Police Rack up Charges While Accreditation Costs Us Tens of Thousands

According to the local muckraker blog, The Voice of Modesto, Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden, announced that the process for police accreditation cost the tax-payers of Modesto $94.000. From the VOM:

Incredible as it sounds this number came from Chief Harden and this doesn’t include the cost of taking a contingent of Officers, the Police Chief,  and  Mayor Ridenour back east for the accreditation  process. According to Chief Harden it cost taxpayers $5,000 to enroll in CALEA (Commission for Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) and a full time employee at an approximate cost of $89,000 an entity which most of law enforcement in California and the country ignore.  

For pigs by pigs.

The CALEA is actually nothing more than an organization of police and former police. The accreditation that they offer is only a pat on the back and acknowledgement of paying close to 100K in taxpayer money. It's actually quite the nice scam when you think about it. Police take local people's money (no different from the day in and day out grind of court fees, tickets, and lawyer costs) and pay other cops to come out and give them a bullshit shiny medal. Meanwhile, the police get to tout themselves as living up to a certain standard when everyone in the area understands them to be completely corrupt and brutal. At a time when budget cuts threaten to shut down everything from hospitals to day care centers - do we really think this is the best use of our money?

Someone got their hand
caught in the meth jar!

This accreditation also comes at a time when police are in hot water not only after the repeated murders of Modesto citizens - but also the almost monthly indictment of Modesto police on charges ranging from drunk driving to spousal abuse. Officer Todd Parsons was recently arrested for drunk driving, but was only given a 30-day suspension that Chief Harden ever so graciously reduced to 20 days. Furthermore, Parsons only has to take it 2 days a month! Officer Matt Spurlock faces spousal abuse charges and Officer Tony Trock was arrested for taking drugs from evidence. According to Modesto Bee columnist Jeff Jardine, there are also four other officers which are on administrative leave and also face charges. As he wrote in the Bee: 

And Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden confirmed there are four other officers from his department now on administrative leave while under investigation for alleged misconduct.

Banner drop against police in
South Side Modesto Dec 10'.

We can walk away with a couple of things from this. First off, if you haven't noticed already, the police are quite happy to take money from us and use it on something that only benefits them and no-one else. Keep this in mind the next time you hear a cop whining on TV for more assault rifles or Sheriffs on J-Street protesting layoffs. Second, if you haven't clued into this already (and it's hard not to), the police accreditation process is a complete and total joke. It gives the police a way to look nice on paper and also the appearance of asking the community for feedback in the face of widespread anger.

Lastly, we should clue into when the police are actually taken to task by the state. A DUI here, a spousal abuse charge there, and a slap on the wrist for taking some weed here...All of these cops will get off with lighter sentences than any of us ever would. However, it's important to note that it's these cops that the head pigs throw under the bus - and not the ones that shot Francisco Moran, Rita Elias, Brian Reed, Ricky Miranda, Elizabeth Kropp, and a host of other people that live on now only as painful memories. These cops are touted as brave soldiers who made "tough decisions" in "bad situations." We need these cops we are told and we should look past these 'bad apples' which make the rest of the department look bad. However, it's not a problem of bad apples but a broken system that exists to protect itself and the divisions that exist within society. No investigation will change the reality of what the police are to any of us - the biggest and most well armed gang on the street. One that not only serves the interests of the power structure, but one that is also corrupt, brutal, and willing to lie and kill to protect itself.