Two police officers from Florida have been accused of lying and possibly framing innocent people. Prosecutors recently filed charges against both officers, who are accused of obstructing justice by having lied in official documents and staging a crime scene.

One of them was a county homicide detective, the other a county deputy, both have now been fired from their agencies. And officials have insisted that they are operating with a zero tolerance standard when it comes to any of their employees violating the public trust.

Zero Tolerance For LIES

“The oath we take are words that sets us apart from all other professions. It takes a special person to live up to them, but unfortunately, some fall short.... certainly we will not tolerate anyone not being truthful. Once a law enforcement officer’s credibility is compromised, their testimony in a court of law can’t be relied upon, thus they can no longer work in law enforcement.” ” - said Sheriff Bill Leeper, on the matter.

There have now also been calls for reviews of past cases involving the officer who is accused of lying. Authorities have been busy looking for other potential wrongdoings that could've resulted in wrongful convictions that sent innocent people to prison.

One of the officers is alleged to have been involved in a hit-and-run, where he allegedly staged the scene to give the impression that his vehicle had been stolen. The officer also allegedly lied to his colleagues who were responsible for investigating the incident.

Authorities have now filed two misdemeanor charges against that officer, those charges are for the false report of a crime and leaving the scene of an accident.

The other officer allegedly told lies about traffic stops that he was conducting where he said that he had given drug tests to drivers that turned up positive. Authorities claim that they had reviewed several traffic stops involving the officer, which he claimed to have confirmed the presence of drugs with the use of field tests, but it turns out that never happened.

In one of the instances where he said that he had identified drugs, it turned out to be aspirin.

This sort of mistake can destroy a person's life and their family and whether it be because of neglect or corruption, it's an important matter that needs to be dealt with.

Just a few “bad apples”?

“You don’t turn into a bad apple in the middle of your career,... You either don’t care about the rules that govern your profession or you do.” - Nicole Jamieson, defense attorney who reportedly worked with one of the officers on multiple occasions.

It's alleged that in one case involving one of the officers, he had arrested someone for possessing hydrocodone and said that they didn't have a prescription for it. However, that wasn't the truth because investigators later found the prescription in the officer's car. That isn't laziness, suggests Jamieson, that looks a lot more like malicious intent. And it is officers who feel comfortable enough to violate the rules governing their employment, that are going to pose a threat to not only the public but their fellow officers and overall department as well, because they fuel corruption and distrust with their actions.

Pic 1 - Marc Serota MS/Reuters
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