Why cops bust down doors of medical pot growers, but ignore men who keep naked girls on leashes.

[backscatter712]

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/why-cops-bust-down-doors-medical-pot-growers-ignore-men-who-keep-naked-girls-leashes?paging=off

AlterNet / By Kristen Gwynnne

Why Cops Bust Down Doors of Medical Pot Growers, But Ignore Men Who Keep Naked Girls on Leashes

Thanks to the drug war, police have much more incentive to go after drug crimes than more heinous crimes.

May 8, 2013 | Earlier this year, men wearing black ski masks whipped out their guns and raided the home of 62-year-old Cathy Jordan, a medical marijuana patient and activist in Florida. They seized 23 of her plants, two of which were mature enough to be used for her medicine. Police officers with the Manatee County Sheriff's Department, the team of armed men, made no arrests, but later charged Jordan and her husband with marijuana cultivation. A district attorney later dropped the case.

...

Strange, isn’t it, that hunches and vague tips about potential marijuana growing (in a state that recently legalized the drug!) is motivation enough to send a SWAT team busting down a door? Compare that to recent reports that police in Cleveland, Ohio ignored years of tips and calls about strange things going on in the home of the three Cleveland men suspected of holding captive, brutally raping and beating three women for nearly a decade.

Before the big break on Monday, neighbors say they knew something was up and claim that they repeatedly called the cops. The police did not appear concerned; they certainly lacked the enthusiasm many law enforcement officers display when going after drug crimes (and non-crimes):

USA Today:

Elsie Cintron, who lives three houses away, said her daughter once saw a naked woman crawling on her hands and knees in the backyard several years ago and called police. "But they didn't take it seriously," she said.

...

Retired law enforcement veteran Stephen Downing, former captain of detectives in the LAPD, says he has not seen proof that the police officers failed to adequately respond to information in this case; indeed, police cannot possibly crack every case and investigate every angle all the time. At the same time, we must recognize that police are incentivized to go after certain crimes -- like drug crimes -- and not other, far more heinous crimes, like rape.

Incentivized indeed.

[tridim]

1. I wonder how many people died because the police are too busy arresting cannabis users and growers?

I bet the number is embarrassingly high.

[Bluenorthwest]

24. As candidate in 08 Obama was adament that law enforcment needed to focus on terrorism

and crimes of violence which is why he promised he'd not waste resources on medical marijuana. The reality of his Presidency is that the week after the terrorist attacks in Boston under his watch, Obama's DOJ had plenty of time and manpower to go after numerous dispensaries in Washington State, which has made marijuana legal. Blood on the streets of Boston while they went after pot. I guess Obama decided a certain amount of terrorism is worth it if they can make someone's chemo harder to endure as part of the deal.

[Warpy]

2. Corporations are afraid people who toke up at night

aren't going to work as hard the next day.

They don't give a shit about young women unless they're looking for cheaper hands on an assembly line before they move production to China.

That's what this is all about: drugged up people might not make as much money for the owners and bosses.

[tridim]

9. So drink up instead!

Because people with hangovers are so much more productive than Cannabis users with no hangover at all.

[BuelahWitch]

26. They're also afraid they won't buy their overpriced, chemical laiden, shit drugs

n/t

[Warpy]

29. Not really, they still sell plenty of drugs to keep us alive

especially when we start to get older and have the problems of age. That's really not a concern.

It's more the puppetmasters wanting to make sure the Civil Rights legislation of the 60s keeps on failing by having an excuse to lock people of color up and being afraid white folks won't work hard if they can get stoned.

[brett_jv]

64. That, and because pot is thought of by many older folks as being ass'd with 'revolutionary'

types of thoughts.

They think pot smoking undermines the social order by causing stoned folks to 'contemplate' things like the unfairness of our wealth inequality, or our imperial overreach, et. They think it promotes 'peaceful' thoughts in this DANGEROUS world. Many also think smoking will make girls 'promiscuous'.

IOW, it's not just the 'work' thing, it's the 'hippy-shit' they associate with the stuff ...

[Warren DeMontague]

3. kick

We fill our prisons with pot smokers while ignoring real crime.

[louis-t]

4. I still have doubts about the 'naked girl on a leash' story.

So far, the girls have said they were only out of the house twice and not on leashes.

[uppityperson]

12. That is odd, two very different stories. Glad to see someone else wondering.

[darkangel218]

13. So one of the neighbours would just go and falsely testify

And jeoperdize their own freedom just to make things up? .. I don't think.so.

I think.the cops are lying and covering their own butts right now.

[Blue_Tires]

17. Well, if there is no archive of the calls to search, any neighbor can claim

they called the cops 100 times (especially since there is no obligation to leave a name in 911 calls)....

I think some neighbors are trying to save face or monday-morning quarterback all the media questions on "How the HELL did you never notice this on your street?"

There has been a weird shift in neighbor comments though...When the story first broke it was the standard "I never would have suspected/they seemed like nice regular folks, etc." to the current "I called the cops a million times to investigate that house!"

[Blue_Tires]

28. I'm not saying one side is right over the other...

I'm just saying we went from one person saying they made two calls, to several people saying they made several calls...

If that's all true, then God help the Cleveland PD...But I'm thinking at least one or two of those neighbors just want their 15 seconds on CNN...

[Marrah_G]

34. Perhaps waiting for the entire story to come out would be wise

[Marrah_G]

49. But what happened to you has nothing to do with cleveland

The experiences that you have relayed really suck, but that doesn't make every officer, in every place a liar about every incident. I think maybe we should wait until we hear the girls story before listening to every allegation made to a reporter.

An example would be the recent events in Boston, where reporters had it so wrong, so many times......

[darkangel218]

52. Im pointing out that most officers want to get home safely than investigate potential dangereus

situations.

As a sworn officer of law one should uphold higher standards in my one humble opinion.

But they dont. " get home safely" is al; that matters.


Whatever. The truth will come out and shine just as bright as the sun. Fuck those lazy cowards.

[Common Sense Party]

66. 'Testify' is something you do in court.

I don't think the neighbor has been called on to testify.

wasn't this leash comment made to a reporter? There is no law against lying to a reporter.

I'll believe the kidnapped girls' version over hearsay from a neighbor.

[jeff47]

73. What testimony? The neighbors were talking to the press.

And it's perfectly legal to lie to the press.

[darkangel218]

80. And how do you know that they lied?

From what I understand they called police. Police and press are not the same, hun.

[jeff47]

81. They told the press they called the police

The police say there were no calls. The women say they were not paraded outside.

So why, exactly, are you treating the neighbor's claim as legal testimony?

[darkangel218]

82. Because im pretty sure they called the authorities.

This is not the first and won't be the last case where cops deny being notified.

[jeff47]

84. So why are the women lying?

The police could be covering something up. Why are the women?

[likesmountains 52]

87. Yes, there is no reason for them to lie about this.

[darkangel218]

88. How do you know everything they said?

Maybe its hard for them to admit everything that happened just yet. I can only imagine the emotional trauma they must have suffered.

[jeff47]

91. Because they have said they were not taken outside the house

except for one trip to a shed, when they were fully clothed, wearing wigs and hats.

So why are the women lying?

Or perhaps you should give up this Quixotic quest?

[darkangel218]

95. Im not on any quest, its a freaking discussion board! am i forcing you to reply to my posts?

[jeff47]

96. Nope. But nice try at dodging the question.

Your position requires that the women are lying. Why are they lying?

[JI7]

97. many people lie about things during big media stories , many lied about Christopher

Dorner sightings during that whole thing. people are always lying about break ins at celeb homes to get the cops to go there.

[HiPointDem]

18. me too.

[Marrah_G]

33. I was thinking the same

[Common Sense Party]

65. Me, too. I'd trust the victims' story more than a neighbor.

There would be a record of the call somewhere.

And the fact that the dirtbag Castro got away with such a sick, twisted crime for a decade, indicates he probably wasn't going to be so foolish as to parade around his naked prisoners in the backyard like they are prize showdogs.

[lunatica]

72. We also heard the two other brothers didn't know anything was going on and

that he kept the girls in separate rooms. We also know he kept them in that house for 10 years with no one in the neighborhood having a clue either.

Criminals like him are the ones who plan everything out in great detail, down to the minutest details. Like the man who kidnapped a boy and put him into a room he dug in the ground with a tube for air. Or the teenagers who kidnapped an entire school bus of little kids in Chowchilla, California and had dug a hole large enough to drive the school bus down into the ground where they covered it with dirt and poked some breathing tubes down so the kids could breath.

I don't know what's true or not so soon after they escaped. Rumors are flying for sure.

[mythology]

76. But that gets in the way of leaping to conclusions in order to advance an unrelated issue

I suspect that this is an example of people either wanting their 15 minutes of fame or that they are trying to make up for feeling like they should have done something earlier, in spite of not knowing anything.

[darkangel218]

5. Because apparently abusing women is norm to them.

I don't want to bash cops again, but if I was to tell you how many times they didn't show up when I needed back up , you'd be like WTF!!

Obviously not all cops are the same, but some are just taking the easy way out of a shift!!! Actually investigating and finding any wrongdoing means reports have to be written, suspects booked, dealing with the media, etc
Ignoring is the next best thing. Next to free coffee and donuts.

Please excuse me while I puke

[MotherPetrie]

6. K&R

[Vinnie From Indy]

7. It's always about the money

Police are much more intersted in asset seizure crimes like weed and other drugs.

[Bake]

8. Because Big Pharma doesn't care about women on leashes?

But God forbid somebody is tokin' up!

Bake

[mainer]

10. Neighbors should have called 911 and reported pot plants

Then the girls would have been rescued.

[backscatter712]

14. Or they'd be arrested for conspiracy to produce drugs... n/t

[zbdent]

11. I have a semi-related question ...

Why is it that, if a "liberal" or "lefty" makes a statement about a cop, he/she "hates the cops and sides with the cop-killers" and such other claptrap ...

BUT ...

when an over-the-top failure like this comes up ("naked"? I heard that was explained as "someone who wanted to get on TV making an outrageous claim&quot , it's the "liberals' fault"??? And that view is pushed in the "liberally-biased media" 24/7?

[Ccarmona]

15. This is the War on Women

that's going on in the military and in our society.
And why is ok for a 5 year-old to be pictured holding a loaded gun, but not ok for a 25 year old Colorado resident be pictured getting loaded?

[bobclark86]

16. Hate to rain on the "woe is my weed" crowd, but maybe it could be...

people growing illegal drugs make more of a trail than a guy who kidnaps a girl and leaves her in his house for 10 years... one has more human interaction than the other, thus leaving more people to be informants/snitches/etc., thus more people the cops are likely to pick up on...

Wait a second: she is an "activist," which meant she liked to talk about smoking and growing weed in public. I'm willing to bet the guy with the chick in his house never was quoted about such in the local newspaper or on the 6 o'clock news.

One more thing: the whole comparison is bullshit. Why? It's not the same police department (or state, coincidentally). Adding to that, we don't know anything about the calls to cops — were they to actual 911 calls to police, or buddies who were cops? Were they filing complaints, or just saying "hey, my neighbor's woman is naked in the yard?" What kind of a record do the police have in that community? Too many unanswered questions to make this kind of comparison.

[IdaBriggs]

19. Stop that! You are ruining a perfectly good straw man rant with your LOGIC!

Pretty nervy for a newbie!



Nice post, by the way. (Hope I didn't need to put in the sarcasm icon for my fake scolding.)

Seriously,

[bobclark86]

45. It's all good.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with weed on its own (I can't partake myself... the joys of being allergic to penicillin, the really good extra-sharp cheddar cheese a local producer makes, and pot), but it's still a federal crime. I just have little pity for people who break the vast majority of laws in this country.

[Warren DeMontague]

78. Maybe you should work on expanding your ability to feel compassion, then.

http://www.alternet.org/masked-cops-raid-home-terminally-ill-medical-marijuana-patient

With black ski masks and guns drawn in an intimidating fashion that has become all-too familiar for medical cannabis patients across the country, sheriff's deputies came into their home and seized all 23 of Cathy's plants, which she uses to treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as "Lou Gehrig's disease&quot , a terminal illness.

Cathy was diagnosed in 1986 with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to loss of limb control, breathing, swallowing, and speech. However, after trying cannabis in 1989, she was able to better manage her symptoms and significantly improve her quality of life. Now, more than 20 years later, Cathy has outlived five of her support groups and four of her neurologists.

[bobclark86]

92. I have plenty of compassion...

I feel horrible for people with ALS.

But that doesn't give them a blank check to break the law. In the current state of our legal system, that's like giving the same person a pass for robbing a bank.

I guess that means I have no compassion. It's not like there's alternatives that don't include having cops bust down your door as a price to pay. Thank you, I'll have to call my mother and tell her she did a horrible job raising me.

[Warren DeMontague]

94. You've made your point, I've made mine.

'nite.

[Bluenorthwest]

27. About 25,000 people a year are arrested in Ohio for marjiuana at a cost of about

400 million in tax dollars. About half of Ohio voters favor legalization. To arrest 25,000 people has to take away from any focus on violent crime that might be affected by the PD.

Some information for your elucidation:
http://www.clevelandchallenger.com/former-president-carter-385000-signatures-could-boost-ohio-pot-plant-legalization/

[zerosumgame0005]

30. so what you are saying is...

cops are to lazy to go after anything that requires actual work and thought. Yup I can agree with that. Plus when they seize assets they can buy new toys!

[darkangel218]

40. You are absolutely correct Sir.

Even a PIR is too much for them.

I almost lost my life because of that.

But what do i count, im just an insigificant S/O who risks their life for $12 hour.

[Warren DeMontague]

32. We spend $60 Billion dollars a year, NOT including local LEO and incarceration costs, just to keep

people from getting high.

Do you honestly think that's a good use for your tax dollars? I don't.

[bobclark86]

48. And at what point...

did I give the impression I thought it was a good use of money?

Oh, wait. I didn't. You just felt like setting up a strawman.

I think it's a horrible waste of money that is used to unfairly target minorities and the poor, keeping them in a perpetual state of relying on others instead of being given a chance to make their lives better (and we can all agree, a drug conviction makes that pretty damn hard for most people). Add in moving that $60 billion a year into college (enough to put 3 million people into a state school every year) or into hiring new teachers (about 1 million more), and anybody with half a fucking brain can see it's a giant waste of money.

That said:

[Warren DeMontague]

58. Uh, okay.

I actually haven't smoked Pot since Bill Clinton was in the White House. So, whatever, speaking of straw men.

And yet, some laws are wrong. Would you have delivered that cute quip to a Gay Couple in Texas, prior to the Lawrence Decision? Because they'd be "breaking the law", too.

[bobclark86]

75. Being gay isn't a choice.

Lighting up a bowl is (as we've been told over and over on this board it's non-addictive and anyone can stop at any time). No judge would ever overturn a law banning the use of marijuana on the grounds it is a civil right.

BTW, reading comprehension fail. Never said anything about your personal habits.

[Warren DeMontague]

77. My point was, some laws are wrong.

So merely, reflexively going "Don't break the law" is not a great response.

ESPECIALLY given that the story in the OP has to do with an ALS patient who had her door kicked down so cops could take the pot she was growing.

Very compassionate to play the "wulll just don't break the law then, ya silly potheads hur dur" card.

But, whatever. If you want to float tropes in defense of the drug war (or whatever it is you think you're accomplishing) knock yourself out, here.

[bobclark86]

93. Yeah...

I'm just ignoring you now. Have a nice life...

[Dawson Leery]

21. Because the uniform serves the corporation.

[darkangel218]

22. They serve themselves. Its not even matter of coruption, is matter of integrity.

Most of them, are so lazy they just cant be bothered. Like i said, im a Security Officer, i called for back up so many times, and 9 out of 10 they didnt show up. They said there were not enough available officers in the area LMAO! my vehicle was assaulted and there were no officers??? really..

I risk my life every night to protect people and property, And i have no back up. thanks to the wonderful police forcxe! i salute you !

[ThomThom]

23. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

bottom line

[LuvNewcastle]

69. That's mostly what it's about.

Cops want to catch people doing things that people will be fined for. The government gives them extra funds and toys for catching drug offenders, so that's their emphasis. It's their version of job security; they get more money to hire more cops to catch more criminals to get more money to hire more cops. Now that we have all these private prisons, they find all sorts of excuses to arrest people. We're paying lots of fines, a whole heap of our taxes are going toward arresting more of us, and we're staying in prison longer than ever. I see the day coming when there's going to be two kinds of Americans: prisoners and guards.

[Caeser67]

25. Because The Super Lemon Haze

Would make us all peaceful, and we wouldn't need so many Police.

Peace.

[jberryhill]

35. Is it illegal for a naked woman to be in a backyard?

[darkangel218]

37. Yes, on a leash

and naked.

They couldnt be bothered to investigate. Easier to laugh it off and swallow the donoughts.

[jberryhill]

39. Okay, explain to me what is illegal about it

[darkangel218]

42. It should be investigated.

BDSM is safe, saneand consetual. If you have taken any criminal justice classes you should know that any restrain nof freedom needs to be investigated and not automathically deemed consentual.


that simple, Sir,

[jberryhill]

44. Okay, so...

If the police receive a call from someone saying there is a naked woman on a leash in a yard, and the police drive by and don't see anything, they should search the house.

Is that it?

And, yes, I've taken quite a few classes in criminal law and procedure.

[randome]

46. And one of the neighbors says they talked to their mother, not the police.

It's too early to jump to any conclusions.

[hr]
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[jberryhill]

47. Oh I know...

There is ZERO confirmation that anyone ever made a call to police.

But, be that as it may, I'm trying to figure out what was supposed to happen in some ideal world imagined by those who think the police should search a house because some random person says something on the telephone.

[darkangel218]

50. Yes they should get a warrant and search the house!! nt

[jberryhill]

51. And the warrant affidavit should state what as probable cause?

If the facts are these (and, again, there is no evidence that anyone ever called the police)

1. Police receive a telephone call saying someone saw a naked woman on a leash in a yard.
2. Police drive by and don't see anything.

Then in the world of your imagination, these facts would constitute probable cause for a search warrant. Is that correct?

[darkangel218]

53. Police should investigate and search the house!!! Criminal Investigation 101 honey!!

[jberryhill]

55. Ah, well then, I'll have to keep this in mind

...the next time I want the police to go search some random person's house. Simply dial them up, say something illegal is going on there, and they'll swoop in with a warrant and turn the place upside down.

However, in reality it does not work that way.

[darkangel218]

59. Yes, by law , all alegations should be investigated!! eithet abide the law or dont give a freaking

fuck about it!

I risk my life every night to keep people safe, so dont fucking say allegations shouldnt be investigated!!!!

if the cops wouldve done their job, those women wouyldve been safe a long time ago.


that simple, honey.

[jberryhill]

62. No, there is no law requiring investigation of all allegations

And it is further unlikely that a judge would issue a search warrant based on hearsay and no direct observations by the police officer swearing to the warrant application.

But thanks for playing.

[darkangel218]

63. Im not playing anything,

go back to school!!

[randome]

67. With all the hullabaloo about how we're currently living in a police state...

...the law, by and large, still favors the accused. There would need to be more of a reason to search someone's premises than one person's claim of malfeasance. Neighbors can sometimes carry a grudge, you know, and use the police as a means to harass their target.

Plus, there are conflicting reports about whether the police were called or not.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[opiate69]

71. This! ^^^

[darkangel218]

56. Probable cause, false inprisonment aligations!

Dude, if you have ever taken CJ classes, go back to school. no pun intebded, just being honest!

[jeff47]

74. K, I'll call the police and say you were parading a naked woman around your yard.

The police will be along shortly and rip apart everything.

And next week, I'll claim I smelled pot coming from your house.

The week after that, I'll claim I heard gunshots.

The week after that, I'll claim you are selling meth.

The week after that, I'll report you for being a nuisance. After all, the police have had to come by and search your house every week for the last 4 weeks!

Oh, and I'll be using a disposable pre-paid cell phone each time, so they won't be able to track the calls to me.

Allegations from a neighbor aren't enough for a search warrant by themselves. Because the scenario above would happen over and over again to settle petty grudges.

[darkangel218]

79. Actually,

Repeated allegations from different sources can give LEO a search warrant so freaking quickly.

I personally don't have a problem with police investigating allegations because I don't break the law. Cops need to do their job and clear any such leads, that simple.
And remember that false accusations come with punishment, so your imaginary neighbors wouldn't be able to abuse the system that much.

[jeff47]

83. It doesn't matter if you actually break the law.

You are saying it's OK for the police to harass you if I lie and claim you break the law.

And remember that false accusations come with punishment, so your imaginary neighbors wouldn't be able to abuse the system that much.

You should go back and read the paragraph where I explain how to trivially avoid this problem.

[jberryhill]

85. It's nice to be white

"I personally don't have a problem with police investigating allegations because I don't break the law."

We could have used clear thinking people like you when those idiots wrote the fourth and fifth amendments to the Constitution.

[darkangel218]

86. Being condescending is pretty lame imo.

Please tell me you're not a cop.

[jberryhill]

89. Being condescending?

You mean stuff like saying "go back to school" or going on about taking an undergrad CJ course when you have no idea what my education or profession may be?

[darkangel218]

90. I have no clue what you do for a living

Hopefully not a LEO.

Good night.

[azurnoir]

36. why ? all one has to do is follow the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

pot busts and the war on drugs nets law enforce quite a bit lucre, kidnapped girls not so much

[randome]

41. Yes, because equating the DEA with local police is so appropriate.

Not everything is about marijuana.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[backscatter712]

60. It's not just the feds that are busting potheads.

Local cops are going to exceptional trouble to fight the War on Drugs.

But at the same time, other crimes, such as thefts, vandalism, domestic disputes (and arguably, some of what the neighbors allegedly saw and called the cops about in the Amanda case looked like a domestic dispute from the outside) seem to get ignored.

Follow the money.

[BanzaiBonnie]

43. Because there's a monetary incentive to go after drug crime

Not so much for rescuing human beings.

[MFM008]

54. yeah

if this clown had been growing pot they would have found these girls in a month.

[Kolesar]

57. Collapsing revenues and uncontrolled gun use in Cleveland is the more likely story

Lax Ohio rules enable every petty gangster access to handguns.

The leadership in Ohio has been horrible. They have allowed predatory lenders to decimate the housing stock, the whitey clowns in Columbus have taken away the cities' ability to regulate handguns, and Gov. Kasich has starved cities of local government fund money. Our police departments cannot keep up. The EMS is struggling too.

[Half-Century Man]

61. Suggestion 1

I suggest we consider the amount of damage done to our society when sentencing lawbreakers. The idea than the potential to sell a handful of marijuana has a greater punishment than bankrupting thousands of people is appalling. Why do “country club” prisons exist?

[TakeALeftTurn]

98. The priorities of the police are to :-

protect the profits of the large pharmaceutical companies and the prison industrial complex.
(Amongst other large Corporate interests.)

Not to protect ordinary citizens.

[rhett o rick]

99. The lesson here is that if you think your neighbor has kidnapped someone, tell the police they have

medical marijuana.