Justice: The Front Line

[ Updated ]

I forget my blog manners. A lot of what I'm writing here is in response to a "back and forth" I'm having with Cobb in the comment section and with some comments with Baldilocks here concerning Nifong and here concerning questions I raised.

So, as I stated:

Because I am a "gadfly" or "contrarian" as some have put it, I have raised the question concerning the lack of outrage from some of the same people who have expressed rightful outrage at the antics of Nifong. As a result of some of the "feedback" to my comments, I think there is a need to write more on my blog about my thoughts, not feelings but thoughts, of the need for inspection and possible correction of our law enforcement and justice systems.

Now is the time.

Abuse On The Front Line

What do these have in common?

• A man is arrested for drinking a beer in his fenced back yard.

• A meter maid is arrested for writing tickets while on duty.

• A teenager is arrested while talking to his cousin in a car, after his cousin gave him a ride home.

• A street vendor is arrested after showing the police officer his valid vending license.

• A couple, who were lost, is arrested after asking a police officer for directions to I-95.

The answer: They are foolish arrests made because of Baltimore's "broken" broken windows policing implementation.

Each of the mentioned instances, which are really just a few of the hundreds of such foolish arrests in Baltimore, incited the anger of many people who were arrested, as well as community activists. I won't go into the community activists because they are not driving the displeasure in the policy, although some believe otherwise.

This policy has seriously hampered the relationship between the police department and the law abiding citizens in Baltimore city. This  is being publicly stated by politicians, who really don't count because they will say anything, as well as many of the patrol police who have to implement this policy, and now the police chief himself. But the police chief can be said to be a politician. It's interesting, and telling, that some patrol police have come out and said they do not think the policing policy is effective and it has harmed their ability to do their job because people may no longer want to cooperate.

No Harm, No Foul?

In all of these cases, the people were released. "Well, they were released and not charged. End of discussion!"

Not really. First, many of these people spent time in the Central Booking facility. By "time," I don't mean a few minutes or a few hours. I mean DAYS.

To add to this, the people arrested, now have an arrest record. To clear this record, they have to sign a waiver stating they will not file a complaint against the department, and they have to wait at least 6 months. If they don't sign this, they have to wait six months anyway to file to get the arrest removed. In one case, a person went through this process of having the record removed. It was not removed and he was denied a job because of the arrest on his record. This was the only thing on his record. The man settled with the city for a few thousand dollars. A year later, when going for another job, the arrest showed up again. He took it to court to get the arrest "permanently" removed and won a few million dollars. The city may have to pay more money because the man's lawyer recently stated the arrest is still there.

There are other people who have claimed the arrest is now a part of their history, even though it should not be there, and there are concerns about the record affecting future employment. They have stated they are listing "no arrest" in the section of an employment application that asks about arrests. If it shows up, they are deemed to be lying. The man who won against the city, now carries a laminated document stating his arrest has been cleared.

This state assembly session, the state assembly passed a law which mandates a timely removal of an arrest if no charges are filed.

What is little mentioned when people talk about New York's effectiveness in using "broken windows" policing is, 55% of the "quality of life" cases brought were dismissed. The cost of settling civil rights cases drastically increased. What does this do for civil order in the long term?

Long Term

In the long term, imagine some of the people who were arrested, and cleared, now serving on a jury. Imagine it comes down to the word of a police officer in the case. Do you think the person would give the police officer the benefit of the doubt? Would a criminal beat the charge?

In the long term, imagine some of the people who were arrested, now not wanting to cooperate with the police. What would that do to rate of crime solving and the corresponding rate of crimes occurring? Will a criminal not even be arrested?

Is this good for society in the long term?

The city state's attorney's office doesn't think so and they have complained about it for some time. They think it's making their jobs harder!

This is the first part. More is coming.

Comments

[baldilocks]

As you could probably guess, I like how you point out the possible long-term implications of these types of errors. Therefore, I'm not so quick to shrug off the fact that these accidental/intentional errors happen to a tiny minority of persons. As you point out, they can have rippling effects.

[cnulan]

I took this joint to Blackprof.com where I'm frankly a little shocked that Michele Alexandre and a host of commentators hadn't yet called it out - and also back over at Cobb where the bizarreness of brougham's handwaving was set into bold relief by Baldilocks more sensible concession.

[Sweet Jones]

DarkStar,

I think you nailed it, especially with your long term view portion. Harrassing citizens under the guise of ‘aggressive policing’ is not something easily forgotten. Whether immediately seen or not, there ARE consequences to this.

It is no coincidence that the infamous ‘Stop Snitching’ (the one Carmelo Anthony was in) DVD and movement was born out of a ‘broken windows’ police state (Baltimore).

This is something the Cobbs of the world should consider more thoughtfully the next time the ‘first responders’ in the family are complaining about a lack of cooperation from the citizenry.