Those Biscayne Park cops who framed innocent people to up their solve rate are going to do some time. Not enough time- one of their victims did a 5 year stretch, whereas the bad-cop-in-charge is getting a puny 24 months. But some.
I would like to believe what I’ve seen oft repeated on tv shows, that prison-time is particularly hard on former cops. But I have no actual sources other than those shows. Any info among the TM?
Most prison systems have a designated “Protective Housing Unit” for high-risk inmates. Former cops/correctional officers would fall into this category and would generally be assigned to Protective Housing.
Spain’s most extreme Protective Housing Unit has been used for, that I know of, two high-profile prisoners: Luis Roldán, who was director of one of our national police bodies (Guardia Civil) and part of a huge corruption scandal (not involving his GC subordinates), and right now Iñaki Urdangarín, the king’s brother-in-law who’s doing time for gee corruption charges again (these, involving his wife and father-in-law as well).
It’s a whole wing for one prisoner, in what is otherwise a woman’s prison (Brieva). When it was reopened for Urdangarín, newspapers tried to present it as “his very own private prison” but what people read was “as close to solitary as you can get without actually being in solitary”.
Below is a link from the Sun Times that might answer some of those questions.
Cops, sex offenders, celebrities, high profile criminals and people who cooperate with authorities tend to end up in protective custody to be protected from other inmates.
I know of one long term prison employee (30+ years) who ended up doing something really, really stupid in his real life, getting arrested, and sentenced to a few years in prison. Because he was so intimately familiar with the entire security structure, they ended up sending him to a different state under a false identity. His son, also a prison employee, was not allowed to communicate with his father except in writing and then passed through an intermediary (a prison official). This, again, was out of fear that the father or the son would be put into jeopardy because of their access & knowledge (formerly or currently).
They both understood the extraordinary seriousness of their situation & played by the rules & everything went according to plan. The father did his time & was released.
That’s a pity. Police are given an extraordinary amount of authority over citizens. Those who abuse that power should face extraordinary jeopardy. Knowing they will be separated from the rabble is not nearly enough of a deterrent for bad behavior.
That’s ridiculous. People are sent to prison as punishment, not to be punished. Placing someone in jeopardy such as you describe is itself a crime. (8th amendment, cruel and unusual punishment. Yes, it’s been legislated.)
I know one former police detective who’s been residing in a maximum security institution for over a decade. He fits right in amongst the rest of the general population. A few special handling precautions are in place, but at this point they’re not really noticeable.
[sub]this gent is one of the few inmates I know whom i truly suspect it quite likely that he didn’t do what he was convicted of[/sub].
How come he’s not being attacked, or attacked as much as one would expect a former police officer in a maximum security prison?
Is it possible to be in protective custody that doesn’t resemble being in the hole?
How common is it for prisons to have extensive camera surveillance? Inmates may not on average have good planning and impulse control but they may think twice if everything is on tape.
Because we work hard to have secure, safe prisons. Cameras play a large part of that, as does punishment for assaults on others. Add in the fact that other felons see this guy as just another example of someone screwed by the system, and it’s not that big a deal. Other guys are more high risk for violence. Like Dahmer was. We thought we had him secure, but that wasn’t the case.
Being a former cop doesn’t automatically bring all the hostility to bear that you see portrayed in the media. That’s usually reserved for the child molesters and internal snitches. Or the criminals who preyed on the families of other criminals (so often the poor and resourceless).
In other states it may be different. Heck, in a few of our other max prisons it is different, for certain individuals. But that’s how it is for this one guy I know.
That thing where the on edge detective filled up half the prison with his arrests isn’t a real thing.
Says you, slacker
I know I shouldn’t want ex-cops’ time to be harder: it’s morally wrong and also it is (fortunately) just not how our system works. I am both disappointed and relieved to find out the trope of cop-in-jail=walking punchbag is wrong
But I am still disappointed in (and not at all relieved by) the light punishment handed out to the Biscayne Park cops. They, under cover of law, subverted our system of laws. They did very, very bad things, both to their individual victims and to all residents of the U.S. I believe that committing crimes as a cop, da or judge should carry an extra kicker. Sort of like how possession of a firearm is an aggravating factor.
It should be an aggravating factor, but it seems like often it is a mitigating factor if anything.
Cops who do things as Cops should get double the sentence of a civilian
In my state as in many others there is a separate statute for Official Misconduct which has a strong mandatory sentence that is usually longer than the underlying offence.
Many times the actual sentence is lower than someone reading an article may want. Its usually because the prosecutor cuts a deal rather than take a chance on a trial. Take that away and things bog down. You also may not get the verdict you want.
Okay, now you’ve got my curiosity raised: What am I not understanding here?
Why the desperate fear because of their “access and knowledge”?
I can see why an ex-guard would be in fear of his life from other inmates. (say, the guard treated some inmate harshly, and now the inmate has a chance for revenge.So move the ex-guard to another state with a false identity, for his own protection.)
And I can see why it’s necessary to prevent his son from visiting, and thus being seen alongside him. (This could expose the false identity.)
But you mention that the danger comes from the ex-guard’s “intimate familiarity” with the system.
Why does knowledge make it more dangerous for him? It seems like it would be less dangerous.As an experienced guard, he knows about prison life.
( Unlike me, for example; I am totally naive, and would probably get killed if I were imprisoned, because I have zero understanding of how the gangs work,etc.)
If there is a presumption that a LEO needs special protection after being convicted, should there not be a presumption that ordinary citizens need special protections from the police?
If cops stop killing innocent civilians and jailing many more, then I’ll be worried about what happens to (the tiny fraction of) cops who go to jail for their crimes.
Police should fear conviction. That they don’t is an indictment of the entire US system of what is laughably called justice.
Other inmates want to use that knowledge and possible connections to staff and exert pressure on him to help beat the system.
And the system doesn’t want him to use the knowledge for his own gain either, so they send him to another state where the system is different.