Maryland Cops Conduct Drug Raid for $829 Worth of Pot

Corporal Rick Alexander of the Anne Arundel County Police Department has been arrested and charged with obstruction for tipping off five men about an impending drug raid on their house. Phone records showed that Alexander had been communicating with one of the men, and all five suspects confirmed to police that Alexander had given them a heads up. After the 10 p.m. raid turned up nothing, police made their way to a second location, where the suspects had moved the drugs. 

There they found and seized a grand total of $829 worth of marijuana.

Comments

[tarran]

Poor Corporal Alexander: he does the moral thing, and the people he helps stab him in the back.

[+]

he does the moral thing

"Moral." Most would call it corrupt.

[spencer]

Ah, the tyranny of the majority works in mysterious ways.

[Confusius Say]

I call the law corrupt, and I don't use pot.

[tarran]

Of course it is 'corrupt'. Is the Nazi soldier who takes a bribe to look the other way while a Jewish family less moral than the guard who captures them and puts them in the pipeline that ends going up the chimney?

We need more cops doing what Alexander did: helping people that the government seeks to victimize escape its clutches.

[+]

You're right. A pot bust is just like Kristallnacht.

[Zeb]

It is like in kind if not in degree. Locking people up for no good reason is always bad.

[+]

Then don't become a cop.

[Loather of Cops and Feds]

Not while there are still perfectly good jobs in sewer maintenance and street corner low job sales. I have standards.

[Loather of Cops and Feds]

"blow job". damn the iPad auto spell check.

[anon]

Fuck you Godwin'd this thread early.

[Genious Barbie]

Thank goodness for Godwin. Thinking is hard.

[mad libertarian guy]

The only corrupt aspect of this whole deal was that they were planning a raid for $829 worth of pot.

[+]

Incorrect. The police did not "plan" a raid with the goal of finding $829 worth of pot. They did not know what (if anything) they would find, or what the resulting value (if any) would be.

The "$829 worth of pot" is a crude and transparent bit of propaganda by the editor, intended to draw in the suckers and knee-jerk commentators. And it worked.

[sloopyinca]

They did not know what (if anything) they would find

Then it would be just like about 95% of the raids performed by our bravest of the brave every day.

It's about time we go after the warranting process to end raids of dubious nature with a goal of "gee, thy gotta have something illegal in the house. Let's go get em!"

[ken]

"...They did not know what (if anything) they would find..."
I'll just put this here:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

and then remark that if they had 'no idea what they would find' it seems to me that there is a bit of conflict with the 4th amendment, but then again, what do I know?

[z]

As I know the people involved he was Sleeping with the wife of one of the suspects. On top of it the person whom was on the phone and show the cops where the found drugs were was a female. However NONE of them were charged with anything this is their 3 drug raid and not the first time they've had a tip off. Just google who lived in the house address at 1304 Juniper street in Maryland Public records their you will have names etc.

Also the cops knew how much and where the drugs were coming from as they busted locals in shady side with the drugs whom ratted out the 5. Not to mention their numerous other issues with drugs selling etc but ever time the state drops the charges oh wait that's right it's because they ROLL over on everyone who's involved. Cpl Alexander was just the last person standing they could allow to take the fall. 1304 Juniper Street Hoffman (last name) google the rest not hard to fine

[Fuck You!!]

Would Love to know who u are?? As to the fact iam just getting around to seeing all of this. You sure you werent and insider mr/mrs.z considering u have alot of insider information. Maybe you shouldnt believe everything u read or see on or in the news. There may be alot more to the story than u know. Do to the fact of him being an officer doesnt mean he wasnt a dirty cop. Maybe u should get outta ur fuking bubble and realize there are some of those out there. And as far as the hoffmans moving to VA had not much at all to do with the "raid" on there home and as far as drugs being found in the home there werent any drugs found in the home, which is why they were not charged with anything. There were drugs found in another home on snug harbor rd that they attempted to link to the same people. So before you come out bout shit u think u may know get the facts correct.

[Loather of Cops and Feds]

So it was a madlibs warrant. Standard poke around and fill it in later?

[Alack]

"Moral." Most would call it corrupt.

I'd say it was moral but not ethical, and that the "corruption" claim is an ethical complaint since it creates opportunity for impropriety. Sort of like graft, I guess.

[+]

For it to be "moral," as tarran assumed (with no evidence whatsoever to support his claim), one would have to know the officer's motives. The linked story does not contain a statement by the officer. At this point in the case, nobody here can possibly know why he acted as he did. Were the subjects friends of his? Was the officer in business with them? Did he take a bribe? Did he obstruct any other pending drug busts? Is he opposed to the war on drugs? The fact remains that he allegedly broke his oath as a representative of the law. He has no such prerogative as a public servant. He cannot pick and choose which laws to uphold.

[sloopyinca]

He cannot pick and choose which laws to uphold.

[Godwin alert]

Neither could those unlucky guys who got stuck working the lever at the gas chambers.

[+]

You're right. A pot bust is just like Kristallnacht.

[sloopyinca]

learn your history, dumbass. Kristallnacht was way before the gas chambers were set up. And it was by and large carried out by lawbreakers, as destruction of Jewish property had not been codified at that point. The soldiers manning concentration camps, on the other hand, were just following their orders. They didn't have a choice which laws to enforce or not, right?

[T]

He cannot pick and choose which laws to uphold.

Bullshit. Cops, prosecutors and judges do this every fucking day. Selective enforcement is the only way to make our tangled mess of a penal code even remotely workable.

[tarran]

Who knew that every time a cop cuts someone a break they are breaking the law? No more releasing kids to the custody of their parents? No motions by ADA's to dismiss charges on the grounds of "the interests of justice?"

I pity any children you may father, sir.

[tarran]

Crap! the above was intended as a reply to +

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[spencer]

It's a slippery slope. If you let them have $829 worth of pot, the next person's going to have $830 worth. When will it end!?!

[wylie]

When will it end!?!

Sometime after the US Attorney General sells them some guns.

[spencer]

+1

[Joe]

$829? I smoked that much last weekend!

[Tired Guy]

Yawn.

[wylie]

Another part of the budget well spent.

[Confusius Say]

Dude! The pot guys were just running their own Confidential Informant.

[wylie]

goose, gander, etc?

[P Brooks]

$829.-?

That's like sixty million street value!

[AlmightyJB]

If only child is saved from a life of drugs and prostitution, it's worth it.

[+]

Yes, it's the value of the drugs that is important here, not the legal or ethical principles or the current statutes.

[Anon]

You aren't a very effective troll.

[+]

That's why you ignored me.
But I feel your pain. Ethics is hard.

[tarran]

Ah.. that explains your mindlessly rigid obedience to rules dictated by the guys with guns.

[Zeb]

You make a decent point here. It would have been just as stupid and wasteful and harmful to do this raid if there had been $5 million worth of drugs there.

[P Brooks]

What are the chances this guy will be treated more harshly for this than if he had shot them all after they had been disarmed and restrained?

[Anon]

I'm sure no one will give him a shower reach-around after a tough shift in the near future.

[Joshua]

What an idiot. That's why you buy a burner phone. Duh!

[Anon]

Agreed, my go-to dealer changes phone numbers twice a month.

[Anon]

What is $829 in real life as opposed to pig-speak? Like an eighth?

[anon]

What the fuck kind of calculation did they use to come up with $829 as opposed to $830?

[R C Dean]

They probably sampled it with a one-hitter first.

[TrickyVic]

+1

[TrickyVic]

+1

[kinnath]

worth just over $800.

[Brett L]

That's what the guy in the evidence room turned around and sold it for.

[djones]

Well, I hope they at least shot the dogs at the first location.

[z]

Update everyone Cpl Alexander will get 2 years probo and removed from the forces plus drug and alcoholic courses for that time frame.MD's law considers this a misdo miner for the pot but a felony for obstruction so he won't ever be an officer again.

If he had just done his job those low life's would be in jail but yet again they just were evicted by the landlord and moved to VA. Any current associate of their was screwed over when they rolled over on EVERYONE ELSE to avoid jail time... Funny how there is nothing in the news about them...