The Law Enforcement Officer Thread

Are there police departments so desperate that they'd hire an open criminal? It is reasonable to assume that a police officer and their department will have an opinion on hiring criminals.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

I imagine that depends on the type of criminal, some police officers might not consider those convicted of abusing police powers to be 'real' criminals.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

Unlike their work records which do not necessarily follow you around reliably, things like background checks that pretty much all police departments do turn up things like felony convictions.

edited 9th Sep '17 10:10:16 AM by TuefelHundenIV

Who watches the watchmen?

It's the difference between being accused of a crime and being convicted of one. If you were just accused but never arrested or convicted, then the assumption was that you are innocent and the accuser is a liar.

We see the same mindset with rape allegations and people who claim that the horrifically low rate of conviction in rape cases are proof that most rape victims are just making shit up for attention.

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

Which IMO is a fair assumption, innocent until proven guilty is a thing and being accused of a crime shouldn't end someone's career.

"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn

I agree on paper, but in practice, it's hard to prove someone guilty when the people charged with upholding law are unwilling to perform their duty. Such is the case when police unions close ranks to protect officers guilty of heinous crimes, or when they go out of their way to dismiss a rape victim's testimony because the alleged rapist is "a good kid with a strong future".

It's not by accident that there are literally thousands of rape kits that were stuffed in a warehouse somewhere and never tested. Nor is it by accident that these police are almost never punished to the extent of the law. At worst, they retire early.

If a person has to be convicted to be considered guilty and they have to be arrested in order to be convicted, then police unions become the Almighty Arbiters of innocence and guilt, By refusing to arrest someone, they declare to the world that this person is innocent without judge or jury ever being involved. They obtain the same kind of absolute authority that our entire justice system was designed to prevent.

If the officer's truly innocent, then let him go to trial and let it be established within the bounds of our legal system. When the cops go, "NOPE!" and just refuse to press the issue, that is not proof of innocence. At best, it's inconclusive. When it becomes an established pattern, it's worse.

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20170912_23/

A bodyguard for a senior Yakuza leader is executed in Kobe.

I think some Japanese magazines reported that other deaths linked to the current schism appeared over the year. Could be completely wrong though.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele

Seen most of the stuff with NHK. I believe that's from the upcoming turf war there.

I kind of have to ask, how are field drug test kits acceptable evidence in court? They have an appalling false positive rate and are known to give false positives for a huge variety of noncontrolled substances like sugar, chocolate, salt, and cat litter. Also, high false positive rates have been grounds to reject other forms of evidence, such as polygraphs or "lie detectors". Surely a proper lab test should be mandatory, right?

The field tests for drugs aren't used as court evidence in Europe at least, and won't be used in Canada that way when they roll out next year. They are instead used to justify blood and urine tests, which are far more reliable.

In some cases they can be used to levy administrative penalties on the spot, particularly for zero tolerance areas and young/new/prohibitionary drivers. Or for companies who use vehicles and equipment on the job.

edited 12th Sep '17 6:32:21 AM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

It's like breathalysing someone. In the UK if you blow positive into the handheld you get arrested and put on a more accurate machine to get the numbers that will actually go to the Magistrates.

The time delay can lead to cases where someone blows positive at the roadside but comes in under the limit when the actual evidence reading is taken.

"Yup. That tasted purple."

Also, some of the new Saliva devices are getting quite reliable. The bigger issue is the cost.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

To be fair, I'm not familiar with what you guys use outside the USA, but the ones we use are horribly unreliable $2 kits, which to the best of my knowledge are admissible evidence in an American court of law and there is no obligation to perform a real lab test.

In GA, the short is answer is no, the field tests are not admissible...in court for DUIs. (I can't tell you about flat possession yet, as I have yet to see that go to trial). It's more than enough for PC for an arrest and to read you an implied consent. But court-side, no, you really do not want to try and use a field test, and the lab test is only really admissible with all the certification that is was working, recently inspected, etc—or a defense attorney who's asleep.

edited 12th Sep '17 8:34:24 AM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

....Those two buck tests (the good ones cost hundreds and its like 40 dollars to use them) pass reasonable doubt in some states? I wish I was surprised.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

There was a guy who, no kidding, got arrested because his Krispy Kreme donuts tested positive for cocaine. That one eventually got tossed out.

Is cocaine viable as a food version?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

That test is right for the wrong reasons.

"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn

LE in Spokane responded to a mass shooting.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/sep/13/shooting-reported-at-freeman-high-school/#/0

Cross-posting from the European Politics Thread.

Guys, I need feedback from any of you who are familiar with how German and/or Czech law enforcement works.

A cousin of mine has gone missing a few days after arriving in Prague, on the day he was supposed to board a train to Berlin. We've only discovered this a couple of days ago, when he did not come back from Germany as planned. We've contacted our embassies in Berlin and Prague and informed them about this, but so far my mother (who is effectively handling everything, given my cousin's dad is too distraught to do anything useful) is quite disatisfied with the response from the officials that spoke to us over the phone, feeling that they're not taking the matter as seriously as they should, and is contemplating going straight to Berlin herself and talking directly to the German police, maybe even personally search for him in every hospital in the city. She probably wants to do the same with the Czech police, but unfortunately she doesn't speak Czech.

Is what she intends to do even feasible? My impression is that the national police would require any missing person cases involving foreigners to be conducted with the relevant embassies as the mediators between the local authorities and the foreigners' relatives/friends, so I fear that her efforts would be completely wasted.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Not completely wasted: if she turns up in person to be an embarrassing burr under the Embasy's saddle, they'll motor. While trying to pretend her presence is having no effect whatsoever, of course. Embassies are like that.

Add a little media interest, and they'll get the flipping jet packs out. <cynnic-mode> Distraught Dad could be useful there, especially if he cracks up on camera. (But I wouldn't recommend that for his health — if he can't deal, he shouldn't be made to.)

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/duterte-invites-u-n-rights-body-open-philippine-105853176.html

This one was unheard in the history of Philippine law enforcement.

Anti-terrorist exercise in Dublin done by the Garda.

Las Vegas police reveal how dummy helped secure conviction. AKA Las Vegas police used a mannequin to bait a murderer who was targetting homeless people. Not only did they catch the murderer, they also obtained a murder conviction for the attack on the mannequin.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman