[Ken H]

How about a zero tolerance approach to police misconduct. Start enforcing federal law =>

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18 U.S. Code § 242 - Deprivation of rights under color of law

Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both;

and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both;

and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.

[familyop]

"How about a zero tolerance approach to police misconduct. Start enforcing federal law...18 U.S. Code § 242 - Deprivation of rights under color of law"

The way to do that is to contact the Public Integrity Section (PIN) in the Department of Justice after first contacting the state attorney general's office and FBI office. A stronger Public Integrity Section can be attained by demanding it from legislators, by the way. It's the job of the PIN, but FBI agents carry out the work an affected locale. So FBI candidates also need to be trained more to do such investigations and follow through on those assignments.

One needed method would be for agents to establish more ongoing, casual, two-way communications with witnesses (assets) local to the corruption. That would help to solve the problem of lack of evidence against the good ol' boy type gangsters. One thing to bear in mind, is that cases involving bad guys supported by local politics often take long periods of time to solve. It has to do with the nature of the crime and local paradigms of fear.

It's no fun to be on the receiving end of local corruption. Victims are most often unable to defend themselves due to lack of income...hear me out here. Look at some of the amounts needed for legal fees in cases with appeals or moves into federal courts required. The costs for effective home security alone can be very high, and we're dealing hypothetically with experts in using laws, drug dealers and public officials to commit crimes. Most hard working people cannot afford to defend themselves against criminals backed by both parts of a local system and thugs who might come from anywhere.

So the "you're-not-going-to-arrest-my-son" (or "nephew") kind of criminal can be pretty hard to catch. The only way that I know of is to work with the Public Integrity Section, and we need a larger and stronger PIN. Such a criminal might be someone who is well known in local business circles and contributes to local charities for "political" reasons alone. The kingpin or local official gang can be quite cruel to anyone who is seduced into a web of vices or suspected of being a snitch.

Another tactic used by organized criminals, by the way, is that of falsifying criminal histories of favorite sons in organized crime. It's a federal violation but one that is unenforced in at least many cases *in some locales.* Most often, it's done with both police reports and conviction records by either putting a record under the name of the victim of the crime instead of the name of the criminal (accused/convicted) or misspelling the name of the criminal.

There are many other tactics, and the crimes do include murders of not only prostitutes and drug addicts but innocent people.