Police truth as legal truth: Narratives of drug trafficking in the justice system

Abstract

What makes it possible for jurists and civil servants, especially judges, to receive police narratives about red-handed drug trafficking offences as truth? To answer this question, this paper presents case analyzes, field records of judicial hearings and interviews with police officers, judges and prosecutors. It verified that the police truth arises from a selection process relative to what the arresting officers consider appropriate to report as official. Several beliefs enable judges to acknowledge this narrative as truth: belief in police function, in the police knowledge, and the conduct of the police officer. But belief dispenses with knowing, unbeknownst to how the information was produced and acquired by the police. Police truth is a narrative that holds legitimacy for justice, comprising the central element for the constitution of legal truth.