A couple of Los Angeles area cops have been convicted of “conspiracy to deprive people of their rights under color of law and conspiracy to possess marijuana and cocaine” i.e. they were breaking into people’s houses as if it was an official SWAT raid, stealing the occupants’ drugs, and then reselling them. The story is from Radley Balko at the Agitator, who wryly notes that “not only can you not be sure the people banging down your door at night are the police, not only can you not be sure they’re the police even if they say they’re the police (lots of criminals have caught on, and now stage fake drug raids), you can’t even be sure it’s safe to let them in even if they are the police.” The only thing that surprises me about the whole deal is that these guys were actually convicted.
