"That's What Real Policemen Do; They Stand Up for Each Other"

Thus spake, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a city cop who joined other police officers and DEA agents in a packed federal courtroom last week. All those badges flashed in support of Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Lee Lucas who is facing an 18-count indictment. The 19-year veteran stands accused of perjury, making false statements in internal reports, obstruction of justice, and civil rights violations. (The day after the federal agent was fired veteran Richland County Sheriff's Deputy Charles Metcalf copped in U.S. District Court to a civil rights violation stemming from his work with Lucas.)

The alleged facts (Lucas has pleaded not guilty) are all too familiar: a narcotics agent recruits an informant but fails to monitor the man's activities or verify his statements. When the narc learns of his snitch's make-believe cases, he conceals evidence, makes false statements to his superiors, lies on the stand, and sends guiltless people to prison. Can you say "Tulia, Texas"?

Of all the shameful deeds alleged, let's focus on one pivotal in this and so many other police scandals, namely lying. Not the "Why, yes those cargo pants are flattering" kind of lie but the kind that results in innocent people living life behind bars.

Early in my career I worked for a police chief who was fond of saying, "The thing I love about cops? They know the difference between right and wrong. They tell the truth." I worked with such police officers; those who mixed competence with their honesty were justly treasured by their communities. But I also fired or had a hand in firing many cops whose loyalty was to something other than truth.

At bottom, there are two explanations for cops who lie. The first is that the institution hires liars. We could waste a lot of time on this one. Or we could, as I'm happy to do, concede the point: Despite advances in the hiring process--smarter psychological testing, more rigorous background investigations--a certain percentage of characterologically untruthful candidates do winnow their way through the screening protocols. This happens most often when law enforcement agencies are on a hiring binge. In a push to get cops out on the street, they sacrifice quality for speed, compromise standards, and hire people who should never don a police uniform. The lesson here is constant diligence, and a willingness to let a position to go vacant rather than fill it with a prevaricator (or worse).

But the second and far more useful explanation is systemic. Cops lie for reasons embedded in the history, structure, and culture of the institution itself. A critical part of that system is the laws police officers are called upon to enforce, none more relevant to this discussion than the nation's drug statutes.

Since the 1930s but with ever-growing vigor from 1971 to this moment, America's police officers have been conditioned to believe that anyone who's ever taken illicit drugs, contemplated same, or trafficked in them is The Enemy. The constitution aside, why would cops fret over legal niceties or democratic rules of engagement when working behind enemy lines? The very nature of an undercover narcotics assignment dictates duplicity.

But too many drug cops wind up lying to their bosses. They fudge or manufacture facts in their official reports. They perjure themselves on the stand. (Too many, for that matter, wind up planting, stealing, using, and/or selling drugs.)

The facile response is to scold/fire/prosecute these wayward individuals and (rarely) their too-trusting--or complicit--bosses, and let it go at that. Nothing wrong with holding people accountable, nothing right about not doing so. It's a must. But it begs the tougher question. When will we learn that drug prohibition is a huge part of the problem of police corruption?

There is a long list of justifications for ending not merely the rhetoric but the reality of America's holy war on its drug consumers. But one of those reasons is that it would eliminate the all-too-common cheating, stealing, and lying that goes on in the name of drug enforcement.

Ending drug prohibition will not halt the spectacle of cops lining up to defend the indefensible. But it will make for a healthier, safer society, and it will reduce the temptation for a law enforcer to lie his or her way to drug warrior fame.

Comments

[DamaskinosLives]

Some of the comments here seem a bit harsh toward the police.

What seems so strange for a society like ours is all the people arrested for victimless crimes while extremely serious crimes - like gang stalkers poisoning people , which qualifies as a crime against humanity is ignored. Even worse, the bad cops affiliated with the gang stalkers never lose their jobs.

It would be good if the good cops dumped the bad cops and the real criminals were incarcerated for a change.
.

[Adartist777]

"I hate cops!"

"Yeah, me too...me too..."

"Ya know what I'm gonna do?"

"No, what are ya goin' to do?"

"I'm goin' to turn in my badge and burn my uniform!"

"Yeah, me too!"

- The Firesign Theater

[Mike Armstrong]

Our bad laws cause us to select bad cops. People who reach for their guns when their neighbor smokes a different color plant than they do are morally inferior. No enlightened person would agree to enforce our evil, racist in origin laws.

See chapter five of The Economics of Prohibition.
http://mises.org/books/prohibition.pdf

[lungfish]

Here on the Big Island, voters approved possession of marijuana up to 1.5lbs per adult and 24plants in the ground. The local police chief, an elected official, declared the next day, "If you are pro drugs or pro marijuana, you are automatically pro terrorist." He then declared that regardless of the community law tthat they would work with the DEA to arrest anyone growing or using marijuana..... He declared that the medical laws were are farce and that everyone with a medical card was "out of compliance" with the medical ordinance. He is an elected official.



ever watch the show "DEA"?

Watch them inflate the value of their "work", a basement weed grow is woth "100 thousand a plant" or "they were making several million dollars a year" (in a 20 by 20 ft space)... an agent pulls two ounces out of a paper sack and declares it was a pound.... If they lie in their paperwork like they lie to us on television then its clear that we are not only wasting our tax money, they are losing their "war".

The main reason these goobers lie is to remain paid members of the "drug war economy".... It generates jobs and is billed as necessary to keep us "safe". Pure nonsense but most of these guys aren't hired because they are intelligent or thinkers, they are just like dogs. . Anyone who grows it must be a terroriist. As long as there is a paycheck in the food dish....

[GreatNews27]

Drugs will never be legalized. Too many police officers, politicians, bussinessmen, and corporations making too much money from the illegal trade. Remember, in America, you do not exist unless you are rich. Aint' capitalism great??

[jsgaetano]

If we legalize drugs, it would instantly de-fund criminals all over the world.

What are they going to do when Pfizer is eating their lunch?

[humanbeinghuman]

i am always struck by how militaristic the police look. to me they don't come across as "helpers" but as "enforcers".
note- my father was a policeman and a good and decent man.

[RandVictims]

I knew cops for years when I was young. Cops I knew in my suburban town were decent, average guys with a job to "protect and serve" though there was an interaction in the fabric and not the thoughtless, soul-less "us against them" militarism they display today. For the cops I knew decades ago, it seemed they respected and trusted people unless they had a reason not to. And the crime statistics for my state/city in the early 70s were far worse than today, by the way.

From what I can see now, Police are suspicious of everyone around them, almost paranoid at times. It seems like they view all of us as murderers or thieves waiting for a chance to strike.

On top of that, we have all these ridiculous, though lucrative, seatbelt laws and prohibition stings setup to look for anyone who took more than two swigs of beer. This is merely Constitutionally illegal revenue generation (though the Constitutionality of these enforcement practices is taboo from open discussion). The best, kindest, honest people I know are targets once they leave their homes. The "criminal" line drawn is too thin to follow for almost anyone.

Because of this, I now look at cops with suspicion in the same way they look at me. I wish I didn't feel that way.

[confidance government]

The laws against Demon Liquor are for your own protection regardless of how nonsensical they are.

I could understand a drunk driving fine that was graded according to the level of intoxication. But an all or nothing, "you are drunk or sober" defies logic.

[RandVictims]

There are far too many thousand victimless crime laws on the books and the odds that any person can walk that razor-thin line for an extended period of time are slim to none, especially when it comes to human vices.

Anti-drug laws, so-called "drunk driving" laws - just a few of the reflexive, unrealistic prohibition-centric problems in this country's law enforcement system and if the cops aren't going to have success enforcing over the masses by "Do as I say, not as I do!", - then you have this conundrum.

We have a drug prohibition lobby, an alcohol prohibition lobby and a Prison Industrial Complex that share the corporate media propaganda bully-pulpit and equal control over politicians - local and national. "Tough on Crime" = "Invent new Crimes to Enforce" and there is no sign of review of this national policy or even moderation. We don't have honest dialogue, we have skewed statistics and all out lies determining what are criminal laws.

As with most of the dire issues this country faces, change will only happen radically.

[IntellectuallyHonest]

This is a cop who's telling the truth. Now, it's the job of the protesters and agitators to see to it that there is change. Or maybe this cop could lead the march.

Cops do not particularly like demonstrations, and the cops' superiors hate them even more. I can tell you that if there were more demonstrations (say, a 500,000 strong rally on the Mall in Washington, DC for universal health care, something every cop gets), the people would have what they want.

Someone told me be careful what you wish for, and while it may not even be in my interest to advocate the things that I get as a retiree and had as a law enforcement officer for everyone, ultimately, I don't want to see my country split apart with a horrible chasm between the haves and have nots. Folks, if there was someone out there that could organize a massive rally or series of rallies in this country, but especially in Washington, I would go. I have participated in several demonstrations while a college student and afterwards. People would find time to demonstrate for these things.

I guess maybe demonstration became a dirty word after the mayhem of the 1960's and the decisive victory of Desert Storm, after which practically all the red-blooded men in the U.S. wanted a flat-top. We could have what we wanted if we demonstrated en masse on the National Mall for an End to Prohibition, universal health care, etc.

[eltone]

"DRUG PROHIBITION IS A LARGE PART OF POLICE CORRUPTION." Thank you for having the courage to point this out. As an observer, the police of New York City view large drug busts as financial opportunities. When they confiscate ten kilos of cocaine/ heroin and 3.5 million in cash, half that show's up as evidence. There was an old Bodega corner of 125th and Lexington Ave in NYC. Outside it looked normal. Inside it is one small room with black tinted, floor to cieling bullet proof glass. With one slot where you put your money and a chute where your marijuana is despensed. Out side is one of New York's finest to protect the store. I knew a captain on the NYC Police Force who sent three children through private schools in Manhattan from K-12. Two went on through college, one became a doctor. You can't do that on just a captain's salary. This man was one of the nicest people you would ever meet. Its just that back then, '60's-'80's, that was SOP. The money was illegal black market, non traceable and dirty. The police would use these situations to make money. It would be very hard to resist. I suppose that is why there is so much police corruption, after all police are humans too, aren't they? Well at least we know those who use/abuse drugs are for that is strictley "Human Behavior."

[TotalRecall9]

Legalize drugs?!? That's your solution for lying cops?!? The problem starts by hiring immature people for a power position over the general public! Depending on the state, the minimum age to be a cop is 18, 20, or 21. And these immature a-holes start their lying as patrol officers testifying in court over traffic violations! And judges are just as bad by giving the benefit of the doubt on the side of the police.

IMO, all cops should have a college degree and be at least 23 yrs old. That way they have more than just high school as a reference of the real world. Maybe they should know what it's like being in the mid-20s with a sh*tty job before they have authority over people.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Cops should be fired if they commit adultery. Over half of all cops get a divorce because they are cheating on their spouse. Talk about mistrusting someone in authority. If their own spouse can't trust them, how can the public trust them?!?

[emlr]

Cops are also some of the worst spousal abusers there are. I have seen it many times.
They can't get off the power trip once they get home.

[ProudLiberalDemocrat]

And drunk drivers too.

[RandVictims]

There are corrupt cops out there????

Ya don't say!

[Adartist777]

Aren't prospective policemen given IQ tests before hiring? And if they score a high IQ then they are turned down for the job? Is it also true that many cops were bullies in the schoolyard?

I've seen many changes over the years in our police. It appears that many of them are skinheads and steroid users.

In reading the article, I found it hard to believe that "good cops" would defend or reinforce "bad cops". That would mean that there are no good cops.

[Adartist777]

As a sidebar, I'm curious. Why do our police go looking for trouble when police in other nations wait for trouble to come to them? This is true for traffic stops, breaking down doors into innocent people's homes, etc. Also to mention that many communities have to pay out millions of dollars in lawsuits because of their police force's unconstitutional activities?

[quiviran]

Perhaps the war on drugs has a corrupting effect because it is a corrupt idea. I'm not a drug user or seller, so I only know what I read and see on television. Many of the folks who are on drugs seem to have such crappy lives that they need chemically-aided escape. But you never know if they started with a nominally OK life and were just looking for a better party or started out hopeless and were just looking for respite. One meth addicts story started out as a search for the American dream. He took drugs so he could stay awake to work longer hours to get money for the life he wanted, which was pretty moderate by most standards.

The corrupt idea is that you solve problems by beating people down for engaging in behavior that is only self-destructive if you remove the beat down process. Drugs are expensive because they are illegal.

A much smarter approach would be for people to have access to the help they need to turn their lives to a better place, medical care, decent prospects in the first place, the possibility of earning a living wage with a 40 hour work week. These do not exist in our society right now. That is the greatest corruption of all.

[LeftRight]

Norm, I never had the chance to vote for you while I was living in Seattle, but I always respected you. In fact, until I moved to Chicagoland, I always respected cops just as guys doing a job, with a few bad apples in the mix.

Lately, however, I see nothing but cops abusing their power, threatening law abiding citizens (myself and my family in particular) and nothing that I can do about it, at least not directly.

I would suggest one other point that might fix the cop problem along with ending the "war" on drugs. Don't have hiring binges followed by hiring freezes! If, for example, a police department needs, on average, ten new cops a year, having a hiring freeze for a decade, followed by one year of hiring a hundred cops is a BAD IDEA!!!