(December 1, 2000) A Baltimore jury just awarded $2M to a man left paralyzed by a beating he received at the hands of City police in 1997. After beating him, police falsified charges against him, then handcuffed him to a cot for seven days. The man was acquitted of all charges, but the price he paid for being guilty of 'contempt of cop' was heavy - he will live the rest of his life in a wheelchair. The system took care of its own, as all of the officers were cleared by the city of any wrongdoing. All of which is to say: This scenario will remain business as usual in Baltimore until taxpayers get tired of picking up the tab for police and big government excess.

We don't for a second think all cops are as corrupt. But as we've said time and again, leadership at the highest levels in Maryland has created a climate where cops are promoted for infringing our rights. Who can be surprised when cops occasionally become confused over which are the rights to protect and which are the rights to ignore?

Preston Barnes was pulled over in Baltimore for a minor traffic offense. In violation of training and procedures, Baltimore police Sgt. Stephen Pagotto approached the car with his service weapon drawn. This he then negligently discharged, striking and killing Barnes. 'Manslaughter' is the crime of causing another's death through your own negligent actions, and Pagotto was clearly guilty of exactly this, which a jury found after he was so charged. But Maryland's highest court just overturned the conviction. Their reasoning? In so many words, it's apparently okay for police to negligently kill the citizens they are supposed to serve. Police don't have to suffer the same legal consequences for their errors as do we. They can administer the death penalty at traffic stops, and get away with it.

Some anti-gun legislators yawn when we complain about the corrupt application of extreme gun laws in Maryland, which we have documented is increasingly the norm. These same legislators go ballistic at the first suggestion that cops might game the application of drug laws. Not long ago another Baltimore City police officer was snagged for planting dope on an ordinary passer-by in order to make a bust. We quote a 10-22-2000 article on this in the Sun:

An undercover narcotics officer with more than a decade of experience said patrol officers think the more arrests they make, the faster they will climb the promotion ladder. As a result, they don't take the time needed to develop good investigative skills, the officer said. "This is a stat-driven department. You got to get numbers and keep the crime down. You got to get that reputation: 'There's a guy busting his tail and making gun and drug arrests.'"

Why would police, who admit the stat-driven environment we have written of all along, treat drug laws differently from gun laws? The answer is obviously that they don't. The difference is only that the majority of legislators are happy to accept it when police jack up gun owners… pretty much like they do themselves each legislative session.

The most scathing commentary of 'The System' often comes not from the outside, but from within. Another cop in Baltimore was just charged as being a major player in distribution of illegal drugs. This one prosecutors didn't want to release on bail pending a trial. What argument did they make to support their motion? Before the judge, they said they were afraid that the defendant's fellow officers might give him access to guns. How bad things must be if an Assistant State's Attorney doesn't believe active Baltimore Police will obey the law!

With all these reports out of Baltimore, is there a field guide to sort out who's who? The simplest one we've found goes: "If they work on salary, they're police. If they work on commission, they're criminals. If they work on pork, they're politicians. And if they work to pay taxes for all this, they're crazy." Hmm. I guess that's clear enough.

Let's not allow readers to assume we're picking on Baltimore. In Prince George's County, police are alleged to have led police dogs to chew up suspects already in custody. One high ranking officer has now pled guilty, and with his cooperation the investigation of other cases - once previously blocked by the 'blue wall' - goes forward. A bevy of federal civil rights investigations being conducted by the FBI proceeds as well. Stay tuned.

Watch closely the fine print on newspapers' back pages. Officials now acknowledge that most people arrested at protests over the summer (of IMF meetings or conventions) are seeing charges dropped for lack of evidence upon going to trial. Police once blustered these were open-and-shut cases, backed by overwhelming evidence that each suspect was on the way to causing an illegal disruption of events. At the time, leadership hailed police whose operatives infiltrated protest meetings and identified organizers. Police then arrested them on charges critics called chickenspit fabrications intended to infringe freedom of speech. Now we see the critics were right. Gee … police playing games with rule of law to clamp down on behavior leadership doesn't like. Who would have guessed that?