by Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project:

Paterson, NJ — Frequent readers of the Free Thought Project already know that much of a police officer’s job consists of stopping people for victimless crimes and extorting or kidnapping them for it. From window tint and seat belt violations to jaywalking, police officers across the country have shown that they will detain, extort, beat and kill people over these “crimes” that have no victims. The entire process is not only approved by the government, but it is necessary for the survival and growth of departments and cities across the country. As the following case illustrates, however, when police officers fail to get their superior’s approval before robbing people during traffic stops, they will be prosecuted.

Paterson police officer Daniel Pent was charged in an FBI probe of his department after he was caught stealing cash and property from innocent people. Pent would make up fake reasons to stop people and then illegally search their vehicles or person, and rob them.

This week, the thug cop admitted to his crimes and pleaded guilty to being part of a conspiracy in which several officers illegally stopped residents, both in their vehicles and on the street, and stole money and other items from them. He also regularly “used unreasonable and excessive force,” authorities said, according to NJ.com. 

On Tuesday, Pent pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights, using unreasonable and excessive force in violation of individuals’ civil rights and filing a false police report. After his plea, his attorney referred to him as a hero before blaming his crimes on the culture of the department.

“It’s sad. He was a good cop, a hero cop,” said attorney Michael Calabro. “He fell harder than most because he was a good cop.”

Calabro said his client tried to distance himself from the other thug cops in the conspiracy, but that the “unfortunate” culture within the department was too strong to resist, noting that  “your past catches up sometimes.”

Well Mr. Calabro, we disagree. “Good cops” don’t pull innocent people over to beat and rob them and then lie about it. “Good cops” don’t conspire with other thug cops to run a robbery ring out of their own departments. And “good cops” don’t use excessive force.

According to NJ.com:

In February 2017, authorities said Pent and Eudy Ramos, who pleaded guilty last month, stole $10,000 from a vehicle they stopped. They split the money between them, authorities said, and failed to mention the cash in their police report.

In a report, according to the criminal complaint, Pent wrote that the man they stole the money from only had $36 on him when they processed him at the department.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim in the aforementioned case told authorities that Pent and Ramos “did not act like police officers; instead, they treated the situation like a robbery.”

The FBI investigation found that not only was Pent robbing innocent people, but he was also savagely beating them, causing grave bodily harm. According to the complaint, those who ran from Pent to avoid being robbed were delivered a “running tax” by the tyrant cop in the form of fists and boots to the body and face.

In one instance, according to NJ.com, authorities said Pent and Ramos responded to a complaint of loud noise and when they approached the vehicle, they removed the person from the vehicle and punched and kicked him excessively.

But Pent’s case is rare, right? This has to be an isolated incident, right? Wasn’t he just one bad apple? Wrong.

Blowing the isolated incident argument out of the water is the fact that Pent is one of many cops within the Paterson department to be arrested and charged. In fact, several are serving time right now.

As TFTP previously reported, former Paterson police officer Ruben McAusland, 26, was arrested by the FBI after he was caught selling drugs out of his patrol car while on duty, near the police department. McAusland was caught after he sold roughly $12,000 in drugs to an undercover buyer who was working with the FBI.

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