I always thought things that sounded too good to be true usually aren't told why discovered this!
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While testifying during the ongoing Gun Trace Task Force corruption trial in Baltimore, Detective Maurice Ward — who has already pleaded guilty to racketeering — revealed that city police officers keep BB guns with them at all times, according to the Baltimore Sun. Cops known to do this don’t possess the otherwise harmless weapons for their protection, Ward told the court, but just “in case we accidentally hit somebody or got into a shootout, so we could plant them.” He didn’t say whether or not an officer had ever actually planted a BB gun, but considering the department’s tumultuous history as of late, it’s very alarming.
Freddie Gray, who died in police custody under mysterious circumstances, wasn’t a victim of yet another police shooting. Nor was a gun planted on his person. Even so, his death and the resulting trial, which acquitted all of the Baltimore Police officers who were present, has rattled the city. The Gun Trace Task Force corruption trial isn’t directly related to Gray’s death, but the broader connections aren’t lost on those who’ve been monitoring it. After all, the task force was supposed to “get guns off the streets”:
Over the past four years, some members of the Gun Trace Task Force stole more than $300,000, at least three kilos of cocaine, 43 pounds of marijuana, 800 grams of heroin and hundreds of thousands of dollars in watches from suspected drug dealers and civilians, according to officers’ plea agreements and statements in federal court.
As the Sun and the Post have reported, the task force’s apparent willingness to plant evidence on potential suspects (or victims) and “swindle” reputed drug lords out of money, drugs, and weapons (as opposed to arresting them) are just the tip of the iceberg. Even so, in a city coming to terms with its police force’s past crimes while “struggling to pay its teachers,” the task force’s alleged actions may sadly be the norm.
(Via Baltimore Sun and Washington Post)
do you like going to work? Me neither! See how I got around that and got paid too!
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