“Police lie. It’s part of their job.”

[Police Moderator]

Meet Officer Michael Reichert: Professional Liar, Pride of the Collinsville PD
Friday, March 16, 2012

“Cops lie. Most of them lie a couple of times per shift, at least.”

This assessment was offered not by an embittered critic of the police, but by Norm Stamper, former Chief of the Seattle Police Department,in his 2005 memoir Breaking Rank (page 129, to be precise). Stamper supports the use of tactical dishonesty in dealing with certain kinds of violent suspects, but he has no tolerance for the casual mendacity that is ubiquitous in the profession of law enforcement.

Police consultant and former prosecutor Val Van Brocklin offers a similarly blunt perspective. “Police lie. It’s part of their job,” she wrote Val Van Brocklin in an essay entitled “Training Cops to Lie,” which was published in the November 16, 2009 edition of the online journal Officer.com.

Habitual lying cost Officer Michael Reichert of the Collinsville, Illinois Police Department his job nearly a decade ago. With the help of the police union, he was able to get it back -- at which point he resumed his career of officially sanctioned perjury. In January 2011, Reichert, who is now assigned to K-9 patrol, was one of four Collinsville officers given the “Chief’s Award of Merit” for performance “exceptional in nature or above and beyond normal performance.”

Read more: Pro Libertate

[professorx]

There are differences between a lie, a ruse and perjury.

Of course the author of this blog blurs the distinction.

Here is my favorite quote:

"Once the pretext stop was made, Reichert claimed that Zambrana and his passenger appeared “nervous” – which is an entirely understandable reaction to the presence of an armed stranger who considers himself entitled to kill you at his discretion."


Its hard to take these loonies seriously.

[Alex Teach]

LOTS of societies have sent sheep to catch the wolves.

The records were eaten and otherwise destroyed, but we hear they existed. It's how the Romans and the Ottoman's and the ... wait a minute, they all ended abruptly and in chaos.

Let me get back to you.

[professorx]

Mar 20, 2012 23:36:40 GMT -5 Alex Teach said:

LOTS of societies have sent sheep to catch the wolves.

The records were eaten and otherwise destroyed, but we hear they existed. It's how the Romans and the Ottoman's and the ... wait a minute, they all ended abruptly and in chaos.

Let me get back to you.

You left me hanging, I am waiting for the inevitable Training Day quote that generally follows a "wolves and sheep" analogy to law enforcement.