[hn_throwaway_99]

But crimes of mere "possession" (e.g. child pornography, drugs) are especially susceptible to framing because the existence of the contraband in a person's personal effects are all that is needed to presume guilt. Child pornography, or really any digital asset, is doubly suspect because it is so much easier to "place" these digital assets on someone's computer or phone, whereas with drugs you'd need physical access to someone's home or personal effects.

[indolering]

I have brown friends who get searched every time they are pulled over or go through airport security. I have had friends who were told to STFU and take a frequenting ticket or spend the night in jail (and thus risk losing their minimum wage job). I even had a friend who was led to a cop car by the FBI but (thankfully) he refused to get in because there was a mysterious baggie in the back (which was surreptitiously spirited away on camera). Nothing happened in any of these cases.

Sigh - you can't trust cops even with physical possession and cameras rolling [1].

[1]: https://www.topic.com/runningfromcops

[sillysaurusx]

Since we're cherrypicking, I was reading over https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_roulette#Notable_incid... and found this gem:

On July 24, 1973, Dallas Police Officer Darrell L. Cain fatally shot Santos Rodriguez, a 12-year-old Mexican-American child, while interrogating him and his brother about a burglary. Cain shot Rodriguez while conducting Russian roulette on the brothers in an attempt to force a confession from them.

In fairness, that was the 70s. But the 70s were also "one generation ago," so it's not exactly ancient history.

(I could imagine myself being skeptical about your comment before having wised up a little, so I thought I'd chime in to say yes, this really does happen.)

[Buttons840]

The officer was charged and convicted and spent 2.5 (two and a half) years in jail. I'm 100% serious.

[gremlinsinc]

2.5 years for a cop in jail is like 100 for a lay-person. /s

[ashtonkem]

Half of what the sentence was, and the minimum legal jail time for that crime.

[ashtonkem]

Only a cop would get away with serving half of their sentence (and not a day more than the minimum) after shooting a child in the head on purpose.

[ashtonkem]

For drugs, it depends on your social status. It’s not unheard of for cops getting caught planting drugs on low status individuals to justify an arrest. Turning off your camera and “finding” a bag of heroin is often enough to secure a conviction, since juries trust cops.