DALLAS
Last month a 20-year Dallas police veteran was fired for failing to respond to an emergency call — but it is not the first time he has been fired or accused of wrongdoing, and some wonder if he will be reinstated again.
Law enforcement experts see Senior Cpl. Anthony Williams' career as a prime example of a recurring dilemma in police departments: how to rid a city of an officer whose record is riddled with serious misconduct allegations when his guilt can't be proven or he keeps getting his job back.
Experts cite lack of evidence, questionable witnesses and sloppy investigations as key hurdles to keeping problematic officers off the streets, The Dallas Morning News reported in Sunday editions. And the situation is made worse by an appeals system that has overturned many firings. Since David Kunkle became Dallas police chief nearly five years ago, 12 of his 62 firings have been reversed.
Keeping an officer on the job after he has been repeatedly investigated has its own risks.
"You are opening yourself up to huge lawsuits and one of the charges will be negligent retention, which means that you knew you shouldn't keep this person as a police officer but you did it anyway," Penny Harrington, an expert on police employee misconduct and former chief of the Portland Police Department in Oregon, told the newspaper.
Williams declined to comment. His attorney Phil Burleson Jr. said Williams is innocent of the allegation that led to his recent firing. He said the firing was "not justified."
Of the sexual misconduct complaints during Williams' career, Burleson said, "He says they've all been fully investigated and found that he didn't commit those allegations."
Among the complaints:
_ A woman in 1992 said that after Williams went to her home on a harassment call, he fondled her as her 6-year-old son watched. She said he flattered her, and they began a brief sexual relationship.
_ A woman said Williams began a sexual relationship with her 16-year-old granddaughter in 1994 after the teen called to report an attempted molestation.
_ A woman in 1996 said Williams had sex with her in a motel after he gave her a ride from a store. She said she left the area later because she was afraid he would arrest her for prostitution.
In all cases, Williams denied doing anything inappropriate or having sex on duty. In the 1992 case, the woman eventually stopped cooperating, and the probe ended with a finding of "unfounded."
In the teen's case, Williams denied having sex until she turned 17. Authorities sought to charge him with criminal sexual assault, believing the relationship began when she was 16. But a grand jury declined to indict him, and a police internal investigation ended with an "inconclusive" finding.
The standards for criminal law, in which someone is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, are different from civil procedures involving discipline of an officer. The evidence standard is generally lower in the administrative hearings.
In the 1996 case, then-Police Chief Ben Click fired Williams in 1997. But a civil service trial board reinstated him five months later.
"How much damage does this guy get to do to the reputation of the department before you finally wind up having enough evidence to get rid of him?" said Click, now an independent police consultant.
Officers fired for serious misconduct have frequently been reinstated by administrative law judges, civil service boards or other city officials. Usually, on appeal the decision-maker found that the burden of proof had not been met or punishment was too harsh. Often, no reason was cited.
Kunkle said those cases bother him because "as a chief, I am held accountable. I'm the one who is going to have to go in front of community groups, deal with media stories and also very likely be sued if there is inappropriate police behavior."
Two recent reforms have sharply reduced the likelihood of reinstatement: The city manager now hears all first-round appeals of fired officers, rather than assistant city managers.
And 2005 changes to the city charter gave civil service trial boards and administrative law judges less discretion in reversing disciplinary decisions during appeals.
After Williams returned to work, he was transferred to different patrol divisions. But the complaints continued, including a woman's 2004 allegation that Williams went to her house uninvited while on duty, began to undress and wanted sex. He denied it.
Kunkle will not comment specifically on Williams' case, but it appears that his entire complaint history may have been taken into account before his latest firing — something not prohibited under the city's personnel rules, the newspaper reported.
In November 2007, Williams responded to a 911 call at a woman's apartment. Over the next three months, they had sex several times a month while he was on duty, she later told authorities. Williams admitted having sex with her but denied he was on duty.
On June 19, Williams was on duty when he went to her apartment complex because he believed she slashed his tires, and the loud argument witnessed by a neighbor lasted for an hour and a half.
During that exchange, Williams received a call to check on a residential burglary alarm but never answered the call, records show.
Investigators could not prove sexual misconduct allegations but found that he violated policy when he failed to answer the burglary alarm call, didn't devote full attention to his job and became involved in an on-duty disturbance.
He was fired Jan. 29. Burleson said Williams plans to appeal.
No date has been set for his hearing before the city manager.
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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-williamstimeline_22met.ART.State.Edition1.4c9f408.html
Monday, February 23, 2009
Deputy Jamar Thomas Charged with DWI After Crashing Patrol Car
NEW ORLEANS
A Plaquemines Parish sheriff's deputy has been suspended indefinitely without pay after being arrested and charged with DWI Saturday night.
Police said Jamar Thomas was off-duty when he crashed his patrol car on a curb in Lakeview at Pontchartrain Boulevard and 12th Street at about 6 p.m.
The 10-year veteran has been suspended without pay by Sheriff I.F. "Jiff" Hingle. Authorities said he has been out on extended sick leave and should not have been driving the patrol car off-duty.
A Plaquemines Parish sheriff's deputy has been suspended indefinitely without pay after being arrested and charged with DWI Saturday night.
Police said Jamar Thomas was off-duty when he crashed his patrol car on a curb in Lakeview at Pontchartrain Boulevard and 12th Street at about 6 p.m.
The 10-year veteran has been suspended without pay by Sheriff I.F. "Jiff" Hingle. Authorities said he has been out on extended sick leave and should not have been driving the patrol car off-duty.
Gregory Dillard In Critical Condition After Being Tasered
AKRON
An Akron man is in critical condition after being tasered by Sheriff's Deputies at the Summit County Jail.
Twenty-one-year-old Gregory Dillard stripped his clothes off around 5:25 p.m. Saturday, and when deputies brought him a new set of clothes, he attacked them in a hallway, according to Christine Croce, spokeswoman.
The deputies tasered Dillard, but when he had no heartbeat, an AED was used to resuscitate him. Paramedics arrived within five minutes and took Dillard to Akron General Medical Center where he is in Intensive Care, Croce said.
Akron Police arrested Dillard Feb. 16 on drug charges, but Dillard has been an inmate at the jail 11 previous times, Croce said.
During this recent incarceration, Dillard had become out-of-control several times and at one point was placed in four-point restraints until he agreed to take his medication, Croce said.
An Akron man is in critical condition after being tasered by Sheriff's Deputies at the Summit County Jail.
Twenty-one-year-old Gregory Dillard stripped his clothes off around 5:25 p.m. Saturday, and when deputies brought him a new set of clothes, he attacked them in a hallway, according to Christine Croce, spokeswoman.
The deputies tasered Dillard, but when he had no heartbeat, an AED was used to resuscitate him. Paramedics arrived within five minutes and took Dillard to Akron General Medical Center where he is in Intensive Care, Croce said.
Akron Police arrested Dillard Feb. 16 on drug charges, but Dillard has been an inmate at the jail 11 previous times, Croce said.
During this recent incarceration, Dillard had become out-of-control several times and at one point was placed in four-point restraints until he agreed to take his medication, Croce said.
Officer Andre Rogers Arrested for the 2nd Time for Domestic Violence Won't Get a Deal
An Arcadia police officer who has been arrested for domestic violence for the second time in less than three months will be prosecuted by the district attorney as authorities move to prevent the sweetheart deal he got on city charges the first time.
Andre Rogers was arrested by Bienville Parish sheriff's deputies over the weekend on charges he choked his wife in front of their 3-year-old child.
An Arcadia police officer called to Rogers' house Saturday night to investigate a family fight notified sheriff's deputies when he saw who the suspect was, Bienville Sheriff John Ballance said. Deputies arrested Rogers when he returned to his home and booked him into the Bienville Parish Jail.
Ballance said bond for Rogers had not been set early this afternoon.
Rogers was arrested last November on simple battery charges that alleged he hit his wife. He settled the matter quickly in Arcadia town court -- paying a fine the morning of the first business day after his arrest -- and was eventually allowed to return to work.
At the time, Rogers was the assistant police chief. He was demoted to patrolman and suspended through the end of the year.
The new charges will be prosecuted in Bienville District Court and will be handled by the district attorney's office, Ballance said.
Ballance said the couple is divorced but are living together.
Arcadia Police Chief Victor Rogers did not return a call for comment today.
Jones said after the earlier arrest that his assistant chief did not get preferential treatment by settling the case quickly. There are provisions in the way city court operates that would allow people charged with certain offenses to go ahead and pay their fines, he said.
_
http://www.ktbs.com/
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090223/NEWS01/90223003
Andre Rogers was arrested by Bienville Parish sheriff's deputies over the weekend on charges he choked his wife in front of their 3-year-old child.
An Arcadia police officer called to Rogers' house Saturday night to investigate a family fight notified sheriff's deputies when he saw who the suspect was, Bienville Sheriff John Ballance said. Deputies arrested Rogers when he returned to his home and booked him into the Bienville Parish Jail.
Ballance said bond for Rogers had not been set early this afternoon.
Rogers was arrested last November on simple battery charges that alleged he hit his wife. He settled the matter quickly in Arcadia town court -- paying a fine the morning of the first business day after his arrest -- and was eventually allowed to return to work.
At the time, Rogers was the assistant police chief. He was demoted to patrolman and suspended through the end of the year.
The new charges will be prosecuted in Bienville District Court and will be handled by the district attorney's office, Ballance said.
Ballance said the couple is divorced but are living together.
Arcadia Police Chief Victor Rogers did not return a call for comment today.
Jones said after the earlier arrest that his assistant chief did not get preferential treatment by settling the case quickly. There are provisions in the way city court operates that would allow people charged with certain offenses to go ahead and pay their fines, he said.
_
http://www.ktbs.com/
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090223/NEWS01/90223003
Attorney Bob Seale who Served as Judge Arrested for Theft
LIVINGSTON, Ala.
An attorney who served as municipal judge in two west Alabama cities resigned after being arrested on charges of stealing about $80,000 from a client, police said Monday.
Attorney Bob Seale of Livingston was charged with theft last week after an audit revealed money missing from the account of a person for whom he was serving as legal guardian, said Police Chief Ashley Wellborn.
No city funds were involved in the case, Wellborn said. "He did not in any way have any access to any city money," said the chief.
Seale confirmed in a phone interview that he had resigned his position as municipal judge in Livingston and nearby York, both located in Sumter County near the Mississippi line, but he declined comment on the charges.
Wellborn said Seale is free on $15,000 bond. Wellborn said Seale had served as municipal judge in Livingston for at least two decades.
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http://www.al.com/newsflash
An attorney who served as municipal judge in two west Alabama cities resigned after being arrested on charges of stealing about $80,000 from a client, police said Monday.
Attorney Bob Seale of Livingston was charged with theft last week after an audit revealed money missing from the account of a person for whom he was serving as legal guardian, said Police Chief Ashley Wellborn.
No city funds were involved in the case, Wellborn said. "He did not in any way have any access to any city money," said the chief.
Seale confirmed in a phone interview that he had resigned his position as municipal judge in Livingston and nearby York, both located in Sumter County near the Mississippi line, but he declined comment on the charges.
Wellborn said Seale is free on $15,000 bond. Wellborn said Seale had served as municipal judge in Livingston for at least two decades.
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http://www.al.com/newsflash
Chicago Police Jody Weis Refuses Judge's Order to Turn over Officers Names
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis has refused a federal judge’s order to release the names of officers who have at least five citizen complaints filed against them since 2000.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez had given Weis until 4 p.m. Friday to do so.
The list was being sought, along with a list of excessive-force complaints, by attorneys suing the city over an allegation that an officer falsely arrested and used excessive force against two children.
In court papers, Weis said handing over the names would “compromise officers’ performance, threaten safety, reduce morale and improperly impugn many officers’ otherwise well-deserved good reputations.”
Flint Taylor, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers, called Weis’ decision “an outrageous abuse by someone who is charged with enforcing the law and constitution.”
Taylor wants the names to show a pattern by the Chicago Police Department of covering up ’ misconduct. He said the names, if released, would be put under a court order limiting their use to the lawyers in the case.
The city also is fighting a judge’s order to release a similar list in another excessive-force lawsuit. That list names 662 officers who faced 10 or more citizen complaints between 2001 and 2006.
Twenty-eight Chicago aldermen want access to the list, too. The federal appeals court in Chicago is deciding whether the department should make it public.
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http://www.suntimes.com
U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez had given Weis until 4 p.m. Friday to do so.
The list was being sought, along with a list of excessive-force complaints, by attorneys suing the city over an allegation that an officer falsely arrested and used excessive force against two children.
In court papers, Weis said handing over the names would “compromise officers’ performance, threaten safety, reduce morale and improperly impugn many officers’ otherwise well-deserved good reputations.”
Flint Taylor, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers, called Weis’ decision “an outrageous abuse by someone who is charged with enforcing the law and constitution.”
Taylor wants the names to show a pattern by the Chicago Police Department of covering up ’ misconduct. He said the names, if released, would be put under a court order limiting their use to the lawyers in the case.
The city also is fighting a judge’s order to release a similar list in another excessive-force lawsuit. That list names 662 officers who faced 10 or more citizen complaints between 2001 and 2006.
Twenty-eight Chicago aldermen want access to the list, too. The federal appeals court in Chicago is deciding whether the department should make it public.
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http://www.suntimes.com
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Officer Carlyle Cokke Arrested for DUI
FLAGSTAFF
A Navajo Nation Police officer from Dilkon Police District was arrested early Wednesday morning by Flagstaff Police for DUI and extreme DUI. This was his third offense, according to Dilkon’s Lt. Emerson Lee.
According to the report, Sgt. James Jackson was working a special detail, patrolling the area of Fourth Street around 1 a.m., when he saw a red 2001 Neon being driven through the parking lots of several closed businesses. When the vehicle pulled into the parking lot of B&T Glass and shut off its lights Sgt. Jackson drove around to the business and informed dispatch that he would be checking on a suspicious vehicle.
As he approached the vehicle the driver, identified as Carlyle Cokke, 27, a Dilkon Police officer, got out of the car and stood by the driver’s side door. Jackson identified himself and asked Cokke why he was driving in the area of the closed businesses. Cokke stated he had just parked the vehicle, the report states.
“I told him I had seen him drive across Fourth Street from the other parking lot, and he stated, ‘I know,’” according to Jackson, who noted that he smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Cokke’s breath and that his eyes were bloodshot and speech slurred.
Upon questioning, Cokke told the officer that he had consumed six Budweisers that evening. “After answering the questions, he stated, ‘I’m screwed.’ I asked him what he was referring to and he did not answer. I asked again what he was talking about and he stated, ‘I’m NPD.’ I asked him what that was and he stated, ‘Navajo Police,’” according to the report.
Cokke told the officer, “’I just want to go home. Just take me home.’”
Jackson stated he told Cokke that if, in fact, he was a police officer, he should know the severity of driving while intoxicated. “The driver stated, ‘I know. I’ve done this before.’ I asked what he did before and he did not answer,” Jackson said.
The officer asked Cokke for his driver’s license, at which point Cokke reached back inside the vehicle, turned off the ignition and pulled the keys out, dropping them on the floor, the report states.
Cokke was asked by another officer on the scene, Matthew Schmidt, if he was armed or had any weapons in the vehicle and Cokke said no. A duty belt with loaded gun was located later on the rear seat, driver’s side.
Cokke was asked to perform a couple field sobriety tests, including the one-leg stand and walk and turn, to which he agreed, but after attempting each one reportedly told the officer, “I can’t do the test.”
Cokke was placed under arrest at 1:36 a.m. for DUI, and his duty belt, handgun, law enforcement paper work, ballistic vest, uniform and police laptop were collected and booked into safekeeping. Schmidt transported Cokke to the Coconino County Jail where he was read his rights and submitted to breath tests showing a blood alcohol content of .187, .212, and .217 — nearly three times the legal limit for intoxication, or .08.
The first time Cokke provided a sample of breath he blew into the machine for a very short time, paused, and did it again. The second and third samples were given with controlled blowing into the machine, the report states.
When Jackson arrived at the jail, Cokke asked him to contact his supervisor and advise him of the situation, which the officer did. After being issued a citation and given a court date, Cokke was given a ride by Schmidt to a local residence and released to a responsible party. His vehicle was towed.
“Normally, if it was any other Joe Schmoe, he would probably still be in jail,” Lt. Emerson Lee said. “This is the third arrest of Carlyle Cokke. The first one was off the reservation in Flagstaff and the second one was off the reservation in Holbrook. He was incarcerated and went on parole and we took disciplinary action on that.
“Now he’s done this again. Nobody’s above the law. This is really an unethical and unprofessional example.” Now, Lee said, Cooke will have to “face the consequences.”
“Any civil or criminal issues are at the hand of the justice system off the reservation. We have no input. The only thing we are dealing with is the administrative issues according to the Navajo Nation Personnel Policies Manual,” Lee said.
Cokke is scheduled to appear in Flagstaff Municipal Court Feb. 25.
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Other Information: http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/02/20/news/local/20090220_local_191258.txt
A Navajo Nation Police officer from Dilkon Police District was arrested early Wednesday morning by Flagstaff Police for DUI and extreme DUI. This was his third offense, according to Dilkon’s Lt. Emerson Lee.
According to the report, Sgt. James Jackson was working a special detail, patrolling the area of Fourth Street around 1 a.m., when he saw a red 2001 Neon being driven through the parking lots of several closed businesses. When the vehicle pulled into the parking lot of B&T Glass and shut off its lights Sgt. Jackson drove around to the business and informed dispatch that he would be checking on a suspicious vehicle.
As he approached the vehicle the driver, identified as Carlyle Cokke, 27, a Dilkon Police officer, got out of the car and stood by the driver’s side door. Jackson identified himself and asked Cokke why he was driving in the area of the closed businesses. Cokke stated he had just parked the vehicle, the report states.
“I told him I had seen him drive across Fourth Street from the other parking lot, and he stated, ‘I know,’” according to Jackson, who noted that he smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Cokke’s breath and that his eyes were bloodshot and speech slurred.
Upon questioning, Cokke told the officer that he had consumed six Budweisers that evening. “After answering the questions, he stated, ‘I’m screwed.’ I asked him what he was referring to and he did not answer. I asked again what he was talking about and he stated, ‘I’m NPD.’ I asked him what that was and he stated, ‘Navajo Police,’” according to the report.
Cokke told the officer, “’I just want to go home. Just take me home.’”
Jackson stated he told Cokke that if, in fact, he was a police officer, he should know the severity of driving while intoxicated. “The driver stated, ‘I know. I’ve done this before.’ I asked what he did before and he did not answer,” Jackson said.
The officer asked Cokke for his driver’s license, at which point Cokke reached back inside the vehicle, turned off the ignition and pulled the keys out, dropping them on the floor, the report states.
Cokke was asked by another officer on the scene, Matthew Schmidt, if he was armed or had any weapons in the vehicle and Cokke said no. A duty belt with loaded gun was located later on the rear seat, driver’s side.
Cokke was asked to perform a couple field sobriety tests, including the one-leg stand and walk and turn, to which he agreed, but after attempting each one reportedly told the officer, “I can’t do the test.”
Cokke was placed under arrest at 1:36 a.m. for DUI, and his duty belt, handgun, law enforcement paper work, ballistic vest, uniform and police laptop were collected and booked into safekeeping. Schmidt transported Cokke to the Coconino County Jail where he was read his rights and submitted to breath tests showing a blood alcohol content of .187, .212, and .217 — nearly three times the legal limit for intoxication, or .08.
The first time Cokke provided a sample of breath he blew into the machine for a very short time, paused, and did it again. The second and third samples were given with controlled blowing into the machine, the report states.
When Jackson arrived at the jail, Cokke asked him to contact his supervisor and advise him of the situation, which the officer did. After being issued a citation and given a court date, Cokke was given a ride by Schmidt to a local residence and released to a responsible party. His vehicle was towed.
“Normally, if it was any other Joe Schmoe, he would probably still be in jail,” Lt. Emerson Lee said. “This is the third arrest of Carlyle Cokke. The first one was off the reservation in Flagstaff and the second one was off the reservation in Holbrook. He was incarcerated and went on parole and we took disciplinary action on that.
“Now he’s done this again. Nobody’s above the law. This is really an unethical and unprofessional example.” Now, Lee said, Cooke will have to “face the consequences.”
“Any civil or criminal issues are at the hand of the justice system off the reservation. We have no input. The only thing we are dealing with is the administrative issues according to the Navajo Nation Personnel Policies Manual,” Lee said.
Cokke is scheduled to appear in Flagstaff Municipal Court Feb. 25.
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Other Information: http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/02/20/news/local/20090220_local_191258.txt
Taser Use by Massachusetts Officers on the Rise
The use of Tasers by police in Massachusetts has soared in recent years.
The Boston Globe reports police used Tasers in 229 incidents between September 2007 and September 2008. That’s a fourfold increase from three years ago.
Fall River police reported 45 Tasers incidents last year, the most in the state, at one point firing the weapon 11 times to subdue a man his family described as mentally ill.
Police say Tasers, which deliver a five second, 50,000-volt shock, are an effective, non-lethal way to subdue violent suspects.
Amnesty International said at least 334 people across the United States died after police used Tasers on them since 2001. The human rights group said it’s difficult to know if the Tasers caused the deaths.
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http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com/2009/02/taser-use-by-massachussetts-police.html
The Boston Globe reports police used Tasers in 229 incidents between September 2007 and September 2008. That’s a fourfold increase from three years ago.
Fall River police reported 45 Tasers incidents last year, the most in the state, at one point firing the weapon 11 times to subdue a man his family described as mentally ill.
Police say Tasers, which deliver a five second, 50,000-volt shock, are an effective, non-lethal way to subdue violent suspects.
Amnesty International said at least 334 people across the United States died after police used Tasers on them since 2001. The human rights group said it’s difficult to know if the Tasers caused the deaths.
_________________
http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com/2009/02/taser-use-by-massachussetts-police.html
Feds Investigating Alleged Brutality by Officers
WILLIAMSON
The private investigator hired to determine whether or not police officers violated the rights of a local teen has requested federal authorities to assist in finding out what happened to Calvin Wilkerson.
As previously reported, private investigator Donald Stephens was hired by Crystal Wilkerson to investigate an incident in which citizens claim law enforcement officials from three agencies beat her son and allowed a police dog to attack him outside the Williamson State Police barracks. Police escorted him there after arresting him when he allegedly became disorderly at the attorney’s office where he and his mother attended a mental hygiene hearing. Crystal Wilkerson told a Daily News reporter she feared for her son’s safety due to his mental state and was seeking help for him.
A man contacted the Wilkerson family, claiming he saw officers with the West Virginia State Police, the Mingo County Sheriff’s Department, and the Williamson City Police Department trip Calvin Wilkerson when he got out of a police cruiser on Third Street. He told the Wilkersons and later Stephens that officers allowed the police dog to attack Calvin Wilkerson while they kicked him and shouted at him with racially-charged language.
Wilkerson was taken to Williamson Memorial Hospital that night and treated for four different lacerations, including two dog bites.
There has been a total of eight people to give Stephens statements about seeing an altercation outside the police barracks, he said, adding, ‘After questioning all the witnesses, I found that they are credible.’
However, as Stephens pointed out, allegations are just that until an investigation is complete.
Asserting he believes there are other witnesses, as police waved people through on the street the night of the incident, Stephens said, ‘It’s crucial that people come forward and tell me what they know so we can get to the bottom of this issue.’
He has requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist in the case, taking what evidence he has to the Williamson agent, who will formulate a preliminary report for Washington officials, who will decide whether or not the incident warrants a probe.
‘I’m sure the people of Mingo County want to know what happened,’ Stephens said. ‘Also, I’m sure its in the best interest of the city, the county and the state to find out what the truth is regarding the case.’
The National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP) has been involved in the investigation since a day or so after the incident occurred in January 2009, but is leaving the probe in Stephens’ hands, he said.
Taking the case of Calvin and Crystal Wilkerson this week, Wayne County attorney Gary L. Michaels said he does not know what the status is for the federal investigation, but will be working with the NAACP and Stephens in finding the truth.
‘I want to make sure the facts are clear, and at this time it is unclear as to what the facts are,’ Michaels said. ‘There are several witnesses and I’m resolved to help the Wilkerson’s to fully develop the facts in this case and, if necessary, to file any appropriate civil action.’
Although unsure what the NAACP’s role is in the case at this point, Michaels said they are involved.
Stephens urges anyone with information about the case in question to call him at (304) 234-3355.
Having received numerous reports alleging past abuse from the officers named in the Wilkerson case, Stephens said there is nothing he can do about those occasions, and people sometimes say stuff out of anger.
This is why is so important not to point fingers or make statements that could be harmful to anyone, he said adding, ‘We are just looking for the truth.’
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http://www.williamsondailynews.com
The private investigator hired to determine whether or not police officers violated the rights of a local teen has requested federal authorities to assist in finding out what happened to Calvin Wilkerson.
As previously reported, private investigator Donald Stephens was hired by Crystal Wilkerson to investigate an incident in which citizens claim law enforcement officials from three agencies beat her son and allowed a police dog to attack him outside the Williamson State Police barracks. Police escorted him there after arresting him when he allegedly became disorderly at the attorney’s office where he and his mother attended a mental hygiene hearing. Crystal Wilkerson told a Daily News reporter she feared for her son’s safety due to his mental state and was seeking help for him.
A man contacted the Wilkerson family, claiming he saw officers with the West Virginia State Police, the Mingo County Sheriff’s Department, and the Williamson City Police Department trip Calvin Wilkerson when he got out of a police cruiser on Third Street. He told the Wilkersons and later Stephens that officers allowed the police dog to attack Calvin Wilkerson while they kicked him and shouted at him with racially-charged language.
Wilkerson was taken to Williamson Memorial Hospital that night and treated for four different lacerations, including two dog bites.
There has been a total of eight people to give Stephens statements about seeing an altercation outside the police barracks, he said, adding, ‘After questioning all the witnesses, I found that they are credible.’
However, as Stephens pointed out, allegations are just that until an investigation is complete.
Asserting he believes there are other witnesses, as police waved people through on the street the night of the incident, Stephens said, ‘It’s crucial that people come forward and tell me what they know so we can get to the bottom of this issue.’
He has requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist in the case, taking what evidence he has to the Williamson agent, who will formulate a preliminary report for Washington officials, who will decide whether or not the incident warrants a probe.
‘I’m sure the people of Mingo County want to know what happened,’ Stephens said. ‘Also, I’m sure its in the best interest of the city, the county and the state to find out what the truth is regarding the case.’
The National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP) has been involved in the investigation since a day or so after the incident occurred in January 2009, but is leaving the probe in Stephens’ hands, he said.
Taking the case of Calvin and Crystal Wilkerson this week, Wayne County attorney Gary L. Michaels said he does not know what the status is for the federal investigation, but will be working with the NAACP and Stephens in finding the truth.
‘I want to make sure the facts are clear, and at this time it is unclear as to what the facts are,’ Michaels said. ‘There are several witnesses and I’m resolved to help the Wilkerson’s to fully develop the facts in this case and, if necessary, to file any appropriate civil action.’
Although unsure what the NAACP’s role is in the case at this point, Michaels said they are involved.
Stephens urges anyone with information about the case in question to call him at (304) 234-3355.
Having received numerous reports alleging past abuse from the officers named in the Wilkerson case, Stephens said there is nothing he can do about those occasions, and people sometimes say stuff out of anger.
This is why is so important not to point fingers or make statements that could be harmful to anyone, he said adding, ‘We are just looking for the truth.’
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http://www.williamsondailynews.com
Former Atlanta Officers Apoliogize for Shooting Woman
ATLANTA
A sentencing hearing got under way Monday for three former Atlanta police officers who pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in connection with the death of an elderly woman during a botched drug raid.
Jason R. Smith, Gregg Junnier and Arthur Tesler appeared in federal court for sentencing on a charge of conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death.
During the hearing Smith apologized for the shooting.
"I am very sorry for my conduct and apologize to everyone for what I did," Smith said. "There is no excuse for this conduct and I accept the sentence of this court."
"I pray daily for Ms. Johnston. I also pray other officers in Atlanta will have the moral fortitude I didn't have," Smith added.
Kathryn Johnston, a 92-year-old woman, was killed by police gunfire during the 2006 raid at her home.
"Her death was the foreseeable culmination of a long-standing conspiracy in which the officers violated their oaths of office," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon-Peter Kelly during the hearing.
The officers "regularly swore falsely" to get warrants and make cases, he said.
Johnston fired one shot went through the door and over the heads of six police officers as they rushed into her house. Police shot back, firing 39 times; hitting Johnston five times. They handcuffed her on the floor, as she died.
Junnier and two other officers were wounded by shots fired by fellow officers.
"She died a violent death at the hands of people who were supposed to protect her," neighbor Kellie Hill told WSB-TV Channel 2 reporter Jeff Dore at the federal courthouse.
"I miss my friend very much," she sobbed.
Kathryn Johnston's family was not in court.
"Those guys obstructed justice not just that night, but for years," Atlanta City Councilman Ivory Young testified during the hearing. "This is how they regularly operated."
"What happens in a community," Young asked, "when the police are the most consistent violators of human rights?"
The judge heard a letter from Johnston's niece, who could not be in court because of her health, as well as state Sen. Vincent Fort.
Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2008/11/investigation-continues-into-death-of.html
http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2008/05/trial-begins-for-92-year-old-woman.html
A sentencing hearing got under way Monday for three former Atlanta police officers who pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in connection with the death of an elderly woman during a botched drug raid.
Jason R. Smith, Gregg Junnier and Arthur Tesler appeared in federal court for sentencing on a charge of conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death.
During the hearing Smith apologized for the shooting.
"I am very sorry for my conduct and apologize to everyone for what I did," Smith said. "There is no excuse for this conduct and I accept the sentence of this court."
"I pray daily for Ms. Johnston. I also pray other officers in Atlanta will have the moral fortitude I didn't have," Smith added.
Kathryn Johnston, a 92-year-old woman, was killed by police gunfire during the 2006 raid at her home.
"Her death was the foreseeable culmination of a long-standing conspiracy in which the officers violated their oaths of office," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon-Peter Kelly during the hearing.
The officers "regularly swore falsely" to get warrants and make cases, he said.
Johnston fired one shot went through the door and over the heads of six police officers as they rushed into her house. Police shot back, firing 39 times; hitting Johnston five times. They handcuffed her on the floor, as she died.
Junnier and two other officers were wounded by shots fired by fellow officers.
"She died a violent death at the hands of people who were supposed to protect her," neighbor Kellie Hill told WSB-TV Channel 2 reporter Jeff Dore at the federal courthouse.
"I miss my friend very much," she sobbed.
Kathryn Johnston's family was not in court.
"Those guys obstructed justice not just that night, but for years," Atlanta City Councilman Ivory Young testified during the hearing. "This is how they regularly operated."
"What happens in a community," Young asked, "when the police are the most consistent violators of human rights?"
The judge heard a letter from Johnston's niece, who could not be in court because of her health, as well as state Sen. Vincent Fort.
Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2008/11/investigation-continues-into-death-of.html
http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2008/05/trial-begins-for-92-year-old-woman.html
Officer Ryan Hutchison Resigns After Making Racial Comments on Video
KREBS
A Krebs police officer has resigned after the Tulsa World obtained video showing the officer making racist comments during a traffic stop of four black men.
As first reported on tulsaworld.com, federal indictments against three of the men were dismissed after the video surfaced in the identity-theft case in Muskogee's federal court, an attorney said.
Reserve Krebs Police Officer Ryan Hutchison resigned Friday, said Krebs Police Chief Dennis Cook. Cook was not aware of the arrest video and its racial content until contacted by the World this week.
William Earl Bill, Korell Rashaud Harp and Kelvin Lamont Jackson were indicted Jan. 14 in U.S. District Court in Muskogee on 13 counts of aggravated identity theft, false identification and possession of counterfeit checks with intent to deceive, court records show. Hutchison arrested the men Sept. 10 on U.S. 69 near Krebs in Pittsburg County, according to court records.
When pulled over for allegedly speeding, the suspects were in possession of a cache of counterfeit checks and driver's licenses with different names, court records show. The licenses were high-quality fakes complete with holographic images and other convincing identifiers, court records show.
Records show the men were allegedly planning to use the driver's licenses to cash counterfeit checks at various banks.
However, comments by the arresting officer caused federal prosecutors to throw out the felony indictments on Feb. 13, said Assistant Federal Defender Rob Ridenour.
The World obtained the police video of the traffic stop containing the racist comments by Hutchison. The audio portion of the video recorded Hutchison using the term "n----r" to describe the black occupants of a rental car he had just stopped for alleged speeding.
On the video Hutchison can be seen talking to the driver and then returning to his patrol car. While sitting in his police unit, Hutchison can be heard saying: This "smells funny. F--king n-----s in a rental car and ain't none of them on the rental agreement. I'll call the f--king rental company and make them all walk. If you ain't on the rental agreement you ain't supposed to drive the car."
In the video, Hutchison is talking to another person, whose identity is not available, who is riding with him on patrol that night.
Hutchison could not be reached for comment.
The video contains other racial comments. There is also a general comment about President Barack Obama. "Got a damn Obama sticker on the back window," Hutchison said.
U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said federal charges were dismissed due to action taken at the district court level.
"We comprehensively reviewed the evidence in the case, and we dismissed federal charges in deference to an appropriate state court disposition," Sperling said. "I would respectfully submit that this outcome is consistent with our oath and obligation to use common sense and discernment."
After having their federal indictments dismissed, the three men pleaded guilty in Pittsburg County District Court to one felony count of possessing false identification, Ridenour said. The men received two years of unsupervised probation, he said.
After being contacted by the World earlier this week, Cook said he suspended Hutchison and then called for his resignation after viewing the arrest video.
"I have spoken to the officer about this, and he does not deny it, but he also says he does not remember it," Cook said. "That's why we put videos in the cars, to be sure these kinds of things don't occur. I assure you that we are not going to tolerate any racial comments or activities on this police force."
Cook said Hutchison joined the Krebs police in October 2005 and has no record of disciplinary actions with the police force. As a reserve officer, Hutchison is CLEET certified but works part-time without pay, Cook said.
Krebs is located east of McAlester.
Ridenour said that Hutchison's comments were racist and point to racial profiling.
"I'm an Okie and a red-neck, but I am ashamed that in this day and age that these guys knowing they are cops and knowing they are being taped and they would say things like that," he said. "The comments are wrong and unacceptable."
Ridenour was one of three attorneys representing the defendants. Ridenour represented Bill, who has an extensive criminal record involving crimes similar to the ones he was charged with, a source said.
If convicted of the federal indictments, the men would have faced at least seven years in prison or more, Ridenour said.
Ridenour said the federal prosecutor took the proper action by throwing out the indictments.
"Once they saw the video, they knew it was inappropriate, and they did the right thing," Ridenour said. "They left it to the state to do what it wanted to do."
Ridenour said the defendants accepted the plea agreement in state court because they wanted to get out of jail. They had been in federal and state custody since their arrest in September.
Bill was the driver of the rental car. Bill and Jackson are from Dallas, while Harp is from Barnesville, Ga. A fourth person in the car, Antonio Jackson, is from Fyffe, Ala., and was not indicted on any crimes. The four men were traveling from Texas to Milwaukee when they were arrested, Ridenour said.
Additional footage from the video shows Hutchison and back-up police officers searching the vehicle and discovering what the officer thought was marijuana and the counterfeit licenses and checks.
Janice Purcell, a Tahlequah attorney representing Jackson, said her client did not have an extensive police record.
Defense attorney Michael McGuire of Tulsa said police officers did not obtain proper consent to search the vehicle. He had harsh words for Hutchison's conduct.
"It is disgusting. It speaks for itself," McGuire said. "These are the real reasons for the dismissal and the bogus consent to search. You can tell these clowns were wanting to search the vehicle, and you can hear them planning how to do it on the video, but it was not a proper search."
Sperling said: "We do not believe the search is subject to much legitimate question."
McGuire represented Harp, who he said had no previous criminal record.
__________
http://www.tulsaworld.com
A Krebs police officer has resigned after the Tulsa World obtained video showing the officer making racist comments during a traffic stop of four black men.
As first reported on tulsaworld.com, federal indictments against three of the men were dismissed after the video surfaced in the identity-theft case in Muskogee's federal court, an attorney said.
Reserve Krebs Police Officer Ryan Hutchison resigned Friday, said Krebs Police Chief Dennis Cook. Cook was not aware of the arrest video and its racial content until contacted by the World this week.
William Earl Bill, Korell Rashaud Harp and Kelvin Lamont Jackson were indicted Jan. 14 in U.S. District Court in Muskogee on 13 counts of aggravated identity theft, false identification and possession of counterfeit checks with intent to deceive, court records show. Hutchison arrested the men Sept. 10 on U.S. 69 near Krebs in Pittsburg County, according to court records.
When pulled over for allegedly speeding, the suspects were in possession of a cache of counterfeit checks and driver's licenses with different names, court records show. The licenses were high-quality fakes complete with holographic images and other convincing identifiers, court records show.
Records show the men were allegedly planning to use the driver's licenses to cash counterfeit checks at various banks.
However, comments by the arresting officer caused federal prosecutors to throw out the felony indictments on Feb. 13, said Assistant Federal Defender Rob Ridenour.
The World obtained the police video of the traffic stop containing the racist comments by Hutchison. The audio portion of the video recorded Hutchison using the term "n----r" to describe the black occupants of a rental car he had just stopped for alleged speeding.
On the video Hutchison can be seen talking to the driver and then returning to his patrol car. While sitting in his police unit, Hutchison can be heard saying: This "smells funny. F--king n-----s in a rental car and ain't none of them on the rental agreement. I'll call the f--king rental company and make them all walk. If you ain't on the rental agreement you ain't supposed to drive the car."
In the video, Hutchison is talking to another person, whose identity is not available, who is riding with him on patrol that night.
Hutchison could not be reached for comment.
The video contains other racial comments. There is also a general comment about President Barack Obama. "Got a damn Obama sticker on the back window," Hutchison said.
U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said federal charges were dismissed due to action taken at the district court level.
"We comprehensively reviewed the evidence in the case, and we dismissed federal charges in deference to an appropriate state court disposition," Sperling said. "I would respectfully submit that this outcome is consistent with our oath and obligation to use common sense and discernment."
After having their federal indictments dismissed, the three men pleaded guilty in Pittsburg County District Court to one felony count of possessing false identification, Ridenour said. The men received two years of unsupervised probation, he said.
After being contacted by the World earlier this week, Cook said he suspended Hutchison and then called for his resignation after viewing the arrest video.
"I have spoken to the officer about this, and he does not deny it, but he also says he does not remember it," Cook said. "That's why we put videos in the cars, to be sure these kinds of things don't occur. I assure you that we are not going to tolerate any racial comments or activities on this police force."
Cook said Hutchison joined the Krebs police in October 2005 and has no record of disciplinary actions with the police force. As a reserve officer, Hutchison is CLEET certified but works part-time without pay, Cook said.
Krebs is located east of McAlester.
Ridenour said that Hutchison's comments were racist and point to racial profiling.
"I'm an Okie and a red-neck, but I am ashamed that in this day and age that these guys knowing they are cops and knowing they are being taped and they would say things like that," he said. "The comments are wrong and unacceptable."
Ridenour was one of three attorneys representing the defendants. Ridenour represented Bill, who has an extensive criminal record involving crimes similar to the ones he was charged with, a source said.
If convicted of the federal indictments, the men would have faced at least seven years in prison or more, Ridenour said.
Ridenour said the federal prosecutor took the proper action by throwing out the indictments.
"Once they saw the video, they knew it was inappropriate, and they did the right thing," Ridenour said. "They left it to the state to do what it wanted to do."
Ridenour said the defendants accepted the plea agreement in state court because they wanted to get out of jail. They had been in federal and state custody since their arrest in September.
Bill was the driver of the rental car. Bill and Jackson are from Dallas, while Harp is from Barnesville, Ga. A fourth person in the car, Antonio Jackson, is from Fyffe, Ala., and was not indicted on any crimes. The four men were traveling from Texas to Milwaukee when they were arrested, Ridenour said.
Additional footage from the video shows Hutchison and back-up police officers searching the vehicle and discovering what the officer thought was marijuana and the counterfeit licenses and checks.
Janice Purcell, a Tahlequah attorney representing Jackson, said her client did not have an extensive police record.
Defense attorney Michael McGuire of Tulsa said police officers did not obtain proper consent to search the vehicle. He had harsh words for Hutchison's conduct.
"It is disgusting. It speaks for itself," McGuire said. "These are the real reasons for the dismissal and the bogus consent to search. You can tell these clowns were wanting to search the vehicle, and you can hear them planning how to do it on the video, but it was not a proper search."
Sperling said: "We do not believe the search is subject to much legitimate question."
McGuire represented Harp, who he said had no previous criminal record.
__________
http://www.tulsaworld.com
Stories From Teens Sentenced by Corrupt Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr
It started with a Crunch bar and escalated with a pillow. Alyson Baber thought it would end at home. But it didn’t.Ms. Baber, then 15, remembers hitting her mother in the backside three times with a pillow during an argument over the candy bar. Her mother called the police, and before Ms. Baber knew it, she was in front of then-Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr.
“He asked me how I would plead, and I thought, ‘I did hit her with a pillow, so I guess I did do it,’ ” Ms. Baber said. “Everyone thought it was just another one of my mom’s stupid little stunts for attention. No one thought I would ever go away.”
In January 2003, Ms. Baber was sentenced to 56 days in a detention facility.
She is one of thousands of juveniles sentenced by Judge Ciavarella since 2002. Those found guilty were often sent to private detention centers or to wilderness camps like Camp Adams in Jim Thorpe.
Earlier this month, Judge Ciavarella and former Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan pleaded guilty to accepting $2.6 million in exchange for facilitating the development and county use of two privately owned juvenile detention centers — the Pennsylvania Child Care Center in Pittston Twp. and Western Pennsylvania Child Care in Butler County.
Because juvenile records are sealed, The Sunday Voice relied on 11 young adults and five parents who agreed to discuss their experiences with the Luzerne County juvenile court system. Most admit the juveniles deserved punishment but feel their cases were handled unfairly.
Some feel like pawns, believing their sentences were simply moneymakers.
Some are suing the judges and their business partners.
Some cried when remembering their time away from home.
All expressed dismay with what they called a broken judicial system.
They want it fixed.
Alyson Baber, 21
Most of Ms. Baber’s sentence was spent at Camp Adams, a world away from her home in quiet Forty Fort. Many girls were there for stealing cars, dealing and using drugs, even armed assault.
“Then there was me, the pillow batterer,” Ms. Baber said. “That was a lifestyle I should never have been exposed to.”
The classes — they did word search puzzles in history, she said — left Ms. Baber far behind when she returned to high school.
It was difficult to maintain good hygiene.
“The shampoo made our hair come out in clumps,” she said. “I had my hair put in box braids so I wouldn’t have to wash it as much.
“My caseworker told me to take the braids out of my hair because Judge Ciavarella wouldn’t talk to kids with braids in their hair because he thought they had a bad attitude.”
After serving her time, Ms. Baber switched schools and moved in with her father in the Lake-Lehman area. The rumors followed her. She transferred again before her senior year, this time to Bishop O’Reilly High School.
“I think people who I went to high school with today still believe I stabbed my mom,” Ms. Baber said.
Ms. Baber is now a senior studying biology at Delaware Valley College. She wants to become a veterinarian. The few friends she’s told about her stint in Camp Adams hardly believe it.
“If you really think about it, I don’t think that’s a crime,” Ms. Baber said. “People get hit by pillows every day. I would never mean to hurt my mother.”
Bree McCabe, 20
Michelle McCabe is living a mother’s nightmare: her daughter is homeless and far from her friends and family. McCabe blames the years Bree spent in juvenile detention centers like Pennsylvania Child Care.
“She has no idea of how to function without someone telling her what to do from the moment she wakes up,” Ms. McCabe, who was interviewed on Bree’s behalf, said. “That’s going to make anyone a little crazy, when you’re torn away from your family and locked up. I firmly believe that had Bree been with me, she wouldn’t be where she is today.”
Bree was 13 when she was in a shoving match at Crestwood High School. It was her first offense. She violated her probation by smoking marijuana and would later spend five years in and out of various facilities across the country. Judge Ciavarella sentenced her every time, Ms. McCabe said.
Her mother believes Bree missed out on normal high school experiences. Instead of learning how to do simple tasks such as writing checks, she learned how to hustle cigarettes.
“She missed all these things, and it’s really taken its toll,” Ms. McCabe said. “She has zero self-esteem. She does wrong because she doesn’t know any different.”
Bree lives in southern New Jersey and has no job prospects. Ms. McCabe wonders if her daughter will ever lead a normal life.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from,” Ms. McCabe said. “You trust the system, and the system screws you.”
Jesse Miers, 19
Jesse Miers was 17 when a friend’s younger brother showed him a stolen gun.
Mr. Miers, of Exeter, considered himself a mentor to the 13-year-old boy, who wanted to threaten bullies with the gun.
“He wanted to take the gun and kill someone,” Mr. Miers said. “What if it happened? That would have been on my conscience because I could have stopped it. So I did.”
He took the gun away from the boy and gave the gun to his boss, who told Mr. Miers he would take care of it.
Months later, Mr. Miers was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm. He was ordered to appear before Judge Ciavarella and spent a week in the Pittston Twp. detention center, awaiting a hearing.
“Immediately, I wanted a lawyer,” he said. “I was charged with a felony. I wanted a lawyer to represent me. The hearing came; one never showed up.”
Mr. Miers wrote a note to Judge Ciavarella.
“He didn’t even read it,” Mr. Miers recalled. “He just put it next to him ... didn’t even bother with it.”
Mr. Miers was shackled and bused to Western Pennsylvania Child Care, where he was to serve three months.
“That place was horrible, fights everywhere,” he said. “I didn’t belong there.”
Mr. Miers was eventually released and put on probation.
“I feel I got in trouble for trying to do the right thing,” Mr. Miers said. “But I feel bad for half these kids. You went there thinking you were going to get a fair trial, that you were going to be heard. Then you got 45 seconds in front of the judge. You got brushed off.”
Paige Cicardo, 18
Paige Cicardo threw a sandal at her mom during an argument.
Judge Ciavarella threw six months back.
Starting in summer 2006, Ms. Cicardo spent her sentence at Western Pennsylvania Child Care and Pennsylvania Child Care. Her mom may have pressed charges to teach her a lesson, Ms. Cicardo said, but not to see her daughter sent away.
“I think it was wrong, because the case wasn’t that bad,” Ms. Cicardo said. “I could see, like, if he wanted to punish me, he could have given me probation or something.”
Going away was difficult, and Ms. Cicardo said she would have done anything to get back home with her family. She didn’t understand why she was locked up with girls who had used drugs, stolen or worked as prostitutes.
Everything was different when she was released. She felt unstable.
Then she moved with her mother to Mount Pocono. She enrolled in school, met her boyfriend and had a baby. Donnivan is 7 months old.
Ms. Cicardo is in her last semester of high school and working a part-time job.
She still thinks her sentence was unjust, but she’s proud of how her life has unfolded.
“I wouldn’t want to change anything, because I believe everything happens for a reason,” she said.
________________
More stories: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/02/22/news/sc_times_trib.20090222.a.pg1.tt22cdjuveniles_s2.2323110_top3.txt
“He asked me how I would plead, and I thought, ‘I did hit her with a pillow, so I guess I did do it,’ ” Ms. Baber said. “Everyone thought it was just another one of my mom’s stupid little stunts for attention. No one thought I would ever go away.”
In January 2003, Ms. Baber was sentenced to 56 days in a detention facility.
She is one of thousands of juveniles sentenced by Judge Ciavarella since 2002. Those found guilty were often sent to private detention centers or to wilderness camps like Camp Adams in Jim Thorpe.
Earlier this month, Judge Ciavarella and former Senior Judge Michael T. Conahan pleaded guilty to accepting $2.6 million in exchange for facilitating the development and county use of two privately owned juvenile detention centers — the Pennsylvania Child Care Center in Pittston Twp. and Western Pennsylvania Child Care in Butler County.
Because juvenile records are sealed, The Sunday Voice relied on 11 young adults and five parents who agreed to discuss their experiences with the Luzerne County juvenile court system. Most admit the juveniles deserved punishment but feel their cases were handled unfairly.
Some feel like pawns, believing their sentences were simply moneymakers.
Some are suing the judges and their business partners.
Some cried when remembering their time away from home.
All expressed dismay with what they called a broken judicial system.
They want it fixed.
Alyson Baber, 21
Most of Ms. Baber’s sentence was spent at Camp Adams, a world away from her home in quiet Forty Fort. Many girls were there for stealing cars, dealing and using drugs, even armed assault.
“Then there was me, the pillow batterer,” Ms. Baber said. “That was a lifestyle I should never have been exposed to.”
The classes — they did word search puzzles in history, she said — left Ms. Baber far behind when she returned to high school.
It was difficult to maintain good hygiene.
“The shampoo made our hair come out in clumps,” she said. “I had my hair put in box braids so I wouldn’t have to wash it as much.
“My caseworker told me to take the braids out of my hair because Judge Ciavarella wouldn’t talk to kids with braids in their hair because he thought they had a bad attitude.”
After serving her time, Ms. Baber switched schools and moved in with her father in the Lake-Lehman area. The rumors followed her. She transferred again before her senior year, this time to Bishop O’Reilly High School.
“I think people who I went to high school with today still believe I stabbed my mom,” Ms. Baber said.
Ms. Baber is now a senior studying biology at Delaware Valley College. She wants to become a veterinarian. The few friends she’s told about her stint in Camp Adams hardly believe it.
“If you really think about it, I don’t think that’s a crime,” Ms. Baber said. “People get hit by pillows every day. I would never mean to hurt my mother.”
Bree McCabe, 20
Michelle McCabe is living a mother’s nightmare: her daughter is homeless and far from her friends and family. McCabe blames the years Bree spent in juvenile detention centers like Pennsylvania Child Care.
“She has no idea of how to function without someone telling her what to do from the moment she wakes up,” Ms. McCabe, who was interviewed on Bree’s behalf, said. “That’s going to make anyone a little crazy, when you’re torn away from your family and locked up. I firmly believe that had Bree been with me, she wouldn’t be where she is today.”
Bree was 13 when she was in a shoving match at Crestwood High School. It was her first offense. She violated her probation by smoking marijuana and would later spend five years in and out of various facilities across the country. Judge Ciavarella sentenced her every time, Ms. McCabe said.
Her mother believes Bree missed out on normal high school experiences. Instead of learning how to do simple tasks such as writing checks, she learned how to hustle cigarettes.
“She missed all these things, and it’s really taken its toll,” Ms. McCabe said. “She has zero self-esteem. She does wrong because she doesn’t know any different.”
Bree lives in southern New Jersey and has no job prospects. Ms. McCabe wonders if her daughter will ever lead a normal life.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from,” Ms. McCabe said. “You trust the system, and the system screws you.”
Jesse Miers, 19
Jesse Miers was 17 when a friend’s younger brother showed him a stolen gun.
Mr. Miers, of Exeter, considered himself a mentor to the 13-year-old boy, who wanted to threaten bullies with the gun.
“He wanted to take the gun and kill someone,” Mr. Miers said. “What if it happened? That would have been on my conscience because I could have stopped it. So I did.”
He took the gun away from the boy and gave the gun to his boss, who told Mr. Miers he would take care of it.
Months later, Mr. Miers was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm. He was ordered to appear before Judge Ciavarella and spent a week in the Pittston Twp. detention center, awaiting a hearing.
“Immediately, I wanted a lawyer,” he said. “I was charged with a felony. I wanted a lawyer to represent me. The hearing came; one never showed up.”
Mr. Miers wrote a note to Judge Ciavarella.
“He didn’t even read it,” Mr. Miers recalled. “He just put it next to him ... didn’t even bother with it.”
Mr. Miers was shackled and bused to Western Pennsylvania Child Care, where he was to serve three months.
“That place was horrible, fights everywhere,” he said. “I didn’t belong there.”
Mr. Miers was eventually released and put on probation.
“I feel I got in trouble for trying to do the right thing,” Mr. Miers said. “But I feel bad for half these kids. You went there thinking you were going to get a fair trial, that you were going to be heard. Then you got 45 seconds in front of the judge. You got brushed off.”
Paige Cicardo, 18
Paige Cicardo threw a sandal at her mom during an argument.
Judge Ciavarella threw six months back.
Starting in summer 2006, Ms. Cicardo spent her sentence at Western Pennsylvania Child Care and Pennsylvania Child Care. Her mom may have pressed charges to teach her a lesson, Ms. Cicardo said, but not to see her daughter sent away.
“I think it was wrong, because the case wasn’t that bad,” Ms. Cicardo said. “I could see, like, if he wanted to punish me, he could have given me probation or something.”
Going away was difficult, and Ms. Cicardo said she would have done anything to get back home with her family. She didn’t understand why she was locked up with girls who had used drugs, stolen or worked as prostitutes.
Everything was different when she was released. She felt unstable.
Then she moved with her mother to Mount Pocono. She enrolled in school, met her boyfriend and had a baby. Donnivan is 7 months old.
Ms. Cicardo is in her last semester of high school and working a part-time job.
She still thinks her sentence was unjust, but she’s proud of how her life has unfolded.
“I wouldn’t want to change anything, because I believe everything happens for a reason,” she said.
________________
More stories: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/02/22/news/sc_times_trib.20090222.a.pg1.tt22cdjuveniles_s2.2323110_top3.txt
Family Still Looking for Justice for Anita Gay
Family, friends, and supporters against police brutality gathered on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, and Ashby Avenue in Berkeley on Friday night, to commemorate the one year anniversary of Anita Gay.
The Berkeley police shot Gay in the back, but the reason behind the shooting is still unclear. According to the police, Gay had a knife and the officer, Rashawn Cummings, pulled the trigger to prevent Gay from harming her daughters. Gay's family says that she was old and did not have a knife, nor did they feel that police needed to shoot because Gay was complying with the officer's requests.
The vigil was not only to remember Gay, but the many others who lost their lives to police brutality. Supporters held up signs to commemorate the death of Oscar Grant who was shot and killed by BART police at the Fruitvale station on New Years day, as well as the names of other victims.
"This cause is important to me because it affects my community," said Rachel Reynolds from Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, (ANSWER), "I think the police if in theory they are supposed to protect and serve, then they really should not have killed nearly as many people as they did in the last year."
Supporters say that police brutality affects the community as a whole, and needs to end. Gay's family said that the shooting took a toll on them.
"My family, we were devastated," Patricia Johnson, Anita Gay's sister said, "They didn't have the courtesy to call my mother, they still haven't called my mother and it's been a year. They really need to be accountable for their actions, just like me and you."
The crowd cheered and shouted, "No Justice, No Peace," as people honked their car horns or watched the protest from stoplights. At 6:00 p.m., supporters lit candles and took a moment to reflect.
Gay's sister and granddaughter thanked the supporters for attending the vigil. Even though the event was postponed on Monday due to rain, the family says that they will be out every year to remember those who died from police brutality.
_________
http://xpress.sfsu.edu
The Berkeley police shot Gay in the back, but the reason behind the shooting is still unclear. According to the police, Gay had a knife and the officer, Rashawn Cummings, pulled the trigger to prevent Gay from harming her daughters. Gay's family says that she was old and did not have a knife, nor did they feel that police needed to shoot because Gay was complying with the officer's requests.
The vigil was not only to remember Gay, but the many others who lost their lives to police brutality. Supporters held up signs to commemorate the death of Oscar Grant who was shot and killed by BART police at the Fruitvale station on New Years day, as well as the names of other victims.
"This cause is important to me because it affects my community," said Rachel Reynolds from Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, (ANSWER), "I think the police if in theory they are supposed to protect and serve, then they really should not have killed nearly as many people as they did in the last year."
Supporters say that police brutality affects the community as a whole, and needs to end. Gay's family said that the shooting took a toll on them.
"My family, we were devastated," Patricia Johnson, Anita Gay's sister said, "They didn't have the courtesy to call my mother, they still haven't called my mother and it's been a year. They really need to be accountable for their actions, just like me and you."
The crowd cheered and shouted, "No Justice, No Peace," as people honked their car horns or watched the protest from stoplights. At 6:00 p.m., supporters lit candles and took a moment to reflect.
Gay's sister and granddaughter thanked the supporters for attending the vigil. Even though the event was postponed on Monday due to rain, the family says that they will be out every year to remember those who died from police brutality.
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http://xpress.sfsu.edu
Mayor and Police Chief Miles Jenkins Arrested for Corruption
The mayor and police chief of a federally funded Louisiana speed trap town were arrested Wednesday on felony corruption charges. A Tensas Parish Grand Jury indicted Waterproof Mayor Bobby Higginbotham for felony theft, malfeasance in office, payroll fraud and using public funds for personal use. Waterproof Police Chief Miles Jenkins faces three felony counts for receiving bonuses for meeting traffic ticket quotas and altering traffic citations. The activities of both officials were fueled by federal taxpayer dollars.
In 2007, Higginbotham received $37,500 from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development's Community Facilities Program for the purchase of two police cars fully equipped with the latest speed detection equipment. Higginbotham ordered Miles to use these vehicles to prey on State Highway 65 travelers as the speed limit dropped without warning to 45 MPH within the town limits.
"They have the nicest police cars in Louisiana," one commenter on the National Motorists Association Speed Trap Exchange website observed. "However they are the most unprofessionally dressed cops I've ever seen."
Even before the arrival of the new cruisers, Waterproof earned 37 percent of its budget from speeding tickets, according to a 2007 report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Higginbotham and Jenkins are out on bond awaiting trial. Louisiana State Police officials say the investigation into their activities is ongoing.
Other Information:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/25/2599.asp
In 2007, Higginbotham received $37,500 from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development's Community Facilities Program for the purchase of two police cars fully equipped with the latest speed detection equipment. Higginbotham ordered Miles to use these vehicles to prey on State Highway 65 travelers as the speed limit dropped without warning to 45 MPH within the town limits.
"They have the nicest police cars in Louisiana," one commenter on the National Motorists Association Speed Trap Exchange website observed. "However they are the most unprofessionally dressed cops I've ever seen."
Even before the arrival of the new cruisers, Waterproof earned 37 percent of its budget from speeding tickets, according to a 2007 report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Higginbotham and Jenkins are out on bond awaiting trial. Louisiana State Police officials say the investigation into their activities is ongoing.
Other Information:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/25/2599.asp
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sgt Sid Jackson Arrested for Drunk Driving
IOWA CITY, Iowa
An Iowa City police sergeant has been charged with drunken driving and interference with official acts.
Police say that Sgt. Sid Jackson was arrested early Saturday by University of Iowa police after an officer saw him sitting in his car with the door open.
Police say that Jackson denied he was driving, refused to take a breath test and fought with officers when they tried to put him in a patrol car. A police report says Jackson was injured in the struggle.
Police would not say whether Jackson was on duty, but the Iowa City Police Department Web site shows he is assigned to the overnight shift.
Iowa City police Lt. Doug Hart says the department is conducting an internal investigation into the incident.
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http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20090222/NEWS01/902220320/1079
An Iowa City police sergeant has been charged with drunken driving and interference with official acts.
Police say that Sgt. Sid Jackson was arrested early Saturday by University of Iowa police after an officer saw him sitting in his car with the door open.
Police say that Jackson denied he was driving, refused to take a breath test and fought with officers when they tried to put him in a patrol car. A police report says Jackson was injured in the struggle.
Police would not say whether Jackson was on duty, but the Iowa City Police Department Web site shows he is assigned to the overnight shift.
Iowa City police Lt. Doug Hart says the department is conducting an internal investigation into the incident.
________________
http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20090222/NEWS01/902220320/1079
Cpl Anthony Williams Fired Again for Sex Charges
In 1992, a woman told police that the man fondled her while her 6-year-old child watched. In 1995, a high school student told police she'd been sleeping with him since she was 16.
In 1996, investigators concluded he'd had sex with a woman while on duty. He was fired from his job – as a Dallas police officer – but Senior Cpl. Anthony Williams was reinstated after appealing the decision.
He went on to be accused and investigated again and again for allegedly making improper advances, some while on duty. Each time, Williams denied any inappropriate behavior. Each time, he was cleared or faced minor discipline.
The latest complaint about a sexual advance led to his firing last month for, among other things, failing to respond to an emergency call. The Williams case may test whether numerous complaints in the career of an officer can merit the loss of his job when the findings of misconduct in an individual case might not typically lead to firing.
Law enforcement experts see Williams' 20-year career as a prime example of a problem police departments have faced for years: How does a city rid itself of an officer whose record is riddled with serious misconduct allegations if you can't prove he's guilty or if he keeps getting his job back?
Anthony Williams
The experts cite lack of evidence, questionable witnesses and sloppy investigations as key hurdles to keeping problematic officers off the streets. An appeals system that in the past has overturned many firings exacerbated the difficulties. David Kunkle has seen 12 of his 62 firings reversed since he became Dallas police chief nearly five years ago.
Keeping an officer on the job after he's been repeatedly investigated has its own risks.
"You are opening yourself up to huge lawsuits and one of the charges will be negligent retention, which means that you knew you shouldn't keep this person as a police officer but you did it anyway," said Penny Harrington, an expert on police employee misconduct and former chief of the Portland Police Department in Oregon.
Williams declined repeated interview requests. Phil Burleson Jr., Williams' attorney, said he is innocent of the allegation that led to his firing last month.
"It's just an irate girlfriend; I don't understand the big deal on this one," said Burleson. "We believe that the termination was not justified."
Of the other complaints during Williams' career, Burleson said, "He says they've all been fully investigated and found that he didn't commit those allegations."
Lessons in Army
Before he was hired by the Dallas Police Department in 1989, background investigators learned that Williams, a Cincinnati native, had resigned as a first lieutenant in the Army rather than face a court-martial or other discipline for having sex with a married soldier.
He wrote to his military commanders that he'd thought the woman was divorced and had learned an unforgettable lesson.
In August 1992, Bridget Bell complained that he made sexual advances to her after he went to her home on a harassment call. Bell told investigators that Williams fondled her as her 6-year-old son watched.
She said he flattered her and asked her whether she was married or seeing anyone. She said they began a brief sexual relationship.
Williams denied doing anything inappropriate while on duty. Bell eventually stopped cooperating with investigators, and the investigation ended with a finding of "unfounded." She could not be reached for comment.
It was a pattern that would be repeated. Some women failed to follow through on their complaints, or their word was considered questionable by investigators.
Predators often choose women who aren't viewed as credible, said Kimberly Lonsway, a psychologist and expert on police sexual misconduct.
"If you're going to engage in sexual misconduct, are you going to do it against a nun or are you doing to do it to someone who people don't see as credible?" Lonsway said. "It's a way that these guys can keep on doing this."
On July 30, 1994, Williams went to the home of 16-year-old Tarria "Cookey" Newsome, who called 911 to report an attempted molestation. Tarria later told investigators that shortly after Williams left her home, he called her to ask when they could "hook up."
She said that several days later he took her to his house, where they began having sex. Tarria told investigators the relationship lasted a few months.
She also said she had a special way of contacting him: After her grandmother dropped her off at school, she would page him with a "3" – their signal that all was clear for him to pick her up in his squad car and take her to his home.
"I did this because my grandmother would not approve of Tony," Tarria wrote to investigators.
Tarria's grandmother, Laverne Carter, complained to police commanders about the relationship.
"We told him that he didn't need to be going with her," she said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
Carter is adamant that Williams started having sex with Tarria when she was underage. Carter said she did not see them having sex, but she said Tarria told her about the relationship.
But Williams told investigators that he didn't have sex with Tarria until after she turned 17 and denied ever having sex while on duty.
Public integrity investigators wrote that they believed that the relationship began when she was 16, and they sought to charge him with criminal sexual assault. But a grand jury declined to indict him and a police internal investigation ended with a finding of "inconclusive."
The standards for criminal law – in which a person is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt – are different from civil procedures that are the final threshold for disciplining an officer.
In administrative investigations, there is generally a lower "preponderance of evidence" standard.
But in this investigation, internal affairs detectives concluded that there was not enough evidence to prove that Williams had sex with Tarria while on duty or before she turned 17.
Even though her grandmother insists Tarria was a minor. "He set up in my house, and I told him she was 16 years old," she recalled.
Kunkle said that when he became chief in 2004, he found a severely backlogged internal affairs unit, with investigations lingering for as long as two years. Investigators often focused on peripheral issues rather than on serious misconduct allegations.
Today, improvements include typically more thorough investigations that are completed in a more timely fashion. But over the years, there has been a tacit admission that some investigations may have been sloppy.
"You've got to have evidence to make the discipline stick," said Sam Walker, a national police accountability expert. "You've got to have good investigations to develop the evidence that will make the case."
Tarria died in October 2000. She was shot in the head by her boyfriend as they argued while smoking PCP-laced marijuana at Glendale Park on Ledbetter Road in southeast Oak Cliff. Her body was dumped in a creek. A gold necklace, with a pendant spelling out "Cookey," was snatched from her neck and pawned.
First firing
In 1996, Sonya Cleveland told investigators that Williams, whom she'd known for a few years, gave her a ride from a store to the Circle Inn Motel on South Ewing Avenue in north Oak Cliff.
"He was gonna help me get an apartment and a job and help me look nice and all this," she told police investigators.
They returned to her room and had sex, she said. "It didn't last that long and he got up and he put his uniform back on and left," she told investigators.
Cleveland told investigators that afterward, she left the area where she'd been staying because she feared Williams would arrest her on prostitution charges.
She didn't complain to police, but hotel officials did. A maintenance worker told investigators he saw Williams having sex with Cleveland.
Williams denied having sex with her that day but admitted they had a prior sexual encounter.
Police Chief Ben Click fired Williams in January 1997, a month after the investigation concluded. A civil service trial board reinstated him five months later, publicly offering no reason for its ruling.
Click, now an independent police consultant, said he is still infuriated that Williams got his job back.
"How much damage does this guy get to do to the reputation of the department before you finally wind up having enough evidence to get rid of him?" Click said.
In the past, officers fired for serious misconduct were frequently reinstated by administrative law judges, civil service boards or other city officials. Usually, on appeal the decision-maker found that the burden of proof had not been met or punishment was too harsh. Often, no reason was cited for reinstatement.
"Those are the ones that have always bothered me," said Kunkle. "As a chief, I am held accountable. I'm the one who is going to have to go in front of community groups, deal with media stories and also very likely be sued if there is inappropriate police behavior."
Reforms
Two reforms have more recently sharply reduced the likelihood of reinstatement: The city manager now hears all first-round appeals of fired officers, rather than assistant city managers.
And changes to the city charter in 2005 gave civil service trial boards and administrative law judges less discretion in reversing disciplinary decisions during appeals. Previously, they had determined whether discipline was "just and equitable." Now the disciplinary action must be upheld "if a reasonable person could have taken the same disciplinary action against the employee."
When a firing doesn't stick, chiefs can transfer an officer to a position with little public contact.
"It's difficult and probably impossible for the officer to challenge," said Walker, the police accountability expert. "It also sends a message you're not going anywhere on this department."
Dallas has a history of stashing problematic officers in out-of-the way spots, such as the property room, communications and the auto pound. But "increasingly there's fewer and fewer spots," Kunkle said.
And experts say keeping them around creates the potential for other problems.
After Williams returned to work, he was transferred from one patrol division to another. But the complaints continued, including a 2004 case in which a woman alleged that Williams came to her house uninvited while on duty, began to undress, and wanted sex. He denied it.
When a department can't prove more serious misconduct, said Walker, then departments should consider the Al Capone lesson: Capone was convicted of tax evasion and not of the many more serious crimes he was thought to have committed.
"If you can't get them on their primary offense, you get them on something that's related," said Walker, author of the book The New World of Police Accountability.
Dallas' personnel rules don't prohibit taking an officer's entire complaint history into account when meting out discipline, but attorneys for fired officers can fight to keep unsustained allegations from being entered into evidence during appeals.
"There are due process concerns about using prior unproved acts to prove the current act," said Richard Rosenthal, independent police monitor for Denver. "It's permitted in certain circumstances, but it's got to be very convincing. More often than not, you cannot do it."
Kunkle will not comment specifically on Williams' case, but it appears that his entire record may have been taken into consideration in the run up to his latest firing.
In November 2007, Williams responded to a 911 call at the apartment of Felisha Taylor.
She told investigators that from then until February 2008, she and Williams would have sex while he was on duty, usually every other Thursday, Friday and Monday. He would remain 15 to 20 minutes each visit, she said.
Investigators found that he "marked out" – or assigned himself – to her apartment complex four times during that period. On four other occasions, he assigned himself to where he lived. All eight incidents were on Thursday, Friday or Monday, lasting between 20 and 40 minutes.
Williams admitted having sex with the woman. Again, he denied having sex while on duty.
He said he'd only been to her apartment once while on duty, to use the bathroom. Witnesses told investigators they'd seen him going to her apartment several times.
On June 19, 2008, Williams was on duty when he went to Taylor's apartment complex to confront her because he believed she'd slashed his tires. She said he blocked her car as he argued with her in front of her children. The loud argument, witnessed by a neighbor, lasted for an hour and a half.
During that exchange, Williams received a call to check on a residential burglary alarm. He never answered the call, records show.
Again, investigators concluded they couldn't prove sexual misconduct allegations. But they concluded, among other things, that he violated policy when he failed to answer the burglary alarm call, didn't devote full attention to his job and became involved in an on-duty disturbance.
Williams' supervisors, from sergeant all the way up to his assistant chief, recommended he be fired. Calvin Cunigan, who retired recently as head of the internal affairs department, also took the unusual step of writing a six-page memo that outlined the prior sexual misconduct allegations against Williams.
Click said Williams should be fired.
"You don't have anything to lose," he said. "When you get a guy with that kind of history of sexually related allegations, how much work is the guy doing out there? You make that decision and then you defend it the best you can. Who knows, maybe you do get it upheld."
Kunkle fired Williams on Jan. 29. Burleson said Williams plans to appeal. No date has been set for his hearing before City Manager Mary Suhm.
Taylor said she expects Williams will get his job back.
"I really do believe that," Taylor said in an interview with The News. "He's just going to continue doing what he's doing."
COMPLAINTS BETWEEN WILLIAMS' FIRINGS
Between his first firing in January 1997 and the November 2007 events that led to his most recent firing, Senior Cpl. Anthony Williams was investigated several more times:
•In 1999, a woman wrote to complain that Williams, who had investigated a hit-and-run accident in which she was the victim, called her and "had the audacity to tell me ... that he was going to ask me out on a date." Williams told investigators that he thought he was talking to a different woman, and the investigation ended with a finding of inconclusive.
•In 2000, Williams warned a woman that the vice squad was planning to investigate fliers that had been posted around an apartment complex advertising her fee-for-sex services. She said he then called her two days later, asking if he could come over "to suck on a breast or two," she wrote in her statement to investigators. He denied any wrongdoing. Investigators also found that Williams lied to them. He was suspended for five days.
•In 2004, a woman filed a sexual misconduct complaint against Williams after she said he went to her apartment while on duty and began to undress because he wanted to have sex. Williams didn't deny they had a relationship, but he denied going to her house that day and having sex while on duty. Investigators couldn't prove the allegations, but he received a minor form of discipline for being in the area when he should have been elsewhere.
•In 2005, a woman complained that Williams had threatened to take her son to juvenile detention if she didn't have sex with him. But the woman did not make herself available for interviews with public integrity detectives and the investigation was closed.
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SOURCE: Dallas Police Department documents
Other Information: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6275551.html
Officer Meredith Shook Charged with DUI
SEYMOUR
Police arrested one of their own officers Thursday and charged her with driving under the influence after crashing her personal SUV while off duty last month.
Meredith Shook, 33, of Humphrey Street, was also charged with risk of injury to a minor and failure to drive in the proper lane after the Jan. 15 incident. She was released on a written promise to appear March 2 at Derby Superior Court.
Lt. Paul Satkowski, the department's spokesman, said that Shook had been placed on paid administrative leave Friday, but declined to comment further on the investigation.
It remained unclear Friday why Shook was charged with risk of injury to a minor, or if police had conducted a breathalyzer test at the scene of the incident last month. Police also would not explain why it took more than month to file charges against Shook.
At about 11:36 p.m. on Jan. 15, Shook was driving her Ford Explorer south on Derby Avenue close to the Tri-Town Plaza when police said the SUV Shook, along with two other Seymour officers, was the subject of an internal affairs investigation in September 2006 after police were called to the Derby home of state police Trooper Karen Nixon, where Shook and Sgt. Richard Gittings were having drinks.
According to the investigation, Nixon felt threatened when Officer Thomas Scharf sent text messages to Shook and later drove by the residence.
Gittings left the premises before police arrived and later agreed to forfeit four days' vacation pay in connection with the incident. The investigation was later closed and no charges were filed against Shook or Scharf.
_____________
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/02/21/news/valley/b2-secopleave.txt
Police arrested one of their own officers Thursday and charged her with driving under the influence after crashing her personal SUV while off duty last month.
Meredith Shook, 33, of Humphrey Street, was also charged with risk of injury to a minor and failure to drive in the proper lane after the Jan. 15 incident. She was released on a written promise to appear March 2 at Derby Superior Court.
Lt. Paul Satkowski, the department's spokesman, said that Shook had been placed on paid administrative leave Friday, but declined to comment further on the investigation.
It remained unclear Friday why Shook was charged with risk of injury to a minor, or if police had conducted a breathalyzer test at the scene of the incident last month. Police also would not explain why it took more than month to file charges against Shook.
At about 11:36 p.m. on Jan. 15, Shook was driving her Ford Explorer south on Derby Avenue close to the Tri-Town Plaza when police said the SUV Shook, along with two other Seymour officers, was the subject of an internal affairs investigation in September 2006 after police were called to the Derby home of state police Trooper Karen Nixon, where Shook and Sgt. Richard Gittings were having drinks.
According to the investigation, Nixon felt threatened when Officer Thomas Scharf sent text messages to Shook and later drove by the residence.
Gittings left the premises before police arrived and later agreed to forfeit four days' vacation pay in connection with the incident. The investigation was later closed and no charges were filed against Shook or Scharf.
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http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/02/21/news/valley/b2-secopleave.txt
Friday, February 20, 2009
Const. Andrew Hoglund Went to Far in Tasering Student
Const. Andrew Hoglund was out of line when he Tasered a university student under arrest, a disciplinary hearing ruled.
Presiding officer Supt. Mark Logar ruled yesterday Hoglund lacked lawful or reasonable cause to zap Robert Boik outside the Globe bar near 109 Street and Jasper Avenue at closing time Sept. 4, 2004.
"Const. Hoglund's use of the Taser was not appropriate or necessary," Logar said.
"He used more force than necessary."
The disciplinary hearing heard Hoglund deployed his Taser gun as two other constables were arresting Boik about 2 a.m.
Boik's pal, who had just been in a scuffle with a group of men, was also arrested.
As the pair of cops cuffed Boik, a third constable emerged, zapping the suspect before trotting off into the night.
Hoglund failed to document the use of force, a move that presenting officer Insp. Shane Loxterkamp blasted him for.
"This is a very serious incident," Loxterkamp told the hearing.
"There were no notes. An officer's notes are truly the lifeblood of an investigation."
Loxterkamp also slammed Hoglund for using a Taser without good reason.
That was an opinion Logar sided with when he sentenced Hoglund to a 35-hour suspension without pay.
"That is the appropriate punishment," Logar said. "He, in essence, created the misfortune for himself."
Following the hearing, Boik, the 28-year-old victim, said he was relieved to see the matter brought to its conclusion.
But he said he found the sentence a bit light.
"In a lot of other professions, if you assault someone, you'd lose your job," Boik said. "And in this profession, you get suspended for 35 hours.
"It's absolutely outrageous and ridiculous I was Tasered." Boik said.
Other information:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090220.NATS20-3/TPStory/National
Presiding officer Supt. Mark Logar ruled yesterday Hoglund lacked lawful or reasonable cause to zap Robert Boik outside the Globe bar near 109 Street and Jasper Avenue at closing time Sept. 4, 2004.
"Const. Hoglund's use of the Taser was not appropriate or necessary," Logar said.
"He used more force than necessary."
The disciplinary hearing heard Hoglund deployed his Taser gun as two other constables were arresting Boik about 2 a.m.
Boik's pal, who had just been in a scuffle with a group of men, was also arrested.
As the pair of cops cuffed Boik, a third constable emerged, zapping the suspect before trotting off into the night.
Hoglund failed to document the use of force, a move that presenting officer Insp. Shane Loxterkamp blasted him for.
"This is a very serious incident," Loxterkamp told the hearing.
"There were no notes. An officer's notes are truly the lifeblood of an investigation."
Loxterkamp also slammed Hoglund for using a Taser without good reason.
That was an opinion Logar sided with when he sentenced Hoglund to a 35-hour suspension without pay.
"That is the appropriate punishment," Logar said. "He, in essence, created the misfortune for himself."
Following the hearing, Boik, the 28-year-old victim, said he was relieved to see the matter brought to its conclusion.
But he said he found the sentence a bit light.
"In a lot of other professions, if you assault someone, you'd lose your job," Boik said. "And in this profession, you get suspended for 35 hours.
"It's absolutely outrageous and ridiculous I was Tasered." Boik said.
Other information:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090220.NATS20-3/TPStory/National
Officer Chou Lor Charged with Punching Girlfriend
MILWAUKEE
A Milwaukee police officer faces charges after investigators said he punched his girlfriend.
Chou Lor, 22, is charged with battery and endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon.
Both are misdemeanors.
Lor's girlfriend told officers he got mad at her while they were driving back from his mother's house on Sunday.
She said he pulled over, punched her in the face and then put a gun to her face and threatened her.
A Milwaukee Police Department spokeswoman said Lor has been suspended with pay.
He is a three-year member of the force.
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More Information:
http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/39916982.html
A Milwaukee police officer faces charges after investigators said he punched his girlfriend.
Chou Lor, 22, is charged with battery and endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon.
Both are misdemeanors.
Lor's girlfriend told officers he got mad at her while they were driving back from his mother's house on Sunday.
She said he pulled over, punched her in the face and then put a gun to her face and threatened her.
A Milwaukee Police Department spokeswoman said Lor has been suspended with pay.
He is a three-year member of the force.
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More Information:
http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/39916982.html
Officer Sean Patrick Arrested for Soliciting Sex with Minor
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
A Charleston Police officer is in jail after he was arrested Friday night on sex charges out of Virginia.
Officer Sean Patrick, 30, is accused of soliciting sex with a minor over the Internet. He is facing state charges and was arrested as the result of an FBI investigation that also involved the sheriff's department in Loudoun County, Virginia.
In a news release from the Loudoun County Sheriff's office, Patrick allegedly propositioned over the internet someone he understood to be a 14-year-old girl.
He covered his face as he headed from the Kanawha County Courthouse to a police vehicle Friday night. WSAZ.com was the only news crew to get video of the person believed to be Patrick.
He is a patrolman who's been on the police force since 2005.
A warrant was issued and officer Patrick was arrested when he showed up for his regular shift at the Charleston Police Department Friday night.
Patrick's arraignment at the Kanawha County Courthouse was sealed off from the media. Magistrate Tim Halloran refused any access to the courtroom or paperwork, telling WSAZ that we can pick it up on Monday. WSAZ's crew was told that Halloran ordered the doors locked and no one allowed access to the courtroom.
Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster tells WSAZ that Patrick will be suspended without pay and an internal investigation has already been launched.
Webster also says that he does not have reason to believe that any police department computers were involved in any of the alleged activity, but that will be also part of the investigation.
The charge against Patrick is: usage of a communications system or other electronic means, for the purpose of soliciting, with lascivious intent, a person he knew or had reason to believe was a child under the age of 15. If found guilty, he can face 1 to 10 years behind bars and/or a fine of up to $2,500.
Former Officer Brian Hinkel Faces Several Charges Including Theft
Brian Hinkel, accused of keeping an arsenal of weapons at his Gloucester County home and grabbing for a gun in front of state troopers, has been charged in connection with a theft ring, police said.
Authorities say they believe Hinkel, 59, was involved in an operation that stole up to $75,000 worth of tractors and other equipment from farms. He was charged last week with receiving stolen property.
The former Vineland, N.J., police officer has been held in the Gloucester County Jail since Feb. 4, with bail set at $250,000. He also is charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of assault rifles, possession of a destructive device, and possession of high-capacity magazines.
When two troopers went to Hinkel's Franklinville home last month to question him about his ties to two burglary suspects, he ran from them and picked up a gun from his kitchen before the troopers subdued him, police said.
Police later found 259 handguns and rifles on Hinkel's property, including some hidden in a makeshift bunker, they said. He also had gunpowder, a tear-gas canister, and a live grenade, police said.
Police have arrested several other men in the farm-equipment thefts. Anthony D'Alessandro, 42, of Williamstown, and Peter Monteleone, 44, of Folsom, N.J., are charged with burglary and theft. Carl D'Argenzio, 43, of Turnersville, is charged with fencing and receiving stolen property.
Police are investigating connections between Hinkel and the other men.
Authorities say they believe Hinkel, 59, was involved in an operation that stole up to $75,000 worth of tractors and other equipment from farms. He was charged last week with receiving stolen property.
The former Vineland, N.J., police officer has been held in the Gloucester County Jail since Feb. 4, with bail set at $250,000. He also is charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of assault rifles, possession of a destructive device, and possession of high-capacity magazines.
When two troopers went to Hinkel's Franklinville home last month to question him about his ties to two burglary suspects, he ran from them and picked up a gun from his kitchen before the troopers subdued him, police said.
Police later found 259 handguns and rifles on Hinkel's property, including some hidden in a makeshift bunker, they said. He also had gunpowder, a tear-gas canister, and a live grenade, police said.
Police have arrested several other men in the farm-equipment thefts. Anthony D'Alessandro, 42, of Williamstown, and Peter Monteleone, 44, of Folsom, N.J., are charged with burglary and theft. Carl D'Argenzio, 43, of Turnersville, is charged with fencing and receiving stolen property.
Police are investigating connections between Hinkel and the other men.
Officer Ronald Betts Charged with Felony Theft
Officer Ronald Betts, an Austin city police officer, was charged with felony theft by receiving in a warrant sweep.
No other information currently found.
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http://www.nlrtimes.com/articles/2009/02/20/sherwood_voice/local_news/nws05.txt
No other information currently found.
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http://www.nlrtimes.com/articles/2009/02/20/sherwood_voice/local_news/nws05.txt
More Information on Officer Andrew Barone Charged with Sexual Assault
Police at Central Connecticut State University have charged a Wilton police officer with sexual assault and other crimes that allegedly occurred on the New Britain campus, authorities said.
Andrew Barone turned himself in to campus police, said Mark McLaughlin, a CCSU spokesman.
Barone, who was hired by the Wilton department in January 2008, is on paid administrative leave while an internal affairs investigation is being done, said Capt. Michael Lombardo.
Barone, a CCSU student from 2004 to 2008, is charged with second-degree sexual assault, three counts of third-degree computer crime, eight counts of breach of peace and one count of sixth-degree larceny, according to court records.
He is free on $150,000 bond and is scheduled to appear March 13 in Superior Court in New Britain.
Barone's ex-girlfriend and her sister, who was 16 at the time of the alleged incident, described to police a night of heavy partying about three years ago at CCSU that ended with all three of them falling asleep in a dorm room.
In an arrest warrant affidavit, the sister said that at some point during the night, Barone left the bed he was sharing with his girlfriend and sexually assaulted her.
The younger woman also told police Barone had previously touched her inappropriately when he was visiting her sister at their home.
Barone told police that his girlfriend's sister had been jealous of their relationship and had told lies about him. He said he had passed a polygraph test to become a police officer, which included questions about sexual deviation.
Barone also is accused of posting nude photos on the Web of a female student while on campus in December 2008, McLaughlin said. The arrest warrant affidavit on those charges has yet to be released.
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Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/02/officer-andrew-barone-arrested-for-sex.html
Andrew Barone turned himself in to campus police, said Mark McLaughlin, a CCSU spokesman.
Barone, who was hired by the Wilton department in January 2008, is on paid administrative leave while an internal affairs investigation is being done, said Capt. Michael Lombardo.
Barone, a CCSU student from 2004 to 2008, is charged with second-degree sexual assault, three counts of third-degree computer crime, eight counts of breach of peace and one count of sixth-degree larceny, according to court records.
He is free on $150,000 bond and is scheduled to appear March 13 in Superior Court in New Britain.
Barone's ex-girlfriend and her sister, who was 16 at the time of the alleged incident, described to police a night of heavy partying about three years ago at CCSU that ended with all three of them falling asleep in a dorm room.
In an arrest warrant affidavit, the sister said that at some point during the night, Barone left the bed he was sharing with his girlfriend and sexually assaulted her.
The younger woman also told police Barone had previously touched her inappropriately when he was visiting her sister at their home.
Barone told police that his girlfriend's sister had been jealous of their relationship and had told lies about him. He said he had passed a polygraph test to become a police officer, which included questions about sexual deviation.
Barone also is accused of posting nude photos on the Web of a female student while on campus in December 2008, McLaughlin said. The arrest warrant affidavit on those charges has yet to be released.
______________
Previous Post: http://whathappenedtoprotectandserve.blogspot.com/2009/02/officer-andrew-barone-arrested-for-sex.html
Former Officer Nathan Thomas Arrested for Rape
A former Cleveland police officer, already facing charges related to selling prescription painkillers, now stands charged with two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to District Attorney Steve Bebb.
Nathan Thomas, 37, turned himself in to the Bradley County Jail at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Thomas reportedly posted bond, which was set at $50,000, and was released from jail at 3 p.m. the same day.
Thomas was the second former Cleveland police officer arrested on sex charges Thursday.
Former Cleveland police officer Dennis Hughes turned himself in to the Bradley County Jail Thursday at 10 a.m.
Hughes was charged with three counts of statutory rape, one count of especially aggravated sexual exploitation, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to District Attorney Steve Bebb.
Hughes posted bond, which was set at $100,000, Thursday afternoon. He was released at 1:30 p.m.
A Bradley County grand jury met Thursday morning and indicted Hughes and Thomas on the sex offenses based on an investigation led by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
According to reports, the investigation stemmed from an incident on Jan. 5 when Hughes was arrested on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a 16-year-old girl, who was reported as a runaway.
According to the affidavit of complaint dated Jan. 5, Hughes was observed leaving Thomas' home at 152 Winding Glen Drive N.W. at 12:40 a.m. with the 16-year-old girl in his vehicle.
Bradley County deputies initiated a traffic stop at the intersection of Lauderdale Highway and Mouse Creek Road. When deputies searched Hughes' vehicle, they allegedly found numerous empty and full beer bottles and prescription pill bottles. Deputies also detected both Hughes and the girl had a "strong smell of alcohol about their person."
According to the TBI's search warrant, after the girl was apprehended, she was taken to a hospital for a rape examination.
The examination was reportedly conducted at the request of her parents.
During the examination, the girl reportedly admitted that in the past she had sexual intercourse with Hughes; however, the female said there had been no sexual contact at the time of his arrest Jan. 5.
Through the search warrants, agents with the TBI confiscated a cell phone and computer from Hughes' vehicle. According to the TBI's search warrant, agents performed a forensic examination of the cell phone and "found three pictures of an underage and under-developed female in the nude."
During an interview with Cleveland Police Detective Suzanne Jackson on Jan. 12, the girl reportedly told Jackson the cell phone pictures found in Hughes' possession were allegedly taken by Hughes in a bathroom at Thomas' residence on the night of Jan. 4.
According to the TBI's search warrant, during the interview with Jackson, the girl alleged that on Jan. 4 she and a 17-year-old girl were at the Thomas home.
The 16-year-old girl reportedly told Jackson she engaged in oral sex with Hughes and the 17-year-old engaged in oral sex with Thomas. The 16-year-old reportedly told Jackson she and the 17-year-old were under the influence of alcohol during the incident.
During the search warrant's execution at Thomas' home, TBI agents photographed Thomas' bathrooms to compare with the background of the nude pictures of the 16-year-old girl.
Thomas is scheduled to be arraigned at the Bradley County Criminal Court March 30.
Hughes is scheduled to be arraigned at the Bradley County Criminal Court March 2.
According to Tennessee law, if Hughes and Thomas are convicted they will have to register annually with the state of Tennessee as sex offenders.
Hughes and Thomas continue to be investigated by the TBI, Hughes in connection with the shooting of a city police officer and Thomas for selling prescription painkillers.
According to reports, on Nov. 30, 2008, city police officer Chris Mason and former city police officer Jonathan Hammons, 23, -- who were on duty -- were at the home of Hughes, who was off duty, shortly before midnight.
The men were reportedly looking at a .38 caliber revolver which was possibly for sale. During the handling of the firearm the gun discharged and struck Mason in the hand, Cleveland Police Chief Wes Snyder said in a December 2008 statement.
The incident was initially reported as an accidental shooting; however, after further investigation it was determined Hammons and Hughes allegedly gave investigators false information.
Hammons was arrested Dec. 17, 2008, and was charged with aggravated perjury and filing a false report in connection to the shooting.
Hughes was arrested Dec. 18, 2008, and was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment, aggravated perjury and filing a false report in connection to the shooting.
On the night of the shooting, Nov. 30, 2008, officers found a prescription pill bottle with Thomas' name in Hughes' personal vehicle.
As a result of the shooting investigation, Hughes resigned from the Cleveland Police Department in December 2008.
Hammons and Thomas were dismissed from the department in January.
Thomas was arrested Jan. 5, in connection with a two-year investigation by the 10th Judicial Drug Task Force.
As a result of the investigation, Thomas was charged with prescription fraud, possession of Schedule II and III narcotics for resale and simple possession of a Schedule V narcotic.
According to reports, the Drug Task Force's investigation alleges Thomas was a patient of Dr. James Wallace Sego. Thomas was allegedly prescribed 6,000 oxycodones, 1,100 hydrocodones and 790 Xanax within one year's time by Sego.
Thomas is being accused of selling the prescription painkillers.
Sego practices internal medicine and pain management at Bradley Executive Plaza located at 1510 Stuart Road N.E.
Sego was also arrested Dec. 18, 2008, and charged with felony counts of illegally selling prescription painkillers and other drugs.
Agents with the 10th Judicial Drug Task Force served a search warrant for Thomas' residence on Dec. 12, 2008.
According to the inventory on the search warrant, agents found "a large cardboard box with extremely large amounts of various drugs, samples, etc. (too numerous to list individually)," weapons, syringes and cell phones.
"One white plastic snorting device (ink pen) with yellow residue" was found in the master bedroom in a decorative drawer near the top of the dresser, along with several other items, such as "one prescription box w/1 glass vial inside labeled DEPO-Testosterone."
Among the weapons were two .22-caliber Glenfield rifles, one with a serial number and one without, and a Sig Sauer P2229 .40 caliber.
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Other Information: http://www.newschannel9.com/news/arrest_975865___article.html/cops_girl.html
Nathan Thomas, 37, turned himself in to the Bradley County Jail at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Thomas reportedly posted bond, which was set at $50,000, and was released from jail at 3 p.m. the same day.
Thomas was the second former Cleveland police officer arrested on sex charges Thursday.
Former Cleveland police officer Dennis Hughes turned himself in to the Bradley County Jail Thursday at 10 a.m.
Hughes was charged with three counts of statutory rape, one count of especially aggravated sexual exploitation, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to District Attorney Steve Bebb.
Hughes posted bond, which was set at $100,000, Thursday afternoon. He was released at 1:30 p.m.
A Bradley County grand jury met Thursday morning and indicted Hughes and Thomas on the sex offenses based on an investigation led by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
According to reports, the investigation stemmed from an incident on Jan. 5 when Hughes was arrested on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a 16-year-old girl, who was reported as a runaway.
According to the affidavit of complaint dated Jan. 5, Hughes was observed leaving Thomas' home at 152 Winding Glen Drive N.W. at 12:40 a.m. with the 16-year-old girl in his vehicle.
Bradley County deputies initiated a traffic stop at the intersection of Lauderdale Highway and Mouse Creek Road. When deputies searched Hughes' vehicle, they allegedly found numerous empty and full beer bottles and prescription pill bottles. Deputies also detected both Hughes and the girl had a "strong smell of alcohol about their person."
According to the TBI's search warrant, after the girl was apprehended, she was taken to a hospital for a rape examination.
The examination was reportedly conducted at the request of her parents.
During the examination, the girl reportedly admitted that in the past she had sexual intercourse with Hughes; however, the female said there had been no sexual contact at the time of his arrest Jan. 5.
Through the search warrants, agents with the TBI confiscated a cell phone and computer from Hughes' vehicle. According to the TBI's search warrant, agents performed a forensic examination of the cell phone and "found three pictures of an underage and under-developed female in the nude."
During an interview with Cleveland Police Detective Suzanne Jackson on Jan. 12, the girl reportedly told Jackson the cell phone pictures found in Hughes' possession were allegedly taken by Hughes in a bathroom at Thomas' residence on the night of Jan. 4.
According to the TBI's search warrant, during the interview with Jackson, the girl alleged that on Jan. 4 she and a 17-year-old girl were at the Thomas home.
The 16-year-old girl reportedly told Jackson she engaged in oral sex with Hughes and the 17-year-old engaged in oral sex with Thomas. The 16-year-old reportedly told Jackson she and the 17-year-old were under the influence of alcohol during the incident.
During the search warrant's execution at Thomas' home, TBI agents photographed Thomas' bathrooms to compare with the background of the nude pictures of the 16-year-old girl.
Thomas is scheduled to be arraigned at the Bradley County Criminal Court March 30.
Hughes is scheduled to be arraigned at the Bradley County Criminal Court March 2.
According to Tennessee law, if Hughes and Thomas are convicted they will have to register annually with the state of Tennessee as sex offenders.
Hughes and Thomas continue to be investigated by the TBI, Hughes in connection with the shooting of a city police officer and Thomas for selling prescription painkillers.
According to reports, on Nov. 30, 2008, city police officer Chris Mason and former city police officer Jonathan Hammons, 23, -- who were on duty -- were at the home of Hughes, who was off duty, shortly before midnight.
The men were reportedly looking at a .38 caliber revolver which was possibly for sale. During the handling of the firearm the gun discharged and struck Mason in the hand, Cleveland Police Chief Wes Snyder said in a December 2008 statement.
The incident was initially reported as an accidental shooting; however, after further investigation it was determined Hammons and Hughes allegedly gave investigators false information.
Hammons was arrested Dec. 17, 2008, and was charged with aggravated perjury and filing a false report in connection to the shooting.
Hughes was arrested Dec. 18, 2008, and was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment, aggravated perjury and filing a false report in connection to the shooting.
On the night of the shooting, Nov. 30, 2008, officers found a prescription pill bottle with Thomas' name in Hughes' personal vehicle.
As a result of the shooting investigation, Hughes resigned from the Cleveland Police Department in December 2008.
Hammons and Thomas were dismissed from the department in January.
Thomas was arrested Jan. 5, in connection with a two-year investigation by the 10th Judicial Drug Task Force.
As a result of the investigation, Thomas was charged with prescription fraud, possession of Schedule II and III narcotics for resale and simple possession of a Schedule V narcotic.
According to reports, the Drug Task Force's investigation alleges Thomas was a patient of Dr. James Wallace Sego. Thomas was allegedly prescribed 6,000 oxycodones, 1,100 hydrocodones and 790 Xanax within one year's time by Sego.
Thomas is being accused of selling the prescription painkillers.
Sego practices internal medicine and pain management at Bradley Executive Plaza located at 1510 Stuart Road N.E.
Sego was also arrested Dec. 18, 2008, and charged with felony counts of illegally selling prescription painkillers and other drugs.
Agents with the 10th Judicial Drug Task Force served a search warrant for Thomas' residence on Dec. 12, 2008.
According to the inventory on the search warrant, agents found "a large cardboard box with extremely large amounts of various drugs, samples, etc. (too numerous to list individually)," weapons, syringes and cell phones.
"One white plastic snorting device (ink pen) with yellow residue" was found in the master bedroom in a decorative drawer near the top of the dresser, along with several other items, such as "one prescription box w/1 glass vial inside labeled DEPO-Testosterone."
Among the weapons were two .22-caliber Glenfield rifles, one with a serial number and one without, and a Sig Sauer P2229 .40 caliber.
*********************
Other Information: http://www.newschannel9.com/news/arrest_975865___article.html/cops_girl.html
Four Officers Prank Goes Wrong, One Officer Arrested
GRETNA, La.
A Gretna police officer is under arrest and three others have been fired over what the police chief said was "a practical joke that went way too far."
Chief Arthur Lawson said the incident stems from a prank at a bar in December.
The four officers allegedly took part in a prank to hide someone’s motorcycle. Investigators said that the motorcycle was reported stolen after it was hidden, and Officer Gustavo Rivera, as well as the other three officers, denied any knowledge of the event.
Surveillance footage from the bar proves otherwise, investigators said.
"I guess the practical joke got out of hand and turned into criminal activity," Lawson. "Not only was the officer knowledgeable, but he knew the individual on the motorcycle."
The investigation is being handled by Gretna police and the Westbank Major Crimes Task Force.
"As I said in a recent interview, ‘Yes, it's a sad day, but something that I’m proud of. No one else has to arrest our officers we arrest our own,’" Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said.
The motorcycle has since been recovered.
"I think it sends a message that this type of criminal activity will not be tolerated," Lawson said.
The chief said that if the officers had just owned up to the prank, the proceedings never would have arrived at this point.
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Video: http://www.wdsu.com/video/18763047/index.html
More Information: http://www.wdsu.com/video/18763047/index.html
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I almost have to disagree on this one. It was just a PRANK that went too far. I don't think they need to lose their job because of this or be arrested. As long as it was between friends they need to apologize and move on.
I've done something similar to this with a friends car several years ago as a prank. We (other friends) laughed our ass off until an officer pulled up and our friend quickly went to tell the officer that his van just got stolen. I had to quickly rush to the scene and stop the proceedings before it became worse. The officer was pissed when I told him it was just a prank, but we quickly went on our way without a charge.
Damn...what's the world coming too when I'm on their side?...lol.
A Gretna police officer is under arrest and three others have been fired over what the police chief said was "a practical joke that went way too far."
Chief Arthur Lawson said the incident stems from a prank at a bar in December.
The four officers allegedly took part in a prank to hide someone’s motorcycle. Investigators said that the motorcycle was reported stolen after it was hidden, and Officer Gustavo Rivera, as well as the other three officers, denied any knowledge of the event.
Surveillance footage from the bar proves otherwise, investigators said.
"I guess the practical joke got out of hand and turned into criminal activity," Lawson. "Not only was the officer knowledgeable, but he knew the individual on the motorcycle."
The investigation is being handled by Gretna police and the Westbank Major Crimes Task Force.
"As I said in a recent interview, ‘Yes, it's a sad day, but something that I’m proud of. No one else has to arrest our officers we arrest our own,’" Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said.
The motorcycle has since been recovered.
"I think it sends a message that this type of criminal activity will not be tolerated," Lawson said.
The chief said that if the officers had just owned up to the prank, the proceedings never would have arrived at this point.
_______________
Video: http://www.wdsu.com/video/18763047/index.html
More Information: http://www.wdsu.com/video/18763047/index.html
*******************
I almost have to disagree on this one. It was just a PRANK that went too far. I don't think they need to lose their job because of this or be arrested. As long as it was between friends they need to apologize and move on.
I've done something similar to this with a friends car several years ago as a prank. We (other friends) laughed our ass off until an officer pulled up and our friend quickly went to tell the officer that his van just got stolen. I had to quickly rush to the scene and stop the proceedings before it became worse. The officer was pissed when I told him it was just a prank, but we quickly went on our way without a charge.
Damn...what's the world coming too when I'm on their side?...lol.
Officer Robert Gordon and Wife Charged with Stealing from Wal-Mart
A Baltimore police officer and his wife were charged with attempting to steal more than $1,100 worth of items from a Wal-Mart in Owings Mills earlier this week, authorities said today.
Store security guards stopped the officer, Robert H. Gordon, 44, and Daniella Gordon, 40, outside the store after watching them leaving with the items, Baltimore County police said. The couple had purchased about $150 worth of goods — mostly household items such as cleaning supplies, clothing and food — and tried to hide other items beneath the ones they purchased, according to Bill Toohey, a Baltimore County police spokesman.
Store security called county police, who arrested the Baltimore County residents and charged them with theft of goods valued over $500. Both were released on their own recognizance, according to electronic court records. Their trial is scheduled for April 28.
Nicole Monroe, a city police spokeswoman, said Robert Gordon, a 16-year veteran, has been suspended.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29285547/
Store security guards stopped the officer, Robert H. Gordon, 44, and Daniella Gordon, 40, outside the store after watching them leaving with the items, Baltimore County police said. The couple had purchased about $150 worth of goods — mostly household items such as cleaning supplies, clothing and food — and tried to hide other items beneath the ones they purchased, according to Bill Toohey, a Baltimore County police spokesman.
Store security called county police, who arrested the Baltimore County residents and charged them with theft of goods valued over $500. Both were released on their own recognizance, according to electronic court records. Their trial is scheduled for April 28.
Nicole Monroe, a city police spokeswoman, said Robert Gordon, a 16-year veteran, has been suspended.
________________
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29285547/
Officer Thomas Sanders Alleged Shot Unarmed Man in Back Wants Officers Names Withheld
A Baltimore police officer charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a civilian last year said in court filings that the Police Department's new policy of not releasing names of officers involved in shootings has "reignited" residents' distrust of police and hurts his ability to receive a fair trial.
Officer Thomas Sanders, who is alleged to have shot an unarmed man in the back on Jan. 30, 2008, said in court filings that there "currently exists an extremely volatile climate in Baltimore City in which citizens of Baltimore do not trust the Baltimore Police Department."
He said in the Feb. 4 court filing that the department's policy of not naming officers involved in shootings unless internal investigations determine that they erred has worsened that climate and -- because the department named him -- implies that he is guilty.
He said that makes it difficult for him to obtain a fair jury trial in the city and asked for a change of venue, which prosecutors plan to oppose.
Police declined to comment on the motion, citing a policy against discussing pending litigation. Though the motion is filed by an attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police, the union's president said Friday that the group maintains support for restricting access to the names.
Baltimore police had routinely named officers involved in shootings for decades, but in January, the department adopted a new policy to restrict release of their identities. Police say their new policy is similar to those in New York and other major cities and is designed to prevent retaliation against officers.
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III and other department officials have said they will continue to name officers involved in shootings they find to be unjustified after an internal investigation. When questioned about the policy at a recent City Council hearing, Bealefeld referred to the Sanders case as proof that the department will name names in such instances.
He has cited Sanders' indictment as showing that the department will rigorously investigate police-involved shootings and sanction officers when necessary.
The policy has come under fire from the Maryland branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and some local elected officials, who say it cloaks police activity behind a layer of secrecy and diminishes trust between the department and the community.
"The citizens of Baltimore are entitled to be able to make their own judgments about what the police are doing and how they're doing it, and shouldn't have to rely on the good graces of the city Police Department to keep them informed," said David Rocah, a staff attorney with the ACLU.
"Let's remember: The police work for us. They are not some independent entity to which we are beholden."
The motion by Sanders came to light as details continued to emerge in Tuesday night's fatal shooting of 61-year-old Joseph Forrest in East Baltimore by two police officers.
The Baltimore Sun has learned that one of the officers who shot Forrest had also allegedly been attacked by a second man, the victim's nephew, Joseph Forrest Jr.
Police said the 45-year-old stepped on Officer Traci L. McKissick's hand at the direction of his uncle in an attempt to disarm her. The younger Forrest was arrested at the scene and charged with assault and disarming a law enforcement officer. He remains jailed without bond.
After initial inquiries about the shooting, the younger Forrest's involvement was not disclosed by police, who had limited the release of information in an attempt to prevent McKissick's name from becoming public.
Candles, balloons and teddy bears were placed outside of Forrest's home on North Lakewood Avenue Friday, and a sign in his window reads, "We all miss you."
Forrest's family is questioning why he was shot, reportedly as many as a dozen times, after being struck in the upper body and after McKissick had recovered her weapon.
But relatives were unable to clarify how Forrest, affectionately known as "Uncle Snicker," got into the scuffle in the first place, only offering that he might have reached for her weapon during the scrum because he felt his life was in danger.
Police said they responded to a domestic call in the area, and at some point an officer who came to provide backup saw McKissick being held in a headlock by Forrest.
Relatives say Forrest was not involved in the initial domestic call and had been trying to make peace between others.
McKissick, they say, had been dispatched to the scene, and they accuse her of being rude and cursing at them.
They believed she had left the residence as paramedics treated an injured man and said the incident appeared to have blown over.
Forrest's daughter, 34-year-old Alisa Forrest, said he walked outside to get air, and she claims her father was pushed by McKissick. She ran downstairs and saw McKissick and Forrest on the ground fighting, with both reaching for the gun.
"I see that she has Daddy and Daddy has her," Alisa Forrest said. "They're both reaching for the gun -- he don't want her to shoot him."
She said that McKissick broke free after the backup officer fired at Forrest's upper body and that McKissick proceeded to empty her weapon into Forrest's leg.
"She got up and just started shooting," Alisa Forrest said.
McKissick and the other officer have been placed on administrative leave while the incident is being investigated, a standard practice.
A police source with knowledge of the investigation said detectives believe the backup officer's shot was made at close range and was ultimately the fatal shot. They also believe McKissick fired all of her shots into one of Forrest's legs, in rapid succession, while she was still engaged with the man.
The Sun reported Friday that McKissick, a five-year veteran, was involved four years ago in an incident in which a man who was being placed under arrest broke free and was able to take her gun, which has never been recovered.
Even though the victim and key witness was a city officer, prosecutors dropped the case after questions were raised about whether documents had been altered by police.
Family members said Forrest was a volunteer at nearby William Paca Elementary School and the patriarch and leader of a family that included 15 children and numerous other relatives.
"Everybody in the neighborhood can you tell you this isn't his demeanor," said niece Odessia Bradstreet. "This is not him. It's not something he would do."
____________
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/blog/2009/02/withholding_names_of_police_wh.html
Officer Thomas Sanders, who is alleged to have shot an unarmed man in the back on Jan. 30, 2008, said in court filings that there "currently exists an extremely volatile climate in Baltimore City in which citizens of Baltimore do not trust the Baltimore Police Department."
He said in the Feb. 4 court filing that the department's policy of not naming officers involved in shootings unless internal investigations determine that they erred has worsened that climate and -- because the department named him -- implies that he is guilty.
He said that makes it difficult for him to obtain a fair jury trial in the city and asked for a change of venue, which prosecutors plan to oppose.
Police declined to comment on the motion, citing a policy against discussing pending litigation. Though the motion is filed by an attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police, the union's president said Friday that the group maintains support for restricting access to the names.
Baltimore police had routinely named officers involved in shootings for decades, but in January, the department adopted a new policy to restrict release of their identities. Police say their new policy is similar to those in New York and other major cities and is designed to prevent retaliation against officers.
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III and other department officials have said they will continue to name officers involved in shootings they find to be unjustified after an internal investigation. When questioned about the policy at a recent City Council hearing, Bealefeld referred to the Sanders case as proof that the department will name names in such instances.
He has cited Sanders' indictment as showing that the department will rigorously investigate police-involved shootings and sanction officers when necessary.
The policy has come under fire from the Maryland branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and some local elected officials, who say it cloaks police activity behind a layer of secrecy and diminishes trust between the department and the community.
"The citizens of Baltimore are entitled to be able to make their own judgments about what the police are doing and how they're doing it, and shouldn't have to rely on the good graces of the city Police Department to keep them informed," said David Rocah, a staff attorney with the ACLU.
"Let's remember: The police work for us. They are not some independent entity to which we are beholden."
The motion by Sanders came to light as details continued to emerge in Tuesday night's fatal shooting of 61-year-old Joseph Forrest in East Baltimore by two police officers.
The Baltimore Sun has learned that one of the officers who shot Forrest had also allegedly been attacked by a second man, the victim's nephew, Joseph Forrest Jr.
Police said the 45-year-old stepped on Officer Traci L. McKissick's hand at the direction of his uncle in an attempt to disarm her. The younger Forrest was arrested at the scene and charged with assault and disarming a law enforcement officer. He remains jailed without bond.
After initial inquiries about the shooting, the younger Forrest's involvement was not disclosed by police, who had limited the release of information in an attempt to prevent McKissick's name from becoming public.
Candles, balloons and teddy bears were placed outside of Forrest's home on North Lakewood Avenue Friday, and a sign in his window reads, "We all miss you."
Forrest's family is questioning why he was shot, reportedly as many as a dozen times, after being struck in the upper body and after McKissick had recovered her weapon.
But relatives were unable to clarify how Forrest, affectionately known as "Uncle Snicker," got into the scuffle in the first place, only offering that he might have reached for her weapon during the scrum because he felt his life was in danger.
Police said they responded to a domestic call in the area, and at some point an officer who came to provide backup saw McKissick being held in a headlock by Forrest.
Relatives say Forrest was not involved in the initial domestic call and had been trying to make peace between others.
McKissick, they say, had been dispatched to the scene, and they accuse her of being rude and cursing at them.
They believed she had left the residence as paramedics treated an injured man and said the incident appeared to have blown over.
Forrest's daughter, 34-year-old Alisa Forrest, said he walked outside to get air, and she claims her father was pushed by McKissick. She ran downstairs and saw McKissick and Forrest on the ground fighting, with both reaching for the gun.
"I see that she has Daddy and Daddy has her," Alisa Forrest said. "They're both reaching for the gun -- he don't want her to shoot him."
She said that McKissick broke free after the backup officer fired at Forrest's upper body and that McKissick proceeded to empty her weapon into Forrest's leg.
"She got up and just started shooting," Alisa Forrest said.
McKissick and the other officer have been placed on administrative leave while the incident is being investigated, a standard practice.
A police source with knowledge of the investigation said detectives believe the backup officer's shot was made at close range and was ultimately the fatal shot. They also believe McKissick fired all of her shots into one of Forrest's legs, in rapid succession, while she was still engaged with the man.
The Sun reported Friday that McKissick, a five-year veteran, was involved four years ago in an incident in which a man who was being placed under arrest broke free and was able to take her gun, which has never been recovered.
Even though the victim and key witness was a city officer, prosecutors dropped the case after questions were raised about whether documents had been altered by police.
Family members said Forrest was a volunteer at nearby William Paca Elementary School and the patriarch and leader of a family that included 15 children and numerous other relatives.
"Everybody in the neighborhood can you tell you this isn't his demeanor," said niece Odessia Bradstreet. "This is not him. It's not something he would do."
____________
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/blog/2009/02/withholding_names_of_police_wh.html
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Officer Christopher Eldridge Charged with Possession of Controlled Substance
An off-duty Prattville police officer was arrested on drug charges Wednesday afternoon in Montgomery following a car chase.
Christopher Eldridge, 35, of the 600 block of Wisteria Lane in Prattville, was charged with possession of a controlled substance in addition to misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, said Maj. Huey Thornton, a spokesman for the Montgomery Police Department.
Thornton said the controlled substance was crack cocaine. Eldridge also was issued “several” traffic citations, according to Thornton.
Prattville Mayor Jim Byard Jr. confirmed Thursday that Eldridge is a third-shift patrol officer with the Prattville Police Department. Byard said Eldridge was off duty due to military leave.
“Right now this is a personal and legal matter the officer has to work through,” Byard said. “In the future, it will become a personnel issue for the city. We don’t comment on personnel or pending personnel matters.”
Eldridge could not be reached for comment Thursday morning. There is no number listed for him in the Prattville phone book. Directory assistance listed a “C. Eldridge” on Wisteria Lane, but that number is unpublished at the owner’s request.
Prattville Police Chief Alfred Wadsworth said he would not comment until he had a chance to speak with Eldridge.
Eldridge allegedly was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Impala the wrong way in the northbound lanes of Interstate 85, Thornton said. A Montgomery police officer tried to pull him over, but he led police on a chase, he said. The pursuit never exceeded 50 mph, he said.
Police pursued Eldridge as he exited the interstate at Day Street and went through downtown Montgomery to Atlanta Highway, Thornton said. When the chase neared Greenwood Funeral Home on Lincoln Road, the pursuing patrol car tapped the back of Eldridge’s vehicle, which spun out, Thornton said.
Eldridge then became combative with officers and was hit with a Taser, Thornton said. He was taken by ambulance to Jackson Hospital for treatment, Thornton said.
Eldridge was booked into the Montgomery County Jail at 6 p.m. Wednesday and released on bonds totaling $16,000 at 8:07 p.m. Wednesday, said Montgomery County Sheriff D.T. Marshall.
Christopher Eldridge, 35, of the 600 block of Wisteria Lane in Prattville, was charged with possession of a controlled substance in addition to misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, said Maj. Huey Thornton, a spokesman for the Montgomery Police Department.
Thornton said the controlled substance was crack cocaine. Eldridge also was issued “several” traffic citations, according to Thornton.
Prattville Mayor Jim Byard Jr. confirmed Thursday that Eldridge is a third-shift patrol officer with the Prattville Police Department. Byard said Eldridge was off duty due to military leave.
“Right now this is a personal and legal matter the officer has to work through,” Byard said. “In the future, it will become a personnel issue for the city. We don’t comment on personnel or pending personnel matters.”
Eldridge could not be reached for comment Thursday morning. There is no number listed for him in the Prattville phone book. Directory assistance listed a “C. Eldridge” on Wisteria Lane, but that number is unpublished at the owner’s request.
Prattville Police Chief Alfred Wadsworth said he would not comment until he had a chance to speak with Eldridge.
Eldridge allegedly was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Impala the wrong way in the northbound lanes of Interstate 85, Thornton said. A Montgomery police officer tried to pull him over, but he led police on a chase, he said. The pursuit never exceeded 50 mph, he said.
Police pursued Eldridge as he exited the interstate at Day Street and went through downtown Montgomery to Atlanta Highway, Thornton said. When the chase neared Greenwood Funeral Home on Lincoln Road, the pursuing patrol car tapped the back of Eldridge’s vehicle, which spun out, Thornton said.
Eldridge then became combative with officers and was hit with a Taser, Thornton said. He was taken by ambulance to Jackson Hospital for treatment, Thornton said.
Eldridge was booked into the Montgomery County Jail at 6 p.m. Wednesday and released on bonds totaling $16,000 at 8:07 p.m. Wednesday, said Montgomery County Sheriff D.T. Marshall.
Former Deputy Marc Diaz Accused of Kidnapping & Rape worked for School District
INDIO
A former Riverside County sheriff's deputy accused of kidnapping and raping a woman in La Quinta worked for the Coachella Valley Unified School District for 16 months, the man's lawyer confirmed Thursday.
Marc Javier Diaz, 35, of Indio, is charged with kidnapping to commit rape and two counts of rape under the threat of authority of a public official. He faces life in prison if convicted, said Michael Jeandron of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.
Diaz is accused of walking into a La Quinta business Jan. 31, displaying a law enforcement badge and demanding identification from employees and the people inside, said sheriff's Deputy Herlinda Valenzuela.
He allegedly ordered a female customer who had no identification into his pickup truck, drove her to a secluded location and raped her, Valenzuela said.
Diaz appeared in court today for a felony settlement conference -- an informal discussion before a judge between a defense lawyer and a prosecutor to discuss a possible resolution to the case -- and Riverside County Superior Court Judge Thomas Douglass ordered him to return on March 10 for a preliminary hearing.
Deputy Public Defender David Prendergast, who represents Diaz, confirmed outside court that Diaz worked for the Coachella Valley Unified School District for 16 months.
Prendergast said he did not know the specific school or position Diaz had within the school district.
Officials at the Coachella Valley superintendent's office previously had "no comment" on whether Diaz worked for the school district, and the superintendent was unavailable this morning.
Diaz was arrested in 2004 on suspicion of using a prostitute in Indio, said Ben Guitron of the Indio Police Department.
At the time, he was a nine-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department and was working in the Indio courthouse, but the next month he resigned, Valenzuela said.
The District Attorney's Office never filed charges against Diaz for the prostitution allegation because of insufficient evidence, Jeandron said.
Diaz is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
Lt. Keith Kibler in Trouble After Fighting with his Wife
HAMBURG, N.Y.
A lieutenant with the Erie County Sheriff's Office is in trouble with the law Thursday night.
Hamburg Police say Lieutenant Keith Kibler grabbed the steering wheel from his wife during a domestic dispute Thursday morning, forcing their car off Route Five.
Kibler is charged with reckless endangerment and illegal possession of Valium.
He is free on bail.
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Video: http://www.accidentvideonews.com/index.php/2009/02/19/sheriffs-office-lieutenant-arrested/
A lieutenant with the Erie County Sheriff's Office is in trouble with the law Thursday night.
Hamburg Police say Lieutenant Keith Kibler grabbed the steering wheel from his wife during a domestic dispute Thursday morning, forcing their car off Route Five.
Kibler is charged with reckless endangerment and illegal possession of Valium.
He is free on bail.
_______________
Video: http://www.accidentvideonews.com/index.php/2009/02/19/sheriffs-office-lieutenant-arrested/
Officer Dwayne Johnson Paid $168K, Accused of Skipping Work
SCHENECTADY, N.Y.
"He made a lot of money because he was one of the few people here who volunteers on all occasions to work overtime," said Schenectady Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett.
He says police Officer Dwayne Johnson may have worked plenty of overtime, but after a Daily Gazette investigation, police are now investigating whether Johnson truly worked when he said he did.
"It should have been a member safety issue," Bennett said. "Some questions should have been raised when this car didn't move."
According to the Commissioner, on several Tuesday mornings, Johnson apparently parked his police car outside an apartment off Kings Road, not his residence, for several hours.
"What was he doing there?" our reporter asked.
Bennett said, "I don't know."
Schenectady police officials say they're looking into an investigation by the Daily Gazette, allegations that their top-earning police officer, who made nearly $170,000 last year with extensive overtime work, spent Tuesday mornings at an apartment in the city. Our Steve Ference reports.
This, as Johnson made more money than any other officer, around $168,000 last year, mostly from overtime. The department, now trying to figure out what Johnson may have been doing and why no one seemed to notice even though they track cars by GPS.
"Why was this not picked up on?" the Commissioner asked aloud.
Bennett says after the Gazette found Johnson was spending his early Tuesday mornings here, police prepared to catch him in the act. So they came here on a following Tuesday, but the problem was Johnson didn't show, leading some to wonder if he may have been tipped off by someone in the department.
"If we identify someone indeed interfered with this, which is a confidential investigation, they too will find themselves on the receiving end of disciplinary action," said Bennett.
"I can't think of any reason why this would be happening," said Schenectady Common Council Member, Barbara Blanchard.
A number of city leaders, like councilwoman Blanchard, call it disappointing, especially after a slew of scandals for police in the city, including stolen drug evidence and a former police chief pleading guilty to drug charges.
"Once we have pulled all the documents, all the GPS records and done all the interviews we can do, then he will be interviewed," said Bennett.
Department policies have been updated to address the issue, Johnson remains on duty and city officials argue potential bad conduct by the few shouldn't taint a department that's now looking for answers once again.
____________
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S796466.shtml?cat=300
"He made a lot of money because he was one of the few people here who volunteers on all occasions to work overtime," said Schenectady Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett.
He says police Officer Dwayne Johnson may have worked plenty of overtime, but after a Daily Gazette investigation, police are now investigating whether Johnson truly worked when he said he did.
"It should have been a member safety issue," Bennett said. "Some questions should have been raised when this car didn't move."
According to the Commissioner, on several Tuesday mornings, Johnson apparently parked his police car outside an apartment off Kings Road, not his residence, for several hours.
"What was he doing there?" our reporter asked.
Bennett said, "I don't know."
Schenectady police officials say they're looking into an investigation by the Daily Gazette, allegations that their top-earning police officer, who made nearly $170,000 last year with extensive overtime work, spent Tuesday mornings at an apartment in the city. Our Steve Ference reports.
This, as Johnson made more money than any other officer, around $168,000 last year, mostly from overtime. The department, now trying to figure out what Johnson may have been doing and why no one seemed to notice even though they track cars by GPS.
"Why was this not picked up on?" the Commissioner asked aloud.
Bennett says after the Gazette found Johnson was spending his early Tuesday mornings here, police prepared to catch him in the act. So they came here on a following Tuesday, but the problem was Johnson didn't show, leading some to wonder if he may have been tipped off by someone in the department.
"If we identify someone indeed interfered with this, which is a confidential investigation, they too will find themselves on the receiving end of disciplinary action," said Bennett.
"I can't think of any reason why this would be happening," said Schenectady Common Council Member, Barbara Blanchard.
A number of city leaders, like councilwoman Blanchard, call it disappointing, especially after a slew of scandals for police in the city, including stolen drug evidence and a former police chief pleading guilty to drug charges.
"Once we have pulled all the documents, all the GPS records and done all the interviews we can do, then he will be interviewed," said Bennett.
Department policies have been updated to address the issue, Johnson remains on duty and city officials argue potential bad conduct by the few shouldn't taint a department that's now looking for answers once again.
____________
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S796466.shtml?cat=300
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