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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-12-2002 Articles Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 12:32 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Houston LF Death Officer Fatal Shooting Under Investigation in Houston Dateline: Houston, TX - 2/10/2002 Houston Chronicle By MIKE GLENN Homicide detectives and civil rights investigators with the Harris County district attorney's office have launched a probe into a fatal officer-involved shooting early Saturday. The shooting occurred about ! a.m. in the 10200 block of the LaPorte Freeway. .lack L. Stuart, 42, of the 5800 block of Southgood was taken to Ben Taub Hospital, where he died from his wounds. Houston Police Department officer J. L. Gutierrez, .ir., 37, told investigators he fired the fatal round because he feared Stuart might have had a weapon. No weapon was recovered, however. Assigned to the HPD eastside patrol division, Gutierrez was called to the scene to check a report of a suspicious person peering into automobiles parked in front of a service station. He found Stuart about a block away spraying a liquor store parking lot with a garden hose. Although he initially complied with the patrol officer who was trying to check his identity, police said, Stuart began "acting erractically." "He tried to steal the patrol vehicle on two different occasions. The officer was able to stop that from happening," said HPD spokesman John Cannon. Gutierrez tried to handcuff Stuart, but the man was able to break free. He raced around the other side of the liquor store but then returned and lunged at the officer, police said. "The man charged him again and would not take his hand out of his pocket," Cannon said. "Anytime you conceal your hand, the officer is going to feel threatened." Fearing that the man might be drawing some kind of weapon, the HPD officer fired a single round, striking Stuart in the chest. An off-duty Harris County deputy was in the area and remained at the scene until Stuart was taken to the hospital. 2/25/02 Page 1 of 6 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 12:42 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Fla Deputy's Slaying "Great American Nightmare" Florida Deputy's Slaying Called "Great American Nightmare" Dateline: Miami, FL - 2/17/2002 Hiami Herald BY WANDA J. DeMARZO AND DANIEL de VISE ddevise@herald.com Ex-deputy Andrew Johnson reportedly said he killed Deputy Patrick Behan in 1990. Timothy Brown and Keith King, ages 14 and 17, never quite fit the part of calculating cop killers. But the execution-style murder of Broward sheriff's Deputy Patrick Behan demanded solution. Nothing outrages a police department like a cop killer on the loose. And after an eight-month investigation of the Behan slaying, the two mentally impaired street punks were all the detectives had. Brown and King went to prison for the 1990 murder, the payoff of a pressure-cooker case that consumed 80 officers and offered six-figure rewards posted on billboards. The convictions fueled a series of investigative articles in The Herald last year. "It's the great American nightmare," said Tim Day, attorney for Brown. ' 'You have a high-profile case that can't be solved, but you have tremendous public pressure to solve it. And you have two pathetic, defenseless people who are used as scapegoats to put an end to the case." The case against Brown and King was never strong. And there was a competing theory: that a lone gunman, perhaps even a law enforcer, had shot Behan. But it took a bombshell -- a new suspect, reportedly caught by undercover agents admitting the crime on tape -- to persuade investigators to reopen the Behan case a few months ago. Sources say Andrew Johnson, a one-time Broward sheriff's detention deputy, admitted he shot Behan in a revenge killing that missed its intended target. He has not been charged and may never be. Corroborating his statements will be difficult. Unlike Brown and King, he is protected by a presumption of innocence. Bringing him to trial would be tantamount to acknowledging a grievous error that put two teenagers in prison, one for life. Behan died in the wee hours of Nov. 13, 1990, shot point-blank in the head as he sat in his patrol car outside a Circle K convenience store on Hallandale Beach Boulevard in Pembroke Park, He was the fourth South Florida police officer and the second Broward sheriff's deputy murdered in that violent year. Prosecutors say justice prevailed. The convicted killers say they fell beneath the wheel of a system that demanded justice where none was available. Sheriff Ken Jenne, discussing the case at a news conference a week ago, said his agency would find the truth. "Were they wrongly convicted? We don't know," Jenne said of Brown and King. ' 'We take this as a very serious accusation. And we are investigating it very seriously." 2/25/02 Page 2 of 6 Among the lingering problems in the Brown and King convictions: · Witnesses saw one man, not two boys, fleeing the scene of the crime. · Behan never unstrapped his holster, leading investigators to suspect that the assailant might have been someone he trusted. · No scientific evidence linked either Brown or King to the murder. · Both teens said detectives shackled and beat them to extract false confessions. Key points in their statements failed to mesh with known facts. For instance, Brown said he and King threw the murder weapon into a rock pit. A search by the sheriff's dive team produced no gun. · Prosecutors claimed Brown and King carried out the shooting on a bicycle. Witnesses saw no bicycle. "[Detectives] kept asking me if I was sure I hadn't seen any kids on a bike. I kept telling them no," said Phillip Howard, a key witness who was on the street near the Circle K that night. "I'm glad to find out that something is finally happening to help those two people because they didn't do it and [Brown] shouldn't be in jail," he said. Others, including a tow driver who was inside the Circle K at the time, remain convinced the killers were found. "I think they have the right guys," said Stephen Antonio. Like Howard, he did not see the shooter. Here is an account of the crime and the questions it raised, culled from court documents and interviews with many of the principal characters over the past year. The record is murky in places; some key witnesses are dead, reluctant to talk or missing. THE MAKING OF A CRIME Deputy is found bleeding after a single shot is heard The murder case began with the smallest of crimes. ,lust before 1 a.m. on Nov. 13, 1990, a neighborhood crack addict swiped a carton of Doral menthol cigarettes from the Circle K. At 1:30 a.m., Patrick Behan, 29, walked into the store for a cup of coffee. Behan volunteered to report the shoplifting and went back to his patrol car to write it up. Just after 1:40 a.m., a shot was fired. A clerk, Tim Van Hoesen, and a customer -- Antonio -- ran from the store to find Behan slum~ed over the wheel, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the left cheek. They saw no gunman. Edward Davis, a pedestrian, was a block from the Circle K when he heard the shot. He ran toward the store and clearly saw 'a lone black person run from an area behind [Behan's] cruiser to a 'gap' between the Circle K and the wall behind it," according to court papers. A second witness, Eddie Lopez, also saw a lone black adult running from the scene, according to court documents. The Circle K was soon ablaze in crime-scene lights. Rescuers airlifted Behan to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood. He died an hour later. The next day, amid a flurry of tips, a man named Robert McGriff told investigators 14-year-old Timothy 2/25/02 Page 3 of 6 Brown had bragged about shooting the deputy at a local hangout called the Godfather. investigators now had a suspect. Brown had grown up about a mile from the Circle K and had amassed 20 arrests for auto theft, burglary and the like. He dropped out of school in the sixth grade and spent his days roaming the streets. Detectives questioned Brown. They contend he admitted the crime but was too drugged out to make a formal statement. Brown says he denied the murder. In any case, lead sheriff's investigator Richard Scheft let Brown go, thinking the youth was clearly under the influence of drugs at the time. "I wanted to be sure in my mind and in my heart that we were going to arrest -- if we arrested somebody -- the right person," Scheff testified later. Investigators combed the streets of Hollywood and Pembroke Park, looking for a lone gunman. Sheriff Nick Navarro released a composite sketch on Nov. 26. He said multiple witnesses had described a man fleeing the scene: black, 23 to 25 years old, average height, 185 pounds, muscular build. (The sketch and accompanying description bear little resemblance to Brown, King or new suspect Andrew Johnson, all three of whom are black.) A troubling suspicion loomed: that Behan had been shot by someone he knew. Behan had parked facing the street, standard procedure to avoid being caught off guard. Either Behan had become sloppy, investigators reasoned, or he had been surprised by someone he trusted. Publicly, lead investigator Scheft said no deputy was a suspect in the Behan murder. But according to court and sheriff's records, investigators checked the weapons of several officers and questioned at least two deputies about the Behan case. The link was an emotionally unstable former Circle K clerk, Jackie Bain. Interviewed Nov. :15, Bain told detectives a jealous boyfriend had shot and killed Behan to avenge a sex-for-protection racket involving Bain and several deputies. Several sheriff's employees were disciplined after an internal investigation. But detectives concluded that the jealous boyfriend story was bogus. Bain kept changing her account, at one point claiming that she herself had killed Behan. The investigation stagnated. Detectives revisited old leads. One such lead involved Tim Brown. A few neighborhood kids had told investigators of Brown bragging about the shooting at the Godfather. Another name -- Keith -- kept coming up as a possible accomplice. One youth, Solomon Gibbs, claimed he had heard Brown's claims. Shown a photographic lineup on April 26, 1991, Gibbs identified "Keith" as Keith King. THE ROLE OF KEITH KING Youth said he ' made up stuff' because of threats and fear Keith King was at his foster mother's home in unincorporated Broward on June 4 when two Broward Sheriff's Office detectives knocked on the door. Detectives 3ames Carr and Eli Thomasevich had a warrant for King's arrest on sexual battery charges. 2/25/02 Page 4 of 6 King, a scrawny teen weighing 130 pounds, had already been charged as a juvenile with fondling children who shared his foster home. But someone in the state attorney's office had arranged to have the charges dropped in juvenile court and refiled in adult court. That way, King could be charged as an adult and detectives could arrest him again and interview him with fewer restrictions, said Randy McCoy, a private investigator who worked on King's defense. On the way to sheriff's headquarters, according to King, Carr turned to the suspect and said, ' 'You're going to ....... fry in the electric chair." King said he was taken into an interview room, chained to a chair and shown photographs of the crime scene. Detective Cart beat him, punched him in the face, yelled at him and told him that Tim Brown had blamed him for killing the deputy, King said. Carr, Thomasevich and Scheft declined interview requests from The Herald. The detectives kept repeating, "You're going to fry in the electric chair, you're going to fry," King said last week. 'They scared me so bad. [Cart] stuck a gun in my face and said, 'This is the type of gun you used, right? Right?'" King said. ' 'I was so scared he was going to kill me. I said yes and made up stuff." In his formal confession to police, King gave this account: King was visiting at Brown's house on Mayo Street in Hollywood when Brown told him, 'Tm gonna hurt somebody." Brown said his victim would be "a police officer" and showed King the handgun he planned to use. Brown hopped on his bicycle, l<ing climbed on the handlebars. They rode to the Circle I<. Brown approached the deputy, drew the gun from his pants and shot Behan. Then he climbed on the bicycle and rode away. King ran off in another direction. The confession raises questions. King said they met after the shooting at Brown's home on Mayo Street. When police went to the Mayo Street home, a tenant said Brown's family hadn't lived there for a year. King told detectives he then walked to his home in unincorporated Broward that night along State Road 7, a distance of at least 15 miles. "There is no way Keith walked home along 441 -- with the biggest dragnet in Broward County going on -- without someone seeing him," said McCoy, the private investigator. ' ' He is a diabetic who tires easily, it's 2 or 3 a.m. in the morning, and Keith has a very visible limp. Someone would have seen him." TIM BROWN IS ARRESTED Other teen's confession put police on his trail On July 16, on the strength of King's confession, detectives arrested Tim Brown. Investigators deliberately avoided interviewing him at the juvenile home where he was being held in connection with a burglary and attempted robbery because they thought employees might invoke his right to remain silent. 2/25/02 Page 5 of 6 They waited until Brown's incarceration ended and picked him up outside. "! certainly didn't want to put myself in the position where T wasn't going to get an opportunity at all to speak with him," sheriff's investigator Scheft testified at a pretrial hearing. Chuck Morton, the Broward state attorney prosecutor, cited another reason: A then-pending U.S. Supreme Court case raised doubts about whether they would be able to use a confession taken at a juvenile facility. Brown's mother, Othalean Brown, arrived at the station but wasn't in the room during her son's confession. She says she wasn't allowed to see him. Scheft testified later that she did not want to see him. "! came to the station, but they told me to wait, he was being questioned," Othalean Brown said last year. ''They never let me see him." Othalean Brown says that, given a chance, she would have told her son not to say a word without a lawyer present. Florida courts have consistently held that parents who wish to see their child in a juvenile case must be allowed that contact before questioning can begin. Brown's account of what followed sounds strikingly similar to King's, as if they had compared stories. The men claim they have had no contact since their arrest. According to Brown, detectives Carr and Thomasevich shackled his legs to a chair and got in his face, "yelling and yelling," telling him over and over that he had killed the deputy. Carr hit him several times, Brown said in a prison interview last year. "They told me if ! told them I did it, ] could go back to juvie fjuvenile hall]," rather than face adult prison, Brown said. ' 'T thought !'d get to go home." Brown said Carr coached him on the facts of the crime. 'He told me, 'You came on a bike, you all saw him sitting there and shot him, right?' "Brown said. 'They told me, '!t was a dare, right? You did it for no reason, right? You called Keith's bluff, right?'" Brown said detectives coached him with crime-scene photos. Brown said he gave police an alibi: He was with a friend, Keith Maddox, the night of the shooting. Maddox confirmed the story to police. But in his official, taped confession, Brown told a different story. Brown claimed King was the gunman. Brown said he was with King at a home on Wiley Street. They got high and hopped on a bicycle to go to the Circle K. King produced a gun and boasted that he was going to kill somebody. Brown ' 'called his bluff." King jumped oft the bicycle, limped to the police car and shot Behan. They jumped on the bike, crossed the street and King fired the gun again, Brown said. The teens threw the gun into a submerged rock pit nearby, according to the confession. Like King, Brown would later recant his confession. Like King's, Brown's formal statement contained inconsistencies. Among them: Brown said two shots were fired. Witnesses said they heard only one. 2/25/02 Page 6 of 6 Sheriff's officials aren't commenting on the Behan investigation. DEFENSE FAILS AT TRIAL Timothy Brown convicted of first-degree murder Brown went to trial in October 1993. Prosecutors pinned their case on Brown's confession. Defense attorneys pinned theirs on Jackie Bain, the Circle K clerk with a history of mental illness. The defense fell apart, jurors said, when Bain took the stand. "I was thinking maybe they got the wrong guy. I was willing to listen," said juror Diane Nickum, recalling the verdict just after the trial. But "the more we realized that Jackie Bain's testimony was not credible," the clearer Brown's guilt became. On Oct. 21, 1993, Timothy Brown was convicted of first-degree murder. Jurors had deliberated for 14 hours. Recent developments lent new credence to at least one part of Bain's story: the notion that the gunman might have been a law enforcement insider. Sources said Johnson, the new suspect, told undercover agents he plotted to kill a sheriff's deputy, Brian Montgomery, because Montgomery was threatening to block Johnson's bid to become a road patrolman. He stalked his victim to the Circle K and realized too late that his gun was aimed at the wrong man, the sources said. On March 18, 1994, King pleaded guilty to manslaughter. With Brown already in prison as the gunman, prosecutors had a weaker case against King. King says he took a polygraph test, claimed innocence and passed. McCoy, the private investigator, says he has the results. Brown, too, has offered to take a polygraph test. Brown's conviction has survived appeal. Judge Barbara Pariente, now a Florida Supreme Court justice, offered a lone dissent to a i995 ruling by the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirming the conviction. Citing Brown's age, his IQ of 56 and the "coercive" aspect of his interrogation, Pariente concluded: ' 'I have serious doubts about the voluntariness of [Brown's] statement." 2/25/02 Page ! o£5 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 12:42 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] LA PD Reforms Consent Decree Report; More re Chiefs Desire for Reappointmt http :/llatimes,comlnewsllocallla-O00011962feb16.story Monitor Tracks LAPD Efforts at Reform Update: Chief's foes, friends find evidence in the report to support their opposing views. By JILL LEOVY LA TIMES STAFF WRITER February 16 2002 A report card issued Friday cites numerous problems with the Los Angeles Police Department's efforts to carry out a federal consent decree, but it says that the LAPD continues to move ahead briskly in its efforts. Despite failures in a number of specific areas, overall the city and the department "continued to make significant progress on reform" during the last quarter of 2001, said the report by a federal court-appointed monitor. The report, filed with U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess, was the second such evaluation of the LAPD's reform efforts completed by independent monitor Michael Cherkasky. The document raises the concern that some officers still display a "lack of commitment" to the reforms, and cites many instances in which deadlines have not been met. Nonetheless, the report does not specifically accuse the LAPD of deliberately trying to impede overall progress on police reform. Rather, many problems cited in the report appear to be related to the department's struggles to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. Compliance with the decree has been a contentious issue dividing Mayor James K. Hahn and Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, who faces an uncertain future as his first term ends. Hahn has opposed another term for Parks, citing his disappointment at the LAPD's compliance efforts as one reason. Parks maintains that the department has moved swiftly and successfully to bring about reforms. Because the consent decree involves dozens of highly complex requirements and timelines, definitions of compliance vary. Hahn's aides say that in every detail the city should be in 100% compliance all the time; defenders of the chief call that a simplistic and impractical view. The monitor's report contains no conclusive ruling on compliance. It merely comments on areas in which progress has been made and highlights those in which diffculties have emerged. Accordingly, people on both sides of the debate over the chief quickly seized on those aspects of the report that seemed to vindicate them. Julie Wong, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said the document "supports what Hahn has been saying, which is that we are not in total compliance with the consent decree--particularly in crucial areas such as use-of-force investigations and tracking of internal investigations." But City Councilman Nate Holden, a Parks supporter, took the opposite tack. The report "really validates what the Police Department has been doing," he said. It shows "all the misinformation that has been disseminated to the community by the mayor and mayor's office that reform was not taking place--it's not true." In one area in particular, Cherkasky expressed concern that things were moving too quickly. He said tight deadlines mean the city's effort to create an integrated computer system to track officers has been rushed. This project is a key reform that has been sought by LAPD critics as far back as the Christopher Commission in 1991. Its implementation is considered one of the most difficult requirements of the decree. 2/25/02 Page 2 of 5 Among the other problems the monitor found during the quarter ending Dec. 31 were missed deadlines on investigations into the use of force by officers and a persistent backlog of complaint investigations. But the monitor also said the LAPD has instituted stricter oversight of the use of force and made changes to its procedures and reporting requirements that, in some instances, exceed minimum standards. Two comments on Chief Parks of the LAPD Significant elements in the African-American community have come out strongly on behalf of the reappointment of Chief Parks for the same reason that the Los Angeles Police Protective League has come out strongly against his reappointment. Both sides are convinced their positions are in their respective best interests. Both sides also take the position that their respective positions are in the best interests of Los Angeles. Both sides are wrong. Both sides are pursuing their objectives as if Chief Parks were a political candidate running for re- election. The League going so far as to take out paid television commercials. However, the Chief of Police is not an elected position and Parks' reappointment should not be determined by the positions of his opponents or supporters but by the record of his performance. Since many aspects of that record are available to the public both sides have an opportunity to present the facts to the Police Commission that supports their positions. The decision by both sides to dispute their differences in an inappropriate and political forum is an attempt to impose their wills by exerting unwarranted political pressure on the Police Commission and as such both positions are wrong. The position of the League to oppose Parks was a relatively easy position to make as the polling of the rank & file police officers that compose the League were overwhelmingly against Parks. On the other hand certain questions should be asked and answered before the support of Chief Parks by the African-American community is justified by more than just the color of his skin. The first question that must be asked if whether or not Chief Parks has the support of the majority of the rank & file African-American police officers who serve on the LAPD? There are currently a thousand African-American police officers on the LAPD. Who better than they know the job performance of the chief first hand and who better than they have a more vested interest in the proper policing of the African-American community? While the president of the Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation has come out in support of Chief Parks, at the time of this writing he has yet to poll the OJB members for their opinions. The LAPD has a horrible and documented history of discrimination against the African-American community and its own African-American officers. Those officers who were outspoken against the racist practices of the LAPD were especially targeted and retailiated against. These officers were not only overlooked for promotion but were victimized by the department's disciplinary system which studies showed was unfairly skewed against African-American and other minority officers. Over the past twenty-years a major struggle to combat racism and discrimination in the LAPD was fought by a few African-American officers. For years this struggle was led by Officer Don Musa T. Camara who taught, inspired and cajoled many of us to get involved. Other officers who were key contributors to this struggle included: Glenn Tolbert, Leonard Ross, Lymon Dostre, Ron Cato, Carl McGill, Kevin Williams and myself. What was the contribution of Bernard Parks to this struggle? When the majority of the above officers were persecuted for taking a stand or being railroaded out of the department altogether, where was Bernard Parks? For far too long a large portion of the African-American leadership has failed to support the struggle of African-American officers for equality within the LAPD. For an equally long time they have failed to properly utilized the advice and counsel of African-American officers whose input they should have considered invaluable. When Chief Parks joined the LAPD 37 years ago the department was totally segregated. Yet, during his tenure with the department just how outspoken and critical of the department's racist practices has he been? Under Willie Williams, Daryl Gates and other former chiefs minority officers were excluded from coveted positions unduly disciplined and not promoted based on merit. So the question must be asked have African-American officers inside the department fared better under Park's leadership? Like most of us Chief Parks has a boss. His boss is the current Mayor James Hahn. Like most of us who have a boss Chief Parks is required to work with and under his boss. He certainly knows how to subordinate himself to his boss 2/25/02 Page 3 of 5 having demonstrated the ability to do so while working under Chief Daryl Gates. After all, how often did he criticize, challenge or even question the policies of Daryl Gates? It is significant to note that Daryl Gates only promoted officers to the position of command officers that proved their loyalty to him and his vision of the culture and destiny of the LAPD. If Chief Parks were the bulwark supporter of the African-American cause that many community members perceive him to be would Daryl Gates have promoted him? For years the African-American community has been the victim of racial profiling by LAPD officers. Specifically what steps has Chief Parks taken to address these concerns? Since no one disputes that the lack of economic opportunity is one of the principle causes of crime has Chief Parks implemented or supported any programs for job training and opportunities in the African-American and other minority communities? The LAPD now works under a federal consent decree, the implementation of which has been determined by the majority of the Police Commission, the City Council and the mayor to be in the best interest of the city. What specific steps has Chief Parks taken to implement that decree as rapidly and successfully as possible? One of the crucial reforms called for by the Christopher Commission was the creation of an Inspect General position for the LAPD. That position has been filled and Jeff Eglash is the current Inspector General? Since Parks also works under the Police commission what is his relationsip with them? Every independent study of the LAPD has recommended profound reforms for the improvement of the LAPD. What specific steps has Chief Parks taken to implement those reforms? If the chief has failed to implement the necessary changes as alleged by Major Hahn perhaps his failure to do so could be the results of more than 30 years of indoctrination into the culture of the LAPD. No successful leader of manager of any large organization can afford to give the appearance of essentially ignoring the needs, concerns, gievances and goals of his or her subordinates. What steps has Chief Parks taken to address the grievances and concerns of the rank & file officers? After all if they are unhappy coming to work every day will they render the best service to the city? The African-American community must also ask itself it Chief Parks had chosen the cause of the African-American community over the culture of the LAPD would he have been allowed to rise through the ranks of a racist police department? Once the above questions and others are asked and answered then I will be willing to take a position on whether or not to support or oppose the reappointment of Chief Parks. The assumption by some that the Police Commission will not be able to make a fair and impartial decision based on the record of Chief Parks is insulting to the integrity of the current members of the Police Commission and premature. However, in the meantime both sides need to take a step back and realize they constitute only a small portion of the diverse population of the city of Los Angeles. Both sides need to tune down their rhetoric and allow all voices and positions to be heard. Lastly, both sides should utilize the proper forum in a non-political manner to accomplish what they perceive to be in their respective best interests and more importantly what's in the best interest of the city. Janine Bouey is a former officer who retired from the LAPD in 'r996. She was the first female African-American defense representative in the history of the department. lguerrilla@earthlink, net Parks Hasn't Done Job No, t: Reform the LAPD's Culture By CONSTANCE L. RICE Constance L. Rice is a civil rights lawyer. February 11 2002 When former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates received the Christopher Commission report, he reportedly threw it in the nearest trash can. The question is whether anyone at the Los Angeles Police Department ever took it out. To be clear: Today's LAPD is not Gates' organization. The LAPD has advanced significantly. However, the department is as close to claiming the Christopher Commission mandate to end its insular, retaliatory, paramilitary policing culture as Mullah Omar is to embracing feminism. When confronted with the full Christopher agenda, the LAPD just said no. Ten years later, the department faces federal supervision, yet another brewing gangster-cop scandal and the unmet Christo )her Commission challenge. It also is facing a controversy over the reappointment of its chief. 2/25/02 Page 4 of 5 Bone-level reforms are needed here, not the skin-level changes of improved complaint procedures, better public relations, computer tracking, senior lead officers and flextime. The hard-core basics needed to end the LAPD's bunker culture require: * Civilian control. As recently as 1999, LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks had to be officially reminded that the department is subject to civilian control and the rule of law. * Systemic solutions. The Christopher Commission concluded that the LAPD's problems are systemic, cultural and entrenched. LAPD brass concluded that the Rampart Division gangster-cop scandal was an aberrant "incident." * Eliminating the code of silence. The Christopher Commission concluded that this code was the foremost barrier to ending the abusive attributes of the LAPD's culture. The department denies that there even is a code of silence. * Perform a cultural transplant. Former Assistant Chief David Dotson puts this one best: "The problems at the LAPD's Rampart Division are cultural in nature, the result of an institutional mind-set first conceived in the 1950s.... Unless this police culture is overthrown, future Rampart scandals are inevitable." * An overhaul of internal affairs. The LAPD's self-policing apparatus continues to shred whistle-blowers and shield cowboys. Frank Serpico would be just as endangered in Los Angeles as he was in New York. When Armando Coronado, a decorated LAPD veteran, blew the whistle on gangster cops Rafael Perez and Nino Durden in 1997, LAPD's Internal Affairs Department turned not on the rogues but on Coronado. It destroyed his career. When another honest cop also tried to challenge the dynamic duo, Internal Affairs again turned on the clean, whistle- blowing veteran. Both times, Internal Affairs enabled the outlaws. As long as the Los Angeles Police Department continues to submarine the Serpicos and celebrate the Dirty Harrys, how can anyone claim that police reform has even started? * An end to information stonewalling and the "outsiders-are-the-enemy" mentality. Outsiders still have to mount the Battle of Gettysburg to get useful information out of this department. How is it possible that in 2002, the district attorney had no clue that 60 additional Rampart investigations were in the pipeline? As a former LAPD interim chief explains it, "it's us against the world. We see ourselves as the last bastion of good people in a world that's crumbling." The Christopher Commission tagged this G. Gordon Liddy aspect of LAPD culture as a major driver of community problems. * Accepting the fact that the LAPD cannot reform itself. The Police Department still insists that it can reform itself, despite 40 years of failed efforts, two riots sparked by department misconduct and a devastating gangster-cop crisis that raged unchecked for years and was eventually stopped not by the LAPD but by a plea-bargained confession. * Cooperate with the inspector general. Chief Parks and the LAPD deep-sixed the first inspector general; they barely tolerate the presence of the second. Today's heated discussions should center on the Christopher Commission mandate and these critical reforms. Unfortunately, politics have hijacked the agenda. Sparked by Mayor James K. Hahn's rejection of the city's black chief of police and a divisive campaign by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the fog of this war blocks the reform issue, and this latest battle crackles with misfires over race, power and political betrayal. Chief Parks' reappointment should be assessed on the realization of the full Christopher Commission mandate and on his approach to fighting crime-not on the level of racial comfort he inspires or personal relationships or a tacit quid pro quo understanding between the mayor and the city's black leadership. Neither should his reappointment rest on a grievance list from a hostile union. Whether it's Bernard Parks or someone else, the next police chief of Los Angeles will have to unconditionally accept and 2/25/02 Page 5 of 5 implement bedrock reforms. This goes beyond appointing more senior lead officers. The city needs a task force made up of a top group of LAPD brass, patrol officers, experts, community members and other "outsiders" to draft a transition/transformation blueprint for the department. Then the city must get ratification by all those who have a stake in the department. Absent these basic changes, community policing will remain a slogan and the Los Angeles Police Department will continue to crush the Coronados and celebrate the Durdens. And the mandate to reform will remain in Daryl Gates' trash can, along with his copy of the Christopher Commission report. 2/25/02 Page 1 of 4 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 12:44 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Boston Questions Raised in 2001 Boston Police Shooting Dateline: Boston, Mass. - 2/17/2002 Boston Herald by Jose Martinez As one fatal shooting by Boston police heads to a grand jury to weigh possible criminal charges against the officer, a medical report in another case suggests a cop shot a 19-year-old 1'4attapan man in the back and not in the belly as reported by authorities last July. According to Boston police, a knife-wielding Rene Junior P, omain forced officers Gregory Dankers and Stephen A. Rioux to retreat more than 40 yards down the platform at the MBTA's Mattapan Square station before Dankers, his back up against a kiosk, shot Romain last July 14. · 'The suspect raised the knife above his head when the officer discharged one round striking the suspect in the torso," police said in a statement released the day of the shooting. Romain's death certificate lists a gunshot wound to his abdomen as the cause of death. However, a surgical report from Boston Medical Center obtained recently by the Romain family refers to an entrance wound ' 'over the buttocks," an exit wound in the ' 'right lower quadrant" and ' 'abdominal catastrophe." · ' We want to know what happened," the teen's father, ]ean-P, ene P, omain, said. ' ' My son's friends tell us he was shot in the back as he was running away, that he dropped the knife. Now we have this from the hospital. He was shot in the back." Romain is one of six people to be killed by a police officer in Boston over the last 15 months. All but one of the officers have been cleared of wrongdoing by internal investigations, although the Romain case remains under investigation by prosecutors. In the latest case, evidence against officer Shawn West, who killed a motorist during a predawn traffic stop in Roxbury Tuesday, will be presented to a grand jury. · 'Wow, that was fast," said a surprised P,omain of the action taken in last week's shooting. In contrast, Romain said he's been trying to obtain police reports and details of his son's autopsy since .July. His ex- wife, Carline Murphy, enlisted a lawyer's assistance to little avail, he said. ' 'It has been seven months and still we are in the dark," Romain said. ' 'I think they are covering something up." · 'There is no coverup," said David Procopio, spokesman for acting Suffolk County District Attorney Elizabeth Keeley. ' ' We are proceeding at a very careful, thoughtful, methodical way. Unfortunately for the family involved, that takes a long time." Boston police declined comment, referring all questions to the district attorney's office. The Romain's attorney, P,obert Doyle, also declined to discuss the case but confirmed that only Thursday had someone from Keeley's office contacted the family - through an uncle in Western Massachusetts - to set up a meeting later this month. The 15-page medical report indicates Romain initially was listed as an unknown black male and in the surgical dictation he is referred to as a 31-year-old black male. · 'This is a 31-year-old black male who was shot in the right buttocks with exit wound in the right lower quadrant. He came into the trauma room intubated with blood squirting out of the right lower quadrant 2/25/02 Page 2 of 4 exit wound as well as the entrance wound over the buttocks," the surgeon noted. ]ean-Rene Romain, an auto mechanic for the Boston Police Department, said ]unior's three younger brothers are handling the loss of their sibling better than their father. He said he avoids the T stop where his son was killed. · 'The boys ask questions from time to time. We have no answers," he said. ' 'You would think T work for them (Boston police), that someone would come and talk to me, but no. No one ever approached me. ! want to know the truth." Meanwhile, in Boston's most recent police shooting, Willie Murray "ir., 37, of the South End, was shot once in the head during a traffic stop by West about 4 a.m. Tuesday in Roxbury. By Friday, police Superintendent ]ohn Gallagher said the case would be presented to a grand jury. !n the process, Gallagher revealed for the first time that West had put his gun in through the driver's side window of Murray's car, which he had stopped after spotting it moving slowly and in the wrong direction up Crawford Street, a one-way. Murray's headlights were off and, police say, he had just given the slip to two other officers who had tailed his vehicle through a nearby neighborhood. The vehicle moved forward, Gallagher said, and the .40-caliber Glock fired. West has been out on injured leave since the shooting. West's union attorney, Thomas Drechsler, said he is confident that the secret panel of Suffolk County residents would decide West did nothing wrong after they review all the evidence. There are only two witnesses in the Murray case: West and an unidentified passenger who was in Murray's car but escaped injury. Only one other police shooting in Boston has been presented to a grand jury since the '50s - the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Christopher Rogers by Officer .lames ' ' Sonny" Hall in 1991. Hall, who claimed his 9mm Glock fired accidentally as he looked under a truck where the teenager was hiding, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison. Boston Police Captain Released from Hospital After Shooting Dateline: Boston, Mass. - 2/17/2002 Boston Herald by Jose Martinez A day after being involved in a shooting on a crowded street downtown and hospitalized with chest pains, Boston police Capt. William Broderick was released from Massachusetts General Hospital yesterday. Broderick, supervisor of cases for Boston police at Suffolk Superior Court, has been identified by several sources as the captain who opened fire on a minivan on Summer Street about 10:30 a.m. Friday. The van contained four civilian investigators from the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. None of the men in the van were injured or charged despite being handcuffed and transported to Area A-1 after the shooting. Boston poiice and acting Suffolk County District Attorney Elizabeth Keeley requested state police and the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office take over the investigation to avoid possible conflicts of interest. Broderick, witnesses said, accused the driver of the van of trying to run him over. He later was transported to MGH after complaining of chest pains. 2/25/02 Page 3 of 4 He was listed in serious condition late Friday but upgraded to good condition yesterday and released, hospital officials said. Broderick, who joined the department in 1977, had been president of the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation for 12 years. During that time, Broderick was barred from carrying a gun for seven years after he allegedly assaulted the driver of a school bus parked illegally outside Symphony Hall. Community divided on probe of police shooting ay Megan Tenth a Nd Francie Latour, Globe Staff, 2/:1.7/2002 Black ministers and community leaders said yesterday that they are pleased that a grand jury will investigate the sequence of events that led to the fatal shooting Tuesday of Willie L. Murray Jr. by a Boston police officer. Officer Shawn West could face criminal charges in connection with the shooting, which allegedly followed an early-morning game of cat and mouse between Murray and police through the streets of Roxbury. Police said West fired his gun through the open window of Murray's car after it moved forward while he was being questioned by West. "It's not as clear how the officer may have been in mortal danger that required the application of deadly force, particularly shooting the suspect in the head," said the Rev. Ray Hammond of the Ten Point Coalition in Jamaica Plain. "T think under those circumstances, at the very least, deep and impartial investigation is warranted, and thorough investigation is warranted." Leonard Alkins, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, said that despite improved relations between city police and the black community in recent years, emotions are running high over the Murray shooting, and hopes for justice are guarded. "There is one side who thinks nothing is going to happen and then there's another side who thinks justice will be served," Alkins said. "We have to allow the process to work and wait and see what the grand jury does with the information that's given to them." But criminal justice specialists warn that only a small percentage of police officers are ever prosecuted for use of deadly force after a grand jury investigation. "It's not rare to use the grand jury as a screening tool to decide whether to bring any criminal charge," said Bill Gellar, a specialist on police use of force, and author of "Deadly Force: What We Know." "What is very rare is bringing up criminal charges for a police officer for shooting somebody. It is extremely rare for prosecutors to go after police on homicide charges for the taking of a life," he said. Prosecutors must be able to prove that the officer had intentional or at least reckless disregard for the value of human life in order to press homicide charges, said Gellar. Even if there are viable witnesses and substantial evidence, it is difficult to prove the officer's intentions. "It's very easy for police to claim they were in fear of their own life at the time they took the person's life," said Gellar, adding that there is a political reason for the lack of charges against police. "Prosecutors are highly dependent on cooperation of police officers to make the majority of their cases day to day," Gellar said. "No prosecutor would ever tell you that, faced with blatant police misconduct, they wouldn't do justice by going after the officer criminally. They have to be pretty sure because they are risking antagonizing the whole police apparatus on which they are dependent." The prosecution's sole witness in the shooting is an unidentified man who was sitting beside Murray in the front seat of his car when Hurray was shot. "The officer's hand was never in the car. The only thing he had in the car was the mouth of his gun," the passenger told the Globe on the condition of 2/25/02 Page 4 of 4 anonymity. "I couldn't believe that cop fired, I couldn't believe he fired." The passenger said Hurray was frightened because the police were tailing him for no apparent reason after the two men stopped at a gas station to buy a soft drink. A police cruiser began following Murray as he left the station and began a journey up and down the streets of Roxbury at 4 a.m. The passenger also said that Hurray told him he had a gun in his car, but the passenger said he never saw it and Hurray never made any attempt to retrieve or hide it. Police said Hurray was unarmed at the time of the shooting and would not comment yesterday about whether a search of Murray's car produced a weapon. This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 2/17/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. 2/25/02 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 12:44 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Pittsburgh: Cops Fail to Get Enought Signatures to Vote Down RBoard Signatures lacking for police review board vote Wednesday, February 20, 2002 By Johnna A. Pro, Post-Gazette Staff Writer Members of the city's police union who want to abolish the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board did not have enough signatures by yesterday to put the question on the ballot in the May primary."lt was a learning experience," said Brad Martin, a leader in the Fraternal Order of Police, whose members spearheaded the effort."Now, if we want to do it again in the future, we'll know what needs to be done."Under Allegheny County's election guidelines, the union needed to gather at least 7,884 valid signatures from registered voters as of yesterday to get the question on the May 21 primary ballot. The number of signatures represents 10 percent of the total number of city residents who voted in the last gubernatorial race. Realistically, the police union would have needed 10,000 to 11,000 signatures to be certain it could meet the minimum standard.This primary is the first election in which the union could try to eliminate the seven-member panel created by voters five years ago to investigate police misconduct complaints. Martin said that he believed the effort failed because of a lack of communication between those leading the signature drive and the union members collecting the signatures. Had they been successful in getting the question on the ballot, officers hoped to convince the public that the review board duplicates existing oversight of the police -- by the federal government, the district attorney's office and the Office of Municipal Investigations, the city's internal investigative agency. In addition, police officers contend the money spent on the review board -- $447,995 is budgeted this year -- is better spent elsewhere. Elizabeth Pittinger, executive director of the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board, previously had said that the board exists at the will of the people, and if the petition drive were successful, it would be up to citizens to express their opinions at the ballot box.After learning the officers did not get the required number of signatures, she said, "The board is going to continue to do its work in an impartial and objective manner as the people directed them to do in 1997."The review board has no authority to discipline officers, but in a case where it finds that misconduct occurred, it can recommend that the police chief take action. The chief can accept, reject or modify the ruling based on his own review of the case and the officer's record. 2/25/02 Page 1 of l Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aoLcom Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 12:44 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Minneapolis Axes Review Board Minneapolis council swings $5.2 million ax at city budget Rochelle Olson Star Tribune Published Feb 16, 2002 The Minneapolis City Council Friday unanimously approved $5.2 million in cuts from the 2002 city budget, but delayed action on the future of the Truth-in-Housing program. The council made several changes to the cuts proposed Monday by Mayor R.T. Rybak. The final product trims the 2002 police budget approved last year by $1.3 million, $300,000 more than suggested by Rybak. The council also doubled the $100,000 Rybak proposed to create a replacement for the Civilian Police Review Authority, which reviews complaints against the Police Department, and restored $200,000 Rybak wanted to cut from the city's computerized system of geographic and demographic information. The 13-0 vote marked a harmonious milestone for the new council and Rybak, who actively participated in public budget meetings through the week, defending his positions and cajoling the council to go along. Rybak said the cuts sent the message: "We can get the largest city in the state back on track." Getting specific The budget cuts were originally enacted as a 2.2 percent across-the-board reduction by the previous council in late 2001. But Rybak and the new council wanted more targeted cuts and clearer spending priorities. Council members and Rybak said they overcame initial disagreements to make the unanimous vote possible. "The final proposal is evidence of excellent consensus-building," said Council Vice President Robert Lilligren. Immediately after the vote, Rybak left City Hall and went to the State Capitol, where he lobbied legislators to reject state budget cuts that could increase the financial pressure on the city. Gov. Jesse Ventura has proposed an additional $15 million cut in the city's local government aid. "If that happens, those [future] cuts will be more painful and more difficult than these," said Council President Paul Ostrow. Even if the city somehow escapes those cuts, Rybak and the council foresee more belt-tightening in the 2003 budget, as they struggle to bring spending in line with revenues. Delayed decision For now, the council saved one program from obscurity. Members voted 9-4 to approve Council Member Dan Niziolek's motion for further reflection on the elimination of the Truth-in-Housing program. Joining Ostrow in opposing the plan were Council Members Scott Benson, Lisa Goodman and Barret Lane. All want to abolish the program. "This is Minneapolis over-regulation at its very finest," Lane said. The program requires inspections and repairs when homes are sold in the city. The Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee will contemplate the pregram's future. Committee Chairman Joe Biernat said he will give it serious consideration and doesn't prejudge a result. He is the most ardent supporter of the program and sponsored its passage three years ago. Rybak wants to get rid of the $300,000 program, which is funded by the fees charged for inspections, saying repairs can be negotiated between buyers and sellers. 'Tm a person who believes government should only regulate when it's absolutely necessary," he said. The mayor also proposed phasing out the Civilian Review Authority, which has an annual budget of $457,000 and reviews police brutality complaints. The council approved spending $200,000 to fund an alternative effort. Critics contend the current program lacks credibility in the community, but the council agreed there needs to be some oversight of the police force. The Police Department itself took a deeper-than-preposed cut Friday despite a commitment from the council to protect public safety functions. The cut was still below what the department would have endured if council members had ratified the 2.2 percent acress-the-board cuts endorsed by the previous council late last year. Police spokesman Sgt. Medaria Arradondo said it was too early to say how the cuts would affect the department. The council directed the department to look for ways to cut overtime and increase efficiency. -- Rochelle Ol$on is at raolson@startribune, com . 2/25/02 Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aohcom Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 12:45 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Milwaukee $500 000 Shooting Liability; Officer accused of sexcrime; Indy Suit City ordered to pay $500,000 in shooting Judge says off-duty officer acted as official when he fired By JAMES H. BURNETT Ill of the Journal Sentinel staff Last Updated: Feb. 8, 2002 The City of Milwaukee must pay a man more than $500,000 for pain and suffering from injuries he suffered when an off- duty Milwaukee police officer shot him in a road rage confrontation 31/2 years ago, a judge decided Wednesday. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Sullivan, who presided over a four-day non-jury trial last month, ruled Wednesday that Lament Hodnett's shooting of Gregory Thornton on May 16, 1998, was done in Hodnett's capacity as a police officer and was not justified in any case. Sullivan accepted as credible medical examinations of Thornton that said the shooting left Thornton, who was already learning disabled, depressed and in severe pain, unable to walk up stairs or lift heavy objects, and with overall "deteriorated physical condition?The judge ordered that the city pay Thornton $53,555.41 for past medical expenses, $250,000 for past pain and suffering, and $200,000 for future pain and suffering.According to past testimony and court records, Hodnett, an officer with eight years on the force at the time of the confrontation, shot Thornton twice after Thornton tried to intervene in an argument between Hodnett and Thomton's cousin, Gary Brumfield, over a near-collision of automobiles between the two. Hodnett, who has insisted he saw Thornton conceal a weapon, is accused of flashing his badge and opening fire on Thornton, striking him in the shoulder and hip. Thornton sued the city three months later, claiming the city was responsible for the actions of Hodnett as an officer. Attorneys for the city argued that Hodnett, who has since been fired, was off duty and not acting as a city employee. But in his five-page factual and legal finding, Sullivan wrote that "Hodnett was acting in his official capacity as a Milwaukee Police Officer when he fired his service revolver," that "Hodnett was not acting in self-defense" and that "Hodnett did not have probable cause to believe that Mr. Thornton posed a threat of serious physical harm to him or anyone else?John Schiro, one of Thomton's attorneys, said Friday that he and his client were pleased with but not surprised by Sullivan's decision."Every level of government that has looked at this incident.., has said he acted inappropriately," Schiro said of Hodnett. "There are all sorts of police shootings, many accidental. And of course, department guidelines dictate that officers be taken off the street and put on administrative duty pending an investigation?So when, in this case, they take someone off the street and put them into custody rather than on leave, it's a pretty clear indication that they didn't believe his explanation of events made sense."Hodnett's attorney, reached by telephone Friday afternoon, was unable to comment immediately, but Assistant City Attorney Jan Smokowicz said it was too soon to say how the city planned to respond to the judgment?We have to analyze (Sullivan's) decision about not only the law," he said, "but we have to analyze whether the factual findings that he made support his legal conclusions. We also have to analyze, given (that information), whether there is a basis for an appeal." Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Feb. 9, 2002. Police officer accused of sex crime By JAMES H. BURNETT III of the Journal Sentinel staffLast Updated: Feb. 20, 2002A second Milwaukee police officer in less than two months has been arrested in connection with an alleged sex crime, porice said Wednesday. The 27-year-old officer, who has been on the force two years, was arrested Wednesday morning for "attempt sexual assault," according to a news release from Police Chief Arthur Jones' office. The release did not detail the accusation against the officer and said that the matter was being investigated by the Police Department's Internal Affairs Division. The incident will also be reviewed by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office. The officer is not being named because he has not been charged. Jones did not return a call. Sources within the department familiar with the case said the officer is assigned to the north and east side 5th District station. The officer was on duty Tuesday evening when the alleged incident occurred, police sources say. According to sources, the officer is accused of driving a police squad car during his shift to the city's south side and meeting a woman with whom he had an ongoing relationship. The officer is accused of then taking the woman to N. 4th and W. Brown streets, parking the car and attempting to engage in a sex act with her, soumes say. The woman resisted, the sources say, and during a struggle she kicked out a car window. Police officers went to the scene, separated the pair and took the officer into custody, according to sources. In January, John L. Jones, 28, a seven-year veteran of the force, 2/25/02 Page 2 of 2 was charged with having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl. That case is pending. IN Family Sues Deputy Who Shot Stockbroker to Death in Home Dateline-' Indianapolis, IN - 2/20/2002 By Mike Ellis Indianapolis Star Decrying what they called "cowboy law enforcement," lawyers for the family of John Leaf on Tuesday flied a lawsuit seeking damages for the stockbroker's fatal shooting in his apartment by a sheriff's deputy. The suit, filed in Marion Superior Court, claims Leaf's May 5 death resulted from Marion County Sheriff's Department policies and practices tolerating excessive force and illegal entry into private homes. "It is our hope that through this lawsuit, policies will be changed and this will not happen to another family," said attorney Stephen Wagner. Sheriff's Department officials said a court review will clear Deputy Ronald Shelnutt, who has said he fired in self-defense. A grand jury and a panel of outside experts backed Shelnutt. "No second attack by a well-intentioned attorney a year later can change the facts," said Col. Scott Minier, Sheriff's Department spokesman, "when an officer was forced to choose between his own life and that of an armed attacker." Department officials say Leaf, 35, was shot to death as deputies investigated a break-in in the 8800 block of Lake Nora, West Drive. Shelnutt and Reserve Deputy Andrew Jacobs said they entered Leaf's apartment after seeing a broken window and an open door. The officers found Leaf in bed. Roused from sleep, Leaf lunged at them with a knife, according to the department. Shelnutt fired, hitting Leaf in the chest, shoulder and neck. But Wagner said the officers had no reason to believe a crime had occurred and should not have entered the apartment. Leaf had broken into his own apartment after giving his keys to someone else. "The deputies had no legal justification to enter that apartment," Wagner said. "Simply put, they were trespassers." The lawsuit also claims Shelnutt and Jacobs failed to identify themselves as police officers or take other steps that could have averted the shooting. The lawsuit seeks no specific damages but states that Leaf's child has lost the financial support he would have provided. 2/25/02 Marian Karr From: Kelvyn Anderson [kwa357@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 3:17 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Phila Commission recommends suspension for three officers PAC Recommends Suspensions For Three Officers by Carol Williams PNO Staff Writer 2/22/02 The City of Philadelphia Police Advisory Commission {PAC) has recommended to newly appointed Police Commissioner, Sylvester M. Johnson, that three Philadelphia Police officers accused of using excessive force in a January 10, 2000 case against Jamel Nichols (22) be penalized with 20 day suspensions. In an effort to give PAC more power, the city recently merged PAC with the city's Department of Police Integrity and Accountability. The merge gave PAC subpoena power, something which may help to bring closure in the mounting cases of police abuse coming before the Co~ission. The Police Commissioner has 30 days to respond. In the past recommendations by the PAC were completely ignored by former Police Commissioner, John Timoney. PAC and the community hopes that Johnson will take a more attentive attitude in dealing with these cases of abuse of power on behalf of the city's police officers in carrying out their duties with the citizenry. It was Rosetta Nichols, mother of Jamel Nichols who filed the original complaint before the Con,mission alleging that three members of the city's police force had "abused her son" during the January 10th arrest. There were also six civilian witnesses to the incident. Jamel Nichols, testified at the Criminal Justice Center after being transported from Albion Correctional Facility. The incident took place at 24th & Kimball streets when police officer John Cawley recognized Nichols as the subject of several "open bench warrants". Cawley pulled Nichols over, who was behind the wheel of a Honda Prelude, on suspected car theft. Cawley approached Nichols who in,mediately fled, the Conmlission panel said. With the police in pursuit, Nichols eventually crashed the vehicle that he was driving into an occupied vehicle at 21st and Christian Streets injuring a passenger. He then left the car and continued to travel on foot. "He was eventually apprehended by Police Officer (P/O) John Doyle in the 1900 block of Catherine Street. P/O Cawley and P/O Christian Buckman joined Doyle to assist with the arrest. Several civilians in the area witnessed the events of the arrest, filed complaints with Internal Affairs and testified during hearings held before the Commission," PAC said. After the arrest, Nichols was taken to Graduate Hospital for injuries sustained in the accident and also at the hands of the three officers. Nichols was 1 reported as having cuts and bruises on his forehead, face and legs which were consistent with the witnesses sworn versions of what happened during the arrest. Witnesses also testified before the Commission that they plead with the officers to stop the beating. The officers stated before the hearing that they beat Nichols because he was resisting arrest by kicking and struggling. PAC found that the testimonies given by the witnesses at the scene had more credibility that those given by the three officers. In addition to the 20 days suspension recommended for P/O Buckman, PAC also found that P/O Doyle's use of Mace to subdue Nichols was "appropriate", but officer's Buckman's "use of his baton violated the Police Department Directive %22; and 3, which prohibit excessive use of force . They also found that all 3 officers used excessive force by striking Jamel Nichols with their batons after he had been restrained. In fact, according to witnesses at the scene the three officers beat and kicked a handcuffed Nichols while he lay prone on the ground, handcuffed from behind. Officer Buckman openly admitted striking Nichols five or six times with his baton during the Commissions hearing. In their Summary of Findings the Commission stated that "After Mr. Nichols was handcuffed, the arresting officers kicked Mr. Nichols in the head, neck and other parts of his body'. The incident was also investigated by the city's Police Department of Internal Affairs Division which found that the officers acted appropriately and recon~ended no disciplinary action. The Internal Affairs Division could not be reached for comment and their report was not made available to the press by the time of the logging of this report. Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games http://sports.yahoo.com Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update_nacole.org Page 1 of 5 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 11:38 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Tacoma; Seattle; Tacoma (WA) Policeman Charged with Rape Dateline: Tacoma, WA - 2/23/2002 By ELAINE PORTERFIELD SEA'I-I'LE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER An eight-year veteran of the Tacoma Police Department was charged with second-degree rape yesterday, sending waves of shock and dismay around Pierce County law enforcement circles. "This is a sad day for the Tacoma Police Department," said David Brame, the city's new police chief. "As police officers, we can never compromise our values and principles." The officer, who is 38, is scheduled for arraignment March 1. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is not publishing his name to protect the identity of the alleged victim in the case. He is currently on paid administrative leave, said Tacoma police spokesman Jim Mattheis. Phone messages to the officer's home were not returned. According to charging papers, Tacoma police learned of the case earlier this month after the 17-year-old victim told a teacher that she had been forced to have sexual contact with the officer on at least one occasion. In addition, the officer would sometimes enter the bathroom while she was showering and often touched her, she said. The officer told investigators the victim had written him a note saying she was unhappy with how he had been touching her, and said he was disturbed by the situation, police said. Pierce County prosecutor Gerry Horne said his office was saddened by the charges. "It's always disappointing when it's a police officer" charged with a crime, he said. Seattle Police Defend Shooting, But Witnesses Dispute Necessity Dateline: seattle, WA - 2/20/2002 By LEWIS KAMB SEATTLE POST-INTELL[GENCER REPORTER Police say the two police officers who fatally shot a man armed with a small sword in the back yard of a University District house Monday afternoon had no choice but to open fire. But several residents who say they watched the confrontation unfold on their street said police gunned down a man who posed no immediate threat. Authorities yesterday said the man held the 19-inch blade -- described by police variously as a machete and a sword -- above his head and advanced toward an officer in the closed confines of a fenced-off yard along Seventh Avenue Northeast, forcing officers to make a split-second decision. "It was only after he raised his sword above his head and advanced toward the officer ... (that) officers 2/26/02 Page 2 of 5 used fatal force," police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said yesterday. However, at least three people who say they witnessed the incident contradicted the police version. "He didn't make any sudden movements, and whatever he was holding was down at his side when they shot him," said 19-year-old Jamie Hamilton, who watched the confrontation from her porch across the street with her housemates. "It was just so disturbing and seemed so unnecessary." Late yesterday, medical examiners were still trying to contact the dead man's relatives and had not released his identity. Police could provide only sketchy details about the man: He was African American, originally from Georgia, in his early to mid-30s and had an arrest record. Sunday, Deputy Chief .lohn Diaz said, patrol officers made "a minor contact" with the man in the city's North End, when residents complained that he apparently had been sleeping in his car. Officers gave the man some information about shelters, and he went on his way. The man's next encounter with police ended with four bullet holes in his chest and stomach. At least two of those gunshot wounds came after the man already had been hit and was lying on the ground, police officials said. They say the man was still a threat, and that an officer shot him as he was grabbing for his sword. But some witnesses disputed that yesterday, saying the man only appeared to be trying to sit up. Joel Voss, who said he watched the shooting from his front porch across the street, said, "I didn't see him grab at anything." During a news conference at police headquarters yesterday, officials gave this account of what happened: lust after 2 p.m., patrol officers spotted the man in his Subaru making an illegal turn onto 12th Avenue Northeast from Northeast 47th Street. After police stopped the car in midblock on 12th Avenue Northeast and approached it, the man took off -- speeding north to Northeast 50th Street, where he turned west. The man then turned onto Seventh Avenue, where he abandoned the car just past a freeway onramp, and ran east toward nearby homes. During the five- to six-minute foot chase that ensued, police lost sight of the man several times, and noticed he was carrying a small sword. At one point, the man apparently tried to approach the entrance of one house, Capt. Brent Wingstrand said. Kerlikowske said that in at least two instances, when officers ordered the man to drop the weapon, he indicated he wanted them to shoot him. Finally, police saw the man heading behind a house at 5055 Seventh Ave. N.E. Police said five or six officers climbed over a short fence and confronted the man. Six-year veteran Brett Rogers fired a Taser at him, but it fail to immobilize him. That's when, police say, the man lifted the weapon over his head, and advanced toward Rogers. Rogers fired two shots, striking the man in the torso and knocking him to the ground. At about the same time Rogers fired, another officer shot a second Taser, which began shocking the man as he was lying in the yard, Wingstrand said. But the man, still not subdued, grabbed at his sword and tried to get up, police say. When he did, Officer Stan Streubel, on the force for about a year and a half, fired as many as three more shots, striking the man at least twice. 2/26/02 Page 3 of 5 Both officers have been placed on standard leave. Kerlikowske yesterday defended the officers' actions, saying they tried several times to get the man to surrender. "The officers had an absolute duty to protect the people in that neighborhood and themselves." But both Voss and Hamilton said separately yesterday that the man was not brandishing his weapon. "The man was completely stationary when they shot him," Voss said. Seattle Police Say They Would Welcome Inquiry Into Deadly Shooting Dateline: Seattle, WA - 2/23/2002 By LEWIS KAMB SEA~I-LE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Seattle police officials said yesterday they would welcome an inquiry by federal authorities if they open a probe into this week's fatal police shooting of a man armed with a sword. "While I have full confidence in the investigative process and review, I respect the request for a Department of Justice investigation on this case and will ensure the Seattle Police Department's full cooperation," Chief Gil Kerlikowske said. The department's position comes after two local civil rights leaders yesterday called for federal authorities to investigate Monday's shooting of Shawn .]. Maxwell. Officers Brett Rogers and Stanley Streubel each shot Maxwell two times after he had brandished a sword and fled police through a crowded University District neighborhood. Police say Maxwell forced officers to shoot after they tried to subdue him with non-lethal stun guns, and he lifted his sword and moved toward them. Some witnesses, though, have disputed that account. Yesterday, .]ames Kelly, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, and Oscar Eason, president of the Seattle branch of the NAACP, said they're calling for the outside review out of concern for due process. "I don't care what color they are," Kelly said, adding that it's the "patterns and practices" of police shootings in Seattle that concern him. Maxwell, 31, was black; Rogers, 32, and Streubel, 23, are white. Detectives are now conducting a criminal review. The department's Firearms Review Board will also ~nvestigate, and the incident likely will go to an inquest jury. Because police officials supported the officers' account shortly after the shooting, Eason said the department already has drawn a conclusion that "disqualifies itself and the city with regard to any impartial investigation." A police incident report written by a fellow officer on the same day of the shooting also classifies Maxwell's death as "justifiable homicide." "Simply because we've come out with information to advise the public that these are the circumstances of the preliminary investigation does not mean we have predetermined the outcome," police spokesman Duane Fish said. 2/26/02 Page 4 of 5 Lisa Maxwell, the dead man's mother, said yesterday from her home in Savannah, Ga., that she supports a federal review. "Of course I'm glad that they are doing this because I believe my son was unjustifiably murdered in the street." Yesterday, Kelly and Eason were asked if race wasn't a factor in their decision, and why they had not called for such reviews after the past two fatal police shootings involving white men. Their last call for a review followed last May's fatal shooting of Aaron Roberts, who was black. "We can get sidetracked on these tangential issues," Kelly said. A report issued last year by the department found that Seattle police rank in the bottom half of most fatal police shooting categories among the nation's 50 largest police agencies. AZ Cop Loses Job Over Sex Web; Lied About Participation Dateline: Chandler, AZ - 2/23/2002 By Adam Klawonn The Arizona Republic A Chandler police officer lost his job Friday after investigators discovered he joined his wife in sex acts on a Web site and lied about it. Motorcycle Officer Ron Dible, 32, had no record of disciplinary problems in seven years on the force and had been lauded in the past for community service. But last month, his wife, Megan, quit her Chandler police dispatcher job after co-workers spotted her on an adult Web site. Dible said then he shot nude photos of his wife and posted them on the site, but told supervisors and reporters that he did not appear on it. He was placed on paid leave until this week and dismissed Friday. Chief Bobby Joe Harris wrote in a report that investigators found photos of Dible and Megan engaging in sexual intercourse on the paid areas of the site. "It has brought substantial embarrassment upon your fellow employees and officers," Harris wrote. "Your conduct has caused (them) and members of their families to be insulted and ridiculed." Dible said he plans to appeal the dismissal on First Amendment grounds. He said that last month he helped drag a west Chandler family from their home after the attic caught fire. The East Valley native and Mountain View High School graduate was also nominated for a departmental award for his charity work. John Carboun, Chandler Law Enforcement Association president, says his group will back Dible's appeal. "We are extremely concerned that the administration overstepped its bounds with respect to the civil rights of the officers." He agreed there is a First Amendment issue. 2/26/02 Page 5 of 5 "This is going to be a pivotal point in defining how much of an officer's private life is private." 2/26/O2 Page 1 of 4 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 11:38 PM 1o: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] PrnceGeorge's Chief & BlueWall; DogBite&Blue Wall; Image Shattered by Reality Chief Farrell and the Blue Wall Washington Post Saturday, February 23, 2002; Page A20 FOR A good part of his six years as police chief of Prince George's County, John S. Farrell enjoyed respect and support as the man committed to reform. Going back years before his arrival, the police in Prince George's County had developed a reputation for brutality; Chief Farrell vowed to erase it, and the hard-working, honest majority of officers on the force welcomed a departmental cleansing that would improve community relations and law enforcement. But in time the chief's encouraging words lost meaning. The problems lingered. As he retires at the end of this month, Chief Farrell leaves a department still under federal and internal investigations. His defensive responses couldn't hide evidence of continuing misconduct on the force, nor could it even maintain the confidence of his rank and file. A 15-month investigation published by The Post in July found that Prince George's officers shot and killed more people per officer from 1990 to 2000 than the 50 largest city and county forces in the nation. During that period, officers shot 122 people and killed 47; nearly half of those shot were unarmed. Another series of Post articles last year described coercive interrogation-room tactics that produced false confessions to murder. Today, 17 months after Cpl. Carlton Jones shot an innocent, unarmed college student in Fairfax County, a Prince George's internal police investigation still drags on. Since 1999, the FBI has opened 33 criminal investigations into possible civil rights violations by Prince George's officers. Then there are the dogs. In 1999, Post reporters turned up internal police records revealing that dogs handled by eight canine members had bitten 60 civilians in an 11-month period in 1998. In a letter to The Post two weeks ago, Chief Farrell defended the canine squad, saying that the unit had been retrained for a "bark and hold" method. But just one month ago another incident is alleged: Two officers are said to have allowed a dog to bite a suspect, who was also beaten with no justification, on Jan. 20. Attorneys for the officers dispute this account. To these horror stories, the chief would call for "vigorous investigation," retraining, community involvement and modern technology. But he seemed unable to get a handle on police misconduct, too often shielded by "a blue wall of silence." Chief Farrell failed to break down that wall -- and wound up standing behind it. Charges Exclude Use of Police Dog In Pr, George's Absence Points to Coverup, Lawyer Says By Ruben Castaneda Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, February 16, 2002; Page B01 Prince George's County police charging documents against the unarmed burglary suspect who, according to one officer, was beaten by another officer and bitten by a police dog with no justification make no mention of the dog being released or biting.Terrell N. Roberts Ill, attorney for the alleged victim of police brutality, said the absence of any mention of a police dog biting his client could indicate an attempt to cover up an improper use of the dog."lt suggests the officer who wrote this didn't want to disclose the dog was used," Roberts said. "It certainly raises questions about whether the use of the dog was appropriate."Roberts said he has represented dozens of clients who were bitten by police dogs when they were arrested. In each of those cases, the fact that the dog was deployed was included in the charging documents, Roberts said. Roberts represents Hector Millan, 27, who told police his name was Jose L. Martinez when he was arrested shortly after 2 a.m. Jan. 20 inside the garage of a Sunoco service station in the 5800 2/26/02 Page 2 of 4 block of Riggs Road. Cpl. Joseph Diaz reported to police supervisors that Cpl. Mark Elie allowed his police dog to bite Millan repeatedly for no reason. Diaz also reported that Cpl. James C. Partenza cracked his police baton over Millan's head. Diaz said that Millan was not fighting or trying to run and that there was no justification for the dog bites or the baton attack. It could not be determined yesterday whether Elie filed a dog bite report, as is required. But Elie's attorney, Timothy F. Maloney, said the officer filed detailed reports describing how the dog was used that night. Maloney declined to go into the content of those reports. "Elie followed the general orders and his training to a T," he said. Maloney also said Elie had nothing to do with how the charging document was written. A query to the police public information office was not answered. Police internal affairs detectives, the FBI and the Prince George's state's attorney's office are investigating Diaz's allegations. The incident bears strong similarities to a case in which former officer Stephanie C. Mohr was convicted in federal court last year of releasing her police dog on an unresisting homeless man behind a Takoma Park printing shop. Mohr was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in December. Millan, who is jailed on a $7,500 bond, is charged with burglary, resisting arrest and second-degree assault. The police charging document, signed by Cpl. Tam Cragg, alleges that Millan pushed Partenza when the corporal tried to arrest him. Prince George's County State's Attorney Jack B. Johnson yesterday praised Diaz for coming forward?Tm really proud of the officer in terms of his courage. I think this is a break in the blue wall of silence," Johnson said.Speaking to reporters at a news conference announcing the shutting down of a Fairmount Heights motel that has been a magnet for prostitution and drug use, Johnson said he planned on completing his investigation into Diaz's allegations in about two weeks. Johnson said the inquiry would be led by Deputy State's Attorney Mark K. Spencer. Johnson, an unannounced candidate for county executive who has made combating police misconduct the cornerstone of his campaign, has been criticized for failing to obtain convictions of county police officers he has prosecuted for crimes ranging from assault to manslaughter. Johnson has spoken of the difficulty of piercing the police "wall of silence" and recently blasted county judges who have acquitted officers accused of crimes. Image Shattered by Reality Embarrassment Evolves Into Fears About County's Economic Future By Paul Schwartzman Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, February '17, 2002; Page C01 The police chief quits, his force tarnished by allegations of brutality. The school superintendent is fired, prompting lawmakers to demand a state takeover of the public schools. For years, Prince George's County leaders have touted their suburb as an enclave of African American affluence, a place where blacks have ascended to the heights of power, a promised land of executive-style housing and new shopping malls. Yet too often that soaring vision cedes to a bleaker reality. Prince George's public schools and police, the cornerstones of suburban respectability and success, remain plagued by unrelenting problems. Police Chief John S. Farrell's abrupt resignation last week stirred reminders of the department's longstanding reputation for brutality. But it was the Board of Education's bitter showdown with Superintendent Iris T. Metts that seemed to provoke collective hand-wringing over Prince George's future. The crisis was difficult enough for parents fretting over children enrolled in a seemingly unstable school system. Yet equally searing for political and civic leaders was that a homegrown squabble had become spectator sport for outsiders. "It's an embarrassment," said Arthur Turner Jr., president of the Towns of Kettering Homeowners Association. "It seems as if we're incapable of managing ourselves, leading ourselves, despite the fact that we're supposed to be well-educated, professional, doing well. There's something missing." From churches to supermarkets to business meetings last week, the talk was of a county out of control, of fear that middle-class families would flee, that companies looking for a new home would no longer consider Prince George's. "1 felt nauseous about the school board," said Jeffrey Ludwig, a commercial real estate broker. "A lot 2/26/02 Page 3 of 4 of us have worked very hard to raise the bar in Prince George's, and this kind of nonsense has the potential to erode all that." The angst inevitably touched on race. African Americans celebrated when blacks, including County Executive Wayne K. Curry (D), rose to the highest levels of Prince George's government. Blacks constitute the majority of the county school board and hold four of nine council seats. Now those same leaders are presiding during one of the more troubled periods in the county's recent history. "It shows that putting people in power who look like you is not enough," said Bladensburg Mayor David Harrington, who is black. "You need vision, ideology, ethics and experience. We're learning a leadership lesson right now. A painful one." Prince George's County's struggle for respect and reformation has deep roots, beginning when it was a sleepy rural community dominated by whites and continuing as it has evolved into the nation's most affluent majority-black suburb. The challenges have been formidable. During the '1960s and the '70s, blacks from neighboring areas avoided driving through the county, so brutal was the all-white police force's reputation. During the 1970s, County Executive Winfield Kelly was so image-conscious that he started a "New Quality of Life" media campaign and implored reporters to no longer refer to Prince George's by the tag "P.G." "We've been the wrong side of the track since colonial times," said John Lally, a lawyer in Prince George's who served as Kelly's spokesman. "The issues have always been the same: police and schools." If the troubles remained a constant, the expectations took a new shape. For African Americans, the rise of a black political class in Prince George's held the promise that they could command their destiny. No longer would they need to rely on white politicians to carve their future. "If we have a black man leading us, we expect to have a first-class police department and better schools," said Hubert "Petey" Green, president of the Prince George's Black Chamber of Commerce. "We thought Wayne [Curry] would come in and bring those things -- new shopping and dining -- and improve our feeling about ourselves. We haven't gotten to that." Curry, who declined to be interviewed in person for this article, said in a written response to questions that no evidence exists that the schools crisis or problems with the police department are driving away residents, businesses or potential investors. "The county has experienced consistent growth in residents and businesses despite our challenges, or because of our resolve in confronting them," Curry said. The county, he said, is not alone in contending with a troubled school system. Montgomery County, for example, endured a cheating scandal; the District's school board politics are famously bitter; and Baltimore has long suffered from poor-performing schools. "No matter how derisively our political dramas are portrayed," Curry wrote, "they are no different, in substance, from the exact same stresses all over the country." Curry typically cites a list of improvements that have occurred during his administration. The end of busing. A new football stadium. The planned construction of 26 schools. A proposal to build a large- scale hotel and conference center at National Harbor. "Any objective evaluation," he wrote, "will show that the county is in much better shape now than it was eight years ago." Yet Prince George's remains plagued by an array of social and economic challenges. A number of neighborhoods bordering the District struggle with poverty and crime. The school system ranks the second-lowest in the state on standardized tests. Residents across the county complain about the lack of upscale restaurants and places to shop. Homicides increased 65 percent over the past year after dropping for a number of years. And the county's police force is the target of a broad federal investigation over allegations of officers' misconduct. The expectation that Curry and other new black leaders would bring swift change may have been unrealistic. The county is dominated by powerful interest groups, from real estate developers to a powerful police union that has opposed reform. Civic activists have successfully fought to maintain a property tax cap, which political leaders say has 2/26/02 Page 4 of 4 hamstrung the county. "African Americans expected that the county government, controlled by blacks, would be hypersensitive to the past and would move with some dispatch to make things better," said Ron Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland. "But the structural power relationships of the old days are still there." Del. Rushern L. Baker III (D-Cheverly), 43, a lawyer and the chairman of the county's House delegation in Annapolis, moved to Prince George's in the late 1980s, in part because he wanted to be part of the county's historic transformation. Now he's leading the call for an overhaul of the Board of Education. Baker, who is also a candidate for county executive, views the strife over the schools and the police as "growing pains." "We've never really owned up to what the problems are," Baker said. "Changing the top leaders is only part of it. The more difficult part is looking at our problems and standing up to people who don't want change." The anguish, he said, is unavoidable. "People are embarrassed and they're tired," he said. "But you need that for this to be resolved." Yet, there is impatience. The theatrics surrounding Metts's firing may bring about reform. But civic leaders fear the collateral damage. "CEOs make their decisions to relocate based on the schools and crime," said Green, the Black Chamber of Commerce's president. "1 don't think we'll see any new money come to Prince George's, at least not for some time." Equally troubling is the prospect of residents leaving. Carla C. Holmes, 37, an African American who lives in Clinton, pulled her three children out of the county's public schools because she was worried that they weren't getting a quality education. Holmes, a litigation specialist, said that when she moves, she'll likely look outside the county. "1 don't know," she said, "if I can do Prince George's again." Staff writer Lisa Frazier contributed to this report. © 2002 The Washington Post Company 2/26/02 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 11:39 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] LA Settles 7 [More] Rampart Cases for 2.8 Million http;llwww,!atimes.comlnewslloca!lla-O00013093feb20, sto~?co!!=!a%2Dheadlines%2Dca!ifornia LOS ANGELES L.A. Settles 7 Rampart Cases for $2.8 Million LAPD: The City Council agrees to payouts, raising police-framing scandal's cost to about $35 million. By PATRICK McGREEVY TIMES STAFF WRITER February 20 2002 The Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to pay $2.8 million to settle lawsuits filed by seven victims of the Rampart police corruption scandal, including two who were allegedly framed by Officer Rafael Perez, who admitted to misconduct. Council members said it is hard to pay out such large sums when the city faces a potential $200-million budget deficit, but they said the cases demanded payment and attorneys for the city were able to negotiate reductions with the victims. "These are the most difficult cases to deal with because they involve police abuse," Councilman Nick Pacheco said. "These cases are very painful in terms of the fact that people had their civil rights violated." Settlements approved by the council included $475,000 to William Zepeda, who pleaded guilty in 1998 to selling cocaine and was sentenced to two years in prison. The conviction was dismissed after Perez came fo~vard with information. Oscar Ochoa, who was allegedly framed by Perez and another officer, will receive $475,000 as well. He pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and was sentenced to three years in prison. His conviction was later dismissed. Samuel Bailey, whom Perez admitted framing for the crime of being an ex-felon with a gun, received $475,000. Bailey's trial was disrupted when the defendant yelled that Perez was a liar. He later pleaded guilty in return for a lighter sentence of two years, eight months in prison. The conviction was later overturned. The rest of the payments went to four others whose convictions were also overturned. City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said the city has so far paid out about $35 million to resolve about 75 cases stemming from the Rampart scandal. "It's always hard to approve settlement payments, but given the evidence and the facts of these cases, we had little choice," Miscikowski said. 2/26/02 Page 1 of 3 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 11:40 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Fla:Lethal Force PolComplaint; N'Odeans Shakedown Alleged New Procedures Demanded After Lakeland (FL) Police Shooting Dateline; Lakeland, FL - 2/21/2002 Lakeland Ledger For the second time in a little more than two years, Lakeland police officers have killed an armed man who threatened them with a gun in a residential neighborhood. There was hail of gunfire, leaving occupied dwellings riddled with bullet holes. it is only through luck that a bystander has not been killed or wounded. After unloading 35 shots early Sunday and having one bullet lodge in a wall inches away from a child's head in a next-door apartment, the Lakeland Police Department needs to develop a response procedure that better provides for the safety of its officers and of the citizens they serve. Officers fired 35 shots at Leroy Reed, who had come out of his East Charles Street apartment pointing a gun to his head. Witnesses said Reed told police to "just shoot me." After repeated urging by officers to drop the gun, Reed, who was on probation for a February 2001 assault and burglary, pointed the gun at officers. He was hit 13 times by four police officers. But 22 bullets missed their mark. One bullet -- or a large fragment -- went through the window of an apartment next door, ripped the arm of a teddy bear and lodged in a wall inches above the head of four-year-old Hannah Wallace. Her mother, Joy Wallace, supports the police officers' decision to shoot. She wants an explanation for the high number of shots. The one offered is that Reed had a gun pointed at police officers, and that the officers responded with rapid-firing weapons until they knew that he was no longer capable of shooting. While a neighbor suggested that police could have shot Reed in the knee, that's not what officers are trained to do when a gun is pointed at them. "The point is," said LPD Chief Cliff Diamond, "that if you shoot a guy in the knees, then it won't stop him from shooting back." Two years ago, before Diamond came to Lakeland, four Lakeland officers fired 49 rounds from their handguns and killed Robert Wesley Laird III at the Elim Mobile Home Park on the city's north side. Stray bullets -- at least 29 -- hit four mobile homes during the shooting, which took place about 11 p.m. on a weeknight. "It's hard to figure," Martin Silver, 70, a retired U.S. Army sergeant with eight holes in his mobile home, told a reporter a few days after the shooting. Bob Carlson had 10 holes in his home. Two of the holes were about 4 feet apart. Carlson said he didn't have time to get down when the shooting started, and was standing between the bullets which passed him on either side. "And, yes, I do feel pretty lucky," he added." After the December 1999 shooting, State Attorney Jerry Hill, whose office investigated it, issued a report to then-Chief Sam gaca. It concluded: "I should note my office has received several complaints about the number of shots fired by your officers in a residential area and the danger that posed to innocent civilians. While I am in no position to judge the tactics of your officers, I did want you to be aware of these public concerns as you conduct internal reviews of your officers' actions and the policy under which they 2/26/02 Page 2 of 3 operated." Diamond said he has been filled in with the details of that case, but was unaware of that paragraph. Diamond, to his credit, has asked for a synopsis of all police shootings for the past five years to get an overview of the department's response in such situations. Last weekend's case didn't give officers any time to develop a game plan for dealing with a man with a gun who also reportedly had been drinking heavily. "It was a very rapidly evolving, very rapidly deteriorating situation," he said. In fewer than 10 seconds, Reed's girlfriend emerged from the apartment, he came out of the apartment with gun to head, then pointed it toward an officer and began to advance. It's unlikely that this will be the last shooting by police in Lakeland. Perhaps, the next one will unfold more deliberately. Examining this one and those before it is the best way to assure the safety of officers, and reduce the danger to the citizens they protect. New Orleans Officers Accused in $5,000 Shakedown Dateline: New Orleans, LA - 2/23/2002 By Hichael Perlstein Staff writer/The Times-Picayune In the second corruption scandal to hit the New Orleans Police Department in two weeks, a lieutenant and sergeant were accused by federal prosecutors Friday of shaking down a promoter during last summer's Essence Festival. Lt. Sam Lee, a 25-year police veteran, and Sgt..lacklean Davis, a 21-year veteran, were indicted on extortion and conspiracy charges for allegedly demanding $5,000 from a Florida entertainment firm. Prosecutors said the officers held two of the promoters against their will in a small ballroom at the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street, threatening to arrest them if they didn't pay up. Once the promoters agreed, the uniformed officers allegedly escorted the promoters to their room at the hotel. The officers, who already had been paid an agreed-upon $4,000 for the off-duty July 8 security job, refused to release the men until the officers hand-counted the additional $5,000, according to the five- page indictment. "These are probably the worst acts a police officer can commit: abusing their authority and threatening somebody with arrest," Assistant U.S. Attorney Salvador Perricone said. Lee and Davis organized about 20 off-duty officers to provide security at an entertainment-filled party at the Sheraton in connection with the Essence Festival, a three-day celebration of African-American music and culture. Some of the extortion money was to be divided with the officers who worked the job, Perricone said, but the exact amounts remain under investigation. After paying Lee and Davis, the promoters immediately complained to the FBI and the Police Department's Public Integrity Division, Perricone said. During a joint investigation of the complaint, Lee and Davis were reassigned from their 7th District jobs to desk duty pending the outcome. The officers were suspended without pay Friday as soon as the indictments were announced. Neither could be reached for comment. For Davis, the charges complete a long fall from grace. In the 1980s, she became the NOPD's first black female homicide detective and quickly rose to prominence after logging a near-perfect record of solving murder cases. At one point, her accomplishments drew national publicity, including a feature story in Parade magazine. 2/26/02 Page 3 of 3 Davis then was promoted to the internal affairs division, where she worked as an investigator. She was transferred from the prestigious post in 1994 after she was suspended for 30 days for giving conflicting testimony in the investigation of another officer. Friday's charges came on the heels of the Feb. 15 release of a federal indictment against a veteran officer and his brother, an NOPD corrections officer, who were charged with helping an auto-theft ring operating in Louisiana and Mississippi. Wellington Beaulieu, a decorated 29-year patrolman, was charged with conspiracy. His brother, Ronald Beaulieu, a 17-year veteran of the department, was charged with concealing knowledge of the crime. "These last two weeks have obviously been depressing and disturbing to the Police Department," Interim Police Superintendent Duane Johnson said. "Both of these individuals are ranking officers, which makes the allegations especially significant." Acting U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said Lee and Davis each face up to 40 years in prison if convicted on both charges. He said the case, as well as the auto-theft one, should underscore his commitment in tackling police corruption. "We were here last week, we're here this week, and we'll be here again as needed," Letten said. 2/26/02 Page 1 of 4 Marian Karr From: Sueiqq@aokcom Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:16 AM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Pointing a Finger at Prints http;ll!atimes,coml~ewslnationworldlnatignlla-O2~602prints,story COLUMN ONE Pointing a Finger at Prints Fingerprint matching, the gold standard in courtrooms, is being called into question. Half the examiners flunk a proficiency test. By STEVE BERRY LA Times Staff Writer February 26 2002 When Riky Jackson, a prime suspect in the 1997 murder of a friend, heard that police found bloody fingerprints at the crime scene, he thought he was off the hook. "1 was innocent," said Jackson, a Philadelphia hairdresser. "There was no way they could have been mine." But three prosecution fingerprint experts said they were his, and he spent 2~ years in prison before authorities acknowledged the error and set him free. No one knows how often fingerprint experts send the wrong person to prison. Ever since fingerprints were first entered as evidence in American courtrooms nearly a century ago, the methods used for matching them have been virtually unquestioned. But mounting evidence cited in a series of legal challenges raises questions about whether the techniques for matching prints may be flawed. Besides Jackson's case, several other wrongful accusations based on fingerprints have been uncovered in the last 25 years. Moreover, nearly half the examiners who take national certification tests flunk the part that requires them to correctly match fingerprints. Yet they still can testify in court. Last month, a federal judge in Philadelphia barred a fingerprint examiner from testifying that crime scene prints belonged to the defendants. The judge ruled that fingerprint comparisons are not strictly scientific, and he limited the expert to identifying matching details. The ruling bolstered the contention of defense lawyers and others that examiners do not adhere to a uniform standard when matching fingerprints, and hence such findings are inherently subjective. Nor has the profession devised a way for determining how often examiners make mistakes. Leaders in the field counter that their technique meets scientific muster in several ways, among them: They have been tested in the courts for decades; their findings in individual cases are subject to peer review; and fingerprinting is based on scientific research on the origin of fingerprints during fetal development. Fingerprint practitioners may err, but properly followed, the methods for determining whether prints match do not, said Stephen Meagher, an FBI fingerprint analyst for 25 years. "its error rate is zero," he said. Challenges to fingerprint evidence are surfacing now because of U.S. Supreme Court rulings in 1993 and 1999 that set new, more stringent guidelines for judges in deciding when to let jurors hear experts of various kinds. The court said in part that judges should decide whether standard techniques are vulnerable to practitioner error and are applied in accordance with a uniform objective standard. The outcome of the challenges could have major implications for courts and police. Fingerprints, along with DNA, are considered the "gold standard for forensic science," said David Faigman, a Hastings Law School professor. If courts routinely question the reliability of fingerprint examiners, other forensic tools such as fiber comparisons, bite mark 2/27/02 Page 2 of 4 analyses and firearm tests could also lose standing, he said. Fingerprint Evidence Was Challenged In fingerprinting, the first major challenge under the high coud guidelines surfaced in 1999 in a Philadelphia armored car robbery trial in which two fingerprint marks found in the vehicle were key evidence. Robed Epstein, an assistant federal public defender, offered evidence showing that fingerprint examiners' standards vary from one agency to the next and that they frequently make mistakes on competency tests. He also showed how the FBI sent the two crime-scene prints along with his client's fingerprints to state crime labs across the country and asked them to determine whether it was his client's prints in the vehicle. Nearly a quarter couldn't match one crime-scene print to his client, and almost one-fifth couldn't match the other. Epstein asked a judge to admit testimony questioning the reliability of the techniques. The judge refused. But relying almost entirely on the hearing transcript in Epstein's case, a judge in another Philadelphia trial ruled that the opinions of fingerprint experts on whether prints match are not reliable enough to present to the jury. U.S. District Judge Louis H. Pollak, former dean of the law schools at Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, based the ruling in part on the grounds that there is no means of determining how often practitioners err when making identifications. "This is a tremendous breakthrough," Epstein said. "It's a fully reasoned and analyzed opinion." U.S. Atty. Patrick Meehan, who is prosecuting the case, has asked Pollak to reconsider his decision at court hearings this week. Pollak did concede one point to prosecutors. An individual's fingerprints are unique and permanent, he wrote in his 49- page opinion, thus preserving them as a basis for identification. Several Mistakes Are Found In the last 25 years, several examples have turned up of fingerprint examiners identifying the wrong person in court. In a 1977 Minnesota double murder case, defendant Roger Sipe Caldwell's own fingerprint expert confirmed a prosecution examiner's finding. The prosecution's expert had matched 11 details in a crime scene print to Caldwell. A jury, relying on that opinion, convicted Caldwell of killing an elderly Duluth woman and her nurse. Caldwell was sentenced to two life terms. The mistake was uncovered a year later in a co--defendant's trial, when three other fingerprint examiners called by the defense found that Caldwell's prints did not match. The co-defendant was acquitted, and Caldwell's conviction was later reversed on appeal. In the case of Riky Jackson, the Philadelphia hairdresser, one of the experts who erred was a veteran state examiner from Vermont who was certified by the International Assn. for Identification. The prosecution, relying on him and two local experts, argued that eight details on the bloody print matched eight details on his print. Jackson's lawyer, Michael J. Malloy of Media, Pa., hired two expeds, one a former FBI fingerprint examiner, who said the comparisons "weren't even close." The jury chose to believe the prosecution's experts and found Jackson guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison. Malloy and his two experts pushed for reexamination of the prints. After reviews by the International Assn. for Identification, another prosecution expert and the FBI showed the matches were wrong, the district attorney's office acknowledged the mistake and agreed to Jackson's release in December 1999. Such cases "clearly show misidentifications happen," Epstein said. "They are also significant in that you have very experienced examiners making these identifications." Epstein said he suspects those cases may be the "tip of the iceberg" because fingerprint errors show up routinely in various professional competency tests that examiners have taken over the years. 2/27/02 Page 3 of 4 In a 1995 IAI-approved proficiency test, 22% of the test takers identified the wrong person one or more times. In addition, 36% could not identify prints that test givers said they should have been able to match, which means that a guilty person could have gone free in a real case. Ken Smith, chairman of IAI certification, suggests the error rate may not fairly represent the profession because the test takers were anonymous and there was no way to determine their credentials. But fingerprint examiner David Grieve, editor of the Journal of Forensic Science, said in an article that the test results were alarming and noted that reaction in the forensic science community "ranged from shock to disbelief." "Errors of this magnitude in a discipline singularly admired and respected for its touted absolute certainty.., produced chilling and mind-numbing realities," he wrote. Examiners Have Difficulty Passing Test Test results in 1997 and 1998 were better. But people currently working as examiners have difficulty passing a certification test offered by the International Assn. for Identification. Close to 50% of the examiners who take it flunk, Smith said. One part requires examiners to compare crime scene prints with 15 sets of identified prints. "That's the part most people fail," Smith said. Those examiners can still testify in court. Certification may add credibility to an examiner's testimony, but it is not a requirement. Some leaders in the profession say error rates on such tests suggest more training is needed. But there are no mandatory training standards in the U.S. Each law enforcement agency establishes its own, resulting in a hodgepodge of classes, on-the-job training and seminars. In Los Angeles County, the sheriffs department requires 1% to two years of training, according to William Leo, a fingerprint examiner in the Scientific Services Bureau. The Los Angeles Police Department requires its examiners to spend up to three years lifting prints at crime scenes before they can start learning how to make fingerprint comparisons, Capt. Paul Enox said. He said there is no set time for such training. Prospective examiners can start testifying in court whenever the department's "quality assurance" program determines they have mastered the techniques. Neither Los Angeles agency requires IAI certification for its examiners. Pat Wertheim, a fingerprint analyst and trainer from Oregon, said the quality of training varies widely. "You could have a rural county police department.., where the police chief would walk in and pick someone to go to a weeklong school and say, 'You be our fingerprint person,'" he said. "It is a sad state of affairs." Wertheim said training is much more rigorous in some other countries. New Zealand requires five years of training and passing a comprehensive competency test. Great Britain also requires five years, and the Netherlands, three to five years. All three set national training standards and require police agencies to abide by them, Wertheim said. Training Involves Identifying Patterns In most training, examiners learn to first study the crime scene print. The prints usually are fragmentary, blurred, smudged or distorted. The FBI estimates they are one-fifth the size of the inked print defendants give at booking. Examiners try to identify the paths and patterns of a print's ridges, their ending points, where they fork or intersect with a different ridge and other details. They try to find the same points on the suspect's print. Examiners then say the two prints match if the likenesses are sufficient. That last step raises the main question: What is sufficient? Fingerprint examiners in the U.S. don't have any single standard measure for determining when the likenesses are sufficient. Some examiners say they find at least eight matching details before identifying a suspect. Others use 10 to 12. Some other countries require 24 matching details. 2/27/02 Page 4 of 4 That variation is another way the methods fail to meet the Supreme Court guideline that calls for a uniform standard controlling use of the techniques of expert witnesses, Pollak said in his opinion. But defenders of fingerprint comparison techniques point out that until Pollak, no other judge had rejected their practices. They say their methods are repeatedly tested in court, where defendants can hire experts to challenge the prosecution's expert. Moreover, they say their findings are usually verified by a second examiner. Epstein counters that verifications of initial results are tainted because the second examiner knows the prints already have been matched to the defendant. Second, he said, until the recent challenges, judges had never been asked to rule on the legitimacy of fingerprinting techniques. "There had been no adversarial testing [of the technique] in the last 100 years," Epstein said. 2/27/02 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 1'1:17 AM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Editorial Hawaiian Jurors Rose Above Police Misconduct [Hawaii] Star Bulletin Wednesday, February 20, 2002 Jurors rose above police misconduct The issue: Retired Honolulu Police Department Officer Clyde S. Arakawa has been convicted of manslaughter in the death of Dana Ambrose. COURTESIES extended by police officers to a drunk, off-duty colleague following a fatal traffic accident did not prevent a jury from reaching the proper verdict. The conviction does not excuse the misconduct by officers at the scene of the accident and should be a reminder that fraternal allegiances should end when a policeman becomes a criminal suspect. Now-retired Officer Clyde S. Arakawa, a 25-year veteran of the Honolulu police force, was convicted of manslaughter yesterday by a Circuit Court jury for the late-night, Oct. 7, 2000, traffic death of Dana Ambrose, a 19-year- old University of Hawaii student. Cars driven by Arakawa and Ambrose collided at the intersection of Pall Highway and School Street. At the accident scene, police officers contacted an attorney who immediately advised Arakawa not to make any statements. Arakawa was allowed to roam around the crash area and at one point was captured by TV footage draping his arm around a fellow officer. He was not administered a breath test until seven hours after the accident. However, results of that test -- showing a blood-alcohol content slightly below the legal intoxication threshold of .08 -- were used to establish that Arakawa's blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was at least. 165, more than twice the threshold. According to prosecution testimony, Arakawa drank as many as 11 beers and a shot of hard liquor prior to the accident. Jurors rejected the defense argument that Ambrose was speeding and had run a red light at the intersection. Arakawa did not testif7 in the trial but his attorney also claimed that his client's drinking experience essentially had given him extraordinary resilience in holding his liquor. If anything, that argument might have convinced jurors that Arakawa -- especially as a police officer - should have known he was too drunk to get behind the wheel of a car. That conduct rose to the level of recklessness instead of mere negligence.At least a dozen Honolulu police officers have been suspended or demoted since the crash for extending what Chief Lee Donohue acknowledged to be improper "courtesies" to Arakawa. This incident should leave an indelible impression on police officers for years to come. Arakawa, 50, undoubtedly will ask that he be placed on probation, invoking his parents' reliance on him to help care for his 45-year-old brother, afflicted with cerebral palsy since birth. Officer Arakawa should have considered those family needs before he went on his seven-hour drinking binge and made the lethal decision to drive. 2/27/02 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:17 AM To: Update@nacole,org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Pittsburgh Review Board & Police Recruitment Citizen police review board eyes recruitment By Anthony Todd Carlisle Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, February 23, 2002 The Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board met Friday to talk about college credit requirements for police, but the discussion quickly turned to the issue of minority recruitment into local law enforcement. The review board conducted a public hearing in city Council Chambers to examine qualification and recruitment issues for city police -- specifically the 60 credit hours now required for new applicants. The hearing convened on the heels of this week's attempt by Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 1 to dissolve the watchdog group. The FOP tried and failed Tuesday to get the required number of signatures to have a referendum question placed on the May 21 primary ballot that would have asked the electorate whether the review board should be eliminated. No mention was made of the now-defunct referendum question as the review board conducted its business. Executive Director Elizabeth Pittinger said the board, which has been studying the 60-credit requirement issue since last June, could have recommendations ready for City Council within the month. Pittinger said she believes the question no longer revolves around the need for college credits. "1 think the question is, when should college expectations be in place?" she said. Harvey Adams, public safety chairman for the Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP, said college credit requirements deter minorities and women from applying for police work. "The education requirement will further dilute what goes in the funnel," Adams said. "In this crucial time, when you need more blacks and women, why put more barriers in the way?" Barbara Parees, the city's personnel director, said overall recruitment is down since the education requirement has been in place. The number of city police applicants last year dropped nearly a third from the previous recruitment class in 1999, while the percentages of minorities and women changed little. However, Parees said the college credit requirement yields a more professional police force -- better police reports and fewer complaints. Chuck Bosetti, a Pittsburgh police officer for 30 years, said 60 credits is a good start to improving the police force. He said he believes a four-year degree -- preferably in humanities -- would provide the city with a better and more mature police force. He disputes the notion that the educational requirement is unfair to minorities. "We are discussing an entry-level police test, not admission to Harvard Medical School. It is a racist insult to think we cannot recruit from a broad base of qualified minority candidates. However, we should recruit nationally." Anthony Todd Carlisle can be reached at acarlisle@ tribweb, corn or (412) 320- 7824. 2/27/02 Page 1 of 7 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:17 AM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] LA Cop Trial;MayodChief Friction; Riverside: LA DA Fined for Altering Evidence Former LAPD Officer to be Tried Dateline: Los Angeles, CA - 2/21/2002 LA Times By SCOTT GLOVER and MATT LATT A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered a former LAPD Rampart Division officer to stand trial in the alleged 1998 beating and framing of a reputed gang member. After a three-day preliminary hearing, Judge William R. Chidsey .lt. ruled that the district attorney's office had presented enough evidence about the case to try ex-Officer Ethan Cohan on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, perjury, filing a false police report and conspiracy. During the hearing, former Officer Camerino Mesina testified that he saw Cohan strike Gabriel Aguirre multiple times with either his fists or a metal flashlight during the March 26, 1998, arrest. Hesina and two other former officers testified that information in Aguirre's arrest report, signed by Cohan, was false. Cohan, 31, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Harland W. Braun, argued that the testimony of the three ex-officers was tainted because they had access to a statement Cohan was compelled to give about the case when he was still employed by the Los Angeles Police Department. Such statements cannot be used against the person who gave them in a criminal proceeding because officers are forced to give them under penalty of firing, and the U.S. Constitution prohibits defendants from being compelled to testify against themselves. Prosecutors countered that their case was built on evidence that was independent of the facts contained in Cohan's statement. The statement, they argued, contained essentially the same information that was in police reports about the incident and therefore did not contribute to the case against Cohan. .ludge Chidsey agreed, saying he didn't see any evidence that the district attorney's case had benefited from the officers having had access to Cohan's statement. The charges against Cohan, who was fired from the LAPD and is now a law school student, arose out of the Rampart corruption scandal and were among the allegations made by ex-Officer Rafael Perez. As part of a plea deal, Perez agreed to identify police crimes and misconduct in exchange for a lighter sentence for stealing drugs from LAPD evidence lockers. Tn one interview with investigators, Perez said he and Officers Cohan, Shawn Gomez, Manuel Chavez and Mesina took part in an attack on Aguirre when they arrested him in a vacant apartment on Witmer Street on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. According to the police reports at the time, the officers said Aguirre assaulted them as he resisted arrest. They said he sustained injuries by falling down stairs as he tried to escape. Perez, however, said the officers concocted the story about Aguirre resisting arrest to explain the injuries he sustained during the beating. Aguirre overheard the officers talking about how they were going to report the incident and started to complain, Perez said. Perez said he responded by pushing Aguirre into a wall. Mesina, Gomez and Chavez al~ testified that Aguirre peacefully submitted to the arrest, and that none of them saw Aguirre assault any officer. 2/27/02 Page 2 of 7 Mesina said he saw Perez and Cohan strike Aguirre, but the other officers testified that they left the apartment building after the arrest to get to their patrol car and did not see Cohan or anyone else beat Aguirre. Gomez, who has pleaded no contest to a charge of filing a false report, testified as part of a plea bargain in which prosecutors agreed not to oppose reducing the charges to a misdemeanor, and to recommend that he be put on probation and perform community service. Chavez is cooperating with prosecutors as part of a plea bargain in which he pleaded no contest to assault under color of authority. Mesina has been granted immunity in exchange for his cooperation. Cohan is scheduled to be arraigned March 11. Friction Between LAPD Chief, Mayor May Affect Police Bond Vote Dateline: Los Angeles, CA - 2/17/2002 LA Times By PATRZC:K McGREEVY Having twice failed in recent years to win approval of police bond measures, Los Angeles city leaders face the added challenge this year of overcoming the public discord over Mayor .]ames K. Hahn's decision not to back Police Chief Bernard Parks for another term. Some political strategists see the Hahn-Parks dispute as a major obstacle to winning passage of the $600- million police bond measure March 5. "The timing is not good," said Harvey Englander, a veteran political consultant not affiliated with campaigns for or against the measure. "There is so much uncertainty about the leadership of the department, and uncertainty is the first step toward voting no." Political strategist Arnie Steinberg agreed. "On any bond measure, people are looking for a way out, and this gives them a chance to hesitate." Proposition Q campaign manager Steve Afriat discounts that theory, noting that despite their differences over the chief's tenure, Parks and Hahn both signed the ballot argument in favor of the bonds and have agreed to campaign for the measure. Both men are scheduled to attend the campaign kickoff event Thursday at the West Valley police station, one of the old and cramped facilities that would be replaced under the bonds. If approved by a two-thirds vote, the measure would authorize the city to issue $600 million in bonds to pay for a new combined emergency operations/fire dispatch center downtown, as well as replacement of the West Valley, Hollenbeck, Rampart and Harbor police stations. The measure also would finance new stations in the San Femando Valley and Mid-Wilshire areas, replace the metropolitan jail, and build two new bomb squad facilities. The average tax for the owner of a $185,000 home would be $34.49 per year for 24 years. City Council President Alex Padilla, a co-chairman of the $400,000 campaign in favor of the bond measure, said the public understands the need to upgrade aging facilities that hamper police work. "It's very bad in stations in all the areas of the city," Padilla said. LAPD Officer Gretchen Zavala can vouch for the condition of the West Valley station. The veteran officer, assigned to a property disposition detail, shares a former janitor's closet with two co- workers--their desks and chairs filling the 5-by-10-foot room. 2/27/02 Page 3 of 7 "It's stuffy, and every time someone wants to get by, I have to move my chair in," Zavala said. Other officers and detectives at the station work in a former locker room and in trailers. The station was built in :1960 to accommodate 92 workers, but it currently houses 315 officers and civilians, according to Capt. James H. Cansler, commanding officer of the station. "It's difficult to keep morale up. Look at the terrible conditions you have," Cansler said, pointing to exposed wires snaking all over rooms packed with desks. The main detective office has 19 people in a room built for five. "It can be hard to hear a victim on the phone when you have everyone talking at the same time," said Der. Bruno Pabon, whose desk is pushed up against another. The poor condition isn't the main reason the station was picked as the site to kick off the campaign. City leaders know that if they are going to win approval of the bond measure, they have to win over voters in the Valley, which was instrumental in the defeat of two previous police bond measures. "Clearly, the voters in the Valley are critical in determining whether this bond measure passes," said Padilla, a Pacoima resident. The organized campaign to defeat Proposition Q is being chaired by Richard Close, who is also chairman of the secession group Valley VOTE, and secessionist leaders make up most of the board of the No on Prop. Q Committee. The campaign committee also includes :Ion Coupal, president of the Howard :iarvis Taxpayers Assn. Close said it is inappropriate for the city to take on new debt during an economic downturn and before a proposed ballot measure in November that could decide whether Los Angeles is split into four smaller cities. Padilla disagreed. "Given the [terrorist] incident of last year, the public recognizes that we can't wait." Close also cited broken promises of past bond measures, including a 1989 bond measure that called for new Valley and Mid-Wilshire stations. The site of the new Valley station has been purchased and prepared for construction. "The main argument is we need more police officers and firefighters and paramedics, not more buildings," Close said. Padilla responded, "We need both, and we can't pay for police officers with bonds." City leaders hope newfound admiration for public safety workers following the Sept. 11 attacks will help them carry the day. But Englander predicted that the bonds will fail. The active opposition of Valley secessionists will hurt, he said. He also noted that the Republican gubernatorial primary will be contentious, drawing voters who are more conservative and less supportive of bonds. The city might be able to overcome all of those issues if it could raise $1 million for a campaign, Englander said, but it would still be a hard sell given the strain between Parks and Hahn. "The Police Department is in the headlines for the wrong reasons," he said. "lVly gut feeling is it's going to be another loss." Padilla predicted victory. 2/27/02 Page 4 of 7 "The public in general understands and prioritizes public safety as No. 1. With this bond measure, we are giving the men and women who we count on to keep us safe the tools and facilities they need to do the best job they can." New CA Chief Tries to Mend Old Rifts Dateline: Riverside, CA - 2/17/2002 LA Times By TINA DIRHANN Much the way the police beating of Rodney King enraged the black community in Los Angeles, the 1998 shooting of Tyisha Hiller rocked the city of Riverside. But Riverside's new top cop, unlike Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, has managed to broker a delicate peace, satisfying officers and African American community leaders while carrying out sweeping reform under the scrutiny of federal and state justice officials. All that progress could unravel in the coming weeks, however, when city officials must decide if they will rehire two officers fired as a result of the Hiller shooting. "It would be a shame," cautioned the Rev. Paul Humford of New Joy Baptist Church in Riverside, "if they made a decision that would undo air the good work they've done." Activists on all sides agree that after 17 months in office, Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach--a former LAPD manager--has managed to implement reforms without alienating rank-and-file officers. Union leaders are supportive. And the black community is warming to him. Leach walked into a delicate situation after taking over from Chief Jerry Carroll, whose retirement was partly brought on by the drama that followed the fatal shooting by white officers of Hiller, a 19-year-old black woman who was passed out in her car with a gun in her lap. Bolstered by his success, Leach now makes his way around the law enforcement talk circuit with a speech titled "Lessons Learned, Riverside Police Department." He delivered it most recently at the annual conference of California police chiefs in Anaheim. Even a consultant for the state attorney general's office charged with enforcing Riverside Police Department reforms ordered by the U.S. Justice Department is impressed with the progress. "I think the right leadership is clearly in place," Joseph Brann said. But the officer rehiring issue promises to jolt Leach's delicate tightrope walk. Chief Carroll in 1999 fired the four officers who took part in the shooting. With less than 18 months' seniority, Officers Dan Hotard and Paul Bugar had no union rights to appeal their terminations. But the other two, veteran Officers Hike Alagna and Wayne Stewart, did appeal. Last month, an independent arbitrator found their firings unjust. The city has until April 21 to rehire them or appeal the finding in court. A lawyer representing Alagna and Stewart, William Hadden, already is gearing up for a battle if the city objects. So far, Hadden said, the decision to terminate the officers has been driven by politics, not the facts. "You can't exonerate an employee and then fire him .... It's incomprehensibly stupid," he said. Reputation as Bigoted Department Leach took over the Riverside department in September 2000, replacing a chief who had risen through the ranks. Carroll was well liked by officers because he was one of them. But the department suffered, city officials said. :Supervision was lax and police policies were routinely ignored. Annual performance reviews for officers fell behind. Citizen complaints went unanswered. And the department's reputation as a bigoted 2/27/02 Page 5 of 7 organization that indulged in racial profiling grew. That reputation became so bad that applications to join the department plummeted, said Lt. Pete Curzon, who oversees recruiting. In 1999, Riverside was able to hire just two new officers, despite having more than 20 vacancies. But last year, the department made 42 hires. One of Leach's first challenges was turning around the department's image. A 20-year Los Angeles Police Department veteran and community policing advocate, he ran the LAPD's Harbor Division before taking a job as police chief in El Paso in 1995. Three years later, he became deputy director of the national organization Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, in Inglewood. He jokes about returning to police work and taking on a department in crisis. "I thought, 'Tf I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna find the most challenging job I can,'" Leach said. "And I found it." His very first task was to review a slew of deeply critical reports about the department: the U.S..~ustice Department, state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, the county grand jury and independent consultants. He then sat down with Lockyer's office to work out a series of reforms. It was the first time in California history that the state had mandated changes within a police department. At first, city officials bristled at the thought of a court-ordered consent decree. Riverside City Council members, who begrudgingly approved the settlement under threat of a lawsuit a year ago, were insulted at the implication that they couldn't clean up their own house. Officer morale plummeted. "l think there was just a good bit of denial going on," Leach said. "But when you examined all the evidence, it's clear there was a management failure here and the results were disastrous. Change was needed." He embraced the process. And, in a move that Leach believes was critical to ensure officer support of the reforms, he invited the police union's then-president, Lt. Jay Theuer, to sit in on the negotiations. It worked, Theuer said. "It was clear we had some strong, definitive leadership, and we were ready for that," he said. "We were ready to take the medicine and get well." And they have, even when some of the changes meant a reduction in officer independence. The briefing room, where racist jokes occasionally were told during roll calls, now has a television camera, with monitors placed throughout the department, including the chief's office. A citizens review panel now regularly monitors police activity. Other changes include tripling the hours for cultural diversity training, biannual performance reviews, and a 30-day turnaround for responding to citizen complaints. All officers will soon be required to tape-record their interactions with the public, and later this year the department will begin installing video cameras in patrol cars. The city also agreed to add 22 positions. Most of them are supervisor slots, including an assistant chief position, four lieutenants, one captain and 11 sergeants. And the department has increased its hiring of black officers at all levels. Leach has moved to bolster morale by approving 42 promotions in the last 12 months, all of them from inside the department. He also lobbied the City Council to approve pay raises for officers. "This guy simply came in and told the council, 'Look, if you want good people, then you have to pay good wages,'" Theuer said. Reaching Out to Black Community Leach, who is white, also is making friends in neighborhoods where his department was reviled not so long ago. He created a chief's advisory panel, which includes some of the department's most outspoken critics 2/27/02 Page 6 of 7 as members, including Riverside NAACP President Waudier Rucker-Hughes. "I'm very pleased with the chief," said Rucker-Hughes, who, after the Miller killing, was a regular at the protest marches and rallies outside the department's downtown headquarters. "There's still work to be done, but the tenor of the black community today is that they are hopeful and willing to give it a try." In what Rucker-Hughes describes as a peace offering, Leach was invited to introduce the keynote speaker at the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People's annual Freedom Fund Banquet in Riverside earlier this month. Standing before a crowd of 400 people, including a group of Riverside police union leaders, Leach introduced his friend and former boss, L.A. Chief Parks. The Riverside department's most outspoken critic, the Rev. Bernell Butler, who became the Miller family spokesman, said he thinks much of the good work being done in the Riverside Police Department is a direct result of the high-profile marches and rallies he helped organize. "Because of our efforts, we have saved lives," said Butler, who said he has never spoken to Chief Leach but approves of what he's done so far. Still, he said, he has a healthy amount of skepticism about local police authority. "They've made changes for the better." Butler said. "But for some of these older officers, it's probably more of a dog-and-pony show. That old racist mentality exists, and it's going to be hard for the chief to make long-term progress until those officers are weeded out." Robert Parker Nash, a sociology professor and director of the Robert Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies at UC Riverside, agrees with Butler, saying that the most difficult change to make is a change in mentality. That, he said, will take years and may come only after the old guard has moved out or retired. "If you ask me if the chief has been successful at changing the culture of the Riverside Police Department," said Parker, "I doubt it .... Police cultures are slow and resistant to change, and it's hard for someone who comes in at the top to make a difference." Leach acknowledges that his work is just beginning. He says he'll know he has really turned the corner when he starts getting applications to join the department from the black community. "It's hard to recruit African Americans, because we haven't yet proven that we treat African Americans well," Leach said. "That perception is still out there and we have to overcome that. "But we're working very, very hard to earn that trust back and put that shine back on the badge," he added. http://www~iatimes~c~m~editi~ns/va~~ey~~a~~~~~114~7feb14~st~ry?c~~~~~a%2Dediti~ns%2Dva!!ey THE VALLEY Prosecutor Apologizes for Misdeed Courts: Deputy D.A. Michael Duarte is fined $1,000 for altering evidence in a West Hills capital murder case. Defense lawyers say he got off too easy. By CAITLIN LIU TIMES STAFF WRITER 2/27/02 Page 7 of 7 February 14 2002 A veteran prosecutor with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office tearfully apologized in a downtown courtroom Wednesday for altering key evidence during a capital murder case and hiding what he did from the defense. Under an agreement he reached with the court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Duarte was fined $1,000, and contempt of court charges, which could have resulted in a jail sentence, were dropped. "1 find these apologies and expressions of remorse sincere, and I accept them," Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green said. He called Duarte's offense very serious and held him in violation of a court order requiring him to turn over unrevised witness statements to the defense. But because of Duarte's admissions, Green declined to hold him in contempt. At Wednesday's hearing, Duarte stood with bowed head as he read a statement. He was flanked by three members of his legal defense team--two from the district attorney's appellate division and private attorney Harland Braun. "l wish to apologize to the court, my office, the defense and the victims' families for my actions and the enormous burden of a retrial resulting from my violation of [the court] order," Duarte said, voice cracking. He took a long pause before saying he already had reported himself to the State Bar of California for possible discipline. Duarte, whose failures to disclose evidence have caused two mistrials, was not punished enough, some defense attorneys said. "What he did was egregious," Deputy Public Defender Michael Gottlieb said. Duarte "got a slap on the wrist," Deputy Alternate Public Defender Henry Hall said. Once a high-profile trial attorney with the district attorney's elite major crimes division, Duarte has been reassigned to the anti-truancy unit since his botched prosecution of a 1998 West Hills case involving the murder of two witnesses. Last May, near the end of a months-long trial of defendants Kenneth Leighton and Randall Williams, a law clerk at the district attorney's office told her supervisors that Duarte had altered a witness statement. Duarte had the law clerk, Jennifer Blair, take notes while he interviewed a witness, who later testified about an alleged confession made by Leighton. After Duarte read Blair's handwritten notes, he crossed out certain parts and added others. He instructed Blair to rewrite her notes with his revisions and then gave a copy of the rewritten notes to defense lawyers. Blair's revelation rocked the trial, and the district attorney's office dropped its bid for the death penalty against the two defendants. Williams' jury deadlocked; Leighton's convicted him. Citing Duarte's "prejudicial misconduct," Green threw out Leighton's verdict, declaring a mistrial. The deleted evidence "deprived the defense of evidence that potentially would have impeached that confession," Green said. Leighton and VVilliams now face retrial in Van Nuys Superior Court, where the case has been moved, and new prosecutors have been assigned. In 2000, Duarte caused a mistrial in the murder trial of Olympic boxer Henry Tillman when he failed to disclose the background of a prosecution Witness who had been a police informant. Tillman later pleaded guilty to attempted murder and voluntary manslaughter. "A prosecutor's job is to do justice," said Gerald Chaleff, the former Police Commission president who was appointed by the court as a special prosecutor in Duarte's contempt matter. "This case was even worse because it was a death penalty case." The district attorney's office also is considering whether to discipline the prosecutor, insiders said. 2/27/02 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 ~i 1:18 AM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Montgomery Ala Police Chief Says It Was Idiotic Judgment, Not Racism, Las Veg~ SUN February 14, 2002 Montgomery Police Chief Speaks Out MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The city's police chief said Thursday that "idiotic judgment," not racism, was behind the actions of eight white officers accused of planting evidence and beating blacks. Federal and state authorities are reviewing at least three incidents involving the officers, the most recent of which occurred Jan. 28 when one officer allegedly beat a black handcuffed teen-ager, challenged him to a fist fight, then sprayed him with Mace. The eight all resigned after an internal investigation began last week. A police review board recommended three other black officers be dismissed for witnessing but not reporting similar incidents. Chief John Wilson said some of the officers would likely face criminal charges, but he denied any racism on their part. "l think what we're dealing with is an abundance of idiotic judgment and outright cdminal activity," said Wilson, who is white. "Some were leaders of the misconduct. Some knew it happened but didn't report it, which makes them just as much involved," he said. 'Tm thoroughly convinced some will go to jail before this is over." The officers, all of whom worked on the overnight shift, face other allegations of planting evidence, jailing a person on false charges and throwing rocks and bottles at a suspected crack house. City officials said all the victims were black. At a news conference Thursday, the state president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference called for a citizens review board and said Wilson should resign. "Incidents of police misconduct are bigger than black or white," said group leader Charles Steele. "The SCLC is fighting a culture that begins at the top and filters down to others." Officer Michael Clark was arrested last week, accused of stopping a patrol car and hitting a teen-ager who was handcuffed. He then allegedly took the handcuffs off to fight the teen behind a high school, and sprayed him with Mace. Clark has been charged with harassment and criminal use of a defense spray, a felony. Clark could not be located for comment. Another officer, Wesley Hand, who was Clark's partner, reported the incident to investigators four days later. Hand is among the eight who resigned. In October, one black officer and five white officers, including Clark, were accused of chasing a black man after responding to a domestic disturbance call. The officers were accused of kicking the man while he lay on the ground, then throwing him in some bushes at a cemetery. -- 2/27/02 Page 1 of 3 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 10:54 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Black Leaders Want Change W/In Miami-Dade PD Black Leaders Want Changes Within Miami-Dade PD Dateline: Miami, FL- 2/24/2002 Miami Herald BY ANDREA ROBINSON Harnessing the anger that has surged since a controversial Miami-Dade police shooting of an unarmed suspected car thief on IVlartin Luther King Day, many of the county's black leaders are trying to wrest major changes in police operations and civilian review from Mayor Alex Penelas and the County Commission. Those changes are being pressed by a bloc that includes attorney H.T. Smith, Bishop Victor T. Curry and such organizations as PULSE, NAACP, Brothers of the Same Mind and the African American Council of Christian Clergy. Smith was the key leader of a three-year black boycott of Miami's tourism industry after the 1990 snub of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela by county officials. The boycott cost Miami-Dade anywhere from $25 million to $67 million -- the figure depends on whom you ask -- in lost tourist and convention revenue. Curry, as senior minister at one of Miami's largest Baptist churches, has an immediate audience of more than 10,000 members. But he reaches thousands more through radio station WMBM-AM (1490) as general manager and weekly talk-show host. These leaders could cause major problems for politicians who count on black voter support. On that list: several county commissioners, Penelas, and State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. By supporting demands from black leaders, these officials risk making a political enemy of the powerf:ul Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents officers in the Miami-Dade Police Department and provides large campaign donations and workers in county election campaigns. HARD-LINE STANCE PBA's blunt-speaking president, .lohn Rivera, vows that any politician who supports subpoena power for complaint review panels won't get an endorsement from the 6,000-member organization. ' 'This is one of those rare occasions where the line has been drawn in the sand. No room for negotiations." So sensitive is the issue that only one commissioner -- Joe Martinez, a retired Miami-Dade officer -- has taken a position. He opposes subpoena power, but would support letting voters decide. Penelas says he has an open mind, but has historically opposed subpoena power. The other commissioners haven't come out on one side or the other. A spokesman for Rundle said Friday: ' 'As long as these things don't interfere with a criminal investigation, we're fine with these panels being created." Political watchers say the officials are caught in a vise. "But that's what being a politician means, having to unravel thorny public issues," said Marvin Dunn, Florida Tnternational University psychology professor and historian. The key issue is whether county commissioners should approve subpoena power for the Independent Review Panel, which investigates complaints against county employees, including those in the police department. 2/27/02 Page 2 of 3 Curry, Smith and the groups -- many of which were involved in the successful campaign last fall to create a Miami civilian review panel with subpoena power -- say the time is now. "We believe the PBA has through not-so-subtle intimidation dampened the enthusiasm for reform," Smith said. ' 'We want to help [the commissioners] put a little mettle in their backbones." ORGANIZING PROTEST Smith is tight-lipped about the strategy, but said the new coalition -- Justice Now -- would use ' 'a variety of incentives and efforts to let the mayor and commissioners know the community is serious in placing this issue on the agenda." They have agreed to organize a March 12 protest at County Hall. Brothers of the Same Mind, a black activist group, has held several weeks of demonstrations in Liberty City to protest the Jan. 21 fatal shooting by a Miami-Dade officer of an unarmed black man who was driving a stolen car. Smith said black leaders want to take the protest out of Liberty City and bring it to the doorstep of county government. PBA President Rivera dismisses the campaign as ' ' ridiculous." Rivera refused to say if he had contacted any of the commissioners about the issue, but added, ' 'I think they know it. Some things you don't have to say directly." PBA has mobilized voters through billboards, telephone banks and fliers. Almost a decade ago, Rivera and union forces beat back a similar plan to give subpoena power to the Independent Review Panel. Penelas on Thursday said he hadn't ignored the issue, pointing to the full review he ordered of the police department's internal investigative procedures in police-involved shootings. "We have nothing to hide," he said. Penelas said he historically has opposed subpoena power, but he would not rule it out while the review continues. "If I'm not satisfied I may revisit the issue," he said. ' 'The PBA has not put pressure on me." The matter of subpoena power has not been placed on the commission's agenda yet. Only two commissioners, Martinez and Commissioner Barbara Carey Shuler, responded to faxed questions sent by The Herald. Shuler said she was undecided. Friday afternoon, Rundle had a closed-door meeting with black activists, but declined to say what was discussed. She said only that both sides ' 'agreed to look at a number of common areas." One participant said the agenda included police-involved shootings and the state's "fleeing felon law," which activists complain gives police officers too much leeway to justify shootings. Max Rameau of Brothers of the Same Mind said Rundle agreed there should be some changes to the state law, but was noncommittal about what she would do about it. MADE THE EFFORT Rundie's appearance drew praise from Brian Dennis, another Brothers member. "She was willing to sit down. I give her credit for standing up when some of our elected officials won't," he said. 2/27/02 Page 3 of 3 Kevin Hill, a political science professor at FIU who tracks local politics, said a fight for subpoena power could be an all-out struggle. "John Rivera plays political hardball. He's not very subtle," Hill said. But Curry and Smith, he said, are equally formidable. Either way they go, Hill said, Miami-Dade politicians risk alienating sizable portions of the electorate. Rundle is particularly vulnerable, he said. In the 2000 election, her challenger, PBA-backed Alberto Milan, got 80 percent of the Cuban vote while Rundle received 74 percent of the white non-Hispanic vote and 93 percent of the black vote. HEAVILY CRITICIZED Rundle has come under heavy criticism in the black community after her office cleared police officers in the 2001 shooting deaths of crime suspects Nicholas Singleton and Alphaeus "Duke" Dailey. Singleton was shot and killed by a Miami police officer and Singleton was shot by a North Miami Beach officer. In a recent on-air radio broadcast, Smith and other activists touched on using the transit tax supported by Penelas and the 2004 state attorney race as leverage for subpoena powers. "The direct targets are people who can be held responsible," Smith said later. ''You have an unmovable object up against an unstoppable force. They [the PBA] are the unmovable object, we are the unstoppable force. · 'We've had our middleweight battle with people who didn't want it in Miami. This is our championship battle." 2/27/02 Page 1 of l Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 10:54 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Baltimore Prosecutors Drop IA Burglary Charges as Officer Quits Prosecutors drop charges in police office break-in Officer resigns from department; both sides satisfied By Joan Jacobson Sun Staff Originally published February 16, 2002 Baltimore County prosecutors dropped all charges yesterday against a city police officer accused of breaking into the department's secret internal affairs office. In exchange, Officer Joseph P. Comma Jr. resigned. Comma was charged with burglary, theft and malicious destruction of property in connection with the break-in, which took place in December 2000 at the internal affairs office on the grounds of the Back River Sewage Treatment Plant in Eastpoint. Assistant State's Attorney Frank Meyer, chief of the county's investigations division, said yesterday that the charges were dropped after consultations with the city Police Department. Since the department no longer wanted Comma on the force, "he agreed to resign, and we agreed to drop the charges in exchange," Meyer said. "This was the best way to resolve this expediently," he added. Baltimore Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris said yesterday that he was happy with the agreement. "We're very pleased with what they did," Norris said. "We got what we wanted." Comma's lawyers, Larry A. Nathans and Michelle Martz-Bowles, released a statement yesterday saying: "Joe Comma is innocent and we are pleased that the state has dropped the charges. Joe wanted no more part of the Baltimore City Police Department. His decision not to seek reinstatement was easy." Martz-Bowles said Comma will receive pay retroactive to March 14, 2001, the day he was suspended. She said Comma is working as a carpenter. She said there was no physical evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints, implicating her client in the break-in. A black glove found at the scene was determined not to have belonged to Comma, she said. "The state's only alleged real evidence was the testimony of [Sgt.] Kelvin Sewell," she said. Sewell testified during a pretrial hearing in November that Comma confessed to breaking into the office. Sewell told County Circuit Judge Robert N. Dugan that Comma told him on Jan. 1, 2001: "1 don't want you to go down for what I did. I did the break-in." One month after the alleged confession, Sewell was called to an FBI office in Woodlawn and questioned about the break-in. Sewell had just failed a polygraph test when city police Sgt. James Hagin asked him whether he knew who was responsible for the burglary. Sewell named Comma. After the break-in, investigators discovered that one of the missing files involved Officer Brian L. Sewell (no relation to Kelvin Sewell), who had been charged with perjury and misconduct after police said he falsely charged a man with drug possession. Because of the missing file, criminal charges were dropped against Brian Sewell in January 200'1. Last November he was found guilty of misconduct by a police disciplinary panel. He was fired in December. Sun staff writer Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this article. 2/27/02 Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 10:54 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Vegas: Officer Charged w Robbery; Sgt Calls "Most Victims" Just Criminals Too LV officer charged in robbery Bv J.M. KALIL REVIEW-JOURNAL A Metropolitan Police Department detective who investigates property crimes was ct~arged Friday in a Henderson restaurant heist in which two men were pepper-sprayed and robbed. Police said a man entered Rae's Restaurant & Lounge at 9 a.m. Friday and confronted two United Coin employees servicing poker machines. The assailant pepper-sprayed both workers before fleeing with an undisclosed amount of money from the restaurant, located at 2531 W~gwam Parkway, police said. Jack Brandon, 40, was taken into custody about 4:30 p.m. by Henderson police officers working with Las Vegas police robbery detectives. Brendon, who has been a Las Vegas police officer for 14 years, was booked into the Henderson Detention Center on felony counts of burglary and robbery, police said. Spokesmen for Las Vegas police and Henderson police refused to release any additional information about the incident. Henderson police also refused to release a booking mug shot of the suspect. A police source involved in the case said administrators with both departments, including Clark County Sheriff Jerry Keller and Henderson police Chief Mike Mayberry, agreed that Henderson police would not release the mug shot. Las Vegas police will release a photograph of Brandon on Monday that is not a mug shot, Las Vegas police spokesman officer Tirso Dominguez said. Brandon faces a possible sentence of two to 15 years in prison if convicted of the robbery charge and a sentence of one to 10 years if found guilty of burglary. Brandon has been a detective in the Metropolitan Police Department's Property Crimes Bureau for 11 years, Dominguez said. He has been disciplined three times by the department during his career, Dominguez said. All of the sanctions were written reprimands for on-duty traffic accidents. Last week, a Las Vegas police officer investigated by Henderson police for five months was charged with sexually abusing a now-18-year-old woman over a three-year period beginning when she was 13. Though that officer, Jason Woodard, faces eight felony charges, each of which carries a possible sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility beginning in 20 years, Henderson authorities issued a summons for Woodard to appear in court instead of arresting him and booking him into the detention center. Thursday, February 21, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury Rights and wrong A Metro officer's volatile rhetoric generates new questions about police attitudes and behavior BY BOB SHEMELIGIAN MERCURY "Some of them write for journals. Some of them work for newspapers, some are news media people. Some are just outright anarchists.... Some are rapists, murderers, people who would terrorize the shores of this formerly great nation by disbursing chemical agents or bacteria. Lunatics who, given their opportunity, would lean on the giant red button and annihilate us all." --Metro Police Sgt. Michael Stack, explaining a practice of giving special attention to individuals he described as "adversaries of the legal system." By Bob Shemeligian It's been '10 days since local newspaper readers learned that a Metro Police officer compared members of the media to anarchists, rapists and murderers, and said that most victims "are just criminals themselves." The officer, Michael Stack, a sergeant in the department's Southeast Area Command, would not return a call requesting an interview. Nor did any officers in the department's public information office. But others in the community have plenty to say about Stack's comments. "Am I surprised? No," says state Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, one of Metro's most vocal critics. "Just look at their actions-arresting people for the crime of driving while black, for instance." Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, adds: "The police are supposed to be public servants. They're supposed to be workin9 to make this community a safer and better place to life, and then you read statements like these." Stack's comments, reported in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, were taken from a deposition during civil litigation over the actions of police officers involved in an 1997 altercation between off-duty SWAT officers and two tourists at The Drink, a local nightclub. The tourists, Juan Berry and James Suggs, who were released after the incident but then charged with felony battery following a second investigation by Metro, are suing the department for false arrest and wrongful imprisonment. Following the incident, Berry and Suggs, who are black, said they were afraid for their lives as they stood in the company of SWAT officers and waited for a taxi to take them back to the Strip hotel where they were staying. And so a Metro officer gave the two a ride in a cruiser. This incensed Stack, who said in the deposition: "What's that about? I give suspects a ride to one place, and it's certainly not home." Such comments are troubling to legal scholars and civil liberties advocates, who note that they reveal a pattern of behavior on the part of at least some Metro officers that could bring 2/27/02 Page 2 of 2 criminal sanctions in a court of law. But why would an officer treat a victim the same as a criminal? Las Vegas psychiatrist Harold Orchow explains that police have a very tough job and one that gives them a great deal of power over others. A reasonable person in that position will try to balance his conscience with the needs of his profession and often will make "difficult decisions" in order to perform police work without trampling on a person's civil rights. "But there are some people who seek power not simply to have it, but to wield it," Orchow says. "For them, power is almost an aphrodisiac, and people who have that need often are ruthless and relentless." Others believe the problems with police officers in Las Vegas and other cities are inherent to the makeup of those departments. "The problems began when police departments across the country decided to institute police SWAT teams," says Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, in a recent interview. "This tends to militarize police departments, and when this happens the department tends to focus on groups rather than individuals." Neal says until members of a police department are trained to treat each individual as a person with civil rights-rather than as a member of a group that is not looked upon favorably by law enforcement-these problems will continue. "With the Citizen Review Board, we try to make these inroads, and try to get the police to see the areas where they are committing wrongdoings, and try to get them to act in accordance with the Constitution," Neal says. But UNLV law professor Raquel Aldana-Pindell says she would prefer to see a mixture of police and private citizens on the Metro Police Citizen Review Board. While some of the 25 members of the board are retired police officers, none worked locally. "In most states, it's a mixed review board, and the feeling is that everyone works together to solve problems," Aldana-Pindell says. "When it's divided, the perception is that of the public against the police." Still, Williams, who last spring sponsored Assembly Bill 500, which, among other things, bans the practices of racial profiling during traffic stops, says he doesn't believe a mixed review board would help. "They [Metro Police] would still feet it's us against them," Williams says. Others like Peck of the ACLU note that Stack's recent comments show that more must be done to correct certain problems and attitudes that lurk within the police department. "1 think there are many fine officers and there are many things the department does exceedingly well, and we certainly owe them a debt of gratitude for that work," Peck says. "But one would have to have his head buried in the sand to not understand that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has very serious, deep-seated problems that are not being addressed." Of course, what's against the law is a sticky issue, says Aldana-Pindell, an assistant professor in UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law. Aldana-Pindell explains that judges have broad latitude when deciding cases involving alleged violations of a citizen's constitutional rights against unlawful search and seizures and unwarranted investigations. For instance, folrowing a traffic stop, courts generally allow police to question a motorist and to conduct a minimally intrusive search such as a frisk or a search of the passenger compartment of the vehicle if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that his safety is in question. Indeed, even if the officer feels perfectly safe, the law allows him to exercise great latitude in how he conducts a traffic stop. "A paper citation is simply a deferred arrest," Aldana-Pindell says. "If you're speeding, the officer could arrest you, and then conduct an inventory search of the vehicle." And even though a motorist has the constitutional right to refuse to answer any questions, the officer-at least in Nevada-does not have to inform the motorist of this right. "The police officer will generally engage the motorist in conversation and question the person during the conversation," Aldana-Pindell says. "The person may or may not know he or she has the right to refuse to answer these questions, and the officer is wearing a uniform and carrying a gun. Most people-who have been taught to answer questions by police-will comply." And during this investigation, if the officer frisks the motorist for weapons and inadvertently discovers illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia in the motorist's pockets, the motorist will likely face a criminal charge even though the off~cer had no probable cause to suspect he is a drug user. As Aldana-Pindell explains, court opinions tend to follow public sentiment. For instance, following passage earlier this year of the USA Patriot Act, a law designed to combat terrorism, courts have given federal and local agents more latitude in investigations. Moreover, in the wake of heightened public awareness of the plight of victims of drunken drivers, the Supreme Court since 1990 has allowed police across the nation to establish sobriety checkpoints. They're common in Southern Nevada. "Taking a balanced approach, I'm not convinced such a search is intrusive," Aldana-Pindell explains. "After all, it takes only two minutes out of your time. What I worry about is the selective nature of law enforcement." In other words, Aldana-Pindell explains, why should sobriety checkpoints be allowed without court authorization when other types of searches require probable cause or a warrant signed by a judge? The law professor, who stresses she has great respect for police who put themselves at risk to protect the public, notes that officers tend to act as both law enforcers and "community caretakers, and in that role, try to offer a service that isn't related to putting you in prison." But problems sometimes develop when an officer, who feels judges don't really understand the climate of crime on the streets, ignores the Constitution and investigates alleged criminals and victims alike, according to legal scholars. "Among the policy arguments against such behavior is that victims will be discouraged from calling police departments for help, such as in a case of domestic violence," Aldana-Pindell says. "After all, no one is perfect." 2/27/02 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 10:54 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Gripes VS [NYC] Cops on the Rise GRIPES VS. COPS ON THE RISE E~y MARIA ALVAREZ New York Post February 14, 2002 - Complaints against cops shot up 30 pement in January from the same period last year - a spike that brutality watchdogs say may mark the end of the honeymoon for police that began Sept. 1 '1. "These numbers are disturbing, since these are times when people have good feelings toward police," said Michael Meyers, executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition, at yesterday's meeting of the Civilian Complaint Review Board. "The police commanders should be called on the carpet, and so should the CCRB, for not getting an explanation on the 30 percent increase," said Meyers. The biggest increases were in Brooklyn North, where complaints rose from 19 to 44; The Bronx, from 29 to 52; and Queens North, from nine to 16. "1 have the impression the board is clueless about these spikes," Meyers said. "1 don't even think the board will even look into it. If that's the case, why then give us these numbers?" CCRB Commissioner William Kunz dismissed the increase, saying the commission's charge is to investigate complaints against police for misconduct and brutality. "You can't tell anything about increases or decreases," said Kunz. "1 never draw conclusions." But despite the dismissal, the board will "look into it. But I can't tell you when," said Kunz. Civil-rights lawyer Norman Siegel said the CCRB should at least send a letter to each commander for an explanation of the increases. Meanwhile, Siegel also asked the CCRB to investigate complaints that protesters at the World Economic Forum were illegally videotaped, photographed and even followed after their march two weeks ago. "Police showed up with cameras, taking pictures of peaceful demonstrators," said Siegel. "They [police] are only suppose to pull out cameras when protesters are getting arrested." 2/27/02 Marian Karr From: Hector. W.Soto@phila.gov Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 7:40 AM To: update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Fwd: [stop-polabuse] killD02-Boise cops shoot 14 times, kill man with unloaded pellet gun $RFC822 ernl ...................... Forwarded by Hector W Soto/PCHR/Phila on 02/28/2002 08:30 AM ........................... Sheriff says man wanted to be killed Boise officers fired 14 shots; 6 hit suspect By Patrick Orr The Idaho Statesman Boise police Lt. Mike Monroe looks back Wednesday at the area near ParkCenter Boulevard where police shot David Patrick Lyons the night before. ((?)) Listen to the news conference with Ada County Sheriff Vaughn Killeen and Boise Police Chief Don Pierce {Top) .45-caliber pistol (Bottom) Pellet gun like the one used by Lyons. Tuesday's chain of events time line of the incident Tuesday that led to the officer-involved shooting of David Patrick Lyons, according to investigators. Tuesday afternoon: Lyons, distraught with his life, makes two suicide attempts at his home. 8:40 p.m. Lyons enters Kmart, announces he is going to rob the store, and tells employees to call 911. He runs to the back of the store, smashes a gun display case, and takes an unloaded pellet gun, which he later tells police he thinks is a .357 Magnum. He does not steal any ammunition. Lyons returns to the front of the store, where he demands money from a cashier. The cashier refuses and Lyons runs from the store. Lyons gets on his bicycle and heads west on ParkCenter Boulevard. Two Kmart customers follow Lyons in their cars and call 911 on their cell phones, reporting his position. 8:46 p.m. Police find Lyons near the intersection of ParkCenter and River Run. Lyons leaves his bike, aims the stolen pellet gun at officers, and runs into a nearby parking lot. He again aims the gun at officers, who tell him to drop it. 8:48 p.m. Officers fire 14 rounds at Lyons. Six bullets hit Lyons, who sustains wounds to both legs, right shoulder, left arm, and head. Lyons is taken to Saint Alponsus Regional Medical Center for treatment, where he is listed in serious condition. The four officers are taken to separate hotel rooms to be interviewed. The man shot six times by Boise police Tuesday night was trying to commit suicide by pointing a gun at armed officers at least three times, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.. David Patrick Lyons, 23, was hospitalized Tuesday for gunshot wounds to both legs, his right shoulder, left arm and head. Four officers fired 14 shots after confronting the robbery suspect behind a building off ParkCenter Boulevard. Lyons reportedly told officers after he was shot and later at the hospital that he wanted police to kill him after two previous attempts at suicide that day went awry. "It seemed he wanted to die, and he wanted someone else to kill him because he couldn't do it himself," Ada County Sheriff Vaughn Killeen said Wednesday. Killeen, whose detectives are leading the investigation as part of 1 multi-agency critical incident task force, said Lyons told investigators he tried to commit suicide at his home earlier that day by taking rat poison and some kind of pills, but neither worked. "This was one other effort (at suicide)," Killeen said. Boise Police Chief Don Pierce said Lyons told ParkCenter Kmart employees to call police, then stole a pellet gun -- which looked like a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol --from a glass case. After trying unsuccessfully to rob a clerk, he fled on a bicycle and was confronted by officers less than a mile away, near the entrance to River Run subdivision, Pierce said. When he was cut off on ParkCenter Boulevard by police, Lyons got off the bike, pulled out the pellet gun, and pointed it an officer in a squad car before running up a grassy knoll to a parking lot behind an office building, Pierce said. At that point, the four officers on the scene followed Lyons, told him repeatedly to drop the gun, and fired after he pointed the gun at them again, Pierce said. Six of the officers' 14 shots hit Lyons, knocking him to the ground, Pierce said. One shot grazed the top of the suspect's head. "He indicated to officers at the scene that he knew they were police officers and he had wanted them to kill him," Pierce said. Preliminary evidence suggests two of the officers shot four times each, one shot five times, and one officer shot once, the chief said. Ail four officers were placed on a three-day administrative leave as part of the normal post-shooting procedure, he said. Pierce said he was not sure whether anyone from Kmart called dispatchers to let them know Lyons stole an unloaded pellet gun from the store or whether that information got through to officers. Even if some of that information got through, the officers "would have no way of knowing that was the gun he had in his hand when he pointed it them," Pierce said. "I was shocked at how close those two guns are in terms of appearance." At a new conference Wednesday, Pierce displayed a pellet gun, identical to the one brandished by Lyons, side by side with a .45-caliber pistol. The two looked virtually identical. "Interestingly enough, when (Lyons) was interviewed in the hospital, he still believed he had a .357. He thought he was getting a real gun," Pierce said. When the suspect broke into the glass gun case at Kmart, he initially tried to get a rifle, Pierce said. But the rifles in the case were outfitted with trigger locks, so he took the handgun instead, he said. Both local and national Kmart employees declined CO~lment Wednesday. Lyons, listed in serious condition Wednesday night at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, is under arrest and probably will be charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of armed robbery when he is released from the hospital, Pierce said. Boiseans who lived near Lyons on East Jefferson Street said they rarely saw him and didn't know him. A next-door neighbor, who asked that her name not be used, said she saw Lyons moving furniture out of the home last weekend. Boise police provided little information about Lyons on Wednesday, except that he is a Boise resident. Lyons has no criminal record in Ada County other than a skateboarding ticket from 2000, according to court records. Pierce said Lyons told investigators he was distraught over his life and his job, but did not disclose much else. "He obviously suffers from some mental illness," Killeen said. "He did tell us that he was a danger to society, a danger to himself, and that he belonged in prison, and if he got out of prison, he would do this again." Some of the bullets fired by officers Tuesday night hit a fence near hom~s on River Run, and one bullet hit a garage, but no other people were hit, Pierce said. River Run resident John Crank said he and his wife were watching the Olympics Tuesday night when they heard shots. "Ail of a sudden, I heard two bangs, then a bunch more -- my wife counted eight shots," Crank said Wednesday afternoon, pointing to the bullet holes in the fence that separates office buildings from the River Run townhomes. "So I turned off the lights and went outside. There were police everywhere. "When we heard them, my wife was like, 'Fireworks!' but I was like, 'No, those were shots,' "said Edgar Newstadt, another River Run resident who 2 lives across the fence from the shooting. He had just arrived home when he heard the shots, "so I went out there and checked it out. I heard the officers tell him not to move." Both men said it appeared the officers acted appropriately. "This stuff can happen anywhere," Crank said. "If he was pointing a gun at them, what else are they supposed to do?" To offer story ideas or comments, contact reporter Patrick Orr at porr@idahostatesman.com or 373-6619. *** eSafe scanned this email for malicious content *** IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders Marian Karr From: philip.eure [philip.eure@dc.gov] Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 8:56 AM To: suelqq@aol.com Subject: Ass't Chief Inv. Vacancy in DC e$$t chief inv ad doc Sue - Would you please circulate the attached job notice about the opening for Assistant Chief Investigator (starting salary $60,749 to $72,538) here in DC? It's a newly created position and we're hoping to find someone with police oversight experience. Thanks! Phil Philip K. Eure Executive Director Office of Citizen Complaint Review Government of the District of Columbia 730 llth Street, N.W., Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20001 Tel: (202) 727-3838 Fax: (202) 727-7638 Website: www.occr.dc.gov JOB OPENiNG FOR ASSISTANT CHIEF INVESTIGATOR Office of Citizen Complaint Revie~v Washington, D.C. Independent DC agency seeks to hire an Assistant Chief Investigator. Duties include investigating citizen complaints against the police, supervising investigators and drafting policy recommendations concerning police misconduct. A college degree, plus strong written and interpersonal skills are required, as is significant experience supervising and training investigators. Starting salary is $60,749 to $72,538, depending on experience. Excellent benefits. Submit cover letter and resume to: Chief Investigator, Office of Citizen Complaint Review, District of Columbia Government, 730 11th Street, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20001 or fax to 202-727-9182. www.occr.dc.gov Applications accepted until position is filled. Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 1:10 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Cour[ Overturns 3 NYPD Torture Convictions [in Louima case] http://latimes,com/news/nationwor!d/nation/!a-O228021ouima_wr,story Court Overturns NYPD Torture Convictions By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer February 28 2002, 10:42 AM PST NEW YORK - A federal appeals court overturned the convictions of three white police officers in the Abner Louima torture case today, finding insufficient evidence they obstructed justice. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the convictions of Charles Schwarz, Thomas Wiese and Thomas Bruder. The ruling does not affect the conviction of the chief attacker, Justin Volpe. Louima, a black Haitian immigrant, was tortured in a police station bathroom following his arrest in a melee outside a Brooklyn nightclub Aug. 9, 1997. Prosecutors said a handcuffed Louima was pinned down and assaulted in one of the worst police brutality cases in U.S. history. Charges against Louima were later dropped. Volpe is serving 30 years in prison after admitting he sodomized Louima with a broken broomstick. Volpe's appeal was earlier rejected. Louima suffered a ruptured bladder and colon and spent two months in the hospital. The appeals court said Schwarz's convictions for civil rights violations must be thrown out and a new trial ordered because he was denied effective assistance of counsel and because the jury was exposed to prejudicial information during deliberations. "The jurors asserted that despite their best efforts to avoid publicity they had learned from one juror during jury deliberations that Volpe had pleaded guilty to assaulting Louima in the bathroom and had indicated that he had done this assault with another police officer," the ruling stated. The court also held that convictions against all three men at a second trial for conspiracy to obstruct justice must be dismissed for insufficient evidence. It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors would seek new trials in those cases, The government failed to prove that the defendants intended to obstruct a federal grand jury, the court ruled. The three- judge panel said the government relied nearly exclusively on Bruder's allegedly false statements to federal investigators. But Bruder did not know the statements would be repeated to a federal grand jury, the court found. Thus, the judges said, there is insufficient evidence to support a conspiracy. "It's a sweet day when you can show the government was wrong and it was wrong from the beginning," said Stuart London, Bruder's attorney. Schwarz was sentenced in June to 15~ years; Wiese and Bruder received five-year sentences for the conspiracy conviction but have been free on bond pending appeal. Schwarz and Volpe were tried for conspiracy to deprive Louima of his civil rights by sexually assaulting him while Schwarz, Bruder and Wiese faced conspiracy to obstruct justice charges in a separate trial. 2/28/02 Page 2 of 2 Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton called the ruling "a shocking display of how the judicial system continues to fail to protect citizens from police abuse." He said the court "in effect says that Volpe acted alone when that is not only not the evidence, but physically impossible." Sanford Rubenstein, a lawyer for Louima, said that if there is a new trial for Schwarz, "we look to the federal government to retry the case and we will be supportive of their efforts as we have in the past." Joseph Tacopina, attorney for Wiese, said: "Justice has been served. It was clearly the right decision. Hopefully now Thomas Wiese, Thomas Bruder and Charles Schwarz can resume their normal lives with this and even possibly return to the force." Zachary Carter, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, declined to comment, as did the New York Police Department. A telephone call to Schwarz's lawyers was not immediately returned. In their appeal, lawyers for Schwarz had argued that his attorney in both trials had a conflict of interest as he also represented the police union, thereby hindering him from deflecting blame to another officer. The Louima case and other high-profile incidents- including the 1999 death of an unarmed West African immigrant, Amadou Diallo, in a hail of 41 bullet fired by four white officers-- ignited protests accusing police of singling out minorities for abuse, often through racial-profiling. Louima filed a lawsuit against the city and the police union, which was settled in July after months of hard-fought negotiations. The city and union agreed to pay Louima and his lawyers $8.7 million in the largest settlement ever in a New York City police brutality case. 2/28/02 Page I of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2002 11:02 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Parents Outraged at San Francisco Cops: Female Students groped; teen beaten Parents outraged at S.F. cops Female students groped, teen beaten, they say Susan Sward, Chronicle Staff Writer Sunday, March 3, 2002 ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle URL: httpJ~www~sfgate.c~m~cgi~bin~artic!ecgi?fi!e=/chr~nic~e~archive~2~~2~~3/~3/MN161655.DTL :The four African American teenagers were listening to rap music shortly after midnight in a banged-up, red Escort parked outside a Hunters Point housing project -- then a San Francisco police car roared up. Suddenly, the youngsters, ages 13 to 15, faced the bright lights and drawn guns of police responding to a tip that two African American men had been spotted taking guns out of a red car. Witnesses said officers bloodied and gave a concussion to one 14-year-old youth and conducted a humiliating, groping search of the car's two female passengers, while the girls' screaming, crying mothers were ordered by police to stay back. Police reports state that the officers' response to the teenage boy occurred after he acted in a menacing manner. Police brass say the incident is being thoroughly investigated. No guns were found and none of the teens involved had a police record. When a witness asked an officer why guns were pointed at kids, he allegedly said: "As long as you people are here, we will act like this." It's an incident the people of Bayview-Hunters Point say they won't forget - - and not just because it happened shortly after midnight on Jan. 21, the day the nation observed the birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. What happened on Hunters Point Hill that night has infuriated the community, led to two continuing investigations and prompted the temporary voluntary transfer of two police officers. "People want answers," said Shawn Richards of Brothers Against Guns, who counsels youth in the area. "They're upset -- it's just not true that every kid on the (Hunters Point) hill is in the life." The incident began at 12:33 a.m., after the kids in the car had been allowed to stay up late, since there would be no school the following day because of the holiday. Drawn by the sirens and commotion, a crowd poured out of the housing project on Kirkwood Avenue and gathered around as police leveled their guns on the youngsters. Jerome King- Brown, a 6-foot, 14-year-old who ran to the scene after hearing the sirens, said officers knocked him to the ground after he asked why they were pointing guns at his cousin, who had been in the car. Witnesses said there was nothing threatening in his manner. The youth's family said King-Brown received a concussion and needed 11 stitches to close a wound received when an officer kneed the youth's face into the concrete. Police reports give a sharply different account of the incident, stating that the injured youth was yelling and cursing, had a "violent demeanor" and ignored repeated commands to "get back" before officers moved to subdue him and place him under arrest. In the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, where more than 20 young African American males have been slain in a gang feud in the last two years, tense encounters between police and residents are common and the police are an all- powerful presence that residents rarely challenge. But in this incident, one witness, 25-year-old security guard Tenisha Bishop, snapped pictures, and the local weekly, San Francisco Bay View, bannered the story along with some of Bishop's photos and one of King-Brown after his release from the Bayview police station, his face still bloody. Police cited King- Brown for delaying arrests, but juvenile authorities said the case was investigated and the citation dropped. The incident occurred across from the Hunters Point Boys and Girls Club and in front of a three-story housing project complex where neighbors say they work together as a family, making sure their kids do their homework. They say the gangs and drug dealers know to stay away. On Wednesday, protests over the incident culminated with scathing testimony before the Police 3/4/02 Page 2 of 2 Commission. At the hearing, speakers said it was a travesty that such a confrontation occurred in San Francisco on the day devoted to the memory of King, slain in 1968. Sue McAIlister, 42, a child care specialist whose daughter was one of those searched by police, testified in an anguished voice that her child was an honor roll student who had become withdrawn and troubled since the incident. "You are going to tell me this is OK?... If you cut me, I have the same blood you do," McAIlister said. She added later that police had warned she would be shot if she moved while her daughter cried during a male officer's search that McAllister said included touching the girl's breasts, buttocks and crotch. Police officials told the enraged audience that the Jan. 21 incident was being fully investigated. On Thursday police said that two of the officers involved had been voluntarily transferred to the fugitive recovery unit while the episode is being reviewed. Police assurances of a complete investigation failed to mollify many in the crowd. "Had I beaten my son to a bloody pulp, I would have been locked up," King- Brown's father, James Brown, told the commission. Brown, a 50-year-old chef, was photographed sobbing the night of the incident, when he first saw his son's bloodied face. The incident has spawned two separate investigations. One is by the Office of Citizen Complaints, a civilian-run review board that will pass the matter on to the department if it concludes the police violated department rules. The other is an internal police department probe. "We have assigned several investigators to the case because we take it seriously and want the matter resolved as soon as possible," said Donna Medley, acting director of the OCC. Assistant Police Chief Earl Sanders, an African American who grew up in the Bayview, said he has asked police investigators to determine exactly what went on that night. "These officers weren't just roaming around looking for teenagers to harass, "Sanders said. "They were responding to an emergency call from a citizen. There's not enough evidence yet to make a fair judgment on what happened." Once the investigation is concluded, Sanders said its results will be shared with a group of African American community leaders established by an agreement signed recently by the leaders, Mayor Willie Brown and police in a move to improve community-police relations. While police and the Office of Citizen Complaints look into the incident, sentiment still runs high on the streets of Hunters Point. King-Brown's father, who has lived in the neighborhood two decades, said anyone who thinks this incident will just fade away is mistaken. "The police didn't count on the community getting together and saying, 'We won't allow this.' They've awakened a sleeping giant," the father said. 3/4/02 Marian Karr From: Kelvyn Anderson [kwa357@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 12:29 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Officer punched man; Commission recommends suspension E1 Hispano Philadelphia · Allentown · Bethlehem · Reading · Lancaster · Harrisburg · Camden · Trenton 28 de febrero de 2002 Edici6n Online Volumen XXVI Ndmero 9 Officer used excessive force Panel recommends 20 days suspension According to an Opinion from the Police Advisory Commission, In Re: Alexander Kuilan, a Philadelphia Police Officer punched a man in the face without excuse or justification after briefly detaining him during a burglary investigation. The Commission recommended a range of 20 days suspension and possible dismissal for 26th District Officer Michael DeRose, who punched Alexander Kuilan in the jaw on June 3, 2000. The incident began when police received a burglary call from the Maui Club on Delaware Avenue. Suspects were described as three Hispanic males fleeing northbound on bicycles. According to Mr. Kuilan, he was fishing along the river north of the club when he noticed police around the area where his car was parked. Officer DeRose approached, told him to shut up when he asked what was going on, and punched him in the face. According to Officer DeRose's version of the events, he found Kuilan hiding near a bush, offered to help him out, and was forced to take further action when Kuilan tried to flee. He denied punching Kuilan, stating that he fell on top of him during the struggle. Testimony from another officer who approached as the incident began verified that P/O DeRose struck Kuilan in the face. At the first hearing session for police witnesses, four officers, including DeRose, refused to testify citing a pending Police Department Board of Inquiry proceeding on the same matter. As a result the Commission issued an immediate Opinion in which the four officers were found in violation of the Commission's Executive Order 8-93, and two Directives from the Police Commissioner compelling officers to appear and testify in response to Commission subpoenas. Former Police Commissioner John Timoney in his response to the Opinion affirmed the right of the Commission to compel testimony stating that the legal advice provided to the officers was erroneous. The Hearing Panel then reconvened and heard P/O DeRose's testimony. 1 "The Commission recommends that the Polioe Commissioner assess Officer DeRose's disciplinary history and determine his fitness to be a police officer. The Commissioner should determine if immediate dismissal is appropriate. Should he decide that dismissal is not warranted, the Commission recommends that the Commissioner suspend Officer DeRose for at least 20 days without pay." M~s Locales [ Titulares I Editorial y Opinion I Locales Latino Americanas I Entretenimiento I Arte y Cultura Salud y Hogar I Horoscopo I Calendario I Negocios y Mas Clasificados I Deportes I Media Kit I Site Map Contactenos I Home ] Copyrights 2001 Lopez Publications Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - sign up for Fantasy Baseball http://sports.yahoo.com Update mailing list Update~nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update nacole.org Page I of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aohcom Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 9:29 AM 1o: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Oakland Review Board Shorthanded Police Review Board shorthanded ACLU wantsvacancies filled, reforms implemented March 02, 2002 By Cecily Bud STAFFWRITER Oakland Tribune OAKLAND -- The nearly en-masseresignation of the Citizens' Police Review Board last month forced one meetingto be canceled for lack of a quorum and has the mayor's office scrambling toappoint new members. Five of the nine board membersmust be present to hold meetings. In a strongly worded letter, Mark Schlosbergof the American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday asked Mayor Jer~y Brown toimmediately fill the board vacancies and implement the reforms approved by theCity Council last year to streamline meetings and hear more cases. The problem began when threeboard members abruptly quit at the end of January, saying they hadn't realizedhow much of a time commitment was needed to serve on the volunteer board. Theterms of four other members expired Feb. 15, and only one member -- Chairman William Hubartt -- agreed to stick around until he is either reappointed or replaced. That lee the mayor with six vacant positions to fill immediately. John Batarse, a financier, was appointedto the board Feb. 26 to replace Peter Kassel. Batarse's term expires February2004. Three other nominees were presented to the Rules Committee last week andshould be confirmed by the City Council on March 12, just in time for the nextpolice review meeting two days later. Marlo Andrews will replacelsabelle Gomes-White, and Mansour Salaru-Din will replace Daisy Jim Yan. Bothmembers' terms expire Feb. 14, 2004. Roland Walker Jr. will replace SylvesterGrisby, who resigned a year early. Walker will assume Grisby's term, whichexpires Feb. 15, 2003. All three nominees are lawyers, and Andrews is a formerBerkeley Police officer. The Citizens Police Review Boardhears excessive force and discrimination complaints made by citizens againstthe police. There is background information to review before meetings, andoffen several hours of witness testimony during meetings. Board members thenmeet in closed session to discuss and decide whether to uphold or dismiss acomplaint. Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m., andit is not unusual for them to adjourn after midnight. Schlosberg, a police practices policy director with the Nodhern California ACLU, said in the letter the fact that resigning members did not understand what would be expected of them when they agreed to serve makes it all the more critical that the mayor &quot;appoint people who are willing to put in the time and effort to participate fully and effectively on the board.&quot; Just as critical, Schlosberg said, is putting in place changes the council approved nearly a year ago to expand the types and number of cases that could be heard by the police review board. Oakland's board hears one case each meeting, for a total of 24 a year -- about a third of those submitted. The council last year urged the board to split into three-member panels that each could hear a case, Those changes hinged on hiringnew support staff and amending an ordinance. The new language is still beingdrafted, said Linda Bytof. &quot;There is no excuse forthere being a year between the time the City Council approved the changes andthe changes being implemented, especially given the current political clJmateand the scandals that have happened in Oakland the past couple of years,&quot;Schlosberg said. Paul Belkin, assistant to Brown,said the wholesale resignation was unprecedented. Usually, commission memberswhose terms are up stay as holdovers until they are reappointed or replaced. This time, he said, the mayor has made sure new appointees are fully aware offhe responsibilities of the job. &quot;It's the nature of thegame, so to speak. Meetings go on for a long time. It requires a significantamount of time and training to be a good commissioner,&quot; Belkin said.&quot;We're very confident that the new appointees are very highly 3/5/02 Page 2 of 2 qualifiedand committed,&quot; he said. Although Bytof said she isfrustrated at having to cancel a meeting, she is glad the mayor is movingquickly to fill the appointments. &quot;It's always frustratingwhen you have to cancel meetings. But I think the mayor acted fairly quickly toappoint. Everybody was thrown a curve ball when several people decided not tohold over,&quot; Bytof said. Three of the new potentialappointees are lawyers. Bytoff said she doesn't care what their background is,nor does she presume to know how they would decide cases. She just wants peoplewho can set aside their biases and decide cases fairly. &quot;Everybody seems to thinkthere is this big conspiracy, but I've been asking people for months to applyfor the board,&quot; she said. &quot;I want people who are fair and objective,and who will look at the facts of every case and not be a zealot for one sideor the other. Everybody has biases, to say they don't is (untrue), but I want people to put their biases aside.&quot; Filling the board isn't Bytof's only concern. She had justgotten the funding for and hired additional investigators this year. But her only experienced investigator has been called to active military duty, and oneof the new hires has already quit to move back East because of a family emergency. 3/5/02 Page 1 of 3 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol,com Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 9:48 AM To: Update@nacole,org Subject: [NACOLE Update] LA Sheriff & Police CHief a Study in Contrasts http:lllatim~s,com[~ws[!~!~!a-OOO~ 6454m~r0~stqry~cQ!!=!a%g~head!irm~%2 Dca!ifornia Baca and Parks a Study in Contrasts Policing: The county sheriff has sought to revolutionize his agency as the embattled LAPD chief has been trying to perfect his, By BETH SHUSTER TIMES STAFF WRITER Mamh 5 2002 The jobs of Los Angeles' two top cops are on the line, with the future of one to be determined by voters in the county and the other by the political machinery of the city. They are two men who share similar backgrounds but who couldn't be more different in their styles and approaches to their jobs. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is up for reelection today, challenged by two sergeants: Patrick Gomez and John Stites. Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks' bid for another five-year term is under review by the civilian police commission. Baca's reelection appears likely while Parks' reappointment--opposed by the mayor--is far from certain. Both have spent their professional lives in the institutions they now lead, though Baca ended up seeking to revolutionize his department while Parks wants to perfect his. "If you could put them together in one person, you would have a very powerful chief of police," said county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who is close to both men. They grew up in Los Angeles, and have followed similar career paths. Baca, 59, a Latino, has spent 36 years rising through the ranks of the Sheriff's Department; Parks, also 59, an African American, has spent 35 years in the LAPD. They are deeply loyal to their respective organizations; only Baca is known to have flirted seriously with leaving, twice becoming a finalist to lead the LAPD. That's about where the parallels end. Unlike Parks, Baca was not considered a department insider. He never became a member of the late Sheriff Sherman Block's inner circle, despite a series of promotions. When he became sheriff four years ago, Baca arrived with a constant stream of ideas. His top staff has scrambled to keep up, and many deputies have chafed at his unorthodox approach to policing. He launched a massive internal review of the organization that could cost millions of dollars to implement. He created a civilian board of civil rights attorneys to oversee internal affairs investigations. He opened a jail for drug and domestic 3/5/02 Page 2 of 3 violence offenders and, most recently, he has talked about creating a homeless shelter near skid row. He has been described as a social worker who wears a law enforcement uniform. The sheriff has become the unlikely darling of the civil rights community-Connie Rice, a noted civil rights attorney, is a campaign advisor-and he has developed strong ties to Democratic as well as Republican legislators. He turns to outsiders for advice, help, even criticism. He doesn't seem to have much interest in the nuts and bolts of law enforcement; his eyes appear to glaze when asked about patrol and discipline. "Baca, I think, is way ahead of his time," Rice said. "He gets it that police can't do everything by themselves." But many of his deputies say the sheriff has run too far afield. They, like his challengers Gomez and Stites, believe he is spending too much time and money on non-traditional law enforcement programs. They think the sheriff has lost sight of the main duties of the department: arresting criminals and keeping them behind bars. For his part, Baca says he firmly believes the sheriffs job is more complicated than that. His department, which oversees the largest jail system in the country, has more than 6,500 deputies. Forty-one cities contract for its services. Change is imperative, Baca said, because the Sheriffs Department needs to keep up with a changing society. "Innovation needs to be fostered so people are not afraid to make the right changes," Baca said. 'Tm fairly aggressive in making sure the bureaucracy doesn't inhibit solutions." Baca talks about "harmony" in the department, but he admits that he is an idealist. Deputies need to embrace new ways of doing things, said the sheriff, who sometimes uses religious terms to talk about the department. It's enough to make some deputies-rookie and veteran alike-say he is an embarrassment who is out of sync with the rest of the department. Baca was not endorsed by either deputies union. The Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs backed Gomez, and the Los Angeles County Peace Officers Assn. supported Stites. The sheriff has done little political campaigning of his own, airing just one radio ad and sending slate mailers with many other candidates. His political consultant, who typically handles liberal Democrats, says that Baca is surprisingly well known in the county and that there was no need to introduce him to voters. If Baca's campaign has been Iow-key, Parks' is in high gear. Supporters of the chief came out in force last week denouncing Mayor James K. Hahn's opposition to a second term for Parks. The chief said in an interview that he is not conducting any kind of public campaign to keep his position. Rather, he said, community activists are independently taking up his cause while he is just doing his job. "People say I'm out more, that I'm holding more press conferences," Parks said. "Only the people who don't know what I do regularly are saying that.... ~ have the same pace I've had for the last five years. The only difference is that the media seem to want to find me more than they did three or four years ago." VVhere Baca is seen as being open to outside opinions, Parks is viewed by some observers as rigid and closed to other viewpoints. He rose through the LAPD ranks as the consummate insider. He was ambitious and eager to lead. Parks has an intense grasp on the details of his department, the nation's second- largest. Though he refuses to use the word "reform," he is in fact remaking the department. He is a strong believer in the complaint process, and as a result, he is disciplining scores of officers. There are nearly 6,000 complaints filed a year against the department's 9,000-member force. "1 have seen how internally that word is offensive," Parks said. "You're saying what you stood for in the past is now no good.... Don't use the terminology that makes the activists happy." Under Parks, the LAPD has dealt with a corruption scandal, a court-ordered list of reforms and recruitment troubles. But the department also was widely praised for its handling of the Democratic National Convention in 2000, and Parks instituted a crime-fighting program that relies on statistics similar to a groundbreaking model used in New York. 3/5/02 Page 3 of 3 The chief, who faces strong opposition from the police union, loves the nuts and bolts of police work. He talks about operational efficiency, how the mechanism works, charter provisions. By his own admission, he doesn't always appear warm and cuddly. Supervisor Yaroslavsky suggested that some of the differences between Baca and Parks stem from the fact that one is elected and one is appointed. Parks is a product of the civil service system, where public relations is much less important than mastering the internal details of the organization, Yaroslavsky said. Yet, he said, "Parks has done quite a bit to reform [the LAPD], but he gets tagged with the image of being intransigent and stubborn." Yaroslavsky and other observers of both agencies say Parks is an intelligent leader who has a strong vision for his department. The two lawmen, those people say, are vastly different in style. "In a way, Lee has adapted to what he needed to do: to get into office and stay in office," Yaroslavsky said. "They're both good men; they're two totally different people." 3/5/02 Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 9:51 AM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] 2 Forner LA Officers Sentenced to Prison in Corruption Cases http:~~~atimes~c~m~news~~~ca~~~a~~~~~16436mar~5.st~ry?c~~~=~a%2Dhead~ines%2Dca~if~rnia LOS ANGELES Two Former Officers Sentenced to Prison in Corruption Cases By DAVID ROSENZWEIG TIMES STAFF WRITER March 5 2002 Two former law enforcement officers were sentenced to 30 months each in federal prison Monday, one for tipping off a narcotics suspect and the other for taking part in a smuggling plot and accepting bribes. Richard Casas, a veteran U.S. Customs Service agent, had pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to smuggle 10,000 counterfeit Microsoft computer programs from Hong Kong to the United States. Casas, 46, of El Monte also admitted taking $14,000 in bribes in connection with his official duties. Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge Lourdes G. Baird in Los Angeles, he apologized to his family and the court. Under terms of a plea agreement, U.S. prosecutors had promised to recommend a lighter sentence in return for Casas' substantial assistance in an ongoing investigation. But Assistant U.S. Atty. Edward B. Moreton Jr. told Baird that Casas reneged on the agreement by giving false or misleading answers when questioned by investigators about other suspects in the case. Moreton said that would have compromised Casas' usefulness as a witness in court. However, defense attorney Stephen Sadowsky asked for leniency because Casas has an autistic child at home who needs the care of both parents. Baird declined. Casas faced a 24- to 30-month prison term under federal sentencing guidelines. Moreton recommended 27 months, but Baird gave Casas the maximum, saying that corrupt law enforcement "is very tough to swallow." Four other defendants were convicted in the smuggling case. Casas' brother, Edward, 40, of Sylmar was sentenced to two years probation. Lawrence Boyle, 54, an attorney from Westminster, received three years probation. Peter Yi, 36, of Chino Hills and his brother, Sung K. Yi, 32, of Cypress are scheduled to be sentenced April 8. In the bribery case, Casas admitted taking about $11,000 from an importer of magnets in exchange for confidential information that the importer could use to drive a competitor out of business. Casas also accepted $3,000 from a former police officer who allegedly used a shill to collect informant fees from the Customs Service. Casas, who remains free on bail, will begin serving his sentence May7. In an unrelated case Monday, Douglas John Bos, a onetime Ontario police officer assigned to a federal anti-drug task force, fought back tears as he apologized for his criminal conduct before U.S. District Judge George H. King. 'Tm just very sorry," Bos told the judge. "It'll never happen again. I hope I will be able to come back to this court someday and show you I've turned it around." Bos, 34, of Canyon Lake pleaded guilty last year to obstructing a major narcotics investigation by warning a criminal target 3/5/02 Page 2 of 2 that he was about to meet with a government informant. Bos asked for an unspecified amount of money. The suspect, Nidal Hamayel, 45, met with the informant anyway, telling him that his cover had been blown by a drug agent assigned to the case. The conversation was taped and heard by other agents. VVhen confronted, Bos admitted telephoning Hamayel three times previously. Hamayel was subsequently arrested in a nationwide crackdown on illegal importers of pseudoephedrine, a chemical used to make methamphetamine. In court Monday, defense lawyer Edward Robinson said Bos was going through an emotional crisis when he committed his crime. But Assistant U.S. Atty. Rebecca Lonergan said that a month after pleading guilty in the federal case, Bos was arrested in Claremont on a charge of illegally possessing a loaded firearm. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and received probation. Bos, who is free on bond, was ordered to turn himself in by April19. 3/5/02 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Boise Community Ombudsman [mailbox@boiseombudsman.org] Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 3:50 PM To: update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Urgent Request For Ideas Greetings Fellow Law Enforcement Oversight Professionals: Idaho's capitol city newspaper, The Idaho Statesman, has asked me to be part ora panel at a news forum next Monday, March 11. That day is the six-month anniversary of the terrorist attacks and the forum will be billed as the "Battle Against Terrorism." I have been asked to speak about the impact that the so-called "war on terrorism" has had on the delicate balance between law enforcement and oivil liberties. I would be very grateful for any examples you might have from your local community that would speak to any impact the "war on terrorism" has had on this balance. Also, I am interested in your opinions regarding what the future may hold in this regard. Thank you in advance for any email responses you can send. Please send them this week so that I can assimilate and use them Monday at the forum. Cheers to all! Pierce Murphy Community Ombudsman Boise, Idaho 3/6/02 Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 5:25 PM To: Update@nacole.org; thomas_mcguire@msn.com Subject: [NACOLE Update] Update on NYPD's Preparations for AntiTermrism & Intelligence Gathering NYPD Prepping for War Gets High Marks Dateline: New York City - 3/3/2002 In the two months since he became top cop for the second time, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has launched a virtual revolution in a department long tied to tradition, all in the name of fighting terrorism. He has brought a federal touch to the municipal force with the appointment of a retired Marine Corps general and a former CIA official, and he has hired an outside consultant to assess the department's response to the World Trade Center catastrophe. Already, he says his historic shakeup of the department hierarchy is paying dividends. Look out, terrorists -- Ray Kelly's in charge. Two weeks ago, a threat against the city came from outside the country, Kelly said, "and because of one of these gentlemen's contacts, they were able to reach into that country, contact people, track down the individual who made this threat and find out quickly it was a hoax." Within a few hours, Kelly said, the crucial question of whether to deploy manpower to meet the threat was answered. "That we were able to make that judgment quickly was valuable," Kelly said. "All our lives changed; the world changed," the commissioner said in an interview last week. "We're configuring the department to respond to the reality of post-Sept. 11. We have to accept we've been targeted four times." Kelly said hiring retired Lt. Gen. Frank Libutti as deputy commissioner for counterterrorism marks the first time a city police force will have a military aspect. "We're at war, and we have to be able to defend ourselves in a variety of ways," Kelly said. "The military experience is really perfect for what we have to do." He told the City Council $700 million will be needed to restructure the department into a pro-active anti- terror force, with high-tach equipment and intense training for every cop on the force. Libutti is charged with formulating that training; Kelly said it is still in the planning stages. "This is all emerging. This is unchartered waters for the city and for the federal government," he said. He enlisted David Cohen, a 35-year veteran spymaster and the former No. 4 man in the CIA, to restructure the NYPD's intelligence gathering. "Before Sept. 11, the intelligence division was much more narrowly focused," Kelly said. "Now we want to get information and disseminate it in real time. He is a consummate professional ... his position is not an assignment that you pass through." Kelly spent two hours Thursday with FBI Director Robert Hueller, discussing how to improve the NYPD-FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force, which is under Libutti's command. Praise From Experts Policing experts applauded the aggressive retooling. "Sept. 11 wasn't the last strike," said Aaron Rosenthal, a former NYPD assistant chief. "To use the same cops in the same way would be ridiculous .... These people have the expertise in the area he needs." 3/6/02 Page 2 of 2 Eugene O'Donnell, a John Jay College professor who teaches law and police studies, said: "The same old infrastructure wouldn't cut it in a world where terrorism was a big issue. The NYPD establishment was woefully unable to gather intelligence and information and process it ... they needed to open doors to federal agencies, and the best way is with people with track records." O'Donnell, a former cop, acknowledged that the NYPD culture is "so resistant to change," but change is necessary. "Nobody had stopped the NYPD from surveilling people, doing wiretaps, getting informants," O'Donnell said. "They could put 1,000 people into fighting terrorism at the bat of an eye and it would have a minimal effect on the department. We have the cops and the expertise but they need new leadership and they need to break the old-fashioned mold." "Historically in America, there's never really been a mixing of military and police," said John Timoney, former first deputy commissioner of the NYPD and former chief of police in Philadelphia. As for Cohen, Timoney said, "Clearly, there has been a paucity of information coming from federal authorities ... so if this in some way gives the NYPD a leg up because they will trust him, it's great." Turning to Outsiders Timoney also noted that although Kelly is the ultimate NYPD insider -- rising all the way through the ranks -- turning to outsiders always has been his style. Such as hiring McKinsey and Co. to assess police response to the twin towers attack. He used the same firm 10 years ago to review the Internal Affairs Division after the notorious case of rogue cop Michael Dowd exposed its failures. A major restructuring of internal affairs resulted. "They're a world-renowned consulting firm," Kelly said. "You need a certain objectivity; you can't do it internally. You can't ask people what happened to them, what their memories are of Sept. 11 and what their recommendations are. You need people outside the organization to ask them." Kelly has his critics in the department, who say he emphasizes the failings of cops over their successes. But the commissioner said he has seen no resistance to his changes, because the cops recognize the reality of terrorism as well as the professionalism of the new deputy commissioners. "Everyone is on board," Kelly said. NEW YORK DAILY NEWS 3/6/02 Page 1 of 4 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 10:23 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Peoria PD: "Naked Misconduct?"; Iowa Cops Camera Off During Shootings Not Everyone Laughing at Peoria P.D. "Naked Humor" Dateline: Peoria, IL - 3/3/2002 Peoria Times Observer By DeWayne Barrels A stripper, a joke, videotape and nationally known comedian Rodney Carrington combined to create an interesting time Friday night at the Peoria Police station. Carrington found himself and Peoria promoter Jay Goldberg all at the police station as part of an elaborate gag, allegedly assisted by Assistant Peoria Police Chief Mike Buttons. Before the gag was over the stripper was bare-chested in an interrogation room at the police station with Carrington and Goldberg, as Buttons and others watched over a closed-circuit TV system. Peoria Police Chief John Stenson, Monday afternoon, said he was aware a gag arrest was going to be made and approved it, but knew nothing about a stripper. "i'm going to look into this," Stenson said. The bare facts Carrington was in town to perform at the Madison Theater when he was "arrested" by the Peoria Police on a phony morals charge. Michael Goldstein, Carrington's manager, and Barry Martin, Carrington's opening act, had schemed with Buttons to play a joke on Carrington. Buttons, they said, is a big fan of Carrington's. Martin and Julie Goldstein, owner of Publicity Plus, Carrington's publicist, both confirmed on Monday morning that the event took place. "it's one of the best gags ever pulled on Rodney," Goldstein said. "The story is true," she continued. "Rodney's manager and his opening act set it up. The (assistant) chief of police came over before Rodney's show and said they had a complaint about him from the local ministerial alliance. They told Rodney they were going to be watching his show. "After his set was over, they arrested him, .]ay Goldberg and Rodney's keyboard player Bob Hoban." At that point, Goldstein said, the trio headed toward the Peoria Police station. Martin continued, "They took pity on Hoban and let him go because he was crying so hard." Goldstein added, "in the room they were told they were bring held on a morals charge." Goldstein and Martin both said that Carrington were nervous and asked about the judge they would face. "The assistant chief told him the judge was part of the ministerial alliance," Martin said. After arriving at the police station, the stripper showed up, masquerading as their lawyer. During the discussions the stripper pulled up her top and had the words "Gotcha, Michael and Barry" written across her breasts. 3/6/02 Page 2 of 4 The entire incident was videotaped, Hartin said. Police sources tell the Times-Observer that between four and six copies of the videotape have been distributed. One copy, it was said, may even be in the hands of the Bob and Tom Show, a nationally syndicated comedy radio show heard locally on WGLO, 95.5 FM. "I wouldn't be a bit surprised," said Martin. "I know Rodney left with one." Martin said the entire incident caught Carrington completely off guard. "We were watching it on closed circuit TV in the police station. Rodney sat there quiet for the longest time. It took a while for it to sink in what happened. He said, 'You mother******~***s.' "Then Buttons went in and gave him a hug, and high fives. He got autographs." Not amused Stenson said Monday afternoon he was not amused to hear details of the prank. "I was aware of something, but not all you've described," Stenson said in the police station lobby. "I'm not aware of anything illegal going on. The two officers involved were off-duty. And the videotapes used were not purchased with taxpayer money." However, Stenson said earlier he was not aware of any videotape being made during the incident. Stenson said he has yet to see the tape. "I'm trying to get a copy of the tape so I can see what's on it. "I don't authorize improper conduct." Stenson said he is not sure anything punishable by departmental rules occurred. "They came to me with a script of what was going to happen. I was told they would not violate any laws or ordinances. If someone changed the script on the officers, they are not to blame," Stenson said. "It would be improper conduct if this was part of the script all along and one or both of the officers knew it was going to happen all along." Urbandale (IA) Officer's Camera Also Off During Shootings Dateline: Urbandale, IA- 3/2/2002 By TARA DEERING Des Moines Register Staff Writer A second police video camera was off during the pursuit and fatal shooting of bank robbery suspects in Urbandale, authorities said Friday. Urbandale Police Chief David Hamlin said that Officer Dennis Vinson's patrol car was equipped with a camera, but that Vinson forgot to turn it on during Tuesday's incident. Urbandale police policy calls for the cameras to be on during all stops and chases. Iowa State Trooper Dennis HcMahon also failed to turn on the video camera in his car, a violation of state policy, Iowa State Patrol officials said Thursday. Authorities on Friday also released some audio recordings from the incident. The tapes include conversations between dispatchers and a woman who reported the robbery via cell phone and followed the suspects' blue van until police arrived. McHahon, Vinson and a second Urbandale police officer, Chad Krull, are on paid leave after firing gunshots that killed two robbery suspects. Police say the suspects threatened the officers with pellet guns that 3/6/02 Page 3 of 4 looked like real firearms. The leave is routine after a fatal police shooting while the state Division of Criminal Investigation examines the incident. Henry Charles Simmons, 45, and Paul Phillip Simmons, 47, sons of a Iongtime Des Moines minister, were shot and killed by officers after the robbery of a West Bank branch in Urbandale. A third brother, Terry L. Simmons, 56, and Jeanette L. Freeman, 24, of Pasadena, Calif., were not hurt in the shooting. They were charged with first-degree theft and are being held in Polk County Jail on $100,000 bond. Urbandale police Sgt. Doug Hobart said Friday that Vinson began following the van on Hickman Road shortly before the suspects turned onto Interstate Highway 35/80 and then stopped. Hobart said Vinson's involvement in the incident lasted about a minute. Hobart said he wishes Vinson, a 14-year police veteran, would have had his video camera on. "We know they come in handy at times like these," he said. "But is it changing the facts? No. The facts are going to be the same. Quite frankly, the people who are going to criticize are going to say if there was a tape, that we tampered with it." Hobart said Urbandale police have the cameras primarily for drunken-driving stops. Video cameras in police cars can provide evidence of criminal behavior such as drunkenness, as well as protect both the public and police by providing an independent account of an incident. Ail State Patrol cars and three of Urbandale's 1:1 patrol cars are equipped with cameras. Hobart said the department's policy requires officers to have the cameras on whenever they have contact with a civilian. "We encourage the officers to use those cameras on their traffic stops," he said. "You have to understand that this was not a routine traffic stop. Believe me, the last thing going through an officer's mind in a situation like this is whether his camera's on." Sgt. Robert Hansen, spokesman for the Iowa State Patrol, said that while policy calls for troopers to activate their cars' cameras for any civilian contact, the patrol doesn't track how many times its troopers have failed to turn on their cameras. "It's not an issue," he said. Authorities said Friday that the robbery was reported via cell phone by a woman on her way into West Bank on 99th Street in Urbandale Tuesday morning. The woman, whose name police would not release, described three bank robbers leaving the bank in the 91:1 tape released Friday. "They walked across the road," she said. "They're getting into a blue van." The dispatcher asked the woman, "Did you see a gun?" "No, sir," the woman replied. "They had black bags." The woman stayed on the phone and followed the robbery suspects briefly, describing their vehicle and the direction it was heading. The woman said the robbers had trouble finding their way out of the shopping plaza south of the bank. "They can't get out," the woman said. Hobart said the three Simmons brothers entered the bank and Freeman stayed outside. He said they wore ski masks and spent more than five minutes inside. Bank employees were not able to activate the silent alarm during the robbery, Hobart said. 3/6/02 Page 4 of 4 "The reason we found out about this bank robbery was evidently because of this woman," he said. As the suspects headed south toward Hickman Road, Officer Krull began following the van. "They're not stopping," he said on the tape. A few seconds later, the dispatcher informed police that the suspects were armed. Hobart said bank employees reported to dispatchers that the robbers had guns. The 911 calls from bank employees were not on the tape released Friday. Officer Krull was heard on the tape reporting that the suspects threw a gun out of the van on Hickman Road. He also said he saw them throw out a walkie-talkie near Living History Farms. An officer was ordered to examine the gun thrown out of the van, according to the tape. Hobart said the officer didn't know the gun was a pellet gun until after the suspects were shot. The dispatch center tape continued, with officers describing the suspects turning onto the interstate. "They're pulling over!" Krull said. "They're pulling over!" An unidentified officer reported seconds later that shots were fired. "We got one down! We got one person down!" Hobart said investigators have confiscated bullet casings from the shooting scene. He would not disclose how many shots officers fired. The Polk County medical examiner has completed the autopsies of Charles Simmons and Paul Simmons. Hobart said he could not release the autopsy results because of an expected grand jury investigation. He said only that the Simmons brothers died from multiple gunshot wounds. The police account of the shooting falls within rules for appropriate use of force, according to Iowa training guidelines that instruct officers to use deadly force only if their lives or others" lives are in danger. Des Moines-area black leaders said Friday they still have questions about the shooting. The Simmons brothers and Freeman are black, and the officers involved are white. Local officials with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said they would consider seeking an independent investigation. They met with authorities Thursday to discuss the incident. The Rev. Keith Ratliff, president of the Des Moines chapter of the NAACP, said Friday that the group will discuss the incident and voice their questions at a news conference at 11 a.m. Monday at Maple Street Baptist Church, 1552 Maple St. 3/6/02 Page 1 of 3 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol,com Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 10:23 PM To: Update@nacole,org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Cincy Cops Resist Gun Draw Proposal; FBI Mistakenly Shoots MD Motorist Cincy Police Resist Gun Draw Proposal Dateline: Cincinnati, OH - 3/3/2002 Cincinnati Enquirer By lane Prendergast The Cincinnati Enquirer Every day Cincinnati police officers might draw their guns dozens of times. They'll tell you it depends upon their shift, how busy the day is and whether they work, for example, in Mount Lookout or Avondale. The U.S. Department of Justice wants Cincinnati cops to make a report every time they draw their weapon and point it at someone. The department is resisting, saying such a requirement would make a mountain of paperwork, chill morale and endanger officers who might hesitate in a dangerous situation. The city could be the first to require a report. The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., has discussed the issue, but a spokesman said Friday no rule was in place. The unholstering debate was sparked this week by the release Monday of the city's response to 9! separate Justice recommendations. The city agreed with many, wrote ambiguous wording in some and promised enhanced training in many areas. The Justice Department sent the city its recommendations last October. Negotiations between Cincinnati and the federal government lawyers are expected to conclude in the next couple of weeks. As the end draws nearer, local police officials have stopped discussing the contents of their response, saying they don't want to damage further talks. But the "un-holstering" recommendation -- and the city's negative response to it -- could end up being the most significant sticking point of the talks. it's of serious concern to some members of Cincinnati's black community, who told .]ustice representatives stories about having guns pulled on them for no reason, says attorney Ken Lawson. He plans to talk about it this week with Billy Martin, the city's Washington, D.C., lawyer. "It's a touchy subject," said Susan Maiie, who works in Pittsburgh's law department, where she monitors that city's compliance with its Justice consent decree. Pittsburgh officials discussed making a similar reporting requirement when making some changes to their force-reporting process after Justice started investigating the department five years ago, But they decided against it. "it's an officer-safety issue," she said. "We don't want them to be thinking in the back of their heads when they're in a situation, "Am I going to have to document this?'" Cincinnati officers and supervisors have been told not to discuss the recommendations publicly. But many wonder how punitive an un-holstering policy might be. For example, if they work overnight in Over-the-Rhine, might they be punished for having more weapon- draws than another officer who sees less violent crime? Samuel Walker, a criminal-justice professor at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, is watching what happens here. He said Cincinnati's policy for drawing weapons mirrors others across the country, but that 3/6/02 Page 2 of 3 the key is the attitudes of those who enforce the policy. It's not surprising that no other city has started requiring unholstering records, he said. Agreements with the Justice Department are tailored to each city. David Dotson, a former assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department who managed that agency's discipline system, said Cincinnati might want to agree to rethink their rejection of the idea and do it just to be able to refute allegations that they misuse their guns. "I don't know if Cincinnati officers, as a matter of practice, screw their guns in people's ears at the slightest excuse or if it's just a perception people have," he said. "I think it could be important to count it for that reason," he said. He also noted that Justice didn't say to document every time a gun comes out of its holster-- just every time it comes out and is pointed at someone, "a significant distinction." CURRENT RULES The Cincinnati Police Department's Procedure 12.550, "Discharging of Firearms by Police Personnel," also covers the drawing of weapons: · It begins by reinforcing that "the authority to carry and use firearms in the course of public service also carries with it the highest level of responsibility." · An officer can "display" a firearm when he perceives a threat of loss of life or serious physical harm to himself or others. · At that time, the officer can take the gun out for self-defense -- but keep his finger outside the trigger guard. The finger is only to be placed on the trigger when "on target and ready to engage a threat." FBI Agent Mistakenly Shoots MD Motorist Dateline: Pasadena, MD - 3/3/2002 AP A 20-year-old man riding in a car with his girlfriend was mistakenly shot in the face by an FBI agent who was seeking a bank robber. Joseph Charles Schultz was in serious but stable condition Sunday at a Baltimore hospital. Schultz, who works for a medical company, has no connection to the bank robbery, FBI officials said. Schultz and his girlfriend, 16-year-old Krissy Harkum, were pulled over in Pasadena late Friday, authorities said. FBI agents were attempting to serve an arrest warrant based on the description of a bank robber, The Washington Post reported Sunday. There was no immediate word where or when the bank robbery occurred; FBI and Anne Arundel County officials did not return calls Sunday from The Associated Press. Harkum's father, Joseph Harkum, said the agent ordered the two to put their hands up, and then fired, hitting Schultz once. Krissy Harkum was sprayed with glass and blood but was not injured, he said. Schultz, of Orchard Beach, was unable to speak while being treated at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. But he wrote his girlfriend a note asking, "Why did he shoot me?" Joseph Harkum said. "Here you got two of the sweetest kids on the Earth going to the mall and having Slurpees, getting shot through the car window. It's a mess," Joseph Harkum said. The FBI would not identify the agent who shot Schultz and said it would not release information while the investigation was underway. 3/6/02 Page 3 of 3 FBI spokesman Peter A. Gulotta Jr. said Anne Arundel County police will invest[gate and present evidence to a grand jury, and an FBI unit from Washington also will investigate and give its findings to the Department of Justice. 3/6/02 Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 10:24 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Oakland Ca Police to Reexamine Training After "Riders" Scandal & a Cop Death Oakland Police to Re-Examine Training Dateline: Oakland, CA - 3/5/2002 San Francisco Chronicle Chip Johnson The Oakland Police Department is preparing to face the heat in public courtrooms in the coming months as two cases -- one of them scandalous, the other tragic -- work their way toward trials. Tn one case, the department is backing the prosecution of three of its own who are accused of widespread corruption. Tn the other, it is defending its own in the shooting death of a veteran undercover cop. Whatever the outcome, the cases should force the department to reform its training and deployment practices. Members of the allegedly rogue band of officers known as the "Riders" are scheduled to stand trial next month on 63 criminal charges that include planting drugs on suspects and roughing up people they deemed suspicious. It promises to be a high-profile trial, tailored for media coverage and public consumption. Amid the din of publicity surrounding the Riders trial, another legal battle is set to play out in federal court, where the widow of William "Willie" Wilkins seeks to show that the undercover Oakland officer did not have to die. Kely Wilkins filed the civil rights lawsuit against the city two months after her husband was shot and killed last January by two rookie officers responding to a report of a stolen car. Officers Tim Scarrott and Andrew Koponen opened fire on Wilkins moments after a colleague had shouted Wilkins' name. The seven-year veteran died at Oakland's Highland Hospital three hours later. But a year after Wilkins' death, his family is still searching for answers that were not revealed in the department's internal investigation into the matter, said Brian Dunn, a Los Angeles attorney who represents them. "The family has very strong feelings about the way the investigation was handled and the way the department responded in the aftermath of the shootings," Dunn said. The Police Department has given the family its condolences, describing Wilkins' death as a "tragic and unfortunate situation," stopping short of admitting that a mistake was made. "lf we settle this case, it will happen without an admission," Dunn said. The upcoming cases will put the department on trial for its training and operations in the Bay Area's third- largest city, where crime continues to plague some neighborhoods. Some of those crime-ridden places were the romping ground for the Riders, according to prosecutors and attorneys representing scores of people who claim they were beaten or framed by the group until a rookie cop who witnessed some of the antics turned them in. Last year, the city paid out nearly $2 million to settle lawsuits alleging police misconduct. Against that 3/6/02 Page 2 of 2 backdrop is the death of Wilkins, whose case puts a worthy spotlight on the department he served. There is little question that Wilkins' death was a horrible accident that might have been averted with better-prepared, more experienced officers. One practice that should never be repeated -- regardless of the department's staffing issues -- is teaming two rookie police officers in high- crime areas. While some departments use a "sink or swim" approach to rookie officers by assigning them to the toughest beats, most do not send pairs of rookies out to fend for themselves. Law firms don't ask inexperienced trial lawyers to handle the biggest cases, and newspapers don't ask new reporters to handle front-page stories right off the bat. Police work is no different, especially if the rookie is working in the heart of an urban area. Some officers cut the mustard and some don't. In Wilkins' case, they simply made a fatal mistake by shooting before they knew who they were aiming at. How else do you explain why they fired just as Officer Torrey Nash, who arrived at the scene at the same time, had the presence of mind to recognize Wilkins and yell out his name? "Hey, it's Willie," Nash shouted, just as the officers fired on Wilkins as he tried to arrest Lhe car-theft suspect at gunpoint in the East Oakland darkness. Although police have said Wilkins never identified himself to the other officers, such a situation should not have been allowed to happen. A veteran cop, paired with a younger cop, likely would have recognized Wilkins. Two young cops should not have been allowed to go it alone. "I won't say we never do it, but as a practice, rookie police officers are assigned to work with senior training officers," said Officer Eduardo Furies, a spokesman with the Los Angeles Police Department. Oakland should do the same, but also make sure that the senior officers doing the initiating aren't corrupt themselves. That's what prosecutors say happened with the Riders, who worked the graveyard shift in West Oakland under the leadership of Francisco Vazquez, a veteran cop. Vazquez remains at large as his three co-horts face trial. He fled just as the charges were filed more than a year ago, possibly to his native Mexico. 3/6/02 Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 '10:24 PM 1o: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Detroit Sets Goals for Police Detroit Sets Goals for Police Dateline: Detroit, MI - 3/5/2002 Detroit Free Press BY JANES G. HILL The Detroit City Council said Nonday it would like to see the age requirement for police recruits raised to 21 from 18. The proposal is one of about a dozen recommendations under consideration for the troubled Police Department. The council also said the citizen complaint process should be overhauled and quarterly reports made to the council; the police policy manual should be updated, particularly as it relates to police shootings, and officers should get diversity training. The proposals will be drawn up and formally presented on Narch 18. A public hearing is scheduled April 10. The council will then decide on a final version for submission to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. It will be up to Kilpatrick and Police Chief Jerry Oliver to act on the recommendations and develop a blueprint for reform. The council's recommendations likely will be considered, along with proposals given to the city last year by Amnesty International and the results of a U.S. Justice Department investigation into deadly police shootings and the treatment of prisoners in local Iockups. The federal investigation is expected to wrap up in the next couple of weeks, council members said. "While this is just a policy statement by the council, it is my sense that council's perspective on these matters creates the opportunity for additional change," said Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel, an outspoken critic of police misconduct. The council's push for police changes resulted in part from a Free Press series that found that Detroit in the 1990s led the nation's big cities in the rate of fatal shootings of civilians by police and that the department failed to thoroughly investigate some of the shootings. In response to the series, written in 2000, the council held a series of legislative hearings to discuss the issues with then-Police Chief Benny Napoleon, other Detroit officers and law-enforcement experts from across the country. The recommendations are a culmination of that process. Among the council's other recommendations: Create a risk-management database to track problem officers. The Police Department has a temporary system in place, but it is not used, council members said. A permanent system is three years away. Request an audit of the department's training methods. The council plans to ask the department for this at budget hearings in April, to determine whether funds can be found to implement new methods. Seek an opinion from the Law Department on a standard for the use of force. 3/6/02 Page 2 of 2 Have the Police Department work with the Health Department on nutritional meals for prisoners in Iockups. "I think proposals that will enhance the department's ability to do its job, we ought to be looking at," said Councilwoman Sharon McPhail. 3/6/02 Page 1 of 5 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 10:25 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Miami ~nquest Revision in Police Shootings; More Fla Miami Inquest Revision Gets Mixed Reviews After Officers Exonerated Dateline: Miami, FL - 3/3/2002 Miami Herald BY LISA ARTHUR The scope of the much-maligned judicial inquest of questionable police shootings changed last week. Although the courts again ruled that police were justified, prosecutors no longer controlled the court's review of why the state had initially exonerated officers. Under the old system, a county judge listened to the prosecutor's evidence, asked questions, sometimes allowed relatives of the dead to pose a few questions and ultimately sided with police officers. But the revamped inquest, which debuted Tuesday, featured a proactive three-judge panel that aggressively questioned witnesses, ordered prosecutors to put officers on the stand and allowed bailiffs Lo pass out notepads and pens so the family of Nicholas Singleton could jot down questions. Miami poi[ce shot the unarmed 18-year-old in the head during a foot chase in April 2001. "I'm disappointed with the finding, but I thought the panel was painstaking and thorough," said James McGuirk, one of the family's attorneys. ' 'I think what happened here is a step in the right direction." ACTIVISTS' REACTION While lauding the new openness of the inquest, some community activists said the changes offered a slight improvement to a deeply flawed system. "I don't know if this three-judge system is simply window dressing or if things will truly change," said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, president of the Greater Miami Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU would prefer to see investigations of police shootings presented to a grand jury made up of Miami-Dade County residents instead of allowing prosecutors and judges to decide. Others say grand juries are too cloaked in secrecy for Miami, a city with a long history of controversial police shootings. Inquests also have been criticized as rubber-stamp showcases for prosecutors. From 1990 to 2001, county judges presided over 102 inquests and in every case sided with prosecutors and cleared officers. STARTED LAST YEAR The call for change started to build last year after a task force of federal prosecutors, FBI agents and Hiami-Dade homicide detectives began arresting Miami police officers on charges of planting guns, beating suspects and covering up suspicious shootings. Among the cases cleared at inquest before indictments: · Five Miami officers charged in March 200! with lying and fabricating evidence to cover up their roles in the 1996 killing of 73-year-old Richard Brown, who died in a hail of 122 bullets. · Five Miami officers charged Sept. 7 with planting guns on two smash-and-grab robbers in 1995. Both teenagers were shot in the back after a chase across Interstate 395 into Overtown. Two officers pleaded 3/6/02 Page 2 of 5 guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors. Last week, as the Singleton inquest played out in the state courthouse, federal prosecutors handed down another batch of indictments of Miami officers. · MADE SENSE TO ME' "The criticisms we were hearing gave me an opportunity to review the inquest procedure," Miami-Dade Chief Judge Joseph Farina said. ' ' Every review of a criminal case is done by a three-judge panel, so this made sense to me." Farina signed the order changing the inquest system Sept. 26. He and County Judge Samuel Slom said the new format had been in the works before the initial federal indictments. "We were looking for a way to improve and restore public confidence," Slom said. But critics maintain the new format still doesn't provide sufficient checks and balances. "This system is broken because it is one-sided. There's no cross-examination allowed," said H.T. Smith, a lawyer for the Singleton family and an activist pressing for changes. Smith believes the Civilian I'nvestigative Panel, which Miami Mayor Nanny Diaz approved last month, will make a bigger difference. "it will be people from the community with subpoena power looking into things," he said. POSSIBLE CONFLICT The problem with inquests, Rodriguez-Taseff said, starts with flawed police investigations. The probes are usually done by detectives working for the same agency as the officers involved in the shooting. "You could have the best inquest in the world, but if the investigation is flawed, you won't get to the truth," she said. Along with using grand juries, she favors having outside police agencies aid in the investigations. Critics say another problem is the political fallout from an inquest. Nany judges believe they can't win reelection without the support of police unions. The first draft of the new inquest system called for judges to cast their votes in secret. In a 2-1 split, the public would not know how each judge voted. "We changed that, because there were objections from the community," Slom said. Some of those objections came from law enforcement, which did not have input into the overhaul of the inquest system. "We strongly objected to the secret voting," said Ed Griffith, spokesman for Niami-Dade prosecutors. · ELECTED OFFICTALS' John Rivera, president of Miami-Dade's Police Benevolent Association, agreed: ' 'They are elected officials. Their votes should be public." Rivera says he has no objection to the three-judge panel. What he takes issue with is the way the Singleton inquest was conducted. The family and its attorneys were allowed to ask questions through the judges. 3/6/02 Page 3 of 5 The judges -- Sheldon Schwartz, Orlando Prescott and Eric Hendon -- also called witnesses. They directed prosecutor Sally Weintraub to subpoena two of the officers who had fired their guns that night to testify. They brought in Gil Falcon, the 19-year-old who was driving a stolen Jeep and fled from police with Singleton, from the Brevard County Correctional Facility to testify. "It is like they are conducting a mock trial," Rivera said. ' 'We think it's an extraordinarily dangerous and treacherous road they are traveling. We think they need to be judges and not state attorneys." McGuirk said he thought that type of public scrutiny by judges is exactly what Miami needs. "There have been a lot of bad shootings in this community that were quietly investigated and resulted in a report that not many people saw being filed away somewhere," he said. ' 'I think the court just sent a clear indication that things have changed." FL Chief Fires Officer for Racial Slur Dateline: Sarasota, FL - 3/1/2002 Herald Tribune By ROBERT ECKHART Police Chief Gordon Jolly fired an officer Thursday for shouting racial slurs while chasing a black suspect. Charles Robinson, 40, a four-year veteran officer, has seven days to appeal his dismissal, a punishment more severe than his supervisors recommended. "This is the most drastic action I can take," Jolly said. "I want everyone in the community to understand that this type of behavior won't be tolerated." Robinson, a white officer who worked in the city's predominantly black Newtown neighborhood, yelled "Come here, you f ...... n ..... ," while chasing a suspect, according to an internal affairs report. A black officer, Derrick Gilbert, was a few feet away as Robinson cursed and shouted. Gilbert filed a complaint that initiated a three-month internal affairs investigation that ended Thursday. Robinson, a former Marine helicopter pilot and Gulf War veteran, apologized during a hearing at the police department Thursday afternoon. Jolly said he didn't think the officer took the incident seriously enough. Robinson's earned high marks in his last two evaluations. His supervisors wanted to keep him in the department. Patrol Capt. Hike Hollaway, the highest-ranking black officer in the department, recommended a written reprimand. Deputy Chief Ed Whitehead called for suspension. Jolly said the incident was an embarrassment to him and the city. "This has obviously damaged our reputation and we have some repairing to do," he said. He promised a series of public forums to help mend the damage. The Rev. Willie Holley, president of the Sarasota branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the firing was warranted. "It sends the appropriate message, that there will be zero tolerance for that type of behavior," Holley said. "It's unfortunate the young man did that and ruined his career." 3/6/02 Page 4 of 5 The inquiry that ended Thursday is part of a larger investigation into the events of Nov. 30, when a half- dozen police officers tackled and pepperIsprayed three people at the Cohen Way Housing Authority. Police had chased 20-year-old Darius Hunsicker for two blocks because he didn't have a headlight on his BMX bicycle. Hunsicker rode to his aunt's house, where he was arrested on a charge of resisting arrest. Police were handcuffing Hunsicker when his aunt and two cousins arrived. According to police reports, they charged the officers and hit them. The aunt, Annie Mae, 38, and cousins Charlene Young, 19, and Alton Mae, 20, were tackled and pepper- sprayed, then arrested on charges of battery on law enforcement officers and obstruction. Neighbor Elliott Bell, 32, apparently got too dose to the action. According to police reports, he ignored officer's commands to back away, then ran when they told him he was under arrest. Robinson and Gilbert chased Bell. Police are still investigating Annie Mae's complaint that officers used excessive force. She was glad to hear about Robinson's firing Thursday night, but said she hopes the department will investigate her complaint thoroughly. She and her children say they never touched the officers. "We've got a lot of witnesses," she said. "We didn't do nothing." Robinson, who was raised in Sarasota, was hired by the city in 1997. One of his references was his brother-in-law, Sarasota police Officer Daniel Cunningham. Robinson could not be reached for comment late Thursday. His personnel file includes a half-dozen commendation letters -- one from a woman who thanked him for calling her a cab when her car broke down. And his supervisors commended him in April 1999 for helping to capture five men suspected in a string of a dozen auto burglaries. During his four-year tenure with the department, three excessive force complaints were flied against Robinson. All were ruled unfounded by the department. In one of them, Robinson and five other officers were accused of beating a black man who scuffled with them in December J. 999. They were trying to arrest Michael Murphy, 48, on a warrant for drug possession and failure to appear in court. While at least a half-dozen neighbors watched, officers hit him with batons and flashlights. Tnternal affairs found that the officers acted appropriately. Murphy was arrested on charges of attempted murder of an officer, attempting to deprive an officer of communications and resisting arrest with violence. Ne was acquitted in August 2000 of those charges, but was found guilty of resisting an officer without violence, 5 Miami Police Officers Indicted Dateline: Miami, FL - 3/1/2002 By John Pain Associated Press Writer 3/6/02 Page 5 of 5 Five city police officers have been indicted by a grand jury - four on charges they severely beat a handcuffed suspect, a fifth for allegedly lying to investigators after fatally shooting a mentally ill man. The indictments were handed down Thursday. In the first case, Officers Jesus Aguero, Jorge Garcia, Wilfredo Perez and Jorge Castello were charged with depriving Alexander Anazco of his civil rights for allegedly beating him after his arrest. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Anazco was arrested in February 1997 while driving a vehicle used by someone who had thrown a rock at one of the officer's car, U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis said. Anazco suffered head and knee injuries that required medical treatment, and had cigarette burns on his body, Lewis said. Lawyers for the four officers did not return calls Thursday seeking comment. In the other indictment, Officer Alejandro Macias is charged with two counts of obstructing justice for the March 1999 fatal shooting of Jesse Runnels. Macias and other SWAT team officers were called to a home where Runnels, a psychiatric patient, was attempting to commit suicide by slitting his wrists. After an hour standoff, Macias fatally shot Runnels. Federal authorities say Macias lied when he told investigators Runnels rushed toward him with a handgun. Macias faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. "This is a flawed investigation," said William Matthewman, Macias' attorney. "Runnels was a criminal and everything that happened to him was proper and legal." Miami police officials declined comment Thursday. 3/6/02 Page 1 of 2 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 1:11 PM To: Update@nacole.org; BURTONV@aol.com Subject: [NACOLE Update] Fla: Police Shoot City Councilman; Investigation Underway Posted on Mon, Feb. 25, 2002 Mascotte City Council member dies in traffic stop shootout GROVELAND, Fla. - (AP) -- Police fired at least a dozen shots during the traffic stop shootout that killed a Mascotte City Council member, a witness said. Councilman Steve AIIred, 42, died Sunday from the gunfire. The driver of the vehicle, 35- year-old Roger David Schoenbergerin of Groveland, was in stable condition early Monday at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Officers from Gmveland and nearby Mascotte pulled over the red Ford Bronco about '100 feet from Lewis Klaber's house. Klaber heard the sirens and said he watched pursuit traveling at about 40 mph past his house. Klaber said officers walked in front of the Bronco and it lunged forward, hitting one of them. Gunshots sounded within two minutes after the care stopped, he said"The first time there was about six shots," Klaber told the Orlando Sentinel. "Then there was a pause, and there was about six to eight more.' 'The officers were identified as Guillermo Gonzalez of Mascotte, James Barger and Shane Mowery of Groveland and reserve Officer Sander Smith of Groveland. Mascotte and Groveland police released little information about the traffic stop and shooting. The Florida Department of Law Enfomement is investigating. Allred, a husband and father of four, was a staff craftsman at Walt Disney World where he had worked since 1988. He was elected to the Mascotte City Council in 2000.Groveland is about 28 miles west of Orlando. Tuesday February 26 06:56 PM EST FDLE Launches Investigation Into Police Shooting The funeral for Mascotte City Councilman Steve AIIred will be held later this week as the investigation into why AIIred was shot and killed by police early Sunday morning continues. At a news conference Monday, the police chiefs of Mascotte and Groveland said they want the truth to be told. But because of an ongoing investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the chiefs couldn't say why the car AIIred was a passenger in was stopped or what prompted police to open fire. The driver of the car, David Schoenberger, was wounded when police opened fire, and AIIred, a father of four, was killed. Schoenberger was driving erratically along State Road 50, leading to a short pursuit involving officers from Mascotte and Groveland's police departments, investigators said. "At that point, police officers attempted to make contact. From that point on, something went wrong," Mascotte Police Chief Gene Wadkins said. A friend, who said he had spoken to Schoenberger three times since the shooting, said Schoenberger told him he was only trying to pull his Ford Bronco to the side of the busy roadway. The mayor of Mascotte told WESH NewsChannel 2 that officers at the scene said they thought Schoenberger was trying to run into one of them. FDLE investigators said there is no police video of the chase or the shooting. Allred's funeral is scheduled for Thursday at 4 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Groveland. The service will be open to the public. 3/6/02 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Suelqq@aohcom Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 1:11 PM To: Update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Calif Sup State Court Decision Narrows Search Protections Cyclist's arrest on infraction upheld Decision narrows search protections By David Kravets ASSOCIATED PRESS Mamh 5, 2002 SAN FRANCISCO - In a decision narrowing Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure, the California Supreme Court upheld the arrest of a bicyclist who didn't have identification when he was pulled over for pedaling in the wrong direction on a one-way street. The justices, ruling 6-1 yesterday, also said the methamphetamine an officer found on the Los Angeles County bicyclist after the arrest could be used against him in court. Conrad McKay was sentenced to nearly three years for the drug charge after being stopped for a California vehicle code infraction punishable by a $100 fine. The high court followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision in April that validated a Texas motorist's arrest for not being buckled up - a 5-4 ruling saying police can arrest and handcuff people for minor traffic offenses.Yesterday's decision, the second this year from the California justices limiting the Fourth Amendment rights of motorists or bicyclists to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, upheld a 1959 law allowing officers to arrest and search vehicle-code offenders who don't have identification."We conclude, in accordance with the United States Supreme Court precedent, that custodial arrests for fine-only offenses do not violate the Fourth Amendment," Justice Marvin R. Baxter wrote for the majority. The justices said McKay could have been arrested or searched had he committed a minor traffic infraction while he was driving a car because driving and bicycling are subject to "the same rules of the read?The court, however, left it to the "judgment of the arresting officer'' on whether to arrest or follow a "cite-and-release procedure" during which the violator is ticketed and released. In a lone dissent, Justice Janice Rogers Brown argued the decision gives police too much power by granting officers the right to focus on minorities in what she termed "unreviewable discretion to select the target of such enforcement activity?The 34-year-old McKay, who is white, has served his sentence. Police found the drugs in one of his socks. He couldn't be located yesterday for comment. Brown said even if the law allows for the arrest of somebody who doesn't have a driver's license or other photo identification, authorities shouldn't have unlimited power to search a defendant who has committed such a minor infraction. The decision, she said, allows officers to "push past the boundaries of the Fourth Amendment?In January, by a 4-3 vote, the California justices ruled that law enforcement officers may conduct warrantless searches on motorists who don't possess identification or proof they own the vehicle, even if they aren't arrested. 3/6/02 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Mark Schlosberg [MSchlosberg@aclunc.org] Sent: Wednesday, Mamh 06, 2002 1:13 PM To: 'Suelqq@aol.com'; Update@nacole.org Subject: California legislative item The California legislature is considering a bill that would prohibit disclosure of police officer personnel records by any agency (not just the police department). Attached is a link to the proposed resolution - the proposed change is italicized. Does anyone in California have any thoughts on this? How would it effect your review process if at all? Thanks for the input. Mark Mark Schlosberg Police Practices Policy Director ACLU of Northern California 1663 Mission Street, Suite 460 San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 621-2493 3/6/02 Marian Karr From: Kelvyn.Anderson@phila.gov Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2002 11:20 AM To: mailbox@boiseombudsman.org Cc: update@nacole.org Subject: [NACOLE Update] Re: War on Terrorism Greetings Pierce and NACOLE members: The panel sounds like a good opportunity to begin airing some very important issues that will affect the way we all do business. We're thinking about sponsoring a similar event here in Philadelphia. The War on Terrorism will have a great impact on civilian review organizations that, by their very definition, were created to bridge the gap of knowledge and understanding between the public and law enforcement. A few very random thoughts: Public attitudes regarding police/civil liberties ? The ideological/political questions are being pondered by usual interest groups in our city. There is a sense of unease, and outright doom pervading many of these discussions. In the short run, we~ve increased our direct monitoring of demonstrations, rallies and other public events. We've also seen an increase in the number of calls regarding problems with officers at the Philadelphia International Airport. Next door in New Jersey, the Supreme Court is loosening the requirements for vehicle stops. As these changes become part of our legal structure, we expect to see more complaints from uneasy citizens, as officers try out some of these expanded powers. This is an important time to educate ourselves and the people we serve. Authority/accountability? could become blurred as jurisdictional boundaries are erased in the interest of a unified response to terrorism? What happens when a complaint rises from one of these joint operations? What is our jurisdiction/authority to ask questions? Increased use of public/private surveillance technology ? Our City Council is beginning to debate the installation of traffic cameras, which are already a feature in many areas. Who will have access to this information, given the inevitable pressure to connect all this stuff into an all-seeing system? How will this data be used by law enforcement? Is this appropriate for our jurisdiction? How has it worked in other areas? Monitoring High-Tech trends in Law Enforcement: Just saw a piece on CNN about the LAPD using PDAs to collect data on traffic stops/racial profiling. The list is endless, and includes increased use of Biometrics; increased law enforcement use of private database information, etc. Some of these tools are both wonderful and frightening to contemplate. We must be educated in the use of these tools, their legality, impact on procedure, policy, record-keeping, etc. I see a somewhat related trend in the general use of public information. The revelation that terrorists use the Internet (big surprise there), the Freedom of Information Act and other features ef eur epen society has already resulted in major backpedaling among public record gatekeepers. Data is being pulled from websites, libraries, municipalities, etc. We all utilize a wide range of public and not-so-public information in the ceurse of our investigations. We should expect some therny questiens regarding access and use of even the mest mundane items. There will be a censiderable ameunt of pressure on us to explain police actions that may be increasingly hidden from public view. Sincerely, Kelvyn Anderson Director of Information Services Police Advisory Commission Philadelphia, PA {215} 686-3982 Update mailing list Update@nacole.org http://gamma.jumpserver.net/mailman/listinfo/update nacole.org