SPECIAL REPORT FROM RAY: NATIONAL POLICE SCANDAL, PART 2
A free service of Jesus Christ is Lord Ministries
News written and delivered by Ray Mossholder
Audio/Visual Production by Georgia Mossholder
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Hello America. Hello world.
From the headquarters of reachmorenow.com in Fort Worth, Texas, this is Ray Mossholder and this is the 2nd part of the Washington Post report on the national police scandal. And let me be the first to wish you a happy 9/11.
I’ve been trying to figure out why after the Washington Post did such an amazing job of investigation of both the act called “Stop and Frisk” and the scandal that involves many of our police officers, both state and federal, it hasn’t gone viral on the national news. Besides, the possibility that this story is being swept underneath the rug and stamped on HARD so that it will stay there, there is a possibility that this story would fill so many in our nation with fear that it wouldn’t be worth the telling.
So in this part of the report, still totally based on the Washington Post article, let me begin with this: For some reason, the John Lennon song “Imagine” has kept playing in my mind. I’ve rewritten the lyrics and sometime I’ll share that with you. But let me begin with something that isn’t even in my lyrics – Imagine there were no police in America today. So no matter how bad things got or how much you needed help to get out of a situation that might even take your life, there would be no one on earth who had the legal ability to come and help you. And if in the midst of your horrifying situation, someone took a valuable possession from you that you cherish, like maybe the life of someone you love, there would be no law enforcement and so that person would get away with murder. The bottom line is, we NEED honest police men and women, and again, I stress the word HONEST.
To summarize very quickly what I shared with you in Part One there are certain, in fact, many police both state and local who during what is called “Stop and Frisk” are stealing large sums of money and doing what they want with it. Only 40% of people who are robbed this way ever go to court to get it back because of court and lawyer expenses. Often the amount is too small, a few hundred dollars, that the costs of taking it to court would make no sense. But, again according to the Washington Post, more than 2 1/2 billion dollars have been taken by the police exactly this way.
Let’s look for a moment at some things we need to applaud that policemen do in the line of duty – they fully risk their lives and sometimes lose them doing drug busts, crime stoppage, surveillance, and the hardest duty of all – getting involved in domestic violence cases. More police are seriously injured or die trying to help stop domestic brutality than in any other way. More than 400 policemen – including local and state – are killed in the line of duty every year. More than one a day!
According to Steven Peterson, who is now a police trainer with a company called the 4:20 Group and a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Agent who trains police to do thorough investigations of automobiles and of people – (that’s called interdiction) – most officers protect the public and take care to respect the rights of citizens.
Sandy Springs, Georgia, Officer Mike DeWald, who is also a trainer said, “We don’t go hunting for money in general. I never have been pressured to go after money. We are in pursuit of the criminal element.”
In the light of threats by Isis and Al Qaeda and several other terrorist organizations, police trainers say their work helps make America safer by teaching police to be thorough in their vital role of identifying terrorists, as well as drug smugglers.
David Frye, a part-time Nebraska County Deputy Sheriff also serves as the chief instructor at Desert Snow and was operational director of Black Asphalt, two of the largest police training companies. He said, “9/11 caused a lot of officers to realize they should be out there looking for those kinds of people. When money is taken from an organization, it hurts them.”
David went on to say, “Black Asphalt is not flawless, however the intent behind it is. The information being moved through the system has proved itself reliable on hundreds of occasions. Much more reliable than any criminal informant. The results have been staggering. It has proven itself an extremely valuable tool for law enforcement.”
Black Asphalt trains policeman in a number of ways. One of those ways is called BOLO, which stands for “Be on the lookout,” where police who join Black Asphalt can post tips and hunches.
In April of this year, Aurora, Colorado, police officer James Waselcow stopped a white Ford pickup for having tinted windows. Waselcow later wrote, “One of the reasons I thought he was suspicious was because he was obviously a Mexican national but he was wearing a University of Wyoming cap. He had no idea where he was going, what hotel he was staying in, or who he was with. I searched the vehicle but found no contraband. Still to me he was continued to be suspicious, so I posted his driver’s license plate on Black Asphalt and told about him so that another officer could later check him out.”
The Washington Post went on to describe the most usual “Stop and Frisk.” They cited 400 court cases involving seizures in 17 states that followed a very similar pattern. It consists of officers setting up what they call “rolling checkpoints” and I call “speed traps.” The police pull cars over at random, that have made some minor violation like going a little over the speed limit or following too closely. They then either give a warning or a ticket to the driver. But what they are really doing is watching how the driver reacts, signs of nervousness, a clenched jaw, or perspiration. They also look for “indicators” of criminal activity that includes such things as trash on the floor, several energy drinks, air fresheners hanging from rearview mirrors, a radar detector, or inconsistencies in the driver’s description of his travels.
If the police officer believes the driver is suspicious, he will ask them whether they have any drugs or large amounts of cash with them. Almost always, they deny having cocaine, heroin, or a large amount of cash in their car. And almost always they insist that they don’t want the officer searching their car. That’s when the dogs become important – drug sniffing dogs.
The driver usually has to wait a half hour or more while the officer waits with them for one of the dogs to arrive. The typical line from the officer is, “I’m just going to basically have you wait here.” If that makes the driver even nervous, it adds to the suspicion of the officer. When the dog finally arrives, if it indicates that there is a presence of drugs, the officer gives the driver the opportunity to come to the police station immediately or let the officer search the car. If either heavy drugs or a large sum of money is found, the driver is immediately handcuffed and placed under arrest. David Frye of Black Asphalt said, “In Nebraska, drug currency is illegal. I’ve seized millions out here. When I say that, I mean millions. This is what I do.”
Sometimes the driver says that they didn’t know that kind of money was in their car. At the police station, they are given an opportunity to disclaim the currency. They sign a form that says “That is not my money. I don’t know anything about it. I don’t want to know anything about it. I don’t want to come back to court.” If they don’t sign the form, the officer then reads them their Miranda rights.
At this point, let me tell you a little story about myself. I was in college and coming home from a friend’s house. Suddenly I stopped when I saw the red light of a policeman’s car directly behind me. I couldn’t figure out at all what I had done wrong. When the policeman approached me, he said he wanted me to get out of my car and go sit in the backseat of his. I was scared to death. Two policeman, including the one who had approached me, said that there was someone who matched my facial description and who drove the same kind of car that I was driving, who had recently committed a robbery. The asked me a couple of questions and I stuttered the answers. Then came one I couldn’t answer. They asked me where I had been four nights before at 11 p.m. I just sat there trying so hard to think where I’d been, but I was blank. Shortly after that the police radio went on saying that they had found whoever it was that looked like me and the officers let me go. I was shaking like an earthquake as I got back into my car. I kept thinking what might have happened to me if whoever it was that looked like me hadn’t been caught yet. I still wonder.
Clifford Fishman, a law professor at Catholic University and former New York City prosecutor says “Encouraging police to initiate searches for the purpose of seizing cash that the driver is carrying or other assets, rather than to seize evidence to be used in a prosecution, is a dangerous development. It is particularly troubling if police officers are trained to manipulate the suspect in forfeiting their assets or waiving their right to contest the search.”
David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor, said detaining a driver while summoning a canine crosses the line. He said “You cannot elongate the stop to bring in the dogs. In doing that, you are detaining the person without probable cause. That ain’t kosher.”
It was 1970 when Congress turned the right for officers to sieze money into a weapon to be used against the illegal drug trade, allowing officers to also sieze airplanes, boats, and vehicles used to transport drugs.
Later, Congress gave the police officers even more power, allowing them to include cash tied to drug trafficking and to allow the money to be shared with local and state police, who could keep up to 80 percent of the seized assets, turning the rest over to the federal law agencies.
The tragedy in all of this is when innocent people get caught up in the forfeiture law while police take their money and spend it on personal luxuries.
The Orlando Sentinel won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for pointing out that the Volusia, Florida, County Sheriff’s office had used state seizure laws to take 8 million dollars from motorists, 9 out of 10 of them minorities
I’ll be doing a 3rd part to this story on a future news special. But for now, where were you at 11 PM four nights ago?! If you’re in college, that’s almost always a really tough question to answer, especially if is being asked by a policeman.
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There is an advantage to having a poor memory.
You have less to forget.
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So until the next newscast this is Ray Mossholder, praying for you my friend. Have a miraculous day!
NATIONAL POLICE SCANDAL, PART 2 SPECIAL REPORT FROM RAY