Criminals Aren't All Bad and Police Aren't All Good

By Ann

“Nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws.” 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapp_v._Ohio

A man stands at the gas pump swaying to and fro.  His mind cloudy and his vision blurred by his overindulgence at the local pub.  After what feels like an eternity, his car is full and he goes home.  The only problem is that he didn’t take the pump out of his car first and he took that home too.  He promptly brings the pump back to the gas station and he is ultimately charged with driving under the influence.

Over 1800 miles away a man is charged with possessing and delivering illegal narcotics.  He is in an interrogation room and is given the option to cooperate to reduce his sentence.  He offers mitigating circumstances….he doesn’t sell drugs to anyone under the age of 18.  

Nearby a good samaritin notices a woman with car trouble.  The damsel in distress is leaning over the trunk of her car when he comes to assist her.  He is also a little tipsy and falls into her from behind.  He gets charged with indecent assault but maintains that it wasn’t “him” that fell into her…he just had a forty in his coat pocket.  Note:  A forty is a 40 ounce bottle of alcohol.  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=forty

philliesnation.com

Criminals cross lines but they aren’t all completely bad.  They are human and they do bad things but most aren’t all bad.  Conversely, police aren’t all good.  They are protectors of the public and they generally do good but they sometimes do bad.  
Police go to an academy before they enter the workforce.  They learn the skills that they’ll need to serve and protect.  In addition to physical fitness, the arts of investigation, and weapons training, they are taught how to testify in court.

justiceproject.typepad.com

Unfortunately, this testimony training is precisely the tool they will need to convict even when they’ve done something unconstitutional.  
For example, the fourth amendment of the constitution demands that any search made by the police be made under a warrant supported by probable cause. A police officer cannot just come up to you and search you and your car for no good reason unless they have a warrant. 

There are a few exceptions.  

One exception is officer safety.  For example, an officer is allowed to pat you down for weapons.  Presumably, if you are carrying a gun or a machete, the officer can get to it before you do and thereby protect herself from you.  Of course, this is abused when officers search people without probable cause and illegally seize evidence.  Once this evidence is wrongly obtained, the officer does not need to worry because all she has to do is say that she searched for officer safety and found whatever was in your pocket.
When a defense attorney learns of this, she can file a motion to suppress.  Suppression is a remedy the courts use to deter illegal police activity.  What this means is that the court will exclude the evidence that was wrongfully obtained by the police and the State will have to prosecute its case without that evidence. 

criminal-lawyer-colorado.com

Most of the time, judges do not suppress. http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1820&context=fss_papers  
Of course, the  remedy courts use when regular citizens do something illegal is generally jail time and this double standard is discussed here .
And because of their training and experience, they use the magic words…officer safety to hide a multitude of sins.