Cop Block

More dope-dealin’ and/or sticky-fingered cops this week, plus a tweaker judge gets sentenced. Let’s get to it

In Norwalk, Connecticut, a state marshal was arrested last Tuesday after police found more than a quarter-pound of pot in his vehicle. Marshal Alan Freedman, 58, was pulled over for running a red light, and a police drug dog alerted on his vehicle. Police found two bags of marijuana, a plastic container containing marijuana, digital scales, nine pipes with pot residue, a bag of seeds, and empty baggies. The pot seized came to 4.8 ounces. Freedman is charged with possession of more than four ounces of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, illegal distribution of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school. Freedman was released after posting $10,000 bond. State marshals are certified law enforcement officers, but typically handle civil matters, such as serving court documents.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, a Shreveport police officer was arrested last Wednesday for peddling drugs and soliciting prostitutes. Officer Jeffrion Smith, 30, went down after the department got information that he was looking for hookers, and an undercover investigation resulted in his arrest. He is charged with solicitation of prostitution, distribution of a Schedule I narcotic, and possession of a firearm with a controlled dangerous substance. He is now on administrative leave after being booked into the Caddo Parish Jail.

In Memphis, Tennessee, a Memphis police officer was arrested last Friday after getting ensnared in a drug sting operation. Officer Melvin Robinson, 28, went down after telling an FBI informant in November he was having money problems and agreeing to buy and sell 10 kilos of cocaine with a street value of $300,000. Robinson used his police squad car to drive to a south Memphis truck parking lot and grabbed a black duffle bag full of what he thought was cocaine. He was then arrested. He is charged with attempted possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. He faces up to life in prison.

In Los Angeles, an LAPD gang and narcotics division detective was arrested last Friday after a fellow detective saw him taking money from the scene of a drug raid. Det. Ramon Alvarez, a 27-year veteran of the department, was detained at the scene and his vehicle was searched. The money was found in the vehicle. Alvarez faces one count of grand theft.

In Oakland, California, a former San Ramon police officer pleaded guilty last Thursday to multiple corruption counts in the ongoing CNET (Central Contra Costa County Narcotics Enforcement Team) scandal. Louis Lombardi, 39, pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor counts for stealing cash and property during searches of homes and five felony counts for possessing and selling stolen drugs and firearms while he worked for CNET. The former CNET commander and two other police officer still face a raft of state and federal charges ranging from stealing and selling marijuana and methamphetamine to shaking down workers at an illegal massage parlor they operated to selling steroids to involvement in a scheme to create “dirty DUIs” by targeting men in bars to get them drunk, then arresting them on the highway to help their spouses in divorce cases. Lombardi is looking at up to 60 years in federal prison.

In Jackson, Mississippi, a former Crockett County General Sessions court judge was sentenced last Thursday to six months in prison for his involvement with methamphetamine. Shannon Jones had pleaded guilty to a single count in October of conspiracy to manufacture and possess meth with the intent to distribute. He had originally been arrested on state charges after sheriff’s deputies said they found meth-making materials at his home, but he was indicted on five federal charges in June. Jones must also pay the DEA $3,000 and submit to drug testing

Jailers smuggling drugs in burritos, cops planting drugs, cops doing security for drug deals, and evidence walking out of the evidence room. It’s just another week of police misconduct in the drug war. Let’s get to it:

In Asheville, North Carolina, drugs are missing from the police department evidence room. The word comes after an audit done after 380 pills were found missing in April. Now, it appears more drugs are missing and criminal cases are being dismissed. Local authorities said they are putting new procedures in place. Meanwhile, evidence pertaining to the missing drugs has been sent to the FBI, and authorities are vowing to arrest whoever did it if they can figure out just who that was.

In Costa Mesa, California, the city of Costa Mesa will pay a $150,000 settlement to a man who alleged that a former Costa Mesa police officer planted drugs on him and that prosecutors did not inform him that a drug test on the substance would have exonerated him. Tim Slappy was arrested and pleaded guilty to cocaine possession charges, only to learn months later that the substance wasn’t cocaine at all. Slappy was arrested in March 2009 by former officer Robert Harris after Harris produced a white substance on the ground while searching him. It was only because he was subpoenaed for a hearing about other complaints lodged against Harris in Newport Beach that Slappy learned from Costa Mesa detectives that the substance found near him was not cocaine. The city does not admit any guilt.

In Los Angeles, an LA County sheriff’s deputy was arrested January 11 on charges he smuggled heroin stuffed inside a burrito into a courthouse jail. Deputy Henry Marin, 27, is charged with bringing contraband into the jail and conspiracy to commit a crime. Martin was booked and released pending trial. Three LA County sheriff’s guards have been convicted and a fourth fired in recent years for smuggling or attempting to smuggle narcotics into jail for inmates.

In Atlanta, a former Clayton County police officer was sentenced Tuesday to federal prison for taking bribes to protect drug transactions and stealing personal property from a driver during a traffic stop. Jonathan Callahan, 28, was sentenced to five years and two months for accepting $1,000 in cash to be present during a drug deal in a sting conducted by the FBI. He came to investigators’ attention after a motorist he had stopped for a traffic violation complained Callahan had stolen two firearms from him. That netted him a civil rights violation conviction for violating the driver’s right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16451425

Here’s another shred of the Fourth Amendment we stand poised to lose. Sniffer dogs are not magical, they can be triggered by conscious or unconscious cues from their handler as any other dog will.

Such dogs are routinely used at VIPR, DUI, and ICE checkpoints to justify and extend searches beyond the legal scope allowed to a random stop. This may be done at the will of the handler absent probable cause.

An interesting question is why has the Federal Government chosen not to respect the State Supreme Court’s decision?

- Deri Bular

In the past couple of years, CopBlock has covered a wide range of stories involving police murder.  John Williams, a half-deaf, disabled, hobbling Native American man was basically executed in the streets of Seattle by on-duty officer Ian Birk. Birk was never criminally charged. Westpoint and Duke graduate Erik Scott was executed at Costco for no legitimate reasons when police were called to the scene. His killer of course was found to have been “justified” in the murder.

Trevon Cole, an unarmed father-to-be was shot and killed in his bathroom during a mistaken drug raid. Grandfather of 12, Eurie Stamps was similarly unarmed and killed during a botched drug raid. Former Marine Jose Guerena was shot multiple times by police during an alleged drug warrant entry by police. He lay dying for over an hour until he bled to death because police refused medical care. Allen Kephart was tasered to death for honking his car horn at police. Douglas Zerby was shot and killed for holding a garden hose spigot which police purportedly mistook for a gun.

The list goes on and on, but a girl can only maintain so many murder victims’ names in her head before going insane. At any rate, without exception, police involved in these murders were found to have acted reasonably or were determined to have been justified in their murder. Even before they were found to have behaved in a “justified manner,” they were not immediately arrested or charged (or ever arrested or charged).

On the other hand, in recent news, one Officer Dayle Long had the misfortune of murdering someone and actually not getting away with it. Long was drunk at a bar when a bystander ribbed him for not being good at playing darts. Long responded, “That’s why I’m a cop, I can do whatever I want to do.” Things got heated, and Long ended up shooting and killing a third man, Sam Vanettes, who was attempting to break up the fight. Surprisingly, Long was actually arrested and held on $1 million bail. This is a good thing. Barely, though (yay! A cop was actually treated like a normal person, for once!)

Long had one part right. Police pretty much can do what they please. They get away with murder with much more success than ordinary people. They certainly get away with more innocuous violations they engage in almost daily, such as driving while talking on cell phones (illegal in California, apparently except for the police), parking in red zones, parking in handicapped zones, speeding, jaywalking, etc.

The part Long failed to take into consideration is that the key to this distinction is the badge and the uniform. People don’t care about murder when it is committed by police in uniform. The response is usually, “well then [the victim] shouldn’t have disobeyed/talked back/drank alcohol/[insert petty violation here].” People most definitely don’t care when police in uniform break traffic laws, because of course police are just “doing their jobs” and “keeping people safe” by speeding, parking in fire lanes, and talking on their cell phones while driving. But when the uniform comes off, to a certain extent, they are viewed once again as regular old losers like the rest of us.

Regular old losers can’t jay walk, speed, or murder with impunity. You have to have a uniform and a badge to do that. Long’s mistake wasn’t murder; his mistake was committing murder out of uniform. And as a side note to all you regular old losers out there, regardless of uniform, never honk your car horn at a cop or challenge his dart skills – someone could end up dead.

This comes from Stop The Drug War, where they report on 5 more deaths related to domestic drug law enforcement, including one police officer, in the final days of 2011.

Bring out the body bags

At Year’s End, Five More US Drug War Deaths

Five people, including a Florida police officer, have died in recent days in incidents related to domestic drug law enforcement. They become the 49th through 54th persons to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year. Of those 54, three were law enforcement officers.
In North Charleston, South Carolina Wayne Mitchell, 20, died on November 30 after eating an ounce of cocaine while he and his brother, Deangelo, 23, were detained in the back seat of a police car after they were pulled over by police. According to local media citing police sources, police car video showed the brothers discussing their situation, and Deangelo was seen removing cocaine from his pants and giving it to his brother. Deangelo, who has a record of previous cocaine arrests is heard saying he can’t afford another strike and “one of us gotta do it.” Wayne Mitchell swallowed the cocaine and later died at a hospital. It was only three weeks later, after toxicology tests came back, that police announced the death and said they planned to charge Deangelo Mitchell with manslaughter.
In Lakeland, Florida, Lakeland police Officer Arnulfo Crispin was shot in the head on the night of December 18 as he attempted to frisk five men for guns and drugs in a local park. He died of his wounds three days later. According to police, Crispin radioed in that he was getting out of his patrol car to talk with “suspicious subjects.” Two of the men present told police Crispin asked the men for their consent for a “pat-down” search for weapons and/or illegal drugs, and as he was searching them, Kyle Williams, 19, pulled a weapon and shot him. At that point, everyone fled the park, leaving Crispin lying on the ground. Another Lakeland police officer sent as back-up arrived on the scene minutes later to find Crispin had been shot. Williams has been arrested and is facing murder charges.
In St. Louis, Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, was shot and killed by a St. Louis police officer on December 20. According to police, officers on routine patrol saw a transaction they suspected was a drug deal take place outside a chicken restaurant. As officers approached, one man ran off on foot, while Smith jumped into a car and fled. Police said he drove the vehicle toward them, so one officer fired a shot, but didn’t hit Smith. Police chased Smith’s car until it spun out, and a police car hit Smith’s car, causing the air bag to deploy and blocking the cops’ view of the driver. Smith refused demands to get out of the car, and when one of the officers tried to move the air bag to get a view of Smith, he saw him reach under his seat and fired shots, killing him. Police said they searched the vehicle and found a gun and suspected narcotics. A police investigation of the incident is under way.
In Houma, Louisiana, Wayne Michael Williams, 27, died December 21 after being tasered by police as he tried to swallow plastic bags of suspected cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. According to local media citing police sources, Williams was stopped by narcotics agents after they saw him exchange an object with another man. Police said he tried to swallow something and drive away as agents approached. They tasered and handcuffed him before noticing he wasn’t breathing. Medical workers pulled a bag of suspected cocaine out of his throat in the ambulance and another containing suspected heroin and marijuana was removed at the hospital.
Williams’ death drew sharp criticism from his relatives and residents of the trailer park where he was stopped, who have accused the Terrebonne Narcotics Task Force of heavy-handed tactics and harassing the community. But Terrebonne Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois said his office has completed an internal review and cleared all the officers to return to duty.
In Camden, New Jersey, Eddie Velazquez, 29, was shot and killed by a state trooper December 23 behind a liquor store in what police called “a high crime area.” According to police, troopers were in the area to investigate suspected drug activity. When one trooper approached the SUV Velazquez was sitting in, he accelerated in reverse, striking an dragging the trooper. He then pulled forward and struggled with the trooper, who then shot him. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said he was carrying a loaded .45 caliber handgun in the pocket of his sweatshirt, but they did not say he had shot it or brandished it.
State troopers are patrolling Camden under orders from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who deployed them there earlier this month in response to a rash of deadly violence. Christie said at the time the troopers would provide “a visible surge” in uniformed officers on Camden’s streets.

TIPS FOR CANNABIS CONSUMERS AND DISTRIBUTORS

Anonymous tips by telephone are a real danger for cannabis users, and they have to be stopped.

The best way to stop anonymous tips is by calling in bogus or phoney anonymous tips, and often. But doing this is not danger-free, and can lead to your incarceration. The idea is to have the cops go on so many fruitless phoney tips calls that such calls will no longer be trusted, especially by judges issuing search warrants. Bogus tips resulting in call outs cost cops money and waste time. They can also be used in other ways, as you will see. So here are my tips for phoney drugs activity reporting:

1. Contact: ALWAYS USE A PAY TELEPHONE, and NEVER ALLOW YOUR IDENTITY TO BE REVEALED. Pay phones cannot be connected with any individual user, so it is difficult for cops to arrest you for false reporting. Never use a cell phone Do not use a computer. I would even say wipe the phone free of your fingerprints, or do not leave fingerprints at all. Cops even look for footprints if such can be found around phones in question.

2. Time: SPEND AS LITTLE TIME ON THE PHONE WITH THE COPS AS POSSIBLE, THEN LEAVE THE PHONE QUICKLY. Cops trace these calls, and they come very fast. Give out the information needed to be given, and then leave.

3. Content: Tell the cops that suspicious drug activity is going on at; (a) the house or business of a known PROHIBITIONIST or simply somebody you don’t like: DO NOT RAT OUT OTHER CONSUMERS OR DISTRIBUTORS, or (b) an outdoor grow op is being conducted at a REMOTE AND DIFFICULT TO ACCESS PLACE. Even neutral persons are okay to “bust”. Politicians are great! But all cannabis users are on the same side here, so know who the REAL enemy is and spare your brothers. But a bogus call concerning a prohibitionist will cause HIM to have his door kicked down. Sending cops to remote and difficult- to-access outdoor locales wastes their time and money. It will eventually exasperate judges issuing search warrants by casting “probable cause” into doubt in regards to anonymous tips.

4. Details: Always include a few details about the person or locale to be “busted”, to convince the cops that this is not just a prank call. Names work. License plates work. Locations work. Personal descriptions work. BUT DO NOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME DOING THIS. Tell the cops you have to go, as you think you might have been overheard. Hang up and leave discreetly but quickly.

The more often and the more people who call in such phoney tips, the more difficult it will be to trace these reports to any one person, the more time and money will be wasted by the cops, and the less credibility such calls will have. One must be very careful, as this could get you jail time if you are caught. But it will be a great help to every cannabis user in your area. If enough of this is done, soon judges will not sign warrants based only on “anonymous tips.”

-James Bong

Several folks from Keene, NH (FreeKeene.com) decided to pay the Keene Police a little visit on Friday, the day before Christmas Eve. Our, yes I was present as well, intention was to bring some Holiday cheer and a message to those at the Keene Police Station.

This holiday season I hope all those who are employed by tax dollars ask themselves one question, “If our job is so important why must the government force people to pay for it via taxation, whether they like the service being provided or not?” And if you come to the conclusion that individuals would pay you (voluntarily) to do what you do now, then quit your job and start your own business – without the government’s permission. Cause all I want for Christmas is a choice, something ALL police officers take from a person when they choose to work for Uncle Sam.

Enjoy the jingles.

Doug Wylie posted up an article Friday over at PoliceOne.com about the marijuana legalization debate and what cops have to say about the issue. What’s most surprising is the poll results he posted about stating that 44% of cops on the site are in favor of legalization or on the fence, which is up from a 2009 poll they conducted that only recieved 36% in favor or on the fence.

It’s best to start with the reason marijuana is illegal in the first place, a history that has much to do with racism, control, and protectionism. For most of human history marijuana has been legal, and it’s use dates back to 7,000 BC. It had many uses, it was used for food, clothes, rope, paper and many other things. As a matter of fact, the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. The first marijuana law in America was enacted in Jamestown Colony in 1619 ordering farmers to grow Indian hemp and you could actually be jailed for NOT growing hemp during shortages, it was even legal to pay your taxes with hemp at this time. The 1850 Census counted over 8,000 hemp farms in the US.

But then came the racism factor. In 1910 the Mexican revolution spread across the border and there started a rash of bad feelings between the smaller hemp farms and the larger ones who were using cheap Mexican labor. The Great Depression followed and when jobs became scarce, California passed a law outlawing “preparations of hemp” or “loco weed” as many Mexicans smoked marijuana.

Utah followed by outlawing marijuana after Mormons who traveled to Mexico were bringing the weed back to the state and smoking it. Targeting Mexican-Americans,  8 other states passed laws outlawing marijuana between 1915 and 1927. One Montana legislator, after the state outlawed marijuana in 1927, was quoted as saying,

When some beet field peon takes a few traces of this stuff… he thinks he has just been elected president of Mexico, so he starts out to execute all his political enemies.

A Texas legislator was quoted as saying,

All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy.

In the East, it was all about stopping the “Negroes” from smoking it, as it was part of the Jazz scene sweeping the Eastern United States. Said most newspapers in 1934

Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.

Alcohol prohibition was written into the Constitution because the view at the time was that the Feds did not have the power to outlaw alcohol and drugs (alcohol is a drug, so that’s like repeating yourself) therefore Congress passed the Harrison Act in 1914 to tax cocaine and opiates. If you did not follow the law you found yourself in a lot of trouble with the Treasury Department. Therefore, in 1930, the Treasury Department created the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, thus starting the all out war on marijuana. The following quotes are attributed to the founding Director Henry Anslinger

There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”

“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”

“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”

“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”

“Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing”

“You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.”

“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”

Anslinger then introduced the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, complete with racist remarks and stories of ax murderers who were high on the drug.  The legislation passed and the rest is history as they say.

Going back to the article in question, the debate was brought up after a Border Patrol agent  was fired for telling a coworker during idle chat that cross border violence would cease if the drug war was ended. A belief that isn’t really that uncommon amongst police officers. I know more than one police officer here in my small town that really has no problem with marijuana smokers. I’ve witnessed in person, a cop walk in on people smoking pot and done nothing about it, not even give them a warning.

But can a police officer actually be fired for voicing this opinion? It happens, as the New York Times has reported. Those cops in the story that were fired for their pro-legalization are now likely to win big settlements from their departments.

This revelation may upset some pro-drug war cops, like the ones cited in the PoliceOne article. It shows that alot of cops are actually against the drug war, and the poll numbers found by PoliceOne.com probably would be closer to 50/50 if more cops were not afraid of speaking out. But now that they are seeing they can speak out and win money because of it, you may see this more and more. I’d love to see the poll results in a couple years.

What these anti-legalization cops do not understand, is that their belief kills innocent, peaceful people. Domestic drug law enforcement has killed 48 people in 2011 (as of December 9), the latest being 24 year old Samyr Ceballos of Santa Monica, California. After being investigated by the police, he was followed home and tazed after refusing to get out of his SUV. Cops then claim he reached for his gun and was then shot and killed. Police are refusing to release the names of the officers after threats from a local gang.

Which brings me to my next point, gangs are what they are because of prohibition. Al Capone would have been a nobody had alcohol never been outlawed, and big time notorious gangsters these days would be nobodys if not for drugs being outlawed. When you outlaw something like drugs and weapons, it just goes underground, where lots of shady and dangerous people make a profit off of it. They will do whatever it takes to transport these things to the people that want them because the demand is still there. The more police crack down on drugs, the more dangerous the work becomes for the gangs to get their products to their clients, therefore the price of those illegal products rises.

And to be able to move the products, they have to buy off police officers, which is where corruption comes from. Border Agents, sheriff deputies and local cops everywhere are being bought off by drug cartels in order to look the other way when shipments come in to their jurisdiction. And can you really blame them? These people have families to feed and take care of and who can’t resist a little extra cash? Men are easily corruptible, a lesson I reinforce to my daughter everyday, it’s the danger of having too much power.

The Drug War is also costing alot of money to enforce, it pads the budgets of police departments, which is why a lot of cops are in favor of it. It allows them to get more money from the federal government, which they use to buy more guns and, nowadays, tanks. But police departments aren’t immune from this recession, as departments nationwide have been laying off officers to save money across the board. But Philadelphia found a way to fight back against this, they essentially decriminalized small amounts of marijuana posession and actually saved $2 million.

Michael S. Rozeff wrote a short piece on the Lew Rockwell blog over the summer about the unintended consequences of the drug war,

1. The state forbids something, like drugs.

2. Production MUST therefore be illegal, and production will occur because the demand doesn’t disappear when the drug is made illegal.

3. Going illegal is a necessary condition for all those who are willing to  produce and supply the drug. The profit motive remains, even heightens, and so there will always be people who will go illegal.

4. The people attracted into the illegal business are going to be the people who already have the least inhibitions about doing anything immoral and illegal. They are the ones most willing to take risks.

5. Competition is all within illegality. This means that moral rules that govern peaceful competition do not prevail among the suppliers. They therefore select among any actions and rules that bring them survival, profits, and growth. The most effective means of gaining market share and preventing the incursion of rivals within a situation of illegal rivalry will include a reputation and readiness to kill and maim so as to enforce one’s will.

6. The means include corrupting law enforcement. This is virtually a necessity and always occurs in these conditions. The results include gang warfare. It also includes uneasy peace among gangs and division into territories and fiefdoms.

7. The competition need not lead to the practices mentioned in this article whose aim is to find and groom the most merciless killers. Yet it probably happened in the 1920s gangs that this mode of competition also prevailed as the many stories of Capone suggest. Most gangster movies also depict that the more brutal gangsters rise to the top.

One thing the government is either ignorant about, or just ignores, is that they can’t even keep drugs out of their own prisons, so how they can they keep them out of the entire country? Marijuana, as is the case with most every outlawed drug, has many health benefits. One of the most recent findings is that it may make you a better driver.

An amazing study authored by professors D. Mark Anderson (University of Montana) and Daniel Rees (University of Colorado) shows that traffic deaths have been reduced in states where medical marijuana is legalized.According to their findings, the use of medical marijuana has caused traffic related fatalities to fall by nearly nine percent in states that have legalized medical marijuana (via The Truth About Cars).