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VMI77 wrote:Not rare at all....I'm referring to the very frequent cases where the police report or claim one thing, up to arresting and falsifying charges on someone they abused, and a video they didn't know about surfaces and proves that they were lying (or some other evidence comes out or gets leaked). Seems like some incident like this comes out about once a week.

All of what you posted does happen, but the above quote is an important part of the problem. Remember that for something to be newsworthy, it must be rare, different, AND unusual. The old saw about a dog biting a man not being news but a man biting a dog is news.

Consider how many cases one officer in a big city makes. In San Antonio, I averaged probably around 15 calls per day. Lower it to just the arrests for a more reasonable number. I averaged arrests around once per day. Multiply it by the number of officers on the department on patrol. For San Antonio, I estimate it was about 700 back then. 700 arrests per day times seven days per week = 4900 arrests per week. One incident per week like you describe is still a rare event, percentage wise. And remember, the news will report it from anywhere in the states, not just the one city. It is even rarer than the one out of 4900.

I agree that even one out of 700 is way too many. But, Jbarn is correct that the police in general do a very good job. There are a lot of problems in law enforcement these days, and their image is very tarnished. There are even more problems with government in general. There are times I am very embarrassed to have ever been associated with law enforcement. But I know, deep down in my heart and academically in my brain, that most of the cops are doing a great job under difficult circumstances and that these incidents are very rare. And I know we still need to do more to eliminate them completely if we can.

To go with the last post about the number of people, you might point out the recent news about Tenaha and their police. The man who started the case (both the lawsuit and with the news media) just got his money and jewelry back from the city.

I think Charles gave the best answer about the lawyer's advice. The only additional possibility would be to pay the lawyer to file the federal civil rights suit as a negotiating point. This would probably get all charges dropped and the guns back, but it would cost the lawyer's time and the filing fees. That may or may not be worth the value of the guns.

As to why the cops do it, there are several possible answers. I doubt that the cops are corrupt in the conventional sense of the word (they are not looking to keep the guns for personal benefit). I would guess the first cop made an honest (stupid) mistake. The agency is probably trying to save face AND probably has an anti-gun feeling to begin with.

As a matter of principle, I think I would try to fight it. But, I cannot argue too much with a man who looks at the cash value of putting it behind him also. Guns can be replaced in most cases. The time spent fighting it and the possibility of what a jury would do cannot be replaced.