The incidents of Police abuse in the United States is reaching epidemic proportions . Some of the encounters are absolutely preposterous yet shockingly the cops involved are not held accountable for their crimes.
On the rare occasion there is any semblance of compensation to the victims and their families the tax payers foot the bill.
Police Departments across America, mostly in large metropolitan centers pay out astronomical sums of taxpayers money for the actions of abusive cops.
What that means is that citizens are taxed to the limit to set aside funds to pay victims who have been assaulted and killed by aggressive cops while they walk away without any penalty and in many cases continue over and over again to assault and kill citizens.
The Courts and prosecutor’s offices are all in on the abuse . Prosecutors refuse to prosecute because of the working relationships they have with police but more importantly many are scared of the powerful police unions.
Additionally District Attorneys are beholden to police Unions for monetary support when they are up for election and re-election.
This it seem to me is a clear conflict of interest, yet many in this country arrogantly argue this is the best justice system anywhere.
It maybe the best system , but for whom? It certainly is a very good system which shields and protects agents of the state who abuse and kill citizens .
Throw the race factor into the mix and it becomes a little clearer why African-Americans can hardly get justice withing the system which some naively assumes is built for their protection. There is no mystery behind the reasons the few cops who find themselves in trouble opt for trial by judge than face a jury. This is another perk the average American does not get.
Judges will move the goal-post and twist themselves into pretzels to set cops free. When the evidence is so outrageous they cannot but convict they give them a slap on the wrist. It’s built into the system.
The first Chicago officer put on trial for a fatal shooting in nearly 20 years was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a judge who handed out a direct verdict, meaning he made the decision from the bench before even hearing arguments from the defense. Chicago police officer Dante Servin was charged with involuntary manslaughter after shooting over his shoulder at a group of people behind his car as he was going the wrong way down a one way street after an altercation, killing 22-year-old Rekia Boyd. The judge, Dennis Porter, ruled that the charge was inappropriate, because it wasn’t severe enough. Porter argues Servin should’ve faced a murder charge. His solution to the prosecutor appearing to give preferential treatment to the cop? To throw out the charges and, apparently, prevent prosecutors from coming back with stiffer charges.
It is easy to say, ‘Of course the defendant was reckless. He intentionally shot in the direction of a group of people on the sidewalk. That is really dangerous … and in fact Rekia Boyd was killed. Case closed,’ ” Porter wrote. “It is easy to think that way, but it is wrong.” That’s because Illinois law says that intentionally firing a gun at someone on the street “is an act that is so dangerous it is beyond reckless,” Porter wrote. “It is intentional and the crime, if any there be, is first-degree murder.” Porter acknowledged that it was “perhaps even unfortunate” that neither side would have “closure” on whether Servin was justified in opening fire that night, but he said he had no choice under the law but to dismiss the charges.
“When a motion for directed verdict is made by the defense, the evidence must be considered in the light most favorable to the prosecution,” [University of Illinois Director of Trial Advocacy J. Steven] Beckett points out. “What the judge did here appears to be just the opposite!” (University of Illinois law professor Marareth) Etienne points out several adverse consequences that would result if Porter’s understanding of the law prevailed. A defendant charged with involuntary manslaughter could get on the stand and make the very argument Porter now makes: I am not guilty of a crime of recklessness because I did this on purpose. “And by the way my trial has started so double jeopardy. You can’t go back and charge me with an intentional killing.” Double jeopardy is the constitutional notion that an individual can’t be charged twice for the same offense, and legal experts seemed to agree that double jeopardy means Porter’s ruling can’t be appealed, and that prosecutors from the same jurisdiction can’t file charges a second time around.
Even if Servin is in the clear legally, and it appears that he is, the absence of a conviction is not the same as the absence of culpability. Servin’s recklessness, irrespective of how that word can by lawyered into meaning something else, led to the death of a person who was posing no reasonable threat to Servin. Servin was driving the wrong way down a one way street after getting into an off-duty altercation when he fired over his shoulder and behind himself as if he were re-enacting a cop movie.
Now that a judge has let him off on what’s commonly called a “technicality,” Servin wants his job back. More specifically, he’s had a paying police job since being charged with involuntary manslaughter. He’s been on desk duty and wants his gun and his uniform and the privilege once more that comes with those things to wander Chicago’s streets. It’s a widespread attitude that costs the city about $1 million a week.Judge Dismisses Involuntary Manslaughter Charge Against Cop, Says He Should’ve Been Charged With Murder Instead, Lets Him Go Free
NYPD Sergeant Eliezer Pabon is charged (Departmentally )with using “unjustified force” against a handcuffed boy Javier Payne, 15 on May 17, 2014. “A surveillance camera at Hookah Spot on Arthur Ave. captured the action as Pabon rushed at the handcuffed youth facing the window, and in a clearly unprovoked action, struck the teen with his left arm. Payne slammed up against the window which exploded on impact. Payne, now a 9th grader at Health Opportunity High School in Manhattan, underwent emergency surgery to remove pieces of glass from his heart. The teen said he is self-conscious and embarrassed by the scar on his chest. “I get sharp pains in my chest sometimes because of the way I move my arm,” he said.
The Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson an African-American filed no criminal charges against the thug cop.
How can these people stand in any courtroom and pretend to speak on the issue of justice when they defame every scintilla of the word justice?
How do they in good conscience stand before banks of cameras and grandstand about criminals when they themselves ought to be locked up and the keys destroyed?
These Prosecutors and Judges who prostitute the high calling to sit in just judgement of others dirty the calling under the altar of nepotism and cronyism.
It’s despicable !!!
Staten Island New York ♦ Ferguson Missouri ♦ Chicago Illinois ♦ Houston Texas ♦ Bronx New York♦ Cleveland Ohio♦ Beaver Creek Ohio ♦
All across the country the continued the unchecked incidences of police abuse are aided and abetted and furthered in prosecutor’s offices and judges chambers.
Those in the Legislatures make the unjust laws but it’s the Prosecutors and the judges who allow the abuse to continue.