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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy cops bust down doors of medical pot growers, but ignore men who keep naked girls on leashes.
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/why-cops-bust-down-doors-medical-pot-growers-ignore-men-who-keep-naked-girls-leashes?paging=offWhy Cops Bust Down Doors of Medical Pot Growers, But Ignore Men Who Keep Naked Girls on Leashes
Thanks to the drug war, police have much more incentive to go after drug crimes than more heinous crimes.
May 8, 2013 | Earlier this year, men wearing black ski masks whipped out their guns and raided the home of 62-year-old Cathy Jordan, a medical marijuana patient and activist in Florida. They seized 23 of her plants, two of which were mature enough to be used for her medicine. Police officers with the Manatee County Sheriff's Department, the team of armed men, made no arrests, but later charged Jordan and her husband with marijuana cultivation. A district attorney later dropped the case.
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Strange, isnt it, that hunches and vague tips about potential marijuana growing (in a state that recently legalized the drug!) is motivation enough to send a SWAT team busting down a door? Compare that to recent reports that police in Cleveland, Ohio ignored years of tips and calls about strange things going on in the home of the three Cleveland men suspected of holding captive, brutally raping and beating three women for nearly a decade.
Before the big break on Monday, neighbors say they knew something was up and claim that they repeatedly called the cops. The police did not appear concerned; they certainly lacked the enthusiasm many law enforcement officers display when going after drug crimes (and non-crimes):
USA Today:
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Retired law enforcement veteran Stephen Downing, former captain of detectives in the LAPD, says he has not seen proof that the police officers failed to adequately respond to information in this case; indeed, police cannot possibly crack every case and investigate every angle all the time. At the same time, we must recognize that police are incentivized to go after certain crimes -- like drug crimes -- and not other, far more heinous crimes, like rape.
Incentivized indeed.
tridim
(45,358 posts)I bet the number is embarrassingly high.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)and crimes of violence which is why he promised he'd not waste resources on medical marijuana. The reality of his Presidency is that the week after the terrorist attacks in Boston under his watch, Obama's DOJ had plenty of time and manpower to go after numerous dispensaries in Washington State, which has made marijuana legal. Blood on the streets of Boston while they went after pot. I guess Obama decided a certain amount of terrorism is worth it if they can make someone's chemo harder to endure as part of the deal.
Warpy
(111,339 posts)aren't going to work as hard the next day.
They don't give a shit about young women unless they're looking for cheaper hands on an assembly line before they move production to China.
That's what this is all about: drugged up people might not make as much money for the owners and bosses.
tridim
(45,358 posts)Because people with hangovers are so much more productive than Cannabis users with no hangover at all.
BuelahWitch
(9,083 posts)n/t
Warpy
(111,339 posts)especially when we start to get older and have the problems of age. That's really not a concern.
It's more the puppetmasters wanting to make sure the Civil Rights legislation of the 60s keeps on failing by having an excuse to lock people of color up and being afraid white folks won't work hard if they can get stoned.
brett_jv
(1,245 posts)types of thoughts.
They think pot smoking undermines the social order by causing stoned folks to 'contemplate' things like the unfairness of our wealth inequality, or our imperial overreach, et. They think it promotes 'peaceful' thoughts in this DANGEROUS world. Many also think smoking will make girls 'promiscuous'.
IOW, it's not just the 'work' thing, it's the 'hippy-shit' they associate with the stuff ...
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)We fill our prisons with pot smokers while ignoring real crime.
louis-t
(23,297 posts)So far, the girls have said they were only out of the house twice and not on leashes.
uppityperson
(115,679 posts)darkangel218
(13,985 posts)And jeoperdize their own freedom just to make things up? .. I don't think.so.
I think.the cops are lying and covering their own butts right now.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)they called the cops 100 times (especially since there is no obligation to leave a name in 911 calls)....
I think some neighbors are trying to save face or monday-morning quarterback all the media questions on "How the HELL did you never notice this on your street?"
There has been a weird shift in neighbor comments though...When the story first broke it was the standard "I never would have suspected/they seemed like nice regular folks, etc." to the current "I called the cops a million times to investigate that house!"
Response to Blue_Tires (Reply #17)
darkangel218 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)I'm just saying we went from one person saying they made two calls, to several people saying they made several calls...
If that's all true, then God help the Cleveland PD...But I'm thinking at least one or two of those neighbors just want their 15 seconds on CNN...
Response to Blue_Tires (Reply #28)
darkangel218 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Response to Marrah_G (Reply #34)
darkangel218 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)The experiences that you have relayed really suck, but that doesn't make every officer, in every place a liar about every incident. I think maybe we should wait until we hear the girls story before listening to every allegation made to a reporter.
An example would be the recent events in Boston, where reporters had it so wrong, so many times......
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)situations.
As a sworn officer of law one should uphold higher standards in my one humble opinion.
But they dont. " get home safely" is al; that matters.
Whatever. The truth will come out and shine just as bright as the sun. Fuck those lazy cowards.
Common Sense Party
(14,139 posts)I don't think the neighbor has been called on to testify.
wasn't this leash comment made to a reporter? There is no law against lying to a reporter.
I'll believe the kidnapped girls' version over hearsay from a neighbor.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)And it's perfectly legal to lie to the press.
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)From what I understand they called police. Police and press are not the same, hun.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)The police say there were no calls. The women say they were not paraded outside.
So why, exactly, are you treating the neighbor's claim as legal testimony?
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)This is not the first and won't be the last case where cops deny being notified.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)The police could be covering something up. Why are the women?
likesmountains 52
(4,098 posts)darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Maybe its hard for them to admit everything that happened just yet. I can only imagine the emotional trauma they must have suffered.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)except for one trip to a shed, when they were fully clothed, wearing wigs and hats.
So why are the women lying?
Or perhaps you should give up this Quixotic quest?
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)Your position requires that the women are lying. Why are they lying?
JI7
(89,264 posts)Dorner sightings during that whole thing. people are always lying about break ins at celeb homes to get the cops to go there.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Common Sense Party
(14,139 posts)There would be a record of the call somewhere.
And the fact that the dirtbag Castro got away with such a sick, twisted crime for a decade, indicates he probably wasn't going to be so foolish as to parade around his naked prisoners in the backyard like they are prize showdogs.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)that he kept the girls in separate rooms. We also know he kept them in that house for 10 years with no one in the neighborhood having a clue either.
Criminals like him are the ones who plan everything out in great detail, down to the minutest details. Like the man who kidnapped a boy and put him into a room he dug in the ground with a tube for air. Or the teenagers who kidnapped an entire school bus of little kids in Chowchilla, California and had dug a hole large enough to drive the school bus down into the ground where they covered it with dirt and poked some breathing tubes down so the kids could breath.
I don't know what's true or not so soon after they escaped. Rumors are flying for sure.
mythology
(9,527 posts)I suspect that this is an example of people either wanting their 15 minutes of fame or that they are trying to make up for feeling like they should have done something earlier, in spite of not knowing anything.
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)I don't want to bash cops again, but if I was to tell you how many times they didn't show up when I needed back up , you'd be like WTF!!
Obviously not all cops are the same, but some are just taking the easy way out of a shift!!! Actually investigating and finding any wrongdoing means reports have to be written, suspects booked, dealing with the media, etc
Ignoring is the next best thing. Next to free coffee and donuts.
Please excuse me while I puke
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)Vinnie From Indy
(10,820 posts)Police are much more intersted in asset seizure crimes like weed and other drugs.
Bake
(21,977 posts)But God forbid somebody is tokin' up!
Bake
mainer
(12,029 posts)Then the girls would have been rescued.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)zbdent
(35,392 posts)Why is it that, if a "liberal" or "lefty" makes a statement about a cop, he/she "hates the cops and sides with the cop-killers" and such other claptrap ...
BUT ...
when an over-the-top failure like this comes up ("naked"? I heard that was explained as "someone who wanted to get on TV making an outrageous claim" , it's the "liberals' fault"??? And that view is pushed in the "liberally-biased media" 24/7?
Ccarmona
(1,180 posts)that's going on in the military and in our society.
And why is ok for a 5 year-old to be pictured holding a loaded gun, but not ok for a 25 year old Colorado resident be pictured getting loaded?
bobclark86
(1,415 posts)people growing illegal drugs make more of a trail than a guy who kidnaps a girl and leaves her in his house for 10 years... one has more human interaction than the other, thus leaving more people to be informants/snitches/etc., thus more people the cops are likely to pick up on...
Wait a second: she is an "activist," which meant she liked to talk about smoking and growing weed in public. I'm willing to bet the guy with the chick in his house never was quoted about such in the local newspaper or on the 6 o'clock news.
One more thing: the whole comparison is bullshit. Why? It's not the same police department (or state, coincidentally). Adding to that, we don't know anything about the calls to cops were they to actual 911 calls to police, or buddies who were cops? Were they filing complaints, or just saying "hey, my neighbor's woman is naked in the yard?" What kind of a record do the police have in that community? Too many unanswered questions to make this kind of comparison.
IdaBriggs
(10,559 posts)Pretty nervy for a newbie!
Nice post, by the way. (Hope I didn't need to put in the sarcasm icon for my fake scolding.)
Seriously,
bobclark86
(1,415 posts)Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with weed on its own (I can't partake myself... the joys of being allergic to penicillin, the really good extra-sharp cheddar cheese a local producer makes, and pot), but it's still a federal crime. I just have little pity for people who break the vast majority of laws in this country.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Cathy was diagnosed in 1986 with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to loss of limb control, breathing, swallowing, and speech. However, after trying cannabis in 1989, she was able to better manage her symptoms and significantly improve her quality of life. Now, more than 20 years later, Cathy has outlived five of her support groups and four of her neurologists.
bobclark86
(1,415 posts)I feel horrible for people with ALS.
But that doesn't give them a blank check to break the law. In the current state of our legal system, that's like giving the same person a pass for robbing a bank.
I guess that means I have no compassion. It's not like there's alternatives that don't include having cops bust down your door as a price to pay. Thank you, I'll have to call my mother and tell her she did a horrible job raising me.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)'nite.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)400 million in tax dollars. About half of Ohio voters favor legalization. To arrest 25,000 people has to take away from any focus on violent crime that might be affected by the PD.
Some information for your elucidation:
http://www.clevelandchallenger.com/former-president-carter-385000-signatures-could-boost-ohio-pot-plant-legalization/
zerosumgame0005
(207 posts)cops are to lazy to go after anything that requires actual work and thought. Yup I can agree with that. Plus when they seize assets they can buy new toys!
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Even a PIR is too much for them.
I almost lost my life because of that.
But what do i count, im just an insigificant S/O who risks their life for $12 hour.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)people from getting high.
Do you honestly think that's a good use for your tax dollars? I don't.
bobclark86
(1,415 posts)did I give the impression I thought it was a good use of money?
Oh, wait. I didn't. You just felt like setting up a strawman.
I think it's a horrible waste of money that is used to unfairly target minorities and the poor, keeping them in a perpetual state of relying on others instead of being given a chance to make their lives better (and we can all agree, a drug conviction makes that pretty damn hard for most people). Add in moving that $60 billion a year into college (enough to put 3 million people into a state school every year) or into hiring new teachers (about 1 million more), and anybody with half a fucking brain can see it's a giant waste of money.
That said:
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I actually haven't smoked Pot since Bill Clinton was in the White House. So, whatever, speaking of straw men.
And yet, some laws are wrong. Would you have delivered that cute quip to a Gay Couple in Texas, prior to the Lawrence Decision? Because they'd be "breaking the law", too.
bobclark86
(1,415 posts)Lighting up a bowl is (as we've been told over and over on this board it's non-addictive and anyone can stop at any time). No judge would ever overturn a law banning the use of marijuana on the grounds it is a civil right.
BTW, reading comprehension fail. Never said anything about your personal habits.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)So merely, reflexively going "Don't break the law" is not a great response.
ESPECIALLY given that the story in the OP has to do with an ALS patient who had her door kicked down so cops could take the pot she was growing.
Very compassionate to play the "wulll just don't break the law then, ya silly potheads hur dur" card.
But, whatever. If you want to float tropes in defense of the drug war (or whatever it is you think you're accomplishing) knock yourself out, here.
bobclark86
(1,415 posts)I'm just ignoring you now. Have a nice life...
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Most of them, are so lazy they just cant be bothered. Like i said, im a Security Officer, i called for back up so many times, and 9 out of 10 they didnt show up. They said there were not enough available officers in the area LMAO! my vehicle was assaulted and there were no officers??? really..
I risk my life every night to protect people and property, And i have no back up. thanks to the wonderful police forcxe! i salute you !
ThomThom
(1,486 posts)bottom line
LuvNewcastle
(16,856 posts)Cops want to catch people doing things that people will be fined for. The government gives them extra funds and toys for catching drug offenders, so that's their emphasis. It's their version of job security; they get more money to hire more cops to catch more criminals to get more money to hire more cops. Now that we have all these private prisons, they find all sorts of excuses to arrest people. We're paying lots of fines, a whole heap of our taxes are going toward arresting more of us, and we're staying in prison longer than ever. I see the day coming when there's going to be two kinds of Americans: prisoners and guards.
Caeser67
(156 posts)Would make us all peaceful, and we wouldn't need so many Police.
Peace.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)darkangel218
(13,985 posts)and naked.
They couldnt be bothered to investigate. Easier to laugh it off and swallow the donoughts.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)darkangel218
(13,985 posts)BDSM is safe, saneand consetual. If you have taken any criminal justice classes you should know that any restrain nof freedom needs to be investigated and not automathically deemed consentual.
that simple, Sir,
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)If the police receive a call from someone saying there is a naked woman on a leash in a yard, and the police drive by and don't see anything, they should search the house.
Is that it?
And, yes, I've taken quite a few classes in criminal law and procedure.
randome
(34,845 posts)It's too early to jump to any conclusions.
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jberryhill
(62,444 posts)There is ZERO confirmation that anyone ever made a call to police.
But, be that as it may, I'm trying to figure out what was supposed to happen in some ideal world imagined by those who think the police should search a house because some random person says something on the telephone.
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)If the facts are these (and, again, there is no evidence that anyone ever called the police)
1. Police receive a telephone call saying someone saw a naked woman on a leash in a yard.
2. Police drive by and don't see anything.
Then in the world of your imagination, these facts would constitute probable cause for a search warrant. Is that correct?
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)...the next time I want the police to go search some random person's house. Simply dial them up, say something illegal is going on there, and they'll swoop in with a warrant and turn the place upside down.
However, in reality it does not work that way.
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)fuck about it!
I risk my life every night to keep people safe, so dont fucking say allegations shouldnt be investigated!!!!
if the cops wouldve done their job, those women wouyldve been safe a long time ago.
that simple, honey.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)And it is further unlikely that a judge would issue a search warrant based on hearsay and no direct observations by the police officer swearing to the warrant application.
But thanks for playing.
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)go back to school!!
randome
(34,845 posts)...the law, by and large, still favors the accused. There would need to be more of a reason to search someone's premises than one person's claim of malfeasance. Neighbors can sometimes carry a grudge, you know, and use the police as a means to harass their target.
Plus, there are conflicting reports about whether the police were called or not.
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Response to darkangel218 (Reply #63)
Post removed
Response to Post removed (Reply #68)
darkangel218 This message was self-deleted by its author.
opiate69
(10,129 posts)darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Dude, if you have ever taken CJ classes, go back to school. no pun intebded, just being honest!
jeff47
(26,549 posts)The police will be along shortly and rip apart everything.
And next week, I'll claim I smelled pot coming from your house.
The week after that, I'll claim I heard gunshots.
The week after that, I'll claim you are selling meth.
The week after that, I'll report you for being a nuisance. After all, the police have had to come by and search your house every week for the last 4 weeks!
Oh, and I'll be using a disposable pre-paid cell phone each time, so they won't be able to track the calls to me.
Allegations from a neighbor aren't enough for a search warrant by themselves. Because the scenario above would happen over and over again to settle petty grudges.
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Repeated allegations from different sources can give LEO a search warrant so freaking quickly.
I personally don't have a problem with police investigating allegations because I don't break the law. Cops need to do their job and clear any such leads, that simple.
And remember that false accusations come with punishment, so your imaginary neighbors wouldn't be able to abuse the system that much.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)You are saying it's OK for the police to harass you if I lie and claim you break the law.
You should go back and read the paragraph where I explain how to trivially avoid this problem.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)"I personally don't have a problem with police investigating allegations because I don't break the law."
We could have used clear thinking people like you when those idiots wrote the fourth and fifth amendments to the Constitution.
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Please tell me you're not a cop.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)You mean stuff like saying "go back to school" or going on about taking an undergrad CJ course when you have no idea what my education or profession may be?
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)Hopefully not a LEO.
Good night.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)pot busts and the war on drugs nets law enforce quite a bit lucre, kidnapped girls not so much
randome
(34,845 posts)Not everything is about marijuana.
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backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Local cops are going to exceptional trouble to fight the War on Drugs.
But at the same time, other crimes, such as thefts, vandalism, domestic disputes (and arguably, some of what the neighbors allegedly saw and called the cops about in the Amanda case looked like a domestic dispute from the outside) seem to get ignored.
Follow the money.
BanzaiBonnie
(3,621 posts)Not so much for rescuing human beings.
MFM008
(19,818 posts)if this clown had been growing pot they would have found these girls in a month.
Kolesar
(31,182 posts)Lax Ohio rules enable every petty gangster access to handguns.
The leadership in Ohio has been horrible. They have allowed predatory lenders to decimate the housing stock, the whitey clowns in Columbus have taken away the cities' ability to regulate handguns, and Gov. Kasich has starved cities of local government fund money. Our police departments cannot keep up. The EMS is struggling too.
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)I suggest we consider the amount of damage done to our society when sentencing lawbreakers. The idea than the potential to sell a handful of marijuana has a greater punishment than bankrupting thousands of people is appalling. Why do country club prisons exist?
TakeALeftTurn
(316 posts)protect the profits of the large pharmaceutical companies and the prison industrial complex.
(Amongst other large Corporate interests.)
Not to protect ordinary citizens.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)medical marijuana.