A Los Angeles Police Department officer was arrested Friday morning after his personal car crashed off the westbound Pomona (60) Freeway in Diamond Bar and ended up in a McDonald’s parking lot, according to authorities.
The driver lost control of the vehicle after exiting the freeway at the Brea Canyon off ramp around 1 a.m. The vehicle landed near the drive-thru lane at a McDonald’s restaurant right next to the freeway, CHP said. According to a witness, the car blocked both of the drive-thru lanes at the restaurant, located about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
The driver was identified as Officer Jonathan Chel, of Fullerton, who remained hospitalized early Friday afternoon.
LAPD officials confirmed Friday morning that the 29-year-old driver is an LAPD officer. The California Highway Patrol confirmed the driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
"I'm the first one to respond and all I hear is one person yelling like, 'Oh, there's somebody in there. Do you have anything to break the window?'" McDonald's employee Aaron Morales said. "I had keys in my hand. I sat there for about two minutes just trying to break the window, anything I could, wrap my hand up and just started banging on it."
Morales said that a employee at a nearby gas station had a tire iron that he was about to use to break the window, but then police arrived and assisted the driver.
Showing posts with label LAPD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LAPD. Show all posts
Friday, March 21, 2014
Friday, February 26, 2010
Brian Macias Shot by His Father
The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Friday identified the 17-year-old boy who was shot to death by his father in an unincorporated county area near Monrovia.
Brian Macias died Thursday night after his father fired on him during an argument inside a home in the 100 block of East Andre Street, Coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.
The shooting occurred around 6 p.m., sheriff's Deputy Aura Sierra said.
The boy's father is a reserve LAPD officer. He was not arrested, and authorities have not identified him.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's homicide detectives are investigating the homicide.
They have said it appears to be self defense.
A group of young men who identified themselves as Macias' friends said Friday the teen was a senior at Monrovia High School.
They said said Macias aspired to go to college and become a police officer. They doubted that an argument between the teen and his father needed to end in death.
"He was always respectful to his father because his father was a cop and he wanted to be a cop," said Paul Gilbert, 17."He was just a nice kid, he didn't mean any harm to anybody."
Brian Macias died Thursday night after his father fired on him during an argument inside a home in the 100 block of East Andre Street, Coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.
The shooting occurred around 6 p.m., sheriff's Deputy Aura Sierra said.
The boy's father is a reserve LAPD officer. He was not arrested, and authorities have not identified him.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's homicide detectives are investigating the homicide.
They have said it appears to be self defense.
They said said Macias aspired to go to college and become a police officer. They doubted that an argument between the teen and his father needed to end in death.
"He was always respectful to his father because his father was a cop and he wanted to be a cop," said Paul Gilbert, 17."He was just a nice kid, he didn't mean any harm to anybody."
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Officer Brandon Valdez & Officer Patrick Fitzgerald Arrested for Assault
LAPD Officer Brandon Valdez, 29, and LAPD Officer Patrick Fitzgerald, 38, were arrested Tuesday night by Whittier police on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after the victim was hospitalized with head trauma. The elite LAPD Metro Division officers, who have been with the department since 2002, were immediately placed on administrative leave.
"The victim suffered serious injuries to his head as a result of assault," Whittier Officer Mike Dekowski said. The 31-year-old man was treated at a hospital and released.
Reached by phone, Valdez, who along with Fitzgerald was released on $30,000 bail, declined to comment. The incident began when Valdez got into an argument with his girlfriend about 8 p.m. Tuesday outside a Panera Bread restaurant in the 15600 block of Whittwood Lane, according to Dekowski. Witnesses told police that the officer took issue with a bystander who was watching the altercation while talking on his cellphone, and struck the bystander in the face.
A fight ensued, during which Valdez "pulled out a handgun and began hitting the victim in the head," police said.
The 31-year-old victim was able to break free, but both off-duty officers chased him and tackled him, and continued to attack, police said.
The victim escaped by running into a nearby store just as Whittier police took the LAPD officers into custody. Authorities believe the LAPD officers may have been drinking before the incident.
Valdez was featured prominently in a November 2007 Times front page story on the work of gang beat officers in South Los Angeles. Valdez displayed a mild manner and polite personality, even as he stopped and quizzed gang members.
Valdez also saw combat in Iraq in 2004 as a Marine reservist in Ramadi. He returned to the U.S. after being wounded by a roadside bomb.
In the second off-duty incident, which occurred about 1:20 a.m. Wednesday at Figueroa Street and Avenue 60, an unidentified female sheriff's deputy and another woman began fighting outside a cocktail bar. The 29-year-old deputy was cut with a sharp object, while her 25-year-old opponent was shot with a handgun.
A relative of the deputy, Taylor Olivarez, 20, was booked on charges of attempted murder, police said. A handgun belonging to the deputy was recovered at the scene.
"The victim suffered serious injuries to his head as a result of assault," Whittier Officer Mike Dekowski said. The 31-year-old man was treated at a hospital and released.
Reached by phone, Valdez, who along with Fitzgerald was released on $30,000 bail, declined to comment. The incident began when Valdez got into an argument with his girlfriend about 8 p.m. Tuesday outside a Panera Bread restaurant in the 15600 block of Whittwood Lane, according to Dekowski. Witnesses told police that the officer took issue with a bystander who was watching the altercation while talking on his cellphone, and struck the bystander in the face.
A fight ensued, during which Valdez "pulled out a handgun and began hitting the victim in the head," police said.
The 31-year-old victim was able to break free, but both off-duty officers chased him and tackled him, and continued to attack, police said.
The victim escaped by running into a nearby store just as Whittier police took the LAPD officers into custody. Authorities believe the LAPD officers may have been drinking before the incident.
Valdez was featured prominently in a November 2007 Times front page story on the work of gang beat officers in South Los Angeles. Valdez displayed a mild manner and polite personality, even as he stopped and quizzed gang members.
Valdez also saw combat in Iraq in 2004 as a Marine reservist in Ramadi. He returned to the U.S. after being wounded by a roadside bomb.
In the second off-duty incident, which occurred about 1:20 a.m. Wednesday at Figueroa Street and Avenue 60, an unidentified female sheriff's deputy and another woman began fighting outside a cocktail bar. The 29-year-old deputy was cut with a sharp object, while her 25-year-old opponent was shot with a handgun.
A relative of the deputy, Taylor Olivarez, 20, was booked on charges of attempted murder, police said. A handgun belonging to the deputy was recovered at the scene.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Former Officer Stephanie Lazarus Bail Set At $10 Million
The judge in the Stephanie Lazarus trial today set a $10-million bail for the LAPD detective accused of murder, saying he believed it was a “near certainty” she would flee if granted a lower amount.
Lazarus, a 26-year veteran of the LAPD, is accused of bludgeoning and then shooting to death the wife of a man she had dated. She was arrested earlier this year after cold case detectives reexamined the murder and linked Lazarus to the killing through saliva found in a bite mark on the victim.
The unusually high amount, which Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry compounded, Lazarus' attorney said, by requiring it to be presented in cash, sent a wave of gasps through the courtroom. Lazarus showed a rare sign of emotion as her head fell in disappointment.
Her attorney, Mark Overland, said his client had no way to amass the money – meaning she will remain in detention until her trial, which is not likely to open for several months.
As they have throughout the trial proceedings, the parents of the victim, Sherri Rae Rasmussen, sat stoically in the courtroom.
The amount was double what prosecutors had requested and far greater than the $300,000 to $500,000 Overland had sought.
In leading up to his decision, Perry summarized the reasoning behind his decision. Calling it “an admittedly unusual case,” he said prosecutors had presented “compelling evidence” at a preliminary hearing that spoke to Lazarus’ “motive, means, opportunity and identity.”
He acknowledged that Lazarus, if freed on bail, would have access to weapons through her husband, who is also an LAPD detective, and could be a risk to herself and others. The most pressing issue for Perry, however, was the “strong incentive,” he concluded, that Lazarus has to flee and the likelihood she would in fact do so.
The usually even-keeled Overland reacted with dismay afterward, saying he interpreted Perry’s decision as a de facto denial of bail and plans to appeal the amount.
“It’s ridiculous. Phil Spector gets $1 million bail? Robert Blake get’s $1 million bail? They’ve got the money to go anywhere,” he said, referring to the celebrity music producer and actor recently tried on murder charges. “Who has $10 million cash? It is basically preventative detention.”
Perry “does not know the case,” Overland said, reacting to the judge’s forceful comments about Lazarus and the evidence against her. “He’s only seen bits of it.”
Sherri Rae Rasmussen, 29, was killed in her Van Nuys condominium Feb. 24, 1986. The original investigators on the case were convinced that Rasmussen had been killed by a pair of men who were burglarizing the home. Detectives concluded that was wrong when they reopened the case early this year and DNA tests on the saliva showed that it belonged to a woman.
They retraced the investigation, once again interviewing Rasmussen's parents and her husband, John Ruetten. As they had at the time of the killing, the family and Ruetten told investigators about Lazarus, whom Ruetten had dated for several years before meeting Rasmussen.
An undercover officer surreptitiously trailed Lazarus, 49, as she ran errands, waiting until she discarded a plastic utensil or other object with her saliva on it. The DNA in her saliva was compared with evidence collected from the murder scene. The genetic code in the samples matched conclusively, police and prosecutors have said.
John Taylor, an attorney representing Rasmussen’s parents, said it has been “extremely hard” for the couple and their other children to revisit the death of their daughter in court and said the family “would like to proceed as quickly as possible to trail.”
If convicted, Lazarus would face up to life in prison.
Lazarus, a 26-year veteran of the LAPD, is accused of bludgeoning and then shooting to death the wife of a man she had dated. She was arrested earlier this year after cold case detectives reexamined the murder and linked Lazarus to the killing through saliva found in a bite mark on the victim.
The unusually high amount, which Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry compounded, Lazarus' attorney said, by requiring it to be presented in cash, sent a wave of gasps through the courtroom. Lazarus showed a rare sign of emotion as her head fell in disappointment.
Her attorney, Mark Overland, said his client had no way to amass the money – meaning she will remain in detention until her trial, which is not likely to open for several months.
As they have throughout the trial proceedings, the parents of the victim, Sherri Rae Rasmussen, sat stoically in the courtroom.
The amount was double what prosecutors had requested and far greater than the $300,000 to $500,000 Overland had sought.
In leading up to his decision, Perry summarized the reasoning behind his decision. Calling it “an admittedly unusual case,” he said prosecutors had presented “compelling evidence” at a preliminary hearing that spoke to Lazarus’ “motive, means, opportunity and identity.”
He acknowledged that Lazarus, if freed on bail, would have access to weapons through her husband, who is also an LAPD detective, and could be a risk to herself and others. The most pressing issue for Perry, however, was the “strong incentive,” he concluded, that Lazarus has to flee and the likelihood she would in fact do so.
The usually even-keeled Overland reacted with dismay afterward, saying he interpreted Perry’s decision as a de facto denial of bail and plans to appeal the amount.
“It’s ridiculous. Phil Spector gets $1 million bail? Robert Blake get’s $1 million bail? They’ve got the money to go anywhere,” he said, referring to the celebrity music producer and actor recently tried on murder charges. “Who has $10 million cash? It is basically preventative detention.”
Perry “does not know the case,” Overland said, reacting to the judge’s forceful comments about Lazarus and the evidence against her. “He’s only seen bits of it.”
Sherri Rae Rasmussen, 29, was killed in her Van Nuys condominium Feb. 24, 1986. The original investigators on the case were convinced that Rasmussen had been killed by a pair of men who were burglarizing the home. Detectives concluded that was wrong when they reopened the case early this year and DNA tests on the saliva showed that it belonged to a woman.
They retraced the investigation, once again interviewing Rasmussen's parents and her husband, John Ruetten. As they had at the time of the killing, the family and Ruetten told investigators about Lazarus, whom Ruetten had dated for several years before meeting Rasmussen.
An undercover officer surreptitiously trailed Lazarus, 49, as she ran errands, waiting until she discarded a plastic utensil or other object with her saliva on it. The DNA in her saliva was compared with evidence collected from the murder scene. The genetic code in the samples matched conclusively, police and prosecutors have said.
John Taylor, an attorney representing Rasmussen’s parents, said it has been “extremely hard” for the couple and their other children to revisit the death of their daughter in court and said the family “would like to proceed as quickly as possible to trail.”
If convicted, Lazarus would face up to life in prison.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Officer Kenneth Aragon Drinking Before Accident
A Los Angeles police officer killed in a motorcycle accident last week had been drinking at a bar on the department's training academy campus the night he died and had a blood-alcohol level "well over" the legal limit, a police official said Wednesday.
After the early-morning crash Dec. 3, department officials launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Officer Kenneth Aragon's death in an effort to determine whether he was plied with too much alcohol by academy bartenders or got drunk at another location, said LAPD Cmdr. David Doan, who is overseeing the inquiry.
Department officials are also taking a broader look at the long-running tradition of officers drinking at the academy. They have ordered bar staff to undergo retraining on laws on serving alcohol, and put them on notice that undercover officers would be performing compliance checks in the future, Doan said.
Aragon, a 19-year veteran of the department and father of five, spent several hours drinking and singing karaoke with other officers and guests in a banquet room outfitted with a bar on the upper floor of the academy's main building, Doan said. They had gathered for 'payday Wednesday,' an unofficial but regular event held every other week at the idyllic Elysian Park campus to celebrate their latest paycheck.
The 47-year-old officer left the academy about 12:30 a.mAbout 90 minutes later, about 2:15 a.m., he crashed his motorcycle while driving north on Fletcher Drive, less than three miles from the academy. Investigators, Doan said, have not yet learned where Aragon went during the unaccounted time, and he left open the possibility that the officer had gone to another bar before the crash.
Regardless, police are working to determine how much Aragon drank at the academy. Investigators are reviewing video footage from a security camera in the bar and questioning the two bartenders working that night and officers who were drinking with Aragon, Doan said. It is a misdemeanor crime in California to serve alcohol to someone who is visibly intoxicated.
When Aragon crashed, Doan said, he was "certainly under the influence" and "well over the legal limit." He declined to provide the results of blood-alcohol tests performed at the hospital where Aragon was pronounced dead.
The bar -- like most of the academy facilities -- is run by the Los Angeles Revolver and Athletic Club, a tax-exempt organization that is separate from the department and accepts only LAPD employees as members. Except for the payday parties, the bar is typically open only for officer retirement parties and similar catered events.
Calls to members of the club's management were not returned.
Beyond the details of Aragon's death, Doan said investigators are examining whether bartenders at the academy are properly licensed. Department officials are also "looking at whether there is adequate oversight" of the Wednesday-night gatherings.
Payday Wednesdays hold a particularly infamous spot in LAPD lore. Older officers tell sordid stories of wild, booze-fueled gatherings in the 1970s and '80s, at which officers and female guests had sex in the academy's garden. One well-known legend holds that a guardrail in front of a home set on a sharp turn in the road leading out of the academy was installed after several drunk officers failed to navigate the bend. Several officers say academy gatherings are much more staid today.
After the early-morning crash Dec. 3, department officials launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Officer Kenneth Aragon's death in an effort to determine whether he was plied with too much alcohol by academy bartenders or got drunk at another location, said LAPD Cmdr. David Doan, who is overseeing the inquiry.
Department officials are also taking a broader look at the long-running tradition of officers drinking at the academy. They have ordered bar staff to undergo retraining on laws on serving alcohol, and put them on notice that undercover officers would be performing compliance checks in the future, Doan said.
Aragon, a 19-year veteran of the department and father of five, spent several hours drinking and singing karaoke with other officers and guests in a banquet room outfitted with a bar on the upper floor of the academy's main building, Doan said. They had gathered for 'payday Wednesday,' an unofficial but regular event held every other week at the idyllic Elysian Park campus to celebrate their latest paycheck.
The 47-year-old officer left the academy about 12:30 a.mAbout 90 minutes later, about 2:15 a.m., he crashed his motorcycle while driving north on Fletcher Drive, less than three miles from the academy. Investigators, Doan said, have not yet learned where Aragon went during the unaccounted time, and he left open the possibility that the officer had gone to another bar before the crash.
Regardless, police are working to determine how much Aragon drank at the academy. Investigators are reviewing video footage from a security camera in the bar and questioning the two bartenders working that night and officers who were drinking with Aragon, Doan said. It is a misdemeanor crime in California to serve alcohol to someone who is visibly intoxicated.
When Aragon crashed, Doan said, he was "certainly under the influence" and "well over the legal limit." He declined to provide the results of blood-alcohol tests performed at the hospital where Aragon was pronounced dead.
The bar -- like most of the academy facilities -- is run by the Los Angeles Revolver and Athletic Club, a tax-exempt organization that is separate from the department and accepts only LAPD employees as members. Except for the payday parties, the bar is typically open only for officer retirement parties and similar catered events.
Calls to members of the club's management were not returned.
Beyond the details of Aragon's death, Doan said investigators are examining whether bartenders at the academy are properly licensed. Department officials are also "looking at whether there is adequate oversight" of the Wednesday-night gatherings.
Payday Wednesdays hold a particularly infamous spot in LAPD lore. Older officers tell sordid stories of wild, booze-fueled gatherings in the 1970s and '80s, at which officers and female guests had sex in the academy's garden. One well-known legend holds that a guardrail in front of a home set on a sharp turn in the road leading out of the academy was installed after several drunk officers failed to navigate the bend. Several officers say academy gatherings are much more staid today.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Three LAPD Officers Charged with Perjury & Conspiracy
Three Los Angeles police officers were charged today with perjury and conspiracy for allegedly lying under oath in a drug possession case that was dismissed last year when a videotape sharply contradicted their testimony.
The felony charges were brought by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
In February, the U.S. Justice Department opened its own investigation into the officers' actions.
At issue are the actions of officers at a Hollywood apartment complex where a security camera documented the 2007 arrest of Guillermo Alarcon Jr.
At Alarcon's trial last year, Officers Richard Amio and Evan Samuel testified that they were on patrol in Los Angeles when they chased Alarcon, 29, into his Hollywood apartment building. The officers told jurors that they saw him throw away a black object.
They testified that Samuel quickly picked up the object and found about $260 worth of powder and crack cocaine inside. But footage from a security camera at the apartment building, which is managed by Alarcon's mother, showed that officers searched for more than 20 minutes before an object allegedly containing cocaine was found.
They were aided by other officers, including Manuel Ortiz, who testified about the case at a preliminary hearing in January. The quality of the tape, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, is poor and it is difficult to clearly hear what is being said. But at one point, soon after the drugs were found, an officer seems to make a reference to the arrest report that needed to be filled out.
"Be creative in your writing," the officer appears to tell another after the discovery. Alarcon's attorney argued at trial that his client was innocent and that the officers had planted evidence and then lied about it.
After viewing the videotape, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Monica Bachner dismissed the charges at the request of prosecutors. The judge also declared Alarcon factually innocent.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd-perjury7-2009oct07,0,17370.story
The felony charges were brought by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
In February, the U.S. Justice Department opened its own investigation into the officers' actions.
At issue are the actions of officers at a Hollywood apartment complex where a security camera documented the 2007 arrest of Guillermo Alarcon Jr.
At Alarcon's trial last year, Officers Richard Amio and Evan Samuel testified that they were on patrol in Los Angeles when they chased Alarcon, 29, into his Hollywood apartment building. The officers told jurors that they saw him throw away a black object.
They testified that Samuel quickly picked up the object and found about $260 worth of powder and crack cocaine inside. But footage from a security camera at the apartment building, which is managed by Alarcon's mother, showed that officers searched for more than 20 minutes before an object allegedly containing cocaine was found.
They were aided by other officers, including Manuel Ortiz, who testified about the case at a preliminary hearing in January. The quality of the tape, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, is poor and it is difficult to clearly hear what is being said. But at one point, soon after the drugs were found, an officer seems to make a reference to the arrest report that needed to be filled out.
"Be creative in your writing," the officer appears to tell another after the discovery. Alarcon's attorney argued at trial that his client was innocent and that the officers had planted evidence and then lied about it.
After viewing the videotape, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Monica Bachner dismissed the charges at the request of prosecutors. The judge also declared Alarcon factually innocent.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd-perjury7-2009oct07,0,17370.story
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
More Information on Stephanie Lazarus Charged with 1986 Murder
Prosecutors today charged an LAPD detective with premeditated murder in connection with the fatal shooting two decades ago of her ex-boyfriend's wife.
Stephanie Lazarus, 49, could potentially face the death penalty because prosecutors alleged a special circumstance in the case: that she killed Sherri Rae Rasmussen, who was badly beaten and shot multiple times in her Van Nuys condominium on the evening of Feb. 24, 1986, during a burglary.
A decision by prosecutors to seek the death penalty would be made at a later date, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County district attorney's office.
The original homicide detectives assigned to the case did not focus on Lazarus, who was then a patrol officer who had been with the department more than two years. Instead, they pursued the theory that two men who had robbed another woman in the area at gunpoint had killed Rasmussen when she came upon them burglarizing her home, according to news reports from the time.
But detectives revisited the case in February, testing blood or saliva samples from the crime scene thought to have been from the killer. DNA tests showed that the attacker was a woman, disproving the theory that Rasmussen's killer was a man.
In a check of the case file, there was a reference to Lazarus, who had once dated the victim's husband, John Ruetten. Ruetten reportedly broke off the relationship and soon after became involved with Rasmussen, said sources familiar with the investigation who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Police sources said that Lazarus' DNA was recovered from discarded items by an undercover officer who had surreptitiously trailed her. The DNA in her saliva was compared with the DNA evidence collected from the crime scene. The genetic code in the samples matched conclusively, police said.
Lazarus, who is expected to be arraigned Tuesday, was last assigned to the LAPD's art theft detail.
__________________
Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/06/detective-stephanie-lazarus-arrested.html
Stephanie Lazarus, 49, could potentially face the death penalty because prosecutors alleged a special circumstance in the case: that she killed Sherri Rae Rasmussen, who was badly beaten and shot multiple times in her Van Nuys condominium on the evening of Feb. 24, 1986, during a burglary.
A decision by prosecutors to seek the death penalty would be made at a later date, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County district attorney's office.
The original homicide detectives assigned to the case did not focus on Lazarus, who was then a patrol officer who had been with the department more than two years. Instead, they pursued the theory that two men who had robbed another woman in the area at gunpoint had killed Rasmussen when she came upon them burglarizing her home, according to news reports from the time.
But detectives revisited the case in February, testing blood or saliva samples from the crime scene thought to have been from the killer. DNA tests showed that the attacker was a woman, disproving the theory that Rasmussen's killer was a man.
In a check of the case file, there was a reference to Lazarus, who had once dated the victim's husband, John Ruetten. Ruetten reportedly broke off the relationship and soon after became involved with Rasmussen, said sources familiar with the investigation who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Police sources said that Lazarus' DNA was recovered from discarded items by an undercover officer who had surreptitiously trailed her. The DNA in her saliva was compared with the DNA evidence collected from the crime scene. The genetic code in the samples matched conclusively, police said.
Lazarus, who is expected to be arraigned Tuesday, was last assigned to the LAPD's art theft detail.
__________________
Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/06/detective-stephanie-lazarus-arrested.html
Monday, May 18, 2009
Officer David Chong Pleaded Guilty to Pulling Handgun on Man During Argument
A Los Angeles police officer pleaded guilty Monday to pulling a .45-caliber handgun on a man during an off-duty argument on the Redondo Beach pier, prosecutors said.
David Woon Chong, 39, faces up to six years in state prison at his sentencing Aug. 14 in Los Angeles Superior Court, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.
The charge stemmed from a dispute March 15, 2008, between Chong and two diners at Old Tony's restaurant on the Redondo Beach pier.
Prosecutors said the 10-year department veteran pulled a knife and threatened one of the men. Chong left, but returned, kicked food out of the victim's hand and pointed the Glock semiautomatic handgun at his head.
A Redondo Beach police officer arrested Chong as he drove out of the parking garage.
His blood-alcohol level was 0.11, three ticks above California's legal limit for driving.
Chong entered a rehabilitation program, but was arrested May 1, 2008, for allegedly threatening a man during a treatment session.
Prosecutors with the district attorney's Justice System Integrity Division charged him with felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and making a criminal threat.
He also was charged with misdemeanor counts of exhibiting a deadly weapon, making a criminal threat, driving under the influence and having a 0.08 percent or higher blood-alcohol level.
In exchange for his guilty plea and admitting the gun allegation, two felony counts of making criminal threats and three misdemeanors will be dismissed.
Chong was placed on paid leave after the incident. His status Monday was not immediately available.
Judge Stephen Marcus ordered Chong to undergo a 90-day evaluation before sentencing.
___________________
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/cop-shooting.html
David Woon Chong, 39, faces up to six years in state prison at his sentencing Aug. 14 in Los Angeles Superior Court, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.
The charge stemmed from a dispute March 15, 2008, between Chong and two diners at Old Tony's restaurant on the Redondo Beach pier.
Prosecutors said the 10-year department veteran pulled a knife and threatened one of the men. Chong left, but returned, kicked food out of the victim's hand and pointed the Glock semiautomatic handgun at his head.
A Redondo Beach police officer arrested Chong as he drove out of the parking garage.
His blood-alcohol level was 0.11, three ticks above California's legal limit for driving.
Chong entered a rehabilitation program, but was arrested May 1, 2008, for allegedly threatening a man during a treatment session.
Prosecutors with the district attorney's Justice System Integrity Division charged him with felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and making a criminal threat.
He also was charged with misdemeanor counts of exhibiting a deadly weapon, making a criminal threat, driving under the influence and having a 0.08 percent or higher blood-alcohol level.
In exchange for his guilty plea and admitting the gun allegation, two felony counts of making criminal threats and three misdemeanors will be dismissed.
Chong was placed on paid leave after the incident. His status Monday was not immediately available.
Judge Stephen Marcus ordered Chong to undergo a 90-day evaluation before sentencing.
___________________
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/cop-shooting.html
Friday, March 06, 2009
Officer William Skett Pleads Not Guilty to DUI
A 34-year-old Los Angeles Police Department officer pleaded not guilty to three felony counts this week for allegedly driving his Hummer over two people and leaving the scene of the crime.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kristi Lousteau ordered William Skett to return to court March 23 for preliminary hearings in the drunk-driving case.
Skett, 34, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to driving under the influence, DUI causing injury and leaving the scene, all felonies.
Skett allegedly backed his Hummer into a man and a woman in a Saugus parking lot. Skett saw the victims lying on the ground and allegedly fled, leaving his Hummer behind.
"Apparently he just backed over the people and left," sheriff's Lt. Tom Bryski said.
He said Skett was arrested at home after Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's deputies looked up the registration of the offending vehicle.
The woman hit by the Hummer suffered multiple broken ribs and collapsed lung. The man hit by the SUV suffered minor cuts and bruises.
Deputies found the abandoned Hummer on the night of the incident and arrested Skett at his home.
If convicted, Skett faces up to seven years and eight months in prison.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kristi Lousteau ordered William Skett to return to court March 23 for preliminary hearings in the drunk-driving case.
Skett, 34, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to driving under the influence, DUI causing injury and leaving the scene, all felonies.
Skett allegedly backed his Hummer into a man and a woman in a Saugus parking lot. Skett saw the victims lying on the ground and allegedly fled, leaving his Hummer behind.
"Apparently he just backed over the people and left," sheriff's Lt. Tom Bryski said.
He said Skett was arrested at home after Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's deputies looked up the registration of the offending vehicle.
The woman hit by the Hummer suffered multiple broken ribs and collapsed lung. The man hit by the SUV suffered minor cuts and bruises.
Deputies found the abandoned Hummer on the night of the incident and arrested Skett at his home.
If convicted, Skett faces up to seven years and eight months in prison.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Los Angeles Pays $12.85 million for Police Brutality Lawsuit
LOS ANGELES
The Los Angeles City Council approved a $12.85 million payout Wednesday for demonstrators and bystanders who were beaten by police at a pro-immigration rally in one of the largest settlements ever for Police Department misconduct.
The payout will settle nine lawsuits filed on behalf of nearly 300 people after the May 1, 2007, rally at MacArthur Park, where police dispersed crowds by beating people with batons and firing at them with beanbag rounds and rubber bullets. Forty-two people were injured, including nine journalists.
Carol Sobel, an attorney who represented some of the injured parties, said the payout is the largest single settlement in a demonstration case in the country.
"It means that for everybody who was in MacArthur Park that day, they can now feel that their injuries were recognized by the city," Sobel said.
The council faces other legal troubles stemming from the rally: There were 27 pending cases related to the demonstration before the settlement. City officials, however, said the payout covers most of the people who have filed lawsuits, including a class-action lawsuit that involved the approximately 5,000 people at the rally.
Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney's office, said the settlement also calls for more police training on handling rallies and protests.
The May Day rally turned violent when about 30 protesters threw rocks at officers, who responded with force. A massive investigation was launched after widespread criticisms that police used excessive force and violated civil rights.
Police later concluded that a lack of planning, training and orderly supervision hindered officers at the rally. Police Chief William Bratton took responsibility for the department's response and called the officers' decision to use force a "command and control breakdown." Four officers were fired and 11 were disciplined.
The Los Angeles City Council approved a $12.85 million payout Wednesday for demonstrators and bystanders who were beaten by police at a pro-immigration rally in one of the largest settlements ever for Police Department misconduct.
The payout will settle nine lawsuits filed on behalf of nearly 300 people after the May 1, 2007, rally at MacArthur Park, where police dispersed crowds by beating people with batons and firing at them with beanbag rounds and rubber bullets. Forty-two people were injured, including nine journalists.
Carol Sobel, an attorney who represented some of the injured parties, said the payout is the largest single settlement in a demonstration case in the country.
"It means that for everybody who was in MacArthur Park that day, they can now feel that their injuries were recognized by the city," Sobel said.
The council faces other legal troubles stemming from the rally: There were 27 pending cases related to the demonstration before the settlement. City officials, however, said the payout covers most of the people who have filed lawsuits, including a class-action lawsuit that involved the approximately 5,000 people at the rally.
Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney's office, said the settlement also calls for more police training on handling rallies and protests.
The May Day rally turned violent when about 30 protesters threw rocks at officers, who responded with force. A massive investigation was launched after widespread criticisms that police used excessive force and violated civil rights.
Police later concluded that a lack of planning, training and orderly supervision hindered officers at the rally. Police Chief William Bratton took responsibility for the department's response and called the officers' decision to use force a "command and control breakdown." Four officers were fired and 11 were disciplined.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Feds Launch Investigation of Several LAPD Officers Accused of Lying
Federal authorities have launched a civil rights investigation into several Los Angeles police officers accused of lying under oath in a drug possession case that was dismissed last year when a videotape sharply contradicted their testimony.
An FBI agent and a federal prosecutor last week surveyed a Hollywood apartment complex where a security camera documented the 2007 arrest of Guillermo Alarcon Jr. by LAPD officers, according to an attorney who represents Alarcon in a civil claim against the Police Department.
An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the existence of the probe and said that Department of Justice officials in Washington, D.C., would ultimately weigh in on whether federal charges would be filed against the officers.
"We're investigating allegations that the defendant's civil rights may have been violated," said spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. She declined to provide further details.
Deputy Public Defender Victor Acevedo, Alarcon's defense attorney during last year's trial, said the FBI interviewed him about the case in December. He said that his client had been framed and that the officers deserved to face criminal charges.
"They have no business being police officers," Acevedo said. "Because they were willing to send an innocent man to prison, for what they did they should go to prison."
The officers have denied wrongdoing.
The federal investigation is but one of several probes into accusations that the officers committed perjury. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has launched its own criminal investigation and the LAPD is conducting an internal affairs review of the case.
Luis Carrillo, Alarcon's civil attorney, said the FBI had yet to interview his client but that two district attorney's investigators and a prosecutor interviewed Alarcon about the case in August.
At Alarcon's trial in June, Officers Richard Amio and Evan Samuel testified that they were on patrol in Los Angeles when they chased Alarcon, 29, into his Hollywood apartment building. The officers told jurors that they saw him throw away a black object. They testified that Samuel quickly picked up the object and found about $260 worth of powder and crack cocaine inside.
But footage from a security camera at the apartment building, which is managed by Alarcon's mother, showed that officers searched for more than 20 minutes before an object allegedly containing cocaine was found.
They were aided by other officers, including Manuel Ortiz, who testified about the case at a preliminary hearing in January.
The quality of the tape, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, is poor and it is difficult to clearly hear what is being said.
But at one point, soon after the drugs were found, an officer seems to make a reference to the arrest report that needed to be filled out.
"Be creative in your writing," the officer appears to tell another after the discovery.
Acevedo argued at trial that his client was innocent and that the officers had planted evidence and then lied about it.
After viewing the videotape, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Monica Bachner dismissed the charges at the request of prosecutors. The judge also declared Alarcon factually innocent.
Ira Salzman, an attorney representing Samuel and Ortiz, said his clients testified truthfully in the case.
He said prosecutors had concluded that the tape was edited in two places to remove about 13 seconds of sound.
Salzman cautioned that he had yet to view a complete version of the video but said that he believed that the officers did pick up an object containing drugs but continued to search for more.
"They testified truthfully to the best of their ability," he said. "I believe that they're good officers and good men."
The video begins after Alarcon already had been taken into custody. But in the police report and during their testimony, the officers mentioned finding only one object containing drugs.
LAPD Cmdr. Rick Webb, who oversees the department's internal affairs group, said the agency's probe is continuing.
He declined to comment further, citing state laws that protect the privacy of police officers accused of misconduct.
Samuel, who left the LAPD and joined the Chino Police Department in February, was fired while on probation in Chino two weeks after The Times reported on Alarcon's case, a Chino spokeswoman said.
___________
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/02/02/state/n021949S62.DTL&type=politics
An FBI agent and a federal prosecutor last week surveyed a Hollywood apartment complex where a security camera documented the 2007 arrest of Guillermo Alarcon Jr. by LAPD officers, according to an attorney who represents Alarcon in a civil claim against the Police Department.
An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the existence of the probe and said that Department of Justice officials in Washington, D.C., would ultimately weigh in on whether federal charges would be filed against the officers.
"We're investigating allegations that the defendant's civil rights may have been violated," said spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. She declined to provide further details.
Deputy Public Defender Victor Acevedo, Alarcon's defense attorney during last year's trial, said the FBI interviewed him about the case in December. He said that his client had been framed and that the officers deserved to face criminal charges.
"They have no business being police officers," Acevedo said. "Because they were willing to send an innocent man to prison, for what they did they should go to prison."
The officers have denied wrongdoing.
The federal investigation is but one of several probes into accusations that the officers committed perjury. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has launched its own criminal investigation and the LAPD is conducting an internal affairs review of the case.
Luis Carrillo, Alarcon's civil attorney, said the FBI had yet to interview his client but that two district attorney's investigators and a prosecutor interviewed Alarcon about the case in August.
At Alarcon's trial in June, Officers Richard Amio and Evan Samuel testified that they were on patrol in Los Angeles when they chased Alarcon, 29, into his Hollywood apartment building. The officers told jurors that they saw him throw away a black object. They testified that Samuel quickly picked up the object and found about $260 worth of powder and crack cocaine inside.
But footage from a security camera at the apartment building, which is managed by Alarcon's mother, showed that officers searched for more than 20 minutes before an object allegedly containing cocaine was found.
They were aided by other officers, including Manuel Ortiz, who testified about the case at a preliminary hearing in January.
The quality of the tape, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, is poor and it is difficult to clearly hear what is being said.
But at one point, soon after the drugs were found, an officer seems to make a reference to the arrest report that needed to be filled out.
"Be creative in your writing," the officer appears to tell another after the discovery.
Acevedo argued at trial that his client was innocent and that the officers had planted evidence and then lied about it.
After viewing the videotape, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Monica Bachner dismissed the charges at the request of prosecutors. The judge also declared Alarcon factually innocent.
Ira Salzman, an attorney representing Samuel and Ortiz, said his clients testified truthfully in the case.
He said prosecutors had concluded that the tape was edited in two places to remove about 13 seconds of sound.
Salzman cautioned that he had yet to view a complete version of the video but said that he believed that the officers did pick up an object containing drugs but continued to search for more.
"They testified truthfully to the best of their ability," he said. "I believe that they're good officers and good men."
The video begins after Alarcon already had been taken into custody. But in the police report and during their testimony, the officers mentioned finding only one object containing drugs.
LAPD Cmdr. Rick Webb, who oversees the department's internal affairs group, said the agency's probe is continuing.
He declined to comment further, citing state laws that protect the privacy of police officers accused of misconduct.
Samuel, who left the LAPD and joined the Chino Police Department in February, was fired while on probation in Chino two weeks after The Times reported on Alarcon's case, a Chino spokeswoman said.
___________
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/02/02/state/n021949S62.DTL&type=politics
Friday, December 12, 2008
Officer Dominich Fuentes Accused of Jury Tampering
Prosecutors are considering jury tampering charges against a Los Angeles policeman who allegedly told alternate jurors in a robbery trial that the defendant had a long criminal history.
Officer Dominick Fuentes allegedly approached the alternates a day after testifying in the trial of 49-year-old Ralph Robinson, who was eventually acquitted of robbery but convicted of attempted robbery and grand theft.
Court records show the alternate jurors complained to the judge.
District attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison says prosecutors are considering criminal charges. Police Deputy Chief Kenny Garner says there is also an internal affairs investigation.
Fuentes, a 20-year LAPD veteran, has declined comment. He's now on patrol duty.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com
More Information: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-jury12-2008dec12,0,6559503.story
Officer Dominick Fuentes allegedly approached the alternates a day after testifying in the trial of 49-year-old Ralph Robinson, who was eventually acquitted of robbery but convicted of attempted robbery and grand theft.
Court records show the alternate jurors complained to the judge.
District attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison says prosecutors are considering criminal charges. Police Deputy Chief Kenny Garner says there is also an internal affairs investigation.
Fuentes, a 20-year LAPD veteran, has declined comment. He's now on patrol duty.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com
More Information: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-jury12-2008dec12,0,6559503.story
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The LAPD and Racial Profiling
On monday, the ACLU of Southern California released a report analyzing more than 700,000 cases in which Los Angeles Police Department officers stopped pedestrians and/or drivers of motor vehicles between July 2003 and June 2004.
The study, which I wrote with my research assistant, Jonathan Borowsky, asked not simply whether African Americans and Latinos are stopped and searched by the LAPD more often than whites -- it's clear that they are -- but the more complex question of whether these racial disparities are justified by legitimate policing practices, such as deciding to police more aggressively in high-crime neighborhoods.
We found persistent and statistically significant racial disparities in policing that raise grave concerns that African Americans and Latinos in Los Angeles are, as we put it in the report, "over-stopped, over-frisked, over-searched and over-arrested." After controlling for violent crime rates and property crime rates in specific neighborhoods, as well as a host of other variables, we found the following:
For every 10,000 residents, about 3,400 more black people are stopped than whites, and 360 more Latinos are stopped than whites. Stopped blacks are 127% more likely to be frisked -- and stopped Latinos are 43% more likely to be frisked -- than stopped whites.
Stopped blacks are 76% more likely to be searched, and stopped Latinos are 16% more likely to be searched than stopped whites.
Stopped blacks are 29% more likely to be arrested, and stopped Latinos are 32% more likely to be arrested than stopped whites.
Now consider this: Although stopped blacks were 127% more likely to be frisked than stopped whites, they were 42.3% less likely to be found with a weapon after they were frisked, 25% less likely to be found with drugs and 33% less likely to be found with other contraband. We found similar patterns for Latinos.
Not only did we find that African Americans and Latinos were subjected to more stops, frisks, searches and arrests than whites, we also found that these additional police actions aren't because of the fact that people of color live in higher-crime areas or because they more often carry drugs or weapons, or any other legitimate reason that we can discern from the rich set of data we examined.
Police Chief William J. Bratton quickly rejected these findings, primarily because the study used data that was more than 4 years old. This is a fair point. But we had no other choice: The department has not released the more recent stop data that it has been collecting, nor has it analyzed the more recent data to test for racial disparities. If Bratton is truly confident that unjustified racial disparities are a thing of the past, he should be able to show the change in the current data. I would be happy to organize a group of respected academics to help analyze it.
Bratton also asserted that the report was flawed because we failed to control for the race of both officers involved in the stop. On this point, Bratton is simply wrong about how to conduct a statistical analysis. When testing for unjustified racial disparities in who is stopped by the police in cars and on the street, it's inappropriate to control for the race of either of the officers. The likelihood of being stopped, frisked or arrested shouldn't turn on whether a black, Latino or white officer was involved.
As an ancillary test -- after we'd calculated the general disparities -- we did look at the officers involved, and we found that the racial disparities in the likelihood of arrest were substantially lower when at least one of the stopping officers was the same race as the suspect.
For example, we found that the black arrest disparity was 9 percentage points lower when at least one of the stopping officers was black. Bratton should be troubled that there is less disparity when the officer is the same race as the person stopped, as that result adds credibility to the idea that the disparities in different-race interactions may be because of racial bias.
The president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Tim Sands, even more harshly rejected the results of our report. Sands said I appeared to start with my conclusions and then "worked data to fit." This is a vague charge, but one way to respond to the concern is with transparency. I've posted the data I used in the report and the associated statistical files to the Internet so that other academics can easily double-check the report's analysis.
Sands has argued that the results are not valid because officers often don't know the race of the suspect when they decide to pull over a car. That may or may not be true. But our study looked not just at motor vehicle stops but at pedestrian stops as well, which also showed racial disparities. We also found that, once people were stopped, officers were more likely to frisk, search or arrest African Americans and Latinos than whites. At the point of making these decisions, officers can certainly see the apparent race of the suspects.
It is particularly telling that neither Bratton nor Sands responded to the evidence that the frisks and searches of minorities systematically produced less evidence of crime than the frisks and searches of whites. It is implausible that higher frisk and search rates are justified by higher minority criminality, when these frisks and searches are substantially less likely to uncover weapons, drugs or other types of contraband. Independent of racial disparity, it is a sign of ineffective policing to have officers engage in such a large number of fruitless searches.
Sands charges that I cannot use data to "prove what 9,700 individual officers are thinking when they make traffic stops." But if he thinks that is what I tried to do, he seriously misreads the report. I never suggested that the data show what an officer might be thinking, and I was careful not to attribute the disparities to conscious discrimination on the part of individual officers.
What the report finds is that there are statistically significant racial disparities in a variety of police behaviors that are not explained by legitimate police concerns such as the local crime rate -- or, in the cases of frisks and searches, the likelihood of actually uncovering contraband.
My inability to probe the minds of officers does not make my results less important. The report shows that people of color in Los Angeles experience harsher treatment by police that doesn't appear to be justified by any legitimate law enforcement concerns. The LAPD can't just deny that racism is involved and let the matter rest; it should take steps to address that inequality.
So what does this all mean? The LAPD should be more open to evidence-based policing. Bratton, with good reason, extols data-driven policing when it comes to detecting emerging patterns of crime. The department already has an early warning system to identify officers with troubling patterns of uses of force or civilian complaints, but that system doesn't address racial disparities, even though the data to do so are available. The department must be as open to the same kinds of statistical analysis when it comes to tests of racial disparity.
http://www.latimes.com
The study, which I wrote with my research assistant, Jonathan Borowsky, asked not simply whether African Americans and Latinos are stopped and searched by the LAPD more often than whites -- it's clear that they are -- but the more complex question of whether these racial disparities are justified by legitimate policing practices, such as deciding to police more aggressively in high-crime neighborhoods.
We found persistent and statistically significant racial disparities in policing that raise grave concerns that African Americans and Latinos in Los Angeles are, as we put it in the report, "over-stopped, over-frisked, over-searched and over-arrested." After controlling for violent crime rates and property crime rates in specific neighborhoods, as well as a host of other variables, we found the following:
For every 10,000 residents, about 3,400 more black people are stopped than whites, and 360 more Latinos are stopped than whites. Stopped blacks are 127% more likely to be frisked -- and stopped Latinos are 43% more likely to be frisked -- than stopped whites.
Stopped blacks are 76% more likely to be searched, and stopped Latinos are 16% more likely to be searched than stopped whites.
Stopped blacks are 29% more likely to be arrested, and stopped Latinos are 32% more likely to be arrested than stopped whites.
Now consider this: Although stopped blacks were 127% more likely to be frisked than stopped whites, they were 42.3% less likely to be found with a weapon after they were frisked, 25% less likely to be found with drugs and 33% less likely to be found with other contraband. We found similar patterns for Latinos.
Not only did we find that African Americans and Latinos were subjected to more stops, frisks, searches and arrests than whites, we also found that these additional police actions aren't because of the fact that people of color live in higher-crime areas or because they more often carry drugs or weapons, or any other legitimate reason that we can discern from the rich set of data we examined.
Police Chief William J. Bratton quickly rejected these findings, primarily because the study used data that was more than 4 years old. This is a fair point. But we had no other choice: The department has not released the more recent stop data that it has been collecting, nor has it analyzed the more recent data to test for racial disparities. If Bratton is truly confident that unjustified racial disparities are a thing of the past, he should be able to show the change in the current data. I would be happy to organize a group of respected academics to help analyze it.
Bratton also asserted that the report was flawed because we failed to control for the race of both officers involved in the stop. On this point, Bratton is simply wrong about how to conduct a statistical analysis. When testing for unjustified racial disparities in who is stopped by the police in cars and on the street, it's inappropriate to control for the race of either of the officers. The likelihood of being stopped, frisked or arrested shouldn't turn on whether a black, Latino or white officer was involved.
As an ancillary test -- after we'd calculated the general disparities -- we did look at the officers involved, and we found that the racial disparities in the likelihood of arrest were substantially lower when at least one of the stopping officers was the same race as the suspect.
For example, we found that the black arrest disparity was 9 percentage points lower when at least one of the stopping officers was black. Bratton should be troubled that there is less disparity when the officer is the same race as the person stopped, as that result adds credibility to the idea that the disparities in different-race interactions may be because of racial bias.
The president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Tim Sands, even more harshly rejected the results of our report. Sands said I appeared to start with my conclusions and then "worked data to fit." This is a vague charge, but one way to respond to the concern is with transparency. I've posted the data I used in the report and the associated statistical files to the Internet so that other academics can easily double-check the report's analysis.
Sands has argued that the results are not valid because officers often don't know the race of the suspect when they decide to pull over a car. That may or may not be true. But our study looked not just at motor vehicle stops but at pedestrian stops as well, which also showed racial disparities. We also found that, once people were stopped, officers were more likely to frisk, search or arrest African Americans and Latinos than whites. At the point of making these decisions, officers can certainly see the apparent race of the suspects.
It is particularly telling that neither Bratton nor Sands responded to the evidence that the frisks and searches of minorities systematically produced less evidence of crime than the frisks and searches of whites. It is implausible that higher frisk and search rates are justified by higher minority criminality, when these frisks and searches are substantially less likely to uncover weapons, drugs or other types of contraband. Independent of racial disparity, it is a sign of ineffective policing to have officers engage in such a large number of fruitless searches.
Sands charges that I cannot use data to "prove what 9,700 individual officers are thinking when they make traffic stops." But if he thinks that is what I tried to do, he seriously misreads the report. I never suggested that the data show what an officer might be thinking, and I was careful not to attribute the disparities to conscious discrimination on the part of individual officers.
What the report finds is that there are statistically significant racial disparities in a variety of police behaviors that are not explained by legitimate police concerns such as the local crime rate -- or, in the cases of frisks and searches, the likelihood of actually uncovering contraband.
My inability to probe the minds of officers does not make my results less important. The report shows that people of color in Los Angeles experience harsher treatment by police that doesn't appear to be justified by any legitimate law enforcement concerns. The LAPD can't just deny that racism is involved and let the matter rest; it should take steps to address that inequality.
So what does this all mean? The LAPD should be more open to evidence-based policing. Bratton, with good reason, extols data-driven policing when it comes to detecting emerging patterns of crime. The department already has an early warning system to identify officers with troubling patterns of uses of force or civilian complaints, but that system doesn't address racial disparities, even though the data to do so are available. The department must be as open to the same kinds of statistical analysis when it comes to tests of racial disparity.
http://www.latimes.com
Friday, October 17, 2008
Officer Russell Mecano Arrested for Forcing Women to Have Sex with Him
A Los Angeles police officer is under investigation for allegedly trying to force women he met while on duty to have sex with him, law enforcement sources said Friday.
Police officials confirmed that Officer Russell Mecano, an eight-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of soliciting a sex act, but declined to release further details in the case, saying a judge had ordered that court records in the ongoing probe remain secret. Specifically, the judge has ordered that a criminal indictment against Mecano be sealed.
Mecano, 40, was taken into custody at the West Los Angeles police station, where he worked as a patrol officer, LAPD spokesman Lt. John Romero said. He was released a short time later in lieu of $127,000 bail. Mecano is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 6.
Two law enforcement sources familiar with the case said the alleged victims were young women Mecano had met while on duty last summer. The sources said Mecano allegedly attempted to coerce women to engage in sex acts with him in exchange for not pursuing some sort of law enforcement action against them.
In one incident, detectives were investigating allegations that Mecano sexually assaulted a woman behind a building, sources said. In another incident, Mecano allegedly tried to force a woman to go to a motel with him, the sources said.
District attorney officials said they could not comment on the Mecano investigation because the case remains under seal.
Los Angeles Police Commission President Anthony Pacheco, who said he had been briefed on the probe, also declined to comment.
LAPD officials said they have ordered that Mecano be assigned to home pending the resolution of the investigation. A person answering the telephone at Mecano's residence Friday said he was not there.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10751122
Police officials confirmed that Officer Russell Mecano, an eight-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of soliciting a sex act, but declined to release further details in the case, saying a judge had ordered that court records in the ongoing probe remain secret. Specifically, the judge has ordered that a criminal indictment against Mecano be sealed.
Mecano, 40, was taken into custody at the West Los Angeles police station, where he worked as a patrol officer, LAPD spokesman Lt. John Romero said. He was released a short time later in lieu of $127,000 bail. Mecano is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 6.
Two law enforcement sources familiar with the case said the alleged victims were young women Mecano had met while on duty last summer. The sources said Mecano allegedly attempted to coerce women to engage in sex acts with him in exchange for not pursuing some sort of law enforcement action against them.
In one incident, detectives were investigating allegations that Mecano sexually assaulted a woman behind a building, sources said. In another incident, Mecano allegedly tried to force a woman to go to a motel with him, the sources said.
District attorney officials said they could not comment on the Mecano investigation because the case remains under seal.
Los Angeles Police Commission President Anthony Pacheco, who said he had been briefed on the probe, also declined to comment.
LAPD officials said they have ordered that Mecano be assigned to home pending the resolution of the investigation. A person answering the telephone at Mecano's residence Friday said he was not there.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10751122
LAPD Arrested Innocent People
Police have arrested innocent people due to faulty fingerprint analysis but have not determined how many cases were affected by such errors, police officials said.
A confidential police report details two cases in which charges were dropped after problems with the fingerprint analysis were discovered, the Los Angeles Times reported late Thursday. Police blame shoddy work and poor oversight for the mistakes.
"This is very, very serious," said Rhonda Sims-Lewis, chief of the Police Department's administrative and technical bureau. "We feel very compelled to take quick action when something like this arises. Guilty people can be set free and innocent people can be jailed."
One fingerprint analyst, who was involved in both the mishandled cases, was fired and three others were suspended last year after internal investigations, Sims-Lewis said. Two supervisors in the department's latent print unit were replaced.
"This is something of extraordinary concern," said Michael Judge, public defender for Los Angeles County. "Juries tend to afford the highest level of confidence to fingerprint evidence. This is the type of thing that easily could lead to innocent people being convicted."
The report details the case of a pregnant hospital technician who was charged with breaking into a store in February 2006 because of an erroneous fingerprint identification. The department said prints in that case were lost and could not be re-examined. The charge was dropped.
In another case, a man was extradited from Alabama to face burglary charges after an analyst matched his prints to those found at the scene. Two reviewers missed the mistake before a third caught it while preparing to testify at the trial.
The department has 78 forensic print specialists who run prints from a crime scene through automated databases to analyze possible matches. Two other analysts check each match for accuracy.
Department officials described a poorly run operation in which records and evidence were lost or misplaced.
"People were reviewing the work of friends and just rubber stamping it without really reviewing it," said Yvette Sanchez-Owens, commanding officer of the department's scientific investigation division.
Critics said the internal report challenges a belief that forensic matches are reliable.
Jack Weiss, chairman of the City Council's public safety committee, said there was "nothing more basic and more bread and butter than fingerprints. You have to be able to take each one of them to the bank." He said he will hold hearings on the issue and call fingerprint lab employees to testify.
"We want to know the extent of it and whether it affects any other cases. We want to know how far back it goes," he said.
Police officials had initially planned to hire an outside expert last year to review the fingerprints unit but could not get the $325,000 to $450,000 to fund the effort.
Sim-Lewis said she believes no innocent people have been convicted of crimes due to fingerprint mistakes by her department, but she acknowledged there was no way to be sure without a full review.
"We still want outside eyes to come in and make sure we're doing things right," she said.
Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for district attorney's office, said her office was investigating how prosecutors could better guard against faulty evidence.
A confidential police report details two cases in which charges were dropped after problems with the fingerprint analysis were discovered, the Los Angeles Times reported late Thursday. Police blame shoddy work and poor oversight for the mistakes.
"This is very, very serious," said Rhonda Sims-Lewis, chief of the Police Department's administrative and technical bureau. "We feel very compelled to take quick action when something like this arises. Guilty people can be set free and innocent people can be jailed."
One fingerprint analyst, who was involved in both the mishandled cases, was fired and three others were suspended last year after internal investigations, Sims-Lewis said. Two supervisors in the department's latent print unit were replaced.
"This is something of extraordinary concern," said Michael Judge, public defender for Los Angeles County. "Juries tend to afford the highest level of confidence to fingerprint evidence. This is the type of thing that easily could lead to innocent people being convicted."
The report details the case of a pregnant hospital technician who was charged with breaking into a store in February 2006 because of an erroneous fingerprint identification. The department said prints in that case were lost and could not be re-examined. The charge was dropped.
In another case, a man was extradited from Alabama to face burglary charges after an analyst matched his prints to those found at the scene. Two reviewers missed the mistake before a third caught it while preparing to testify at the trial.
The department has 78 forensic print specialists who run prints from a crime scene through automated databases to analyze possible matches. Two other analysts check each match for accuracy.
Department officials described a poorly run operation in which records and evidence were lost or misplaced.
"People were reviewing the work of friends and just rubber stamping it without really reviewing it," said Yvette Sanchez-Owens, commanding officer of the department's scientific investigation division.
Critics said the internal report challenges a belief that forensic matches are reliable.
Jack Weiss, chairman of the City Council's public safety committee, said there was "nothing more basic and more bread and butter than fingerprints. You have to be able to take each one of them to the bank." He said he will hold hearings on the issue and call fingerprint lab employees to testify.
"We want to know the extent of it and whether it affects any other cases. We want to know how far back it goes," he said.
Police officials had initially planned to hire an outside expert last year to review the fingerprints unit but could not get the $325,000 to $450,000 to fund the effort.
Sim-Lewis said she believes no innocent people have been convicted of crimes due to fingerprint mistakes by her department, but she acknowledged there was no way to be sure without a full review.
"We still want outside eyes to come in and make sure we're doing things right," she said.
Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for district attorney's office, said her office was investigating how prosecutors could better guard against faulty evidence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)