Does no one else think this is unethical

Fri

Feb 9 2007

06:52 pm

By: Moderate Matt

So, according to a Tennessean article, police in Nashville set up a fake company, lured people with warrants to a hotel by offering them money, and then arrested them on the spot.

Now, I posted a comment over at V2 that I thought that promising predominantly poor people money you have no intention of giving them in order to lure them out of their homes so you can arrest them seems unethical at best.

Your thoughts?

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Familiar

Submitted by CE Petro on Fri, 2007/02/09 - 8:31pm.

Why does this sound so familiar? Has TN or another state done this before? A publicized lawsuit from a similar action? It all just sounds so damn familiar, and I can't place why.

Anyway, it sounds terribly unethical to me, not to mention an expensive way to round these people up (particularly since the police already knew these people's addresses).

This goes on all the time. I

Submitted by R. Neal on Fri, 2007/02/09 - 8:34pm.

This goes on all the time. I seem to recall previous stings like this (maybe in Florida?) where they offered free concert tickets and all sorts of things. Law enforcement will argue that anything is ethical as long as it isn't illegal. I'm pretty sure the Supreme Court has already ruled it isn't illegal to lie to a suspect to get him to incriminate himself. But it still sucks.

Entrapment requires that the

Submitted by Andy Axel on Fri, 2007/02/09 - 9:07pm.

Entrapment requires that the police entice the defendant to do something illegal -- not simply that the defendant was enticed into custody by creative means.

Now, aren't these people who are evading justice in the first place? Seems hard to argue in their favor.

Isn't it unethical to dodge an arrest warrant?

____________________________

Recursive blogwhore.

Outstanding warrants

Submitted by CE Petro on Fri, 2007/02/09 - 11:28pm.

Now, aren't these people who are evading justice in the first place?

There's a difference between outstanding warrants and evasion. Don't forget that the police had all their addresses.

Wouldn't it have been just as effective, and less costly to arrest them at or near their addresses? Seriously, none of these people seemed to be smart enough to 'evade' capture -- if they were, they wouldn't have shown up for their checks. Seriously, showing up for a $13 check? Or the dude that, after in cuffs, wanted to know if he was still getting his check? It just seems to me that evasion was not a major factor in the police not being able to capture these people.

What's costly about it? This

Submitted by rikki on Sat, 2007/02/10 - 12:30am.

What's costly about it? This has been going on for decades, and my impression has always been that the police do this to people who have not been found at their known address. I'm pretty sure it's a Plan B thing, like once a year they gather up the stale warrants and see whether the person is more greedy than smart. That's a good bet with your average criminal.

Mike Wallace - please come back!

Submitted by Jeanne on Fri, 2007/02/09 - 10:32pm.

This kind of sting used to be the "go to" script for the weekly news programs.

Of course, that was before they discovered the ratings bonanza of "Primetime Porn" where the promise of sex with teenage girls works way better.

Gross.

It's safer

Submitted by Barry on Sat, 2007/02/10 - 12:17am.

Seems to make a whole lot of sense to me - one main reason not to serve warrants at their homes because it's safer to have them come to you. Why risk officers' necks or the safety of innocent bystanders (i.e. little old grannies in Atlanta) by attempting to nab them in their homes when you can trick them into walking into your own trap.

These, as I understand it, are criminals who are already evading arrest and not being entrapped into actually committing a crime. I don't see anything unethical about it at all. Seems like a good idea to me.

Although you use the ruse too many times in one area and they're going to get wise...