Dippolito trial shows police stunts hurt

Without a doubt, there were two trials taking place in the Palm Beach County Courthouse involving Dalia Dippolito.

Dippolito was in her second trial for an alleged plot to hire a hitman to kill her husband, and faced 20 years in prison.

But at a time when police actions are under increasing scrutiny in South Florida and nationwide, some Boynton Beach police officers were also facing a trial concerning their conduct, at least in the eyes of some jurors and the public.

Dippolito won, getting a mistrial and the likelihood of a third trial.

As for the police, their actions have to be questioned as the case became national news and reality TV turned real.

This was a salacious case that had it all — an alleged murder-for-hire, drugs, infidelity, police informants, charges of stolen money and attempts to poison with antifreeze, and the video of Dippolito reacting to the fake news of her husband’s death.

The story itself was good enough for a made-for-TV movie.

But cops turned the whole second trial into a referendum on policing. A TV crew was filming when police falsely told Dippolito her husband was dead, for use in an episode of “Cops.” According to Dippolito’s defense team, police were so fixated on making a “sexy and salacious episode” and gaining fame, they even planned a “viewing party” to celebrate the Dippolito spot on “Cops.” A YouTube video of Dippolito at a staged crime scene went viral.

In these days of heavy police scrutiny, some of the jurors — they were split 3-3 on whether to convict — apparently thought the theatrics of the case were too much. Which is understandable. While the overwhelming number of police do their jobs professionally and with seriousness, the idea of some officers turning an attempted murder-forhire into reality TV drama is just not acceptable. The whole thing was fake news before the term became fashionable this year.

“If it wasn’t on TV, I don’t think we’d be having this discussion. She’d be found guilty and that’s it,” Boynton Beach commissioner Joe Casello told the Palm Beach Post.

Ironically, at her first trial in 2011, defense attorneys presented the theory that Dippolito and her husband Michael faked the contract killing in order to get a reality TV show of their own. She was convicted — her own words on video telling a fake hit man she was “5,000 percent sure I want it done” were damning — but in 2014 she was granted a new trial after a state appeals court said there was a problem with jury selection.

So Dippolito received one gift when the first conviction was thrown out. She got another this week when a mistrial was declared. You would think police agencies wouldn’t — and shouldn’t — be so eager to promote themselves with publicity stunts on TV reality shows, but it has happened before in South Florida.

In 2009, four female Broward officers were featured on “Police Women of Broward County.” The women were shown wrestling men to the pavement and getting involved in other situations. Crime victims complained about how they were treated by the officers on camera, and the show had a short life.

And back in the 1980s, former publicityloving Broward Sheriff Nick Navarro was a “Cops” favorite.

People laughed at some of the stunts back then. Today, with so many officers wearing body cams and police under intense scrutiny, no police agency should get involved with turning real police work into another reality TV show.

Dippolito’s attorneys say they will use the same strategy in a third trial, emphasizing police misconduct. If nothing else, the whole seamy episode should convince police to leave reality TV to the Kardashians.

Cops turned the whole second trial into a referendum on policing.