“We’re dealing with violent sexual predators who are preying on the most vulnerable people in society and absolutely abusing the power of authority that comes with the gun, the badge and the police car when they can make traffic stops,” - P. Stinson
Stinson used to be an officer of the law but he gave up that career and instead decided to embrace one of a criminologist, now dedicating his time and energy toward researching and tracking down officers who are abusing their authority around the nation.
Some of those he has caught have allegedly targeted women for sex during routine traffic stops, several officers have plead guilty and been punished for their admission of committing sex crimes while on the job.
There are tens of thousands of cases around the country that he has so far cataloged which involve everything from drugs to assault and sex crimes.
For those who engage in criminality that's seen to be a crime of opportunity, Stinson suggests it's a result of low self-control. He admits that for those who are doing wrong, it's likely only the fringe and he doesn't believe that every law enforcement officer is routinely committing such crimes. Ultimately, his hope is that his investigation and research is going to help improve policing standards and also provide victims with a voice.
Stinson found a pattern...
Stinson has put together an extensive police crime database and his research into this area has been regarded as possibly the best data set available regarding police misconduct in the country.
“...one of the problems is, we simply don’t have good data going back too many years. The best estimate that I can give you is that, over the last several years, on-duty police officers shoot and kill someone between 900 to 1,000 times each year. So, two to three times a day in this country, someone is shot and killed. That’s not even including the nonfatal shootings.” - P. Stinson
Most officers involved in those shootings will never see any charges. Stinson estimates that on average it's been about 7 cases a year where police officers, deputy sheriffs, state troopers, get charged with murder or manslaughter.
As for departments that have been under investigation, such as those in Columbus, Stinson has suggested that it's likely every police officer in the state [is aware of] who the problem officers are that are working in their agency; they're wrongdoing is often then not a secret.
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