Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Whatever happened to honor and integrity?

The Riley County Police Department, or RCPD is no longer releasing processing videos in DUI cases. They determined that they are detrimental to their case in most incidences.  I thought the courts had long ago ruled that exculpatory evidence MUST be turned over to the defense in all cases.
Commenter AdAstraKS asked the question I used for my title, but I pose it in a far different way, I ask it of the cops. You are public servants, YOU work for us. What boss would be tolerant of an employee that lied to them, cheated on them, or gave their organization a sullied reputation? Yet that is what we get when they are allowed to cherry pick what evidence they collect, and how they handle it.
If our courts had honor and integrity, they would toss out and over turn every conviction where processing video was not submitted to the defense.
Think I'm a whining lush? I don't drink. I'm not a teetotaler, I simply choose not to consume alcohol.
We have problems in the Manhattan community with poor police work. RCPD has long been understood to mean Really Cruddy Police Department. recently I became aware of an incident where a young girl is being molested by her step dad. He is Mexican, and the people who told me are part of the Hispanic community here. Some are illegals, some are not. After I passed this information on to the cops, They asked if I could encourage members of the Hispanic community to step forward. About the same time, one of their officers harassed One of my tenants, one who has a green card. That shut down any chance of helping this girl. She isn't seeking help, she is flattered that an older man is giving her attention. Still, this will effect her life and impact her future. One bad apple does spoil the whole bunch. In the case of the RCPD, it's a bunch of bad apples spoiling any good ones.

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