NCJ Number
159016
Date Published
1993
Length
154 pages
Annotation
This book describes some of the illegal tactics and questionable techniques police officers use to increase the chances of obtaining a conviction or to administer punishment to persons they perceive as having committed a crime.
Abstract
Police officers are outnumbered and restricted by legal mandates in their efforts to counter street-smart gangsters who can often afford highly skilled defense attorneys. Police officers often rationalize that they need an additional "edge" in their fight against crime. Thus, at times they break the rules and use illegal methods to obtain and increase evidence against a suspect they believe to be guilty of a crime. The 11 chapters address the use of "speed traps," the handling of suspects, search and seizure, the use of informers, the obtaining of confessions, the use of "alibi guns" when police kill a suspect, methods of obtaining evidence, the manipulation of evidence, entrapment, and proactive law enforcement. Some of the incidents described are the police planting of drugs on a private plane so it can be seized for police department use; the spraying of mace on a suspect's car seat, so that after a few minutes of driving he experiences excruciating pain on his crotch and buttocks; the use of a blank tape at an illegal interrogation, adding the reading of rights to the suspect later; the use of stun guns to torture suspects without leaving marks; vigilante cops conducting an "execution;" police instigation of gang wars to thin out gang members; and the adding of drugs to evidence so as to increase the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony. Other police practices discussed are the use of illegal wiretaps; the use of snitches; getting search warrants without probable cause; and keeping confiscated drugs, guns, and cash to pay for "dirty business." A 20-item annotated bibliography and a subject index