Forget cops shooting dogs for no reason

[Balog]

Baltimore PD is stepping up its game and slitting the throat of a dog that even the other cops describe as "under control" and "not showing aggression." I'm glad to see the guy who did it is being charged. I have a very cynical view on 1 whether he will be convicted 2 whether he will lose his job 3 if the union will appeal it all and get him full back pay and benefits.

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/police-dogs-throad-cut-officer-charged-with-animal-cruelty/26553714?_escaped_fragment_=0FNxC#

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-police-dog-killing-20140618,0,796700.story

Witnesses at the scene told police that Bolger, who has worked in the department's Special Operations Section since 1992, was talking about killing the animal as he got out of his vehicle.
"I'm going to [expletive] gut this thing," witnesses heard him say, according to the charging document.

Is that their SWAT team?

Police are also investigating whether other officers who knew of the incident followed procedure to report it. Commanders said they "caught wind of it Monday," two days later.

[T.O.M.]

SWAT is falling out of favor in many places.  County where I am has a STAR Team (Sheriff's TActical Response) and the PD has a SOG Team (Special Operations Group).  As to the OP, I predict a plea bargain and resignation.  Can't make it go away with national attention and animal lovers upset, and resignation lets him move away and get a new job in law enforcement.

[Balog]

SWAT is falling out of favor in many places.  County where I am has a STAR Team (Sheriff's TActical Response) and the PD has a SOG Team (Special Operations Group).  As to the OP, I predict a plea bargain and resignation.  Can't make it go away with national attention and animal lovers upset, and resignation lets him move away and get a new job in law enforcement.

I assume you mean the term SWAT itself, not the actual teams?

And  to the bold.

Even if he's convicted there's always Tennessee...

[KD5NRH]

Witnesses at the scene told police that Bolger, who has worked in the department's Special Operations Section since 1992,

Is that their SWAT team?

No, it's their crew for operations that could normally be handled by the guys that lick the windows of the little SWAT vehicle.  Obviously this one had been eating the lead paint too.

Police are investigating whether the knife used was issued by police.

Uh, who cares?  Unless there's some extra penalty for using city property in a crime, or misusing an issued knife rather than a personal one will help the case for his termination, I'm pretty sure there are better lines of investigation in this case.

[KD5NRH]

Even if he's convicted there's always Tennessee...

Isn't that where Terrell Bolton ended up after Dallas and Atlanta fired him for laundry lists of excellent reasons?

[Balog]

Isn't that where Terrell Bolton ended up after Dallas and Atlanta fired him for laundry lists of excellent reasons?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2467767/posts

[Balog]

Second cop is suspended, apparently he was the one that held the dog down.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/06/19/baltimore-city-officer-faces-felony-animal-abuse-charges-after-slitting-dogs-throat/

[makattak]

As always, the part that REALLY bothers me is not that some random psychopath is a police officer (although his having been on for 22 years does give me pause.)

The most bothersome part is the cover-up by the other officers. EVERY TIME these things happen, the other officers back the psychopath. That is what has damaged my trust in police officers: knowing they are not likely to do the right thing if another police officer does wrong.

[KD5NRH]

The most bothersome part is the cover-up by the other officers. EVERY TIME these things happen, the other officers back the psychopath. That is what has damaged my trust in police officers: knowing they are not likely to do the right thing if another police officer does wrong.

Exactly; it leads me to wonder just what skeletons are in their closets, too.

[Hawkmoon]

The most bothersome part is the cover-up by the other officers. EVERY TIME these things happen, the other officers back the psychopath. That is what has damaged my trust in police officers: knowing they are not likely to do the right thing if another police officer does wrong.

QFT

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

The most bothersome part is the cover-up by the other officers. EVERY TIME these things happen, the other officers back the psychopath. That is what has damaged my trust in police officers: knowing they are not likely to do the right thing if another police officer does wrong.

Hence my belief that there are no "good" cops out there. Just different degrees of bad. And I profile. Any cop is a bad cop that can hurt me or mess my life up.

[brimic]

Exactly; it leads me to wonder just what skeletons are in their closets, too.

Its a great career path for those who start out as bullies in junior high/high school.

[AJ Dual]

Exactly; it leads me to wonder just what skeletons are in their closets, too.

This, or the good cops, or just-not-as-dirty cops know other psychopath/sociopath cops will arrange their demise, throw a bag of coke and money in your car and call IA, or just kill you, and blame it on some random thug. True some of the "thin blue line" is a somewhat positive "We gotta stick together because of the dangers and demands of our job the others don't just understand!", the flipside is just the gang-like behavior that can emerge in any group or subculture.

And yes, 99% of cops are good cops or whatever, but when the city PD is (Such as my city of Milwaukee) is roughly 1300 sworn/armed officers at any given time...  A 1% bad-apple rate means there's 13 other psychopath/sociopaths who are armed, have police training, equipment, and access to information, an understanding of evidence and legal proceedings, and who benefit from operating under color of law at any given time.  

I wouldn't be a very popular mayor or chief, but some sort of tamper-proof video recording system in cars and on-body would be required if I ever ran a department.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/20/police-emails-indicate-plan-to-hide-the-use-of-cellphone-spying-devices-from-courts/

I used to think 99% of cops were good. Then I woke up.

[tokugawa]

I am thankful my local Sheriffs dept seems to be well run. The officers I have met have been prompt, professional and courteous.
 

[roo_ster]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/20/police-emails-indicate-plan-to-hide-the-use-of-cellphone-spying-devices-from-courts/

I used to think 99% of cops wee good. Then I woke up.

Yeah, any LEO touching that ^^^ is dirty by definition.  He may not be beating a confession out of some street thug, he's just giving the COTUS a working-over.

[brimic]

Yeah, any LEO touching that ^^^ is dirty by definition.  He may not be beating a confession out of some street thug, he's just giving the COTUS a working-over.

You are right. Any cop who hasn't turned in his resignation yet, is not to be trusted.
This comes down right from the top. Stingray units are gifts doled out by DHS to local PDs. There was a news article about a week ago about how the Scumbag in Chief warned police departments to not talk about the capabilities of Stingray.




http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/06/12/us-pushing-local-cops-to-stay-mum-on-surveillance

In a few years, America will make East Germany look like a bunch of pikers.

[fifth_column]

I'd like to think that the majority of cops are decent human beings.  At my most optimistic guesstimate maybe 51% of sworn police officers would do the right thing regardless of consequences.  Although it seems likely that's a high estimate.  If we include reporting those cops that abuse their power as "doing the right thing," then the vast majority of cops are in fact, bad cops. 

I suspect most of the decent humans have already left the police force, rather than sacrifice their integrity.