I don't think he was actually a police officer, but a civilian informer who was trying to save his own ass. Whether he was told to plant the drugs, or if he was faced with a quota of arrests is unknown. That would mean the police department is directly culpable. In this case, the informant fled so he was likely doing this on his own.
People are recruited unwillingly into doing work for law enforcement all the time. Sometimes they just receive suspended sentences for doing their dirty work:
Never talk to the FBI without a lawyer (ACLU)
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The ACLU of Massachusetts made this video of civil liberties and civil rights attorney Harvey Silverglate explaining how to protect yourself from FBI agents who will interview you, then claim you lied so they can threaten you with imprisonment (unless you agree to become their puppet).
The message from Robel’s prosecution and Silverglate’s advice is clear: do not talk to the FBI without your lawyer present. If Harvey’s decades long experience is any indication, chances are that the agents will politely decline to interview you if you and your attorney insist on creating an accurate record of an FBI interrogation.
- Here we go, again.
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