I hate cops!

[Elhuero]

when they do things like this

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/04/22/...ex.html?hpt=T2

When police released the wrong mug shot after an alleged sexual assault in 2008, a Philadelphia man was forced to pay for a crime he didn't commit. Now, the city will pay Eugene Robinson $85,000 for the snafu that left him behind bars and branded a sexual predator for more than a year when his photo was mistakenly printed in the "Week's Most Wanted" section of the Philadelphia Daily News for allegedly raping a woman at sword point.
Although Robinson, 60, originally demanded $150,000 for his wrongful arrest and imprisonment, he said Friday he's happy that the ordeal is over.
"It's not actually what I think should have been done, but it's all right," Robinson said of the March 30 settlement. "I'm not a greedy person. But it doesn't change the fact that I was falsely accused of something and nobody ever took the time out to check it out."
It all started in August 2008 when Robinson was on his way home from work as a plumber and his neighbors began telling him that the police were looking for him. When he saw his photo splashed across the newspaper alleging he was behind a rape at an address he didn't recognize, he turned to his sister and then to his local state senator for help.
"I broke down and started crying because I didn't know what to do," he said.
He turned himself in despite maintaining his innocence, assuming the confusion would be cleared up when police realized they had the wrong guy.
Instead, he was processed and shipped off to the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, he said. He could not make bail, which was set at $100,000.
"The picture matched - that's all they needed," said Robinson's lawyer, Alan Denenberg. "And off he went into the system."
It turns out that the man police were really after shared the same first name with Robinson and that the incorrect mug shot was pulled when police put out an arrest warrant for the alleged assault, according to Philadelphia Chief City Solicitor Craig Straw.
"We knew that the potential suspect's name was Eugene and the initial investigation showed up Eugene Robinson," Straw said.
The actual suspect signed a statement in February 2008 after the incident occurred, said Denenberg. It included his name, his West Philadelphia address, social security number and the fact that he was married, Denenberg said. Robinson lived in North Philadelphia and had never been married.
Straw would not release the suspect's name, but confirmed that his last name was not Robinson. He was later found to be a DNA match to the alleged assault, he said.
Despite the fact that the men had little in common besides their first names, police did not catch the discrepancy and drop the charges until Robinson had been in jail for about five months.
Robinson was brought to Philadelphia's Criminal Justice Center three times while he was incarcerated, but was never given the chance to confront the victim or explain his side of the story, he said.
"I didn't feel like I had a voice," Robinson said.
But after he was released, Robinson was transferred to a jail in Bucks County for eight months because he had defaulted on restitution payments on a previous arrest for theft by deception while he was incarcerated, Denenberg said.
Now that he is out, Robinson said he is working to restore his reputation.
"Everybody looked at me different," he said. "It's different when you're accused of a heinous crime like that."
Denenberg, who didn't start working for Robinson until after his release, said it should not have taken so long to clear Robinson's name.
"(The police) have a heavy case load but sometimes when you're dealing with people's lives, you've got to take the extra step and look beneath the surface," he said.

[Irving]

I hate cops!

I knew it!

[BREATHER]

Let's look at it one way. There are so many POS's out there that the cops are overworked and short staffed.

Another way is, why did this plumber have a mug shot in the first place ...

Then again, there are a bunch of lazy fuckin' cops out there that just collect a pay check regardless of citizens.....

How bout this. The politicians are doing something with my tax money besides hiring efficient cops and prosecutors.

And then this. There are tens' of thousands of lowlife scum that do not pay taxes cuz they got some lame SSDI or SSI and there isn't enough to cover what law abiding citizens can't cover becuase of shortfalls....

[BREATHER]

OH YEAH. Shitheads in jail don't pay taxes and when they get out they get on welfare or SSI or SSDI....They get the same services tax payers get but don't gotta pay for them.....

[Clint45]

Another way is, why did this plumber have a mug shot in the first place ...

"Theft by deception." That probably means some sort of fraud, and he was forced to make restitution.

HUGE difference between a minor white collar crime and breaking into some woman's house to threaten to kill her with a sword and rape her.

I'd bet that at least one of your coworkers or cousins has a mugshot as well, even if it is only for something like DUI or teenaged stupidity. Just because someone is in the system doesn't mean they can be used as a scapegoat to clear whatever high profile crime the local cops are under pressure to "solve." The guy may've been dishonest once but he was no rapist. What happened to him was inexcusable.

[BREATHER]

I agree 100% with everything you say Clint. I was trying to make a point that this could happen to anyone of us. The checks and balances seem to have fallen by the way side. Political and civil service corruption should be a crime equal to treason ...

[Bluerooster114]

Another way is, why did this plumber have a mug shot in the first place ...

I made an appointment, drove downtown, and gave them $152.50 for them to have mine...

[Byte Stryke]

Another way is, why did this plumber have a mug shot in the first place ...

I made an appointment, drove downtown, and gave them $152.50 for them to have mine...

I Drove to Brighton for mine.

"Theft by deception." That probably means some sort of fraud, and he was forced to make restitution.

Theft by deception is usually the fancy name for a bounced check.

But Yeah, No way is shit like this excusable.

[spencerhenry]

when i had several guns stolen many years back, the cops actually told me that they believed that i had broken my own window, taken my guns and sold them and now was trying to collect the insurance. one gun showed up at a gunsmiths shop to "have iron sights put back on it". that one i got back when it was proven to be mine. meanwhile i was trying to get the insurance company to pay me for the others so i could replace them. then one day i am at a friends house and see a guy across the street taking a gun out to his car that looked like mine. while 10-22's are pretty common, an amt small game hunter (10-22 made of stainless, factory bull barrel and synthetic stock), is not common. i called the cops (different jurisdiction) and no one ever showed up to check the gun. a few days later after i figured out who the guy was, the guns were "found" in the gravel where that guy was working as a laborer. they were getting ready to pour a slab over the top of the gravel and guns. he fled to ohio the next day or so and an arrest warrant was issued. the ohio cops found him under a bed at his moms house. until the guy was actually charged, the cops were "sure" that i had done it to collect insurance money.
when i applied for my concealed carry permit, i was told that the wait would be " a long time". i asked if the statute didnt say that they had 90 days to either issue or deny? they said yes, but they were really busy. at 92 days i called to find out where my permit was, they said the cbi was really backed up and they didnt know when it would be approved. at 100 days i called again and got the same answer. i then called a neighboring county and asked them how long the cbi was taking lately, they said about 3 weeks. at 120 days i called again and told them that i knew the cbi was NOT backed up that bad and asked why the neighboring county said is was only taking 3 weeks? they got pissed off at me and told me that they couldnt do anything about it. i was just about to call an attorney when at 123 days i got a call from the sheriffs department telling me that my permit was ready. turns out that my permit had been approved by the cbi months earlier and that someone at the sheriffs department didnt like the idea of me getting a permit and somehow got them to hold the permit indefinitely.
when i applied for my second can, the sheriff only signed one of the two copies of the form. by the time i noticed it, he was already out of the office. i left the form for him to sign when he got back, and then a deputy would deliver it to me. it took several weeks to get the form back, the sheriff had signed it that day, but one deputy who doesnt "like" me refused to give it to me. finally after i raised some stink, someone at the sheriffs department told the deputy that THEY were breaking the law by not giving me my paperwork.
if it werent for a couple of friends i have that are in law enforcement, i would have a much more cynical view of cops.

[bryjcom]

when i had several guns stolen many years back, the cops actually told me that they believed that i had broken my own window, taken my guns and sold them and now was trying to collect the insurance. one gun showed up at a gunsmiths shop to "have iron sights put back on it". that one i got back when it was proven to be mine. meanwhile i was trying to get the insurance company to pay me for the others so i could replace them. then one day i am at a friends house and see a guy across the street taking a gun out to his car that looked like mine. while 10-22's are pretty common, an amt small game hunter (10-22 made of stainless, factory bull barrel and synthetic stock), is not common. i called the cops (different jurisdiction) and no one ever showed up to check the gun. a few days later after i figured out who the guy was, the guns were "found" in the gravel where that guy was working as a laborer. they were getting ready to pour a slab over the top of the gravel and guns. he fled to ohio the next day or so and an arrest warrant was issued. the ohio cops found him under a bed at his moms house. until the guy was actually charged, the cops were "sure" that i had done it to collect insurance money.
when i applied for my concealed carry permit, i was told that the wait would be " a long time". i asked if the statute didnt say that they had 90 days to either issue or deny? they said yes, but they were really busy. at 92 days i called to find out where my permit was, they said the cbi was really backed up and they didnt know when it would be approved. at 100 days i called again and got the same answer. i then called a neighboring county and asked them how long the cbi was taking lately, they said about 3 weeks. at 120 days i called again and told them that i knew the cbi was NOT backed up that bad and asked why the neighboring county said is was only taking 3 weeks? they got pissed off at me and told me that they couldnt do anything about it. i was just about to call an attorney when at 123 days i got a call from the sheriffs department telling me that my permit was ready. turns out that my permit had been approved by the cbi months earlier and that someone at the sheriffs department didnt like the idea of me getting a permit and somehow got them to hold the permit indefinitely.
when i applied for my second can, the sheriff only signed one of the two copies of the form. by the time i noticed it, he was already out of the office. i left the form for him to sign when he got back, and then a deputy would deliver it to me. it took several weeks to get the form back, the sheriff had signed it that day, but one deputy who doesnt "like" me refused to give it to me. finally after i raised some stink, someone at the sheriffs department told the deputy that THEY were breaking the law by not giving me my paperwork.
if it werent for a couple of friends i have that are in law enforcement, i would have a much more cynical view of cops.

As much as I realize the need for law enforcement, the stories of yours are far to common.

When I was a kid we were at a friends house in the front late at night. A bike cop showed up and asked if we were spending the night. All of us were except for one of my friends. The cop then told my friend to get walking and go home. As soon as my friend stepped foot off the curb into the street the cop told him to come back and he's was getting a curfue ticket.

The cop told him to go home just so he could step off of private property and give him a ticket!! He was an ass.

I have other stories as well of cops conducting illegal searches on my vehicle against my request with no probably cause.


The cop loyalist here should realize that cops have been slightly to fully indoctrinated to believe they are above the law and that the citizens are the "other" people.


I love it when cops say "Obey my command!!" Nothing screams of elitism more than that.