Posted on 08/12/2006 2:45:58 PM PDT by Enterprise
Angeles police officer assigned to the department's scandal-scarred Rampart Division was charged with making false arrests after he was caught in a sting operation, officials said.
Authorities said Officer Edward Beltran Zamora arrested two undercover officers for investigation of drug possession, although a surveillance video showed they had no drugs.
(Excerpt) Read more at fresnobee.com ...
I can't believe all he's up for is the POTENTIAL maximum of 3 years.
This is an absolutely dispicable thing to be accused of and the day we start holding LEOs truly responsible for the authority we vest in them will be the day they clean up the act of the department.
I'm well aware that this is the exception and that the large majority are good officers thanklessly involved in a service we all absolutely need. But..... There is entirely too much of this that goes on, too many cases that never see the light of day and too many people in prison where the evidence was actually planted (1 is too many).
This is a serious crime and IF he's guilty (leave that for the jury of course) then this rat @ssh0le deserves far more than 3 years and we all know he won't even get that. Intentionally charging people with a crime you know they are not guilty of should be a capital offense and yes I'm serious about that.
I was heavily in favor of asset forfeiture in the past, because drug dealers truly were laundering a vast amount of money by purchasing assets with money obtained by criminal means. And to me, that was grossly unfair to law abiding citizens. I agree that serious civil abuses are occurring because of the emphasis on asset forfeitures, even without a conviction, and sometimes for minor crimes. In essence, it is out of control. The asset forfeiture laws need serious revisions!
It's possible.
From day 1 it was a gross violation of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments to the Constitution, and it only got worse over time. The surest way to take money out of the hands of drug dealers is to legalize and regulate. The market would quickly drive down prices to the point where it was no longer attractive for a criminal enterprise. This of course is hardly a radical solution, being exactly how we solved the out of control organized-crime problem during Prohibition.
"What bothers me is that a good cop can get any number of good felony arrests without having to plant evidence. I will not paint all cops with a false arrest brush because I know it isn't true, but this just makes me burn!"
yeah but its easier to take some drugs outta evidence and plant it on an innocent. Then go back to eating donuts.
Are you unclear on what probably happened? Do you think a surveillance video just happened to be running and trained on the activity?
Not an unusual in a sting operation.
It's not likely that drugs would be taken out of evidence. It's more likely that a bad cop would keep evidence he seized from one person, and then plant it on someone else.
Yep, I suspect it will be a prison death penalty.
"Maybe he could oversee report writing or something? Anything but out on patrol."
I'm for putting him in prison with all the people he's arrested in the past.
Yeah, I'd go for that too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.