stop. They tried and tried to provoke me into some action that would give them cause to arrest me. When I didn't do anything out of order, they arrested me anyway, grabbing me and obviously inflicting as much pain as possible. They left huge black bruises on me and almost dislocated my shoulders.

I would like to bring this to light and hopefully put it to a stop. I would also like to see the department forced to be forced to send it's officers to the training offered by the mental health services. Could you recommend a source that might help me with effective procedures to accomplish this?

Sat, 02/13/2010 - 12:24pm Permalink
mlang52 (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

You might find a sympathetic ear over at this site. Radley Balko has been reporting on police abuse on the Agitator as long as I have been reading it.

Thu, 02/18/2010 - 1:34pm Permalink

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