—–Original Message—–
From: cece
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2010 4:39 AM
To: info@coptalk.info
Subject: felony

if you get caught with a magazine but it is not yours and they don’t find a gun can you still get charged?? also if they were to give you back the clip what does that mean? also are police allowed to let you go after they are suppose to arrest you because you promise them something in return??

Answer:

Depends on what state you live in. In most states, possession of a clip is NOT a crime. That is unless your on probation, Parole etc etc or live in a state like California where I believe mere possession of anything more then a 10rd clip is a crime.

If they give the clip back, its not going into evidence nor apparently was it a "part" of a crime.

Depends on what you "promised" in return for not being arrested. I worked narcotics and we would allow people to go on scene of an arrest if they promised to give us dope dealers later in return. If they did not, we would file the case with the DA and prosecute them later..

Of course, if you had to promise something unethical, you might want to reveal that to the appropriate authorities.

Ed

Comments(0)

I have always been confused about what constitutes entrapment. Can you please talk about entrapment and how law enforcement structures their undercover sting operations to ensure entrapment is avoided? – Howard

Good question Howard,

I remember a fraud case I was investigating where a suspect was using a stolen ID to order a large amount of car parts. He’d have packages delivered to vacant houses and pick them up from the porch shortly after delivery. It was discovered one day when a package was delivered to an occupied home and the resident called the police regarding a suspicious package left on the porch that they didn’t order. I did a records check on the name on the package and found that he was the victim of identity theft recently. I contacted the victim who confirmed that he has been been getting unauthorized charges made on his credit card recently and that he did not order the auto parts which were left on the porch. I took the package as evidence and called the auto parts store who gave me the phone number used for the order. I then asked a friend of mine at a local mail / package center if I could run a "sting" at his business.

I called the phone number that was used to make the fraudulent order which was the suspect’s number. The suspect had used the victims name to order the parts so pretending to be a mail store employee, I asked for Mr. so and so (the victim’s name) and told the suspect that I had a large box of auto parts which required a signature and that if he wanted them, he’d have to pick them up at the store. I told the suspect that the package had been misplaced for awhile and that it was going to be returned to the auto parts store the following day if it wasn’t picked up. Claiming to be the victim, the suspect asked if his girlfriend could pick up the package and I stated no, the person who ordered the parts had to sign for them. The suspect stated he would come to the store to pick up the parts the following morning.

Another detective and myself waited in the back room of the mail store until the suspect came in asking for the package. We had told employees in advance to have the suspect sign for the package and bring us the receipt and then we’d bring out the package. The employee brought me the signed receipt where the suspect forged the victims name and we carried two empty boxes out to the counter. I asked the suspect if he was Mr. so and so (the victims name) and he replied yes. Me and my partner dropped the boxes and grabbed the suspect taking him into custody. A search of his truck later turned up a lot of stolen property obtained by similar fraudulent means and several more victims names. 

In this case, the suspect initiated the illegal act by stealing an ID, ordering the auto parts, and he came in voluntarily to claim the package by forging the victims signature. I simply presented the "opportunity" for the suspect to commit the illegal act.              

People have different perceptions of entrapment. Cops have a pretty wide range of things they can do to catch crooks and I’ve seen some pretty creative undercover stings. Although every situation is different, there are certain guidelines that cops have to follow. The most common and probably contested situations of alleged entrapment is prostitution and drug cases. Cops have the right to present the opportunity of someone to commit an illegal act (such as an undercover officer posing as a prostitute, drug dealer, drug buyer, etc), but they cant induce or persuade a person to do so or it could be entrapment. Here’s a description from the Wikipedia encyclopedia:

Entrapment

From Wikipedia, Entrapment is constituted by a law enforcement agent inducing a person to commit an offense that the person would otherwise have been unlikely to commit. In many jurisdictions, entrapment is a possible defense against criminal liability. However, there is no entrapment where a person is ready and willing to break the law and the Government agents merely provide what appears to be a favorable opportunity for the person to commit the crime. For example, it is not entrapment for a Government agent to pretend to be someone else and to offer, either directly or through an informer or other decoy, to engage in an unlawful transaction with the person. So, a person would not be a victim of entrapment if the person was ready, willing and able to commit the crime charged in the indictment whenever opportunity was afforded, and that Government officers or their agents did no more than offer an opportunity.

On the other hand, if the evidence leaves a reasonable doubt whether the person had any intent to commit the crime except for inducement or persuasion on the part of some Government officer or agent, then the person is not guilty.

In slightly different words: Even though someone may have sold drugs, as charged by the government, if it was the result of entrapment then he is not guilty. Government agents entrapped him if three conditions are fulfilled:

1. The idea for committing the crime came from the government agents and not from the person accused of the crime.
2. Government agents then persuaded or talked the person into committing the crime. Simply giving him the opportunity to commit the crime is not the same as persuading him to commit the crime.
3. The person was not ready and willing to commit the crime before the government agents spoke with him.

On the issue of entrapment, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not entrapped by government agents.

There are many legal challenges and case law regarding entrapment that can be found on the internet.

Comments(1)

Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 10:33 PM
To: brent@coptalk.info
Subject: Old Police cars

Brent,

- Mike – Michigan

While people think that used police cars are usually beaten to death, they are actually very well maintained. Probably better maintained than most personally owned cars. Cities and counties cant afford the liability of having vehicles driving around that are dangerous or faulty. If an accident occurred where it was found that the city or county knew the vehicle was dangerous or not maintained to be safe, the county or city might be sued by an injured party or even by the employee themselves. If I was to crash in my police car and later find out that the city knew there was a safety concern but ignored it to save money, I’d have a huge lawsuit.

For this reason, cities and county have a regular maintenance schedule for all their cars. The vehicles are all bought brand new. They are covered by the manufacture warranties until it expires and any major repairs are done by the dealerships under warranty. Minor repairs are done by trained mechanics at the city or county corporation mechanic yards and after the warranty expires, most repairs are done there. The cars have regularly scheduled routine inspections, oil changes and maintenance. Like I said, the cities and counties want their cars to be safe and more importantly, to last. Any employee that finds a problem with a city or county owned vehicle simply fills out a quick memo to the corp yard and if it’s serious, the car is taken out of service and repaired quickly. The cities don’t need or want a $300 repair to turn into a 5 million dollar lawsuit.

So to sum it up, if you buy a used police car, you are probably getting a vehicle that was better maintained than most people maintain their cars. Most people don’t take their car in until something goes out. Police cars are inspected and maintained to make sure things don’t go out. Are some cars beat more than others? Sure, people drive differently. A new rookie feels the need to go to each call 100 mph and loves to find pursuits. An older veteran officer still loves a good pursuit but the cars are probably more mildly driven the rest of the time. Some might have interior blemishes, coffee stains, dings and small dents, but they are usually maintained well. There are some that might have been in accidents or got more trashed than others, just look it over real good before buying. Better yet, take a mechanic friend with you to the auction to look a few over before bidding. 

And used police cars are fun to drive. More power, special suspension packages. Since they come with spotlights on both sides, you’ll look like a cop no matter what. Get on the freeway and watch all the cars in front of you slow down or pull over a lane as you come up behind them. Not sure what cop opinions are on seeing retired police vehicles back on the street, we’ll save that discussion for the show. Security companies usually snatch up retired police cars just for that purpose, they still look like a police car even without the light bar on top.   

And yes, you can put a taxi sign on top or better yet, put a Dominos Pizza Delivery sign on the top, then there’s no confusion if it’s the police or not… 

We will hit this on this weeks show also….

Comments(0)