Bad Apples

What's wrong with law enforcement today? In word...nothing. Law enforcement today has had more pressure put on them today than back in the lawless prohibition era. From January 16, 1920 until February of 1933, the police were severely overwhelmed and out gunned by criminals. From the bootleggers and organized crime figures like Al Capone to the bank robbers and killers like John Dillinger, Charlie "Pretty Boy" Floyd, "Baby Face" Nelson, and Bonnie and Clyde, the police had an incredible amount of pressure to not only to stop the criminals but to keep from becoming their next victims as well. The FBI back them was made up of accountants and attorneys with no law enforcement training what so ever which is why so many of them died while trying to apprehend these individuals. But that was then, this is now. Let's try to figure out why so many people have a problem with law enforcement today and why police are looked more and more upon as criminals.

Most police agencies in this country have to deal with your average "run of the mill crimes". That can range from neighborhood disagreements to homicide. But in a post 9/11 world, they have to be even more diligent in performing their duties and have national security issues to deal with. The population in America has soared in the past ten years while the population of police agencies has pretty much stayed the same. This means more people to protect and also more criminals to deal with. This has made some officers more aggressive towards the general population, some officers not even realizing that they are doing it. Police officers are human just like you and I and they make mistakes and while they are sworn to uphold the law, there are, just like in any other profession, bad apples.

The past few weeks, I have read some very interesting articles about a Montgomery County, Texas Sheriff's detective by the name of Monte Morast and his treatment of a young man that he illegally took to jail and subjected this boy to a terrifying and humiliating ordeal. Its power happy cops like him who make all police officers look bad. This has significant importance to me to me because of the fact that this very same detective was the one who arrested my friend Michael Perry. Now Morast is a real scum bag and if you want to know more, please read Taz's article on him on this website, I'm not going to waste my time on a piece of shit like him. It is stories like his that instill fear into the general public and make the average citizen afraid of the police.

There is another problem the police face and that's the news media. Some of you younger readers may not remember the videotaped beating of Rodney King in 1991 by the Los Angeles Police Department. This was seen around the world and anyone who had seen it was outraged. The videotape shows four officers beating King with their batons and stomping on his head after a high speed chase while King was on the ground, handcuffed and offering no resistance at that point but the police continued to beat him. Four officers were charged in the case and subsequently acquitted sparking off the worst riots in Los Angeles history.

Another point I want to bring up is the television shows we watch also make us wary of the police. There is a show on right now called "The Shield". Now don't get me wrong, I love this show because of the great cast, characters and writing and never miss an episode. But the premise of the show is about a specialized gang strike team that is "on the take" from these gangs and will resort to murder to keep from getting caught. When they interrogate suspects, they use less than legal means to get the information they want like beatings and the threat of death. Now how can you watch a show like that and not think to yourself that this could happen anywhere in the US. The problem is IT DOES!

The following is taken from a online news article about corruption in New Orleans and is by far the worst case scenario of a rogue cop: Former New Orleans Police Officer Len Davis, reportedly known in the Desire housing project as "Robocop," ordered the October 13, 1994 murder of Kim Groves, after he learned she had filed a brutality complaint against him. Federal agents at that point had Davis under surveillance for alleged drug-dealing and recorded Davis ordering the killing, apparently without realizing what they had heard until it was too late. Davis mumbled to himself about the "30" he would be taking care of (the police code for homicide) and, in communicating with the killer, described Groves' standing on the street and demanded he "get that whore!" Afterward, he confirmed the slaying by saying "N.A.T.", police jargon for "necessary action taken. Community activists reported a chilling effect on potential witnesses or victims of brutality considering coming forward to complain following Groves' murder.

These are just some examples of why the American public doesn't trust the police and never will. I don't want to make it sound that I think all law enforcement officials are corrupt for that could not be further from the truth. The majority (and I'm speaking about 99%) of officers in this country get up every day and go out to protect and serve by putting their lives on the line for us. We must be aware that there are going to be bad cops in almost every department whether their fellow officers know about or not. I live in a community that has 5 different police agencies including the New York State Police and the Broome County Sheriffs. I have seen improper behavior by officers in 3 of the 5 department. I have even witnessed assaults by police on innocent bystanders so the police could have more "privacy" with their suspects. There are going to be some who will disagree that most departments have a rogue in it but that's my opinion. It happens in every single profession you can think of and the police are no different. The best advice I can give you is stay on the right side of the law and stay out of their business unless you're asked and you will never have to find which ones are bad and which ones aren't. I have found that if you cooperate with law enforcement and be polite, you won't have any problems. If you choose not to, don't say I didn't warn you about the bad apples!