Table Of ContentTheAnarchistLibrary
Anti-Copyright
Killer Cops: Licensed to Kill
The Leveller
As I pour over article after article of police brutality, crimi-
nal activity and corruption for the “Copwatch Report” of The
Leveler Iamstruckbythefactthateachandeveryarticlehas
scoresofquotesfromthecops;rationalizingtheinsanebehav-
ior of the police. Whether it was murdering innocent people,
beatingpeacefuldemonstrators,orusingtheirbadgetoactout
theirracistfantasiesagainstcommunitiesofcolor,thefunction
thatthecorporatemediaassumedwastotrytolegitimizethe
conduct.
Agreatexampleofthiswasarecent3-dayseriesintheLos
AngelesTimeswhichtriedtorefutethefactthattheC.I.A.had
helpedimportcocaineintoLosAngelestofinancecovertsup-
portforright-wingterrorismandguerillaactivityinplaceslike
Central America. Implicit in the information which came out
TheLeveller about this is that local law enforcement seems to have been
KillerCops:LicensedtoKill aware of what was going on. After the story broke, the Los
Angeles Chief of Police Willie Williams (Who was chief in
RetrievedonJanuary1,2005fromwww.cat.org.au Philadelphia when the cops and D.E.A. fire-bombed M.O.V.E.;
killing innocent children and destroying a city block) took
theanarchistlibrary.org great pains to commission a report denying the allegations.
Williams was locked into a battle for political survival at the
timebecauseofchargesofpersonalcorruptionbroughttolight
byhisenemieswithinthePoliceDepartment.
When you read these articles over and over, the number of
policequotesandquotesfromgovernmentauthoritiesisover-
whelming while, there is usually little information from the
victimsofpoliceabuse.Judgingfromthevictimsofpolicevio-
lencethatIknowpersonally,alotofthisisbecausetheSystem
isstackedupagainstthevictim.Whenthecopsinterrogateyou
andsay“Iwanttohearyoursideofthestory”whattheyreally
mean is “I want you to spill your guts and give us any frag-
mentsofinformationwemightbeabletodistorttolegitimize
policeconductagainstyouandtolockyouupinprisonforas
longaspossible.”
The most extreme things you ever read about cops is when
theyabsolutelycan’tbeattherap.Thenyouhearalotoffairy
tales about the “one cop gone bad” or the “rotten apple in the
barrel”andthecopgetsaslaponthewrist.Theonlytimeyou
really see a cop do hard time is when the Police Department
wantstoshutthemuptocoverawiderconspiracywithinthe
Department which would ordinarily be kept under wraps by
thepolice“codeofsilence”whichoperatessimilartothecode
attributedtoLaCosaNostra(TheItalianMafia).
ThewaytheSystemtreatspoliceconductisincredible.Most
behavior that would land an ordinary person in jail is consid-
ered part of a police officer’s job! When you read about the
levelofbrutalitythatpoliceexerciseonthejob,itisapparent
thatthejobofacopmustattractalotofclosetsociopathsand
personalities with a need to reassure their ego that they’re a
worthwhilepersonbyexercisingdominantbehavioroveroth-
ers (sort of like a dominatrix except with less leather). Most
obsession with authority, control and machismo (the person
whoisouttoprovehowtoughtheyarebybullyingothers)are
characteristicofdeep-seatedinferioritycomplexesandincom-
plete emotional development created by a highly regimented
family, religious, peer group, school and “career path” which
2
Now the Police tell us to believe in “Neighborhood Watch” leftlittleroomforthedevelopmentofindividualizedpersonal-
and“Community-BasedPolicing.”But,NeighborhoodWatchis ity,creativityorambition.
nothing more than recruiting people as the Gauleuters of the When you realize that these people are given power by the
cops:toinformontheirneighborsandrisktheirlivesforcops Government, the only rational explanation is that they are
thatturnablindeyetocrimesagainstanyonewithoutmoney tools of the system which created them. If you examine the
and property. Community-Based Policing is a farce where we dictates of the Court System, which is the most reactionary
are told that committees hand-picked by police captains truly element of the government (outside the military), it is clear
represent the community and will keep the cops accountable. that this is the case. American courts base their rulings in le-
Obviously, their only purpose is to legitimize any course of gal cases on: (1) Their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution,
actionthecopschoose. (2) The concept of Common Law (based on English Common
Whatarethe Police afraidof? Aretheyafraid ofcriminals? Law) which interprets the law based on custom and practice
No!Theyareafraidofus;theordinarypeople.Theyareafraid (Based on how the law has been applied historically in cases
of accountability. They are afraid of loosing control. Like any thejudgesregardassimilar—sometimescalled“caselaw.”)and
armyofoccupation,theyareafraidofthefreedomofthepeo- (3)onthedoctrineof“LegislativeIntent”(thismeansthatthe
plewhose communitiestheyhaveoccupied andthejusticeof judgesdoresearchtotrytoseewhatthepeoplewhowrotethe
thosetheyhavewronged.Thefactthattheyfearusmeansthat lawintendedittomean).Whatthismeansisthatifthesystem
they know that our action is all that is necessary to begin to hasalwaysbeenracist,classistandallowedunrestrictedpolice
changethedirectionofsocietyanddismantlethePoliceState. brutality,thenthecourtswouldfavorthosethingscontinuing.
Itmeansthatonlyourreluctancetoactkeepsthepresentsys-
In1871alawwaspassedthatsaidthatpeoplewhocommit-
teminplace.
ted acts which violated the Bill of Rights but, claimed to be
We can only be free of the Police State when we refuse to
actingwiththeauthorityofthelawcouldbepenalizedforvi-
condoneit.Wemustrefusetocooperatewithitsactivities.We
olatingtheU.S.Constitution.
must challenge the free reign of police terror and hold each
Cops got around this by arguing that their conduct was ei-
policeactionaccountabletothemembersofourcommunities.
ther not defined by the law (“in a grey area”) or it was autho-
Wemustbethecourtoflastresortthatdecidesthefateofany
rizedbystatelaw(thiswasthecaseintheSouth)andtherefore
copwhoviolatesus.Wemusttreatcopsascriminalsandaccept
notsubjecttotheFederalConstitution.
noexcuses.Wemustexposeallpolicecriminalsandkickthem
out of our communities. We must refuse to be abused. Our In1961theU.S.SupremeCourtruledonacase,whereablack
powerisinourrefusal! family had been terrorized by cops, that the cops should be
accountable to the Federal Law even if they didn’t violate a
statelaw.
In 1978 another case said that the local government was
alsoaccountabletoFederalLaw.Inthiscaseapregnantsocial
workersuedforjobdiscriminationforbeingforcedtotakean
earlyunpaidmaternityleave.
6 3
Thecourtshaveusedthesecasesasa“customandpractice” didn’t stop the court from handing down the Plessy v. Fergu-
rationaleforlawsuitsfiledforpoliceviolationsoftheU.S.Con- son decision authorizing “separate but equal” discriminatory
stitutionallimitsonGovernmentconducttowardindividuals. treatmentfornon-whites).
On 28 April 1997 all this changed when the United States
Lawyers interviewed in the capitalist press claim that this
supreme Court ruled that “taxpayers” (in other words, “The
Supreme Court ruling won’t stop them from filing “Civil
Rich”)shouldnothavetopayifacopisguiltyofviolatingaper-
Rights”lawsuitsinresponsetoPoliceBrutalityandabuse.But,
sons rights (for example, if they beat the shit out of someone
relyingoncourtswhichareincreasinglylordedoverbyjudges
forkicks).Theirargumentwasthatthepersonfilingthecom-
chosenfromthe ranksof prosecutorsand business lawyersis
plaint had to show that the City Government was the “mov-
never going to free us from the growing Police State being
ing force” behind the injury: basically, that they told the cop
built around us. How many police brutality lawsuits actually
to do it either as an order or written policy. The case in ques-
succeeded before the new decree? 1 in 5? Worse? What hap-
tion,BryntCountyv.Brown,involvedareservedeputysheriff
penswhenwetakethepoliceintothecourts?Itismuchlikea
whowasshowntobeapersonof“deficientcharacter,”witha
rapetrial.Thevictimorvictimsarepresentedasimmoral,not
“propensityforviolence”and“disregardforthelaw”:Theguy
politicallycorrectandtrouble-makerswhilethejury,whichis
was some redneck bully who got hired only because he was
mostlyselectedfrommiddleandlower-middleclassemployees
the nephew of County Sheriff B. J. Moore! According to the
oftheGovernmentandBigBusiness(ordinarypeoplehaveto
SupremeCourt,hiringsomeonewithawarpedandviolentper-
workforalivinganddon’tgettimeofffromtheiremployerto
sonality doesn’t make the Government at fault if that person
beonajury,letalonegetpaidwhiletheironjuryduty),istold
beatstheshitoutofsomeone.
fairytalesabouthownoblethecopsareandhowtheyprotect
This defies all reasoning unless you look at who is now at
us from the “bad elements” of society. They are told that cops
theSupremeCourt.SinceRonaldReaganwasPresidentofthe
only use force when they “have to” and then asked to believe
United States, there have been a string of Reactionary politi-
that Police terrorism, murder, and mayhem somehow fits this
calappointmentstotheCourt.Thecapitalistpressfocusedon
thindefinitionof“necessity.”
whethertheywouldbesocialactivistsforpeopleliketheChris-
tian Right and concluded that they were “Strict Construction- If we cannot rely on the courts, it is equally absurd to rely
ists” not interested in judicial activism. Nothing could be fur- onthepoliticianswhoappointthejudges.Thepoliticianswho
ther from the truth. Their activism isn’t social, it is economic. feed at the trough of corporate money to get elected have
These justices were selected for their ideology preferring the echoed the corporate law and order propaganda in the media
protectionofprivatepropertyoverjusticeforpeople.Theirac- that is contradicted by years of decline in violent crime. They
tivismisonbehalfofthepossessorsofwealthratherthanaso- want more cops and more prisons. They contract out prisons
cialagenda.Thelasttimethiswasdonewasduringtheheyday toprofit-drivencorporationswhoconvertthemtoforcedlabor
of robber Baron Capitalists and resulted in a Supreme Court camps. With so many cops roaming the streets with less and
invention of “Civil Rights” for corporations based on the Re- less to do except harass the innocent and imagine the ghosts
constructionAmendmentstotheU.S.Constitutionwhichwere ofcriminals,thepsychologyofparanoiaandbrutalitycanonly
written to protect former slaves from discrimination (which becomeepidemic.
4 5
