Daily Business and Such

Trying to step back into routine life today. Bills were paid via banking online. Laundry completed. Lawyer contacted. Clothes and books sent. Tomorrow I will go back to work. I slept very little last night so I hope I can sleep tonight. I had a long talk with my Dad via phone earlier and another conversation with my sister.


Thinking a lot about the last two weeks. Holding him in my arms. Reaching my hand out to touch his back. Talking. Planning. Talking some more. He and I are both in the process of adjusting to our new roles in day to day life. I am praying to St Ann the patron saint of mothers and grandmothers and St Maximillian of Kolbe patron saint of prisoners.


He is an avid reader so I sent him The Great Gatsby, The Princess Bride, Of Mice & Men and Lord of the Flies. These are classics and he has read these books in the past and worth rereading. I am trying to get some clarification of the 4th book of the Vampire Series. He recently read the first three. There are so many vampire books on amazon that I really need a title. His father is suppose to get back to me. I can't believe how many vampire books with different authors are on the market.


Ironically, there was an article in the news on Saturday about mandatory video cameras placed in interrogation rooms because of the corruption in the city of Philadelphia. I wish they had that law three years ago. At least the problem has been brought out into the light and it will occur. The number of innocent people sitting behind bars is stagnating. I really think the city needs to take a second look at the bonuses detectives receive for every arrest that leads to a conviction and the fact that they are allowed by the supreme court to lie to justify the end result. I am sure that does not help the problem. I personally think it is sad when one's attorney does more investigating than the actual detectives. If you are naïve of the actions/laws, you can become a victim and be railroaded into a conviction. Asking for a lawyer during an interrogation does not mean one will receive a lawyer so video recording will be a good idea. I do not want to become bitter or cynical when it comes to law enforcement because I have family members who were or still are in law enforcement. A few bad apples should not ruin the bunch. Truth be told, I will never again trust a person in law enforcement automatically except my niece's husband. He stopped by the court room several times dressed in his uniform and offered support. I am sure that was not easy. However, it shows character and courage.


I wonder if I will ever trust anyone automatically again.


I wonder about many things.

Phila. police begin recording interrogations

PHILADELPHIA The cameras are now rolling
.
Philadelphia police this week completed the installation of eight cameras inside the Homicide Unit's four interview rooms - the first step of a new department policy to record interrogations in all major crimes.


For now, the cameras, operational as of Wednesday, are limited to the Homicide Unit, but Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey plans to install them in every detective division as soon as funding permits.

Some glitches involving computer coding had delayed the start of the program, which had been scheduled to begin by March 1, said Lt. John Stanford, a department spokesman. The cameras - one in the upper corner of each interview room, and another nearer to eye level - were installed late last year.


That was the easy part, Stanford said. The challenges involved drafting an orderly and cost-efficient storage plan for the images in the department's computer database.


"The storage part is definitely the biggest hurdle," Stanford said, "especially when we get into all of the detective divisions."


Ramsey said the benefits of taping interrogations are unmistakable. Suspects are protected against false confessions and unlawful interrogation tactics, while police only need to press "play" when faced with false claims that they coerced confessions.


Plus, Ramsey said, detectives "can get better" at interrogations by watching themselves on tape.


Thomas Sullivan, a Chicago defense attorney who has written extensively on taping interrogations, said at first some investigators worry about the "clam-up effect" - that suspects will be more reticent with the cameras rolling. But that never lasts long, he said.


For their part, Philadelphia detectives don't seem too worried. Sure, one veteran detective said, suspects might tense up a bit, knowing the cameras are rolling.


"But you just have to adapt and deal with it and still keep doing your thing," the detective said. "Tell them we're taping this to protect the both of us, and try and make them feel as comfortable as you can, and slowly and surely get them to tell you the truth."

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The Boys Club

Everywhere I looked I saw Philly's Finest hanging outside court rooms laughing, using foal language and wasting a ton of taxpayers money. When you are sequestered and have plenty of hours to sit outside and watch the people in their surroundings you learn a lot about the people and the system. It is all very sad.

Dirty Cops "It can happen to you"

Philadelphia spent nearly $25-million settling civil rights complaints against police between 2007 and mid-2010, alone.

 

Chicago spent an average of $39.1-million per year settling similar claims against police between 2004 and 2006.

 

New York City spent an average of $96.4-million between 1999 and 2008.

 

Police culture, particularly its no-snitching insularity, is “in part responsible for the prevalence of police misconduct and impedes meaningful police reform,” stated a 2010 article in The Catholic University Law Review.

 

The out-sized political power of police unions like the FOP compounds difficulties of policing police.

 

Philly's finest can punch a woman during a parade while filmed on camera and keep his job.

 

Philly's finest can cheat the city taxpayers out of 90,000 for false documentation of recorded overtime hours and keep his job.

 

Philly's finest can plant narcotics on a suspected drug dealer or worse, an innocent bystander and still keep his job.

 

Philly's finest can brutally beat a civilian and keep his job.

 

Philly's finest can co-hearse confessions, lie and steal and still keep his job.

 

All of the above statements are facts not fiction and all kept their jobs because their union made it happen. The Police Commissioner has less say than the FOP.

 

I grew up in a world where the police were the "good guys". I believed that truth most of my life. Then, it hit home. Then, I began to research. What I discovered was frightening. Nearly every week, a dirty cop is caught and every week that same dirty cop receives a hand slap and put back out on the streets.

 

When is it going to stop?

 

When are the law-abiding cops going to shout, "enough"?