With the popularity of so-called real life law enforcement shows, some police officers have been accused of taking things too far. According to some, when a camera is present, many cops will go to great lengths to ensure an arrest. After being arrested on what she says were false drug charges, a woman in Georgia is only one of many voices speaking out against this practice.
Back in 2013, an episode of the popular TV show COPS depicted the woman being arrested for what appeared to be possession of cocaine. Video footage depicted the arresting officer making comments about the woman’s various tattoos, including a statement that he made about them being possible indicators of drug use. He then proceeded to issue a narcotics test and claimed that it was positive for cocaine. According to the episode, that was that, and she was taken into police custody.
The woman has a very different account of what happened, though. According to her, the first test was negative and showed that she had no drugs in her system. Apparently dissatisfied by this result, the officer performed a second test from the trunk of his car, which she claims was falsified. The second test created by the officer, not the first, is the one that made it onto TV.
She petitioned to have the drug charges dropped, claiming that the only person who could have possibly possessed drugs that night was the officer who apparently falsified the test. The charges were eventually dismissed when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation performed secondary testing and found that there were no drugs. While police do play an important role in keeping the local community safe, it is important to remember that they are not above the law. When falsely accused of committing a crime or arrested on false pretenses, defendants can petition to have the charges against them dropped.
Source: photographyisnotacrime.com, “Georgia Woman Sues Police for Faking Drug Arrest on “COPS”“, Andrew Meyer, Aug. 24, 2015