There is something vital and profoundly disturbing missing from Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of Donald Trump: police involvement. It’s possible some police officers were assigned to the prosecutor’s office, but if so, their names do not appear in the indictment (available here), nor, according to The Hill, there were no police officers among the 20 prosecution and two defense witnesses. I’ve been unable to find any evidence of police participation.
Graphic: YouTube Screenshot
So, no cops were apparently involved. So what?
The police are an essential initiator of criminal charges. They’re also a multi-layered filter for false and/or political charges against the innocent. Among their many duties, police supervisors are charged with ensuring every charge made by an officer is legitimate, untainted by laziness, personal animus or political dirty tricks. Supervisors at the rank of Lt. and Captain serve as further filters, reviewing all paperwork submitted to prosecutors to ensure police integrity. Tainted, bad cases blow back on every police officer, making an already difficult job harder and more dangerous, and professional agencies take preserving their integrity seriously.
The criminal justice process is supposed to begin with the police, with a predicate—a reason—to investigate any crime. The predicate may be a citizen report of a crime, which followed up by detectives yields a suspect. It may be information from informants, but in that case, the police are careful to confirm that information; they don’t just take any informant’s word. Or a police officer may simply witness someone committing a crime.
It's essential this process is followed. Without it, officers may decide, without a predicate, someone needs to go to jail. Supervisors at every level may fail in filtering. Failing to involve the police also wastes their training, knowledge and experience.