PHILLY COP SHOOTS HIMSELF, BLAMES NON-EXISTANT BLACK ROBBERY SUSPECT, AND STILL WON'T GO TO JAIL!

Maybe everyone else might want to try and gloss that over, but we sure as hell won’t. Here’s the deal: Last month Sgt. Robert Ralston claim that he was shot by a robbery suspect or to make it more nuanced, a black man with cornrows and a mark or tattoo under his left eye. Anyone who deals with police brutality issues regularly, and particularly how cops act when their own get shot, knows what happened next. An all out manhunt went down. This is the same police department who can see nothing wrong in pulling people out of cars and collectively beating them down while news helicopters tape the scene, or with bum rushing a baby shower and assaulting attendees while looking for a suspect that wasn’t there, or even with dropping a bomb on a city block because they are pissed off at a few political activists (By the way, today is the 25th anniversary of the infamous MOVE bombing). So Philly’s all out manhunts tend to be a problem, especially where shot up cops are concerned. The problem is the story was BS. The cop shot himself. Why no one knows, but they are going to show him, yes sirree bob! Philadelphia Police Dept. is going to show the world that they will not tolerate anyone in uniform sullying it in any size shape or form, not to mention cause something that takes the time money and manpower away from dealing with real crime. They are going to really, really fire this guy. That’ll show him. What? You say he should be arrested and charged just like anyone else who would pull some crap like this? Oh yeah see, there’s a problem with that. See, to get him to admit to shooting himself, they had to grant him immunity. IMMUNITY! Here’s an idea. If anyone got hassled by the police behind Sgt. (you know what, let’s call him “Mr.”) Ralston’s lie, Mr. Ralston should be sued. Hell, Mr. Ralston might be looking at a class action lawsuit given the Philly PD’s rep. That doesn’t get prosecutors off the hook though. Someone has to explain to the city why the hell was it important, while the story was unraveling in the first place, to offer immunity to get to the truth. Because never mind the racial tensions this case has raised. This just made it even more evident that police officers are above the law in the City of Philadelphia.

UPI.com

PHILADELPHIA, May 12 (UPI) — A veteran Philadelphia police officer who said he was shot by an assailant last month actually shot himself intentionally, an investigation has determined.

Sgt. Robert Ralston, 46, who has been on the force for 21 years, had described the shooter as a black man with “cornrows” and a “mark or tattoo under his left eye” who had put a gun to his head, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Wednesday.

The April 5 shooting triggered a massive manhunt.

But when information Ralston provided didn’t add up, investigators focused on the officer and Tuesday they said he admitted he shot himself in the left shoulder on purpose. His reason for doing so remains unclear, though the Daily News said some officers speculated he was upset that he had been transferred to a district with a higher crime rate.

“There is no excuse for what he did, period,” Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said. “So I don’t really give a damn what his motive was. It makes no sense.”

Ramsey suspended Ralston for 30 days with intent to fire him.

The newspaper said Ralston, who could not be reached for comment, will not face criminal charges because he was granted immunity in return for telling the truth, but will be expected to repay the city the cost of the investigation.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Ramsey labeled the case “a terrible and embarrassing chapter in our history.”

The case angered John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5.

“The community has supported this city’s police officers through so much, every time we lose an officer,” McNesby told the Inquirer. “To have something like this come along that could possibly tear that down is a disgrace.”