Post by bistro on Jun 23, 2015 8:17:54 GMT -5
Det. Frank Serpico to Det. Joe Crystal: Nothing has changed in police work
May 19, 2015 By Doug Poppa · baltimorepostexaminer.com/det-frank-serpico-to-det-joe-crystal-nothing-has-changed-in-police-work/2015/05/19
Eric Garner did not try to grab an officer’s weapon, nor did he assault any police officer. Walter Scott was running away from and not towards a police officer, with no weapons in his hands. He was not a threat to anyone. Freddie Gray did not try to grab an officer’s weapon, nor did he assault any police officer.
Yet all three of these men died at the hands of the police. I say that Freddie Gray died at the hands of the police because he was in their custody. The police had a legal and ethical responsibility to ensure his safety and well-being; they did not do that.
When I was working in law enforcement I was extremely pro-active. I made hundreds of arrests; some involved combative offenders who fought because they did not want to be arrested. I always used the minimum amount of force that was necessary to affect the arrest. In the late 70s and 80s, PCP, LSD and other hallucinogens was prevalent
I could not count the number of times a spaced-out offender fought while resisting arrest. Police carried wooden batons and later the PR-24 side handle baton. When trying to subdue on unruly person, sometimes we had to resort to the use of the baton.
The PR-24 was used effectively by many officers, to include strikes to the arm and hand of a knife-wielding suspect. My point is that in all those incidents, and then hundreds of drug search warrants and arrests, I never once had to fire my weapon, although I was always prepared to do so if I needed to. Nobody ever died as a result of any arrest I was involved in.
Today there seems to be a lack of accountability and very little oversight on police departments. Police generally will say that they police themselves and do a pretty good job. That simply is just not true. There are bad cops and good cops, but how many truly honorable cops are out there? Honor and integrity are mottos of most police departments across the country. But are they just words used to express the wishful thinking of police departments? Police who see injustice, brutality and misconduct by fellow officers and take no action to stop it; in effect they condone it by their silence. Where is the honor and integrity in that? <more at the link>
May 19, 2015 By Doug Poppa · baltimorepostexaminer.com/det-frank-serpico-to-det-joe-crystal-nothing-has-changed-in-police-work/2015/05/19
Eric Garner did not try to grab an officer’s weapon, nor did he assault any police officer. Walter Scott was running away from and not towards a police officer, with no weapons in his hands. He was not a threat to anyone. Freddie Gray did not try to grab an officer’s weapon, nor did he assault any police officer.
Yet all three of these men died at the hands of the police. I say that Freddie Gray died at the hands of the police because he was in their custody. The police had a legal and ethical responsibility to ensure his safety and well-being; they did not do that.
When I was working in law enforcement I was extremely pro-active. I made hundreds of arrests; some involved combative offenders who fought because they did not want to be arrested. I always used the minimum amount of force that was necessary to affect the arrest. In the late 70s and 80s, PCP, LSD and other hallucinogens was prevalent
I could not count the number of times a spaced-out offender fought while resisting arrest. Police carried wooden batons and later the PR-24 side handle baton. When trying to subdue on unruly person, sometimes we had to resort to the use of the baton.
The PR-24 was used effectively by many officers, to include strikes to the arm and hand of a knife-wielding suspect. My point is that in all those incidents, and then hundreds of drug search warrants and arrests, I never once had to fire my weapon, although I was always prepared to do so if I needed to. Nobody ever died as a result of any arrest I was involved in.
Today there seems to be a lack of accountability and very little oversight on police departments. Police generally will say that they police themselves and do a pretty good job. That simply is just not true. There are bad cops and good cops, but how many truly honorable cops are out there? Honor and integrity are mottos of most police departments across the country. But are they just words used to express the wishful thinking of police departments? Police who see injustice, brutality and misconduct by fellow officers and take no action to stop it; in effect they condone it by their silence. Where is the honor and integrity in that? <more at the link>