Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Interesting charges against a corrupt cop.

An Indiana cop has been caught letting drivers go for a bribe instead of ticketing them. Westfield, Indiana, police Lt. Scott Fross would stop Hispanic drivers and extort money out of them. The Hispanics are perhaps the most vulnerable minority in the US as some of them are here illegally. As such they are prone to a lot of abuse; they obviously cannot complain to the police/authorities.

But the most interesting part of the crime is that Lieutenant Fross has been charged with armed robbery. This is a far serious crime than an act of bribery. I believe that the charges are valid and not exaggerated. In the US we have a culture that the cops can kill anyone with impunity so when a cop asks for money, you better give it to him/her as consequences can be serious.

I wonder if such harsh charges can have a place in the Armenian law enforcement when and if the Armenians start doing something against corruption. Most of the Armenian cops do not carry guns so the armed part is not viable. Bribery on the streets is certainly an act of extortion and can be classified as robbery.

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