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Imagine a World Where Cops SOLVED Problems
And Didn't Create New Ones

Ever Wonder Why They're Called PIGS?

A year ago today, I was waiting to be arraigned on charges stemming from what I believe was a false/illegal arrest on the part of Santa Fe Police Department Officer Gardner Finney. The details of the case are voluminous and not worth re-iterating here - anyone who wants to know more can get in touch and I'll send you some .pdfs outlining the whole nasty business.

Suffice to say, I was arrested for the violation of a temporary restraining order, held in custody for five days, then released only when my family ponied up a $5000 CASH bond. To give you an idea of what an absurd amount that was for doing nothing more than writing e-mail (I'm not making this up) I'll have you know I was arrested in the previous year for domestic violence and my bond was just $500. $500 for hitting - $5000 for email. What a wonderful world - the pen truly is mightier than the sword!

I have on the table in front of me a packet of papers addressed to Santa Fe Chief of Police Beverly Lennen. It contains my personal history of the events in question, my dealings with Officer Gardner Finney before, during, and after the event in question, my mother's personal account, and a copy of the torts claim my attorney filed for illegal arrest and emotional distress that my attorney filed on January 19, 2005.

I have read interviews with Chief Lennen, soon to retire but a member of the SFPD for twenty-five years, and she is clear that she always wanted the force to not "be bogeymen," but to create a culture where the police could actually be trusted. Gardner Finney was not the first SFPD officer to violate that trust for me - that award goes to Officer Jeff Worth(less), aka "Thor," - so despite whatever claims to a kinder, gentler force, I'm not holding my breath that the Chief will respond to my queries in a timely a matter as I would like - or at all, for that matter. If this fails, I guess I'll just end up getting another civil rights attorney, or keep shaking the trees for the kind of CopWatch-style advocacy groups that I could take for granted in places in like Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the other cities in which I've lived. Not here in New Mexico, though - I wonder if that has anything to do with my Total Lack of rapsheet before arriving back in 2003 and all the arrests (4) I've racheted up since.

Protection'n'Advocacy tried their level best to turn me down, (proving once again that services for the mentally ill can only help those smart enough to leap through hoops, defeating the purpose of the existence of such groups in the first place.) They said, "We don't get involved in criminal cases." Well, I reasoned, what is a wrongful arrest complaint? Is it a criminal case, because someone was arrested? Or is it a civil case, because someone is filing a complaint?

In other words, if you're arrested for a crime and it's a false arrest, is that a) a criminal case because the cop says you're a criminal? or b) is it a civil case, because the cop is a prejudiced dickhead using his badge to settle a score over the fact that no one likes him, a short-dicked shithead who needs to be, say, educated a bit about the IMMORALITY of his judgement calls?

Immorality - that was the toughest part of it for me. Gardner Finney shows up at my house, and tells me he wants to talk about "the situation with Kate." For a moment there, I think I can almost see the humanity in his eyes, and though he's dressed in uniform, I acquiesce to speak with him because he is a friend of Kate's and his demeanor is one of a person who wants to maybe referee a little, and maybe iron out a hasty peace.

Of course - I couldn't have been more mistaken - this is why romantics like me DON'T BECOME COPS - and you can bet I'll never mistake "the cop on the beat" for a member of the human race. All he wanted was an admission of guilt so he could stick me in a cell. What a wonderful world, huh?

"Okay," I said, and sat down.
"What going on with this?"
"Gardner - it's just e-mail. And she has a lawyer and I have a lawyer and this'll all get worked out."

A variation of that ended up in my "probable cause" statement that Finney used to gather a shotgun warrant at 2am as I lay in a jail cell that night. He never wanted to solve a problem (silly me) - he just wanted to trap me in his cop-little world of lies and deceit, where everyone's a perpetrator and it's all hard-boiled and shit, like on TV.

This, Pig, is why we call you Pig - because you just aren't a human being anymore. You lie for your arrest quotas or to settle your personal vendettas - do you really wonder why no sensible person likes or trusts you, at all?

Santa Fe Police Department, Gardner Finney, Beverly Lennen, Santa Fe, Police Misconduct

posted by by gregoryp(tm) aka Gregory Pleshaw @ 6:40 PM