Criminal Justice πŸ“

Baltimore Police Caught Planting Drugs In Body-Cam Footage, Public Defender Says

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Baltimore Police Caught Planting Drugs In Body-Cam Footage, Public Defender Says

"On the sidewalk, Pinheiro activates his body-cam β€” apparently unaware that the device would also preserve his earlier actions. "Police cameras have a feature that saves the 30 seconds of video before activation, but without audio," The Baltimore Sun reports.

"I'm gonna go check here, hold on," the officer tells his colleagues, walking back to the property β€” and seeming to spark laughter from his fellow officers. After a "search" that lasts around 15 seconds, he picks up the soup can, pulls out the plastic bag, and displays it to the camera, showing that it's holding white capsules.

"Yo," he yells. "Hold up."

The operation resulted in an arrest and months of jail time for the suspect, who wasn't released until the public defender's office sent the body-cam video to the state attorney's office last week. He was held while unable to post $50,000 bail, the Sun reports."

Is The Justice Department Shying Away From Prosecuting Corporations?

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Is The Justice Department Shying Away From Prosecuting Corporations?

"GROSS: So you think that having, say, investment banks settle for large fines is not an adequate punishment. Why not?"

"EISINGER: I don't think it deters crime. And I think it undermines the sense of equity and justice in this country. I think people see companies paying big checks and the individuals getting away with it. And I think it stokes an enormous amount of anger with the system and undermines the legitimacy of our justice system, especially because we have a justice system which excessively punishes the poor and people of color while allowing top corporate executives, powerful people, off. We talk about inequality in this country, but I argue that the greatest perquisite of being powerful and wealthy in this country is the ability to commit crimes with impunity."

How many die each year?

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US police shootings: How many die each year?

"At the same time the number of police officers has increased in the US. There are a quarter of a million more police officers working today than there were three decades ago."

"So when you consider the number of officers killed per 100,000, there has been a dramatic decrease. The annual per capita number of officers killed has dropped from 24 per 100,000 in the 10 years to 1980 to 7.3 per 100,000 in the 10 years to 2013 (the last year for which there is good data)."

"This chimes with a bigger trend, which is a steady reduction in crime, including homicides."