Again, Police Commit Crimes, Go Unpunished

In a famous case, a police officer had been videotaped repeatedly beating with his baton (aka nightstick) a man who had been stopped for a traffic offense. The traffic offender was handcuffed while being beaten 12 or 15 times.

The officer was convicted of criminal wrongdoing. Guess what his punishment was. Probation.

Another policeman was charged with bilking a 90-year-old man out of his home, worth $500,000, plus his savings. He was convicted, and sentenced. Guess what his punishment was. Probation!

Maybe the judge in that case was in the pocket of the Fraternal Order of Police (the police union).

There have been other cases as well, where a police officer receives little or no meaningful punishment. There seems to be a different standard of justice for policemen who break the law.

This is outrageous. Is this a third-world country, where instruments of the government can break the law with impunity, beating and robbing the ordinary citizen, just because they are police?

Update, March 20, 2013
A recent story in our local (Chicago) news is of an off-duty police officer from the suburb of North Chicago, IL. This man allegedly was driving the wrong way on a Chicago expressway and thus caused a crash that killed two young men. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. Of course this suggests that he caused the crash ultimately because he was driving drunk.
This police officer is free on $500,000 bond. ("Free" may be theoretical because he is in the hospital.) The law requires that 10% of the bond be posted—thus, in this case, $50,000. The mothers of the two young men killed are outraged and assert that the police officer received lenient treatment (a low bond) because he is a policeman.
Another story, completely unrelated,in today's news makes me believe these two mothers are right. This news story is about a high school teacher accused of having sex with a student. His bond is $600,000. Thus the police officer who allegedly caused two deaths gets a lower bond than the accused teacher.

Copyright © 2011 by Richard Stein