https://socialistaction.org/2017/12/10/police-corruption-is-rife-from-baltimore-to-philadelphia/
Police corruption is rife from Baltimore to Philadelphia
/ 19 hours ago
Jan. 2018 Mumia protest
Pam Africa (right) leads a march in the snow in Philadelphia on Dec. 9,
the anniversary of the 1981 arrest and shooting of Black activist and
political commentator Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia was framed up by cops and
the corrupt “justice” system on false charges of killing a Philadelphia
police officer. The marchers demanded that the Philadelphia district
attorney’s office release all the files regarding Mumia’s case,
particularly those of former DA Ron Castille, who later sat as a judge
during Mumia’s appeals. They vowed to “bring Mumia home” from prison.
Photo: Marty Goodman / Socialist Action.
By JOHN LESLIE
In mid-November, federal agents arrested a Philadelphia police officer,
Eric Snell, for allegedly acting as a middleman for a drug ring run by a
Baltimore police firearms task force. In addition to the drug charges,
Snell is accused of possession of illegal firearms and threatening the
children of one of the accused Baltimore cops. Snell, a three-year
veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) had previously been
a Baltimore cop. Snell’s brother is alleged to have sold the drugs in
Philadelphia.
Eight Baltimore cops stand accused of framing and extorting suspects,
overtime fraud, and stealing money, cocaine, and heroin. The drugs were
then resold on the streets of Philadelphia. Baltimore prosecutors have
been forced to drop charges against more than 100 defendants who were
accused by these corrupt cops.
In another incident, which Baltimore police officials say is unrelated,
a homicide detective, Sean Suiter, was killed in the line of duty on
Nov. 16. Suiter was scheduled to testify before a federal grand jury in
this case on the day after he was killed. Suiter’s killer remains at
large. Despite claims that Suiter “struggled” with his assailant, it is
reported that his radio was still in his left hand.
Police corruption in Philly
Police corruption is nothing new in Philadelphia. In 1995, scandal
rocked the city when 39th District cops were accused of framing
suspects, violating civil rights, violence, and theft of money. In all,
seven Philly cops were convicted. As many as 300 cases were overturned
and about 100 people released from prison for being framed by corrupt cops.
A key witness for the government against the 39th District cops was
long-time police informant Pamela Jenkins. Jenkins, a prostitute, had
been a confidential informant and girlfriend of one of the accused
officers, Thomas Ryan. Jenkins had previously testified against Mumia
Abu-Jamal in his frame-up trial for the murder of Officer Daniel
Faulkner. Jenkins later recanted her testimony in Mumia’s case.
The 39th District scandal wasn’t the end of police malfeasance in
Philadelphia. In May, 2015, six Philly narcotics officers, Thomas
Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, Perry Betts, Linwood
Norman, and John Speiser were found not guilty in a federal trial. They
had been accused of faking and planting evidence, theft of drugs and
money and of framing suspects. A seventh officer, Jeffrey Walker, took a
plea deal and agreed to testify against the others. After their
acquittal, the six got their jobs back. (One was subsequently fired
after failing a drug test.)
More than 1000 convictions have been thrown out in the wake of the drug
squad case, with more than 200 remaining to be reviewed. This case will
cost city taxpayers an estimated $24 million, as the city settles
lawsuits brought by the victims of police corruption.
In April 2015, a 19-year veteran of the force, Christopher Hulmes, was
arrested for perjury and making false reports. Former DA Seth Williams
let Hulmes get off with pre-trial intervention and the promise not to
return to law enforcement. The district attorney’s office stated that
more than 500 cases involving Hulmes were under review.
District attorney Seth Williams, originally elected as a “reformer,”
pled guilty after being indicted on corruption and bribery charges early
in 2017. The district attorney’s office in Philadelphia is notorious for
withholding evidence in capital cases, collusion with cops, exclusion of
Black people from juries, and refusing to prosecute corrupt and violent
cops. It’s laughable to think that the DA’s office would be able to
oversee the police.
Legal theft
Civil asset forfeiture in Philadelphia allows cops to legally rob
working people in a scheme in which money, vehicles, and homes can be
confiscated in narcotics cases. The money is used by the department and
the DA’s office to finance salaries and equipment. The vehicles are
either sold at auction or used by cops or District Attorney’s office
employees. Civil asset forfeiture is a racket in which police agencies
and DA’s offices profit even when the person whose assets are seized is
never charged with any crime.
The incoming DA, Larry Krasner, has promised to stop this practice, but
it remains to be seen whether seizure of assets can be stopped or how
far Krasner can go in reforming the office.
Krasner’s transition team includes Ron Castille. Castille worked in the
DA’s office from 1971-1991, first as an assistant DA (ADA) and then as
the elected district attorney. He was then elected to the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court, where he refused to recuse himself from ruling in the
case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia’s case had been prosecuted by the
Philadelphia DA’s office during Castille’s tenure as an ADA. Castille
was district attorney when the racist McMahon “training tape,” which
instructed prosecutors on how to exclude Black people from juries, was
produced.
The presence of Philadelphia attorney, and vocal police critic Michael
Coard on Krasner’s transition team is encouraging, but waiting for
reform from above won’t work. Philadelphia police act as an occupying
force in neighborhoods of people of color. Only grassroots organizing
and united-front mass action in the streets can hold police accountable
in the long term. We can’t wait for Krasner to clean up the DA’s office,
but must mobilize as many people as possible against police violence,
official corruption, and mass incarceration.
Police corruption, civil rights violations, and violence against
communities are all linked. Corruption needs to be rooted out, but we
can’t rely on liberal politicians for solutions. Police and the district
attorney’s office are part of the repressive arm of the state and serve
to feed the regime of mass incarceration. Socialists call for police
abolition and their replacement by democratic, community-based
solutions. Policing should be accountable to democratically elected
community boards and not overseen by the district attorneys.
The current system in Philadelphia, with a toothless Police Advisory
Commission, must be completely overhauled, with strict accountability of
cops to the community, and with the community able to discipline corrupt
or violent police officers. Socialists also call for the labor movement
to repudiate ties to police and prison guard unions, which play a racist
and reactionary role both within the labor movement and in defense of
killer cops.
1.http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news/uncovering-philly-law-enforcement-s-secret-bank-accounts/article_e451c942-9d73-11e7-af76-3f98de79b735.html
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December 10, 2017 in Black Liberation, Philadelphia, Police & FBI,
Prisons. Tags: Mumia Abu-Jamal
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