My jaw dropped as I read this entry from Dr. Frank Kardasz’s blog on police ethics. As you can see from his blog headline, he Dr. Kardasz follows police ethics and earned is P.H.D. studying it. Only reading the article will outline the apparent corruption and gross misconduct that is plaguing our city; I couldn’t summarize it all and do it justice. And I, for one, I’m really shocked by these allegations.
I’ve always respected the police for putting their lives in danger when they clear the streets of violent drug offenders, gangs, and double parkers and we should not forget that fact of their job. But I’ve also feared the police as they have access to surveillance, intrusion, and investigatory techniques that can be misused; in our “scary” world where terrorists lurk around every corner just waiting to release a propaganda attack on our civilized society, we gave law enforcement unprecedented powers which, we now know, were belligerently misused. I ask my wife all the time, “Who will police the police? And who will police those people who police the police?” She gives the cops the benefit of the doubt but she hasn’t been profiled by the police like I have.
My home town had more transparency and I could trust the police to generally do the right thing. While I can’t say that everyone of them were saints, no one ever – to my knowledge – abused their powers or entered the gray area of ethical behavior. Granted, the population when I grew up there was a little less than that of Hoboken – about 30,000 people to Hoboken’s 38,000 – but its not enough to make a difference in the complexity of the government and how it makes itself available to the people.
Anyway, all this long talk is because I was shocked at how abusive our police department seems to be. I’m sure our leaders are as shocked as I am to hear this… or maybe they allow it to happen. I know I don’t feel safe here anymore and I’ll be looking at the police with a closer eye in the future. I hope that the mayor does something about this apparent problem because it makes me believe that by not removing the corrupt people from the city, he himself is endorsing it.
The police are a disgrace. The only time I see them happy at their job is when they are staring at the women coming out of the path train station. They park illegally all over the place and promote according to popularity and not according to civil service lists.
Diane your an idot, walk in there shoes for a week and you;ll understand better
Johnny,
I understand what you mean by that, but at the same time your comment to Diane, in my opinion, is a little out of line. Obviously you have never experienced nor witnessed the type of corruption within the criminal justice system the sites are referring to. This is coming from someone majoring in criminal justice and know first hand about the types of corruption the sites do refer to. No police officer is trained to steal drugs from seizures and sell them, nor should they be aloud to let their power to get to their heads. No officer who resort to any of the behaviors that the sites describes, in my opinion, deserve to have a badge. Ask any officer who works hard to make a good reputation for themselves that is tarnished in an instant because they work in the same police department as the corrupt officer/officers. My professer, a Federal agent, will tell you the same thing. The criminal justice system itself acknowledges the problem, why can’t you?
Just hire and promote a good Internal Affairs Team. Crime is crime. No one should be exempt from getting busted.
James T. Brogan
This is not a surprise to many of us that have been paying attention. Corruption runs right through City Hall, to the Police Dept and right into the school system with Superintendents and Principals well aware of the kind of city they work in.
Hoboken is horribly corrupt and the police are a bunch of stupid thugs who break the law with full impunity but levy idiotic fines on the population to ensure a steady revenue stream. With the real estate market tanking in Hoboken as we speak, it’s a good time to get the hell out of this awful town.
i have been out of hoboken for quite a number of years,but my
family is still there,in service, that service keeps the population
of hoboken safe,and i resent the false allegation of the so called
corruption, sure there will always be a few bad apples, that is in any and every section of our society. Lumping them all together is
dishonest,maybe you should look in your family’s closet,you may be in for a rude awakening, cops put there lives on the line every day of the week,for very little compensation compared to the fact that
theres no guarantee of a tomorrow for them. THINK ABOUT IT.
”COPS ROCK” Pat McGovern/Lyons