'Testilying' by Police: A Stubborn Problem

[SummerMadness]

'Testilying' by Police: A Stubborn Problem
Police lying persists, even amid an explosion of video evidence that has allowed the public to test officers' credibility.

Officer Nector Martinez took the witness stand in a Bronx courtroom on Oct. 10, 2017, and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him God.

There had been a shooting, Officer Martinez testified, and he wanted to search a nearby apartment for evidence. A woman stood in the doorway, carrying a laundry bag. Officer Martinez said she set the bag down “in the middle of the doorway” — directly in his path. “I picked it up to move it out of the way so we could get in.”

The laundry bag felt heavy. When he put it down, he said, he heard a “clunk, a thud.”

What might be inside?

Officer Martinez tapped the bag with his foot and felt something hard, he testified. He opened the bag, leading to the discovery of a Ruger 9-millimeter handgun and the arrest of the woman.

But a hallway surveillance camera captured the true story: There’s no laundry bag or gun in sight as Officer Martinez and other investigators question the woman in the doorway and then stride into the apartment. Inside, they did find a gun, but little to link it to the woman, Kimberly Thomas. Still, had the camera not captured the hallway scene, Officer Martinez’s testimony might well have sent her to prison.

 

[Nithavela]

Link isn't working for me.

 

[Kentonio]

The sad thing is that in a number of the police shooting cases, the video appears to completely corroberate the victims account or destroy the police officers account, and yet the officer still walks free.

 

[SummerMadness]

Link isn't working for me.

Fixed it.

The sad thing is that in a number of the police shooting cases, the video appears to completely corroberate the victims account or destroy the police officers account, and yet the officer still walks free.

And there are people that still argue the officer is in the right despite the video showing something different from what's in the police video. Instead, they resort to constructing another reason to make the victim's death acceptable.

 

[Snappy1]

This is what body cameras are for.

 

[Nithavela]

This is what body cameras are for.

Sadly they tend to be turned off for some reason when stuff like this happens.

 

[Snappy1]

Sadly they tend to be turned off for some reason when stuff like this happens.

Yeah that happens. And departments need to enforce their policies in situations where body cams aren't turned on when they're required to be.

 

[SummerMadness]

Yeah that happens. And departments need to enforce their policies in situations where body cams aren't turned on when they're required to be.

Unfortunately, there are people that believe there should be no police accountability, so they are against any punishment for not turning on cameras or oppose any collection of data that can show patterns of wrongdoing. For instance, I remember someone once argued that culture of corruption seen in police departments across the country, as documented in DOJ reports, could not be extrapolated to other cities despite residents having the same complaints... then the department being defended had a DOJ report drop and it looked the same. Afterward, the retreat was to argue that without a perfect plan for reform (which they oppose anyway), nothing should be done. It's clearly a case of "since it does not affect me, I want to maintain the status quo."

 

[Snappy1]

Unfortunately, there are people that believe there should be no police accountability, so they are against any punishment for not turning on cameras or oppose any collection of data that can show patterns of wrongdoing. For instance, I remember someone once argued that culture of corruption seen in police departments across the country, as documented in DOJ reports, could not be extrapolated to other cities despite residents having the same complaints... then the department being defended had a DOJ report drop and it looked the same. Afterward, the retreat was to argue that without a perfect plan for reform (which they oppose anyway), nothing should be done. It's clearly a case of "since it does not affect me, I want to maintain the status quo."

Well people can think whatever they want but it's irrelevant to departments actually enforcing their policies on how they use their cameras.

 

[SummerMadness]

Well people can think whatever they want but it's irrelevant to departments actually enforcing their policies on how they use their cameras.

But it is not quite that simple, one of the reasons for the continued corruption is a concerted campaign by police unions and their allies to push a narrative tat reform and accountability should not occur.