[sixties-l] bad cop planting drugs story

From: RozNews@aol.com
Date: 11/06/00

  • Next message: Jeff Pickron: "Re: [sixties-l] Underground newspapers"

        Here is a story, to the best of my memory  (somewhat shorten) I would 
    like to share about a bad cop whose name is  Paul Lawrence.   Putney, 
    Vermont1970,  various young people began complaining that they were busted 
    for drugs that had been planted and  others   complained that a police 
    officer named Paul Lawrence had beat them up and arrested them.
    Many  were convicted  after police officer Paul Lawrence testified at trial 
    and some went to jail.   
        We ( the community)  knew he was a bad cop.  A group of us from New York 
    Newsreel moved to Vermont and stayed in the house of a Newsreel member.   We 
    lived collectivly , did political work around a concept called Free Vermont , 
    and were part of  a community farm  that  had gatherings every saturday and 
    sunday to   work , share food and  music, etc. It was called the Free Farm.   
     We made a film about the Putney Free Farm.   I remember this well only 
    because I have a copy of the  film and use it in my classes.  One part of the 
    film shows young and old folks, hippies, bikers, rednecks, farm kids, etc  
    weeding the garden, cutting up vegies , cooking over a fire, big pots of 
    soup, playing drums, silk screening Fists with the words Free Vermont onto 
    shirts and jackets, passing out newsprint political booklets saying Hand book 
    of Fire arms and revolutionary ......,  a shot of a vietnamese girl dancing 
    with a bomb on her shoulders, a photo of Bobby Seale.  ect.      In this film 
    there is a  shot of a poster on a stick in the ground it says "WANTED"  with 
    a picture of police officer Paul Lawrence.  The writing under the photo says  
    "Beware of bad cop Paul Lawrence.  He is known to plant drugs and beat people 
    up. etc. 
        Sometime later in the  mid 70's,   some of us had moved to  Burlington, 
    Vermont.  Young people hung out in City Hall Park during the summer .    Some 
     were being arrested for drugs and claimed that they were innocent.   Some 
    went to jail.  The arresting police officer was Paul Lawrence.  He had some 
    how moved and became a police officer in  Burlington.  
        Sometime  later, I met   a chemist that worked for the State of Vermont.  
      He  told me the story of what happened to Paul Lawrence .  This chemist 
    worked in the Vermont State Labortory  anaylising drugs  that were 
    confiscated during arrests.    He tested  the drugs, wrote up a report, 
    passed it on to the police department, if the substance was an illegal drug, 
    the report would be used in the  trial. If it was not illegal charges would 
    be dropped.      He notice something strange.   All the the  cocaine arrests 
    by Paul Lawrence over a long period of time had   exactly   the same chemical 
    break down,   cut with the same amount of substance, and matched eachother.  
    The chemist said, " I never saw this before and I knew something was wrong."  
    He reported it.   
        That summer,  in City Hall Park,  police officer Lawrence busted two 
    guys.  These men a week   earlier had picked me and a friend up hitchhiking   
      from Boston.  ( In those days it was ok to hitch)    
    Paul Lawrence had arrested   and planted Coke on the  two guys .   The 
    chemist, checked it out and it was the same coke from all of his other busts. 
     The only problem this time was that the two men from Boston  who had given 
    us a ride   were undercover narcotic agents .  Paul Lawrence was arrested , 
    found guilty and served time in jail.  Everyone he had ever arrested had 
    their records erased and/or released from prison, and pardoned. Later a book 
    and film were made about Paul Lawrence  the bad cop.  
    
    Gawd, this list gets me to relive my life and write stories  that is one 
    reason I love it.  my best, roz
    
    Michael Rossman wrote
    >As for marijuana/psychedelic persecution, I am sure that it was the most
    >widespread and frequently-exercised theme of the entire persecutory scheme.
    >Whether it were more frequently accomplished through radicals' actual
    >possession of banned substances, or through their planting by police and
    >associates, is unclear to me. I heard plenty of tales of both sorts, and
    >often
    >had good reason to believe the latter kind, beyond my natural inclination
    >(from sufficient evidence) to believe that many governmental agents had
    >the
    >opportunity, motive, immorality, and subcultural custom to plant such false
    >evidences. (I trust that some readers' kneejerk reflex to scold me for
    >"kneejerk" distrust of peace officers 
    



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