Police Murders Waiting to Happen: the Casual Use of Undercover Cops
October 23, 2015
Police Murders Waiting to Happen: the Casual Use of Undercover Cops
by Dave Lindorff
The police slaying of musician Corey Jones in South Florida highlights one of the most reprehensible aspects of law enforcement in America the ubiquitous undercover cop.
As yourself: What was a police officer doing driving along the highway at 3 in the morning wearing blue jeans, a T-shirt and a baseball cap in the posh neighborhood of Palm Beach Gardens? He wasnt undercover for the purpose of infiltrating a gang. He wasnt trying to fit into some commercial or street scene where there was a lot of suspected crime going on. He was just driving around randomly on patrol in a community known for its paucity of crime. And when he stopped at the dark entrance ramp to I-95, allegedly to check on what he claims he thought was an abandoned vehicle on the side of the road (where Jones van had stalled out on him and he was waiting for road assistance to arrive), this cop didnt turn on any flashing police lights, which at least would have suggested to anyone in the van that he was a almost certainly a cop.
He just walked towards the van.
Now if you were someone like Jones, a lone black musician with some valuable drums and equipment in your vehicle, and you saw someone like Officer Nauman Raja approaching you in the dark, youd be scared especially if Raja had his gun drawn, as he well might have, given how he was approaching the vehicle unannounced.
The last thing youd suspect would be that he was a police officer.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/10/23/police-murders-waiting-to-happen-the-casual-use-of-undercover-cops/
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)It is not the "cops" that are getting killed - it is us citizens that are getting killed.
As was the case right inside the very same article.
zalinda
(5,621 posts)that at some point, there would be an open season on cops? You can only suppress people for so long before there is push back. These cops killing unarmed people is becoming daily news, and they are not being held responsible. How long before some people say enough is enough and declares war on the cops.
Over the years, I have defended cops, but even I can't defend what has been happening. Police departments better wake up and force out the bad cops before all cops end up in someone's rifle site.
Z