Eric Hartley: Censorship shows police culture of overreach

By ERIC HARTLEY, Staff Writer

Published 11/08/09

As a native of Puerto Rico, Antonio Amador has seen police officers cross the line before.

He thought he had left that behind when he moved to the United States in January so his two daughters could attend good schools. Amador admires America and the fact that its institutions serve the people.

But after the experience he had with Anne Arundel County police two weeks ago, he's not so sure.

" 'I guess police are the same anywhere' - that's what I said," Amador recalled last week.

Police would not comment on the facts, but what Amador described is a blatant violation of free speech rights...

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third world - 2009-11-08 21:42:09

John. As a resident of Puerto Rico, I can assure you that police here are NOTHING like their counterparts in the mainland US.

They constantly abuse their authority, are ineffective when investigating crimes (to the point that federal assistance is the norm for high crimes), and are quite lackadaisical in regards to traffic enforcement, police reports, etc.

Furthermore, there are incidents of corruption that appear regularly on local press.

About the only thing they don't do that true third world police in the region do are shake people down for money.

Proof of this are the local attorneys whose practices are primarily comprised of defending officers in state and federal court of U.S.C. 1983 violations.

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Robert Krex - San Juan, PR - Karma: Neutral

When did this happen? - 2009-11-08 09:56:33

When did Puerto Rico gain its independence? Last time I checked it was still part of the good ole US of A.

Granted it is a bit of a stepchild--but they do have non voting representation in Congress and are governed by the US Constitution.

Overzealous cops are everywhere, but to compare AA cops to PR cops as if it is some third world nation is not fair.

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John Frenaye - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent