Although Philadelphia is not nearly as corrupt as many major cities, its police force has always had the reputation of utter corruption' a gang of bandits with badges. It's been widely believed that Philadelphia's cops are worse than the crooks and even worse than New York's and Chicago's uniformed thugs.
During the past year or so, the men of the 39th Police District have committed the cardinal sin for a Philadelphia cop: they got caught!
Many, many police invent evidence. It's common for cops to perjure themselves (a Dauphin County detective named Benedic will soon be featured in this respect). Such criminality is expected from cops. that's how they make their living. Honest cop is an oxymoron.
Like other police, the Philadelphia cops have tampered with evidence of years. The guys at the 39th got caught at it. To their fellow officers, getting caught was far worse than tampering. Five of those who were caught are now in Federal prison for inventing evidence in drug cases. Four more are awaiting trial.
To the chagrin of th force, the scandal is spreading. Even more cops are getting caught. In May, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office (renown for its own Republican corruption) was compelled to crack down on one of its branches operating in Philadelphia. Five state narcotics agents have been yanked.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that 50 persons who had had drug charges against them based on "evidence" from the state agents, have had the charges dropped. That's in addition to the 116 drug convictions that have so far been reversed because of the evidence tampering by the cops of the 39th.
Our society, like any society needs some folks to help enforce the laws, at least the few laws that are just. The people who enforce the laws should, however, not be public enemies. My own suggestion is to convert to androids.
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