Sex, drugs, and racist policing in Rutland, Vermont

[friendly_iconoclast]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/08/26/institutionalized-racism-bernie-sanders-backyard/xawl4yZbg0KnBPZDK73cSP/story.html

Sex, drugs, and racist policing in Rutland, Vt.

By Farah Stockman Globe Staff August 26, 2015

...Thanks to a lawsuit filed in Rutland, Vt., the world is about to get a rare, behind-the-dashcam look at police culture in a rural Vermont town. It ain’t pretty.

To be sure, police in Rutland have a tough job. The once-idyllic town has battled the scourge of heroin for years. New York City drug dealers flock there to sell their wares at a higher profit.

But there’s a right way and a wrong way to tackle this problem. Rutland chose the wrong way: Two white police officers — Sergeant John Johnson and Officer Earl Post — began strip-searching black men coming off the Amtrak train.

They manufactured probable cause, claiming they’d gotten a tip from a “confidential informant,” according to the lawsuit, filed by Andy Todd, who served for years as the only black officer on Rutland’s force.

[Doctor_J]

1. The author tries to blame this on Sanders, of course.

But the comments slam her down quickly.

Excellent view of small town policing.

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. Sanders is no more culpable for this than Ted K. was for racist violence in Boston...

...in 1974-75 during the first years of busing.

And agreed, it is a good look at small-town policing

[left-of-center2012]

3. One comment after the article:

"An attack against Bernie Sanders. Just more corporate media conglomerates attempting to destroy a populist message."

[freshwest]

4. 'Strip-searching black men coming off the Amtrak train.' Weird doing that in public! n/t