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Police Corruption

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Wrongful death suit to be filed in fatal police shooting of woman, 92

Location: 
Atlanta, GA
United States
Publication/Source: 
The Telegraph (GA)
URL: 
http://www.macon.com/220/story/32395.html

Futile drug war ignores target: Safety

Location: 
Atlanta, GA
United States
Publication/Source: 
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
URL: 
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tucker/stories/2007/05/01/0502edtuck.html

What Do Cops Think About the Atlanta Indictments?

What do police officers have to say about the indictment of three Atlanta police officers -- two of whom have now pled guilty -- in the murder of Kathryn Johnston? Well, not much.

Officer.com has a thread on this topic, which consists primarily of debate over the facts of the case. There are a few factually incorrect statements, and several corrections, but what you won't find is any substantive discussion of the systemic drug war corruption that made this tragedy inevitable.

The only exception is this comment from the ubiquitous Howard Wooldridge of LEAP:
The 'facts' will probably always remain murky. I blame the Drug War for the entire incident and grandma was simply more collateral damage. This is far f/ the first oops which caused death and won't be the last. Until we become as wise as our grandparents and end this New Prohibition, our profession will continue to suffer, as does the community we protect. Someone tell me one advantage, one good outcome of this policy after we have spent a trillion taxpayer dollars and arrested some 36 million people...Hiway Howie
Sadly, no one even responds to Howard. It is really quite disappointing to find that one of the most shocking revelations of police misconduct in recent years provokes such shallow discussion from law-enforcement officers.

Until police take interest in the numerous lessons to be learned from such tragedies, the list will just continue to grow.
Location: 
United States

Pleas won't end probe of Atlanta police

Location: 
Atlanta, GA
United States
Publication/Source: 
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
URL: 
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/04/27/0427metjohnston.html

2 Plead Guilty In Police Drug Raid Death

Location: 
Atlanta, GA
United States
Publication/Source: 
CBS News
URL: 
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/26/ap/national/main2731851.shtml

Officer Indictments Coming Thurs.

Location: 
Atlanta, GA
United States
Publication/Source: 
WXIA-TV Atlanta
URL: 
http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=96003

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Three police officers and a prison guard arrested, and another prison guard gets sent to prison. Once again, we present the corrosive impact of the drug war on police ethics and morality in all its mundane banality. Let's get to it:

In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the former police chief is charged with leaking word of an impending drug raid. Former Chief Rolf Garcia and his 17-year-old son were arrested April 19 on charges Garcia told his son about a looming raid in February 2006, and his son called four other people to warn them. As a result, two men escaped the residence that was the target of the raid before they could be identified. Garcia told a grand jury that while he never told his son the location of a planned raid, he might have warned him to stay away from a certain area. His son testified that he had provided false information about drug busts in the past to obtain marijuana, but he denied telling anyone about the raid in question. Garcia and his son are charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, while Garcia is also charged with obstruction of justice. A preliminary hearing is set for May 24. [Ed: Whether reformers should be upset about Garcia's actions in this case is another question.]

In Columbus, Georgia, a Columbus police officer has been arrested for cocaine trafficking.
Officer Larry Lightning, a 23-year veteran of the department, was arrested last Friday after a two-year investigation by the Columbus office of the FBI, the Columbus Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Metro Narcotics Task Force. He faces federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, extortion by a public official, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

In Evansville, Indiana, an Evansville police officer will soon face trial for allegedly stealing money from a drug suspect. Officer Gerald Rainey, 33, faces one count of felony theft for allegedly taking $1,000 out of a backpack containing $19,500, which he seized from a cocaine dealing suspect. The accused dealer cried foul, police investigated, and they found the missing $1,000 in Rainey's patrol car. He faces a June 27 court date.

In Garden City, New York, a New York City jail guard was charged with supplying heroin to the Shinnecock Indian Reservation. Gary Morton, 25, surrendered to state police last Friday as part of the roll-up of a drug distribution network on the reservation, which is on the eastern end of Long Island. Morton was one of more than a dozen people arrested. He is charged with second-degree conspiracy. Authorities planned to arrest him at his job at Rikers Island, but he didn't show up for work, instead turning himself in later that day.

In Sacramento, a former prison guard was sentenced to prison for smuggling methamphetamine in to inmates. John Charles Whittle, 47, a 22-year veteran of the California Department of Corrections, pleaded guilty last month. He was busted after internal affairs agents intercepted a package of meth sent to Whittle's home, then raided the residence after he accepted delivery. The former guard at Mule Creek State Prison admitted to receiving more than $5,000 to smuggle drugs into the prison. He will now serve two years himself.

Would Legal Drugs End Cartel Violence in Mexico?

Location: 
Mexico
Publication/Source: 
Mexidata (CA)
URL: 
http://www.mexidata.info/id1325.html

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

More cops arrested, a dispatcher, too, and yet another prison guard goes to prison. Let's get to it:

In Wallace, North Carolina, a Wallace Police officer was arrested April 3 on a raft of drug and robbery charges. Officer David Brown Jr., 31, was charged with conspiring to sell cocaine, conspiring to deliver cocaine, conspiring to sell marijuana, conspiring to deliver marijuana, robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiring to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. The following day, he was also charged with receiving a bribe. Brown was arrested after an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and the Wallace Police Department. At last report, he was jailed on bonds totaling $350,000 at the Duplin County Jail.

In Clarksville, Indiana, a Clarskville police officer was arrested April 3 for peddling morphine pills. Officer Franklin Mikel, 34, got busted after allegedly trying to sell 30 pills to an Indiana State Police undercover officer at a local skating rink. He was last reported to be in jail awaiting arraignment.

In Oglesby, Illinois, a police dispatcher faces charges she tipped off the suspect in a drug raid that police were on the way. Kara Kamin, 22, was fired and charged after a February 22 drug raid came up empty-handed. She faces a May trial date. The case was in the news this week because the man she allegedly helped elude police was arrested on more drug charges in Minnesota.

In Saranac Lake, New York, a state prison guard was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to selling heroin to inmates after he was busted on videotape. Michael Bradish, 43, a guard at the Bare Hill Correctional Facility in Malone, was sentenced to one-to-four years in prison after pleading guilty in February to first degree attempted promotion of prison contraband and fifth degree possession of a controlled substance. Bradish had small packets of heroin mailed to him, then took them into the prison and sold them. He was caught on tape receiving 37 bundles and arrested as he carried the drugs to work the next day.

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A Georgia fire captain gets caught peddling coke, a pair of New Haven narcs lose their jobs, a former Mississippi police chief cops a plea, and a former Ohio cop goes back to prison. Let's get to it:

In Fayette, Georgia, a Fulton County Fire Department captain was arrested March 29 for selling powder cocaine to undercover drug agents. Captain Bruce Bostwick, 56, faces one count of cocaine distribution. He got caught peddling the drug at a north Fulton County gas station.

In New Haven, Connecticut, city police commissioners voted Wednesday to fire narcotics officers arrested last month. Lt. William White, who was head of the narcotics unit, and Detective Justen Kasperzyk were fired on the recommendation of Police Chief Francisco Ortiz. White is charged with stealing $30,000 he thought was drug money, but was actually bait planted by the FBI. Kasperzyk is charged with stealing less than $1,000 in FBI bait money. Since the pair's arrests, New Haven officials disbanded the drug squad and handed over some of its cases to state police.

In Greenville, Mississippi, a former small town police chief pled guilty Monday to two federal drug counts. Former Ripley Police Chief Bert Contely copped a plea to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and distribution of hydrocodone. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Conely resigned as chief after his indictment and arrest in March.

In Youngstown, Ohio, a former Mahoning County Sheriff's Office lieutenant has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of drug possession and three counts of drug trafficking. Michael "Beef" Terlecky, 51, who left the sheriff's office in 1988, has been in trouble before. He served eight months in federal prison for taking bribes from organized crime figures. This time, Terlecky went down for selling more than 200 Oxycontin tablets in a series of buys with undercover officers. The possession charges stemmed from what police found in his home when they raided it as he was being arrested.

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