As someone who works on investigations into such offences; this weighs on my mind constantly.
There are perhaps one or two cases (out of several hundred) that still have me lying awake at night. In deeper moments of reflection I know I made the right call on them, but I still worry about it, as part of the process of self-assessment. Sadly I don't always see so much concern in others within the same field.
Child abuse is one of those horribly amoral crimes that clouds our personnel opinions, and so often I see prosecutors who simply hate the defendant on a personnel level. That sort of approach sickens me, it is exactly the sort of approach that screwed this guy; from the cop to the judge it was the same problem.
I can't talk for anyone else, but stories like this mean that tomorrow, as with every day, I make damned sure I am certain of what I find out. To the extend of putting my own liberty behind what I present. This sort of thing should be required reading in our field...
One thing that has always settled the wrong way with me about television police shows is that they hardly ever approach this topic. I can only imagine what it's like to be a prosecutor or a detective and wondering if you caught the right person. Maybe it's not every case, but as you mentioned, there have to be those one or two where they just keep you awake some nights.
It probably just doesn't make for good television to dwell on this topic. The good guy almost always puts away the bad guy and there's no question about it being the right decision.
I realize cop shows probably portray only a slim resemblance to reality. When I see a show or movie portraying something to do with computers or nuclear reactors there's always that feeling of "that's not how it is in real life!" No doubt, police officers watch the (many, many) shows about their profession with the same thought. However, like it or not, it's these shows that shape the average person's perception of law enforcement. It's the only exposure we get to it, with the exception of maybe being pulled over a handful of times throughout our lives.
Disclaimer: I don't watch any legal shows like Law & Order - maybe they do a better job with this?
In reality a cops job is to find someone for whom the DA can make a case. Innocent or guilty doesn't matter as the ability to make charges stick. A consequence of being driven "by the numbers".
A cops job is to avoid Type II errors or excessive skepticism when investigating wrongdoing. Juries and judges are around to correct in the other direction. Prosecutors arguably lie somewhere in between. That's how the system works and should work. Everybody errs on the side of caution. Cops don't want to just drop investigations and miss finding evidence on people who might be guilty. Juries should be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, innocence or guilt is their job.
You're talking theory, not actual practice. The problem with the system is that every layer assumes it's the job of some other layer to determine if the person is actually guilty or not.
Absolutely. My point was it has less to do with the numbers game than the nature of the cops' jobs.
I'm shocked at the jury in this particular case. Both the bit about the beard and the alibi didn't create a reasonable doubt? Many are quick to blame the prosecutors, but those 12 jurors should be ashamed of themselves. There's no indication that the prosecutors in this case lied or concealed exculpatory evidence, or that the defense attorney was asleep during the trial.
There are perhaps one or two cases (out of several hundred) that still have me lying awake at night. In deeper moments of reflection I know I made the right call on them, but I still worry about it, as part of the process of self-assessment. Sadly I don't always see so much concern in others within the same field.
Child abuse is one of those horribly amoral crimes that clouds our personnel opinions, and so often I see prosecutors who simply hate the defendant on a personnel level. That sort of approach sickens me, it is exactly the sort of approach that screwed this guy; from the cop to the judge it was the same problem.
I can't talk for anyone else, but stories like this mean that tomorrow, as with every day, I make damned sure I am certain of what I find out. To the extend of putting my own liberty behind what I present. This sort of thing should be required reading in our field...
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