(Stamper was on Coast to Coast AM last night with Ian Punnet. I'm kicking myself for falling asleep. I went to his site and wouldn't have recognized him except for the photo of him when he was with the Dept. I remember seeing him come in to an area where I was working with a couple of other cops -- I forget why -- and he was wearing what seemed to be an expensive top coat and seemed to be digging his position. Reading about what he said on Punnett, and what he says on his site, I'm again reminded that looks can be deceiving. My general sense of him was that he was okay -- don't really remember a lot about him at all. He seems like a good guy.)
Norm Stamper, former chief of the Seattle Police Department, joined Ian to expose some of the issues affecting the 21st-century police force. "I believe that the vast majority of the problems that are associated with American law enforcement are embedded in the system itself," he said, noting that racism, violence, and deception are pervasive within the field. Deceit is actually incorporated into the job, as cops are allowed to say whatever they want to get a confession, Stamper revealed. The police organization itself produces a culture that compels individual officers to engage in patterned lying in order to protect themselves from possible prosecution, he added.
Prejudice against people of color is an inherent part of the system as well, Stamper continued. In a series of exit interviews conducted by him, Stamper discovered that 30 out of 31 interviewees commonly used racial slurs. In addition, drug sentencing laws disproportionately affect minorities as well, he noted. Stamper, an advocate for the legalization of drugs, railed against the so-called 'war on drugs', pointing out that 40,000 to 50,000 deaths a year are a direct cause of America's drug policy. Prohibition doesn't work and has unwisely pulled law enforcement's focus from predatory crimes, he observed.
Stamper reported on officers involved in seizing, selling, and taking drugs, talked about domestic abuse among the police, and shared stories of cops who manufactured evidence that led to innocent people being put behind bars. He estimated that 5-10% of the force is comprised of bad cops. Others have made honest mistakes and should be treated differently than those who engage in willful misconduct, he said. That vast majority of police officers are fine and upstanding, and contribute to making a difference in public safety, Stamper declared.
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2011/10/08Stamper's site:
An Ex-Cop’s Agenda
End the Drug War… Abolish the Death Penalty… Vanquish Domestic Violence… Make Schools and Neighborhoods Safer… Drive Bigotry and Brutality Out of the Criminal Justice System… Honor the Constitution… Build Respect for Cops…
http://normstamper.com/It notes he also writes on HuffPo.
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