Police: Accused Officer Has 'Credibility Issues': MyFoxPHOENIX.com
This scenario not only addresses the Brady List, it indirectly touches on banishment. The victim (who has the crack pipe placed on her by police) is a homeless person with mental disabilities who presumably has had issues with drugs in the past. This profile tends to be the target person for banishment rules. Where the two subjects intersect is the blatant display of abuse of power (a concern addressed by Beckett and Herbert) on the part of all the police officers involved that ultimately lead to one of them being put on the Brady List. However, what is not detailed in this report is that after this incident, the same officer (Richard Chrisman) was involved in a questionable shooting killing a Phoenix man, Daniel Rodriguez, and his dog.
An interesting thing to note about this situation is that in neither situation was Officer Chrisman’s wrongdoings punished as a result of citizen reports. In the homeless woman incident, it was two security guards that caught the incident on video cameras and in the shooting incident it was another officer. I have a feeling that although the incident with the homeless woman was caught on camera it isn’t the first time that this officer was accused of doing something of questionable conduct. The fact that he was riding around with drug paraphernalia and went as far as to take the woman to jail for questioning (even though he stated he placed the crack pipe on her just to “get a rise out of her”) shows that
he would see a process through at the expense of a person’s civil liberties. It seems the city of Phoenix is taking the steps given in the example of the Eldorado PD and modernizing the department with a new officer mentality that doesn’t hide behind the Blue Shield and has a greater concern for what is right. The fact that they actually fired the officer and allowed him to be prosecuted based on their internal investigation shows progress and that they are more in touch with the community.
After reading ahead to the "Homeroom Security" article in the reader today, one problem the "face" of public law enforcement has in schools is retaining it's legitimacy to the students. This is mostly due to the fact that officers joke around or act more colloquially with the students to build a rapport so they can receive tips from offenders' friends. The problem with law officers losing legitimacy as an authoritative power is that the people they are trying to protect will act out more since they feel as though there is no sense of justice or fairness anyways.
ReplyDeleteThis article on the slipping legitimacy of cops in schools gives me more reason to believe that cops on the streets that have been put on the Brady List deserve to be treated very harshly with punitive measures. The damage done by cops who make law enforcement as a whole is hard to reverse and its affects may not be felt until much later.
Additionally I feel that knowing that there is internal policing of law enforcement officers makes me feel safer and trusts the system more. The whole idea that the authoritative power of law enforcement officers hinges on whether or not the public views them as legitimate (in this case handing out fair and just punitive measures to all citizens) harks back on the Captain's presentation who spoke in class last week as well.
I like the way you connected the Brady List back to Banishment and the ideas presented by Beckett and Herbert. In light of the events you mentioned, as well as many other recent events, including the Oscar Grant incident and the Occupy Movements, I think that there are an overwhelmingly large proportion of police officers who are abusing their powers, and not getting punished for their actions. They are supposed to "serve and protect," but many times, they inflict damage and get their cases acquitted or receive only minimum punishments. In the brutal killing of Oscar Grant, Officer Mehserle received a 3 year sentence for "involuntary manslaughter." I was extremely surprised at this disproportional sentence. I think that, due to the immense amount of discretion that police officers have, they frequently see themselves as above the law, and they always know that if they slip up, they will always find another job because it runs as an "Old Boys Network." It's unfortunate, and I think that Internal Affairs needs to be doing a better job at the administration of justice for police officers. The fact that people have problems trusting the police should come as no surprise. People lose faith in law enforcement when they witness and experience racial profiling, discrimination,corruption, and wrongful behaviors from the very people who are supposed to keep us safe.
ReplyDelete^^^M.E.
DeleteI definitely agree that police officers should be held accountable for their actions, whether their actions are recorded or not. I would also hope that most police officers go into law enforcement with good intentions, but I can understand how issues such as racism or socio-economic discrimination arise after years of dealing with criminals from "high risk backgrounds", who are often of the same race and economic status. From a psychological perspective, it may be difficult for an officer to avoid feelings of disgust and superiority, and to avoid acting upon these feelings after years on the job. It is undeniably unethical for them to do so in an aggressive manner.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in cases such as the shooting of Oscar Grant, and other "accidental" shootings in diverse cities such as Oakville, there is certainly a gray area. The police and the law believed that Office Mesherle undoubtedly made a mistake when he reached for his gun, not based upon negative feelings toward the victim, but simply because he was temporarily confused. Whether this is true or not, I think it is important to remember that MANY officers have never drawn their gun and MANY more have never shot someone in the line of duty. In high adrenaline situations, we are all just human after all.
Allison B.
Eldorado is also taking steps to update and modernize its police department and this story while displaying corruption and banishment also demonstrates why surveillance is generally viewed in such a high regard. It is with the help of the video that the police department was clearly able to review these officers actions as well as review their past and future actions in light of this situation. It is easy to see why the new Eldorado chief of police views modernizing the police force as a way to advance the city as a whole.
ReplyDeleteC.L.
This is an excellent example of how surveillance can be utilized to keep law enforcement honest while doing their job. As Eldorado is "modernizing" their police force, it is important to ensure that these officers act according to the rule of law when enforcing these laws. As we saw last week with the police officer threatening to "make up" evidence against two men being accused of robbery, this video presented here is not an isolated incident. If Eldorado is going to maintain the trust of the community, it will need these tools to ensure their efforts of community policing are just, and contribute to an environment all residents of Eldorado can enjoy, and not just those of a certain ethnicity or race. In Banishment, we saw cases where innocent people were being issued injunctions for doing this as little as visiting family members who are located in a drug area. The problems in Oakville are similar to the issues presented in Banished, and it is important that they learn from the mistakes of Seattle so they do not repeat them in the future.
ReplyDeleteC. Riley
It is sad to believe that issues like this, and in some cases much more severe and life damaging, happen to take place more often then we would like to believe on a nationwide basis. Though there are many officers who honor the law and respect the rights of each individual, there are still some who have no good intentions whatsoever, usually targeting those that are low income or helpless like the homeless mentally ill woman in this situation. Because she has a history of drug use does not justify wrongly accusing a person of unlawful actions. Issues like this are happening in places like Oakville where people who have previous convictions are picked up on suspicion of committing crimes similar to before, and even convicted without even really repeating the offense.
ReplyDeleteAfter hearing from the Berkeley and Oakland Police Department, I definitely see the importance of having accountability within law enforcement. As the captain said today in lecture, it is because law enforcement officers have the power to take away people's liberties and rights that they should be held under strict scrutiny. The Brady List really debunks the stigma that the police officers work outside of the law - because as shown by this article and from lectures, they are actually held to higher professional standards than most institutions. I think this article ties in with the Eldorado Police Department because both deal with issues of the rising population of homeless people. Furthermore, because the Eldorado police officers are looking into stricter immigration laws, it is especially relevant and crucial for them to remain professional in their arrests. I think the key point in all this is to say that if high standards of professionalism and codes of conduct were not reinforced for law enforcement officers, then the whole purpose of having a police department would seem contradictory to preventing crimes from happening. The police would become those who terrorize rather than those who prevent. - ML
ReplyDeleteI too was intrigued by the concept of "The Brady List" as presented last week in lecture by OPD. I think a major concern of the people involving the police is the question, "Who polices the police?" Surely, an institution with so much power must have a system of checks and balances to keep them from growing too powerful. Capt. Upton reaffirmed this concern in class today when he stated that since BPD has a substantial amount of power, they are held to such a high standard. In section, we discussed hypothetical checks-and-balances groups to police departments, specifically Cop Watch. I'm not sure if, and to what degree, these organizations actually exist, but in this video it appears that all police persecution has come from within the department (internal affairs). This also reflects the lecture given today by BPD who claimed that most police misconduct was reported from within. DC made a comment about how the disciplining of the police officer accused with planting evidence shows a parallel to the El Dorado police who are currently modernizing their department. I disagree with this however. I do not think the discipling of the mentioned officer shows any kind of modernization as discussed in the El Dorado piece. Rather, I believe this shows the culture of that particular department; the willingness to acknowledge and discipline the misconduct of the officer reflects the values of that particular district and department, but not necessarily any modernization. I believe modernization would best be presented in the form of measures that would help prevent events like planting drug paraphernalia. Discipline isn't strictly a modern concept. I think what the El Dorado piece is trying to convey is the fact that EDPD is modernizing in terms of equipment and technology targeted at preventing criminal activity and the facilitation the apprehension of criminals.
ReplyDeleteTJ MAX
I too had never heard of the Brady list until the other day and I am glad that you took on this topic this week. I had never really thought before about how big of a deal Internal Affairs is within police departments until we had these two presentations with OPD and BPD. I obviously knew that there were crooked cops and there were incidents that happened that would question the integrity of an officer or a department. I am from Oakland and was very disturbed when the shooting of Oscar Grant took place a few years ago. I was glad that the incident was caught on several cameras because without that evidence, who knows when or if that shooting would have been reported and followed up on. In this day and age, cameras are making it so much easier to keep an eye on potential criminals, but also potential cops that are committing crimes themselves.
ReplyDeleteI am glad they have this "Brady list" for cops that have had continual issues with their integrity. The problem I have is how little trouble these cops get in for stuff like this. That cop got a day off work because of this bull shit. The shooter of Oscar Grant got 2 years in prison and got out after only 1. how is this justice? why are these cops put on such a pedestol that they can get away with this kind of behavior. For this, I am grateful for this list to hopefully fire several more cops that are just too full of themselves to actually protect and serve the community like they should
In the city of ElDorado, there is a population of street workers which the police may feel that they need to deal with. Although we do not known if any of the police officers in Eldorado, Emerald City or Oakville might be corrupt, one can expect that there might be a "Brady List" for officers in that county. I wonder how the corruption in the police department might be linked to the building of a new Target store in the area. Target cases are probably placed on the front burned, while street workers and child prostitution are placed on the back burner in some areas. Eldorado and the surrounding cities might benefit from this type of Brady List.
ReplyDelete-- A. Rice
This article is an excellent example of how the police are getting better at regulating themselves. While they are nowhere near perfect, the presence of internal affairs and the brady list do have keep some level of accountability within the police force. I'm glad to see the police being held at these high level standards because they receive so much power to regulate our freedoms that they must also be held in check. This article also shows how modern surveillance systems do help protect the interests of citizens by checking potentially dangerous street activity. In this case, it was proven that the homeless woman wasn't doing drugs. In relationship to Eldorado, since the police department is attempting to modernize, it would do well to have an effective internal affairs department that keeps track of its officers.
ReplyDelete- R. Wang
It was both interesting and sad to see the video of officer Chrisman totally abusing his powers as a police officer. Not only were his actions extremely inappropriate but they also could have lead to a more serious situation, what if the women had become violent after the accusation? Would she still have not been charged? What is clearly highlighted here and from the presentation by the Berkeley PD is that it is necessary to have a reliable police force in place, a force that is fully aware of the community that it is dealing with. Eldorado as a whole is currently going through a lot of changes, with groups of people moving in and out so it is important that the police department is aware of the changes and is able to adapt its techniques to suit the change. The video also shows the importance of the Brady list as a way of punishing officers but I would argue to be effective it needs to be more strictly enforced then it appears to have been with officer Chrisman. If punishment mechanism appear to be too light then distrust for the police is likely to occur.
ReplyDeleteSiobhan Livingston