City Government
Lawmen Circle The Wagons In Anticipation Of Criminal Charges
March 10, 2013 
Police and prosecutors are circling the wagons in anticipation of indictments against local coppers in the near future.
The IDAHO STATESMAN ran a big rehash Sunday of the story posted last June by the GUARDIAN about the demise of Robert Berrier’s career in law enforcement following a forced resignation for sexual misconduct with a drug informant.
The Daily Paper’s Patrick Orr did a good job detailing Berrier’s actions. He also points out how difficult it is to tell citizens of the inner workings of “the system.” The GUARDIAN has also been unable to learn how many–if any cases–were compromised. We are told that convictions using evidence and testimony other than that tainted from the bad copper will stand.
The GUARDIAN has learned of “possible indictments” coming out of a Federal grand jury and we have been told that “lots of coppers” have testified before the secret tribunal. If even a portion of the allegations are true, it won’t be a pretty picture. One hint passed our way dealt with “search warrant irregularities.”
We have talked to copper union members and they have no sympathy for a bad cop. “You can tell people I am glad to see him gone,” said one member.
When an officer dies in the line of duty, all coppers gather to mourn the death. When bad coppers are outed they all tend to share the blame…needlessly.
Those who stand up on the side of JUSTICE–not law enforcement–are beacons for respect and admiration from our entire society.
To insure more advertising-free Boise Guardian news, please consider financial support.
Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Mar 10, 2013, 10:28 am
Now if they would just go after over zealous Prosecuting attorneys!
Mar 10, 2013, 11:01 am
Sorry to have to say this, but IMHO cop work attracts bad guys–people on power trips, hyper-aggressives, sex addicts. I’m not saying they ALL suffer from such defects of character. But like same-sex monastic life attracting pedophiles, cop life has its attractions for other types of out of self-control humans. Problems with police forces in the biggest cities echo those in the small ones.
Mar 10, 2013, 11:32 am
POlice force training should include exposure to social-psychologist Zimbardo’s updated thinking on why ordinary humans go evil. See this link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-philip-zimbardo/journeying-from-evil-heroism_b_2832434.html?utm_hp_ref=tedweekends&ir=TED Weekends
or tiny link: http://tinyurl.com/b94oyf7
Zimbardo’s book, ‘The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil’, should be required reading by all candidates in training for police work.
Mar 10, 2013, 11:32 am
Having worked in the biz for 25 years- with thousands of cops- I can assure Mame that your sweeping characterization is way off base.
So I think your IMHO is incorrect. I have found the attributes you speak of- to be far more prevalent in the private business world where entrants are not given hours of psychological, polygraph, background research and drug tests.
Face it-people just don’t like being policed and suffering the consequences. I remember that whine well.
Mar 10, 2013, 1:11 pm
Same-sex monastic life attracts pedophiles ? Monasteries house children?
Mar 10, 2013, 1:22 pm
The last sentence of the Guardian’s post, above, is probably the most importance sentence to ever appear on his website. Justice is WAY more important than law enforcement.
There is also a discouraging lack of social justice and economic justice in the world today.
Mar 10, 2013, 6:44 pm
“union members and they have no sympathy for a bad cop.”
So why does the union allow for something like a severence pay before someone gets fired?
If there was truly no sympothy, there would be no threat of a lawsuit, if the union is not flipping the legal bill.
Where is that BDP cop who erased the interrogation tape? How did the union stand by him?
If the union was really against bad cops they would fighting strong to disclose all these unknowns- transparency wins trust in the public.
The union effectively allows bad cops to exist. Just like teacher unions allow bad teachers to continue in the classroom.
Maybe that union member, making this statement, should run for politics. I call BS on the union.
EDITOR NOTE–No way to know for sure, but it appears there was no “severance.” He apparently collected overtime due, vacation pay, comp time etc.
Mar 10, 2013, 9:09 pm
The justice/police/prosecutorial/incarceration/system allows bad cops to exist.
Mar 10, 2013, 11:33 pm
Mame
You hit the nail on the head….Type A personalities that got their lunch money stolen as kids. As far as Zimbardo (I assume you mean the Stanford experiment) that experiment is eye opening isn’t it? If you want to see it in real life go to any jail and watch just how the “cops” treat people. The ADA county lockup is the Stanford experiment on steroids…what would one expect with a megalomaniac like Raney in charge.
Frankenstien
Mame is right on although you and those like you will never admit it. Your argument about psyc. evals and polygraphs doesn’t hold water. Look at Big City Cops, the murder of Kelly Thomas by how many cops?, the crotch tazering here in Boise by the vaunted “Officer #3” and let’s not forget the whole Dorner thing. Guess the evals they give you guys and the background checks aren’t worth a whole lot. BTW a polygraph won’t measure what you boys are likely to do. It is amazing just how much you guys don’t know. As far as whining goes, there aren’t many bigger whiners than cops.
EDITOR NOTE–Let’s stay on topic. We made the post to let readers know there is indeed a federal investigation underway that is likely to cause a stir and result in prosecution. That doesn’t open the door to broad condemnation of cops. After all, its the good cops who will bring the bad ones to justice.
Mar 11, 2013, 8:16 am
Thanks for the link, Mame. Fascinating.
Mar 11, 2013, 12:26 pm
My response to your comment about “search warrant irregularities”:
I am not surprised in the least.
In my case in the pigpen and snakepit of Canyon County and the City of Nampa, there was no “probable cause”, and yet, a warrant was issued for my arrest, and I spent four days in jail before even being arraigned!!
And then, at my arraignment, the prosecutor for Canyon lied and asserted that I had a prior conviction!! This was a complete falsehood!!
And then, the monkeys in the Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney’s office (CCPA) missed scheduled hearings, bungled, bumbled, and wrongfully prosecuted me for five months with no evidence!!
And, if that is not bad enough, the court bungled and bumbled and could not even get their dates of hearings straight, which resulted in yet another warrant for my arrest being issued, which was all the fault of the CCPA and the courts!!
So, do I have reason to believe that the prosecutors, coppers, and judges are corrupt, bungling, lacking in integrity, and inept? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
If there is a Federal grand jury finally investigating this creepy, putrid, repugnant, and repulsive mess in Canyon County, I am all for it!!!
Mar 11, 2013, 3:44 pm
The mistakesman lists his base pay in 2010 as 63k but he made 116k in the same year. Where did the other 53k come from? Thats alot of bonuses.I assume these wern’t “performance” related and if they were who judged his “performance” As to irregularalities with the prosecutors office… that is the norm… the court system in both ADA and Canyon counties is a joke.
EDITOR NOTE–Extra income was from self proclaimed overtime. “Irregularities” in searches were NOT from prosecutor’s office, they will be evident after indictments–if any–are revealed.
Mar 11, 2013, 4:08 pm
self proclaimed overtime….I need a job like that…. bet the overtime was spent interrogating his CI.
Mar 12, 2013, 6:43 pm
There are very few things in life that make my blood boil more than a crooked cop. People cloaked with legal authority must be completely honest and fair with it. The Utah state trooper who has handed out hundreds of false DUI’s (to people who registered 0.00) is a great example of a cop that needs to be removed from the force and punished. If we’ve got them here, we need to root them out ASAP.
Mar 12, 2013, 7:38 pm
007, you are so correct… unfortunatly it seems that class amoung others is lacking at POST. It is unfortunate when actions and attitudes like that start to become the norm.
Mar 13, 2013, 9:29 am
James Bond:
And along with crooked cops, crooked prosecutors and crooked magistrate judges. They have been given too much power, with too little oversight, and they too commonly abuse their discretion and immunities.
My experience with the corruption in the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office, with the Nampa PD, and with the court system and judiciary, was nothing less than appalling.
The miscreants need to be rooted out, properly punished, and get a taste of their own medicine.
EDITOR NOTE–PLEASE! Stay on topic (pending indictments in Boise).
Mar 13, 2013, 8:43 pm
what indictments are pending?
Mar 16, 2013, 11:07 am
The apathy over this whole story is appalling to me. Does the public really not care about a dirty cop? If they don’t why don’t not? We pay these people; they are in effect our servants, as their cars used to say. Not anymore, the motto is gone, the concern for the public is gone, it has been replaced by a let’s get them before they get us attitude. A dirty cop should be rooted out with even more vigor than a dirty citizen, unfortunately the system is ineffectual and seems to only work after the cop has made a mistake so egregious as to be impossible to ignore.
Mar 17, 2013, 4:48 pm
@Tom – you need to look a little closer my friend. The new cars have the motto “Protect – Serve – Lead”. As far as the apathy and lack of coverage – couldn’t agree more.
Mar 17, 2013, 10:10 pm
Well the old ones dont…. sorry I have never been in one so I will defer to your knowledge… Are you LE? As far as Lead… that is a joke… right? I wonder who they think they will lead?
I really cant understand why the public doesnt demand more from these guys… we pay their salaries and they run amuck like they are someones hero.. Police depts need someone looking over their shoulder continously, and when I say that I mean an independent entity, not an ombudsman who is in the clique. Everyone should have an oversee’er but fortunatly or unfortunatly… according to your view… LE has no supervision from outside. If any entity needs supervision it is one that can, and often does, violate a persons rights and does so with impunity and an air entitlement. I could go on but Dave will shut me down, and rightly so. I will just say this after taking more than one CJ class at BSU my confidence in the US Justice system for LE all the way up to Fed Judges has taken a nose dive, something that I did not think was possible. I think everyone should be take classes on the subject so you will understand just how out of control the system actually is.
Apr 13, 2013, 10:43 am
So, any more rumblings about a grand jury????
Apr 29, 2013, 9:09 pm
Wow..the Boise ombudsman couldn’t have picked a better time to flee the city….but we’ll get back to that…………………..