How often do you think cops 'salt the scene'?

[Taverner]

'Salting the Scene' is a law enforcement term for planting evidence. IN all likelihood, they salted the OJ crime scene, even though he was guilty ('Never try to frame a guilty man' I have heard) Maybe they didn't - who knows?

But how often do you think it happens?

[villager]

1. The question is, how many cops are truly honest?

I don't think a hell of a lot of them are, frankly.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. I know one who jokes about his days in the State Patrol,

taking the oath on the stand" "The truth, the whole truth, and whatever it takes to convict the sonovabitch."

[aSpeckofDust]

2. A lot. Higher arrest rate = quicker promotion. They already hire unstable people to begin with.

[Laxman]

4. One Time is Too Many!

More prevalent is police pulling over/grabbing someone they suspect is in possession then making up the story of the probable cause for the initial stop later. Think about this; possession of marijuana is a low level misdemeanor in most jurisdictions. Perjury is an indictable offense that goes to the heart of the credibility of the justice system. Every day, somewhere in America, a policeman is committing perjury to justify a low level drug arrest. Committing an indictable felony to garner a conviction for a minor offense.

[mitchtv]

5. less than those who

testalie, which is common

[WingDinger]

6. I believe that depends on the believability on the stand, of the accused.

Black, poor, HELL YES. White, middleclass, better let this one off with being innocent.

[hifiguy]

7. As often as it needs to to cover

for inept, st00pid, or corrupt cops. Which probably means more often than not.

[TexasProgresive]

8. Growing up in Houston, TX

I'd say a lot- It was common for the police to shoot unarmed people and to leave a "throw down" gun. The fools got caught when the used one from the evidence room - stupid is as stupid does.

[90-percent]

9. The Epitome of modern police work

Can be seen at midnight Thursday evening/Friday morning on the toon network.

Chirs Elliot stars in the Series BRAVEHEART, as Detective Chris Monsanto.

It makes older policing methods look very quaint.

-90% Jimmy

:sarcasm:

[Taitertots]

10. All our prisons are full of people who swore they were innocent

How many times has it ever been detected? Very infrequently. That is probably the answer.

There are enough people breaking the law that the police have little need to create cases.

[nosmokes]

15. Our prisons are full of people who *are* innocent.

Or at the very least not guilty of the crime(s) for which they are incarcerated.
You say "there are enough people breaking the law"... but essentially what is happening is that human behavior is criminalized and the slightest misststep outta line is enough, at the discretion of some cop to get your ass thrown into jail and start the wheels of the machine against you. If you're lucky and you have some money you might come out OK. If you're not so lucky, your life as you knew it is effectively over and is in ruins, and you'll never be the same financially, mentally or physically.

[Mnemosyne]

20. +1000 Excellent point, nosmokes. 'human behavior is criminalized' - K&R n/t

[JonLP24]

22. Over 90% of those charged

Either plead guilty or accept a plea deal.

[Spike89]

11. Complex question, leading to two more

How often do they salt the scene "unjustly"? In other words, to cover up their mistakes, take down an innocent person they don't like, get a promotion, etc. And how often do they slat the scene to ensure someone they "know" is guilty gets convicted?

I have no idea, but I think the first instance is worse and the second one stupid/lazy.

[Bozita]

12. Related thread: Drug prosecutor begins jail sentence in perjury case

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x759950

[ChoppinBroccoli]

13. In My Experience, Planting Evidence Is Very Rare

And understand that you're talking to a guy who is on the other side of these criminal investigations every day. In 15 years of criminal defense work, the number of cases I've encountered where I actually believed evidence had been planted, I could probably count on one hand. It's exceedingly rare, at least here where I practice.

What is frighteningly commonplace is police officers who falsify police reports and blatantly lie on the stand in order to secure a conviction. I would say this happens a MINIMUM of 75% of the time. If the cops make a procedural error, they'll just "paper over" it by writing in their report that they did things the right way (because, after all, the police report is evidence, and the Defendant doesn't get to write a report).

You can call me what you will, but I know for a fact that police officers are given training courses on how to "properly" testify on the stand. They're being given classes on how to make their bullshit stories hold up on the stand. And the defense bar knows it. And if you don't believe me, just go down to the courthouse and ask to spend a day with a public defender. Sit down and go over police reports with the defendants about whom the reports are written. 9 times out of 10, you'll hear those defendants say that the report only vaguely resembles what actually happened. And about half the time, those defendants are telling the truth. After 15 years, you get a pretty good "sixth sense" about who's telling the truth and who's not, and I can tell you that cops lie to me INFINITELY more often than criminal defendants do.

I once had a cop give me very detailed testimony (including written reports) about Field Sobriety Tests that he never gave. And not only did I prove that he never gave them (I put on about 5 different witnesses who saw the traffic stop and said he never administered FSTs), the frickin' JUDGE pointed out to ME that the copy of the officer's report that appeared in the Court file was different from the copy that was given to my client (Translation: the cop falsified the report AFTER the defendant left the police station with his copy in hand). Want to hear the BEST part of that story? I still lost. Why? Because the Judge said he didn't believe my witnesses because they had been drinking. The truth of the matter is that the Judge was up for re-election that year and needed the FOP endorsement. American Justice at its finest.

[Laxman]

14. I Agree

I've been both a prosecutor and a defense attorney in a large urban county. I don't believe that I have ever seen an instance of evidence being planted. However, false reports, made up testimony...all the time. You usually catch them when they get lax because they haven't been called to answer for their fairy tales for some time. I've got some stories that would really put the fear of God into you. Maybe a good topic for a future journal post.

[TheKentuckian]

18. Some are probably pretty good and slip by everyone. Goes double for swamped PD's with no time or

budget to go through every detail with a fine toothed comb.

Good on you guys for filtering well though.

[Taverner]

17. That's almost scarier...

[ecstatic]

16. Definitely every time someone ends up dead

Especially if that person was unarmed.

[msongs]

19. many of those military coming back from aghanistan may be joing a police dept near you nt

[LooseWilly]

21. It's not rare.

I drove a taxi in Oakland, CA for years, and I often overheard stories told on the phone or in-person by thugs and dealers who had no reason to care if I was listening, let alone bother to lie to convince me one way or the other. (Not that I didn't often overhear these stories just before or after a stop which I legally deny certainty of knowledge of what occurred but a suspicious individual would suspect involved the picking up of or dropping off of narcotics... or sometimes prostitutes.)

I've also heard stories from my ex-dealers...

And then there was the whole West Oakland "RIders" story (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/305/roughriders.shtml)

It's not rare.