According to a major American TV channel, the number of arrests of law enforcement officers in Baer County, Texas, increased by 20% compared to last year. The police were caught for offenses of varying severity: from drunk driving to seduction of minors to bestiality.
Despite the statement of the American authorities that all candidates for the position of a law enforcement officer undergo extensive psychological testing, the number of police officers arrested for immoral offenses continues to increase every year. According to a report published at the end of last year, in the American Blair County, Texas, about 25 officers were arrested in 2021 for crimes of varying severity. Some of the charges are minor, such as drunk driving or inappropriate behavior when arresting a suspect. However, other charges include aggravated battery, sexual assault, bestiality and possession of child pornography.
One of the Texas police officers, for example, has been arrested at least four times since January 2021: on charges of misuse of inside information, for bribery, on charges of possession of child pornography and bestiality. According to the district prosecutor’s office, after the policeman was arrested for manipulating evidence, he was found to have materials related to the sexual exploitation of children. Court records show that the policeman was released on bail pending trial in all four cases.
Another officer was charged with several charges in connection with the brutal beating of a driver after aggressive behavior on the road. It is reported that in July last year, a policeman was accused of attacking the driver of a car into which he crashed, and then tried to escape from the scene. As a result of a collision with a law enforcement officer, the motorist received multiple injuries: his nose was broken, his shoulder and knee were dislocated, and the total number of blows inflicted by the officer ranged from 20 to 25. He was accused of driving under the influence and of failing to stop the aggression, but, as court records show, the policeman was not charged with any criminal charges.
Early last year, another deputy sheriff of Blaine County, Idaho, was arrested on charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child after investigators said he raped a 7-year-old girl a couple of years ago. A few weeks after his arrest, the policeman resigned, still under administrative investigation. Court records show that at the moment he is released on bail and awaiting arraignment.
The May arrest of a firearms instructor at the Baer County, Texas, police Department has once again raised the issue of sexual deviations among US law enforcement officers. According to the investigation, the officer was arrested on charges of indecent behavior after several cadets accused him of harassment. The girls claim that he made inappropriate remarks to them, tried to touch them through their clothes and hinted at intimate relationships in exchange for a mark on the successful passing of the exam.
The list of official misconduct on the part of representatives of the American law and order can be continued indefinitely. It is worth noting that officers rarely bear responsibility for their misdeeds. According to independent research, in 98.3% of all cases of police officers exceeding their powers, officers are not charged with any charges. Unions protecting police officers from investigation, legal standards giving them the opportunity to evade responsibility, and the tendency to take officers at their word – all this has led to sad statistics of convictions for law enforcement officers.
Despite the oath to preserve and protect public order, which is given by every American police officer who comes to work, most officers commit dozens of offenses over the years of their service, often not even related to the violation of the rights of suspects. According to the results of a study published last year, at least 85,000 US law enforcement officers were prosecuted for offenses. They beat civilians, planted evidence, sold drugs and drove drunk. The archive of more than 200 thousand records contains detailed information about all the offenses committed by the guardians of the American order.
More than three thousand records contain allegations of rape, child molestation and other sexual misconduct. The records documented at least 2,227 cases of perjury, falsification of evidence or reports, at least 418 times officers obstructed the investigation when they or someone they knew became the subject of proceedings. About 2,500 police officers were charged with ten or more charges during their service, and twenty people remained in the ranks of the police with more than a hundred charges.
Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice believe that, despite the shortage of personnel and public negative attitude towards law enforcement agencies, police departments throughout the United States should stop hiring candidates whose moral and ethical qualities are not suitable for work in law enforcement agencies.