I've already covered the horrible civil rights violation that is policing for profit. I discussed in that previous post why it is bad, and why it should end immediately. As if we needed it, here's more proof.
In March, a Mesquite, TX, police officer was arrested by the FBI for stealing money. The article from Fox makes a point to try to draw a line between what happened here and drug busts, but their facts do not support that correlation. This is a problem with policing for profit, not with the Narcotics division.
According to the article, the FBI baited a car with money, and then drove into Mesquite. There, the under-cover agent was pulled over, and his car searched. No mention is made of drugs, nor of drugs or drug paraphernalia being planted: only the money. Sargent McAllister confiscated the cash- again, with no mention of any kind of criminal charges or complaint.
Policing for profit begs for this kind of corruption. It does not merely "enable," or "encourage" it. Once a police department is in the habbit of depriving a citizen of their legally owned goods without a criminal complaint, it only makes sense that the officers themselves will begin to think "well, what's wrong with it?" They're stealing on behalf of the Government; now the government is surprised that they're stealing from it?
Newsflash: when you encourage unethical behavior in the police, the police will behave unethically.
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