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Posted: 12/1/2007 1:16:27 PM EDT
[#1]
No! In the 60's and 70's that is the way it would go! |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 1:16:36 PM EDT
[#2]
I have seen a cop find pot on a minor and force the kid to flush it down the toilet as the cop watched. No other report or arrest filed.
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Posted: 12/1/2007 1:19:46 PM EDT
[#3]
I concur here. I would document the offense by pulling an Offense number. The suspect is identifed in the report. The drugs are placed into the property room "to be destroyed". This only happens around here (RI) with small amounts of marijuana or when a patrol officer does an illegal search. Coke and heroin is a definate arrest everytime. We rarely see meth this far east yet. Yes on occasion I have had people just dump their stuff out, sometimes my City is too busy to get tied up on something minor. It is not a violation of state law but is a violation of policy. We are CALEA accredited so there is a policy for everything  .We had a guy on my job years ago catch 30 days at the beach (suspended without pay) for disposing of a tiny amount of coke by dumping it out. The suspect came in on Monday morning and accused the officer of keeping the coke. 
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Posted: 12/1/2007 1:38:26 PM EDT
[#4]
For those that say "destroying evidence", I ask, "of what?"
The process at that point has not entered the legal system. No crime has been charged. Do you really think that Joe Q. is going to come back later and say that an officer destroyed his illegal drugs? yeah, I could take it and book it into the evidence locker, but then we would need about 20 more lockers if everyone did that. pato |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 1:41:48 PM EDT
[#5]
Alleged drugs.
I was wondering, how much money do you have to find on someone to arrest them for suspicion of something? |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 1:41:54 PM EDT
[#6]
Circumstance. Are we talking about disposing of a joint where no other crime is involved? Or ditching a key of primo Peruvian flake (thanks, Miami Vice!) and letting the suspect go because the officer was bribed, or decided to keep the stuff (or was letting a friend/family member off the hook from a potential felony)? I know that's one extreme to another, but the devil is in the details with something like that. I don't know the law on that, but I'd think its best if common sense dictated the outcome. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 1:42:26 PM EDT
[#7]
yep littering. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 1:42:30 PM EDT
[#8]
I'm a Libertarian, so in my eyes the officer has committed theft and destruction of private property.
Unfortunately, in the real world it probably is some kind of crime, as everything is. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 1:43:54 PM EDT
[#9]
the officer was being kind to them, and let them off the hook. There are assfuck cops, and then there are good cops. He's one of the good guys. edit: it also depends what the drugs are, how much, and what kind. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:31:47 PM EDT
[#10]
Not in our state-a person commits criminal tampering with evidnce if he or she destroys evidence in a PENDING or PROSPECTIVE criminal prosecution with the intent to make said evidence unavailable for trial. If the LEO is destroying the dope, there's no pending or prosepective criminal action. Further, if the fella gives it up voluntarily then there's no theft-and we don't have a proprietary interest in contraband, regardless.
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:36:36 PM EDT
[#11]
Yep. The constitution prohibits taking someones property without due process. Ordering someone to destroy their proerty does not meet due process. writing a report that explains how the contraband was found, you reasons for not desiring prosecution and recommending destruction meets the due process requirement. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:37:11 PM EDT
[#12]
Depends on the infraction. 2 Keys of blow....absolutely. A dime bag of pot....not at all. Life ain't black and white. It's a very grey world in all endevors of life. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:37:41 PM EDT
[#13]
Discretion FTW!
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:41:02 PM EDT
[#14]
And let's not forget, whines about anyone having fun in the neighborhood. 
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:41:44 PM EDT
[#15]
So is it Libertarian world or real world? |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:42:38 PM EDT
[#16]
No.
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:46:56 PM EDT
[#17]
When I was a kid in CA,a cop took a half ounce of Humboldt Countys finest from me and sent me home.Being as cops don't break laws, I would have to say the cop in your scenario did no wrong or break any laws.
Unless of course what heppened to me was one of those 'isolated incidents'. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:56:13 PM EDT
[#18]
 
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Posted: 12/1/2007 2:57:39 PM EDT
[#19]
You FTW. Tigers rule. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:09:20 PM EDT
[#20]
If the officer doesn't cite, what was the crime? |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:10:12 PM EDT
[#21]
Had a similar situation when I was growing up in the Bay Area. Me and my buddy were pulled over in his car and he had just shy of 3/4 of an ounce. It was stinky and the officer had us exit the vehicle so he could search us and the car. Buddy agreed, but apparently didn't hide it well enough. Well the cop told my buddy to dump it out and he did, the cop then stepped on and twisted his foot on a tiny nugget and then told us he was giving my buddy a break and to leave. Hmmm...I wonder what happened there after we left the scene. I also have had a cop also just make me stomp and grind a joint I had on me when I was 15. I was appreciative and so was my buddy in the former incident. I think it just comes down to if an officer feels it's worth his time for a minor offense. My .02 |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:14:08 PM EDT
[#22]
Only to a point, in most states LEO's have no discretion in felony matters. They must arrest. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:15:40 PM EDT
[#23]
ding ding ding, we have a winner. It can be classified as destruction of evidence. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:29:46 PM EDT
[#24]
Hmmm.... just listening.. first
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:34:23 PM EDT
[#25]
Ethics plays a part in this, really I think some of it depends on who you are as a person.
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:36:48 PM EDT
[#26]
An officers most powerful weapon is discretion.
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:37:56 PM EDT
[#27]
Sheesh. It also leaves a trail that could allow one to prosecute someone for up to the 2 year statute of limitations, ya mook. Everything isn't black and white, ya know. pato |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:41:54 PM EDT
[#28]
So, if your "property" is illegal, and I ask you if you would rather destroy it or go to jail---if you make the choice to destroy, what part of "due process" hasn't been followed? "recommending destruction"----ha ha. Haven't been in law enforcement long have you? It isn't up to the officer to say what should happen to the evidence once booked---it then becomes the purview of the prosecutor and the judge. pato |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 3:47:20 PM EDT
[#29]
You, of course, mean that it was a small amount and destroyed in testing, right? 
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Posted: 12/1/2007 4:04:20 PM EDT
[#30]
15 years.
Actually the lead investigator decides when and how evidence is disposed of. in a narcotics case thats the arresting officer. I decide if the evidence is tested and if the case is even submitted to the DA. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 4:09:34 PM EDT
[#31]
The officer decides how the evidence is disposed of? That's insane. That's one screwed up system you have there and 15 years haven't gone well for you obviously. pato |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 4:13:41 PM EDT
[#32]
And when you put 12 of those people in a room we call them a jury, and their opinion WILL MATTER to the police officer on trial. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 4:14:17 PM EDT
[#33]
AR15fan, Just out of curiousity, how big is your agency and how many volumes is your policy manual? |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 4:20:19 PM EDT
[#34]
Back in the late seventies a friend and I were hitch hiking to Oregon. We were going through Denver and ended up in this park downtown. We were chilling and trying to figure out how we were going to get another ride.
This cop strolled up to us and asked us what we were up to. We told him what we were doing and he looked at our driver's liscences. We were long hair, tie dyed bandana, torn jeans, pot smokers. He asked a couple of questions and then said he was going to have to search our back packs. We both got a deer in the headlights look. He said "listen, I'm looking for a pair of guys and a gun. I am looking for a gun. If you have other things in there you don't want me to see, I won't see them. If you have a gun, we will need to talk further. I am going to pat you down and you are going to empty your backpacks. Then we will be done here." We were all "yes sir" and hid our shit as best we could, and he only saw that we didn't have a gun. He told us good luck getting through town and don't stay in the park that night. Apparently he didn't think we were the guys he was looking for and he had bigger fish to fry. We were out of town in an hour. 
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Posted: 12/1/2007 4:24:40 PM EDT
[#35]
Drugs.... Well I think that descretion is nice sometimes since I don't like the way the war on drugs is executed. BUT; I still think he is commiting a crime. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 4:42:30 PM EDT
[#36]
Is it really contraband if it hasn't been proven to be illegal drugs? A test to prove it was coke or mj? Roy |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 4:45:36 PM EDT
[#37]
Demonstrating, yet once again, that you don't understand the law. The Judge will instruct the jury as to the law. They will not determine the law, nor will they make decisions about the definitions of the law of the case. Their only opinion that will matter is "Did the person violate the law as explained by the Judge". |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 5:28:34 PM EDT
[#38]
Worked out great for OJ,didn't it ? |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 5:33:56 PM EDT
[#39]
jury nullification may not be recognized under the law, but it still exists under our system of trial by jury. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 5:34:11 PM EDT
[#40]
This is an amusing thread.
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Posted: 12/1/2007 5:38:49 PM EDT
[#41]
That is what most cops with sense do around here for kids they find with pot, but they make them call there parents and explain what they had to do. Thats how it should be!
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Posted: 12/1/2007 6:19:02 PM EDT
[#42]
Not really. Only in the minds of those that have their heads covered in tin foil. You act like a Judge couldn't recognize "jury nullification" when he saw it. If he did, he would declare a mis-trial. Simple as that. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 6:19:54 PM EDT
[#43]
a judge can't declare a mistrial after the jury has announced a verdict of innocent |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 6:24:12 PM EDT
[#44]
Law is based on opinion. By the people, for the people? |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 6:33:30 PM EDT
[#45]
Yes he allowed evidence to be tampered with. He doesn't or shouldn't have the ability to decide to look the other way when illegal narcotics are involved.
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Posted: 12/1/2007 6:41:37 PM EDT
[#46]
Yes, in most states the intentional destruction of evidence of a crime or the assistance in its destruction would be a crime. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 6:42:38 PM EDT
[#47]
Was it "A green, leafy substance..." and did it field test positive for MJ? Was a field test performed, or did the officer allow them to dump/destroy it on the road without determining the probable contents? Obviously, it would not be sent to the lab for confirmation. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 6:49:06 PM EDT
[#48]
Wrong. A police officer is not a Legislature, Judge or Jury. If that officer has a personal conflict with a drug law or any other law he has a duty to resign or is free to act as a private citizen in arguing against it, BUT when he is in uniform he must enforce it. That is called DUTY. A police officer attempts to ID violations of criminal statutes through observation of things that give rise to reasonable articulable suspicion, conducts an investigation, if he established probable cause makes an arrest, informs the suspect of his rights, and submits an unbias report of the facts to the prosecutor's office. The 14th Amendment requires all states to provide those within their jurisdiction equal protection under the law. A police officer violates that by giving some people a pass for violating some laws and arresting others for violation of other laws. |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 6:53:42 PM EDT
[#49]
Good question. It goes to whether he had reasonable articulable suspicion that the substance was an illegal narcotic. That goes to intent. Did he intend to destroy evidence of a crime or would a reasonable person in his situation having followed department procedure had done the same thing? |
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Posted: 12/1/2007 6:56:32 PM EDT
[#50]
If I have to do a report to dump someones bag of weed I sure as hell would add a charge on there. Part of the idea of dumping it is to avoid the hour of paperwork.
That said I normally would take it and send them to the narc team but that is just me. If the discussion turns that it is illegal, what is the statute of limitations and where can I turn myself in? I'm due for a vacation. Joe Edited: Since I don't know Do/Due. <-------- Product of public education! |
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