Every country has police and prisons to support law and order. Some countries have a bad reputation for corrupt police that will let you off with a crime for a bribe. Any documentary on the Chicago mob will show that some police were corrupt as well as some judges and some elected officials. This was the wrong that Eliot Ness set out to correct.
If Al Capone or the Chicago Outfit called themselves a club instead of a gang, that would not change the primary business they were involved in. Nor would it change anything if the Crips or the Bloods called themselves a club to evade prosecution.
Some criminals cry fowl when their miss deeds are exposed and complain that I don't speak about bad cops. I've already spoken on the Taser inquiry at the Airport. I think those officers were within the legal parameters to taser the individual but they clearly over reacted by tasering him over and over again.
I don't think tasering someone over and over again falls within the realms of proper use of that device. In fact, I don't like the type of tasers police use now. A one shot cattle prong is fine but a gun that fires an electrode into the body connected to a cord where the officers can crank the ongoing voltage at will should not be used.
Still the peanut galley cry and claim that selling cocaine to kids is nothing compared to the occasional DUI. I disagree. I certainly don't agree with driving impaired. That can and does kill innocent people. However I do think that if some police officers get DUI charges that does not make the entire organization corrupt.
Conversely people will argue that just because some Hells Angels get trafficking charges that does not mean the entire group is a criminal organization. I disagree. When presidents and high ranking officials keep getting caught trafficking cocaine in Canada and when the club uses it's name and reputation to sell crack, then that club clearly becomes a criminal organization.
Nevertheless, since not all police or former police are noble and just I will indeed cite two cases of what I believe to be bad cops. The first is Ken Huston, the second is Rob Sidhu.
Ken Houston is a retired Winnipeg police officer. He retired from the force in 2003. January of 2007 he was caught in the same SUV as a Winnipeg Hells Angel charged with manslaughter named William Bowden. Police seized a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun from the vehicle along with a small amount of drugs. Both men faced numerous weapons charges as well as possession of a controlled substance. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/01/22/hells-charges.html
In my opinion Ken Houston is a bad cop. Or at least a bad retired cop. The second case I will cite is Rob Sidhu. Another retired police officer who was charged with fraud to obtain information about the location of the Bacon brothers: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/allegedly+pretended+IHIT+member+locate+Bacon+brothers/1532245/story.html
Here we have a former police officer using his former police connections to get information about rival gang members. Hells Angels associate Matt the Rat Schader was caught driving Rob Sidhu's car. That is not illegal of course but it shows another Hells Angels connection to another retired police officer involved in what would appear to be criminal activity. Fraud is a crime.
Makes you wonder how Winnipeg Hells Angel Ian Grant had confidential police files in his possession when they raided his house: http://mikeoncrime.com/article/943/mcintyre-column-confidential-police-documents-fell-into-hands-of-hells-angels
I've posted my conspiracy theory about the reason the Hells Angels associate gave information to the UN when the Hells Angels were really opposed to the UN and were secretly supporting the Bacon brothers. http://gangstersout.blogspot.com/2009/11/red-scorpions-and-hells-angels.html
Not only does it spell criminal organization but it also spells cheap and dirty like how the Hells Angels secured control of another puppet club, the Death Riders, after the Death Riders president was murdered: http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_114.html
This is a very interesting story that few will have heard of outside of this blog. That's why I was attracted to this site; the quality of the information; the objectivity of interests. Police corruption is hardly ever referred to in the main-stream media; so it's good to see bloggers covering this ongoing story. Before reading this, I thought there was absolutely no involvement of any Police Officers with organized crime, so this story is new and fresh.
ReplyDeleteNot all police are corrupt but some are so it’s important to remember that. Hells Angel Ian Grant was found with a confidential RCMP file in his home. Security leaks jeopardize the safety of other police officers.
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