When
Cops
are
Criminals


By
Jane
F.
Gilgun,
Ph.D.



 Once
in
a
while,
there
are
dirty
cops,
no
different
from
the
crooks
they
are


supposed
to
protect
the
public
from.
A
case
in
point
is
the
conduct
of
several


members
of
the
Metro
Gang
Strike
Force
in
Minneapolis,
Minnesota,
USA.
The


conduct
of
these
cops
was
appalling.

They
stole
seized
property,
such
as
jewelry,


laptop
computers,
and
televisions
for
their
own
use
or
gave
them
to
relatives.

They


raided
homes,
arrested
persons
for
whom
they
had
no
evidence
of
gang


membership,
and
seized
their
property.

A
state
commission
investigated,
and
now


the
Strike
Force
is
now
under
FBI
investigation
which
began
in
2009.



 What
happened?

How
can
men
who
swore
to
serve
and
protect
turn
into


criminals
themselves?

Among
the
possible
responses
is
that
most
cops
in
the
Strike


Force
were
honest.

They
upheld
the
law
and
respected
property
rights.
This


suggests
that
there
was
something
special
about
the
cops
who
crossed
the
line.



 With
more
than
25
years
experience
in
interviewing
convicted
felons,
I
have


a
few
ideas
about
what
happened.

The
cops
who
were
criminals
had
criminal


tendencies
before
they
were
cops.
This
is
no
surprise
because
a
lot
of
us
have


criminal
tendencies.

Many
people
commit
petty
crimes
when
they
think
they
can


get
away
with
them.
Many
of
us
would
dominate
others
if
we
met
no
resistance.




Access



 That
is
the
situation
of
these
criminal
cops.
They
could
push
around
people


they
said
were
gang
members.

They
could
confiscate
the
property
of
innocent
as


well
as
people
later
found
to
be
guilty.
They
had
access
to
goods
they
seized.



Apparently,
there
was
nobody
to
stop
them.

They
may
have
stolen
a
few
small
items


and
got
away
with
it.

That
emboldened
them
to
steal
more
items.
They
did.
So
it


went
until
they
were
caught
and
brought
disgrace
upon
the
Strike
Force
and
the


entire
police
department.



Contempt
for
Owners
of
Record



 The
thieving
cops
may
have
regarded
the
actual
property
owners
with


contempt,
making
the
owners
into
persons
who
did
not
deserve
to
own
such
valued


goods.

They
may
have
believed
the
owners
got
the
goods
through
stealing
them
or


that
they
bought
the
goods
through
drug
money.

Whatever
the
particulars,
it
is


likely
that
the
cops
disrespected
owners
and
owners’
rights
to
the
goods.
Some
of


these
beliefs
clearly
are
racist.


Entitlement



 The
criminal
cops
may
have
believed
they
were
entitled
to
compensation
for


the
many
sacrifices
they
made
as
cops.
Cops
don’t
get
paid
much.

Their
jobs
can
be


dangerous.

Being
a
cop
is
tough
on
family
life.
These
cops
may
have
feel
angry,


deprived,
depressed,
and
anxious.
They
believed
they
deserved
these
goods
and
the


owners
of
record
did
not.





No
Punking
Out


Being
men
and
then
cops,
there
is
a
code
that
says
you
do
not
admit


weakness.

Depression,
anxiety,
and
even
feelings
of
deprivation
are
signs
of


weakness
for
many
people,
women
and
men
included.

If
they
admitted
they
were


hurting,
they
were
punking
out.



Strategies
for
Prevention


The
thievery
continued
for
years.

Three
strategies
may
have
prevented
these


shameful
behaviors
and
saved
the
police
force
from
public
shame
and


condemnation,
which
few
cops
actually
deserve.

The
three
strategies
are


supervision,
holding
each
other
accountable,
and
redefining
manhood
and
punking


out.


Supervision





 Had
someone
who
had
power
over
the
cops
who
stole
had
caught
them
in
the


act
and
had
they
been
punished,
that
might
have
stopped
the
problem
immediately.


There
would
have
had
to
have
been
support
at
the
supervisory
and
rank
and
file


levels
for
the
punishment.
What
happened
instead
was
a
lack
of
supervision.


Accountability


The
police
in
general
need
to
hold
each
other
accountable.

Instead
they
have


a
“no
squeal”
code
of
conduct,
similar
to
the
“no
snitch”
codes
in
prisons.
I
believe


non‐criminal
cops
knew
some
of
their
colleagues
were
stealing,
but
they
turned
the


other
way.

They
didn’t
want
to
squeal.

Some
may
have
told
the
criminal
cops
to


stop.
When
the
stealing
continued,
they
did
nothing
further.
The
no
squeal
code

works
most
of
the
time,
but
when
officers’
conduct
is
reprehensible
and
also


threatens
the
reputation
of
all
cops,
the
no
squeal
code
has
to
be
suspended.




In
short,
cops
should
police
other
cops.

For
the
sake
of
public
trust
and
the


oath
they
took
to
serve
and
protect,
cops
must
break
the
code
at
times
for
the
public


good
and
for
their
own
good.
Cops
must
be
educated
to
understand
that
any
cop


behaviors
that
threaten
their
mission
must
be
held
to
account.
Cops
must
hold
each


other
accountable
for
behavior
that
threatens
harm
to
the
public
and
to
cops


themselves.


Manhood



 Real
men
do
not
abuse
their
power
over
others.

They
do
whatever
it
takes
to


contribute
to
the
public
good
and
to
the
welfare
of
friends
and
families.

The
police


officers’
oath
places
special
responsibilities
on
them.

It
takes
a
real
man
to
admit


that
his
state
of
mind
is
threatening
his
capacities
to
live
up
to
his
own
oath.
This


state
of
mind
includes
grappling
with
racist
beliefs,
which
for
many,
are
outside
of


their
awareness.

Cops,
like
all
of
us,
need
to
figure
out
how
to
deal
with
racist


beliefs.


Besides
racist
beliefs,
cops
must
grapple
with
their
own
anger,
depression,


anxiety,
and
a
sense
of
deprivation
that
leads
to
entitlement.
These
states
of
mind


are
not
unusual
in
the
general
population
and
not
unusual
with
cops.
If
cops
do
not


deal
with
these
states
of
mind,
they
may
not
be
able
to
live
up
to
their
oaths.
Out
of


anger,
diminished
capacities
related
to
depression
and
anxiety,
and
entitlement,


they
do
things
they
would
not
do
if
they
were
in
good
states
of
mind.

 The
stressful
and
sometimes
traumatic
nature
of
their
jobs
makes
cops


especially
vulnerable
to
anger,
depression,
anxiety,
and
deprivation.
Some
cops
have


untreated
post‐traumatic
stress
disorder.

Cops,
however,
have
a
code
that
they


must
not
show
vulnerability.

If
they
do,
they
are
punking
out
and
subject
to
ridicule,


humiliation,
and
self‐contempt.
The
belief
that
punking
out
is
disgraceful
is
short‐

sighted.
Such
short‐sighted
beliefs
must
be
replaced
with
the
belief
that
it
takes
a


real
man
to
admit
vulnerability.

Only
by
dealing
courageously
with
vulnerability


can
men
be
strong.


Summary



 Criminal
cops
harm
the
public
and
other
cops.

Holding
each
other
to
account


is
a
simple
and
direct
solution.

This
requires
challenging
the
“no
snitch”
code
in
any


situation
where
officers’
conduct
undermines
the
oath
to
protect
and
serve.



Supervisors
and
rank
and
file
must
support
this
kind
of
accountability.




Cops
must
grapple
with
racist
beliefs
that
many
people
hold,
as
well
as
with


beliefs
about
anger,
depression,
anxiety,
and
deprivation.
Such
beliefs
in
times
of


stress
and
hopelessness
guide
otherwise
good
cops
to
act
badly
and
to
harm
the


general
public,
themselves,
and
the
men
and
women
with
whom
they
serve.



About
the
Author


Jane
F.
Gilgun,
Ph.D,
LICSW,
is
a
professor,
School
of
Social
Work,
University


of
Minnesota,
Twin
Cities,
USA.
She
does
research
on
the
meanings
of
violence
to


perpetrators
and
how
persons
overcome
risks
for
violence.

Her
articles
and
books

are
available
on
Amazon
Kindle,
scribd.com,
and
lulu.com.
She
also
has
videos
on


http://www.youtube.com/jgilgun.