Okay, from my perspective, my opinion is the clear minority, and so everyone 
else on this echo is raving with personal indictments of me, many in posts 
that
aren't even addressed to me (and since I have limited time, I don't always 
read
them). 
So, let's set it straight for once and for all. Let's get the FACTS straight, 
because from my point of view, most of you are less interested in the facts 
here, and just disregard what I am saying as a lie or fabrication.
Contention: Law enforcement in the United States is institutionally corrupt, 
aimed primarily against minorities, the lower classes and political 
dissidents.
My initial "evidence":
(1) In nearly every aspect of law enforcement, minorities and the poor are 
disproportionately affected. Black men are incarcerated at a rate 8 times 
that 
of white men, even though they are clearly a minority in the general 
population. Blacks are 4 times as likely to be arrested for drugs, even 
though 
whites use drugs at the same rate or higher. Seventy percent of black males 
will be arrested and jailed at least once before the age of 35. Blacks are 10 
times more likely to be shot at by police than whites are. While this does 
not 
suggest that all cops are racists, it shows that there is an 
institutionalized 
racism that permeates the nation's police departments. [Sources: Report of 
National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorder (the Kerner Commission), The 
Sentencing Project (Jan 1991), National Center on Institutions and 
Alternatives, James J. Fyfe (73 J. Crim. L. & Criminology), Killings by 
Chicago
Police 1969-70: An Empirical Study (46 S. Cal. L. Rev. 284, 311).]
(2) The FBI, with co-operation of state and local police departments, has 
operated an illegal program nicknamed COINTELPRO, or Counter-Intelligence 
Division, or CID. The target of this program has been primarily black social 
activists conducting legal political dissent, but many other groups of people 
have been targeted also. The scope of this program has included illegal 
eavesdropping, "sending incendiary bogus mail," dissemination of incorrect 
information regarding groups, arresting individuals with no hope of 
conviction 
solely to exhaust a group's resources, the use of infiltrators, fabrication 
of 
evidence, and framings. Much of the program's past has been admitted by the 
government (see, William C. Sullivan, statement, former head of FBI) and 
apologized for. The government claims, though, that the program is over and 
ended sometime in the late 70's. However, many of the program's victims are 
still in jail or still in hiding, including Mumia Abu-Jamal, Geronimo Platt, 
Fred Hampton, Jr., and many more. The height of COINTELPRO arrogance is the 
bombing of an entire city block in Philadelphia during the mid-80s, as part 
of 
a continued harrassment of a neighborhood black community group.
(3) There is widespread dissatisfaction with police activities in poor, 
ethnic 
neighborhoods. While the mass media is dominated by pro-police messages (from 
the evening news to Real Stories of the Highway Patrol), the mass media is 
also
primarily reflective of an upper middle class viewpoint. Any cursory look at 
non-mainstream publications will find a distinct opposition to widespread 
police corruption. The riots that took place around the country were started 
during political protests of the Rodney King verdict, a chilling reminder to 
the white upper class about just how serious things are. While the media does 
like to jump on police brutality stories, they are more reluctant to report 
on 
a case that has severe political implications, like the self-imposed gag rule 
on reporting the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal (NPR pulled their story after the 
prison imposed a gag rule and the FOP threatened them). 
These are my three main arguments. Any one of them will stand alone as proof 
of
widespread police corruption. I have presented the facts. I can present more. 
The question is: can anyone else on this echo?
--- FMail 1.22
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