QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES
means "Who polices the police?"

From the Houston Chronicle:

Ex-HPD officer gets 20 years in drug deal

A former Houston police officer was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to taking part in a $50,000 drug deal while on duty and wearing his uniform.

Gilberto Zertuche, 43, was armed and providing protection for a deal in which a kilogram of cocaine — 2.2 pounds — and 100 pounds of marijuana changed hands at an apartment in Humble on Feb. 24, Harris County prosecutors said.

The arrest resulted from a sting operation set up by the Houston Police Department's Internal Affairs Division. Undercover police targeted the 18-year HPD veteran after receiving a tip.

Zertuche was not a buyer or a seller, but he oversaw the transaction, helping to weigh the drugs and count the money exchanged, said Assistant District Attorney Julian Ramirez.

Click here for the rest.

Remember, my point in making these cop corruption posts is not to simply to bash the police, an institution society needs. Rather, I'm attempting to illustrate that there's something badly wrong with police culture in the United States: there are numerous instances of corruption and misbehavior that make it to the papers every week, but far more go unreported. Really, we're in the midst of a law enforcement crisis, even if no one wants to call it that.

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