Ex-drug officer says he stole cash, planted drugs many times

Ex-drug officer says he stole cash, planted drugs many times

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A disgraced ex-police officer testifying against his drug squad colleagues acknowledged Tuesday that he stole drug money, planted evidence and lied on police paperwork too many times to count.

Jeffrey Walker told jurors that the Philadelphia Police Department drug squad targeted white “college-boy … khaki-pants types” who were “easy to intimidate.”

That matches the description of some of the drug dealers who have testified at the six-week police corruption trial that the squad stole as much as $110,000 at a time during violent, no-warrant raids.

Lead defendant Thomas Liciardello always got a cut of the stolen money, while the others split “jobs” that they worked, Walker said. The city’s police brass often celebrated the squad’s work with splashy news conferences to announce large seizures.

“They liked that, as far as the bosses and supervisors were concerned. It made them look good. It was nothing but a dog and pony show,” Walker testified. SOURCE

I hate to see stories like this pop up on the news, be it local or nationwide, it is a story you just hate to see and truly hate to write about but some things have got to be said on behalf of the Officers who have NOT broken the law they swore to uphold.

My family is a POLICE family, I have great respect for those that wear the badge and take to the streets to serve and protect the general public.

I have a Police Tribute site on Facebook called The Thin Blue Line - Coast to Coast and it’s true purpose is to HONOR those that have fallen in the line of duty but over the last few years it has become more than that; it’s a site for ALL things related to Police work but it’s a place where the names of disgraced individuals will not be seen.

ANY Officer that would steal, plant drugs and lie to cover themselves and the *DIRTY* individuals they work with is not worthy of the title Officer and not worthy of any honor being shown them at any time.

The overall honesty of our Officers is probably above that of a great many other professions, I would like to think so, but there are always a few *bad apples* and temptation is always there. 

For the Narcotics Officers temptation is in front of them constantly and can NOT be given a degree of seriousness, Narcotics Officers literally see millions of dollars in CASH on a regular basis, as well as drugs worth even more on the street and for a weak individual, or a *get rich quick* schemer it’s just too much to turn down or resist.

Fingers get sticky and the next thing you know you have one, or more than likely, several Officers going DOWN because they got caught. The thrill of easy money leads a lot of folks down the wrong path.

Regarding the temptations of drug money; many years ago the Mafia paid its guys extra to try and alleviate the temptation of getting into the drugs business but the money proved too much to combat, even for the *families* and they themselves gave in to greed and began to expand the drug business in ALL directions.

Not ALL Cops give in to the temptation; I have known a lot of folks that worked narcotics over the years and as far as I know, NONE of them took a bribe, a payoff, stole money or drugs or resorted to planting evidence.

But no matter how many *GOOD* Cops that are out there, it’s the ones like this bunch in Philly that garner the headlines and tarnish the badge worn by ALL Officers.