When I first found out about RateMyCop.com my first thought was, "Ok, sounds like a good idea." Then when several police departments made a big stink about it and tried to push legislatures to make such sites illegal I thought, "Yeah, their arguments make no sense."
But, then I started really thinking about the site, the premise behind rating cops by name without any way to verify who was rating them, and how this would actually solve anything about police conduct... and I couldn't come up with a good answer.
Here's the first problem, people don't choose which cop they'll be confronted with, so this information is relatively useless to citizens.
Next, this information is unverifiable, so it's useless in a court of law. This also means that there is no way that a police department will take any of these reviews seriously, they will not spark any actual investigations or policy changes.
Also, the cops being reviewed will not change their behavior based on a bad review, in fact it may instead cause retaliatory threats or just reinforce the "us vs them" mentality most problematic officers have.
Lastly, there are no real mechanisms to prevent gaming of the system. In other words, if a cop gets a bad review that is actually honest, nothing prevents the cop from having all his friends negate that review with a bunch of falsely positive reviews.
In fact, as I spent some time on the site in the Seattle Police Department section, I noticed that it appeared as though there were more cops posting reviews of each other than there were regular people posting reviews of the cops. Indeed, some of the remarks included "hides his true feelings." or just simply "wow" that included good marks after a bad review or "Head thumper. Outstanding cop." Indeed, some of the bad reviews even seemed to be cops messing around with other cops as in one review that gave bad marks but included the comment "I'm just jealous, she's perfect".
However, the most disturbing post made was this...
...from a cop calling another cop an "OPA rat" in reference to the Seattle Police Department's internal investigation department: the "Office of Professional Accountability". If a comment like this, intended to intimidate and stop officers from cooperating with internal investigations into misconduct, were made in person it would result in disciplinary action. That such comments can now be made anonymously by officers will cast a chill on internal cooperation with the OPA and make it less likely that officers will actually cooperate with investigations into allegations of misconduct, thus running counter to the site's intent.
At this point in time, I can find few redeeming qualities for this site and, in fact, see the potential for much more harm done than good. But, I wouldn't go so far as to say it deserved to be shut down by it's provider at the urging of police as it was earlier this month.
But I don't support it either.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Reviewing RateMyCop
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
About that advice...
Last month I posted some advice based on one of the steps I take to address my own concerns for my personal safety in regards to my own justified fear of police retaliation. Being that I always have my cellphone on me and a number I know will be recorded on speed dial.
For those who may have thought that it wasn't good advice or a serious suggestion, I ask you to check this story out.
Last February Irshad Amhed was stopped by officers in the Entertainment District. Police smashed his car window, tasered him and dragged him and his passengers out of the vehicle before charging him with resisting arrest. But Amhed is fighting that charge, and he has some strong evidence on his side. Amhed called his lawyer after he was stopped by police and ended up capturing the stormy incident that followed on his attorney's voicemail.
Now, you may say to yourself that statistically it's unlikely that you're going to encounter one of Seattle's abusive cops... but, by simply having your cellphone with you at all times and a phone number that you know will be recorded, like a lawyer's, on speed dial you can greatly improve your chances of prevailing in a case against police misconduct or brutality.
Don't rely on your camera or cellphone camera if it doesn't send video or images directly to another site because police can and probably will erase it. Also, make sure you don't gesture aggressively with the phone or else an officer might shoot you.
If such little effort and forethought can only help, why take the risk of an unprepared encounter with an aggressive and unaccountable cop?
Be careful out there, people.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Seattle Media Contact List
The following list of local media outlet contacts is intended to provide readers of Injustice In Seattle the ability to directly contact local media outlets about cases of police misconduct or detainee abuses. It is in no way intended to be a list of recommended media sources.
These contacts are general tip-line contacts. For easier distribution of a story you can contact us directly and, if you request it, we will distribute your story to our own private list of media contacts that have expressed interest in misconduct and abuse stories in addition to listing the story here on this site.
Injustice In Seattle e-mail
(Yes, we're not anything close to a news outlet, but we try to help victims of police misconduct and detainee abuse the best we can)
KOMO 4 News
(KOMO TV Problem Solvers email tip address, it's a good one to try)
KING 5 News
(KING 5 News general news tip line)
Real Change
(Real Change Weekly contact page)
The Stranger's SLOG
(The Stranger Weekly's blog tip line)
The Seattle Weekly
(The Seattle Weekly's News address, while I don't see many police misconduct stories from them, they did cover the King County Jail deaths and civil rights problems quite well)
Seattle Post Intelligencer
(Seattle Post Intelligencer's investigative team tip line, they write some good articles on police abuses)
Seattle Times
(Seattle Times general news tip line)
Police Misconduct Attorney Information
This list should in no way be considered as an endorsement for any of the legal service providers and lawyers listed herein by InjusticeInSeattle.org.
We do recommend that you "shop around" and do your own research into which lawyer or legal services provider is the best fit for you and your specific legal needs. Part of that process should include discussing your case with more than just one firm or attorney in order to determine which might be the best fit for you.
For more advice on how to improve your chances of retaining a lawyer for your police misconduct case and to get a better understanding of what might be involved visit our post "Some advice for those looking for justice".
If you know of a good civil rights lawyer that we missed, let us know via email at packratt@injusticeinseattle.org!
For a list of police misconduct lawyers outside of the Washington state area, visit the National Lawyers Guild National Police Accountability Project website at www.nlg-npap.org.
Bill Sherman and Timothy Leary
Sherman & Leary PLLC
Contact Information
Khodr & Winkelhake, P.L.L.C.
questions@kwlegal.org
John Stocks
Van Siclen, Stocks & Firkins
jstocks@vansiclen.com
Law Offices of Lembhard Howell P.S.
howellembhardg1.qwestoffice.net
lemhowell@quest.net
Law Offices of James C. Egan P.L.L.C.
www.eganattorney.com
Info@EganAttorney.com
Ressler & Tesh
www.randtlaw.com
John Kannin
Kanninlaw.com
Muenster & Koenig
munsterkoenig.com
jrmuenster@muensterkoenig.com
MacDonald Hoague & Bayless
www.mhb.com
law@mhb.com
Leemon & Royer PLLC
www.leeroylaw.com
Contact page
Budge & Heipt PLLC
www.budgeandheipt.com
Contact Page
Fred Diamondstone
www.Freddiamondstone.com
fdiamondstone@seanet.com
ACLU of Washington State
ACLU of Washington
