On October 27, 2011, Baltimore police officer Joe Crystal witnessed two fellow cops beating up a drug suspect after the suspect, fleeing from the officers, kicked in the door of a home belonging to another officer’s girlfriend. Faced with the difficult decision of whether to turn in his fellow officers, Crystal felt he had to do the right thing, and reported the officers’ actions to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
As a result, Crystal was labeled a “snitch” and a “rat cop” by many of his fellow officers and subjected to threats and intimidation — including having a dead rat placed on his car’s windshield. Eventually, in 2014 he bowed to the pressure and resigned from the Baltimore PD.
In this exclusive interview, Crystal and The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur discuss:
– Crystal’s background, and how he grew up always wanting to be a cop.
– Working with an officer who could have been the real-life Pryzbylewski from “The Wire.”
– The consequences of turning in his fellow cops.
– The difficulties he’s faced in finding another job.
– The critical difference between police culture in big cities and small towns.
– Why cops are always inclined to protect one another.
– How cop culture and gang culture are similar.
– Whether community policing is a possible solution to the “us vs. them mentality of urban police forces.
– Why police training is an important part of the problem.
– Why he remains hopeful that policing can be improved.
Follow Joe on Twitter: @@Det_JoeCrystal
Follow Cenk on Twitter: @CenkUygur
Comments
Mr. Crystal, no matter what, at the end of the day, YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF YOURSELF! It is cops like YOU I want policing my community . Pressure from the other police (snitch, dead rats, etc..) is a gross and negligent abuse of their power. You are now on my HERO list! I started making a list about 10 years ago, not a lot of names are on it, but yet, it is building all the time. Thank you for doing the right thing!
Thank you for doing the right thing, Officer Crystal. I’ve run into a lot of bad cops, but when I was growing up I also received a lot of support from cops because I grew up in a poor neighborhood and lived in a broken home with a drug addicted mother. Those cops always had my best interest in mind, and I still believe we can get back to that if we try – but I’m still fearful of the police at the moment, though I’ll try to keep an open mind from now on. I hope to see you one day so I can shake your hand and thank you for giving me a more hopeful perspective. I hope you continue to grow in your career and that you get to help even more people. Good luck, sir.
It will take officers like this to change the culture. Hat’s off to you Mr. Crystal.