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'Rat Cop' Joe Crystal Shunned From Baltimore Police Department After Reporting Officer Brutality
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/16/baltimore-joe-crystal_n_7582374.htmlSebastian Murdock
Posted: 06/16/2015 5:36 pm EDT Updated: 3 hours ago
BALTIMORE -- Former Detective Joe Crystal sat at a back table in Martins West Ballroom last Thursday, scanning the room filled with police officers for any friends he still had left.
Under glowing chandeliers, more than 500 law enforcement officials and their families mingled prior to an awards ceremony honoring Baltimores finest. Crystal, 34, was one of the people up for an award, though few had expected him to show. He was a pariah. He had informed on two other cops who engaged in police brutality. And it had cost him his livelihood.
(further .........)
In 2011, Crystal witnessed two fellow cops beating down a drug suspect after the suspect, fleeing from the officers, kicked in the door of a home belonging to another officer's girlfriend.
For reporting the officers actions to the States Attorneys Office, Crystal was labeled a "snitch" and a "rat cop." The threats and intimidation -- which included someone putting a dead rat on Crystal's windshield -- are outlined in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit that Crystal filed against Commissioner Anthony Batts and the BPD.
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This sickening story describes an honest cop who saw two other officers beat up a suspect, and he reported it. It includes many details and describes how his fellow officers treated him after the report. It is not pretty. It reminds me of "Serpico" and how I felt after watching that film. Yet this happened just over three years ago. Little has changed in the 40 years since Serpico ..At least his fellow officers did not set him up to be shot as in Serpico. It is worth reading, but describes very ugly behavior on the part of Crystal's fellow officers.
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'Rat Cop' Joe Crystal Shunned From Baltimore Police Department After Reporting Officer Brutality (Original Post)
Stuart G
Jun 2015
OP
msongs
(67,413 posts)1. the benevolent brotherhood doesn't like honest people nt
47of74
(18,470 posts)2. I've sent a tweet to the BPD.
Telling them that I would sooner visit HELL on vacation than Baltimore.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)3. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)4. We need more cops like Crystal, willing to report on this...
THIS is an example of a good cop.
A good cop doesn't hand out Toys for Tots at the holidays or keep small trinkets to hand out to neighborhood kids in the worst neighborhoods on their beat.
A good cop has the courage to report their coworkers who all have sworn to uphold the rule of law, when his or her fellow officers have not.
I commend Detective Crystal, it took a lot to report this, knowing that exactly what was relayed in the story would happen.
We need HUNDREDS more cops just like Detective Crystal...
Judi Lynn
(160,542 posts)5. Thank you, rec. n/t