By now, I'm sure at least a few of you have heard about this.
A Police Joint Task Force conducted a raid on a home not far from me here in Florida.
| Quote: |
In March, police stormed the Lakeland home of convicted drug dealer Michael Difalco with guns drawn and flashlights at the ready. But searching for drugs is hard work and what the crack squad of officers thought they really needed was an invigorating game of bowling.
Fortunately Difalco had a Nintendo Wii and a big screen TV at the ready! |
| Quote: |
| The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, which conducted the raid, says its mission is to reduce drug trafficking in the most critical areas of the country, thereby reducing its impact in other areas. It is not clear how video games became involved in the mission. |
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/22/crimesider/entry5329251.shtml
Don't get me wrong, I am glad they busted a drug dealer, and I hope the video doesn't cause any problems for their case. But seriously, is this how highly regarded Law Enforcement Officers should conduct themselves during what seems to be a semi-major drug bust? Some people get fired for using their cell phones or sneaking out for a smoke at their jobs, and they aren't given the responsibilities of taking down drug lords.
I don't think these cops should lose their jobs, but this is not what they get paid for.
A hypothetical situation:
Let's say this guy got off on a technicality or something.
Now what if there ware more evidence against him that went unnoticed(and was more solid), but may have been found, had the extra sets of eyes and hands been doing their jobs rather than playing video games.
This is why cops need to be "all business, all the time", when they are on the job.
Most likely, their case against the suspect will be fine.
But this kind of thing could have the potential to change that. Wow; that is pretty crazy.. and kind of sad that the state supports that kind of negligence, in my opinion. Well, at least the subjects aren't caught in some more incriminating act.
I can't remember where it was, but a while back a female officer and her older male superior were caught on camera making out(and almost more) right there in the car. Worst part was, there was a prisoner in the back.
These cops need to get their crap together.
That isn't right. Sure, those cops have a hard job and they are likely under a lot of stress, but playing games, that aren't even their own, only 20 minutes into a raid is not something they should be doing. These people are payed to protect us and prevent crime and most of the time they don't seem to do what they need to do. When they are on the job, they are on the job. They shouldn't be playing video games.
That's how I feel.
I mean, what if there was a guy hiding in the house that they didn't see, and he busted out with an assault rifle and shot a couple of the cops in the head? They need to keep on point when they are working, especially when they are in the middle of something like a high profile drug raid... I mean, they found weapons in that place, acting in such an immature and careless fashion could have gotten people hurt or killed.
We have a "Discuss World News" section here at Frihost.
The description: "Discuss World News - Here you can discuss all recent news items, whether they are internet-related or not."
Wow. I was totally unaware of the "Discuss World News" section.
Geez. Some folks are such nit pickers. Contact a mod and get it moved then, as it obviously bothers you so much.
At first I thought, whats the big deal? but nine hours? according to the video. wow
Interesting Video and report thanks Ophois. Must say you live in a scary town. Maybe I've watched too many "Miami Vice" shows but looks as though you are living a high-risk life, this being so close to your home. I have to agree with carlospro though, what is the big deal with watching a pinball show during such a long nine hour session. The equivalent of someone who has a major clean up in a hotel room, and then turn on the television to look at a soapie, or maybe it could be a music video, then take a break and do a wiggle dance.
I'm curious though, at what stage did the pinball game become a big deal? I assume it was the police in the tape who handed the tape in as evidence so maybe the police had not thought it a big deal up to that point? Or maybe they had missed it?
Looks as though the nine hour session was worth it though. They really nailed Difalco? Which is great.
The part that was really bad for me though and has to be disciplined if it were true, is making out in a car while there was someone arrested in the back seat. Apart from conduct unbecoming a policeman in public, I thought there were clear rules about partners being involved, as that could have a negative affect on their judgment and endanger both them and the people they need to protect?
| deanhills wrote: |
| Interesting Video and report thanks Ophois. Must say you live in a scary town. Maybe I've watched too many "Miami Vice" shows but looks as though you are living a high-risk life, this being so close to your home. |
Florida is a huge import zone for international drug dealers. All the shiny glamor and art deco of Miami that was built during the 70's and 80's was directly funded by the cocaine cartels. Even after hurricane Andrew in the early 90's, drug money helped to rebuild Homestead. Florida is crazy. | Quote: |
| I have to agree with carlospro though, what is the big deal with watching a pinball show during such a long nine hour session. |
Well, it's not that big of a deal in retrospect, because everything seems to have turned out Ok. But had things gone bad, per my hypothetical situations, their little video game session would have been directly to blame. You can't really compare them to a maid service who watches TV, because they are in a much higher risk situation, with guns and drugs being involved. And if somehow their case were to fall apart, they would be left wondering if they hadn't missed something in the search due to the fact that they were not as focused as they should have been. | Quote: |
| I'm curious though, at what stage did the pinball game become a big deal? I assume it was the police in the tape who handed the tape in as evidence so maybe the police had not thought it a big deal up to that point? Or maybe they had missed it? |
If I remember, the tape was turned over by DeFalco's lawyers in an attempt to hurt the police's case. It didn't seem to work, but obviously it hurts their credibility a bit. | Quote: |
| The part that was really bad for me though and has to be disciplined if it were true, is making out in a car while there was someone arrested in the back seat. |
This was from a different case. I can't remember where it was and don't feel like looking it up now. Most Police Departments have strict policies prohibiting officers from becoming romantically involved, and this was especially bad because it was between and officer and her superior, which could look like 'sexual favors in trade for career advancement'. The funny thing is, the camera that caught them was the surveillance camera in the Police cruiser that is set up to monitor the suspect in the back. You would think they would have thought about it. | Ophois wrote: |
| Most Police Departments have strict policies prohibiting officers from becoming romantically involved, and this was especially bad because it was between and officer and her superior, which could look like 'sexual favors in trade for career advancement'. The funny thing is, the camera that caught them was the surveillance camera in the Police cruiser that is set up to monitor the suspect in the back. You would think they would have thought about it. |
The whole thing was amazingly bad. Like something that could only happen in the movies, but in Florida, I guess much of everything is possible. I wonder whether they could have been intoxicated as well. You're right however, especially for an officer and superior that has to be really dim. Hope it was worth it though 
Here it is.
| Quote: |
PERRY TOWNSHIP, OH (WOIO) - Perry Township Police Chief Timothy Escola resigned this week after a tipster called and said the Chief was having sexy time in his police cruiser with a part-time police officer.
Upon checking police cruiser dash cam, investigators found evidence they needed against the Chief and the part-time employee who were engaging in romantic exchanges while transporting a prisoner! |
http://www.woio.com/Global/story.asp?S=10625750
Not just a superior, but the Chief of Police! Stupid stupid stupid! | Ophois wrote: |
Here it is.
| Quote: | PERRY TOWNSHIP, OH (WOIO) - Perry Township Police Chief Timothy Escola resigned this week after a tipster called and said the Chief was having sexy time in his police cruiser with a part-time police officer.
Upon checking police cruiser dash cam, investigators found evidence they needed against the Chief and the part-time employee who were engaging in romantic exchanges while transporting a prisoner! |
http://www.woio.com/Global/story.asp?S=10625750
Not just a superior, but the Chief of Police! Stupid stupid stupid! |
You'd think that the police of all people would know to not do it in front of cameras!
In the military, stuff like that could get you criminal charges, not just fired... perhaps that needs to be expanded to other important services. | Ophois wrote: |
Wow. I was totally unaware of the "Discuss World News" section.
Geez. Some folks are such nit pickers. Contact a mod and get it moved then, as it obviously bothers you so much. |
I take it you are unaware of the current problem we are having here at Frihost.
If you'd take a minute to just look around Frihost, you would notice there is a lot more here than just Discuss World News you did not know about.
Recent sticky made by Helios: http://www.frihost.com/forums/vt-110328.html (this was made before you posted your thread).
Recent Threads in Suggestions about spam/wrong threads in General Chat:
http://www.frihost.com/forums/vt-110357.html
http://www.frihost.com/forums/vt-107899.html
http://www.frihost.com/forums/vt-110173.html
Believe me, that is not all that is in the Suggestions forums. There is a shortage of active staff members, and cannot keep away all the spam. You, as a member, should be helping Frihost keeping this place clean.
There are people here at Frihost that would like to discuss world news topics, yet not everyone looks in the General Chat section. In respect to the staff that make Frihost happen for YOU, all topics should be posted in the correct category.
Sorry to "nit pick" at your thread, and I'm extremely sorry that it has upset you. I in no way intended to upset you, but rather to remind you we have many, many different categories here at Frihost for just about anything. | ocalhoun wrote: |
You'd think that the police of all people would know to not do it in front of cameras!
In the military, stuff like that could get you criminal charges, not just fired... perhaps that needs to be expanded to other important services. |
The Chief wasn't even fired, he resigned. He should have been punished in some way or another, for making his whole department look bad. He was the boss, and if he was acting like a fool, one has to wonder what kind of things were going on down in the lower ranks. | Ophois wrote: |
| The Chief wasn't even fired, he resigned. |
Well, that's usually how it is for people of high rank...
They 'step down' or 'resign' or have the infamous 'forced to resign'.
It's because there's too much difficulty involved in actually 'firing' someone that high up. | Ghost Rider103 wrote: |
| If you'd take a minute to just look around Frihost, you would notice there is a lot more here than just Discuss World News you did not know about. |
I knew about it. My comment was something called 'sarcasm'. | Quote: |
| Sorry to "nit pick" at your thread, and I'm extremely sorry that it has upset you. I in no way intended to upset you, but rather to remind you we have many, many different categories here at Frihost for just about anything. |
You have not upset me in any way at all. I mentioned to you that you could have the thread moved by a Mod(it's not something I can do). Gee whiz, I'm sorry I placed the thread in the wrong section, surely didn't mean to cause so much confusion. There was another thread in the 'General' section which talked about police giving fraudulent tickets, so I figured this went along the same lines. More of a piss and moan session about corrupt cops, rather than a News thread. If I'm wrong on that, then by all means, have it moved. | Ophois wrote: |
| There was another thread in the 'General' section which talked about police giving fraudulent tickets, so I figured this went along the same lines. More of a piss and moan session about corrupt cops, rather than a News thread. |
Totally agreed. I would have done the same, and probably have done it many times before as well. The discussion was about the behaviour, not really an event. But I could have been wrong in that too, depending on how the moderators sees it. Sometimes there is a very fine line between where the chat threads belong. But if a moderator should feel it should be moved, obviously it would not be a biggie, we will just follow it where it goes. | deanhills wrote: |
| But if a moderator should feel it should be moved, obviously it would not be a biggie, we will just follow it where it goes. |
Yeah, the only reason I even mentioned a specific case of Police acting idiotic was to get the thread started about how dumb the Police seem to be acting here in Florida. Hence, the title of the thread.
And now, moving onto another bunch of stupid Florida cops.
| Quote: |
| Alexandra Torrensvilas was the target of cops who pinned a DUI on her for an accident they caused. Now she has been cleared of charges after the Broward State Attorney's Office officially dropped the four DUI citations on Wednesday. |
| Quote: |
Throughout the tape, the cops acknowledged what they are doing is illegal, but when you are the law, there is nothing wrong with bending it for a fellow cop, one says.
"I don't lie and make things up ever because it's wrong, but if I need to bend it a little bit to protect a cop, I'll do it," Pressley tells Francisco after reassuring him no one will ever find out. "She's freaking hammered anyway." |
Full article here.
This was a strange case. If you watch the video, you can hear the cops organizing their stories so as not to contradict each other, as the accident was clearly the cops fault(he rear ended her, and in the US, the person who does the rear ending is almost always at fault). What makes it tricky is the fact that the girl did test positive for DUI(driving under the influence of alcohol).
Had he not run into her, would he have pulled her over? Maybe. If he had, it would have been a standard DUI case. But if he hadn't, well then... we have a saying here, "It's only illegal if you get caught". I do not condone drunk driving at all, after all, I'm a Paramedic and I have to deal with the aftermath of this kind of thing regularly. The thing is, when a cop lies about the details of an arrest, even if the arrest itself was legitimate, then it gets thrown out because the credibility of the cop is brought to question. That's why illegal searches negate the evidence in cases.
So she was drunk, apparently she even admitted it. But I'm glad it got thrown out. I'd rather have a DUI thrown out, even when it was legit, than have Police corruption go unnoticed or unpunished. The State Attorney is doing an investigation, as of this article, and I hope they get canned. I mean, if they are willing to lie and frame a girl for an auto accident, how far would they go if one of them were to accidentally shoot an innocent person?I have a problem with this. Does another wrong make an existing wrong right? She was driving under the influence of liquor and admitted that. So she should be charged with DUI whether the officers had conspired against her or not. All of them were guilty. The only good part was that the police had removed her from her car so that she would not continue with driving.
But yes, ain't that stupid of the police as well. Hope they will be severely dealt with. How can the public have trust in guys like that, sort of becomes really scary.
| Quote: |
| I have a problem with this. Does another wrong make an existing wrong right? She was driving under the influence of liquor and admitted that. So she should be charged with DUI whether the officers had conspired against her or not. |
The thing is, when the cops lie about any part of the arrest, or search, or seizure of evidence, or lie about how they investigated any part of the case, the entire case has to be thrown out. If not, then we give are giving them permission to perform illegal search and seizures, plant evidence, and as they did here, conspire to frame someone for something that was not their fault.
Drunk or not, the accident was not the girls fault, the cop simply used the accident to subject her to a DUI test in hopes of letting himself off the hook. If he had been following the letter of the law, he should have owned up to the accident being his fault, and through the course of taking her statement could still have nailed her for a DUI. This scumbag cop was just trying to remove himself from danger of having to pay for her truck being wrecked and him getting in any trouble.
Funny thing is, this girl had been driving drunk for who knows how long, and who turned out to be more of a danger on the road? A jerk-off cop. A presumably sober cop who thinks his badge gives him permission to be above the law.
| Quote: |
| All of them were guilty. The only good part was that the police had removed her from her car so that she would not continue with driving. |
But who is to say she wouldn't have made it home safely? That's the thing; unless she did something that warranted a breath test for alcohol, he had no business giving it. I will even give him the benefit of the doubt and say that once she got out of the truck, he could tell she was drunk. Fine. But covering up, and framing her for, his own negligence, voids his entire case. I'm just as happy that he got her off the road, I just wish he would have done it legally.
It's easier to get a crooked politician fired than a crooked cop. With cops, it tends to go unnoticed, unreported, and unpunished. Yet cops have a closer relationship to the population, on a person to person basis, than politicians. They have more of a direct effect on us too, so they should have a closer eye kept on them.In a way its sad but at the same time kinda funny. Cops are in the middle of a drug raid and see the Wii and get drawn to it. That will be used for the next Wii commercial as to how addictive the console really is.
Interesting news bit though. 
| Ophois wrote: |
| Drunk or not, the accident was not the girls fault, the cop simply used the accident to subject her to a DUI test in hopes of letting himself off the hook. |
Right, but the girl was still drunk. He was at least technically doing his job.
If it had been a homicide, and she had admitted to it, and he wanted to cover up stealing money from a robbery that led to the homicide, hoping he could pin that on her. Would they have let her free if they found out that he had tried to cover himself? | Ghost900 wrote: |
In a way its sad but at the same time kinda funny. Cops are in the middle of a drug raid and see the Wii and get drawn to it. That will be used for the next Wii commercial as to how addictive the console really is.
Interesting news bit though. |
Now that would be classic!
| deanhills wrote: |
| Right, but the girl was still drunk. He was at least technically doing his job. |
He was doing part of his job. | Quote: |
| If it had been a homicide, and she had admitted to it, and he wanted to cover up stealing money from a robbery that led to the homicide, hoping he could pin that on her. Would they have let her free if they found out that he had tried to cover himself? |
Are you familiar with the OJ Simpson case? Probably the single most damning thing to the prosecution was the fact that the cops allegedly planted evidence in order to get a conviction. OJ went free, in spite of all of the legitimate evidence against him.
So yes, if a cop stole money from a crime scene during a homicide investigation, and tried to frame the confessed murderer for it, then it could get the killer sent free. Once the cops credibility comes into question, the entire case is tainted. | Ophois wrote: |
| Ghost900 wrote: | In a way its sad but at the same time kinda funny. Cops are in the middle of a drug raid and see the Wii and get drawn to it. That will be used for the next Wii commercial as to how addictive the console really is.
Interesting news bit though. |
Now that would be classic!
| deanhills wrote: | | Right, but the girl was still drunk. He was at least technically doing his job. |
He was doing part of his job. | Quote: | | If it had been a homicide, and she had admitted to it, and he wanted to cover up stealing money from a robbery that led to the homicide, hoping he could pin that on her. Would they have let her free if they found out that he had tried to cover himself? |
Are you familiar with the OJ Simpson case? Probably the single most damning thing to the prosecution was the fact that the cops allegedly planted evidence in order to get a conviction. OJ went free, in spite of all of the legitimate evidence against him.
So yes, if a cop stole money from a crime scene during a homicide investigation, and tried to frame the confessed murderer for it, then it could get the killer sent free. Once the cops credibility comes into question, the entire case is tainted. |
Does not say much about the justice system now does it? The whole intention of the regulation for not drinking and driving means those who do will be apprehended. And ditto murder. I know about the Simpson case and still can't believe that he could have got away with it "under the law". Does not say much for the justice system does it? | deanhills wrote: |
| Does not say much about the justice system now does it? The whole intention of the regulation for not drinking and driving means those who do will be apprehended. And ditto murder. I know about the Simpson case and still can't believe that he could have got away with it "under the law". Does not say much for the justice system does it? |
Actually, it's both good and bad. We can't allow someone to be convicted of any crime under false pretenses. If we allow it, then we open a door to allow the police, the attorneys, and the judges and juries to falsify aspects of a case in order to reach a preferred verdict. The unfortunate side of this safety measure is that when members of the legal system do become corrupt, innocent people go to prison, and guilty people go free.
This should be a very rare thing, but with the rising level of corruption amongst these groups, mainly the police, we see it more and more. To avoid things like Alexandra Torrensvilas' DUI conviction being overturned, the solution is quite simple: The police should obey the very laws that they are hired to enforce. Period.
The system is not to blame here. Our legal system is among the very best in the world, but it can only work properly if corruption is rooted out and eliminated.
