Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999
Subject: Veteran Cop Explains How Drug War Causes Police Corruption
DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 127 September 23, 1999
LA Times: Veteran Cop Explains How Drug War Causes Police Corruption
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL
ADDRESS PLEASE SEE THE INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS FOCUS ALERT
——-
PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE
——-
DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 127 September 23, 1999
LA Times: Veteran Cop Explains How Drug War Causes Police Corruption
While drug policy reformers sometimes blame law enforcement for drug
war damage, it is important to remember that the drug war is bad for
police as well. In the wake of a huge corruption scandal in the Los
Angeles Police Department, former police chief Joseph McNamara
explained why this week in an excellent column for the Los Angeles
Times. After researching the connection between the drug war and cops
gone bad, McNamara came to a disturbing conclusion.
“Studying the nation’s police forces, I was stunned to discover that
the old-type corruption uncovered when cops occasionally were caught
taking payoffs from gangsters had been replaced by something
considerably more ominous. Throughout the country, small groups of
cops were the gangsters,” McNamara writes in the piece.
This is bad for the public, or course, but it’s also bad for the
majority of cops who haven’t been corrupted. The good cops lose their
credibility with citizens. They may also become demoralized. Please
write a letter to the LA Times to thank McNamara for demonstrating how
the country is reaping another bitter harvest sown with seeds from the
drug war.
Thanks for your effort and support.
WRITE A LETTER TODAY
It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do
***************************************************************************
PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID ( Letter,
Phone, fax etc.)
Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the MAPTalk
list if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to
MGreer@mapinc.org Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with
so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit
This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is the only way we have of gauging our
impact and effectiveness.
**************************************************************************
CONTACT INFO
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
***************************************************************************
Pubdate: Tue, 21 Sep 1999
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Los Angeles Times.
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: (213) 237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Forum: http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/
Author: Joseph D. McNamara
Note: Retired Police Chief of San Jose, Joe McNamara is a Research Fellow
at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His Forthcoming Book Is
“Gangster Cops: the Hidden Cost of America’s War on Drugs.”
PERSPECTIVE ON POLICE
When Cops Become the Gangsters
The war on drugs has spawned an ominous form of corruption: protector
becoming the criminal.
It may not be much comfort to Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and the
people of Los Angeles during the current corruption scandal, but the
pattern of small gangs of cops committing predatory crimes has
occurred in almost every large city in the nation and in a great many
less populated areas as well.
Six years after retiring from 35 years in policing, I began research
for a book on police administration. Studying the nation’s police
forces, I was stunned to discover that the old-type corruption
uncovered when cops occasionally were caught taking payoffs from
gangsters had been replaced by something considerably more ominous.
Throughout the country, small groups of cops were the gangsters.
The lure of fortunes to be made in illegal drugs has led to thousands
of police felonies: armed robbery, kidnapping, stealing drugs, selling
drugs, perjury, framing people and even some murders. These police
crimes were committed on duty, often while the cop gangsters were
wearing their uniforms, the symbol of safety to the people they were
supposed to be protecting.
Of course, only a small percentage of American police officers are
recidivist felons. Sadly, however, these predatory criminals are
protected by a code of silence. Otherwise honest officers who knew or
suspected what was going on did not report the crooks, and at times
even lied rather than testify against other cops.
A code of silence is not unique to police. It exists in the White
House, among students, doctors, lawyers, business executives and other
groups. Indeed, even as children, our parents and peers admonish us
not to tattle. Basic human characteristics of loyalty, trust and
security are involved. These motivations are even more intense in
police work. If cops make an error of judgment, they or someone else
may be killed, or they can be sent to jail for using too much force.
And even the most ethical officers fear being falsely accused of
brutality or other crimes and of being railroaded to prison because
their chiefs or mayors will not support them in politically volatile
cases.
Furthermore, the code of silence is strengthened because many cops
chafe under the pressure from superiors to make petty arrests for
drugs. State and local police made approximately 1.4 million drug
possession arrests last year. Very few took place with search
warrants, although the 4th Amendment, with few exceptions, requires
the police to obtain a judicial warrant to search people or their
homes. It is so common for police to lie about how they obtained drug
evidence that the term “testilying” has replaced “testifying” in
police jargon. Ambitious politicians and police brass calling for
more arrests condemn the code of silence while ignoring widespread
police perjury in drug cases. It is not surprising that many cops
feel that the only one they can really trust is another cop.
Nevertheless, it is perverse when those sworn to enforce the law
instead shelter predatory criminals who happen to carry a badge.
Minorities tend to be the victims of the most grievous police crimes.
The current Los Angeles police shooting scandal, like the thousands of
cop crimes elsewhere, does immeasurable damage to the credibility of
the criminal justice system. Mayors and police chiefs usually assure
their citizens that there are only a few rotten apples when these
scandals are publicized. Yet the number and similarity of police
gangster crimes nationally indicate a crisis in American policing.
Official corruption will be a major problem as long as we cling to the
present drug policies. The code of silence cannot be totally
eliminated. But the harm to good cops and to society can be reduced if
politicians abandon their demagogic calls for a police war against
drugs. Police officers who are true partners with the community in
reducing crime will be far more likely to report thugs on the force
than cops who think they’re part of a warring occupation army.
******************************************************************************
SAMPLE LETTER (sent)
Thanks to Joseph McNamara for explaining how the drug war causes
police corruption (“Perspective on Police,” Sept. 21). Others may say
that there will always be a few bad apples in any large group. It’s
impossible to deny that police, like members of any other profession,
are subject to corruption even under the best circumstances. Likewise,
there are police who are immune from corruption under the worst
circumstances. But, it is grossly myopic to say that the incidents
recently uncovered in Los Angeles are just about a handful of bad cops.
There is a common thread running through these incidents, and others
around the nation: the obscene profits made possible by drug
prohibition. That is the invitation to corruption, just as it was
during alcohol prohibition during the 1920s. No matter how many honest
cops there are, drug prohibition offers the lure of easy money to
those teetering on the edge. Add that to the despair of knowing that
efforts against illegal drug sellers will never really put a dent in
the trade and you’ve got a recipe to make more bad cops.
Stephen Young
IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone
number
Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it
at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the
same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work.
—————————————————————————-
ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts
3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm
Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm
****************************************************************************
Prepared by Stephen Young – http://home.att.net/~theyoungfamily Focus
Alert Specialist