Debra Milke was sentenced to death for the murder of her son after a detective claimed Milke confessed in the interrogation room, which she denied. The detective didn't record the interrogation, perjured himself and violated the Constitution in numerous other ways, and Milke's attorneys were able to overturn her conviction.

Others aren't so lucky. Anthony Ray Hinton spent 52 years on death row before being exonerated in 2015.

Some Police are More Dangerous than the Criminals

Officers today can be more dangerous than the criminals themselves. In 2015 alone, 149 people were finally set free after being wrongly convicted – many having served nearly 15 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. Official misconduct was a factor in 75% of the homicide exonerations, 82% of those the product of misconduct by cops or prosecutors.

Stories of Illegal arrests, botched searches and seizures, beatings of restrained citizens, questionable shootings and implausible statements aren't uncommon – and are luckily leaking out into the public eye more and more with dash cams and phone cameras.

Time Magazine: Professions Hiring Psychopaths – Police Officer is #7

Abuse of power is a favorite pastime among psychopaths. The personality type is defined by Dictionary.com as “a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience.”

According to TIME magazine's list of the Top 10 professions that hire psychopaths, police officer falls at number 7.

You'll see in my upcoming book – California: State of Collusion, Joseph Tully, JD, explains, “Power, such as we give to law enforcement, prosecutors and judges, actually attracts psychopathic personalities who want to exert violent dominance under the color of authority. Innocent people can be subjected to a power trip police encounter, can be arrested by a megalomaniacal cop, jailed by a sadist, prosecuted by a manipulative Machiavellian and judged by a sociopath on an ego trip.”

Watch for These 3 Tells your Police Officer is Psychopathic

So how can you spot a psychopathic police officer? Next time you call 911 for help, get pulled over, are arrested or interrogated, here are three signs you are dealing with a psychopathic cop:

1. Ambidextrous or Inconsistent Handers

Does the cop appear to use both hands interchangeably? A recent study examining the left or right handedness of university students reports that inconsistent handers got higher psychopathy scores on Dark Triad tests than consistent handers. These scores were specific for psychopathy, as tests for narcissism and Machiavellianism showed no handedness differences at all.

Both female and male inconsistent handers had higher psychopathy scores than consistent handers.

2. Unwavering Eye Contact and Tell-Tale Body Language

It's true that cops are trained to hold themselves with confidence, yet the body language of a psychopathic cop is over the top.

Prison psychologist Robert Hare developed the gold standard that physicians and researchers use to detect psychopathic traits, the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R). Pathological lying is included in Factor I of the PCL-R, explaining pathological lying is a major trait of psychopaths, often lying about things that don't even matter in order to dominate, feel a sense of control and make others feel empathy for them.

They lie effortlessly and are extremely convincing. In a natural effort to cover up their mass collections of falsehoods, psychopaths develop traits over time that eventually come naturally to them.

Psychopaths can hold constant eye contact in times of stress, without frequent blinking, remaining still and poised. Serial killer Ted Bundy was a great example of this behavior. These aren't your normal liars, trying to get away with it, fidgeting and looking around. Each body movement is confident and still, with very little fidgeting or sense of insecurity.

They lack the natural, relaxed and subtle body movements of a normal person. Watch closely and you may be able to pick out some slip ups in the form of contradictory movements. For example, psychopathic cops may nod the head yes while answering no, or point in one direction while talking about something in another direction.

3.  Grandiose, Subjective Speech

Studies show that psychopaths also have a set of common speech patterns, like using frequent cause and effect statements, ‘because,' ‘since' or ‘so that,' when describing their actions. They also like to speak in past tense – an indicator of psychological detachment, and may use dysfluencies – ‘uhs' and ‘ums' to give them time to think.

Psychopathic cops may give too much information and talk about themselves more than the victim with an overall subjective point of view. They continually speak highly of their own actions, blaming others for events that occurred and taking zero responsibility for any adverse events, an obvious lack of empathy.

Conclusion: Follow Your Instinct & Watch Your Back

As the U.S. Justice System continues to deteriorate, it's no surprise that many cops lack any concept of justice. More and more psychopathic cops are causing innocent citizens to end up in jail. Abuse of power is rampant. Psychopathic cops are arresting innocent kids, beating defenseless victims already in handcuffs, shooting drivers at traffic stops and lying about it all.

If you find yourself having to interact with a police officer, the first thing you need to do is heed your intuition. Nature has given us this survival mechanism, and its works. Listen to your gut feeling – if you feel even an ounce of fear, watch your back.

Never assume an officer is there for your benefit. Keep silent no matter what they tell you, and stay safe.

At Tully-Weiss we deal frequently with problem law enforcement officers, prosecutors and sometimes even judges who exhibit the classic signs of a psychopath. As criminal defense specialists we have a variety of experts, including psychiatrists and psychologists, who can spotlight a psychopath determined to take your rights and liberty. Trouble with law enforcement? Call Us at Tully-Weiss for your Best Defense anywhere in California!