
In Baltimore, Brazen Officers Took Every Chance to Rob and Cheat - hvo
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/us/baltimore-police-corruption.html
======
olivermarks
Adding to this common problem in larger metropolitan police forces in the US
is their rapid militarization.

Shaking down kids while cruising around in a black and white is one thing.
Being equipped with military gear including armored cars opens up a whole new
level of control issues.

[http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-the-rook-armored-
cater...](http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-the-rook-armored-caterpillar-
vehicle-swat-teams-police-usa-iacp-2017-10)

~~~
jacquesm
> Shaking down kids while cruising around in a black and white is one thing.
> Being equipped with military gear including armored cars opens up a whole
> new level of control issues.

I'm not sure which one of those two does more damage to society in the longer
term. The second obviously has problems but the first chips away at the
foundations and I suspect that long term that one will have far more potential
to do damage.

~~~
ColanR
The big problem is when the police officers that enjoy shaking down kids are
equipped with military gear. That is a scary thought.

------
peterwwillis
The article doesn't mention how Detective Sean Suiter was shot in the head the
day before he was to testify for the grand jury against the task force
officers.

FWIW, this was not news to the residents of Baltimore. They have been talking
about this for over 25 years. Anyone who listened could hear about it. Nobody
really gave a shit.

A friend of mine grew up in East Baltimore. They would sit outside on their
stoop, because the parents didn't want them inside, and there was no place to
play outside other than in the street - no playgrounds, no trees, no parks, no
back yards. Sometimes cops would roll up on their corner, get out, and
question them about what they were doing. "We're sitting." They were told to
empty their pockets. If they had any money on them, the police would
confiscate it and drive off.

Re: "one of the most startling police corruption scandals in a generation" \-
they aren't mentioning how Baltimore City Detention Center was literally
controlled entirely by the Black Guerrilla Mafia for 20 years. 44 employees
and inmates were arrested in a sting operation a few years ago.

Or how the city's police used aerial and other surveillance methods (thanks,
FBI) to tap and track mobile phones without a warrant or court order.

Other recent controversies involve the wrongful death of Freddie Gray,
planting drugs on a suspect _on camera_ , and a US Justice Department report
condemning the BCPD for "violating the constitutional rights of citizens,
using excessive force, and discriminating against African Americans".

~~~
millzlane
>A friend of mine grew up in East Baltimore. They would sit outside on their
stoop, because the parents didn't want them inside, and there was no place to
play outside other than in the street - no playgrounds, no trees, no parks, no
back yards. Sometimes cops would roll up on their corner, get out, and
question them about what they were doing. "We're sitting." They were told to
empty their pockets. If they had any money on them, the police would
confiscate it and drive off.

Same experience I've had. I currently still live here. My zip code has a lower
life expectancy than Yemen,and North Korea.

~~~
somecontext
In case anyone is curious,
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/04/30/balti...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/04/30/baltimores-
poorest-residents-die-20-years-earlier-than-its-richest/) appears to be the
source (or something similar) for the final sentence.

------
southphillyman
Baltimore police were stealing drugs from Baltimore dealers and selling the
stolen drugs to dealers in Philadelphia.

Hard to believe actions like that were taking place in the U.S. Sounds like
something straight out of a Narcos episode.

~~~
patmcc
>>Hard to believe actions like that were taking place in the U.S.

Is it? I'm a Canadian and everything I hear about the US police terrifies me -
SWATing leading to innocent people being killed, unarmed black men being shot,
no-knock warrants, civil forfeiture, the impossibility of convicting police
for just about anything. If the worst thing they were doing was selling drugs
that'd be an improvement as far as I can tell.

~~~
ronilan
I’m a Canadian too. The 49th is just a line in the sand.

Here’s a reminder:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dziekański_Taser_inci...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dziekański_Taser_incident)

~~~
adrianratnapala
In most "oh things are terrible in America" matters, I believe other countries
are about as bad, but have a tamer media. But police misconduct really does
seem to be worse in America. For reasons I don't fully understand.

One part of it is probably guns: even in states with strong gun control, there
are plenty of them in the hands of hoodlums, so voters appreciate the Dirty
Harry approach to dealing with them.

But to me that doesn't quite explain why cops seems to have such semi-formal
impunity (see for example
[http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/01/get...](http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/01/get-
jail-free-cards.html),
[http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/01/pol...](http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/01/police-
union-privileges.html) and
[http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/01/pol...](http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/01/police-
union-privileges-officer-misconduct-systems-thinking.html)).

Of course we can guess various reasons, voters like police, cops stick
together etc, prosecutors and police work together etc. But those things are
true in other countries too.

~~~
Frondo
A lot of it is how the police largely pick on the most vulnerable populations
--poor people, minorities, ex-cons, people with drug problems, whatever.
They're not dumb, they know that if they tried to shake down drug-addled sons
of senators, they'd be fired. So, like all abusers, they pick targets that
can't fight back. And those targets are the ones with the least
political/economics agency, the fewest connections, the least ability to
respond to police brutality, whatever.

And the middle and upper classes--the only voices ever represented in media
(excluding the current endless spate of articles interviewing poor Trump
voters)--of course they not only have no problem with the police, they don't
know anyone who's been shaken down. As a general rule, at least.

So, you look at the predominant voices in the media, and they have no problem
with the corruption of cops, and they don't know anyone who does.

Gosh, even my nominally progressive sister goes into any discussion about
police brutality with an assumption that whoever got shot deserved it. And
she's generally aware of social issues!

The biases are baked in so deep, and so uncomfortable to unpack, it's easier
to just to turn away from it all.

------
bob_theslob646
Why is there not more transparency? It makes zero sense.

What is going to stop something like this occuring again? Officers going to
jail?

~~~
youdontknowtho
Police unions are the only strong unions left in the country.

The conservatives will come for them at some point too...until then you have
places like Philly that, at least used to, have complaints against police be
heard by the union before they are passed on to internal affairs.

Bmore takes the cake, though...just wtf all over and back again.

~~~
SteveNuts
> The conservatives will come for them at some point too...

I really really doubt that. All the conservatives I know love the police and
think they can do no wrong.

~~~
mcny
> I really really doubt that. All the conservatives I know love the police and
> think they can do no wrong.

I hate to agree.

Just an example [https://archive.fo/QjtoQ](https://archive.fo/QjtoQ)

> A Minnesota prosecutor said on Thursday he needs more time to decide whether
> to charge a police officer who fatally shot an Australian woman who called
> 911 for help.

> Minneapolis officer Mohamed Noor shot Justine Ruszczyk Damond on 15 July,
> just minutes after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the
> alley behind her home.

> The 40-year-old life coach was engaged to be married, and her death drew
> international attention. It also cost Minneapolis’ then-police chief her job
> and forced major revisions to the police department’s policy on body
> cameras. Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman had promised a decision by
> the end of the year. But on Thursday he said his office was “getting more
> information and evidence, and additional investigation must be completed”.

You'd think that all the "conservatives" would demand that the shooter be
hanged, quartered, and drawn. At least, there is a silver lining in this case
that the new police chief knows that the public will not tolerate something
like this.

~~~
duck
The only problem with this reasoning is Minnesota is one of the most liberal
states in the Union.

~~~
gautamnarula
What are you basing that off of? Trump barely lost Minnesota in 2016 (46.9
Clinton to 45.4 Trump), and it's a swing state in virtually every national
election.

~~~
duck
Half my family is from there so partly anodically, but these seem to back it
up:

* [http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/221721-how-r...](http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/221721-how-red-or-blue-is-your-state)

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Minnesota](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Minnesota)

"Minnesotans have voted for Democratic presidential candidates ever since
1976, more times consecutively than any other state outside of the south, and
longer than any state."

~~~
2trill2spill
> Half my family is from there so partly anodically, but these seem to back it
> up.

Your family must live in the Twin Cities metro because Minnesota gets real
conservative real quick outside of Minneapolis, St Paul and the inner Suburbs.

~~~
duck
Nope, farm country. And as with all things political, it is way more complex
and not so binary, but that said, the whole point of this thread is around the
Twin Cities and who they've elected... so I agree.

------
joering2
_The fallout from the gun task force scandal has been substantial. Baltimore
state’s attorney has dropped at least 125 criminal cases related to the task
force and continues to investigate others. The public defender’s office
estimates that the number of tainted cases is likely closer to 3,000._

~~~
nyolfen
really just incredible. how do you reform something so broken? a clean sweep?
bring in the feds?

~~~
jdavis703
Camden shut down it's police department, and last year had the lowest murder
rate in decades:
[http://www.nj.com/camden/index.ssf/2018/01/camdens_2017_murd...](http://www.nj.com/camden/index.ssf/2018/01/camdens_2017_murder_rate_was_the_lowest_in_decades.html#incart_river_home).
As engineers when a system is severaly broken, we know the answer can be to
turn it off (e.g. in the case of a bad malware infection). The same can apply
to other complex systems too.

~~~
YokoZar
It wasn't clear from the article, but the context I found was that the Camden
County Police Department took over policing from the Camden City force on May
1, 2013.

Cities often have multiple options for who "owns" local policing - county
level police, county level sheriff's office, contracting out to a neighboring
town, or even state police.

~~~
DrScump
It's often financial -- a larger force can be "sublet" more cheaply than
running your own.

Heck, even Cupertino, CA (home of Apple) does that.

------
millzlane
Does a citizen have any legal recourse or entitled to compensation if a
citizen's house was raided multiple times on false pretenses or a fabricated
warrant by these fine upstanding officers (The ones being indicted)? I'm
asking for a friend.. :-/

~~~
joe_the_user
Ianal and couldn't answer any particular in your case. I do have a lawyer
friend who makes a regular income suiting the Oakland police department.

The broader issue is naturally the police have a lot of leverage on your
average court system, police are often not liable for even the most egregious
mistake, only actual malice is required and occasionally then legal
contortions can justify various behaviors and so-forth.

But even more, if someone wins a suit against the police of town X, town X
pays the fine and that money comes out of money for parks and libraries of
town X, not say, from the pay of cops of town X, who can thus merrily ignore
even a successful suit.

~~~
millzlane
I'm hoping to discover a pattern of this behavior. I've seen more than 4
warrants all listing the same untrue facts that led to a judge signing off on
the warrant. No proof just hearsay. I will consult with a lawyer. But this
came up and I've known this place to harbor people smarter than I, so I
figured I'd ask..

------
ende
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

There needs to be an independent police force to police the police. Internal
affairs is a joke, and the interests of DAs are too closesly aligned with
police to be a reliable check.

------
Dowwie
Police follow a code that is not unlike that followed by groups that they have
legal authority over. When one officer refuses to be an accomplice to a crime
committed by another officer, the officer is culturally pressured not to act
in a way that would attack the offending officer. One reason for this is you
ought not throw stones when you live in a glass house. Officers commit crimes
for all sorts of reasons: mistakes, shortcuts, aggression, revenge. Further,
if officers blew the whistle on each other for every matter, the culture would
turn to disrespect and distrust among those whose lives depend on each other.

So, Baltimore ends up with much greater problems as smaller ones snow ball.

Body cameras are helping to distance officers from hurting their team but
they're not being managed in a way that will ensure integrity. The fox can't
guard the hen house. Police control when the cameras are on, they control the
recordings, and they control who reviews the recordings.

I might as well add that Trump is in the process of creating this culture
among the branches of government. Smaller problems won't be reported. Much
greater problems will eventually emerge. Everyone will ask how this could ever
happen. A political savior will swoop in and reform.

------
Nilzor
I have a strong suspicion this isn't limited to Baltimore. Not sure what they
expected when they show officers they can get away with just about anything
with little more than a slap on the wrist.

------
hhanesand
No wonder citizens in these areas are suspicious of the police...

------
staunch
The first two federal officers involved in a Bitcoin-related investigation
(Silk Road) stole the money and tried to cover it up. Which shows just how bad
US law enforcement culture is. People like this can, and should be, filtered
out.

At some point I hope to see a #MeBlue social campaign by good cops to out bad
cops.

~~~
paulie_a
I personally think some police abuse should be considered treason and handled
appropriately via those laws. Same for political corruption

~~~
anarazel
Article three of the US constitution: "Treason against the United States,
shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their
Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."

I'm not arguing that treason / corruption aren't worthy of increased focus,
but your proposal doesn't seem to be it.

There's also these pesky anti anti-corruption / pro "free speech" SCOTUS cases
:(

~~~
paulie_a
I totally understand that currently it is not possible. My personal opinion is
that the scope should be widened carefully in a limited way for aggregious
public corruption. It's not an easy answer by any means but should be
addressed with harsh penalties for some situations

~~~
anarazel
I don't understand why it makes sense to tie corruption to treason. It's a
specifically defined thing in the constitution and it's already bandied about
way to easily in a political manner.

Fixing corruption law (including SCOTUS precedent) is very hard, no need to
add very debatable issues additionally.

------
twothamendment
I'd rather deal with a decent cop in a tank than one on a bike who plants
evidence. Hopefully the evidence farmer doesn't get promoted to tank
commander.

------
solarengineer
The Baltimore Police's official position on Transparency.
[https://www.baltimorepolice.org/transparency/overview](https://www.baltimorepolice.org/transparency/overview)

How does the audit culture work in the US? Are government agencies required to
establish compliance with their stated positions (e.g. their position on
Transparency) ?

------
paul7986
Really Baltimore's not as bad as the Wire, the riots and this story.

As with any city it's best you avoid certain crime ridden areas, but other
then that it's great! The low cost of living in the surrounding counties and
Govt IT jobs where salary ranges from 120 to 250k are fairly plentiful. Also,
traffic isnt too bad, there is a tech scene, a startup scene and good amount
to do in and outside of the city.

~~~
doktrin
I almost never say shit like this, but you are clearly speaking from a
position of significant privilege. Obviously the cops aren't planting drugs on
yuppies and tech workers, nor do you live in one of the many terribad parts of
that city.

~~~
paul7986
Huh I was just saying Baltimore is not a bad city especially if these negative
stories paint a different picture and in ones mind not a positive one.

Thus, I was pointing out positive aspects of this city that are available to
everyone!

As for being privileged I am not rich nor have parents that are wealthy rather
about middle class. My startups I started and made no money off we’re all paid
for by myself from savings or grants I received from incubators. Thus anyone
who wants to can work hard .. save money .. do a startup to either hit the
jackpot or use the experience to learn an on demand skill.

I am no way making 120 to 250k in Govt IT but know friends who are after ten
or more years. Maybe I will one day and if so that would be great .. though it
would come after years of hard work.

------
phren0logy
So I guess "The Wire" was basically a documentary?

~~~
savanaly
The situation sounds much more like The Shield. The Wire was focused on
institutional problems. It was more interested in the tragedy that incentives
in the police force and city government were such that barely an iota of
thought was ever given as to how to actually fix the problems of the city.
Instead most work was expended in public relations efforts, cooking the books
and ass covering. There was one storyline in season 1 where Herc and Carver
thought about pocketing some drug money instead of turning it in as evidence,
but they ended up giving it back didn't they?

The Shield on the other hand..

~~~
bcassedy
They think about stealing but realize that they might get caught due to the
wiretap. In a later season when they're taking part in a raid with a dead
wiretap and no risk of being caught after the fact, they do take the money.

The entire 5th season has most of the department cooking the books to get
their overtime pay.

~~~
thirdsun
> They think about stealing but realize that they might get caught due to the
> wiretap.

If I remember correctly they still and accidentally lose some of that money in
the back of their car. Lt. Daniels notices and tells them to bring it it back.
They find it, but it looks bad regardless of their honest intentions. ("Do you
think he believed us?" \- "Would you?")

------
andrepd
Funny, I started watching The Wire 2 days ago. Judging by this piece, it seems
the claims to unflinching realism are warranted.

~~~
praneshp
Keep at it even if you think you're bored a few episodes in.

~~~
andrepd
I'm not, I'm loving it so far.

------
mirimir
As horrible as these crimes were, they're negligible in the context of
widespread civil asset forfeiture abuse.

------
utopcell
At the risk of oversimplifying, I believe increasing crime rate is a good
proxy for police corruption. As an example, East Palo Alto in CA was the crime
capital of the country back in the 90s. Then a police force that included
parties from surrounding cities was formed to address it and now the city is
essentially crime-free.

~~~
DrScump

      the city is essentially crime-free
    

I think you are misreading a source. _Homicide_ has decreased, but most other
crime has increased.

~~~
utopcell
I don't think I've come across any report that states that other crime has
increased in EPA. What is your source ? Incidentally, I think that declining
crime rates are, among other things, also a sign of a ``clean'', efficient
police force.

~~~
masonic

        a sign of a ``clean'', efficient police force
    

Or, that the substantial gentrification going on there over the last decade
has changed the demographics substantially.

------
sean_anandale
This is what happens when you have "plainclothes detectives", aka secret
police.

~~~
jacquesm
There is a vast gulf between 'plainclothes detectives' and 'secret police'.

~~~
youdontknowtho
Ummm...I don't know if 'vast' is what I would use there, but there's a
difference.

~~~
jacquesm
The difference is that a secret police is used by a dictatorship to keep the
dictator in power by systematically attacking the opposition and any grass
roots movements.

Plainclothes detectives are simply police that are not in uniform
('undercover'), they are still part of the regular police force.

~~~
maxerickson
Detectives that just wear civilian clothes aren't quite undercover though.
Much of what they do will involve identifying themselves as police (which is
not a cover, it's fact).

In the US at least, "undercover" implies that they are not identifying
themselves as police.

~~~
jacquesm
Right, sorry about that, so strike the 'undercover' bit, too late to edit.

