Outrage DuJour

Two police officers in the Kathryn Johnston case have pled guilty of manslaughter. They face 10 and 12 years in prison, respectively. They pled in exchange for testimony about the “culture of corruption” among narcotics officers in the Atlanta Police Department.

As I’ve written before, I’m not particularly fond of felony murder in principle, so I think this is an appropriate charge. And if the plea helps to uncover more fundamental problems with the way Atlanta police its drug crimes, all the better. And it looks like it’s doing exactly that.

We now know that Kathryn Johnston fired only a single bullet, through the door as police were trying to break in. They responded with a storm of bullets, which apparently both wounded Johnston and the officers themselves. When they realized their fatal error, they planted cocaine and marijuana in the woman’s home. They then pressured an uninvolved informant to testify to having made controlled buys at Johnston’s home to cover their tracks.

The New York Times is now reporting that the officers have told federal investigators that their behavior was not out of the ordinary. That corruption, planting evidence, and giving false testimony are routine at APD. That’s not surprising. The only way these officers could think they’d get away with all of this is if they were operating within a system that routinely allows for—or even encourages—such behavior. APD’s focus on arrest numbers and professional rewards for the big bust apparently incentivized such short cuts.

You have to wonder how common this is across the country. The planting of drugs has to be the oldest trick in the book. When the woman in question is 92 years old, theyblew their credibility out the window. But it’s not as simple for younger people. The cops proably get away with it all the time. Our prisons are full of people arrested on drug charges and the cost to tax payers is astronomical.

A good film that explores framing suspects is “A Thin Blue Line” by Errol Morris. It does happen. How common it is probably depends on the city, but whatever the number is, it’s too much.

Forget the war on terror, the war on Drugs has been a colossal waste of money and resources. Instead of sending users away we should be looking for solutions to the problem. Instead of busting people for things like marijuana, the police could be going after gangs instead.

Prohibition only made the mob rich and powerful. Drug prohibition has done the same and the war on drugs is not solving the problem. It’s time for some new tactics.

1. The whole idea of drug prohibition doesn`t make any sense. Why should you punish people who have decided to hurt themselves? What about those who get drunk every day? They don`t put them in jail before they hurt somebody. It`s pure discrimination.
   I am in the country that has some of the the most repressive drug prohibition laws(you can get more than 6 years for marijuana smoking)and we have the worst corruption among politicians and the police. And we are fourth in the EU for death from overdose among the young people. And you can find weed as easy as water.
   http://www.drugwarfacts.org/ Interesting site
   about the subject.

   Posted by  on  04/28  at  03:51 AM
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