Inside the Chicago Police Department’s secret budget
I&#x27;ve had my property stolen by the police twice.  The first time was 14 years ago when I was falsely accused of stealing two cell phones.  There was a video surveillance tape of the theft, two other guys clearly did it but the store employee tried to claim I knew them.  He happened to be the boyfriend of an ex-girlfriend.<p>It took me a year to fight it and when the charges were finally dismissed, I got all my property back except my $500 cell phone.  It was a basic misdemeanor charge but I was threatened with an unrelated felony if I didn&#x27;t take a plea deal.  I refused and the prosecutor moved to withdraw the case citing lack of evidence, preventing me from winning via acquittal.<p>The fact that I was falsely accused of stealing two cheap cell phones and then the police stole my phone instilled a permanent distrust in the police.<p>Then recently, I got involved in a dispute with a roommate and all my property was taken to a police warehouse.  When I went to get it, the police officer told me there had been a robbery and all my stuff was stolen.  About $6000 worth including priceless family items.<p>I&#x27;m a white guy who doesn&#x27;t break the law, although I am a bit politically active and rebellious.  What I have experienced by the police and justice system is enraging and disenfrancising.  If I was surrounded by poverty and crime, and had no hope for the future, I could see myself becoming emboldened against the police and turn into a life of crime.<p>The way they treat people is wrong.  The plea bargin system is a worse crime than most of the petty offenses people do.  The way they treat you in jail is malicious and purposely antagonistic.  It&#x27;s a mild form of torture that doesn&#x27;t rise to sensational levels but it perpetuates and sustains an atmosphere of distrust and hatred towards authority figures.