this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
379 points (98.7% liked)

News

23638 readers
3069 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Their arrests are connected to a wider investigation into the East Cleveland Police Department for corruption.

Two former East Cleveland, Ohio, police officers were sentenced this week for stealing thousands of dollars from people they pulled over during traffic stops.

A judge ordered Willie Sims, 32, to two years in prison Thursday. His partner, Alfonzo Cole, 35, was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison and was fined $40,000, court records show.

In total, Sims and Cole stole $14,781 from six victims between July 2020 and July 2021 while on duty, prosecutors said. Cole also swiped two firearms from the victims, the Cuyahoga County Office of the Prosecutor said in a news release.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Russo told Sims that his actions have "disgraced" hard-working officers.

all 17 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] sugarfree 71 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Two years in prison is not enough for this, I think a sentence of around 10 years would be more suitable.

[–] [email protected] 54 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Committing a crime while you're in a government-given position of power should be a mandatory minimum of whatever the median sentence is for that crime, plus a 20% addition.

[–] Kbobabob 43 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It should definitely come with extra penalties if you're the one that's supposed to uphold the law.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Right?

Filth. Vermin. How many other people did they screw over under the badge?

[–] itwasawednesday 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I feel like all applications to be an officer of the law should come with the weight of "do I have the depth of character to fulfil this role" and the consequences of it clearly in front of them in making that decision.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Abusing the power granted to them by the state to commit crimes under the guise of law enforcement should earn them life in prison. Cops should be held to a higher standard than the average person, and should see harsher punishment when they break the law. I hope these two never live peacefully when they get out.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I mean, I'm mostly with you (see my comment above), but automatic life in prison for any abuse of power is too much. For example basically all cops use their state-given position of power to illegally park their personal vehicle wherever they want, which definitely should get them punished by the law, but it definitely shouldn't be a life sentence.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

I'm fine with longer. 20 sounds good.

Plus massive fines, like 5x what they stole, paid to the victims.

Vile garbage.

[–] wulrus 6 points 1 year ago

Imagine someone was stopping a police car with a gun and robbed them. Would he get just two years? And he would not abuse any given power or authority.

[–] Hikermick 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

FYI: This took place in East Cleveland, a separate city from Cleveland. It's one of those city's that you hear about where even the cops tell you not to stop at red lights at night. Except here the cops will then pull you over and rob you.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

It's on of those towns that is so corrupt and so delapitated there is really no hope for it. The city of Cleveland tried to annex it about 8 years ago to help restore it, but the city council put in all these weird stipulations to basically cement their power undemocratically and ensure they got lifetime paychecks to the point that eventually Cleveland had to walk away. This year, the Cleveland Metroparks, one of the best metropark systems in the country, tried to take over ownership of one of East Clevelands main parks to help bring it back from the brink, but again the East Cleveland leadership poisoned the pot so much the Metroparks had to walk too. Both of those things would have helped the residents immensely, but the local government just ruined it.

[–] Audbol 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

East Cleveland is an interesting place for sure. I have a client there and it's definitely not in great shape. Their city government is definitely failing them in a big way, and they are also heavily impacted by the issue with suburbs in regards to tax revenue that much of metropolitan Cleveland has had to deal with. For those reading who aren't up to speed on things, the city of Cleveland, by total landmass, is pretty small. Cuyahoga county itself is composed of 38 cities, 19 villages, and two townships which means that a lot of different areas grant themselves their own individual tax laws and guess what, they all feel like they are paying too much in taxes. So, they decide themselves that they get lower taxes, problem is, the tax revenue required has not actually decreased at all, in fact, by creating a new local government you have now increased the operating costs of your area. So really by having people move into these smaller suburbs you have really just created special groups of individuals who are wealthier, are a greater stress on county resources, and choose to pay less in taxes essentially bleeding the community dry. If you were to pull up a map of Cuyahoga county you will actually get a pretty good laugh. East Cleveland itself is the only outlier in this situation and it exists itself in a very complicated and sad situation that involves redlining, systemic racism, corporate greed and lack of regulation. Ironically its borders are surrounded by some of the wealthiest communities in the state.

Honestly the part that makes me the most upset about the situation is just how easy it is to solve.

[–] Hikermick 1 points 1 year ago

What do you think the solution is?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Double penalties for cops convicted of crimes. Taking on a position of public trust should mean more responsibility, not less.

[–] TheBlue22 3 points 1 year ago

Never forget: police were originally slave patrol. They are nothing but a gang of goons. ACAB

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Two years? Really? That is some bullshit for how egregious this was.