Just like yesterday, when we announced that while the federal government can rob medical marijuana dispensaries, citizens can't, we find that LAPD officers are not allowed to rob drug dealers. In a separate case from the widely known Rampart Division Scandal, a group of rogue officers held up at least 30 drug dealers in a two year period ending in 2001 according to CBS2 News. After the robberies, which included taking the drugs, money and anything that look valuable, the officers would split the loot, sell the drugs to another dealer and proceed to split those profits (so wait, did they ever rob the dealer they dealt to?).

Two officers, the Ferguson brothers, one from the LAPD, the other from Long Beach's Police Department, are currently on trial at the U.S. District Court in Downtown.

David R. Reed, Joseph Ferguson's attorney, said in his opening statement last week that some of the government's witnesses are convicted felons facing "astronomical amounts of prison time."

The Ferguson brothers are charged with depriving individuals of their constitutional rights under color of law, possession or attempted possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and brandishing a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

Fifteen defendants previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the robberies, including [former LAPD Officer Ruben] Palomares [aka the ringleader], who was arrested on federal narcotics charges in 2001. [CBS2]

The Rampart Division patrols the communities of Angelino Heights, Echo Park, Historical Filipinotown, Koreatown, Lafayette Park, Macarthur Park, Pico-Union, Temple-Beaudry, Virgil Village and Westlake.

Photos of LAPD Officers on Nordhoff St. in North Hills, under the 405 Freeway by digitalshay via Flickr