Examples Of Mishandling The FBI
It is not common for the FBI, a well-known professional bureau, to make mistakes during serious investigations. However, in recent years, the FBI has been mislabeling, misplacing, not returning important evidence, and has had flaws in the process of their DNA analysis that affects multiple incidents. Although, policies exist for safeguarding evidence within the FBI, too often mishandling still occurs, leading to wrongful prosecutions, dismissal of cases, and a weakened reputation for the agency. The FBI’s responsibility is to collect evidence to solve crimes, but to prevent them from occurring in the first place. However, if the prevention of crime, corruption, and terrorism revolves around gathering and protecting evidence, why is mishandling …show more content…
In Randall’s article, she gives a few examples of individuals who have been wrongly convicted, in the first example she says “Kirk L. Odom was wrongfully imprisoned for more than 22 years for a 1981 rape and murder. He completed his prison term in 2003, but it was not until July 2012 that DNA evidence exonerated him of the crimes.” (Randall 1) Randall states the fact that Odom even finished his sentence before the FBI figured out he was innocent, but what good is that if 22 years of his life were taken from him. And a similar case happened, in 1978 Santae A. Tribble was convicted for murder and was not exonerated until 2012. The fact the FBI had the power to take away over 20 years of these men’s lives for something they did not do is ridiculous. This happened because of flawed DNA analysis and human error. Yes, mistakes are made, but there needs to be coherence and certainty if years are going to be taken away from …show more content…
In one case covering the death of prisoner Kenneth Michael Trentadue, the FBI’s handling of evidence was criticized, as stated, “The FBI's conduct is receiving renewed scrutiny after revelations” (“Internal Probes Found” 1) Anytime the FBI makes a consequential mistake they get hammered by the public and the media. In the same incident dealing with the former FBI agent Matthew Lowry’s corruption, Herman in his article states that “It also exposed weaknesses in the handling of drug evidence in the FBI’s Washington field office.” (Herman 1) What makes this worse is that the FBI’s reputation is being damaged by someone who is supposed to improve and maintain
Review Of Tim Weiner's Enemies: A History Of The FBI
578 Words | 3 PagesThe Federal Bureau of Investigation in an intelligence agency focusing on the collection of facts and information in order to achieve national security. Opinion of the bureau often varies due to the sum of information and knowledge that one have of the bureau itself. Tim Weiner critically depicted his own view-point in Enemies: A History of The FBI where he judges the FBI’s unlawful courses of action in exchange for security. Using declassified documents from the bureau and people he knew with great knowledge of the FBI, Weiner wrote his book following the history of the FBI from the early 1900s, when the bureau was first founded, until the modern days of the 2000s in order to show the negative direction the FBI had taken.
Analysis Of Susan Greene And Miles Moffeit's Trashing The Truth
885 Words | 4 PagesOver the past 3 decades, in the United States evidence vaults, an uncountable number of DNA evidence specimens have been destroyed, leaving 6 thousand cases virtually unsolvable. Additionally, this destruction led 141 prisoners to be unable to prove their innocence (Greene). All of this has been going on for years, but was only recently uncovered through a series of investigative journaling. Muckraking still does exist in 2016 in newspapers as demonstrated by Susan Greene and Miles Moffeit's Denver Post series titled, "Trashing the Truth."
Randy Weaver Primary Sources
1080 Words | 5 PagesThese shortcomings included initial inadequacies in utilizing negotiating personnel, communicating with FBI Headquarters, documenting decisions and securing the site. During and after the crisis, the crime scenes were searched by many law enforcement officials under the direct supervision of the FBI. They found the FBI's handling of the crime scene searches to be inadequate including its failure to use basic crime scene techniques in collecting evidence. Furthermore, the general disorganization and inexperience of some of the participants coupled with inaccuracies in the searches adversely affected the prosecution and contributed to the negative impression of the government generated during the trial. We found no evidence that these deficiencies were intentional or that the FBI staged evidence for the prosecution's benefit.”
Exculpatory Evidence Case Study
164 Words | 1 PagesAssistant District Attorney John Norsetter concealed exculpatory evidence for close 11 years. Ralph Armstrong was convicted for rape and murder in 1995. John Norsetter was aware that Armstrong was not guilty of such tarrying crime, however, he remained silence even though he knew Armstrong was innocent. Back in 1995, a woman made a call to the district attorney testifying that Stephen Armstrong, who was Ralph’s cousin was the responsible of the crime. The prosecutor never told defense attorneys of such valuable information.
How J. Edgar Hoover Changed The Face Of The FBI
888 Words | 4 Pages“It was an extraordinary situation: The Federal Bureau of Investigation had evidence ahead of time that two well-known gangsters were planning a murder and that the head of the New England Mafia was involved due to Hoover’s new wiretaps.” (Fox 1). This is important because it shows that because of Hoover and his upcoming of forensics and wiretaps the FBI was able to learn of a murder before they normally would have. However, none these cases couldn’t have been solved hadn’t Hoover used his brilliant idea of forensics and strategic
Argumentative Essay: Why Junior Turned To The FBI
98 Words | 1 PagesThe FBI can only do so much (Hawkins, n.d)”, speaking about how he no longer wanted to stand by and watch innocent people die for no reason at all.
Edgar Hoover's Accomplishments
520 Words | 3 PagesCronkhite (2013) gives credit to Hoover for taking the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and professionalizing it and transforming in to a respected agency by applying the administrative concepts of the day. At the time of his appointment, the bureau was known at the Bureau of Investigation and only later became known as the FBI. Hoover’s leadership and molding the FBI into a world class law enforcement organization is his most important contribution to the administration of law enforcement. J. Edgar over assumed leadership of the Bureau of Investigation, which later became the (FBI), on June 24, 1924 (J. Edgar Hoover, n.d.). He would serve in this position as the agency’s director until his death in 1972 (Cooper, 2011).
The Pros And Cons Of The Federal Bureau Of FBI Investigations
386 Words | 2 PagesMost people think that the federal bureau of investigation, ( FBI ) is an organization where the people just sit and do a bunch of boring paperwork. For some people, their job is sitting around and doing paperwork, but other jobs in the FBI are the complete opposite. The FBI is a great job for people who will go all around the world to crime scenes, and be able to sit and do paperwork. FBI agents jobs are dangerous because of their jobs/description, their education and training, their work environment, and the equipment needed. First off, what makes their job dangerous in their everyday FBI life, is their duties.
Internal Affairs Investigation Essay
669 Words | 3 PagesInternal Affairs Investigations: Police who police the Police Regardless of the number of complaints a police department receives, whether one or one hundred, the internal affairs function is one of the most important functions for checking the integrity and professionalism of the department. I. Internal Affairs is not an enforcement function it is a policing function. a. Internal Affairs in law enforcement refers to a division of the agency that investigates incidents and credible suspicions of professional misconduct attributed to law enforcement officers on the force.
Pros And Cons Of Crime Scene Profiling
1309 Words | 6 PagesWith a plethora of movies, shows, and books about crime scene profiling these days, one might believe that F.B.I. criminal profiling is an exact science. These dramatic stories lead their audience to view F.B.I. profilers as scientific experts who are able to make pin point predictions of a killer’s entire life, leading to an arrest. The reality, however, is that crime scene profiling is not quite as dramatic or accurate as depicted on the big screen or in best-selling books about the topic. More importantly, it is not a scientific approach to solving crimes. This paper explores the notion of criminal profiling as contextualized in the article; "Dangerous Minds: Criminal Profiling Made Easy" written by Malcolm Gladwell and aims to show how
Fred Zain Case Study
1477 Words | 6 PagesThe Ethics of Fred Zain Fred Zain was a forensic lab technician that worked for both the states of West Virginia and Texas. A man who did a job he was severely under qualified for, for ten years, and who was thought to be a start asset in his line of work. Fred Zain had testified in countless cases, presenting himself well and appeared to know his trade so well that no one in the courtroom questioned the lab results obtained by Zain. It is very well known that his actions in court are viewed as unethical by today’s standards. In his time of employment, Fred Zain acquired a lengthy rap sheet of tampering and falsifying evidence, false convictions.
The Crucible Justice Quotes
425 Words | 2 PagesAs J. Ronald Oakley stated in his essay, "The Great Fear", "In one silly incident, a black bootblack in the Pentagon was interviewed seventy times by the FBI before it finally decided that he was not a security risk and should be allowed to continue shining shoes there. "(209, The Great Fear)The quote is pointing out that the FBI's overzealous investigation of this bootblack, even though he posed no security threat, illustrates how important principles such as freedom and justice can be disregarded in the name of protecting oneself and loved ones. This incident shows how the government's actions to protect itself, regardless of the principle of innocence until proven guilty, can harm individuals and society as a whole. This quote can be used to argue that it is important to be aware of the negative consequences of prioritizing personal safety and well-being over important principles and to strive for a balance between protecting oneself and standing up for what is right.
History Of The Duquesne Spy Ring And Anthrax Investigation
1094 Words | 5 PagesThe FBI was a very influential organization from the dawn of its creation; especially in with its participation in some of the world’s most important cases. A couple of the most relevant cases are the Duquesne Spy Ring and Anthrax Investigation. On these occasions the maxim, “the only thing to fear was fear itself”, was no longer the motto because terrorism was now reality in America. The Duquesne Spy ring case all started with a man by the name of William Sebold; who was a German-American who served as a double agent for the FBI.
Media Issues In The Oj Simpson Case
559 Words | 3 PagesMany crime labs across America revised their evidence protocols based on discrepancies from the OJ
Essay On Police Corruption
719 Words | 3 PagesChapter 8: What’s Next?? Police corruption isn’t a nuance of media induced concerns. Instead it is a major issue in police departments across the world.
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