UPDATE: There are some nice links and follow-on quotes in the comments.
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In a way, not at all surprising; and in another way, stunning display of casual (and life-destroying) corruption of power. The NY Daily News (h/t reddit blogger MR_Rictus):
A former NYPD narcotics detective snared in a corruption scandal testified it was common practice to fabricate drug charges against innocent people to meet arrest quotas.More here; ugly stuff. Years in prison for how many people? All for a better job assignment. What place in hell does that deserve?
The bombshell testimony from Stephen Anderson is the first public account of the twisted culture behind the false arrests in the Brooklyn South and Queens narc squads, which led to the arrests of eight cops and a massive shakeup.
Anderson, testifying under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, was busted for planting cocaine, a practice known as "flaking," on four men in a Queens bar in 2008 to help out fellow cop Henry Tavarez, whose buy-and-bust activity had been low.
"Tavarez was ... was worried about getting sent back [to patrol] and, you know, the supervisors getting on his case," he recounted[.]
To those cop defenders among you, this why people don't trust cops. Yes they do good. They also do this.
(And just a note: It's not for you guys to forgive yourselves. That job is for the victims. Ask them if cop culture is a net plus for them, or a net minus. Then listen.)
GP
