"For the majority of my law-enforcement years, I was farmed out to the FBI, DEA, Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, and numerous other federal, state and local agencies. A common belief I’ve heard many times in each of these organizations, from “seasoned” law-enforcement officers and investigators, is a bizarre and tweaked version of their job description: “It is not my job to help clear or exonerate somebody” or “It’s the defense attorney who needs to come up with evidence proving that their client is innocent.” "Incredibly, this whole twisted belief that innocence is not an investigator’s concern seems to magnify itself after an individual has been convicted…even in the face of new evidence that clearly exonerates a person." I was fortunate in my early years of law enforcement: I had great field-training officers and law-enforcement role models who made sure I understood our true role in law enforcement." Whenever I heard this twisted version of our job description, I was always more than willing to share what I was taught and truly believe on this topic: “Your job in an investigation is as follows: You are a fact finder and a finder of evidence. You let the facts and the evidence speak for itself and direct you to proving someone’s guilt or proving their innocence. Anything else is unacceptable. It is just as crucial to clear an individual who has been falsely accused as it is to prosecute the guilty.” wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2013/06/06/cops-hold-the-key-to-freeing-the-innocent/
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:44:28 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015