Re: [OT] Brilliant police work

On Fri, 10 May 2024 14:13:53 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

The Horny Goat  <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

Thu, 9 May 2024 18:46:06 -0400, Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>:

>

A truck driver from Newfoundland was making a run to Ontario, stopped
for fuel, and then went missing. The OPP (equivalent to the state
police in a US state) made an extensive search for him but came up
empty. Someone drove the abandoned truck back to Newfoundland. Only
then was the trucker found - in the trailer of his own truck!

>

The journalist who appears in the video actually asks the key question:
Did police even look in the back of his truck and if they did, how did
they fail to see him? (And, of course, if they didn't look in the
trailer, WHY NOT?)

>

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.4220495

>

Whoever organized the search for this guy really needs to take a
serious rip for this fiasco and, if he/sh e keeps their job, needs to
re-take the "search for missing people" course again.

>

This is a repeat from a critical blunder made by police during the
Bernardo investigation some 30 years ago.

>

This was an Ontario case some 30 years ago where two young women were
raped and murdered by Paul Bernardo with help from his then girlfriend
Karla Homolka. In addition to the two murder victims Bernardo and
Homulka drugged Homulka's sister, Bernardo then raped the sister while
Homulka captured the whole thing on video.

>

The two of them then left Homulka's house leaving the unconscious
sister who as the drugs wore off started moving about while still
semi-conscious, barfed and choked on her own vomit - and suffocated.

>

When the police searched Homulka's house the search team included an
officer who had just transferred from the drug squad to homicide -
they had gotten a tip saying the rape of Homulka's sister had been
videoed so they tried to find the tape. In the end they didn't find
the tape which Homulka told them (among other things) the location of
the hidden tape in return for a plea bargain for manslaughter and was
given a 12 year term (and was released after a lesser period which I
forget) The former drug officer had pleaded with his sergeant to let
him search what he considered the standard hiding place for drug
searches but was told to be silent. This turned out to be where based
on Homulka's information (which she had provided as part of her plea
bargain).

>

The officer told this story after he retired from the Ontario
Provincial Police saying that if his sergeant had let him search they
would have found the tape and avoided the plea bargain with Homulka.

>
Wow
>
Lemme guess: The sergeant got further promotions.

Sadly that's probably the case. Only reason I can think of for the
sergeant to not let him search is the sergeant just wanted to get out
of there and end his work day. Otherwise they are already searching
the home so taking a minute to check the ducts or other hiding places
isn't going to delay them.

Bernardo remains in jail serving his life sentence - and the case was
shocking enough that this will surely be a life sentence that will
never result in parole - and the officer was convinced that minus the
plea bargain Homulka would have gotten the same sentence.

>
Yeah. She was equally guilty of most of the same crimes.
>

I'm pretty sure Rhino will agree this particular case was THE most
shocking case of the late 80s/early 90s in Canada.

>

Moral: cops aren't infallible and even if they get the search
legalities right, that doesn't mean they're going to find the goods -
sometimes with spectacular consequences.

>
If you don't look, it's hard to find stuff in a search.

But your work load is much reduced.