Militarisation of law enforcement - Overkill in America's domestic wars on everything

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I agree, except that there has not been a rational explanation, unless you buy into the notion that her 80.00 in a Barbie wallet is some kind of evidence, as why they took it. Being a dad, if I was on the jury there is a good chance I would laugh out loud at a DA who would present it as "some kind of evidence." But one never knows for certain....

 

I don't think there's been a rational explanation for any of them, Chandos. I (personally) suspect that it's just because I don't openly condemn that one. We disagree on them, so we keep talking about them.

As for holding a witness to a crime against their will, isn't that called a material witness warrant? Isn't that a recognized legal process of the police?

 

Ohhh, I didn’t realize that you were after a rational explanation for this. Why didn’t you just say so?? I think I have it.

You see, as a nation we have this disgusting federal deficit. Our politicians are looking for creative ways to address said deficit, and I’m pretty sure there is a line item in their plan that deals with confiscating money from any and all Barbie wallets during drug raids. This is just standard operating procedure, and nothing to get worked up over.

I’m glad that I could provide a bit of clarity. I can honestly say that I feel better knowing that we are just that much closer to filling that 13 trillion dollar deficit (or whatever it’s now up to). Keep up the good work law enforcement team!

 

Actually, by "holding" I meant "jailing."

 

Yes. So did I.

 

I'm no legal expert, so I don't know for sure, but here are some examples of what I'm talking about specifically:

http://www.law.uchicago.edu/node/2092

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/11/us/detroit-police-cast-wide-net-over-homicide-witnesses.html

 

Realizing that I'm no legal expert either, I was talking about this. They may or may not be the same thing, I'm not sure, but a warrant is needed.

 

Can I just offer up something to put a little perspective on the 'War on Drugs' in the U.S of A?

Did you know that undercover narcotics officers are not bound by many of the laws that they are enforcing? They can go out and buy drugs from dealers, possess them, use them, and sell them to individuals. That's right, they can arrest individuals for doing *the very same things that they themselves are doing.* They are also allowed to deny that they are police officers if asked (well, obviously, otherwise they wouldn't be undercover, right?).

Indeed, an undercover police officer can initiate and even push a drug transaction with their victim, and it is almost impossible for the individual who is busted to claim entrapment, because you are guilty until proven innocent if you make such a claim.

So essentially, what America has are secret police who flagrantly break the very laws that they are meant to enforce, all the while putting lives at risk (the heroin they supply is REAL) and fueling their victim's drug habit. How is that fair or consistent with human rights? Why are they above the law?


Also, I've noted that a few people on this thread seem to have brought into the 'War on Drugs' hype, and justify the heavy handed approach of law enforcement on this matter. It's been mentioned that these evil pot dealers/users might have a stash of assault rifles up their ass which they can whip out at a moment's notice.

Can I just dispel this myth right now? Undercover narcotics officers have these individuals under surveillance for MONTHS. They would have a pretty good idea of the character of the victim in question, and whether they are the sort to be 'packing heat'. I don't care what anyone says, there is no excuse for SWAT to smash through the window on bungee cords to arrest a housewife using and selling oxycodone while her kids are home (which is what happened to a 'friend of a friend'). It would have been safer for all concerned, and also easier on her kids, if they had intercepted her in the street and organised care for her children.

But they didn't. This tells me that narcotics officers are little more than bullies. Their actions are punitive. They hit their victims when they are at their weakest and most likely to make a mistake/respond in anger (ergo. defend themselves against blackshirts): When they are at home in bed, and while their kids and dogs are sleeping in the next room.

 

Not to mention that for parents a drug charge has consequences for their custody rights. Or worse.

For instance I find the charge in this case scarily out of synch with reality: Parents accused of child abuse for growing pot in home. As if it wasn't enough to charge them with growing pot - the child abuse charge will allow to increase the time in jail for a year or two.

~*~​

Speaking of the drug war, there was this case about former drug cop turned cup-buster and legalisation activist Barry Cooper: An anonymous letter led Williamson County cops to a set up by Cooper, who then filmed them braking the law. That wouldn't go unpunished, so Cooper and his wife (not totally unreasonably) were charged with having written the anonymous letter i.e False Report to a Peace Officer. IMO it would have been wiser to have let the thing rest. Anyway:

Recently, after he himself got arrested by local police, his wife was arrested on the same charge - False Report to a Peace Officer - by Chuck Norris, no, kidding, the Texas Rangers ...

False Report to a Peace Officer is a class B misdemeanor; penalties can include a fine up to $1,000, or imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both). For that, the Texas Rangers, and not, say, the local cops. And it sure seems like somewhat out of their mission to attend to something like that - False Report to a Peace Officer. It's like sending the Navy Seals after protesters armed with sticks, err, no, we had something that not long ago. Anyway, as it is now: Barry Cooper himself is 'still at large'. For a Class B misdemeanor - False Report to a Peace Officer.

Anyway, it translates as: Fair, shmair, someone doesn't like what Barry does and is about to get his hide into jail and is likely to succeed, and has brought out the big guns to achieve that. In a word, overkill. More on the story at True/Slant.