When is the line crossed between crime fighting and fair justice?

In today’s society, police have gone to just about every extreme in order to catch a criminal,  but simply because a man with a badge is doing something, does that make it just?

It has been an ongoing discussion that the use of  the “bait car” and other methods like this by law enforcement officials should be illegal- and these arguments have a good point.

Currently in the United States, it is 100 percent legal for a police officer to arrest you if you ask an undercover official to buy or sell illegal drugs. It isn’t legal for a police officer to arrest you , however, if he or she approaches you and asks if you would like to buy or sell drugs. So, my point? These laws are in complete disarray.

How can a police officer prove he didn’t try to get you to buy or sell illegal drugs? When faced in a position where it’s your word against an officer’s, who do you think is going to win? I’ll tell you this… it’s not going to be you.

So what does this say about our legal system?

Right now if a police officer is prosecuting a victim and  he or she is found guilty of entrapment, then the case is dismissed. Well, what does entrapment mean? The dictionary definition of entrapment explains the action as, “an act where a law enforcement official induces or persuades someone to commit a crime.”

How can leaving an empty car with a key in its ignition on the corner of a poverty stricken community’s street with nobody else around not be a form of persuasion to a poor citizen?

Believe it or not, this action is completely legal for law enforcement officials and is even becoming more commonly used to arrest people. Shows like Bait Car are examples of this form of unjust “justice” serving.

So, as a citizen, we are protected by this term “entrapment”, right?

Wrong.

If you are in the court of law defending yourself against being arrested for buying illegal drugs from an undercover officer, your only way out is if you prove the law enforcement official selling you the drugs persuaded you in doing so. What evidence are you going to have to back you up? Your word? Good luck.

While the legality behind entrapment may seem like it is helpful for citizens to use while being prosecuted, it really isn’t. In the end, it is truly down to a police officer against you, and unfortunately, you aren’t wearing a badge.