Brickbat: Putting It All Out in the Open

Former Baltimore Police Department sergeant Keith Gladstone pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to violate civil rights for helping to plant a BB gun at the scene after another officer ran a man over with his car. He has now been offered immunity in order to testify against another officer involved in that incident. When he took the stand earlier this month, Gladstone admitted to a series of crimes dating back some 20 years. He said he began stealing from drug dealers in the mid 1990s, initially to pay informants, something he said was routine in the department. But Gladstone admitted that within a few years he was stealing cash, drugs and other items for himself.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Look, the important thing is that everyone went home safe that day.

[kcuch]

well, everyone except the original victim...

[mad.casual]

original victim

You mean the guy that got run over or the people he's been stealing from and planting evidence on for the last 20 yrs.?

[sarcasmic]

He said he began stealing from drug dealers in the mid 1990s, initially to pay informants, something he said was routine in the department.

A testament to the ethics of law enforcement.

[Don't look at me!]

Or was this dishonest person just lying?

[CE]

Well, there were of course some minor transaction fees.

[Longtobefree]

"But Gladstone admitted that within a few years he was stealing cash, drugs and other items for himself."

Please, you must use the proper modern terms; "Gladstone began to rely more and more on asset forfeiture".

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Passive voice, please - The cash ended up in Gladstone's pocket.

[CE]

The asset confiscation accelerated and the department training procedures were inadequately updated to encompass the totality of the circumstances?

[Brandybuck]

A BB gun? WTF?

Dangerous weapon>? Sure, but it literally has no stopping power. You can take your brother's eye out with it, but as a weapon it's next to useless against humans. It's why they aren't considered firearms. So gangs don't use them, police don't use them, they're for killing bluejays and squirrels.

Why a cop would plant one as evidence is bizarre.

[NOYB2]

It's not bizarre at all: it looks like a gun from far away, and that's all that's needed for justifying self defense. And since it's legal and not traceable, it's easier for a police officer to obtain and plant on someone without getting caught.

[perlmonger]

Yeah, this seemed blindingly obvious in a world where cops regularly get away with shooting people for having crap that doesn't even vaguely resemble a gun in their hands.

"After seeing what appeared to be a firearm being pointed at me, I felt that my only option to end the threat to my life and the life of my fellow officers was to strike So-and-so with my cruiser in an attempt to knock him down. So help me God, I am totally not lying."

[Unicorn Abattoir]

I'm waiting for a defendant to claim that his 12 gauge is just a large BB gun.

[CE]

More like a massively-parallel BB gun array.

[perlmonger]

Then it fires more than one round with a single trigger pull and is a machine gun.

[Jim]

Hire low quality people and you get low quality cops. Early 1999s New Orleans was paying $14,000/year. Late 1980's Miami PD hired 500 new cops in 6 months, half female and/or minorities. That would have increased the size of the department by 30%... unreasonable to hire/train that percentage even if they were great candidates. Standards dropped. Both cities experienced lots of police corruption. Not really hard to figure out why. Places like Baltimore has been a cesspool for years.

[Bubba Jones]

> Early 1999s New Orleans was paying $14,000/year.

NFW. I refuse to accept this. That’s insane.