Police abuse encouraged by higher-up thugs Share This:





The first item: A headline from the Huffington Post



This week, Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas indicted Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley for the third time. They also indicted Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. Both Stapley (R) and Wilcox (D) have been vocal opponents of Arpaio's hardline immigration enforcement policies. Stapley has been charged with fraud, theft, perjury, forgery, and false swearing. Wilcox has been charged with conflict of interest, perjury, forgery, and false swearing. The merit of the charges, though, are lost on a public who is becoming increasingly cynical of the persecution of political foes in Maricopa County...Last week, Thomas and Arpaio alleged in a RICO (racketeering) suit that Stapley, Wilcox, Judge Gary Donahoe, Judge Barbara Mundell, another judge, attorney Tom Irvine, and attorney Ed Novak have engaged in "a pattern of using their offices to benefit themselves" and have conspired to hinder the investigation and block the prosecution of conflicts of interest related to a new $347 million court tower. Then on Wednesday, after Judge Donahoe refused to recuse himself and just hours before Donahoe was set to hear a case that could have resulted in Thomas being barred from prosecuting county officials (i.e., Stapley and Wilcox), Thomas and Arpaio filed criminal charges against Donahoe for bribery, obstructing a criminal investigation, and hindering prosecution. Though Thomas indicted Judge Donahoe for bribery (among other things), Thomas concedes that no money has changed hands.



In short, it is an all-out war for power among the corrupt elite and the mask of "serving the public" has slipped away to reveal the grotesque self-serving monster beneath. I vividly remember Thomas' office ruining the life of a teenager who was convicted of being a sex offender because he showed a Playboy to a fellow-student who was also 'under-age.' Nothing but national media made him pause. At that point, he handed the 3-year prosecution over to a bootlicking flunky (rumored to lick other things) who publicly eviscerated the teenager when it was no longer possible or prudent to prosecute.



The second item: A headline in the (12/16) Portland Mercury reads



Angela DeCorte signed an agreement...to â€œhold harmlessâ€ the Gresham officerâ€”essentially, agreeing not to pursue legal action. In exchange, the District Attorneyâ€™s office agreed to drop charges of resisting arrest, theft of services, and interfering with a peace officer against DeCorte. Officers from Portland and Milwaukie were also involved in the incident on the platform.



BTW, the charges are standard double-speak for when a person has committed no real crime but the police want to arrest him/her anyway. If you so much as ask for directions of a cop or accidentally step in front of him, he can (in principle) arrest you for interfering with a police officer in the line of duty. If you then say "but I didn't do anything," he can add on "resisting arrest." The amount of time he has 'wasted' in arresting you is the amount of the "theft of service" you've committed. These become bargaining chips with which DAs and others threaten innocent people into relinquishing their right to sue or other protest police abuse. By design, this leaves the police with zero accountability. With such institutionalized incentives toward abuse, no wonder the cops have become jackbooted thugs who are far worse than common criminals. Moreover, if they respond this way to a trivial infraction committed by a mother with child, how do you think they will treat someone with a serious objection? That's how unarmed and innocent people get beaten to death by cops.



Details on DeCorte's situation are difficult to come by undoubtedly because silence is in the interests of both sides. The dearth of info has led to some people claimed that commentators who sympathize with DeCorte side are being biased and proceeding on inadequate information. For me...the actions of the DAs office is proof enough. The plea deal offered reflects one of two things: there was no case against her; or, there was a case/a lawsuit solidly against the cop. As one commentator declared, "Open your eyes: If simply threatening to sue when you got arrested was a way to get the charges dropped, then every crook in town would do it!"



Equally, to anyone who believes that police brutality comes from a few bad apples about whom the higher-ups are ignorant, I declare, Open your eyes! Police abuse has been institutionalized and protected by the higher-ups who probably care less about your rights and safety than does the cop-on-the-beatâ€¦you know, the one who will brutalize you for asking a question. Back to category overview Back to news overview Older News Newer News



Printer Friendly Wendy McElroy - Friday 18 December 2009 - 17:56:18 - Permalink Two news items involving police misconduct came onto my radar this morning. Or, rather, I stumbled over a dozen or so but paused on the following two because they touch on another common objection I hear to my continuing and harsh criticism of cops. Yesterday I rebutted the objection, "What of the good cops that you don't discuss!?" Today I address the notion that higher-ups don't know about the transgressions of cops-in-the-field who would be reined in if they did. I believe the contrary is true. I think the average cop has become dramatically more brutal, corrupt and otherwise abusive because the higher-ups are on the same trajectory and refuse to hold anyone in the legal system accountable for 'bad acts.' After all, that's the same system in which they are committing their own 'bad acts.'The first item: A headline from the Huffington Post "Sheriff Arpaio Indicts Political Opponents While Feds Investigate Arpaio" for an article in which commentator Dawn Teo explains what's happening behind-the-scenes in Maricopa County, Arizona vis-a-vis the sheriff's department, the DAs Office, and City Council. It is difficult for me decide whether the sadistic and totalitarian Arpaio is more despicable than DA Thomas...nor could I choose which one is responsible for the suffering of more innocent people at the hands of law enforcement. (Maricopa includes Phoenix and is the 5th largest county in America.) The Arpaio referred to is Sheriff Arpaio (the darling of FOX News for his 'get tough' attitude) who is under federal investigation for corruption. Arpaio and the equally despicable DA Thomas are responsible for the terrible suffering of many innocent people at the hands of law enforcement. Excerpt from Teo...In short, it is an all-out war for power among the corrupt elite and the mask of "serving the public" has slipped away to reveal the grotesque self-serving monster beneath. I vividly remember Thomas' office ruining the life of a teenager who was convicted of being a sex offender because he showed a Playboy to a fellow-student who was also 'under-age.' Nothing but national media made him pause. At that point, he handed the 3-year prosecution over to a bootlicking flunky (rumored to lick other things) who publicly eviscerated the teenager when it was no longer possible or prudent to prosecute.The second item: A headline in the (12/16) Portland Mercury reads "DA to Defendant: Donâ€™t Sue Cops, We Wonâ€™t Prosecute." In essence, a woman agreed not to sue for being arrested by brutalized in front of her young daughter for the crime of asking a cop in a subway station why he was tasering a man in custody who was screaming in pain. The police also threatened to remove custody of the woman's child because (apparently) questioning the police made her an unfit mother.BTW, the charges are standard double-speak for when a person has committed no real crime but the police want to arrest him/her anyway. If you so much as ask for directions of a cop or accidentally step in front of him, he can (in principle) arrest you for interfering with a police officer in the line of duty. If you then say "but I didn't do anything," he can add on "resisting arrest." The amount of time he has 'wasted' in arresting you is the amount of the "theft of service" you've committed. These become bargaining chips with which DAs and others threaten innocent people into relinquishing their right to sue or other protest police abuse., this leaves the police with zero accountability. With such institutionalized incentives toward abuse, no wonder the cops have become jackbooted thugs who are far worse than common criminals. Moreover, if they respond this way to a trivial infraction committed by a mother with child, how do you think they will treat someone with a serious objection? That's how unarmed and innocent people get beaten to death by cops.Details on DeCorte's situation are difficult to come by undoubtedly because silence is in the interests of both sides. The dearth of info has led to some people claimed that commentators who sympathize with DeCorte side are being biased and proceeding on inadequate information. For me...the actions of the DAs office is proof enough. The plea deal offered reflects one of two things: there was no case against her; or, there was a case/a lawsuit solidly against the cop. As one commentator declared, "Open your eyes: If simply threatening to sue when you got arrested was a way to get the charges dropped, then every crook in town would do it!"Equally, to anyone who believes that police brutality comes from a few bad apples about whom the higher-ups are ignorant, I declare,Police abuse has been institutionalized and protected by the higher-ups who probably care less about your rights and safety than does the cop-on-the-beatâ€¦you know, the one who will brutalize you for asking a question.