Yeah, they may not have been guilty when he arrested them but they definitely may have been at some other time. Shame.
They have two previous disciplinary actions against him and he's still out there? If they couldn't uphold a termination against him, why not just sit his butt at a desk?
Perhaps their union is too powerful. But I think he should have been sat down a long time ago.
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.