Nepotism-Opposed Cop May Prove Retaliation

Well, this is a form of Police Corruption and political back slapping I've heard about. I'd imagine we all have. How often do you actually hear it described as happening and as the detailed subject of an open court proceeding, no less?

This is despicable. It's not even so much about the little corruption at the center of this. That is bad enough. It's the fact that once integrity has a price ..especially in a Police Department, there is no end or stop to the slide, IMO.

Officer David Kristofek says he was patrolling Orland Hills, Ill., on Nov. 12, 2010, when he an automobile operating on a suspended registration.

He pulled the vehicle over and wrote two tickets when the driver failed to produce proof of valid insurance.

During the stop, the driver, whose name is not given in the ruling, reported that his mother was a former mayor of a nearby town. Kristofek spoke with that mother on the cellphone of the driver's girlfriend, and the former mayor allegedly asked Kristofek not to arrest her son. Kristofek said he explained that he was bound by department policy to arrested the driver and have his vehicle towed.

(all paragraph spacing added by me)

What happened next is out of a bad movie.

At the station Kristofek was entering the booking information into the computer when other officers allegedly told him to stop and give all of the paperwork to the deputy chief.

Kristofek claimed that he was also told to delete any information about the driver already entered in the computer system.

He said the deputy chief swore at him when he questioned the orders.
Concerned that "the unequal application of the law due to political considerations was improper and possibl[y] illegal," Kristofek allegedly complained to other officers.

The good cop in this story called the FBI, who is in charge of investigating local to state level police corruption (when they can make time out of all the terrorist fighting, anyway). It's a very lengthy piece, as the Courthouse stories usually are, so it's worth going to read the whole thing. However, his reward for talking to the Feds about corruption he directly witnessed? You might guess...

When Police Chief Thomas Scully heard about the FBI investigation in April 2011, he allegedly offered Kristofek the option to resign or be fired. When Kristofek refused to resign, he was terminated on the spot.

Source

I wonder if he ever gets hired at another Department and if he does, ever gets treated half way decent? I suppose this is why even the decent men tend to go along to get along. Even bitching about the small stuff is a potential career ender. Talk about a warped system.

This type of stuff happened all the time when I was in law enforcement. I once stopped a Circuit Court Judge, who was driving on a suspended license (and doing 82 mph in a 45 mph zone.) I was too intimidated to arrest her for the DWS because it could come back to bite me one day if I appeared in court as a witness. I still wrote her the ticket. My admin gave me hell for it! Stupid desk job Mnday morning quarterbacks!

The day I went to court for the ticket, the judge never showed up. The State's attorney simply dropped the case, for no reason. They do it all the time in the district I worked because jailable traffic offenses are considered no big deal in high crime areas.

The difference is that when a normal citizen doesn't show up, the case is NEVER dropped so long as witnesses (officers) are present. They issue a bench warrant. No judge would have issued a warrant for another sitting judge.

The system is so messed up in so many ways.

This is why it is soooo important for all of the decent and conscientious LEO's to band together, support each other, and take the bad LEO's out.

Otherwise, they're just a bunch of people who believe they're good while hiding bad cops.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

I suppose this is why even the decent men tend to go along to get along.

There is but one, of many, problems I have with LE. They either don't have the guts to stand against the corruption or they let it happen so their "brothers" don't get in trouble. They will lie for each other while ruining another's life. I've said this many times, Until they clean up their own system, they have no business policing us. The law is for everyone, not to be ignored by a chosen few.