CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 15 -- Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz and New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton were criticized Wednesday for their comments about police officers lying on the stand in criminal cases. Both told a gathering of police executives Tuesday at Harvard Law that 'testilying' is a real problem that needs to be addressed, despite denials by police and police unions. Bratton and Dershowitz were criticized after the conference by rank- and-file police officers, who said the claim was grossly exaggerated. Richard Bradley, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, said Wednesday he found Bratton's comments 'incredible.' 'If this was this much of a problem, it would have come to light over the years,' said Bradley, who wondered if Bratton were 'speaking from personal experience.' In a speech at Tuesday's conference, Dershowitz opened labeled police officers as the 'designated liars' of the criminal justice system. He also said the lying was aided and abetted by prosecutors and judges who tolerate mistruths. Numerous police earlier said they were offended when Dershowitz commented on national television during the O.J. Simpson trial that cops were taught to 'testily.' The celebrity attorney backed off from that statement just a bit Tuesday when challenged by one police academy instructor. He said he never intended to brand all cops as 'testiliars,' and said he formally retracts 'any statement that in any way ever suggested that there are full courses in the police academy on how to lie. There are not.'
However, he stood by his earlier claim that police not only routinely lie on the witness stand, but informally teach each other how to do it. Bratton, a former Boston police executive, said the practice known as 'testilying' is 'enough of a problem that we need to address it. We can't address it by ignoring it.' Bratton called for improved education for police cadets as to how to conduct themselves on the stand. He said he understood the pressures that might make officers embroider their stories to make sure guilty defendants do not go free on technicalities.
