Sgt. Thomas Allers plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy, admitting he robbed citizens for years and he alerted members of the Gun Trace Task Force of investigations into their crimes and many other things. He faces up to 20 years in prison. Allers is the fifth of the group to plead guilty and the highest ranking. Allers admitted to participating in 9 robberies between 2014-2016 in which he netted $100,000. His son also participated in a "raid" in which the two pocketed $66,000. The son has not been charged with that crime as of yet.
The five that have now plead guilty are Sgt. Allers, Det. Gondo, Det. Rayam, Det. Hendricks, and Det. Maurice Ward. There are two indicted officers who are going to trial, tentatively scheduled for January. The name I don't see in this report is Kevin Jenkins - the officer who planted "
a cache" of heroin in a car during a traffic stop and set up Det. Suiter to find the drugs. Where is his plea? More importantly, where was he when Suiter was gunned down? Jenkins was a dirty cop and I'm sure he knew plenty of "suspicious men" who owed him favors. Was this payback for a favor to Jenkins? Suiter was about to testify against Jenkins the following day. Hmmmm. Makes you wonder.
Know what also makes me wonder? How can so many people from a task force become dirty? Was it that easy or tempting for them? Was it about the money or just getting away with it because they could? Power corrupts. Stories such as this is why people are increasingly afraid of the police and getting pulled over by the police. Especially at risk are African American males and any female. Females have reportedly been assaulted in squad cars in other jurisdictions across the country. The police have the badge on their side. They believe a jury will take their word over any perpetrator's word. How many police crimes have gone unpunished/undetected? I hate to think of how big that number may be.
I'm not saying all police departments are corrupt. Most are brave and upstanding and take great pride in their work. They protect the public and run into dangerous situations to keep us safe. These few dirty departments really tarnish the good work of all of the other good police departments. The LAPD had a big problem years ago as well - police brutality. The Rodney King beating, the LA riots - that was a mess. The citizens fought back, there were fires, property damage and more police brutality. That culture has to change.
These Baltimore PD Task Force officers seem more like a criminal gang operating under their own rules. Thankfully they got caught and hopefully none of them will escape the net of justice.
The five that have now plead guilty are Sgt. Allers, Det. Gondo, Det. Rayam, Det. Hendricks, and Det. Maurice Ward. There are two indicted officers who are going to trial, tentatively scheduled for January. The name I don't see in this report is Kevin Jenkins - the officer who planted "
a cache" of heroin in a car during a traffic stop and set up Det. Suiter to find the drugs. Where is his plea? More importantly, where was he when Suiter was gunned down? Jenkins was a dirty cop and I'm sure he knew plenty of "suspicious men" who owed him favors. Was this payback for a favor to Jenkins? Suiter was about to testify against Jenkins the following day. Hmmmm. Makes you wonder.
Know what also makes me wonder? How can so many people from a task force become dirty? Was it that easy or tempting for them? Was it about the money or just getting away with it because they could? Power corrupts. Stories such as this is why people are increasingly afraid of the police and getting pulled over by the police. Especially at risk are African American males and any female. Females have reportedly been assaulted in squad cars in other jurisdictions across the country. The police have the badge on their side. They believe a jury will take their word over any perpetrator's word. How many police crimes have gone unpunished/undetected? I hate to think of how big that number may be.
I'm not saying all police departments are corrupt. Most are brave and upstanding and take great pride in their work. They protect the public and run into dangerous situations to keep us safe. These few dirty departments really tarnish the good work of all of the other good police departments. The LAPD had a big problem years ago as well - police brutality. The Rodney King beating, the LA riots - that was a mess. The citizens fought back, there were fires, property damage and more police brutality. That culture has to change.
These Baltimore PD Task Force officers seem more like a criminal gang operating under their own rules. Thankfully they got caught and hopefully none of them will escape the net of justice.