Police officers who can’t be trusted have no business being police officers in the first place. They are not able to perform their job because everything they do, from arresting suspects to conducting searches, relies upon people being able to trust their actions.
Police departments across the US have faced a lot of criticism in recent years, and the San Francisco Police Department is no exception. In June of 2020, then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin announced that he was creating a "Trial Integrity Unit" to compile a list of police officers who have “a history of racial bias, misconduct, excessive use of force, dishonesty, or discrimination of any kind.” Boudin stated that the DA’s office would not proceed with filing charges against anyone if the only evidence against them was the testimony of a police officer on this list.
Criminal cases can’t be prosecuted without evidence. Police officers are usually called on to give their testimonies about the circumstances surrounding a case. So if they can’t give reliable and trustworthy testimony, it means they can’t perform the vital responsibilities of being a police officer. If any regular citizen couldn’t perform their job functions, they would get fired. Why should it be any different for the police?
It is not an adequate remedy for courts to just dismiss any charges that have no evidence other than untrustworthy statements given by officers. As long as they are allowed to stay on the job, these problem cops are free to create a system of vigilante-style justice where police can arrest people “just because” and hope that they will be able to find some evidence against them. This is beyond irresponsible… it’s actually criminal.
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution gives all Americans the right “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” unless a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that someone has committed a crime. If a police officer’s testimony can’t be accepted as evidence in court, then we have no reason to believe them if they say they had probable cause in the first place.
San Francisco desperately needs to apply a stricter hiring process to ensure that #problematic cops with #misconduct issues are not allowed to serve in the Police Department. Based on the challenges facing the police department, it is of critical importance that they implement testing for bias and potential for abuse of force. They need to stop protecting any existing “problem cops,” and only allow officers with high integrity and discipline to serve in the department. This will deal with the root cause of the problem, rather than keeping officers on the force that do not belong there.
Hire correctly in the first place, and then active police officer's testimony will be used in cases as they should be.
