To Protect and Serve

Living on both sides of law

Cop turned criminal tells of petty theft, evidence-planting, and bank robbery

This second installment in CNN's five-part police series chronicles corruption, a problem as insidious as it is widespread.

October 10, 1995
Web posted at: 5:25 p.m. EDT

From National Correspondent Bonnie Anderson

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- "I thought I was invincible. I thought I would never get caught," said Michael Thames. He believed he was the man of steel. But now, this former New Orleans police officer is serving 11 years without parole in a Kentucky federal prison for betraying the trust of the people he swore to protect and serve.

Thames wasn't always bad. Like most cops, he embarked upon his career with idealistic visions. He wanted to make a difference, to change the world and to win respect. (204K AIFF sound or 204K WAV sound) But before he was even sworn in, Thames said, he learned police were expected to have a primary allegiance: to each other.

Thames: You were taught that in the academy. ... It's us against them.

Anderson: Who's them?

Thames: The people. The public. And if we don't stick together, nobody will. ... If you don't pull together amongst your peers, they're gonna eat you alive.

Anderson: Is this part of the basis for the code of silence?

Thames: Oh, yes, no question. There's no question about it.

Anderson: How strong is that code?

Thames: Ah, it's as strong as anything. It's been going on for years. Finally, I think America's starting to realize what's going on. With the O.J. Simpson case ... with these cases, people are starting to realize, 'Hey, the policemen are covering up things.' And it's like, 'How rare it it?' How rare? It's not rare at all! It's all the time.

Thames

'You know, to be accepted you had to join. And I just, I just started to join in with the stealing, ripping off the drug dealers. Within a year on the job, I became one of them. And I was looked up to because I was a go-getter, and I'd go chase these drug dealers and get this money, and I'd split it amongst my peers.'

-- Michael Thames

Thames, who was a police officer for nearly six years, claims he was introduced to corruption shortly after graduating from the police academy. (281K AIFF sound or 281K WAV sound) In time, he said, the peer pressure weakened him.

Thames: You know, to be accepted you had to join. And I just started to join in with the stealing, ripping off the drug dealers. Within a year on the job, I became one of them. And I was looked up to because I was a go-getter, and I'd go chase these drug dealers and get this money, and I'd split it amongst my peers."

Anderson: How much money do you think you ripped off over your tenure as a police officer?

Thames: Whew ... through illegal payoffs and things like that ... and ripping off drug dealers ... over $300,000.

Thames

'We had a saying, 'Every day you come on the job, always leave with more than you come with.' That was a good day's work. So, I'd say, at least 80 percent of the time that I went on a job, I left with more than I went on the job with.'

-- Michael Thames

But his corruption went even further: Thames admitted falsifying incident reports to gain convictions. He said the justice system forces lying. (68K AIFF sound or 68K WAV sound)

Thames: Let's say if you stop a drug dealer, they never carry the money or drugs on their person. ... If they're standing on a street corner, they might have the money underneath a rock a few feet away. They might have the drugs hidden in a pole, whatever, you know, a few feet away. And then you find each item. ... What you're gonna do is you're gonna make up a story and say, 'I found the white rock substance in his right front pocket. I found the money in his left pocket.' And you lie. But that's the only way you can make the case. And so that lie leads to bigger lies and it just, it snowballs from there.

Indeed, Thames is not behind bars because he stole from drug dealers or took what burglars left behind or for even lying in court. He's in prison because his greed, driven. he said, by a gambling addiction, drove him to bigger stakes. In April of 1993, he was arrested for robbing a New Orleans bank of $40,000. He confessed, and admitted he also had robbed the same bank 11 months earlier for $50,000.

Thames said that, given the corrupt life he was leading, it didn't seem like a big deal.

Thames: I know for a fact there's police officers out there murdering people. So, I'm just robbing a bank. You know, that's the way you look at it. And I mean, it sounds pitiful, but its true.

Anderson: Do you end up living in a world that isn't real?

Thames: "Oh, yeah. ... That's what the badge does to you. It makes you feel like, you know, some sort of superman. And it's not like that at all.

Anderson: If you were to make an estimate, how many times you broke the law while you were a police officer, give me a ballpark figure.

Thames: We had a saying, 'Every day you come on the job, always leave with more than you come with.' That was a good day's work. So, I'd say, at least 80 percent of the time that I went on a job, I left with more than I went on the job with. (281K AIFF sound or 281K WAV sound)

Anderson: More money?

Thames: More money, whether its money, or a camcorder, VCRs, cameras, television, jewelry, you name it.

Anderson: How widespread was this?

Thames: Oh, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Everybody I knew, everybody I knew was more or less corrupt in one way or another. There's two people I could say that were not.

Anderson: Two people in the entire police department?

Thames: -- that I know. And I was on the job approximately six years."

Police cars

New Orleans officials refused to be interviewed, but in recent months the new mayor and new police chief have claimed their housecleaning has resulted in more than 65 officers being fired, suspended or reprimanded. And that doesn't count those sent to prison. But Thames said it's too little, too late.

Anderson: Should the public trust police?

Thames (sighs): It's a tough question. It's not SHOULD they, you've GOT to. It's gonna continue.

Anderson: Police corruption is not going to stop?

Thames: No way.

Anderson: No matter what efforts cities and police department take? They can't stop it?

Thames: No way.

Anderson: Why not? Why is it so pervasive?

Thames: It started, started from years ago, years ago. ... It's called institutionalized corruption. Institutionalized corruption.

The cop-turned-criminal said that when he gets out of prison, he wants to help recruits try to reform the system.

Thames: If you see any kind of corruption, man, turn it in. Let 'em know. Let your supervisor know. And believe me, a lot of people will -- it's gonna be hard.

He admitted he wasn't strong enough before to take the advice he gives now.

Thames: If I had to do it over again, I would never have joined the police department. Never. Because I'm the type person that I want to take control and to take control, I went --

Anderson: Overboard?

Thames: Overboard. Way overboard. ... I can't change what I've done. I wish I could. There's no way. I've got to live with what I've done now.

Cops face mean streets

Related sites:

Living on both sides of law

Cop turned criminal tells of petty theft, evidence-planting, and bank robbery

'We had a saying, 'Every day you come on the job, always leave with more than you come with.' That was a good day's work. So, I'd say, at least 80 percent of the time that I went on a job, I left with more than I went on the job with.'

Related story:

Related sites:

| CONTENTS | SEARCH | CNN HOME PAGE | MAIN U.S. NEWS PAGE |